Fallout: New Vegas [split topic]

[Ignatius_S]

They'll probably end up releasing all the extras guff through Live eventually anyway.

Looking at http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas, it says that each pack has a unique weapon and armour - the other are regular in-game items. I'm sure you're right about being able to get them by other means.

Spoiler alert

On the above link, lower down, it suggests that these bonus packs replace normal starting items.

[close]

[Garfield And Friends]

The collector's edition packages look like fun, but I know that the plastic trinkets will end up cluttering up my place and be put to no good use.

I agree with this. I don't buy collector's editions, unless there is actual on-disc (and unlocked) extra content to play through.

All the little figurines, signed postcards, and fancy oversized packaging is highly disposable. And doesn't stack on shelves properly next to my regular game containers.









_{(Though I make the occasional exception for retro games stuff I collect. I prefer original big box releases over budget re-releases with poor minimal packaging.)}

[Ignatius_S]

Interview with project director – quite nice, but nothing really new.

Haven't watched it yet, but there's the first part of a development diary for the game, which has been posted onto YouTube and is meant to whet the appetite.

[Hanslow]

Looking forward to this, even though I understand it's using the same engine as the last one, I'm still interested to see what they do with it. Hope it's got the legs of it's predecessor.

...and number 3 used the same engine as Oblivion.

I enjoyed Fallout 3 and got many hours out of it. But I was still disappointed seen as Fallout 2 was the best game ever made. I anticipate New Vegas, but don't expect anything original from the gaming market any more.  Fallout 2/Boulder's Gate/Deus Ex are diamonds that'll never be surpassed.

[Mister Six]

I don't want to get your hopes up too much, but half the NV team worked on or oversaw Fallout 2...

[Hanslow]

I don't want to get your hopes up too much, but half the NV team worked on or oversaw Fallout 2...

arrr I remember hearing this a while back, but forgot. Maybe there is hope for some originality.

Although I fear part of the problem lies in developers putting to much emphasis on creating popular console games. For me the words 'popular' and 'console' totally conflict with what was good about Fallout 2.

[Mister Six]

I don't think it's a problem with console games[nb]Dragon Age 2 sold loads and that's as complex an RPG as, say, Baldur's Gate - after all, many PC users or former PC users also have an Xbox or PS3 these dats[/nb], but - in the case of F2 - a problem with graphically detailed games. F2 had a completely finished engine and loads of assets it could re-use, so aside from some fine-tuning and newly rendered characters, all they needed was time to write loads of text. You could use the same 'brunette male leather armour' sprite and have him be a mercenary, a sheriff, a gangster or a civilian - now you need a unique face for the guy and an actor to record all of his lines. Likewise, people now expect cities to be comprised of individually modelled buildings rather than some standard shack-looking sprites bodged together.

F3 did cut corners in some places, like the repeated building textures for generic towers and samey-looking underground railroads, but that will only get you so far. And all the art design and direction limits the number of unique characters, places and creatures you can encounter. It also requires a load more playtesting, as they found out with Alpha Protocol - you can't get away with games as bugged as Fallout 2 these days.

[jutl]

Dragon Age 2 sold loads...

?

[Mister Six]

Ha! Sorry, I was thinking about comparing it to Mass Effect 2 (which, despite being a pared-down shooter with RPG elements, sold less that DA:O) as I typed that; clearly my subconscious slipped a cheeky digit in. Ooh er, etc.

[Hanslow]

I don't think it's a problem with console games[nb]Dragon Age 2 sold loads and that's as complex an RPG as, say, Baldur's Gate - after all, many PC users or former PC users also have an Xbox or PS3 these dats[/nb], but - in the case of F2 - a problem with graphically detailed games. F2 had a completely finished engine and loads of assets it could re-use, so aside from some fine-tuning and newly rendered characters, all they needed was time to write loads of text. You could use the same 'brunette male leather armour' sprite and have him be a mercenary, a sheriff, a gangster or a civilian - now you need a unique face for the guy and an actor to record all of his lines. Likewise, people now expect cities to be comprised of individually modelled buildings rather than some standard shack-looking sprites bodged together.

