New Vegas

[sevrun]

is full of bugs, glitches, and flaws... Just like everything else made by Obsidian. Having spent a few days playing it I can honestly say it plays as a more linear version of Fallout 3, using VERY powerful creatures to push you along a preferred path.

It does have a few things I liked, the ability to make my own explosives, ammunition, etc. But even there the ability to do this is very limited. It's almost as if the developer is scared of simply turning players loose in an open world and letting us run amok or follow the main quest as we see fit, which was ALWAYS the primary appeal of the Fallout series.

It has a beautifully designed story, and works much better if you avoid the companions like they have the bubonic plague, as that's where the worst flaws are, along with the truly challenging fights.

As has been the case with every game Obsidian has done a sequel of, it's not as good as the game that came before. This doesn't make it a bad game, just don't grab it thinking it will hold up to the glory of those that came before... Course, this is coming from a cranky jarhead who just lost everything he's done with it because his companion got stuck in a place I can't go back into, so take it for what it's worth.

[Renevent]

I love the game and consider it a step above the original Fallout 3. I was having performance issue though doing the DX9.dll tweak fixed it. That and my quicksaves get messed up which is a pain...but other than that I haven't noticed any bugs at all besides the odd physics glitch here and there.

[ASYLUM101]

That and my quicksaves get messed up which is a pain...

I've noticed ALOT of games lately have had quick save problems....`

[Renevent]

I've noticed ALOT of games lately have had quick save problems....`

I think it has to do with Steam to be honest...

[ASYLUM101]

I think it has to do with Steam to be honest...

Hmmm, thats not ironic at all haha

[Kardiophylax]

I am enjoying the game on PC and haven't really encountered many issues. Minor bugs here and there, but nothing that's required a reload. I never played the original Fallout 3 though.

My biggest issue right now is how slow my "Tank" type character moves in his heavy armor. It takes painfully long to get from place to place before I enable fast travel. This game would be better with some type of vehicles to transport you, like in Borderlands. There is a lot of running from place to place here, especially for the Freeside quests from what I've seen. This gets kind of tedious when you run slow to being with.

Anyway, I'm considering starting a new character with higher agility. My current character is around level 14 and had done quite a few quests though... I've been focusing on guns. Thinking about trying some energy weapons out as well for a change. Maybe hardcore mode as well? Decisions, decisions.

EDIT: I haven't placed a lot of points in repair, science, or medicine in this first runthrough. Are these skills useful? I noticed a lot of terminals I couldn't access and items I couldn't fix along the way, but I'm not sure what's actually in them. Also, repairing broken gear is very expensive. Is the repair skill a good option to circumvent this?

[Renevent]

Hey kardio are you sleeping in game regularly? You move faster when your character is well rested...

[Kardiophylax]

Hey kardio are you sleeping in game regularly? You move faster when your character is well rested...

I haven't made it a point to since I've not got hardcore turned on. I'll make a more conscious effort to do so though. I typically only sleep when I need to regain some health or pass some time waiting on something.

If you are hovering just below your carry limit, does that also slow you down? Or are you only slowed if you become over encumbered? I may have a combination of carrying too much and wearing metal armor causing an issue as well.

Thanks for the tips!

[Renevent]

Yeah I think if you are right at your encumbrance level it does slow you a bit...also having a two handed weapon equipped also slows you. When walking far distances equip a pistol or something or holster your weapon all together.

*edit*

Just found this:

http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34783

Mod to increase your run speed...think I am going to install myself as running in the game even with a 1hd weapon and a light load feel a bit slow...

[Kardiophylax]

Thanks for the mod link. I started a new character up and did some testing, and with light armor on, a relatively light load, an agility of 7 (I haven't tested and only heard rumor that this actually impacts run speed), and my weapon holstered the movement speed is pretty quick.

Also, there is a perk called "Travel Light" you can pick up at level 4 that gives you +10% movement speed in light or no armor. You move quite fast when you combine all these things, so I may be able to avoid the mod for now.

I tried to make a lightly armored melee/sneak specialist on very hard, but it was, well... very hard :). I've found VATS to be rather unhelpful in melee and with certain weapons, namely dynamite. VATS melee with multiple enemies around is asking to die, as they continue to hit you while your vats slow motion goes off. You can't dodge and swing when using vats, so it's rather pointless except perhaps in a 1 on 1 or sneak attack opener. VATS with dynamite is good for the first throw, but then the enemy is charging you as you throw additional sticks.

I died so many times last night and this morning trying that build out. Much like Oblivion, I don't care too much for melee in Bethesda engine games. Even my Morrowind character was a ranger hybrid who used a bow primarily and a sword only to finish people off.

