Fallout 3 Impressions

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:44 pm

Tscott wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Tscott wrote:Bah. I just went up and down the Statesman Hotel five times looking for a damn fission battery in a maintenance closet to fix the elevator. Someone said it was "on the third floor" when I asked, and I remembered passing a few closets on the way up and leaving behind some stuff that didn't interest me. Instead it was right before I reached the roof, tucked under a staircase. At least I got a real nice suit of armor for my troubles after all was said and done.
You could have followed the quest arrow.
How do you think I finally found it? Yeah, I wasn't thinking right as I was playing it today.

Did you find a holotape?

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:49 pm

All this talk of where and how to found wasteland settlements makes me want to make a mod where the player character must form his own settlement. Gathering survivors, dealing with infighting, establishing government, defense, supplies, etc...

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:04 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Tscott wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Tscott wrote:Bah. I just went up and down the Statesman Hotel five times looking for a damn fission battery in a maintenance closet to fix the elevator. Someone said it was "on the third floor" when I asked, and I remembered passing a few closets on the way up and leaving behind some stuff that didn't interest me. Instead it was right before I reached the roof, tucked under a staircase. At least I got a real nice suit of armor for my troubles after all was said and done.
You could have followed the quest arrow.
How do you think I finally found it? Yeah, I wasn't thinking right as I was playing it today.
Did you find a holotape?

I don't recall finding one. Should I have?

BTW, the quest arrow wins again. It solved the mystery of why Hannibal and his crew weren't meeting me at the Lincoln Memorial. They were meeting me 100 yds to the left of the Memorial. (That's what I get for fast traveling in, running around a bit to see that no one's there, then fast traveling out.)

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:28 pm

Turtle wrote:All this talk of where and how to found wasteland settlements makes me want to make a mod where the player character must form his own settlement. Gathering survivors, dealing with infighting, establishing government, defense, supplies, etc...

A post apocalyptic Hinterland sounds cool. Are you listening, Titled Mill?

Bad Demographic · Post by **Bad Demographic** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:39 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Tscott wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Tscott wrote:Bah. I just went up and down the Statesman Hotel five times looking for a damn fission battery in a maintenance closet to fix the elevator. Someone said it was "on the third floor" when I asked, and I remembered passing a few closets on the way up and leaving behind some stuff that didn't interest me. Instead it was right before I reached the roof, tucked under a staircase. At least I got a real nice suit of armor for my troubles after all was said and done.
You could have followed the quest arrow.
How do you think I finally found it? Yeah, I wasn't thinking right as I was playing it today.
Did you find a holotape?

I had to go back to find the holotape. It took me forever. And then I couldn't find my way out. I swear I kept ending up at Theo's body over and over.

Doomboy · Post by **Doomboy** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:08 am

Grifman wrote:
Turtle wrote:All this talk of where and how to found wasteland settlements makes me want to make a mod where the player character must form his own settlement. Gathering survivors, dealing with infighting, establishing government, defense, supplies, etc...
A post apocalyptic Hinterland sounds cool. Are you listening, Titled Mill?

I've always wanted a post apocalypse city builder. Building up a city in the wasteland, and then triggering some kind of disaster or attack, just like could be done with Stronghold. Or just watching the little survivors trying to keep surviving. I'd love it.

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:04 pm

So I'm currently out of quests (except for the main one) and I'm just exploring the wastelands looking for something to do. And what do you know? The game provides. This morning I found 1) a better way to eat molerat meat, 2) some deadly trap filled raiders hideouts, 3) the most hilariously obvious, most complicated, least deadly trap ever, and 4) a huge slaver camp that I'm now in the process of taking down.

A nonny mouse · Post by **A nonny mouse** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:35 pm

O.K. I have been loving this game (~ 37 hours in). I just finished 2 more quests last night

Spoiler:

and am continuing with the wastelnd guide quest.

Spoiler:

I have so much yet to explore, and am enjoying the shit out of this. I haven't stayed up 'till 1:00am gaming in a long time.

