FO: NV (DLCS) Discussion

[Lexx]

No, it will work even if you activate all DLCs. Just load it after them (if DLCs are changing this value, not sure if that's anywhere the case).

Edited March 6, 2012 by Lexx

[WDeranged]

I completed Dead Money last night, it took me ten hours in total which I suppose is excellent value for money but a fair portion was spent cursing bear traps and grinding through to the gala opening. The visual design of the streets was mind numbingly dull and claustrophobic but at least the layout was thoughtful, it felt like an early 2000's shooter level with RPG bits bolted on, things perked up considerably inside the casino and I had a good time stitching together the plot, even if it has a few holes in it.

 

On the whole I admire what a ballsy move it was to create such a punishing DLC, I was happy beyond reason when I got out of that ****hole with three gold bars to blow on GRA toys, I just wish more time could have been spent polishing the experience.

[Guest Slinky]

No, it will work even if you activate all DLCs. Just load it after them (if DLCs are changing this value, not sure if that's anywhere the case).

 

Right, thanks!

[Giantevilhead]

I noticed something quite interesting over on Bethesda's forums last night, I've never really spent much time in the New Vegas section but it seems that some people there have heavily identified with the ideologies in the game and split off into factions themselves, the arguments are amusingly heated.

 

I even saw people trying to push their ideology on new players who'd only signed up to ask a few simple questions about starting the game

 

When you realize that one of the factions consists into fascist rapists with a narcissistic history major at their helm, it starts getting creepy.

 

Rapist Fascism is one of the three most popular political ideologies in the wasteland.

[Nonek]

Is it just me or do the little stories in the wasteland carry much more emotional punch than the main plot? Maybe it's just because of the overall scope, like a huge bloody novel as opposed to a tight focused short story, but the tragedies of the vaults and the dlc's are so much more immediate to me. I honestly had a lump in my throat when I left the Sierra Madre and finally unearthed the whole sick story of Vault 11. Might be just because i've delayed the main plot for so long, haven't even settled up with Benny yet.

 

I was also damn surprised by how effective Christines communication was in Dead Money, to the point where I was a little disappointed when I found her speaking again, it seemed to diminish her character.

[WDeranged]

Is it just me or do the little stories in the wasteland carry much more emotional punch than the main plot? Maybe it's just because of the overall scope, like a huge bloody novel as opposed to a tight focused short story, but the tragedies of the vaults and the dlc's are so much more immediate to me. I honestly had a lump in my throat when I left the Sierra Madre and finally unearthed the whole sick story of Vault 11. Might be just because i've delayed the main plot for so long, haven't even settled up with Benny yet.

 

I was also damn surprised by how effective Christines communication was in Dead Money, to the point where I was a little disappointed when I found her speaking again, it seemed to diminish her character.

 

Yeah I heartily recommend pushing on with the MQ a bit more, if only to get your mind blown by the amount of options you have for resolving the conflict and seeing how the side quests weave into it at the end, I can't think of another game with so much choice on so many levels, on a repeat playthrough it feels like there is no main quest, just go at the whole thing and see what happens.

 

Dead Money is my first DLC and I'm divided over it, I really liked the characters and setting, plot holes and all, but I hated how the environment worked against the limitations of the engine, I got quite pissed off a few times

 

I thought Dean rigging the auto-doc to change Christine's vocal cords was pretty cool, for some reason I loved the bit where you can eavesdrop on her while she tries out her new voice, I get what you mean though, the mute stuff was inventive.

 

Sound design was great too, I don't often see people talking about Obsidian's audio skills but they really are brilliant

Edited March 7, 2012 by WDeranged

[Nonek]

The sounds of the ghost people scared the bejesus out of me, on more than one ocassion.

[HoonDing]

What scared me out the most was BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEPBEEPbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep BOOM.

[Walsingham]

Is it just me or do the little stories in the wasteland carry much more emotional punch than the main plot? Maybe it's just because of the overall scope, like a huge bloody novel as opposed to a tight focused short story, but the tragedies of the vaults and the dlc's are so much more immediate to me. I honestly had a lump in my throat when I left the Sierra Madre and finally unearthed the whole sick story of Vault 11. Might be just because i've delayed the main plot for so long, haven't even settled up with Benny yet.

 

I was also damn surprised by how effective Christines communication was in Dead Money, to the point where I was a little disappointed when I found her speaking again, it seemed to diminish her character.

 

I think I actually heard someone on here condemning her not speaking as Obsidian being 'cheap' with the voice budget. Seriously.

[Gorth]

Is it just me or do the little stories in the wasteland carry much more emotional punch than the main plot? Maybe it's just because of the overall scope, like a huge bloody novel as opposed to a tight focused short story, but the tragedies of the vaults and the dlc's are so much more immediate to me. I honestly had a lump in my throat when I left the Sierra Madre and finally unearthed the whole sick story of Vault 11. Might be just because i've delayed the main plot for so long, haven't even settled up with Benny yet.