Now I'm thinking of creating a scientist/energy weapon/light armor user who won't need to get so close and personal. EDIT: Started up a sniping scientist/energy weapon merc for hire type. Making plans for my next character as well. My tendency to enjoy trying out new builds is already impacting my Fallout playthroughs. :D

[Renevent]

Gotta go with guns :p

I actually went guns with this character (went energy in FO3) and really liking the utility of all the available guns in the game. There's a gun for every situation!

So far my favorites are the hunting shotgun and the hunting rifle both are very satisfying to use.

Anyways I tried that mod out and it works great...there's two version too one that sets the speed to 6 and the other 5. Makes getting around the wasteland not such a drudge.

[Kardiophylax]

Gotta go with guns :p

I actually went guns with this character (went energy in FO3) and really liking the utility of all the available guns in the game. There's a gun for every situation!

So far my favorites are the hunting shotgun and the hunting rifle both are very satisfying to use.

Anyways I tried that mod out and it works great...there's two version too one that sets the speed to 6 and the other 5. Makes getting around the wasteland not such a drudge.

You were right about the guns thing. I've been trying to do an energy weapon build and it's just not working too well. I know the Gauss rifle later on is a powerful energy weapon, but then again it is really more of a traditional gun then an energy weapon (which defeats my goal of wanting to use energy looking weapons).

I don't like the look of the Plasma guns, and the laser damage is too low to penetrate armor very well. I've seen some mods out there, but I hate mods that overbalance and make things too easy. It's just hard to believe they thought making lasers worse then basic guns was a good idea.

Plasma Grenades are awesome though. I took out a lot of people with those :)

[ASYLUM101]

I remember in FO3, I had a stealth character... who was also an explosives expert...

I had a good time blowing people up by stuffing grenades in their pockets. :)

[Mind Dragon]

I stopped playing Fallout when I started encountering Death Claws and the giant mutants.

The biggest chaingun I had wouldnt kill them without backpeddling for the longest time. If the death claw caught up with you, a single slash or two would (almost instantly) send you to 1/3 of your health requiring an immediate hit of the tab key to restore health. I had plenty of defensive perks and some points in the weapon class.

The end result was armor degraded, weapon degraded, ammo used, food/health used -- for a relatively unsatifying fight. And, nothing much in return either.

The human enemies provided the best encounters.

The environment itself seemed more compelling than (most of) the missions.

I figured that New Vegas probably wouldnt have much to add for me -- and if I did buy it, it wouldnt hurt if it was later as more bugs might be fixed.

[The Ghoat]

I think the game is awesome I only have a problem when I look at a npc for too long it will begin to lagalot I've tried the dll. thingy but it did'nt work could'nt start the game after I've done what the instructions told me to.... :(

[shawnmck]

I haven't even beaten Fallout 3 yet, but I plan on picking this up eventually.
I've read that it was real buggy, but then again Bethesda games usually are.

It will probably be awhile before I do pick this up though.

[Mind Dragon]

I like tweaking software but taking random executables from the internet and placing them somewhere on your system probably isnt a good idea.

Also it is probably backlevel rather than an uplevel.

If I was desperate, I would take a dll from an old redist with the same version number. But since I have W7, that might cause problems. Of course, you shouldnt place it in your system directory.

[Ninjamohawk]

I don't like it. I think it has lost the "complex simplicity" of Fallout 3. I like the imposed linearity but I hate the ammo creation addition. The game expects you to make your own ammo....or your guns will degrade faster. Stimpacks aren't plentiful enough so you HAVE to use food items or mixtures you create.

It's too much upkeep. Give me enemies, let me kill them, give me XP, I'll upgrade my skills. Repeat.

And it's SO buggy. Shame on Obsidian for insulting their customers like this. But we all threw our money at them. Again. Giving them the impression that it's okay to release an unfinished game. Again.

[The Old Farmer]

Just out of curiosity are most of the people having problems playing on the PC or on console? I have about 60 hours in and other than replaying 1 quest where I assisted in an interrogation of a NCR prisoner it has been quite bug free. I am playing it on PC and have seen alot of complaints abot bugs etc. but other than the odd physics glitch it has been good. And a lot of fun.

[Kardiophylax]

I'm enjoying the game and bugs have been minimal, but somewhat annoying when they occur. I've seen a few enemies appear literally out of nowhere. One time it was a bark scorpion, so, no big deal. Another time it was a Giant Radscorpion and yeah... it didn't turn out well for my low level character. I've also seen enemies glitch into the terrain at times.

Performance when in cities or location with a lot of NPCs is painful, despite my ATI 5850. I have downloaded a file that is supposed to fix this issue, but haven't tried it yet. Otherwise, performance is great.

