This is the Fallout 3 discussion thread.

I find this game to be entertaining. I'm sure it's quite pretty when you max out the graphics, but my 8600GTS can't quite run smoothly in high mode.

I think the starting difficulty curve is a bit steep, I know a few people who had difficulty with fire ants.

also, tip for those who haven't played yet: don't pursue the main storyline too aggressively, it's not long.

Didn't know it was out yet. I guess I'll wait a while and buy it used on the cheap.

I gave up on PC, I am now an XBOX man. I'm planning to try to make it till after xmas until I get it. Gotta pace myself, ya know.

Fallout 3 is out?

*runs off to EB*

I think playing Soldier of Fortune III made me give up on consoles.

I've been watching it for a while, and waiting for threads like this.

I'm not a huge gamer any more, especially not FPSes. I love the older games, and I really, really loved Fallout 1 & 2. So I'm just waiting to see if this is just another action/adventure or if it in fact Fallout.

Also, any clue how closely it sticks to the real DeeCee as its template? Obviously, I have vested interest in that, since it would make it a lot more interesting.

I noticed a few changes so far. The new Action Point/real time mix looks interesting (I'm curious how well it actually works) but I'm very disappointed they removed groin shots. From what I understand the game isn't as full of dark humor as the Black Isle versions either. But I'm still wondering, is it a worthy inheritor of the Fallout name? Also, is it still as fun and possible to play as a loon? That was always my favorite.

Hopefully they'll do a decent job considering it's Bethesda Softworks who's making the game. Bethesda softworks being based in rockville, MD, so I hope they can just hop down the metro to look around the city for aid in creating the look and feel of DC.

Fun trivia, the ceo of zenimax, parent company of bethesda softworks, the ceo's wife is lynda carter, ala the old wonder woman series.

Fire ants. Hate them. Hate hate hate.

It really is an RPG, the action/adventure is only present in moving around and shooting FPS style. I haven't really found any jumping puzzles yet. VATS can come in handy for long range shots once your character has a decent skill rating. with certain perks, it also increases the chance of critical hits. I'm not a big fan of gore, but people who are may find some amusement from it.


I've only visited DC once IRL, but from what I can see most of the landmarks are there. you can visit Georgetown, the national Mall, most of the museums (which have been re-named), and the pentagon. you have to remember that it's alternate history from 1950-onwards, so things aren't quite the same. most Smithsonian museums at the Mall weren't built until after that point, so they aren't there.

travel is through the dc subway system, navigation is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, and it's actually pretty idiot proof.

there are a few cultural references that you may find humorous. I won't spoiler them, obviously.

I think Fallout 3 is an excellent inheritor to the series. I haven't tried playing as a loon yet. I'm working my good character and trying to finish everything, which is quite a tall order. like I said in the first post, the main story isn't that long, but the sheer amount of side quests and areas to explore is staggering. if you don't try them, you miss 80% of the game.

got it on thuirsday, after 5 hours of sleep between then and yesterday, i played through it BY ACCIDENT allready . .
it's . . very much fallout . . only thing missing is the humor . . and playing it on a laptop is kinda complicated <.< . . .
The World . . is bloody huge!
and if you don't know that you WILL need pick lock and science on pretty high at start of the game allready, you will probably run into more trouble that it's worth generally speaking . . oh, yeah, speech should be high too . .
you can actually use google maps to navigate through washington it seems O.o
but yeah, i still miss the humor and the random encounters . .
oh, and try to get as many bobby pins as you can . . those will be worth more to you than power armour and ammo for your minign/plasma rifle later on . .

My current rig will just barely play F3, so I am replaying F1 & F2 to get me into early '09. Video cards prices usually drop then.

Every review I have read backs up Fix-It's position. It _is_ Fallout, just without the dark humor.

well, rock hard Falloubst is in there . . that's about it . .
also, this game is so rad,it will leave you in a nice warm fuzzy afterglow . .
it's like sex, just not as sticky!

VATS is best in short range ambush/assault situations with an automatic weapon. You usually kill them with headshots, and if they only have a few bars of health you can usually spray them down after VATS ends but before they fire.