F3 did cut corners in some places, like the repeated building textures for generic towers and samey-looking underground railroads, but that will only get you so far. And all the art design and direction limits the number of unique characters, places and creatures you can encounter. It also requires a load more playtesting, as they found out with Alpha Protocol - you can't get away with games as bugged as Fallout 2 these days.

That's a interesting point. So the more graphically complex games become the more homogenized they become. Still I'd prefer a less complex game with distinct character.

[Ignatius_S]

Interview with a senior producer for the game, which I thought was quite interesting and discusses a bit about how it will vary from Fallout 3.

[Benjie Trufflesnort]

I am so looking forward to this - I think more than any game over the last few years. Including a replay and the all the DLC (which should be a lesson to all developers in to how to expand the lifetime of a game - compare it to the shocking and bug-ridden Assassin's Creed II DLC), I've clocked up around 120 hours of play on it and still had stuff left to do.

My only real wish is that there's more radio content - I got very tired very quickly of the limited playlist last time.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I got sick of Three Dog badmouthing me for every little mistake or act of genocide I committed. So I clobbered him with a supersledge.

[Desi Rascal]

I am so looking forward to this - I think more than any game over the last few years. Including a replay and the all the DLC (which should be a lesson to all developers in to how to expand the lifetime of a game - compare it to the shocking and bug-ridden Assassin's Creed II DLC), I've clocked up around 120 hours of play on it and still had stuff left to do.

My only real wish is that there's more radio content - I got very tired very quickly of the limited playlist last time.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1418

[Custard]

Whilst leafing through the new issue of Edge magazine today, I came across a four-page pull-out advert fingy for this. I was quite surprised by how excited it made me feel.

Ahhhh *daydreams*

[Mister Six]

That's a interesting point. So the more graphically complex games become the more homogenized they become. Still I'd prefer a less complex game with distinct character.

No, that's not the point I was making - graphically advanced games don't necessarily become more homogenised, they just become less complex, because each new character you meet needs its own model and actor (or, at least, its own voice).

I was playing Planescape again recently and it was kind of heartbreaking realising that there was no way any mainstream game could ever have this level of depth, characterisation and worldbuilding ever again. 

[Benjie Trufflesnort]

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1418

That's only for PCs though isn't it? Or can it work on the Xbox version?

[Zero Gravitas]

You can download the track packs and play them on the media player I suppose.

[Desi Rascal]

 You'd have to ask around on a tech forum but this indicates it might be possible with something called Jtag'd 360, although it would probabaly be easier to pick up a cheap pc copy

http://falloutmods.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_3_modding_FAQ

[Ignatius_S]

...I was playing Planescape again recently and it was kind of heartbreaking realising that there was no way any mainstream game could ever have this level of depth, characterisation and worldbuilding ever again.

By a strange coincidence, Good Old Games has just started to offer Planescape: Torment as a download for $9.95

[Ignatius_S]

Competition to win a copy - http://www.frugalgaming.co.uk/?p=27517 - Twitter or Facebook account needed.

PC (minimum) specs confirmed:

"Enhanced for multi-core"
OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP
Processor: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
Memory: 2GB RAM, 10GB free hard drive space
Video card: nVidia GeForce 6 series, ATI 1300XT series minimum.
http://mmomfg.com/2010/10/04/fallout-new-vegas-pc-specs-1004/

Round-up of hands-on previews here.

[wasp_f15ting]

Does one need to complete fallout 3 to get the most out of this?

I am tempted to go back into it. I've only done about 20hrs though.. I dunno if I can be buggered doing another 80hrs :(

[Custard]

I'm too thinking about having a final spin of Fallout 3 before the newie comes out (which i probably won't get for a few weeks after release anyway). You're right though, it is a bit of a commitment. I've lost days months to that bleeder. Cracking fun, mind.

[Benjie Trufflesnort]

I doubt you need to play it through before New Vegas. But if you didn't get the DLC, Point Lookout is an absolute must. Amazing.

[wasp_f15ting]

I started playing it again today. Gosh its a bloody hard game.