ED-E is rather annoying. There doesn't seem to be a way to make him stop chasing after far away enemies, many of which are too powerful for me to take on. "Passive" mode doesn't seem to stop him from being aggressive. This likely holds true for all other companions as well. I know Boone is pretty trigger happy. In very hard, hardcore, this can cause an issue since I have to either let ED-E die, let myself get killed, or reload. I'm to the point where I don't think I'm going to grab ED-E right away anymore.

There are some useful mods out already. I've downloaded two additional radio stations that add A LOT more songs. I mean, I like Big Iron and Johnny Guitar, but, enough is enough sometimes. :D I'm also running a modified UI that fits more on the screen. It basically looks like the one the game would have gotten had the UI not been build for consoles. I expect many more great mods to come. There are a lot of gameplay mods, but I prefer stuff that feels authentic to the vanilla world and doesn't add broken, overpowered elements.

EDIT: Just added a few new mods. One that sorts items of certain types together, for instance healing items, weapon crafting items, food items, etc. Something that really should have been in the vanilla game to begin with... I also downloaded a third person mod that allows the camera to be placed directly behind and slightly above the character. From what I can tell, aiming still works well in third person. With enough skill points, shots still seem to go where they should.

[The Old Farmer]

I will have to look for the radio station mod too as I agree the songs are good but too few. Then again I am pushing 90 H of play time with my first build. I just have to find all the locations, I am looking forward to using the mods on the next play through to add a bit of flavor.
Just some thing about the post Apoc setting that I have a blast with, I also played the hell out of borderlands too.

[Lmaoboat]

is full of bugs, glitches, and flaws... Just like everything else made by Obsidian. Having spent a few days playing it I can honestly say it plays as a more linear version of Fallout 3, using VERY powerful creatures to push you along a preferred path.

It does have a few things I liked, the ability to make my own explosives, ammunition, etc. But even there the ability to do this is very limited. It's almost as if the developer is scared of simply turning players loose in an open world and letting us run amok or follow the main quest as we see fit, which was ALWAYS the primary appeal of the Fallout series.

It has a beautifully designed story, and works much better if you avoid the companions like they have the bubonic plague, as that's where the worst flaws are, along with the truly challenging fights.

As has been the case with every game Obsidian has done a sequel of, it's not as good as the game that came before. This doesn't make it a bad game, just don't grab it thinking it will hold up to the glory of those that came before... Course, this is coming from a cranky jarhead who just lost everything he's done with it because his companion got stuck in a place I can't go back into, so take it for what it's worth.
Don't blame Obsidian, Bethesda's engine is more outdated than a map of the USSR and buggier than a corpse in a rainforest.

[hooby]

It's always hard, working with someone else's code.

If all code was clean and perfectly coded, it should theoretically be no problem to work with just about any code, no matter who wrote it.

But practically - especially when time is pressing and deadlines are tight - code tends to accumulate some obviously rushed passages, and ugly hacks to get things to work that otherwise would have needed to rewrite some more stuff.

If it's your own mess, you know what you have to be careful about to avoid trouble, and in case something goes wrong nevertheless, you usually have a good idea what the problem could be.

If the code is by someone else - you have no chance of avoiding possible problems. So everything that can break or cause bugs will do so. And since it isn't your code, you have no f*cking idea why that stuff keeps happening.

You still can get it to work - you just have to learn about the pesks and shortcomings of the code, and either fix them, or work around them. That's not the most gratifying part of the work of a coder, but with a bit of a motivation this can lead to a good and stable running result. But it takes a bit more time of course.

So if you are hard pressed to meet deadlines again - then you are in trouble.

[Void(null)]

Don't blame Obsidian, Bethesda's engine is more outdated than a map of the USSR and buggier than a corpse in a rainforest.

Thats the same thing Obsidian said about:

Knights of the Old Republic 2
Neverwinter Nights 2

And then there was Alpha Protocol that was entirely independently developed and now Fallout: New Vegas.

There is a common pattern emerging, and its not the game engines and its not the publishers.

Sadly Obsidian sell games... they sell a lot of games, and this has been attributed to Obsidian and not to the overwhelming success of the franchises they inherent. Feargus could have shit in a box, labeled it "Fallout: Your name here" and it would have sold 2 million copies.

Now Bethesda are desperately running behind Obsidian, trying to pick up the pieces and undo any damage done to their franchise by Obsidian's amazingly shoddy craftsmanship.

Obsidian have great ideas, they can tell a mean story but they need to listen to their QA department and not mark off obvious bugs as unrepeatable simply because they want to hurry up to their fat payday.

Obsidian's problem is:

1: Poor business, Time and Resource Management
2: Don't give a shit about their QA

All the other peoples time and money in the world is not going to fix that, give them a bigger budget and they will find a way to waste it. Give them a bigger QA department and they will just have more people to ignore.