Which wins hardcore.

get a plasma rifle or pistol, or the high powered laser pistol . . if you can find it, use the alien blaster . . each hit is pretty much isntant death . . then there's such things like the laser gatling and the fat man . . and his big brother MILR or something like that . . it shoots out EIGHT Mini Nukes at once . . and there's things where you will need this . . things like the Behemoth Mutants, the Ant Queens . . and be lucky, that the giant Robo is on your side . . but you get to explode at least one REAL nuke in a town and insert chemical/biological weapons in the form of an mutagenic toxic virus into the drinking water reservoirs of the whole town in an terroristic act . . pretty much killing anybody who is not a pure blooded arian . . no, wait, wrong game . . anyone who is not a pure blood human like those in closed up vaults or the enclave people . .

As has been said, it is Fallout. The switch to FPS actually helps make it a lot more immersive, and there's nothing like walking out into the wastes with Galaxy News Radio blaring through your Pip-Boy as you wander on to investigate the next landmark on the horizon.

The skill list has been boiled down a little (rolling doctor and first-aid into the 'medicine' skill, for example), and basically every skill now feels useful to some degree.

You no longer get your basic two perks at first level, which is nice, because Gifted and Skilled tended to be broken. You also now get a perk at every level, which is also nice, because it lessens the burden of making a 'bad choice.' There's also a list of every perk, what level you need to be to get it, and any other requirements it might have in the game's manual, as well as in a list when you level-up. Also, there is a perk called 'Nerd Rage!' which is almost too awesome for words.

Every single NPC is voice-acted, and while you can tell that they're re-using the same 5 or 6 actors for the less important NPCs, it's still a very nice touch. In dialogues now you can see what stat / skill / perk is giving you additional options, and if there's an option to convince someone using the speech skill, it not only tells you that, but also tells you your chance of success as a percentage.

The hacking and lockpicking 'minigames' are exceptionally well-done, and give you a nice touch of realism without you actually needing to be any good at them in real life.

Combat is no longer stupidly brutal before you get power-armour, and you no longer need to have a gun skill at 150%+ so that you can repeatedly called-shot to the eyes for massive criticals. I'm at, like, level 13 and about a third of the way through the main plot (I think) and I'm doing just fine with small guns at around 60%.

The world. Is. HUGE. The world map is [b]packed[/i] with areas, from major cities and abandoned vaults, to drive-in theatres and baseball courts, as well as silly flavourful areas like the Republic of Dave. Instead of the old style of world travel where you clicked a destination on the map and your dot moved there, with possible random encounters along the way, you now actually physically walk across the wasteland from point A to point B. The world is just big enough that you really feel like you're bushwhacking and just small enough that it doesn't get tedious, and you can quick-travel to places you've already been, so you don't waste tons of time walking around.

The combat system works quite well, it's sort of like an FPS, but your weapon skill determines wether or not you hit the person you're aiming at, so you mostly have to worry about keeping your sights on your target. You can also activate V.A.T.S. (Vault Assisted Targetting System) at will, which freezes the action and lets you pick called shots, limited by your action points, including telling you what your chance of hitting each location on the target is, and what that location's condition is (IE, how long before their left arm is crippled). Your action point gague slowly refills over time while you're ouside of V.A.T.S. The called shot system has also been simplified, so that, on humanoids for example, you can call shots to the head, torso, left or right arm or leg. Available locations change depending on what you're fighting - a giant ant has the left legs, right legs, torso, head and antennae.

One thing that is awesome is that if you start to change the world, the world takes notice. At one point I had a group of mercenaries show up and attempt to collect a bounty that had been placed on my head for being a meddling do-gooder. You can also get the occasionaly Galaxy News Radio broadcast detailing one of your exploits.

Stuff that happens to be lying around on tables usually actually belongs to people now, so the problem RPGs often have of people not minding if you loot their cabinets looking for spare cash is gone, and you can quite clearly see if an item belongs to someone - highlighting an unowned item shows you a 'take (item)' message in green, whereas something that belongs to someone shows as 'steal (item)' in red. Loitering around a locked door while people nearby can see you will occasionally provoke responses like: 'yes, it's locked, and yes, I can see you eyeing it.'

All in all, it's so freaking cool! I would say it is the best CRPG ever made, and I'm including the first two Fallout games, Arcanum and Planescape: Torment in that list. You should all go and buy it. Like, right now. G'wan, shoo. Get thee to an EB.

Seriously, for any fan of RPGs, this game is a must-have.

btw, after further study, I have concluded that stealing people's stuff doesn't put that big of dent in your karma, compared to say, nuking megaton. or killing a good guy. if ya really need something go right ahead.

Is anyone playing this on the XBox 360? I have no intentions of upgrading my PC until it falls to pieces and I buy another clunker to replace it.

