Vegas baby! Vegas

[ffc]

GF pre-ordered this for me on the PS3, because she's awesome. It should arrive on Friday. I shall report back on it's bugginess on that platform!

I got mine yesterday and didn't bother opening it.  Too many reports of a ~1 second stutter every couple minutes, short freezes, and loading issues with long freezes leading to rebooting the PS3.  I wanted to play this on a console for stability over the PC but that was too optimistic.  If these issues couldn't be sorted out in development then I can't imagine them being magically patched.

[LK]

I found kiting Radscorpions and whacking them with a Lead Pipe until they turn around and leash, then lobbing dynamite as they retreat just for shits and giggles, is an effective means of taking them down. Guns are useless against them (especially on Very Hard). They rarely get a hit on me because I move so fast and I have a longer reach than they do. Plus when they attack they enter an animation and I can go in and whack them some more while they are animation-locked and immobile.

I'm using far more explosives and melee weapons in the first couple hours than I ever did in Fallout 3. Also: Powder Gangs are a good source of cheap dynamite, which sells for a good amount and can usually be lobbed at enemies and cripple them good. Also: FUCKING MINES! The first one always gets me. Powder Charges are hard as shit to see ( I know, )

I've had one crash bug in mid-load and no other major issues. However I am lugging around a bunch of junk that I need some house or some place I can safely stash. For now I'm using mailboxes as mobile banks.

Was there some cheap place I can stock up on ammo? I'm cleaning out vendors of everything they have as I come across it and am barely staying ahead, though I've got rifle ammo out the wazoo (and no decent rifles). I did enjoy breaking down 20ga rounds and converting them to Magnum using the bench (and walking up on critters and blowing their brains out), but upgraded ammo recipes don't seem to be (initially?) available for the cheaper ammo like 9mm and 10mm. Chet in Goodsprings mentioned something about a surplus box I have yet to find.

So far, exploration is still the best part of the game. It's like getting an entire season of a television series where every episode can be watched in whatever order you'd choose without repercussion, though the main story is driving my direction.

[Kitsune]

There's a perk that supposedly gives better gunpowder recipes, and another one which does similar for energy weapons.  As for the cheap ammo, I thought I saw it in stock at Chet's shop?  Maybe I'm wrong.

[eldaec]

but it's missing on the humor.

The bugs I can live with, but if the writing as flat out boring as any other Obsidian title I'd just end up thinking 'what's the point'.

[jakonovski]

The bugs I can live with, but if the writing as flat out boring as any other Obsidian title I'd just end up thinking 'what's the point'.

Eurogamer, RPS and Giant Bomb all seem to think the story is the best thing since sliced bread, so I don't think we need to worry too much.

[Kitsune]

I've yet to follow the main storyline very deeply, but it would be hard to work out worse than Fallout 3's boretastic non-story and idiotic ending.  Thus far, the NPCs I've encountered have been more interesting than those in 3, so that's encouraging.

[ghost]

Hopefully there will be lots of robots.  And aliens.

[Khaldun]

8 hours on PC, no serious bugs. Every once in a while things look just a teeny bit stuttery with graphics on ultrahigh, and sometimes NPCs run even more awkwardly and weirdly than in FO3.

I've seen some slight glitches in questlines--getting Primm a sheriff, for example, there was a bit of weirdness that I was afraid would really bork the sidequest, but it straightened out later. I've had one or two cases of townspeople briefly flinching or shouting to watch out when I showed up and then calming down, in cases where I'm friendly or neutral to them.

Basically I like it. Feels like a huge xpac for FO3, really. Thought the first Caesar's Legion guy you run into (probably, depending on what you choose to do in the early game) is appropriately menacing in a sophisticated way that feels original.

Struggling with hoarding stuff--I particularly find a great need for Doctor's Bags and thus all their ingredients, since I'm running on hardcore (which is really just a slight thumb on the scale for inventory management, but as such, is a fine extra element to think about...I actually drink occasionally from radiated sinks and stuff.)

[Lum]

There are indeed lots of robots. No aliens yet, though.

[MuffinMan]

There are spaceghouls, though.

