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If you have a companion, you have to part ways; telling them to wait for you, no matter how far away from the Northwest Passage, simply results in Jed telling you only one of you can go. Luckily, Veronica will wait for you at the Lucky 38, but I don't know about the other companions.
I think this is the default option/requirement for all the companions when you need to dump them.
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In a word, short. I spent hours working over Dead Money, but Honest Hearts took no time at all. The map remains active, but the only adversaries are critters, and there's really not much to explore. Two neat endings, though.
Too bad, I was hoping for a large map area add-on, something akin to Point Lookout. Maybe in one of the next two dlcs.
The Fallout facebook page just said the July 19th will be the Old World Blues release date.
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Looks like DLC data becomes unavailable if you're disconnected from Xbox Live. I tried to play this morning while the network connection was out and got a message that some of my DLC was 'corrupted' and some items would be 'unavailable'...I showed up surrounded by a pack of wild dogs naked and unarmed. Everything from DM and HH was simply gone.
I don't get this, since the data is literally on my HDD, and a connection shouldn't matter for me to access my own drive. I'm supposing this is some immature DRM software that can't recongize properly licensed content without a network connection to my Live account.
I'm doing a little minor research, but if this is the case, I may just wait and buy these DLCs when they're available on DVD.
This is similar to the weird digital licensing of most ebooks: unlike a physical book, the copy of which I purchase I then fully own under any and all circumstances (I'm not supposed to photocopy it or read it aloud for pay, etc; but if I do, it's not like the book suddenly vanishes or disintegrates), an ebook 'license' is subject to revocation, and I could potentially lose the actual digital file. Remember Amazon and 1984?
To me, this is (OK not quite the same) like buying a DVD, but I can't watch it unless my TV is connected to the internet
Looks like DLC data becomes unavailable if you're disconnected from Xbox Live. I tried to play this morning while the network connection was out and got a message that some of my DLC was 'corrupted' and some items would be 'unavailable'...I showed up surrounded by a pack of wild dogs naked and unarmed. Everything from DM and HH was simply gone.
I don't get this, since the data is literally on my HDD, and a connection shouldn't matter for me to access my own drive. I'm supposing this is some immature DRM software that can't recongize properly licensed content without a network connection to my Live account.
I'm doing a little minor research, but if this is the case, I may just wait and buy these DLCs when they're available on DVD.
This is similar to the weird digital licensing of most ebooks: unlike a physical book, the copy of which I purchase I then fully own under any and all circumstances (I'm not supposed to photocopy it or read it aloud for pay, etc; but if I do, it's not like the book suddenly vanishes or disintegrates), an ebook 'license' is subject to revocation, and I could potentially lose the actual digital file. Remember Amazon and 1984?
To me, this is (OK not quite the same) like buying a DVD, but I can't watch it unless my TV is connected to the internet
I play off-line and disconnected all the time but still have full access to all the DLC content. It's probably just what it says it is, somehow your DLC stuff got corrupted. All you need to do is erase the DLC from your hard-drive and re-install. You probably have lost your last save game though due to the corrupt DLC.
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I play off-line and disconnected all the time but still have full access to all the DLC content. It's probably just what it says it is, somehow your DLC stuff got corrupted. All you need to do is erase the DLC from your hard-drive and re-install. You probably have lost your last save game though due to the corrupt DLC.
This is what I initially thought, but when I reconnect to the internet, sign in to my Live account, the data is there. Disconnect, it's gone, reconnect back. I tried a few times just to be sure.
My Fallout 3 DLC data is playable offline with no issue: I think this is because I bought the GOTY edition, thus I didn't actually download any of the content.
I play off-line and disconnected all the time but still have full access to all the DLC content. It's probably just what it says it is, somehow your DLC stuff got corrupted. All you need to do is erase the DLC from your hard-drive and re-install. You probably have lost your last save game though due to the corrupt DLC.This is what I initially thought, but when I reconnect to the internet, sign in to my Live account, the data is there. Disconnect, it's gone, reconnect back. I tried a few times just to be sure.
My Fallout 3 DLC data is playable offline with no issue: I think this is because I bought the GOTY edition, thus I didn't actually download any of the content.
That's just weird, it might have to do with the GOTY edition. I would suggest trying to download the DLCs from the marketplace and see if you can them for free. That way you would bypass any internet connection only restrictions.
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I'm sorry, X, I was unclear. I have no problem, online or off, playing through and with DLC data of Fallout 3, and I think that's because I'm playing a retail GOTY copy of the game.