Oh man if I wasn't so broke right now I would so go out and get this game. So far everything ive herd about it has been good.. *sigh*.

But the really important question has not yet been answered. Is Ron Perlman in it?

yes he is and there's the good old:"War. War never changes" at the beginning . . i actually cried a bit, when i heard that sentence again after ten years ;_;
Seriously, all of you people, GO BUY IT!!! <= see, three exclamation marks!!!
http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/855/Fall...railer-Released

We only have one computer at home that MIGHT be capable of playing it... but I think I'm going to buy it anyway I have to admit, I've been so nervous about this game, hearing it's actually good makes me want to cry.

I have, at least, kept myself at bay (since we're currently on a 'no spending' curfew until after Christmas and, again, the only computer that MIGHT run it is my wife's work computer, which she actually uses for work) by running Fallout 1 again. Sweet, sweet Fallout.

there's a video on youtube i think that shows you how to finish either falout 1 or 2 in about 10 minutes *snickers*
i still miss the humor in 3 <.< . . but everything else, is pretty much good . .

I don't get what's so bad about the fire ants. A couple of scoped .44 Magnum shots to the head takes them down before they get anywhere near you.

Granted, a couple .44 shots to the head takes down just about anything.

There really isn't enough .44 or .308 ammo. Ever.


The controls are quite simple, considering it was developed to work just as easily on a console as on a computer, but I'd have the same reservations about playing it on X-box that I'd have with playing any FPS on a console. No mouse = fail. V.A.T.S. would help mitigate this, but still...


Ron Perlman says 'war, war never changes' during the intro. Twice!

the link i provided earlier has the trailer for Fallout3
and on the page below the video is a version of the video in 720p . . for gods sake, don't try to stream this one . . even downloaded i have problems playing it . .
but in the end, there's good old ron doing his thing ^^

with my new comp I can finally play the newer games, but 50 bucks is way over my budget, will have to wait till it gets down to 20. Looks good from the previews

If it's that good I might consider raising my limit to €20 instead of my usual €10. Anyway, Mount&Blade is already filling most of my gaming needs right now.

Try System Requirements Lab to test you machine(s) (choose Fallout 3 from the drop-down menu).

My own computer (Athlon 64 X2 4000+, 2GB RAM, 256MB GeForce 7600gt, Windows XP pro SP3) surpasses the minimum requirements and only fails recommended specs in the graphics department (not enough video RAM).

I haven't got a hope in hell of being able to play this game for at least another month or so (fingers crossed). I guess I really should get around to actually playing the first two first though.

yes you should O.o
those are two of the best games that are available x.x . .
how anyone can not have played things like civ1, settlers2, fallout 1 and 2 is beyond me . .
especially if he is old enough to have been there for the first computer ever *snickers*

Just bought a new computer (http://www.schelin.org/20081004 Intel E8500, 8 Gigs Ram, ATI 4870 w/512M Ram) so I may have to give it a shot. I'm playing Dead Space right now. Not bad so far.

Carl

Speaking of 'Dead Space', what's the movie like? I haven't heard much about the game itself, but I was told the (animated) film was decent. I just don't necessarily trust the taste of my source.

Haven't seen the movie. Honestly Dead Space just popped up on my radar because of the new system. Several reviews said it was a great game and very scary and I'm just not seeing that. Maybe I don't scare easily

Carl

My gaming rig (only 1.5 years old) was top of the line for what I could afford at the time barely plays F3. Ok.. the graphics are set to Medium Quality and the resolution is something odd like 900x600 (wide screen monitor). So it looks like I am going to have to buy another video card to SLI to the first or a monster new card to replace the old. With the graphics/resolutions that way it is and the way things are kinda slow I cant really play much before I want to hurt the computer.

According to that website above (can you run this?) I meet the minimum requirements on video but miss the recommeded video... hmmm...

I ran the canyourunit tool and it's a bit confused by my system. Apparently due to the dual video cards. I have a 9250 with 256M of ram and a 4870 with 512M of ram. It seems to have them reversed but it seems the system is where the confusion is and not with the tool.

Carl

dog, try going into advanced options and turning the texture size settings down a notch. I find that on my mid-range card that helps with performance imeasurably. it went from barely playable, lags often, to smooth as silk. doesn't look as pretty, but that's what I get for being frugal when buying hardware.


btw, question for those who have tried an evil char, spoilers obviously:

for those who went evil, and took the contract killer perk, is the guy you sell ears to in the scrapyard office, and obviously the devil in disguise? you can't kill him, I tried. also he's a tightfisted bastard. 10 caps/ear.


