Fallout 3

[Slowtrain]

I made a save file just before I exit Vault 101. That way I can start a new character just before you get to make your final choices. As usual with Bethesda games.. you should have learnt by now.

 

 

lol. Too true. By the time I clicked on the exit door it was too late. Once the "redo your pc?" screen came up there was no way to get out of it to save. Or at least I couldn't figure out a way.

 

I guess I'll sit through Liam Neeson's cringe inducing dialogue once more. I hope I can remember which one is the exit door before I click on it.

[Slowtrain]

I'd also recommend the NMA Compendium mod just for nerfing VATS & Every-Level-Perks, but it's up to you.

 

 

The perks are pretty weak individually. For the most part at a first glance. HAving them every level isn't too big a deal.

 

I'm not really using VATS. I've been hitting things with a bat and just doing regular fps shooting with my pistol.

[Slowtrain]

I'm having a difficult time making a pc that doesn't have a yellow face. They all look sick.

 

I hate facegen. I eventually figured out the one in Oblivion, but this one is different and less easy to use. The lighting in the character face circle is really bad; I can't even tell what color the hair and eyes are very well.

[Musopticon?]

I made a Hispanian just because of the odd lightning.

 

And because I like to feed my inner prejudices by playing EL BANDITO!

[Amentep]

I'm having a difficult time making a pc that doesn't have a yellow face. They all look sick.

 

I hate facegen. I eventually figured out the one in Oblivion, but this one is different and less easy to use. The lighting in the character face circle is really bad; I can't even tell what color the hair and eyes are very well.

 

Yeah I had that problem as well. Its like "Here make your face...IN THE DARK!!!!1"

 

I ended up making a bunch of characters who looked like Vampires they were so pale. Not because I wanted to play post-apocalyptic undead but because the shadowy window made their skin look darker than it actually was in-game.

 

Last time I picked up Oblivion was the first time I actually figured out how to make a face with it and not have the person look like their face had exploded.

[Slowtrain]

not have the person look like their face had exploded.

 

 

Best description ever of Oblivion facegen.

[Oerwinde]

I made a save file just before I exit Vault 101. That way I can start a new character just before you get to make your final choices. As usual with Bethesda games.. you should have learnt by now.

 

 

lol. Too true. By the time I clicked on the exit door it was too late. Once the "redo your pc?" screen came up there was no way to get out of it to save. Or at least I couldn't figure out a way.

 

I guess I'll sit through Liam Neeson's cringe inducing dialogue once more. I hope I can remember which one is the exit door before I click on it.

 

The autosave at that point saves before you leave the vault, so if you reload that then you're good.

[Slowtrain]

I made a save file just before I exit Vault 101. That way I can start a new character just before you get to make your final choices. As usual with Bethesda games.. you should have learnt by now.

 

 

lol. Too true. By the time I clicked on the exit door it was too late. Once the "redo your pc?" screen came up there was no way to get out of it to save. Or at least I couldn't figure out a way.

 

I guess I'll sit through Liam Neeson's cringe inducing dialogue once more. I hope I can remember which one is the exit door before I click on it.

 

The autosave at that point saves before you leave the vault, so if you reload that then you're good.

 

 

lol. I noticed that when I did my second playthrough. ooops. I probably should have checked first.

 

Kudos to Bethy for thinking that way.

[Dark_Raven]

I like the exploding cars. Its just cool. I just found out about blowing apart dead bodies. Keep shooting them until they explode. Excellent.

[J.E. Sawyer]

I use the Ripper for dismemberment, but its condition goes down very fast and the body doesn't hold still. You can also use the combat shotgun, though it tends to pulp the head. If you want to cut off the head (say, for placing in the bed of their child), grab the body by the head with the drag button and then use a knife on it.

[Nick_i_am]

and then I ate her.

[Slowtrain]

SO I've been playing FO3 for a while. I've got 2 charcters both around level 6 (which doesn't take very long; leveling is a bit too quick for my taste).

 

Unless things change I have to say that FO3 is a terrible crpg. It may possibly be worse than Oblivion in that regard.

 

 

However, as an exploration/sandbox game filled with all sorts of disconnected yet interesting bits, it is quite good. Even some of the small mini-quests (such as the Arefu/Family thing are pretty interesting.

 

The problem, which was the same in Oblivion, is that nothing goes anywhere or matters.

 

2 Examples (which may change if something comes of them later)

 

 

 

1) Blood Ties: You go through all the quest about the kid killing his parents and Vance's emo family and whatnot and after all that, you go back to Lucy, who gave you the letter to start the quest in the first place, and she's barely even aknowledgeds that you took the letter in the first place. Hey Lucy, YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD. YOUR BROTHER KILLED THEM BY RIPPING OPEN THEIR THROATS. HELLO? NO THOUGHTS ON THAT TURN OF EVENTS?