FONV, however, displays a 'corrupted DLC data' message when I play offline. If I connect to Live, the data is there, disconnect it's corrupted.
Some research last night suggests that I may be missing some data from my DM DLC, which the machine is reacquiring each time I start the game (while connected). Most of the cool items I brought back from HH I stored at the Lucky 38--I had to go back there to find Veronica and simply dropped off the souvenirs. But most of my other stuff had been repositioned to the abandoned BOS bunker once I returned form the SM. Offline, my HH data is extant, but the DM data is unavailable--so the BOS bunker is dark and mostly empty, the cot and desks gone, the SM vending machine and BOS trunk (with my gold and weapons), etc.
I've read some accounts across the web of similar things happening with games like ELder Scrolls.
Rassinfrassin bugs *mutter mutter*
Oh Obsidian, why must you write such wonderful stories and such horrible game code?
I'm a little late to the FNV party because my old gaming PC died and I didn't get a new one until a couple months ago. Been playing through the main story when I've had time.
What follows is lengthy, to rant a bit while explaining:
About halfway through, ED-E (one of the companions) disappeared. I thought it was odd, but I still had the perk he gives you and figured he was alive somewhere, and that if he just got stuck on some terrain somewhere, he'd just eventually respawn at Primm and I'd pick him up again. But he never did. Tried a few tricks like going up and down in the Vault 22 elevator but that doesn't work either.
It wasn't a problem for awhile, except NPCs occasionally commented on my robot that wasn't there, and I of course lost the stuff he was carrying. But I could live with that, so I kept going. UNTIL: I'm doing the Render Unto Caesar quest, and they tell you you can't go into a certain area until you remove your companions. Which you can't remove ED-E because he's not actually there. Now, I "fixed" this by going to the Lucky 38--that's another place where you can't enter alone, but fortunately, it forces your companions into "Wait" mode, rather than waits for you to do it yourself. So I did get ED-E in "Wait" mode so I could deal with that one quest.
But he's still considered a companion, so I can't recruit Rex and finish that quest.
And I just read recently that you can't play Honest Hearts because of this bug either (because you have to go alone, but the game doesn't remove your companions for you).
I fiddled with the console a bit, and if I do a player.moveto command, it takes me to a random spot outside Nellis Airforce base (but ED-E is not actually there). Based on what I've read on other message boards, apparently if the artillery fire you encounter in that area destroys ED-E, you don't get an "ED-E has died" message and the game keeps considering him there, even when he's not. I've tried fiddling with the console to resurrect the ED-E and move him to me, but nothing works. The weird thing is, once I moved to invisible!ED-E the first time and fiddled around, I could then move somewhere else and then move invisible!ED-E to my location--but still no body shows up, and no body, no dialogue, no dismiss from party. I haven't tried the console command to kill the character yet, and I'll see if that works, but otherwise this playthrough may be somewhat screwed. I do have old enough saves before he disappeared, but I played FAR, FAR, FAR into the game in the meantime, and don't really feel like repeating it all over again.
The really frustrating thing about this is all they needed to do was code in "Do you want to remove your companions?" command when recruiting a new companion or going into a companion free zone, and the problem would be solved. It's the fact that you can only dismiss a companion by talking to them (or kill them and hope they don't just become a robotic ghost that haunts you) that's the problem.
Thing is, after playing awhile, I even find the "Enhanced Sensors" perk a pain in the rear. It shows enemies so far away that half the time I'm sneaking around to no point, and then think something IS really far away when it turns out to be behind me. So the fact that I still have the perk isn't much consolation.
I know this game was buggy on release, but I figured nothing as potentially game breaking as this would remain after several patches. It's crazy. I may contact tech support if I can't figure it out, though I don't know if it's worth it. I've had few other issues--only other major problem was a quest bug (which really should have also been fixed) which I fixed with the console.
Anyway, just venting--and a WARNING! Be careful and keep good track of ED-E if you have him.
Rassinfrassin bugs *mutter mutter*
Oh Obsidian, why must you write such wonderful stories and such horrible game code?
Oh man. The memories.
Rassinfrassin bugs *mutter mutter*
Oh Obsidian, why must you write such wonderful stories and such horrible game code?
Oh man. The memories.
Oh yes. I actually had fewer problems with KotOR 2, but played it WELL after release and in some cases I just got lucky. And I still remember some pretty crazy weird events and dialogue loops--just fortunately nothing that would, say, make me unable to play future DLC. (Of course, since I can't play that DLC with my character--or until I make a new one or reload--maybe I just won't buy it...)