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 8:04 pm

RE: Molerats

The place I encountered some of them today was

Spoiler:

If you haven't been there already, that should get you enough for the Survival Guide quest.

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:55 am

Tscott wrote:RE: Molerats

The place I encountered some of them today was
Spoiler:
directly west of Vault 101, in the Jury St Station tunnels.
If you haven't been there already, that should get you enough for the Survival Guide quest.

another suggestion for killing molerats...

Spoiler:

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:05 am

Molerat questing:

Spoiler:

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:09 am

Grifman wrote:
Daehawk wrote:Peronally the overpass villages struck me as crazy. There seems to be a high amount of people out there packing dynamite bombs not to mention having to get food and water up there when under siege.
Assuming you can't fortify your crop/livestock fields, then how it is going to be any harder to get food/water up there than back to your fortified village when under siege? Besides, raiders are just that - raiders. They want quick easy pickings and wouldn't generally have the patience or desire to besiege a defended settlement.

For me the main disappointment with Rivet city was that it didn't take further direct advantage of the aircraft carrier setting. What better place to meet the Fallout equivalent of the Gyro Captain??

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:11 am

One of the big complaints about the game is that not only is there a level cap but that you can get to it rather quickly.

Welp, In at 98 hours in and I'm at level 16. As far as the main quest I am at Little Lamplight trying to get into vault 87. (about 2/3 through). I will probalby get to level 20 before games end but I don't think it will matter that much at that point.

Right now, I thinking about putting the game down for a bit and coming back to it latter - It's been pretty much Fallout 3 nonstop since the release date. Maybe a quick adventure game (finish up Culpa Innata) and then back to the the Wastelands.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:40 am

I'm assuming you can rush up to level 20 if you play the game that way. I was at level 16, I believe, when I finished the main quest and then backed up to wander around to mop up some of the secondary quests. I think that was somewhere around 33 hours in and I didn't hit the cap until around 60 hours in. I'm now at 80+ hours and seriously considering stepping away from it and playing something else as I've never put this much time into any game and others are calling my name. But I'll come back when the DLC hits.

Bad Demographic · Post by **Bad Demographic** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:21 pm

D.A.Lewis wrote:One of the big complaints about the game is that not only is there a level cap but that you can get to it rather quickly.

Welp, In at 98 hours in and I'm at level 16. As far as the main quest I am at Little Lamplight trying to get into vault 87. (about 2/3 through). I will probalby get to level 20 before games end but I don't think it will matter that much at that point.

Right now, I thinking about putting the game down for a bit and coming back to it latter - It's been pretty much Fallout 3 nonstop since the release date. Maybe a quick adventure game (finish up Culpa Innata) and then back to the the Wastelands.

There are mods that will increase the number of xp you need to level up. You should be able to find one at Fallout 3 Nexus. I applied it somewhere around level 13 and recently just hit level 18.
If you haven't gotten into vault 87, you could always postpone that and go find some side quests to do. With the mod applied, I can run around a lot more and not worry about hitting the level cap.
I like doing the side quests more than the main quest. I felt the same way in Oblivion. I wish there were a lot more side quests.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:37 pm

Hooray! I finally got back to the point I was at when I lost all my saved games!

I've got some things that I want to do with this good alt before the game ends, so I'm off to do that before I try to find Vault 112. I still haven't seen anything in the entire upper right 4 quadrants of the map. My next alt is going to be a not so good guy that doesn't do any part of the main quest, and will just wander the map like Kane, only causing hell for those he meets.

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:41 pm

I'm a bit over 49 hours into the game and just hit level 19. I didn't go for any of the extra XP perks, but I have done all optional quest items, and have been diligent about returning to drop off scrap metal, pre-war books and fingers for bonus XP. I think I'm only a bit over halfway through the main quest (I'm exploring as I go from Vault 112, back to Rivet City). I've felt the leveling system has been good so far, about a level every 2.5 hours of play, but I'm fast coming to the realization that it's going to stop soon. Too bad because I'd really like two of the level 20 perks and can't decide which to get when I reach that point (Explorer is currently edging out the Grim Repeaper).

