Alright boyz, here we go!!! Fallout 3 first impressions thread!

[Axxon]

Dola, I've explored a good bit of the world east of Megaton but I still haven't found the school. I kinda want to check it out. Roughly where is it in terms of Megaton?

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Axxon

Dola, I've explored a good bit of the world east of Megaton but I still haven't found the school. I kinda want to check it out. Roughly where is it in terms of Megaton?

I believe it's when you leave the vault, head straight and it's the big building on your left.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Axxon

Dola, I've explored a good bit of the world east of Megaton but I still haven't found the school. I kinda want to check it out. Roughly where is it in terms of Megaton?

I think it's northwest of the Vault entrance.

[Mustang]

All the stuff you collect out and about, anyone know if it is best to sell it or are there certain hard to find items that you should hold onto?

[SirFozzie]

How badly do you want to be spoiled?

Spoiler

most of the stuff can be traded or sold, for example, there's a guy who'll pay like 25 caps for Sugar Bombs, etcetera, or the Brotherhood, who will pay hundreds of caps for pre-war books.

And stuff you don't really need can always be used as Rock-It Launcher Ammo

[SportsDino]

Generally sell everything unless its really cool, gives you more room for cooler loot you will likely find. Keep around some copies of your primary gun though, need them to repair (and lots of your primary ammo of course). Usually these games lately have been very generous on the loot side, so you'll just get annoyed you can't pick up everything on your next trip if you pack too much onto your character (even though logic would say supplies are scarce in the post apocalypse).

[CamEdwards]

Has anybody

Spoiler

Taken on the fire ants in the Metro station? I'm trying to figure out if I need to walk down the tracks towards Falls Church, or if the infestation is centered around the actual Metro station itself.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Has anybody

Spoiler

Taken on the fire ants in the Metro station? I'm trying to figure out if I need to walk down the tracks towards Falls Church, or if the infestation is centered around the actual Metro station itself.

Spoiler

You have to go inside Marigold Station to complete that quest.

[Big Fo]

LOL at the Nuka-Cola side-quest.

[hawk4669]

Spoiler

Spoiler

My wife finally found DogMeat! No, not the food, but the dog companion from Fallout 1.

She was out doing some freeform exploring in "The Scrapyard" to the south of the minefield town. In the distance she saw the dog and prepared for combat. As she cursored over it, the name came up. After a little "making friends" with the pup, he joined her and promptly fetched her some ammo.
Not sure how he'll be in combat yet, but for nostalgia sake it was awesome to find him.

Cheers!

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

I believe it's when you leave the vault, head straight and it's the big building on your left.

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

I think it's northwest of the Vault entrance.

Thanks. I know why I missed it.

Spoiler

I had headed that way but had noticed movement and decided not to check it out. It was that eye robot thingy.

This is what Fallout should be IMHO. In most games I'd be the first one to go check out the moving thingie in the distance but this game makes me go, nope, if I can't approach from cover, I'm not approaching. I respect the veterans of the wastelands and I want to survive to be one.

Finally though I really wanted to find the mythical school I'd heard rumors of but had never seen and I wasn't really looking forward to blowing up in Minefield. Just came up for air while exploring the school. Thanks again guys, I have some Raiders waiting for me. Wouldn't want to let them down.

[PurdueBrad]

Whew, the mission with Reilly's Rangers is finally over and...wow, spent lots of ammo, stimpacks, etc. and yet came out with a ton of stuff too. Worst part was trying to get back to their stupid base because I hate using the underground systems.

[BYU 14]

OK, just picked up the PS 3 version for FREE. Out local Game Crazy got bought out by Ultimate Electronics and they added 20% to trade in values through Christmas. So Madden '08, Call of Duty 4 and Resistance: Fall of Man = Free Fallout 3!

I am the only one home, a cold 6 Pack of Sam Adams, 3 hours till the BYU game and nothing to do in the meantime but play FO3!

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

OK, just picked up the PS 3 version for FREE. Out local Game Crazy got bought out by Ultimate Electronics and they added 20% to trade in values through Christmas. So Madden '08, Call of Duty 4 and Resistance: Fall of Man = Free Fallout 3!

I am the only one home, a cold 6 Pack of Sam Adams, 3 hours till the BYU game and nothing to do in the meantime but play FO3!

lol @ free

[Mustang]

Vault 106 spoiler...

Edit :

Spoiler

Not sure if anyone else experienced this bug in Vault 106. Got to the lowest level in 106 and killed 2 people and out of nowhere, the tunnel snakes (think that was the gangs name) appear out of nowhere. 1 shot kills and they disappear. Room suddenly goes gray and a scientist cloaked like the predator comes out and there is a 0% chance to hit her anywhere in VATs. (This was my original post....)

It isn't a bug. There are psychotropic drugs in the atmosphere that cause you to see weird shit...