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Not sure if this will help you as I'm playing on PS3 but, as of the latest patch, there is now a terminal at the Gun Runners and the Lucky 38 which will allow you to send a message to all your companions telling them to go home. I imagine this was added specifically because of problems like yours.
Go to either location and find the wall-mounted screen and keyboard. It's next to Vendortron at the Gun Runners and next to the elevator on the Casino level of the Lucky 38. Simply interact witht the terminal and follow the directions. With luck, that will fix your problem.
Old World Blues is on time, I'm downloading it now.
Not sure if this will help you as I'm playing on PS3 but, as of the latest patch, there is now a terminal at the Gun Runners and the Lucky 38 which will allow you to send a message to all your companions telling them to go home. I imagine this was added specifically because of problems like yours.
Go to either location and find the wall-mounted screen and keyboard. It's next to Vendortron at the Gun Runners and next to the elevator on the Casino level of the Lucky 38. Simply interact witht the terminal and follow the directions. With luck, that will fix your problem.
That is good news! I will try that--I was hoping there'd be a patch when the next DLC came out (I didn't get on yesterday). Thanks.
Well I finished Old World Blues last night and I'm impressed. The dlc greatly outshines Honest Hearts and surpasses Dead Money in scope. This also has some of the funniest dialogue I've heard in a Fallout title.
A few things to keep in mind (no spoilers):
- highest dialogue check was 75 (any skill)
- one Very Hard computer terminal (Science 100)
- Proton axes! (throwing ones too)
- power armor is not the best choice of protection
- new uses for misc. items
- several Wild Wasteland moments
- One deathclaw
- high respawn rate
- missle ammo available (no idea about mini nukes)
This is based on my 80% exploration of Big MT.
Edit: One last thing, Autosaves tend to corrupt frequently in Big MT. so quicksave after every transition to keep from losing progress. Deleting the autosave, quicksave, then creating new saves does not seem to work this time. Hopefully not everyone's dealing with this (PC, Vista64).
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I agree. Old World Blues is my favorite DLC so far. I've only got one gripe. Sneaking is next to impossible.
I went through OWB with a sneaky character, entered Big Mountain with a 93 and, with the stealth suit mk2, it jumped up to 100+. However, through nearly the entire trip through the crater, my stealth warning display read Caution or Danger. It didn't even matter if there wasn't a single enemy around for miles or if I had literally just entered a building. It's like the bad guys knew I was coming. It doesn't help that critters tend to spawn right behind you or so close you've got no time to hide. Honest Hearts has that same problem.
Overall though, Old World Blues was really funny and the story was brilliant. Wild Wasteland makes it even better. There's even a Buckaroo Banzai reference near Little Yangtze. I kind of wish I hadn't explored the entire thing on the first go round just so I'd have more to find next time.
I'm totally stealing the idea for the Trauma Override Harness and converting it into some sort of construct monster for my Pathfinder game.
An update concerning Lonesome Road.
A screenshot of the DLC we can't have yet.
You guessed it: delayed until next month. I'd like a reason, but I'm certain that won't happen. I get the impression ZeniMax is responsible for the delay, but the developers are keeping quiet about it.
@Velcro - The trauma harness patients are easily my favorite creature from OWB.
An update concerning Lonesome Road.
A screenshot of the DLC we can't have yet.
You guessed it: delayed until next month. I'd like a reason, but I'm certain that won't happen. I get the impression ZeniMax is responsible for the delay, but the developers are keeping quiet about it.
Usually if a publisher tells a developer to keep quiet about it, they mean it. Hard. The publishers pull all the strings. I'm not going to hold Obsidian's quiet against them.
(The only thing I hold against Obsidian is they told me they'd mail me a t-shirt for winning third prize in a NWN2 contest, and they never did. At this point I'd settle for a Sunset Sarsaparilla Deputy Badge *sigh*)
If it takes a month and it comes out working well, that's good.
Mind, I only got FNV a couple months ago and haven't seen the endgame to the main game yet and am just about halfway through Dead Money, so it'd be awhile before I got to Lonesome Road anyway, so I don't feel the urgency. But then--with an Obsidian product, I seldom feel the urgency to buy on release simply because I KNOW it will need to be patched first. :)
Speaking of, the new patch DID fix my ED-E issue, thank goodness.
