Fallout 3 impressions

[pontifex]

been playing for about 2.5 hours now. exited the vault and went into the Springvale school before going to megaton. haven't even entered megaton yet.

anyway, i'm not sure how i feel yet. does any of the stuff you can pick up become useful at any point, like scrap metal or parts of things? I mean, can you use this to repair stuff later or is it useless trash or maybe only good for a few dollars?

is there a lockpicking tutorial? i totally do not understand how you pick locks at all. it makes no sense to me.

i wish there was a little more explanation on stuff.

i like VATS but wtf do i have to manually activate it? also, wtf don't you stay in vats mode after using your ap? i go into VATS mode, shoot, end my turn, and then VATS goes away and i'm stuck with an enemy rushing at me. i can return to vats mode and then do 1 shot/burst and then i'm back to real time. is it because VATS is only for called shotsl, not regular combat? i'm trying to remember how it worked in F1 and F2. maybe i'm not remembering it correctly or maybe because those games were completely turn-based, not real time. maybe i'm trying to make this game be like the originals and it's not?


One thing though is that i haven't had many "whoa, this is awesome!" moments that i had in FC2 almost right away. I think the 1st time i used vats on a human, it went "whoa, that is awesome!" but other than, i'm not too impressed so far.
I didn't like Oblivion and I'm seeing a lot of similarities to it in F3 so i'm sure that is influencing me as well. i'll give it some more time and see.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: pontifex
been playing for about 2.5 hours now. exited the vault and went into the Springvale school before going to megaton. haven't even entered megaton yet.

anyway, i'm not sure how i feel yet. does any of the stuff you can pick up become useful at any point, like scrap metal or parts of things? I mean, can you use this to repair stuff later or is it useless trash or maybe only good for a few dollars?

is there a lockpicking tutorial? i totally do not understand how you pick locks at all. it makes no sense to me.

i wish there was a little more explanation on stuff.

i like VATS but wtf do i have to manually activate it? also, wtf don't you stay in vats mode after using your ap? i go into VATS mode, shoot, end my turn, and then VATS goes away and i'm stuck with an enemy rushing at me. i can return to vats mode and then do 1 shot/burst and then i'm back to real time. is it because VATS is only for called shotsl, not regular combat? i'm trying to remember how it worked in F1 and F2. maybe i'm not remembering it correctly or maybe because those games were completely turn-based, not real time. maybe i'm trying to make this game be like the originals and it's not?


One thing though is that i haven't had many "whoa, this is awesome!" moments that i had in FC2 almost right away. I think the 1st time i used vats on a human, it went "whoa, that is awesome!" but other than, i'm not too impressed so far.
I didn't like Oblivion and I'm seeing a lot of similarities to it in F3 so i'm sure that is influencing me as well. i'll give it some more time and see.

1. Scrap metal can be sold for its listed value. And junk can be used to make weapons if you have the schematics.
2. To lockpick, press WASD (they all do the same thing), which turns the screwdriver and the lock. Use the mouse to angle the bobby pin so it doesn't break (it's about to break if it's shaking). When you rotate the lock IIRC 45 degrees without breaking the pin, it opens.
3. AP recharges in real time. So use VATS, hide behind a wall and wait for AP to recharge, and use it again.

There are just a few grievances I have after playing a bit more:

The fat man's blast radius is limited by walls and stuff. I killed a couple of robots in a room behind a wall by firing a mini nuke inside and I was totally unhurt - the blast seems a bit bigger outside. Also, does anyone know if you can use explosives to destroy locks? The game doesn't even let you attempt a lock if it's "too hard" (a mechanic from Oblivion that I hated), but I have plenty of mines. The game also doesn't have much in the way of tooltips - I've had to figure out what a lot of items do on my own.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: ConstipatedVigilante

Originally posted by: pontifex
been playing for about 2.5 hours now. exited the vault and went into the Springvale school before going to megaton. haven't even entered megaton yet.