Also, there is a bobblehead in the vault too... +10 science.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

lol @ free

I know, just living in the present. 3 hours and barely to Megaton.....The game is spectacular!

[Calis]

I'm really enjoying it so far. I've been sick and played a lot over the last two days. It has faults of course, and they're mostly the same as with any of the Bethesda games, so it's not surprising. They definitely don't have the writing skills or the ability to pull off stellar NPC's, so that's a letdown but I'm still having a blast wandering around. I think they've nailed the environment, and I love clambering up a huge mound of trash and just looking around. I'm playing on PC so I imagine my view distance is better than consoles, it's really nice.

I actually thought it was extremely difficult towards the beginning, but I think I headed the tougher route first so I had a very tough time both with ammo and health. It was fun, but now that I've gone the other way I have more than enough ammo and loads of stimpacks. Not sure if I'm happy or sad about that.

I was a bit underwhelmed at first, but as I've put more time into it I'm really having a good time. I like using VATS and just exploring the wastes.

[Anthony]

i was too scared to search for the meds at the Super Mart, i just got the food and left. i tried to take on the raiders myself and just didn't have enough to do it so i didn't want to keep on dying just to get both meds and food.

Spoiler

i had to get Moriarty 100 caps so he'd give me info. i wandered into the restaurant and hacked into the establishments' PC and unlocked their floor safe - 300 caps!!! what's awesome is i went back to Moriarty instead of completing the quest he originally wanted me to do and he increased his price to 300 caps! fucking bastard. i gave it to him cuz karma is a bitch and i deserved to be scammed since i stole the money. i really LOVE how i was able to accomplish my goal in an unorthodox manner. i like have multiple ways of accomplishing a task in games.

what's the best way to kill a fire ant?

[Calis]

Originally Posted by Anthony

what's the best way to kill a fire ant?

I found the Fire Ants pretty brutal at the start. There's pointers you get from people to aim for the antenna as this "disorients" them, but I didn't notice too much of a benefit to doing this over just blasting them in the face with a shotgun.

When you get to the Fire Ant Warriors and Soldiers, then I went more cheese and used the environment to block the fire while I waited for my action points to regen.

Aggravating guys for sure.

[Big Fo]

If two or more fire ants are attacking you at once, back up and throw a grenade into the mix and sometimes they'll start attacking each other. Like Calis I didn't find targeting their antenna to be any more effective than going for headshots.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Anthony

i was too scared to search for the meds at the Super Mart, i just got the food and left. i tried to take on the raiders myself and just didn't have enough to do it so i didn't want to keep on dying just to get both meds and food.

Spoiler

i had to get Moriarty 100 caps so he'd give me info. i wandered into the restaurant and hacked into the establishments' PC and unlocked their floor safe - 300 caps!!! what's awesome is i went back to Moriarty instead of completing the quest he originally wanted me to do and he increased his price to 300 caps! fucking bastard. i gave it to him cuz karma is a bitch and i deserved to be scammed since i stole the money. i really LOVE how i was able to accomplish my goal in an unorthodox manner. i like have multiple ways of accomplishing a task in games.

what's the best way to kill a fire ant?

I am dealing with the situation in your spoiler now

Spoiler

I originally told him no the 100 caps, then offered to do the quest for him instead. Then he told me I could keep the caps and use them to pay him. I then said screw it and offered to pay him instead. Bang, 300 caps for me do, he gave me some supply and demand bullshit quote. I am going to fuck him up at some point later in the game.

[Tasan]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I am dealing with the situation in your spoiler now

Spoiler

I originally told him no the 100 caps, then offered to do the quest for him instead. Then he told me I could keep the caps and use them to pay him. I then said screw it and offered to pay him instead. Bang, 300 caps for me do, he gave me some supply and demand bullshit quote. I am going to fuck him up at some point later in the game.

Spoiler

I got lucky on the 17% roll to talk him back down to 100 caps.

I'm quickly running out of ammo though. I'm trying to take a letter to some place that starts with an A up northwest of town, but I fear I don't have the bullets to do it. Are there dealers up there that will have ammo when I get there?

[Tasan]

Another evening, another creep out session. I just can't play this game very long at night without getting the heebie jeebies.

Spoiler

I'm in that A city I talked about earlier, Arefu. So far I've run into a Super Mutant, and a Mirelurk (some kind of mutant shellfish thats real tough). I'm almost completely out of ammo, and getting a little desperate. If I run into any big battles, I'm gonna be SOL I'm afraid. Hopefully I find someone I can trade with soon.

[Big Fo]

Moira doesn't have any ammo to sell in Megaton? Just make sure it's between 9am and 5pm. Also every now and then a caravan will pull up outside of Megaton and those guys will usually have ammo and stimpaks.