I agree. Old World Blues is my favorite DLC so far. I've only got one gripe. Sneaking is next to impossible.
100% agree on the sneaking. 1st run through OWB my character had 100 in sneak along with silent running and light step perks and I couldn't hide from anything.
Overall though, Old World Blues was really funny and the story was brilliant. Wild Wasteland makes it even better. There's even a Buckaroo Banzai reference near Little Yangtze. I kind of wish I hadn't explored the entire thing on the first go round just so I'd have more to find next time.
also 100% agree best DLC for FONV so far.
For those who haven't played OWB yet I would suggest before you start you stock up on as much ammo and stim-packs as you can get. You will run low and possibly out before you finish the story. I would also suggest you carry several suits of armor because the ravaging packs of nightstalkers will shred your armor making it useless and you probably won't have enough money to keep having your central computer repair it. Bring Hi-caliber weapons with you, 75%+ of creatures you fight have a DT of 20 or more.
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I took the Ratslayer, a caravan shotgun and the Mercenary Grenade Rifle w/long tube (from the Merc pack) when I went into OWB and I was really happy to have the shotgun. 5.56mm and 40mm grenades were rare, but 20ga is pretty common since the lobotomites often carry caravan shotguns. 10mm or .357 are good choices but an SMG or the K-9000 are going to burn through them faster than you can loot it. Having Jury Rigging or at least a 50 Repair makes getting through OWB a lot easier as well.
After Nightstalkers kept eating my armor, I eventually just said "screw it" and wore the lobotomite jumpsuits I kept peeling off of corpses so I could save my good armor for big encounters. DT's only 5, but they're easy to replace and they give you a +1 STR.
I'm not one of the cool kids so I've only just finished playing Dead Money. I enjoyed it despite some notable flaws (the endgame was more frustrating than cool or challenging), and I may now possibly have a pathological fear of radios (which means they did a good job).
I only just finished Dead Money myself. Taking a break before tackling Honest Hearts- though I've played a little of both Honest Hearts and Old World Blues with some save games I put aside. I like the direction they've taken with the DLCs and I think it's an example of how to do them correctly; each one has a unique feel that separates them from the main game and offers not just new perks and equipment but solid story elements that reflect on what was in the original release.
Glad Lonesome Road was delayed... JUST finished Old World Blues (and the other two DLCs before it) and have been tying up loose ends before I finish the main game---it's amazing how much I've wandered the Wasteland and realizing there's still stuff I haven't found yet (or ran away from early on because there were Deathclaws there).
Thoughts on DLC:
Dead Money: I felt truly fearful for my life through much of the game, so the intended atmosphere succeeded for me. I wish you had more time with the companions or could be with more than one of them at once, even moreso than the main game (I'd like to see Christine bite Dean's head off, for one thing). Some of the gameplay mechanics got in the way (hard to feel immersed when every 30 seconds you get "killed 10 ghost thingies") and the ending was really disappointing in how it played out--this is where the game went from challenging to just frustrating for me.
Honest Hearts: A neat sidequest and a fun environment, although not a whole lot stuck with me. I did like reading the Survivalist's story. Neat to see the tribals since Fallout 2.
Old World Blues: The first things I heard about this I just thought it would be creepy and off putting, but it was hilarious at times and very intriguing at others--really captures the 50s sci-fi feel, while still reminding you you're fighting for your life. Though I actually didn't like the tough fights though--it seemed like the game wanted you to explore (maybe it was all the crashing during fast travel... grr...) but hard to do that when superdogs and fast zombies are trying to tear your head off all the time. And my character had 100 in Sneak, excellent Agility, and all the usual stuff you need to sneak effectively, and it was nearly impossible to sneak up on anything even in the damn Stealth Suit. Loved all the personalities you encounter. ("WooooOOOOOOOOOOO. Burble. Burble.")
Looking forward to Lonesome Road when it does come out but glad I have a breather!
Finished all of FNV now (except of course for the DLC yet to be released)--never played through completely to the end yet.
Entertaining, good balance of the grim future and more whacky Fallout stuff. Ending was satisfying.
General thoughts:
- Some companions definitely better than others. Some are really hard to trigger their quests (especially if you don't take them along until late in game) and don't have much to say, where others (Cass and Veronica particularly in my experience) actually do make you feel like you're traveling with someone else because of the depth of dialogue and their interactions with other NPCs.