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:45 pm

Get Grim Reaper's Sprint, it's amazing in combat, and honestly you can find a guide online that'll show you all the locations.

A nonny mouse · Post by **A nonny mouse** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:21 pm

Paul Roberts wrote:Molerat questing:

Spoiler:
Go deeper into the Tepid Sewers. You'll find yourself fighting some other opponents for a while, but there will be more molerats beyond them.

Excellent. Just did that.

Spoiler:

Thanks for the suggestions.

Nonny

MT · Post by MT » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:02 pm

A question about how to get to a location:

Spoiler:

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:20 pm

MT wrote:A question about how to get to a location:

Spoiler:
I'm in the Irradiated Metro and I can see on the map the door to L'Enfant Plaza but I cannot for the life of me see how to get to in within the game. When I go to the place in the metro that overlaps where the door should be there is just a solid wall. Can someone help me find it?

I don't remember that specific map but the door could be on a floor above or below you. The local maps don't differentiate between floors. Or it could be a ladder or manhole or something instead of a door.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:22 pm

Tscott wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:Did you find a holotape?
I don't recall finding one. Should I have?

There's one there. It's not necessary but can be interesting. If you didn't find it, no big deal. But if you play through again, look for it.

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:47 am

I'm replaying this and I'm still constantly getting "lost" in the game. I don't mean that I can't find my way, but instead I'm taking all these long detours. First time through, in the survival guide quest, I zipped over to the super-duper mart and back- this time I wandered a bit and found a building with a teddy bear assembly line, that led to a long but interesting part of the sewer system that I never visited before and spent my entire night exploring that area. BTW, if you go for the Rock-It Launcher, you HAVE to visit this teddy bear assembly line for use as ammo. Hilarious.

I was going to make my new character evil and go that route, but it doesn't seem to be working out that well for me. I just didn't have the heart to help Mr. Burke with his Megaton "problem" (the survival guide quest bonuses are enough for me to keep the city around) and while I'm stealing everything in sight and killing the odd innocent, I'm still getting positive karma despite my best efforts. Thought getting the hemophage perk from the Blood Ties quest might net me some negativity, but no everything wrapped up nice and positive. So instead I just got my first group of Talon Company men sent after me. Go figure.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:08 am

75 hours in, and only now starting Vault 112 (I put the game away for a couple of weeks because I stupidly could not find the entrance to the Jefferson Memorial - don't ask!).

Anyway, are you saying that I'm only halfway through the main quest? Because I thought I'd finish it up and explore the half of the map I haven't touched when I restarted (eventually) with a new character.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:40 pm

I'm pretty much the same way.
One thing that bugs me is how tough it is to be anything but a good guy in this game. I'd like to be neutral or a bit evil but unless I want to run around stealing everything I can find and killing everybody I meet or not doing any side quests it seems that's the way it is.
Maybe I should have become a slaver.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:51 pm

It may be tough to be "evil", but it's amazingly easy to lose karma, even when you have no choice

Spoiler:

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 1:33 pm

tgb wrote:It may be tough to be "evil", but it's amazingly easy to lose karma, even when you have no choice
Spoiler:
like in the Vault 112 simulation.

Spoiler:

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 2:59 pm

tgb wrote:It may be tough to be "evil", but it's amazingly easy to lose karma, even when you have no choice
Spoiler:
like in the Vault 112 simulation.

To be fair, you do actually have a choice in that specific circumstance.

Edit:
Note to self: Refresh the threads that you opened over an hour ago, before replying.

farley2k · Post by **farley2k** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:14 pm

Kyosho wrote:
tgb wrote:It may be tough to be "evil", but it's amazingly easy to lose karma, even when you have no choice
Spoiler:
like in the Vault 112 simulation.
To be fair, you do actually have a choice in that specific circumstance.