anyway, i'm not sure how i feel yet. does any of the stuff you can pick up become useful at any point, like scrap metal or parts of things? I mean, can you use this to repair stuff later or is it useless trash or maybe only good for a few dollars?

is there a lockpicking tutorial? i totally do not understand how you pick locks at all. it makes no sense to me.

i wish there was a little more explanation on stuff.

i like VATS but wtf do i have to manually activate it? also, wtf don't you stay in vats mode after using your ap? i go into VATS mode, shoot, end my turn, and then VATS goes away and i'm stuck with an enemy rushing at me. i can return to vats mode and then do 1 shot/burst and then i'm back to real time. is it because VATS is only for called shotsl, not regular combat? i'm trying to remember how it worked in F1 and F2. maybe i'm not remembering it correctly or maybe because those games were completely turn-based, not real time. maybe i'm trying to make this game be like the originals and it's not?


One thing though is that i haven't had many "whoa, this is awesome!" moments that i had in FC2 almost right away. I think the 1st time i used vats on a human, it went "whoa, that is awesome!" but other than, i'm not too impressed so far.
I didn't like Oblivion and I'm seeing a lot of similarities to it in F3 so i'm sure that is influencing me as well. i'll give it some more time and see.

1. Scrap metal can be sold for its listed value. And junk can be used to make weapons if you have the schematics.
2. To lockpick, press WASD (they all do the same thing), which turns the screwdriver and the lock. Use the mouse to angle the bobby pin so it doesn't break (it's about to break if it's shaking). When you rotate the lock IIRC 45 degrees without breaking the pin, it opens.

so you have no way of knowing what will be useful later? I have a ton of crap in my inventory but i don't want to get rid of some of it for fear of needing it later.

i went through like 10 bobby pins on a very easy lock. i couldn't figure it out to save my life.

 

[Magusigne]

Firstly..I am sure a walkthrough will show you what parts are useful.

Personally I put all my junk in my house and sold weapons that I didn't need for money.

Lockpicking is somewhat easy once you get the hang of it. By rotating the pin and using the wasd keys to turn the lock you can find the optimum angle of putting the bobby pin. If it hesitates while turning (and the bobby pin shakes) you need to change the angle of the pin. You know your getting closer to the right angle if it turns more and more.

It takes some getting used to but you'll appreciate it eventually.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: pontifex
so you have no way of knowing what will be useful later? I have a ton of crap in my inventory but i don't want to get rid of some of it for fear of needing it later.

i went through like 10 bobby pins on a very easy lock. i couldn't figure it out to save my life.

Go easy on pressing WASD. You're looking for the right spot in the turn radius with your mouse. The closer you are, the longer you can hold WASD without getting stopped. Try tapping. I haven't broken any pins yet, but have only done very easy-easy locks.

I have no idea which of those things are useful. Right now, I'm storing 1 of each unique looking item (hope they stay).

Ok, I gave it another 3 hours. Got pissed earlier cause I thought I had to start over after 3 hours I did yesterday; I logged off Live yesterday before starting, it auto-logged me in when I started today. Lo and behold, my saves were under a different (logged off) profile. Ended up just copying my saves in 'My Games' over.

My settings are now slightly under medium with large textures after using medium for a day. The difference is amazing, especially in terms of text. Performance wasn't really affected luckily. I had my first "WOW" moment using the VATS system (loving it for gunplay). Some raider walked up to me while I was sneaking around with a pistol, so I hit 'v' and chose left arm, right arm, double-tap head point blank. Seeing him go down in slo-mo was just badass. I just hope that respawns are very very slow/long.


Spoiler
Something weird in Megaton. After I disarmed the bomb, I took a n ap in my house. Upon coming out and walking around town, I found the Sheriff dead. No one mentions it except his son. WTF happened? It's possible he walked off a ledge, but it's not that far up. Do I need him later?

 

[Eeezee]

Does the Steam version of Fallout 3 also use SecuRom?