 

2) Megaton: Lucas Simms, the man in charge. A pretty decent character, not paritcularly developed, but still referenced enough to be of obvious importance to the town. If he get's killed by the dude in the bar, no one cares. No one. There's no reference to his death al all. Oh but you can still complete the quest because his son wil give the reward that old Lucas can't BECAUSE HE IS DEAD. DOESN'T ANYBODY CARE? DOESN'T HIS SON CARE? HELLO?

 

 

 

2 potentialy interesting scenarios that could have had interesting stories and consequences attached to them, but Bethesda fails to do anything with either. They do the setup, but then just drop it. TIme to move on to the next, I guess.

 

If I've missed something regarding these two quests, please let me know. It would give me reason to do others in the game.

 

 

On the plus side, crushing a raiders skull with a sledgehammer is a darn hoot.

 

 

 

Fallout 3 as a crpg; 0/100

 

Fallout 3 as an FPS: 70/100

 

Fallout 3 as an exploration/sandbox game: 85/100

 

 

If you consider exploration/sandboxes as alll that is needed for a crpg, then you are in fabulous luck with this game. It is YOUR game.

[Majek]

Well about exploration , the thing is the wasteland doesn't look like something 200 years after a war, more like 20. Overfilled with everything. It's like you're the very first scavenger that looks around the place.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Majek

[thepixiesrock]

Yeah that kind of bugged me about everything too. Like, all the robots and street sweepers and stuff all over the place that are made to look like everyone just left everything and hid from the bombs and then just left everything where it was for 200 years. I mean, come on, someone had to have moved the stuff, and done soemthing with it. Why hasn't anyone re-engeneered all the cars all over the place, or like, scrapped them for more parts, or like, why arne't there more settlements, so long and there are only a few settlements? I just don't buy it.

[Tigranes]

It should be a lot more green, as well, but I think they simply wanted to make it look Fallout.

 

I think they should have simply done FO3 at the same time as FO1, just on the east coast. (But then they couldn't have had the BOS and Mutants over there. Considering how retarded the writing for them was, no big loss...)

[Slowtrain]

It's odd how the current Bethesda team has such difficulty coming up with compelling scenarios, characters, stories, consequences, that make me feel like I am playing a crpg in a world that involves me. Starting with Morrowind, they actually seem to be getting worse at it, rather than better.

 

But still, you can tell they are trying really hard; some of the individual pieces are really good.

 

But Bethesda seems to have real difficulty providing an overarching significance that would make me care about this game world and the people in it and the actions that my character takes. Which to me, is the heart of a crpg. Otherwise, you just have an action game. ANd a good action game can be quite fun, but generally for me lacks the real interest that a crpg can develop.

 

I'm enjoying FO3 because I really love sandbox games, and FO3 is a very good one, much much better than Oblivion. SO that's a plus.

[Amentep]

I liked FO3 but I agree it doesn't offer much in terms of things actually mattering (I was bugged like you about the irrelevance of several quests to those involved).

 

But something about running around shooting stuff in this weird sandbox was so fun it didn't matter.

[thepixiesrock]

That's another thing, the gun mechanics were messed up.

[Slowtrain]

That's another thing, the gun mechanics were messed up.

 

 

Agreed. As an FPS, it's OK, but more than a little clunky.

[thepixiesrock]

Yeah like, I don't think it's even acceptable for a FPS. The only way I could like, not get mad that I wasn't hitting the supermutant when I had him perfectly lined up was that it wasn't a FPS. Like, seriously, I think my gun had better accuracy when I wasn't zooming in, and just shooting from the hip or whatever it would be called, and that is messed

[Slowtrain]

Yeah like, I don't think it's even acceptable for a FPS. The only way I could like, not get mad that I wasn't hitting the supermutant when I had him perfectly lined up was that it wasn't a FPS. Like, seriously, I think my gun had better accuracy when I wasn't zooming in, and just shooting from the hip or whatever it would be called, and that is messed

 

 

I just write it off to the fact that the games main focus isn't FPS combat. WHich I think is too bad, really. If they had made it a little more of a well-done fps, I think it would game improved the game dramatically. I think the game a suffers a bit from being stuck halfway between a crpg and an fps.

[CoM_Solaufein]

The only thing I found lacking is the main story, especially at the end. The end was stupid.

You have a person that is immune to radiation who can go in there and take care of the problem, there is no need for you to do it.

[Amentep]

The ending is dumb in general, yeah. But in the end it didn't matter, I had a blast running around and shooting things and hitting things in the head with a bat and stuff.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

The only thing I found lacking is the main story, especially at the end. The end was stupid.

You have a person that is immune to radiation who can go in there and take care of the problem, there is no need for you to do it.

 

There's a mod that fixes that issue, thus enabling you to play past the "end" of the game.

[Slowtrain]

Are there any mods that reduce XP rewards? I am afraid I am going to run into Baldur's Gate syndrome, where my character hits the level cap long before I finish the game.