 

I was also damn surprised by how effective Christines communication was in Dead Money, to the point where I was a little disappointed when I found her speaking again, it seemed to diminish her character.

 

I think I actually heard someone on here condemning her not speaking as Obsidian being 'cheap' with the voice budget. Seriously.

I made a joke about it at some point in time. Maybe that's what you remember?

 

I was also the one chastising Obsidian for the false advertising on the Kotor2 box (showing a two armed Kreia despite only giving you a one armed Kreia for most of the game).

[Giantevilhead]

They were kind of cheap with the animation budget. Instead of having a line of text that says Christine tapped her fingers, it would have been nice to show her tapping her fingers.

[Lexx]

Yea, but that would require a ****ton of new animations.

[WDeranged]

I'm curious if anyone ever came up with a rationale for Caesar not bothering to have you escorted all the way into the bunker, he seems rather shortsighted for a great military strategist

[Giantevilhead]

The Legion is full of supersitious tribals who are afraid of what's inside the bunker.

[WDeranged]

But Caesar isn't that stupid and his men are pretty much trained to sacrifice themselves on his orders, I'm thinking maybe his brain tumour is screwing with his judgement or something, even then I would have thought one of his craftier subordinates might have have stepped in.

 

*edit*

 

Oh, 45 hours in and no crashes, seems those patched optimisations are doing their job, even if I do miss Hoover Dam's water jets and those booby trapped troopers near Forlorn hope.

Edited March 11, 2012 by WDeranged

[WDeranged]

Played a few hours of Honest Hearts tonight, love the environment to bits, the world design is all quite elegant and a big step up from Dead Money, I'm liking Joshua Graham but I kind of miss his "cursed character" concept from the Fallout Bible, maybe his cracks will start showing when I get deeper into it.

 

I really like Follows Chalk as a companion, his tribal perspective on old world locations is great

 

For some reason my carry limit hasn't been dropped, maybe something to do with Sawyer's mod or the Community Fix Pack, not a big deal.

[Walsingham]

I think I actually heard someone on here condemning her not speaking as Obsidian being 'cheap' with the voice budget. Seriously.

I made a joke about it at some point in time. Maybe that's what you remember?

 

Oh OK. You know how famously bad we British are at getting irony.

[WDeranged]

Ten hours into Honest Hearts and so far it's the best DLC I've played, full stop, better than all of Bethesda's, it's got great characters and an intriguing situation all stuffed into a cool location, plus I've got plenty of stuff left to see.

 

I don't have a bad thing to say, assuming it doesn't end up in a derpy rushed conclusion

[WDeranged]

I completed Honest Hearts last night and chose Joshua's path, call me bloody minded but I wanted to decimate those White Legs, Daniel's mercy speech didn't sway me either, Salt Upon Wounds' helmet now sits on a shelf in my Novac hotel room.

 

Old World Blues here I come

[CoM_Solaufein]

Restarted a game i started a month ago. I think I'll head into one of the expansions, haven't decided which one yet.

[WDeranged]

Five hours into Old World Blues and having fun, it's very tough but the new weapons and enemies make it interesting, dialogue is great though, laughed a lot and especially enjoyed Dr Dala

[WDeranged]

Old World Blues is done and dusted, I left quite a lot of stuff for next time though, mixed feelings over the story but the characters made me laugh and the crater is a great location to explore, it's definitely the most dense DLC so far in terms of stuff to do.

[WDeranged]

I completed Lonesome Road last night, mostly enjoyed it, especially the environment and nuke hunting, not so much for the story but it had a nice vibe, the easter eggs and computer logs were good too.

 

I've almost hit Sawyer's level cap now, it's probably the only thing I'd change in his mod, I feel like I've only half finished the main game and now I have to make a dash for the end...still it does feel like my courier has been on an epic journey this time around with all the DLC

[WorstUsernameEver]

I'm curious if anyone ever came up with a rationale for Caesar not bothering to have you escorted all the way into the bunker, he seems rather shortsighted for a great military strategist

 

They clumsily justified by Caesar wanting to keep the Legion ignorant of technology.. but of course, that kind of ideological stance is not particularly reinforced in the game (I'm willing to concede that it's probably done to show Caesar's hypocrisy). Still, it's pretty stupid. Honestly, that seems like lost potential to me.. it could have easily been a way to attach you to a Legion companion, while a speech character might have convinced Caesar that he or she acts better alone, etc... but then again, resources limitations I'm not considering, hindsight 20/20 etc.

[WDeranged]

Thankfully the game doesn't have too many logic facepalms like that, it very well might be because of a resource limitation, the DLCs seem to suffer from it more than the main feature, which is understandable given the short production time.

 

On another note, my 80 hour session of New Vegas feels longer than my last 150 hour session of Skyrim, I think it must be the sheer amount of moment to moment decisions I make compared to the drawn out pace of an Elder Scrolls game, which isn't a bad thing, I find TES games very enjoyable and relaxing but I worry about what Bethesda are going to do with Fallout 4...I prefer my Fallout crunchy