- Some of the quests resolve unsatisfyingly (the water stealing quest doesn't really offer very good solutions and doesn't make any sense) but I liked that most of them had a lot of ways you can go, including good diplomatic solutions.
- There is too much JUNK in the game. Combat itself I felt was the right level of challenge. But given that I am an explorer type RPG player, I found oodles and oodles and oodles of ammo, food, water and medicine, did not feel like I had to struggle to survive. "Hardcore" mode was a cakewalk--the only challenge to it was that ammo had weight and therefore inventory management became a struggle if you also wanted to carry items to craft. Only place where that was different was Dead Money, where they take all your stuff away. If you're good at scavenging, though, by the end the vending machines take care of all your needs and it ceases being a problem.
- The crafting system was a neat idea but frustratingly implemented. I started creating a lot of caches with craft items in them, so when I wanted to craft, I could take everything out of the caches and HOPE I had what I needed to make cool stuff. Often, still was missing an egg timer or a pilot light or or empty bottle something to make some of the cooler homemade weapons or chems. Would have been nice to have recipes you could easily reference in your Pip Boy so you could double check whether something was worth picking up and weighing you down.
You find so much food that the food recipes are largely useless, same goes for chems, and Dead Money makes most food and chem crafting redundant because of the vending machines. I did like the new recipes that came with Honest Hearts (all the datura root stuff).
I miss the recipes of Fallout 3--much more fun to collect parts to make a teddy bear launcher--something unique and fun that you can't get any other way--than a caravan lunch or item you can find/replicate/easily use an alternative for. I'm sure the bomb recipes would have been great for a character with high Explosives (mine wasn't). Ultimately, the main use I got out of the crafting bench was recycling energy weapon ammo... and the campfire, for making Wasteland Tequila. Generally speaking, would have liked fewer, rarer recipes that really give you something worth collecting those items for. Again, I played on hardcore mode and still didn't struggle to find stuff I needed to survive; crafting should have been more essential to make that mode feel like it was rewarding.
- On a good note, dialogue was stellar--Obsidian hasn't lost its ability to write a good story. Most fun I've had ever playing any game with the word "Fallout" in the title.
Looking forward to Lonesome Road. (Not interested in the item DLC--I already lug enough crap around the Wasteland, I don't need any more.)
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Congrats on finishing the game. Who'd you side with in the end? My first time through, I took Vegas for myself.
I've found the companions are better based on how you're playing your Courier. Arcade seems to complement peaceable types, Lily is great for stealth-based characters, etc. I'm probably most fond of Cass based on her dialog alone. I've played a lot of crafty Couriers, but I constantly forget Veronica is a walking workbench and always end up dragging my scrap to Harper's Shack near Dead Wind Cavern.
I've found Harper's Shack is the absolute best safehouse in the Mojave. It's got a lot of storage so I can divide up my gear, all three crafting stations, bunk beds and, if I get bored, I can stand on the roof and fire missiles at the deathclaws up the hill. It's also close to Novac and Primm so I don't have to travel far to sell excess loot and it gives me something to do with all the frag mines I've stockpiled (I leave them scattered around the shack to deter any deathclaws that spawn close by.)
I do miss some of the MacGyvered weapons from Fallout 3 (I like stuffing the Rock-it Launcher with cartons of cigarettes and making cheap jokes about the dangers of tobacco,) but I get a fair amount of use out of the weapon repair kits and explosives from FO:NV. I don't think I've ever used a time bomb, but I'm a big fan of bottlecap mines and stuffing powder charges into peoples' shorts. The food I mostly craft for the flavor (no pun intended.) Why eat some 200-year-old snack cakes when you can have a bowl of Mole Rat Stew?
Congrats on finishing the game. Who'd you side with in the end? My first time through, I took Vegas for myself.
NCR, with peaceful resolution with the Brotherhood and support for the Followers.
My late save games are at a point where I could do NCR or Wild Card, so probably after Lonesome Road, I'll play through the Wild Card quests instead and see the differences.
I've found the companions are better based on how you're playing your Courier. Arcade seems to complement peaceable types, Lily is great for stealth-based characters, etc.
I loved Lily and used her for awhile as I had a very thiefy character who could use hard hitting backup. Arcade I didn't take with me till late; he seemed to have no interesting dialogue (until his quest opened) and for me that's a big deal; probably if I found and used him a lot earlier I would have appreciated him a lot more. Problem with him is depending on how you've traveled, you've already likely run into Veronica (entertaining, has a fun sidequest besides her "official" one, useful perk, keeps you from getting collared by the BOS, the only character who gets a bonus from the DLC, and Legate Lanius ran away from her like a little girl*), Cass (entertaining, good shot, amusing perk), and/or Boone (a complete d+~+$ead, but extremely powerful for combat support with a great perk) first. So even when you do find Arcade, it's hard to take him if you've got one of the others with you.