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
Since I hate turn based fighting could you just go through it as a FPS without ever using VAT?

Good question. Anyone?

I'm not much for RPG's, I'm mainly a FPS fan. I didn't even like STALKER.

 

[Zenoth]

Yes, to directly answer that question, it's possible to only play without VATS, and by the way VATS isn't making the combat turn-based, VATS is a targeting system that stops the time until you've finished selecting body parts that you wish to target with a given percentage of hitting chance. So you see an enemy for example, you press your VATS key, then the time stops, everything around you stops and the camera immediately zooms in the target with body parts you can select, you can also do it for the surrounding NPCs/monsters around the original target.

When you're finished then the camera zooms on you by a third person point and your character fires in slow motion on the selected body parts, but the targeted unit(s) are not moving during that moment, you somewhat become the spectator and that's it. When the firing is finished (anything between one to four or five shots I think, depending on your VATS points to "spend" on body parts to shoot at) then the combat just resumes normally, normal speed, first person. But no where during the VATS shooting procedure the target will attack, it's never the target's "turn". It's your turn and no one else's. So yeah, it's just a targeting system with some slow motion and potential dismemberment as a result.

It's a fun system, and it's not imposed on the player, but using it DOES make it potentially easier to kill any given target(s). So the player is certainly encouraged to use it, and frankly once you get the hang of it it's a nice thing to have and use regularly. I guess you could call it a semi turned-based system but then again the word "turn" in there doesn't have any place.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

I wouldn't worry about the junk items you find unless they're valuable enough to sell (value vs. weight ratio). I've found so many of the same items at this point (level 6, about 4 hours). You can just go out exploring and find them in any new locations.

 

[Frodolives]

While we're listing tips, I see that someone has mentioned hot key assignment (a must!), but I didn't notice anyone speak of this healing tip: within Pipboy, while viewing your status, try hovering mouse over a specific crippled limb, then hit "S" for stimpak. You can also use "A" for radaway, and "X" for radx, assuming you have them.

 

[RS8]

Came across a random glitch where a super mutant with a minigun got knocked over by one of my shots. After a while he gets up, I shoot the gun out of his hands and... he's STILL shooting at me as if he's still holding it.

I know I hated on the lockpicking in another thread, now I don't mind it. What I do hate is navigating the towns/cities (it really needs quick travel indoors!) and the hacking system.

I haven't tried to blow up a locked safe/door/whatever yet.

What a pain in the ass to find certain people in towns.

 

[Zenoth]

Talking about key assignments indeed, has anyone been able to re-assign the action ('E') key? It tells me that it cannot be re-assigned but really, how can any developer do that to a PC game? If it's somehow hard-coded they've got to be kidding. I've checked the FALLOUT.ini file and I found the Controls branch but within it there's nothing already available referring to almost all of the keys and actions possible.

I'm not playing with WASD so I'd really like to re-assign it, as of now it's annoying, but I can live with it, I guess. Also, related to keys and functions, I've noticed that if I re-assign the PipBoy key then upon pressing that new key the PipBoy comes up just fine, but if I press that same key again to quit the PipBoy and come back to the game it doesn't work, and I am forced to use 'F1' instead, anyone else noticed?

 

[squirtle24]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
But no where during the VATS shooting procedure the target will attack, it's never the target's "turn". It's your turn and no one else's. So yeah, it's just a targeting system with some slow motion and potential dismemberment as a result.

It's a fun system, and it's not imposed on the player, but using it DOES make it potentially easier to kill any given target(s). So the player is certainly encouraged to use it, and frankly once you get the hang of it it's a nice thing to have and use regularly. I guess you could call it a semi turned-based system but then again the word "turn" in there doesn't have any place.

Well, technically, if you start VATS as your target is attacking you, then you will be attacked after you accept your target areas - it just happens in slow motion. So I've had some a ratmole in midair slowing moving towards me as I shot as well as bullets whizzing by my head during the VATS firing sequence.