[sabotai]

I always keep 1 of every gun type because ammo is hard to come by. I have a 10mm pistol, combat shotgun, hunter rifle, assault rifle, laser pistol, sniper rifle and a magnum (with a scope!). I'll usually have ammo for something since I hoard it and buy it whenever I can. But sometimes I do run out.

That's when the bad guy gets a sledgehammer upside their head.

[BYU 14]

Made my first foray across the Potomac today heading to the tepid sewers.....As I was crossing the bridge I was gazing up at the desolate DC skyline not even realizing the bridge as mined.............until 5 simultaneous explosions and 2 crippled legs later

This game is incredible...

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

This game is incredible...

It really is. It brings back fond memories of games like Torment, the original Fallout games, Baldur's gate 2, and other classic RPGs.

[Eaglesfan27]

Are most people playing on PC or one of the consoles?

[bulletsponge]

cant hold out any longer, just ordered it

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Are most people playing on PC or one of the consoles?

I picked it up for the 360. Its really, really nice looking.

[JetsIn06]

I'm on the PC with mostly medium settings and it looks freakin awesome.

[Eaglesfan27]

I think this thread has finally convinced me to take it off my list (which I'm giving to wife tomorrow) and just buy it tomorrow on my way home from work.

[ISiddiqui]

I just bought it on the PC... installing now. Will let know how it is later.

[MizzouRah]

I've been wondering around the school for a few hours.. the thing I like about the game is you have to figure out which weapons work better for each bad guy.

The ants were a PITA at first, even with a gun, but I found out a switch blade works wonders!

Decided to stop for a bit since I'm stuck in the caves under the school.. not sure how to get up to what appears to be an area just a jump away.. but my guy doesn't jump high enough... it's down where the ants are.

[PurdueBrad]

Declaration of Independence is mine! Actually, I've already turned it over but damn, that mission felt good.

[SackAttack]

I don't want to risk reading the spoilers, so Anthony, the answer on fire ants that works for me - one at a time.

As for the Super Duper Mart, that strategy works there, too. Stick to the dark, pick 'em off one by one (sneaking helps out big time there), and you can actually get everything before you have to leave. There's other things you can do, too, but that's how I got through it with nothing but a pistol. Sneak, stay hidden, and for the love of God don't attract more than one at a time.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Are most people playing on PC or one of the consoles?

I have it on the PS 3 and it looks very nice. I love the occasional dust devil that will pop up in the wastes, swirling dirt and debris around. I slso think the wind sounds just plain eerie at times, especially when you have been walking for a little bit with no sign of life anywhere.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I don't want to risk reading the spoilers, so Anthony, the answer on fire ants that works for me - one at a time.

As for the Super Duper Mart, that strategy works there, too. Stick to the dark, pick 'em off one by one (sneaking helps out big time there), and you can actually get everything before you have to leave. There's other things you can do, too, but that's how I got through it with nothing but a pistol. Sneak, stay hidden, and for the love of God don't attract more than one at a time.

I agree with sack on Super Duper Mart, also stick to the perimeter as much as possible.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

As for the Super Duper Mart, that strategy works there, too. Stick to the dark, pick 'em off one by one (sneaking helps out big time there), and you can actually get everything before you have to leave. There's other things you can do, too, but that's how I got through it with nothing but a pistol. Sneak, stay hidden, and for the love of God don't attract more than one at a time.

That worked for me as well, though I did attract 2 a few times. I got my first one shot kill here which was very cool, sneaking up fairly close to a raider and getting a sneak attack crit in the back.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I agree with sack on Super Duper Mart, also stick to the perimeter as much as possible.

but i have a hunch playing it safe might hurt you - don't you think the developers also know that so i'm thinking they put some decent stuff in the center of the Mart for those with the balls to clear out the place and venture towards the middle of the place. that's one place i plan on going back to once i get more powerful, just to check out what's inside. the game did a good job of freaking me out the 2 times i went inside so i just wanted to grab what i could and just leave.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Anthony

but i have a hunch playing it safe might hurt you - don't you think the developers also know that so i'm thinking they put some decent stuff in the center of the Mart for those with the balls to clear out the place and venture towards the middle of the place. that's one place i plan on going back to once i get more powerful, just to check out what's inside. the game did a good job of freaking me out the 2 times i went inside so i just wanted to grab what i could and just leave.

Yeah, but the thing is, if you do it the way I described, you CAN clear everybody out of there and then go hunt for that decent stuff. It just takes longer.

Doing it my way, you should conserve ammunition and health items, to which you can add what you find in the center of the Super Duper Mart. Hell, there's stuff in the SDM that I need to go back for so I can sell them for caps (or use them to build stuff), but I just couldn't carry them when I left.