EDIT: there's also a patch out now on bethesda's website, might help with bugs/ performance issues.

I have been playing it on an XBOX 360 and it plays just fine. Because VATS can be used not just to fire a called shot, but to instantly align your mouse with a target, I dont miss the mouse at all. If you use VATS for shooting and for aiming, its not really an FPS, but a First Person RPG.

It plays alright as a shooter, though there are times that it can get difficult to win certain fights without called shots.

There is still some dark humor, such as the Republic of Dave and how frank they are about threatening to execute you for the smallest infraction, or the Crazy wife in Arefu, who says 'Oh, I made cookies for you, here'and hands you a piece of trash

But yes, less humor than the rest of the series. Great job with the people though. Their personalities are often very realistic and ironic. I know some may hate to hear me say this, but Fallout3 has what feels like a more realistic representation of a postnuclear world than the first two games are. Where F1 and 2 were more funny, this one is alot more immersive.

Man, I _almost_ bought it from Steam last night. I'd rather have the DVD in hand though so I delayed but it was hard. I played Starcraft instead

Carl

After watching my roommate play it a bit on the xbox, I finally made up my own character and started playing. Not bad, I enjoyed it. What's interesting was watching his character early on (lvl. 3) take down three guys in brotherhood outcast power armor, who were armed with lasers including the heavy rapid fire laser. Only took using 4 grenades from surprise and then taking cover behind a rock and switching to an assault rifle to finish off the last guy. Needless to say he could afford buying some nice stuff from the merchant in megaton.

yes, luck and high agi with some int and enduracne thrown in for good measure will go a long way in that game . .
and we see why the assault rifle is king of the battlefield nowadays, because it's able to fire well aimed bursts over some distance . .
and as for grenades: as soon as the safety is off, mr.grenade is no longer your friend!

grenades + vats are quite broken. even with low explosives skill, you can hit people quite easily.

Yes. I have it for the 360. Enjoying it as best I can, with what time I have. This weeks been a bit chaotic, to say the least. But headshotting mutants and watching their brains go kablooey is good stress release.

My wife surprised me with this last night. She installed it, then hid her task bar and asked if I could help her fix it

Unfortunately, our video card is one model behind the minimum (we have a Radeon 350/550/1050 and the lowest is 850). Exasperating! I found an MSI Radeon HD 3450 for $25 on newegg, so I'm considering that, but we didn't have the money for the game in the first place. *sigh*

At least I can look at the pretty disc art

the game cost how much?
how tight is the money with you people, if you don't have about 100 bucks to spare for something like that?
makes me feel bad considering i just spent about 1k on 4 games and a new laptop to play them on <.< . .

Game was $50, a new video card would be about $40, after S&H and so on. $100 for a new game, even Fallout, is a bit steep.

technically, i spent 865€ on Fallout 3 . .
65€ for the Collectors Edition of Fallout 3 and 800€ on a new LapTop to be able to actually play the Game and to tide me over, until i can build my new Desktop computer . .

played the main story from end to end in maybe 20 hours.

also, no need for ammo ones one is packing fist of iron x3, a power fist (i laughed like a mad man when i found it in some crate) and pumped unarmed combat skill. oh, and pump your AP any chance you get.

going that route, one can theoretically match the energy weapon for pure damage ability. especially if one can keep the fist at near perfect condition. there is even a rare version thats even more powerful then the version i found (and managed to keep at around 50% condition).

just to bad that you cant do "called shots" using unarmed or melee weapons. and i kinda miss the ability to go for the eyes or groin. i would have loved to see a critical unarmed combat attack to the groin, while wearing power armor, result in the character kicking the target airborne.

there's a power-fist called The Shocker too
an electrically charged Power-Fist that seems to be especially effective against robots . . i did not try this out on other things yet, mind you . .

I'm disappointed, going as a stupid character (Int 1) doesn't seem to affect dialogue choices much. it was a riot in FO2

Just got done playing it a bit. So far it's pretty cool and with my setup, the graphics are spectacular. Coming out of 101 was actually a bit weird. They did get the eyes right though. There was an article recently where the games guys or CGI guys; something, had figured out that the eyes needed to move, well maybe not randomly but not looking at a fixed point all the time.

Carl