* My game only, likely, but here's the story:
I'm probably most fond of Cass based on her dialog alone. I've played a lot of crafty Couriers, but I constantly forget Veronica is a walking workbench and always end up dragging my scrap to Harper's Shack near Dead Wind Cavern.
Veronica is priceless if you're an energy weapon user because of her workbench ability--but I also admit I used craft benches more than her because it's faster to activate the bench than go through the dialogue to activate her craft ability--plus once you craft something, you get booted back out to normal mode, so if you want to make more than one something, you have to go through dialogue multiple times.
Veronica and Cass are about equal for me in terms of dialogue.
I've found Harper's Shack is the absolute best safehouse in the Mojave. It's got a lot of storage so I can divide up my gear, all three crafting stations, bunk beds and, if I get bored, I can stand on the roof and fire missiles at the deathclaws up the hill. It's also close to Novac and Primm so I don't have to travel far to sell excess loot and it gives me something to do with all the frag mines I've stockpiled (I leave them scattered around the shack to deter any deathclaws that spawn close by.)
For whatever reason--I tended to take windy paths away from Goodsprings because I was being resistant about following the plot at first--I didn't find Harper's Shack until very late in game.
The problem with a sandbox style world is that you can't expect everyone to pass by the same area and use it (I did use some places around Goodsprings for early caches0.
I do miss some of the MacGyvered weapons from Fallout 3 (I like stuffing the Rock-it Launcher with cartons of cigarettes and making cheap jokes about the dangers of tobacco,) but I get a fair amount of use out of the weapon repair kits and explosives from FO:NV.
The weapon repair kits are great, but if you have Dead Money, you don't need to craft them anymore (and thus lug around all the parts you need to put one together).
I don't think I've ever used a time bomb, but I'm a big fan of bottlecap mines and stuffing powder charges into peoples' shorts. The food I mostly craft for the flavor (no pun intended.) Why eat some 200-year-old snack cakes when you can have a bowl of Mole Rat Stew?
I agree with that--I liked assembling trail mix and caravan lunches myself (the latter being 200 year old food in a lunchbox, but that makes it cooler somehow). But the fact remains that cooking becomes a curiosity, something to do because you can, not something that becomes a necessary survival option. The food you craft is often better than scavenged rations, but often only in ways that aren't really significant--they cure more hunger, but usually I never get my hunger go past the first stage, which only needs 100 or so hunger points to heal, not the 450 that some of the crafted food items offer. Some of them, and only some, have fewer rads or healing, but rad away is plentiful as are healing items, so that's not a concern either.
I guess what I'm saying is that from a narrative perspective, I agree that cooking your mole rat and fire ant casseroles has a neat feel to it, but from a practical/gameplay perspective, there's little advantage to it (it weighs down your inventory and most--though not all--items don't give you much for your trouble) and little need (because food is plentiful, even if all you're eating is raw dogmeat and gumdrops). I think it should feel special when you find a food item or ingredient, and it stopped feeling like that early on in the game.
MIND--I'm making lengthy complaints about something that occupied a small amount of my thinking when actually playing the game. There was a lot to enjoy, but being a gamer, I have to complain about something. :)
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I've played Hardcore mode about half the times I've gone through the game, and I agree with you about the abundance of food and water in the game. Immersion-wise, I'd think there would be a lot less edible pre-war food after 200 years. People probably would have eaten most of it or grown to prefer the Survival recipe fare (which might actually explain why there's so much pre-war food laying around.) Iguana on a Stick has been around since Iguana Bob popularized it in Fallout 1, but I'm a little surprised you don't find more of the recipe meals offered for sale over things like Cram.
Even with Dead Money, I hardly ever stop at the dispensers in The Villa or the one in the bunker, but I see what you're saying. I totally use the craft skills because I can. I like the sense of self-reliance they represent so, in that respect, Obsidian got the immersion part right. They aren't at all necessary, but I enjoy the thought of my Courier tinkering away as he tapes together some IEDs or brews his own tequila.