Edit:
Note to self: Refresh the threads that you opened over an hour ago, before replying.

The choice to read a FAQ!

Spoiler:

Effidian · Post by **Effidian** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:20 pm

farley2k wrote:
Kyosho wrote:
tgb wrote:It may be tough to be "evil", but it's amazingly easy to lose karma, even when you have no choice
Spoiler:
like in the Vault 112 simulation.
To be fair, you do actually have a choice in that specific circumstance.

Edit:
Note to self: Refresh the threads that you opened over an hour ago, before replying.

The choice to read a FAQ!
Spoiler:
Seriously who could randomly guess the right combination to trigger the console?

Spoiler:

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:56 pm

Effidian wrote:
Spoiler:
You don't need to guess. The sounds they make give you enough clues to figure it out. I did that the first time through, because I was trying to figure out a way not do do "bad" things.

Yeah, it's actually quite obvious.

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:09 pm

Little Raven wrote:
Effidian wrote:
Spoiler:
You don't need to guess. The sounds they make give you enough clues to figure it out. I did that the first time through, because I was trying to figure out a way not do do "bad" things.
Yeah, it's actually quite obvious.

Spoiler:

Post by **godhugh** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:53 pm

I just didn't have the heart to help Mr. Burke with his Megaton "problem" (the survival guide quest bonuses are enough for me to keep the city around)

If you do help him with his problem, Moira does not die and reappears at an appropriate location for someone who just survived a close range nuclear blast.

Sectoid · Post by **Sectoid** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:36 am

Been playing this for a while now and I guess it is just my style, but this thing is damn long. I have no idea what percentage of side quests I've done, but there are a lot. I also find myself going back to previously completed sites a lot because I'm a hoarder.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:01 am

Sectoid wrote:Been playing this for a while now and I guess it is just my style, but this thing is damn long. I have no idea what percentage of side quests I've done, but there are a lot. I also find myself going back to previously completed sites a lot because I'm a hoarder.

I finished it with about 98 hours of play time and all but 2 quests finished, I think. And I didn't use a guide at all.

About hour 70 I was finally able to quit hoarding so much (didn't have to grab every piece of armor and .32 pistol).

Matrix · Post by **Matrix** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:30 pm

Now that i am able to run it on my new comp, been playing it lately. I must say i had relatively high expectations for it, but it has by far exceeded it. It really pulls in, very immersivve. With very good quests to boot.

Quick question, is there any house or anything that can be used for storage, since i keep finding myself running out of space when i carry all the stuff on myself and with low strength it means i have to carry just bare essentials pretty much all the time.

Two Sheds · Post by **Two Sheds** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:40 pm

Without giving anything away, there is a house available in Megaton and lodgings in Tenpenny Tower. If you want more details about how to acquire them, I (or somebody) can put them in spoiler tags but you should be able to get them without help.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 1:46 pm

Matrix wrote:Quick question, is there any house or anything that can be used for storage, since i keep finding myself running out of space when i carry all the stuff on myself and with low strength it means i have to carry just bare essentials pretty much all the time.

And if you don't want to wait for a house, you can pretty much use any container. (I used the lockers in the bathroom in Megaton.) Unlike Oblivion, containers don't respawn, which means you never lose any of your stuff. So pick any old dumpster or locker or whatever and it will serve perfectly well as a storage unit until you get a more permanent residence.

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:59 pm

Little Raven wrote:Unlike Oblivion, containers don't respawn, which means you never lose any of your stuff. So pick any old dumpster or locker or whatever and it will serve perfectly well as a storage unit until you get a more permanent residence.

I haven't experienced it myself (because I've learned from previous games not to), but I'd swear I read multiple times on the official forums right after the game came out, that containers do indeed respawn in FO3. The ones in your house don't. And I think ones that were empty from the start, don't. But I could be wrong on that last one.

Actually, now that I think of it, I did experience it once. I kept a lot of food in a fridge. One time when I came back there were only a few things in there, so it must have respawned.

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:01 pm

double-post