I miss Black Isle.

[Kardiophylax]

I'm not sure how/why the discussion turned to Obsidian instead of the game, but I've not witnessed or seen many issues with the game. I've read and heard about some of them, but so far it's been pretty flawless for me. Some enemies will occasionally glitch, but even World of Warcraft has that and Blizzard has tremendous resources.

I also liked Alpha Protocol and didn't think Obsidian deserved the shellacking they took for that game either though, so perhaps I'm an Obsidian apologist. I didn't play NWN2 or KOTOR2, so I can't comment on those. I think Obsidian is just one of those companies a lot of people love to hate.

If I were going to pick a company for the "worst developer of the year" award, it would clearly be Stardock for their whole Elemental debacle. Alpha Protocol and FNV are both clearly more playable then that game when it first released. Stardock deserved to be roasted... I don't really think Obsidian does.

Anyway, back to FNV for me.

[Renevent]

"Now Bethesda are desperately running behind Obsidian, trying to pick up the pieces and undo any damage done to their franchise by Obsidian's amazingly shoddy craftsmanship."

Dude they sold 5 million copies and the game reviewed pretty well...what damage?

Most people I talk to say it's the best new generation Fallout and captures the old games better than FO3...I agree with them.

[Bleh]

If I'm going to get this one I'll be waiting for a GOTY.
Besides I still need to finish Fallout 3 so I'll have enough time to wait for New Vegas.

[i.n.s.a.n.e]

*necromancy skills established*

*summoning a message*


Hey folks,


A question. Is the Fallout New Vegas worth ~15$? I found it on one of the Czech digital distribution sites with huge discount, but I am in doubts...

I should start with the fact I am HUGE and sworn fan of Fallout 1 & 2, I disliked even Fallout Tactics...and hated Fallout 3...If I remember right, I tried Fallout NW a year ago, and could get into it well, because the beginning was so boring...

Should I go for it? Is it worth it for what I said above? I am desperate for something Fallout... =(

Aaah...I just dunno... =/


Thanks!

[Asgardhora]

Do you get all dlc's?
I heard some of them are good. I personally found that new vegas catched more the vibe of the first two fallouts then fallout3.

The game also contained more background, lore, dialogues and questing imo!

And yes the start of the game was also boring for me!

[i.n.s.a.n.e]

Do you get all dlc's?
I heard some of them are good. I personally found that new vegas catched more the vibe of the first two fallouts then fallout3.

The game also contained more background, lore, dialogues and questing imo!

And yes the start of the game was also boring for me!

I have not bought it yet. Still waiting for your opinions, heh. =)

Yeah, my friend told me the same thing about it being closer to the first two Fallouts more than F3.

I watched some gameplay videos yesterday and I guess I just can't get pass the damn first person view and almost missing tactical combat..just can't..

Well, let's get back to F2 then.. =)))


Anyway, thanks for answer!

[Kardiophylax]

I enjoyed New Vegas quite a lot. I actually want to pick up the DLC and playthrough the whole game again from the beginning at some point. This is despite the fact that I currently have around 80 hours played already according to Steam.

If you decide to pick it up, I highly recommend picking up one of the radio mods that adds more period appropriate music. Conelrad radio and a few others offer some good tunes to help put you in the 50s post-apoc mood.

[Keyrock]

I absolutely love Fallout: New Vegas, I think it's a terrific game. I still play it on and off all the time and enjoy the bejesus out of it every time. It's definitely better than Fallout 3. It feels a lot more like the first 2 games than Fallout 3, which shows that some of the soul of Black Isle still lives on in Obsidian because they were able to capture some of the quirks and nuances that make Fallout so enjoyable better than Bethesda did. In fact, and I'm about to commit blasphemy here, it's my favorite Fallout game. You read correctly, I like it (slightly) better than Fallout 2. I just think it's more fun. I always have an absolute blast playing New Vegas. Every time I play it, and I play it a lot, I love it more and more.

If you didn't like Fallout 3 then you might not like New Vegas because it's the same engine and gameplay, but my thought is that it's worth $15 especially if you get all the DLCs, some of which are quite good. The game does start slow, but it gets a heck of a lot more interesting and fun fairly quickly and it's an absolute riot later on. Plus, like any Bethesda (published) game, there's a billion mods out there.

[MercurialAlchemist]

New Vegas is a great RPG. It has a more Western feel than the original Fallouts (1 & 2). The NPCs are memorable, and I found the effort to create a coherent universe very impressive. However, combat is definitely unimpressive compared to the turn-based system of yore. No risk of having a "Fallout New Vegas Tactics" any time soon.