Fallout 3 story

[9mak9]

So I bought Fallout from GOG and I'm trying to play it but I cannot get into it. I am surprised since RPGs (BG and Torment) were what got me into gaming. I don't know why I never played Fallout; I can see its a good game but I just can't get involved in it

I really want Fallout 3 but I don't want to be left out of any story aspects of the game if I just play FO3. Any advice? you think I won't miss much?

 

[Zenoth]

You don't have to force yourself to play it if you really can't get into it. I suggest you to search for various sources of information concerning the Fallout fluff around the Internet, like Wikipedia (which itself contains information coming from exterior sources).

There has to be fan-made web-sites about the game's universe, general/important events and characters and their back stories, etcetera. After reading enough about the story it's pretty much as if you played it since Fallout is a lot about its story, and due to its age and visuals both the original and the sequel won't provide the same quality of "atmosphere" as they did back when they were very popular and loved by so many.

 

[9mak9]

yeah thats my main point is that I would love to play it but since I never did before its hard to start now...I can easily play BG, torment, etc. cause i played and loved those.

yeah i might just read up and prepare myself for FO3

 

[skace]

No Mutants Allowed might have some sort of massive writeup on Fallout 1 or 2, check there.

However, I'd suggest you take another attempt at Fallout 1. I fully expect your first experience with it to be jarring, but you've got to get past that and give it a few hours. Remember, not only are you going back to a very old game (which often times means a clunkier interface) but you are also going to back to a game that had a clunky interface for its time. It will take a bit to get back into that but it is worth it.

 

[Born2bwire]

Fallout can be a real grind at times, especially when you are starting out, even more so if you have a difficult load out. I just replayed it this month when I bought it from GOG and I gave myself a strength of 4. I forgot that most of the advanced weapons (even guns) require a strength of five or six which meant I was severely hampered for a good portion of the game (best I could use was a 14 mm pistol and a double barrel shotgun). One thing that can help make it easy on you is reading books in the game. If you go to the bookstore in the Hub, you can load up your Small Guns and other stats. If you have a decent steal skill level you can keep robbing the store owner to keep a steady supply of money for trading (You'd think she would notice after the fifteenth time I sold her back her own gun). Another thing that helps is robbing victims before a battle. Steal all their ammo and weapons and then start the combat and watch them resort to melee after they use up their magazine. So going at things head on makes it more difficult in a lot of situations, you can still get through the game this way but trying to do things creatively is what makes the game fun.

 

[bullbert]

It helps when you play through a strategy or RPG game, at the same time your friends/coworkers/schoolmates are playing. That way, you hear stories the next day about how:

* Fallout 2: Dogmeat got ripped in two by Cassidy's auto fire
* Arcanum: Playing INT=1 and talking with (another) really stupid NPC
* XCom1: Using the 'football' remote launcher forty-plus times to virtually clear a base.

With the message boards and game faq sites, you can read about these off beat things, but it just does not carry the same enthusiasm as telling/hearing stories from your buddies. Even if the game has no multiplayer or coop, getting real life friends involved adds elements to any game. With old classics like Fallout 1 & 2, most if not all the 'hidden' features and easter eggs have been described in depth in the most thorough walkthroughs. However, assuming you pay MSRP on release week for the brand spanking new games (and before patches make the game work), such detailed write-ups do not exist, yet. So with many friends reading many websites and with different playing styles and strategies, there is a better chance of hearing about the frills and giggles you might not encounter playing the games from just your favorite Rogue approach or Barbarian approach (or even just figuring out how to patch the DRM to make it run out of the box).

Also back in the day, when games like Fallout were new, there were no gamefaq web sites. Yup, back in those days, we had to walk 20 miles round trip, uphill both ways, just to find these games. Opps, sorry. Nevermind.

 

[lurk3r]

IIRC 2 was alot more polished. If you can't get into the story 3 will probably not be for you. The game has a huge cult following because of the story, gameplay etc. If that's what you are having trouble with think hard before you spend good money on it.

 

[Ganeedi]

I may get crucified for it, but i enjoyed fallout 2 more than 1 mainly because it was more polished. Sorry i dont remember anymore what exactly was better aside from interface - it was a while ago.

Dont get me wrong i loved both of them, but if i were to suggest playing them today to someone, i would suggest trying #2 first.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: lurk3r
IIRC 2 was alot more polished. If you can't get into the story 3 will probably not be for you. The game has a huge cult following because of the story, gameplay etc. If that's what you are having trouble with think hard before you spend good money on it.

Yeah, they fixed a lot of the minor annoyances. The ability to trade more than 999 caps at a time, the ability to shove the NPCs (mabe Fallout 1 had this though), the ability to swap gear with a partner via barter without making it a fair deal (had to steal in Fallout 1), better pathfinding, resting until morning now brings you to a time when the sun is up and etc. One thing that I like is that it seems that they make more use of some of the minor skills like lockpick, doctor and steal more. I see more locked items and at least one instance to use doctor.