[hawk4669]

Spoiler

Holy cow on Reilly's Rangers. The combat wasn't too bad....I'm up around level 15 now so I can hold my own with the Super Muties (provided I've been smart with weapon maintenance, ammo, and stimpack usage. However finding the Ranger HQ was a pain for me for some reason. Finally at the direction of my wife I went through the ruins of the U.S. Capitol and found it....but not before I took part in a massive battle near the center. Talon Company Mercs were attacking super mutants (who were accompanied by a super mutant behemoth (or however it is spelled). I came out victorious but there were some "oh crap" moments for sure.

I am in absolute love with this game. Heck, the only reason I'm posting now is because my wife kicked me off so SHE can continue her game of Fallout 3.

Cheers!

[Radii]

What difficulty are you guys playing on? I'm going real slow on normal, some early areas like the school and super mart have been quite suspenseful but not really life threatening. That may be b/c I assume death is all around me and go *real* slow heh.

Anyway, question about the lower level of the school, spoiler tag as there's detail about what I've done:

Spoiler

Found a open area with ant eggs. Forward there is a small area crawl space that I cannot make it through. To the left I did something that triggered like 5 ants jumping me and luckily I'd been saving all my ammo in my assault rifle and went nuts on them. Found two wastelander bodies, and there's a ledge that i can't seem to jump up on.

Am I supposed to be able to do anything to progress through either the crawl space or jump up onto the ledge to keep going,or is that it for the school?

[Big Fo]

I couldn't find a way to advance in that area either. Hopefully that's by design and I didn't miss out on something cool or useful.

[SackAttack]

I'm on whatever the default is, Radii. Haven't done the school yet, although with the scaling, maybe I ought to soon. Buff up a bit and come back to beat the Fire Ants when I'm stronger, since they should be locked to level 4.

[Radii]

Oh man, VATS has some simply awesome effects with it. I found a place with a few super mutants and am not really totally equipped to deal with it just yet, but eh, experimenting. One of them came charging at me with a fire grenade in his right hand. I went into VATS with my hunting rifle, successfully shot the grenade while he was still holding onto it, it exploded and blew him to hell and back. Definitely the coolest thing I've seen so far

[Radii]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I'm on whatever the default is, Radii.

Ok cool. I am not the type that replays games usually, so if I needed to be on a harder difficulty to have the best experience, I wanted to figure that out now.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Yeah, but the thing is, if you do it the way I described, you CAN clear everybody out of there and then go hunt for that decent stuff. It just takes longer.

Doing it my way, you should conserve ammunition and health items, to which you can add what you find in the center of the Super Duper Mart. Hell, there's stuff in the SDM that I need to go back for so I can sell them for caps (or use them to build stuff), but I just couldn't carry them when I left.

I mentioned this earlier as a spoiler but since everyone is discussing it, stealth is key and if you activate the robot he'll attract all the enemies while you pick them off with stealth crits. You can clear the place out real quick and easy.

I can't stress how much I'm relying on stealth and I didn't even emphasize it at startup. Next playthrough though, it gets pumped from the beginning.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I'm on whatever the default is, Radii. Haven't done the school yet, although with the scaling, maybe I ought to soon. Buff up a bit and come back to beat the Fire Ants when I'm stronger, since they should be locked to level 4.

I thought the scaling was limited to a range ( ie level 1-4 ) ect and would never exceed the top level so you can eventually overpower the weak stuff when you're powerful and get wasted when you're weak but it'll be a challenge if you're in the range that the monster was designed for.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Radii

Oh man, VATS has some simply awesome effects with it. I found a place with a few super mutants and am not really totally equipped to deal with it just yet, but eh, experimenting. One of them came charging at me with a fire grenade in his right hand. I went into VATS with my hunting rifle, successfully shot the grenade while he was still holding onto it, it exploded and blew him to hell and back. Definitely the coolest thing I've seen so far

I agree, I ran into a pack of Mole Rats in the wasteland and tossed a frag grenade to try and take out a couple before they got to me as I was low on ammo. One walked right over it as it blew and went probably 30 feet on the air, doing several complete flips before landing on it's back, with both it's head and a leg missing. As I was fighting the other two with my Pistol in real time, I noticed the head go rolling by me down the hill.

Minefield

Spoiler

The Sniper rifle you get when you kill Arkansas here is worth its weight in Caps. You have to be sure to hide and wait him out until he comes down off his perch in the 3 story bombed out structure near the playground. If you try and advance on the building he will pick you apart from long range before you get close enough to get a meaningful shot. His weapon is great, as you can zoom in on baddies in real time with the scope while stealthed and score crits everytime.

It saved my ass when I wandered out of the wrong exit in from the sewers and wound up in Georgetown with 3 supers in the vicinity......Long before I was ready for them. Unfortunately it broke there as well, so I am now saving caps to have it repaired (need over 1200)