I hate facing off against those massive brute mutants they kill me so easily..

I can't believe how big the game is though.. I keep doing a few levels then wandering around, its so expansive..

[Cohaagen]

Seems as good a place as any to post this: since I'm also really looking forward to New Vegas but finding the countdown grindingly slow, to help pass the time I started a new Fallout 3 game with the huge Wanderer's Edition mod. The scope of this transcends a mere add-on: the sheer quantity of new features is such that an exhaustive list is impossible here, without even getting into the simple modifications to existing gameplay (almost everything is altered in some way). Strangely enough, I've noticed that some of the new stuff in NV seems to be based on things first seen in the Wanderer's Edition (eg. crafting, Hardcore Mode).

First of all, ammo, food and drugs now have weight. Stimpacks heal over about six or seven seconds instead of instantly, and you need medical supplies/braces to heal crippled body parts. Levelling up, XP and skill points are now handled more like they were in Fallout 1 and 2, so you need to choose carefully as you can only really max out four or so skills. Combat is now deadlier for you, but also for any enemies.

Wasteland survival -  you need to eat, drink and sleep fairly regularly in order to stay in shape, though you can tailor/eliminate this (and all other features) using the in-game settings which are incorporated into your Pip-Boy. It works much better than it sounds: if you're going out on a long excursion you really need to think shrewdly and plan ahead, bringing just the right kit and guns (there are around 50+ new weapons, including all the ones from Fallout 1 and 2). I know this sounds fucking sad, but I had a fantastic bit of immersion recently where I was trekking out to the

Spoiler alert

Republic of Dave

[close]

with that fanny Jericho and needed to rest up and eat around midnight. Finding a nook in some rock face, I mined the entrance and approaches (enemies can, rarely, attack you whilst you sleep), set up the new portable bed, prepared some food on the food grill (decreases food rads) and hunkered down until dawn. I know I've made it sound a bit like a camping simulation and a pain in the arse, but it's not at all like that.

There are also about 40 new drugs on offer, from 2CB and methamphetamine to Xanax and Methadone, with the added ability to fill empty syringes and create a stabbable lethal weapon. In Rivet City I gave some poor bastard a PCP overdose, and his resulting frenzy caused everyone to wig out, draw their guns, and riddle his amped-up, super-strong body Tony Montana-style. Then I shot that dick Seagrave Holmes because I hated his stupid hat.

Thumbs up for:
much better character advancement (you're not going to be a Lvl 20 tank maxed out in all skills before you're halfway through now), sprinting, enemies now take cover/flank/support each other, watching people keel over after you've given them a Thorazine OD, all the weapons from F1 and F2, new perks, much improved weapon repair system, craftable items, loads of new armour and misc items, going tits on a gang of raiders with a Bren Gun and grenade launcher, etc.

Stupid Content:
combat can be mind-fuckingly hard at first before you tweak it to suit your tastes, trigger lag on a couple of weapons (might just be my PC). Also, I very nearly deleted it after my character was beaten to death by Butch at her 10th birthday party in the vault.

Um, I didn't mean to type that much. Anyway, just get it and give it a chance. It's that good.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2761

[wasp_f15ting]

What the fuck...

I didn't realise I was doing all the main quests... and then bang the story ended :(

Warning to those who havent completed read up on gamefaqs or ign walkthroughs just to know when the end is coming.

I only played it for about 18hrs and it ended really abruptly.. should have done the big side missions! Ahh well more to do now.

[Viero_Berlotti]

The side missions are better than the main story. Get the Broken Steel DLC as well as it continues the main story and lets you go up to level 30.

[wasp_f15ting]

I am thinking of getting the expansion pack, but is it better downloading the individual DLC, if so which ones are the best?

[Paaaaul]

I am thinking of getting the expansion pack, but is it better downloading the individual DLC, if so which ones are the best?

Broken Steel is essential. Point Outlook is great. The Pitt is good. Mothership Zeta is OK. Operation: Anchorage is fairly crap.

edit to add:-

but completing Operation:Anchorage will get you some of the best equipment in the game.