 

[zinfamous]

I downloaded it from GOG too. I played briefly...didn't really like it. Then I got a bit further, and I'm sadly addicted

Reminds me a lot of Shadowrun for SNES, which is the exact type of game I love. Never can find enough games like these--certianly not these days as everything takes a backseat to or gets converted to FPS BS :|

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire

Originally posted by: lurk3r
IIRC 2 was alot more polished. If you can't get into the story 3 will probably not be for you. The game has a huge cult following because of the story, gameplay etc. If that's what you are having trouble with think hard before you spend good money on it.

Yeah, they fixed a lot of the minor annoyances. The ability to trade more than 999 caps at a time, the ability to shove the NPCs (mabe Fallout 1 had this though), the ability to swap gear with a partner via barter without making it a fair deal (had to steal in Fallout 1), better pathfinding, resting until morning now brings you to a time when the sun is up and etc. One thing that I like is that it seems that they make more use of some of the minor skills like lockpick, doctor and steal more. I see more locked items and at least one instance to use doctor.

damn straight. kind of odd that they didn't test these broken functions out before release. ...or at least fix them with the updates.

999 caps at a time? are you effing serious?

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire
Fallout can be a real grind at times, especially when you are starting out, even more so if you have a difficult load out. I just replayed it this month when I bought it from GOG and I gave myself a strength of 4. I forgot that most of the advanced weapons (even guns) require a strength of five or six which meant I was severely hampered for a good portion of the game (best I could use was a 14 mm pistol and a double barrel shotgun). One thing that can help make it easy on you is reading books in the game. If you go to the bookstore in the Hub, you can load up your Small Guns and other stats. If you have a decent steal skill level you can keep robbing the store owner to keep a steady supply of money for trading (You'd think she would notice after the fifteenth time I sold her back her own gun). Another thing that helps is robbing victims before a battle. Steal all their ammo and weapons and then start the combat and watch them resort to melee after they use up their magazine. So going at things head on makes it more difficult in a lot of situations, you can still get through the game this way but trying to do things creatively is what makes the game fun.

...and don't forget to hit the casino with a decent gamble stat. roulette, hold down 1 and 4 keys, profit.

I think my gamble is at 42, and I can make about 20k every 10 minutes or so....

I don't consider it "cheating," b/c you can't really horde loot and sell (damn merchants never have enough caps to buy your stuff in the first place) due to space and weight restrictions, the infinite pain involved in having to click down through your items every damn time (page up/down? c'mon!), and travel times from massacre to massacre.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: zinfamous

Originally posted by: Born2bwire
Fallout can be a real grind at times, especially when you are starting out, even more so if you have a difficult load out. I just replayed it this month when I bought it from GOG and I gave myself a strength of 4. I forgot that most of the advanced weapons (even guns) require a strength of five or six which meant I was severely hampered for a good portion of the game (best I could use was a 14 mm pistol and a double barrel shotgun). One thing that can help make it easy on you is reading books in the game. If you go to the bookstore in the Hub, you can load up your Small Guns and other stats. If you have a decent steal skill level you can keep robbing the store owner to keep a steady supply of money for trading (You'd think she would notice after the fifteenth time I sold her back her own gun). Another thing that helps is robbing victims before a battle. Steal all their ammo and weapons and then start the combat and watch them resort to melee after they use up their magazine. So going at things head on makes it more difficult in a lot of situations, you can still get through the game this way but trying to do things creatively is what makes the game fun.

...and don't forget to hit the casino with a decent gamble stat. roulette, hold down 1 and 4 keys, profit.

I think my gamble is at 42, and I can make about 20k every 10 minutes or so....

I don't consider it "cheating," b/c you can't really horde loot and sell (damn merchants never have enough caps to buy your stuff in the first place) due to space and weight restrictions, the infinite pain involved in having to click down through your items every damn time (page up/down? c'mon!), and travel times from massacre to massacre.

Oh yeah, I forgot that now merchants do not magically replenish their caps after a conversation. You're right on the gambling too, I never found it useful in Fallout 1 but with the limited money supply in Fallout 2 it could be more useful (inflation be damned).

 

[Kromis]

At first I couldn't get into Fallout but after seeing Fallout 3, I decided to give it another go.

I was hooked

Unfortunately, I still can't get into Baldur's Gate II...

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: Kromis
At first I couldn't get into Fallout but after seeing Fallout 3, I decided to give it another go.

I was hooked

Unfortunately, I still can't get into Baldur's Gate II...

I wish I could, I got the game a long time ago but never got around to playing it. The CDs are pristine except for the first one that is ruined by a single scratch. With the publisher out of business I can't get a new CD legitimately.