I've played Hardcore mode about half the times I've gone through the game, and I agree with you about the abundance of food and water in the game. Immersion-wise, I'd think there would be a lot less edible pre-war food after 200 years. People probably would have eaten most of it or grown to prefer the Survival recipe fare (which might actually explain why there's so much pre-war food laying around.) Iguana on a Stick has been around since Iguana Bob popularized it in Fallout 1, but I'm a little surprised you don't find more of the recipe meals offered for sale over things like Cram.
Even with Dead Money, I hardly ever stop at the dispensers in The Villa or the one in the bunker, but I see what you're saying. I totally use the craft skills because I can. I like the sense of self-reliance they represent so, in that respect, Obsidian got the immersion part right. They aren't at all necessary, but I enjoy the thought of my Courier tinkering away as he tapes together some IEDs or brews his own tequila.
I like the idea of the crafting for the same reason.
I admit part of my issue is that since I am a packrat, I constantly struggle with encumbrance. I learned to start leaving caches and shipping myself stuff with the Mojave Express, but the "oh, good, turpentine!" thought often gets followed by, "Crap, it'll weigh me down." I might have to do a "crafting run" where I focus on the skills, strength, and perks needed to carry around a lot of stuff and just be able to craft everything in the universe... but on the other hand, the easiest way to do that is not to play in hardcore (so ammo won't weigh you down), but when you're not in hardcore, you need/want fewer of the items you can make. Although I could always make sure I eat, drink, and sleep once a day anyway... did that in an early, unfinished playthrough in normal mode, actually. Comes from playing the Sims too much. ;) (And I am totally building a Wasteland world in the Sims, because I can. :D)
Lonesome road is out now.
Lonesome road is out now.And it's a major letdown after Old World Blues. Which was delicious.
The main FO:NV story line is a let down after Old World Blues.
The next Fallout game should be solely based on Old World Blues.
The GRA (Gun Runners Arsenal) is VERY buggy. So buggy that my X-Box freezes up or reboots. Just a warning. Hopefully you all do not have these troubles.
OWB is awesome, and I don't realistically expect anything to come close to it for a long time. I still want to see the story of Lonesome Road. I have not bought Lonesome Road yet (actually came out 10 days ago) because, indeed, I want to hear some bug reports and maybe wait for a patch till I get it. I love Obsidian, but I know them well enough that you just don't buy on release, ever.
Have no interest in the "stuff packs" as it were. I already feel overwhelmed by the weapon choices you have in the game (because of course I want to use everything I find ;) ), more would just make me feel frustrated, and I don't pay money for frustration.
I've picked up most of the expansions as well as the stuff packs, but they're a bigger value to me since I haven't finished NV yet. I stopped playing after I got to New Vegas itself. Something about that town made me walk away and I never got back to it until now.
Did an NCR soldier stagger into your Courier and puke on his/her shoes? ;)
OWB is awesome, and I don't realistically expect anything to come close to it for a long time. I still want to see the story of Lonesome Road. I have not bought Lonesome Road yet (actually came out 10 days ago) because, indeed, I want to hear some bug reports and maybe wait for a patch till I get it. I love Obsidian, but I know them well enough that you just don't buy on release, ever.After paying almost as much as I did for the game proper for FO3's add-on packs, I'm just going to wait for the GotY edition so I can get all the packs at once, on disc, for $30.
Then again, I'm personally starting to seriously sour on this "nickel and dime DLC" business model that's developed among certain developer/publishers.
I don't mind modules like "Old World Blues" because they're basically small expansion packs and priced fairly for what they are. They truly add gameplay (some incredible gameplay at that) to the degree that they're worth the cost on top of the original game (and I will add, I got all the three previous DLC on Steam when it was on sale for 50% off, so I didn't even pay full price). If the price goes UP... that's problematic.
The M0AR STUFF DLC I don't get but---people pay for it. And as long as game companies profit from it, it won't go away. Which mind--I AGREE with you, I think they're nickel-and-diming. But gamers are allowing themselves to be nickel-and-dimed voluntarily. If the description of the DLC says, "This gives you a crapton of guns and that's all, nothing else." And someone says, "Gee, my game with a crapton of guns already NEEDS more craptons of guns that I'll never use half of them!" and pay the money for it, IMO the blame lands on the consumer, for making the DLC a profitable product. Sometimes it's a completionism, or even a competitiveness ("I have ALL the DLC and you don't, nyeah"), sometimes it's a simple desire or curiosity to have new stuff or see what the devs came up with. And fine, if it's appealing to you, buy it. But I'm not going to yell at the publisher for selling something that people are clearly willing to buy. If it's truly not worth the money, then gamers need to vote with their wallets and be encouraged to think about what they buy rather than try to "catch them all."