 

[Zenoth]

Dammit, I've just had my first crash (after about two hours of game-play in a total of eight), I made tweaks in the .ini file, I'll let the game create a default one and I'll see if it stays stable that way.

 

[JasonSix78]

Would anyone recommend this game for a person who mainly likes FPS'? I can't stand RPGs but I thought Oblivion was ok. Also, I liked the blend of FPS/RPG in the STALKER series. I was thinking about either this one or Dead Space.

 

[Zenoth]

Well, JasonSix78, Fallout 3 is perhaps more action-oriented than Oblivion was so at first glance yes it's probably more suited than Oblivion could ever be for FPS lovers out there. If you liked Oblivion I think that you might well like Fallout 3, they're both very similar.

 

[hans007]

i was rather engrossed in the game, but i've had it crash several times.

makes me wish i got the xbox one and bought an xbox.

i've actually had it completely hardlock my machine and need the on/off switch pressed. So i have no idea what is wrong with it. a coworker of mine bought it and says it has crashed on him as well and gets stuck in our debuggers (have visual studio on our machines).


oh well.

still seems lik ea great game.

 

[novasatori]

pretty sick game, first exit upon the vault is like whoamygodsweet!

 

[pontifex]

my game didn't want to quit last night. i hit exit game and it just hung there with the background image you see when you press esc during gameplay. had to go to task manager and kill the process.

 

[novasatori]

I've had that problem a couple times, one time it was a hard lock

 

[Magusigne]

So far No problems as far as crashes or locks.

Steam version

Rig in the sig on Vista x64..

 

[Mem]

Thanks for the feedback guys, looks like the verdict in general is positive on F3,I'll probably buy the game near Xmas,hopefully a patch will be out by then as well.

I'm looking forward to playing this game.

 

[JasonSix78]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
Well, JasonSix78, Fallout 3 is perhaps more action-oriented than Oblivion was so at first glance yes it's probably more suited than Oblivion could ever be for FPS lovers out there. If you liked Oblivion I think that you might well like Fallout 3, they're both very similar.

Thanks for the response Zenoth, I might have to grab it then.

 

[ZappDogg]

Sat down with it for the first time last night, and ended up playing about 4 hours worth. Of course, since I'm a compulsive scavenger and conversationalist, I didn't make it very far; only to the supermarket mission for Moira.

Some initial thoughts:

Conversations are very engaging; much better than Oblivion. I am concerned, however, that the quality will fall off sharply the deeper I get into the game...much in the way many movies start off with great dialogue and slowly devolve.

Lockpicking is HARD.

3rd person is pretty much totally useless, and the animations for your character are laughable at best.

Not being able to jump unless you are moving is strange. I definitely got my guy stuck behind some tables in the upper floor of a house in Megaton...couldn't jump out of the space, and couldn't run to build momentum, so had to load from my last save.

AWESOME that it autosaves when walking into any building...conversation/fight not go down like you wanted? You're only out 2-3 minutes of playtime.

Finding specific people in the cities can be pretty daunting. The directional signs in Megaton aren't very helpful, either. I only found the doc once, and that was by chance.

VATS is very cool, and definitely makes up for the less-than-stellar standard FPS controls. Pretty awesome when you crit unexpectedly and get a great kill in slow-mo.

The Pip-Boy is surprisingly easy to navigate, once you get the hang of it, and inventory management isn't as clunky as I had feared. I wish the maps were a little more intuitive, though.

Instant feedback for leveling up is a huge advancement over Oblivion's "sleep to ding" system.

Fast travel is still a very, very welcome feature, especially after Far Cry 2 =P

Also, I haven't experienced any crashes (besides it hanging on exit a few times, but that's a non-issue).

 

[imported_Imp]

So does anyone have any experience with enemy respawns yet?

Spoiler
I cleared out the exterior of the school outside Megaton, and after 2-3 game days, no one has come back yet. I'm kinda wishing that it's very long or non-existant.