OWB is awesome, and I don't realistically expect anything to come close to it for a long time. I still want to see the story of Lonesome Road. I have not bought Lonesome Road yet (actually came out 10 days ago) because, indeed, I want to hear some bug reports and maybe wait for a patch till I get it. I love Obsidian, but I know them well enough that you just don't buy on release, ever.After paying almost as much as I did for the game proper for FO3's add-on packs, I'm just going to wait for the GotY edition so I can get all the packs at once, on disc, for $30.
Then again, I'm personally starting to seriously sour on this "nickel and dime DLC" business model that's developed among certain developer/publishers.
I don't mind modules like "Old World Blues" because they're basically small expansion packs and priced fairly for what they are. They truly add gameplay (some incredible gameplay at that) to the degree that they're worth the cost on top of the original game (and I will add, I got all the three previous DLC on Steam when it was on sale for 50% off, so I didn't even pay full price). If the price goes UP... that's problematic.
The M0AR STUFF DLC I don't get but---people pay for it. And as long as game companies profit from it, it won't go away. Which mind--I AGREE with you, I think they're nickel-and-diming. But gamers are allowing themselves to be nickel-and-dimed voluntarily. If the description of the DLC says, "This gives you a crapton of guns and that's all, nothing else." And someone says, "Gee, my game with a crapton of guns already NEEDS more craptons of guns that I'll never use half of them!" and pay the money for it, IMO the blame lands on the consumer, for making the DLC a profitable product. Sometimes it's a completionism, or even a competitiveness ("I have ALL the DLC and you don't, nyeah"), sometimes it's a simple desire or curiosity to have new stuff or see what the devs came up with. And fine, if it's appealing to you, buy it. But...
+1
I buy the FO:NV DLC because I want to play it now and not have to wait a year or more. For most other games especially FPSs I never buy DLCs because it doesn't add anything to the game except more guns.
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Honestly I like the post-apocalypse barely holding on story line. Then I get to Vegas and there's clean water and all this nice stuff and something about it just made me go "What's this now?". That and another game coming out means I just never got back to it.
As for DLC, I put this in the same category as "Needs Internet even for Solo Play". It's here to stay, and you need to make an individual choice on how you deal with it. For DLC that adds meaningful content, I shell out the cash. OWB, the other two I have (whichever two aren't Dead Money), those are content and I'm willing to pay for them.
The pre-order pack is nice to have and for $2 I'm ok with it. The armory is $4. Does this add something to the game I didn't have before? Yes. Is it worth it? Probably not. Do I find it interesting to see what they've come up with? Absolutely. I love the crafting and having stuff. The DLC gives me MOAR STUFF!!111!!! So yeah, there's that.
As for immersion, tech wise the original F3 was a complete waste, since the limestone and rock the water was going through would've acted as a natural filter for the radiation, which means that after 200 years all of the free flowing water in the game should be safe to drink again. There should be more green on the trees. 200 years! Still, what do you do?
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For those of you waiting for a patch for the new DLC, you can stop waiting. Jason Bergman is now the sole remaining member of the team behind FO:NV, and he's only still there to stack the chairs. About a week ago, he announced there will be no updates after the one that just went out a few weeks ago (v.1.07, IIRC.) Whatever bugs exist due to GRA or Lonesome Road are there to stay.
I'm one of the people who bought both Gun Runner's Arsenal and the Courier's Stash, and I did it for a couple reasons. I am sort of a completist and want to get the new trophies and I hardly ever buy new games so I don't mind dropping a few bucks on DLC for a game I know I'm going to play for the next three years. Even without Gun Runner's Arsenal, I'd probably play through this game another six or seven times so I've got no problem with being able to maim and destroy my enemies in dozens of new ways. Being a huge fan of the Explosives skill, I am personally looking forward to crafting a landmine out of mini-nukes...and then maybe stuffing it into Caesar's shorts.
I got Lonesome Road but haven't come close to starting it. Prior to its release, I deleted all my save files and killed time playing through Fallout 3 again so I could snag the only trophy I was missing from Mothership Zeta. With Lonesome Road, I've decided to play through FO:NV using a Courier based on me. I answered Doc's questions at the beginning of the game as honestly as I could given the options available and was really surprised at how close the results came to how I envisioned my Fallout self.