To answer my own question earlier in the thread about "Come Fly With Me."

[Furiously]

And don't forget you can get Felicia Day as a companion.

[Rendakor]

I played some more tonite, still haven't made it to Vegas yet. I failed a quest I don't think I had ever accepted, which was kinda  . Otherwise, no complaints. I've done every quest I've run into so far, and think I'm up to level 6 or so. I saw a vendor selling what looked like a unique gun ("That Gun") but it was going for 1k caps and the stats didn't look that good. Anyone know if it's worth buying?

[Ironwood]

And don't forget you can get Felicia Day as a companion.

O_O

[MisterNoisy]

Ran into my first crash bug - apparently the game doesn't like it when you try to buy two copies of the same playing card.

[Bunk]

I'm a little curious about something in the first town.

When running around the town, I found Victor's body lying on the hill above town. I then found his house, and everything inside was marked as usable (not red) - so I was thinking maybe I'm supposed to move in. Only now,

[Khaldun]

So here's a typical example of how quests can get borked in this game, a very classic example of Obsidian having subpar QA, because this is clearly fixable and should absolutely not happen in a quest-based game that has an open-world architecture. This is exactly the kind of shit you're trying to avoid in quest design and exactly the kind of mistake you're looking to find in QA.

[Khaldun]

I played some more tonite, still haven't made it to Vegas yet. I failed a quest I don't think I had ever accepted, which was kinda  . Otherwise, no complaints. I've done every quest I've run into so far, and think I'm up to level 6 or so. I saw a vendor selling what looked like a unique gun ("That Gun") but it was going for 1k caps and the stats didn't look that good. Anyone know if it's worth buying?

I think some of the quests you can fail without accepting are tied to faction. For example,

[Khaldun]

I'm a little curious about something in the first town.

When running around the town, I found Victor's body lying on the hill above town. I then found his house, and everything inside was marked as usable (not red) - so I was thinking maybe I'm supposed to move in. Only now,

I dunno if there's any earlier, but you can get safe storage in Novac.

[rattran]

There are several places you can permanently rent rooms, and you're given quarters in at least several casinos (quests) The storyline does pick up, and the faction thing is interesting, but flaky. I was shunned by the Legion, killing some assassins sent after me got me all the way to Vilified  And there is more humor appearing as the game advances. Also, like in Fallout3 you can 'go directly to Rivet City' to bypass some of the early questing.

And Felicia Day is the best companion ever. She makes heads assplode like no one else. She does like stepping in front of me in combat and being decapitated with the Bumper Sword, which kinda sucks.

[Tebonas]

Containers reset in Fallout New Vegas? Because I used whatever I pleased in Fallout 3 without items vanishing. I stashed everything in the crates beside the Workbench in Goodspring. Am I in for a nasty surprise?

[MisterNoisy]

Containers reset in Fallout New Vegas? Because I used whatever I pleased in Fallout 3 without items vanishing. I stashed everything in the crates beside the Workbench in Goodspring. Am I in for a nasty surprise?

This post on GameFAQs indicates that there's at least a few places that don't reset (mild spoilers).

[MuffinMan]

There has been two patches now for the PC version, one out last night for 360. At least it looks like they are on the ball getting things fixed.

[Bunk]

Containers reset in Fallout New Vegas? Because I used whatever I pleased in Fallout 3 without items vanishing. I stashed everything in the crates beside the Workbench in Goodspring. Am I in for a nasty surprise?

This post on GameFAQs indicates that there's at least a few places that don't reset (mild spoilers).

Perfect, according to that Victor's house is safe to use. Works for me, since I use Goodspring as a base for the free water anyways. It's going to take me a while to get in to Vegas itself, I tend to be way too methodical in these games about exporing everything.

[Lantyssa]

Good to know once I pick it up.  I always used the school at the start in Fallout 3.  Complete with teddy bear and spooky dead raider decorations.

[Rendakor]

Found my first annoying bug: if you got the Weathered 10mm Pistol from buying at Gamestop, do not mod it. Doing so will cause an annoying missing-texture glitch:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeBhc7fF9Dw

[Tarami]

Bugs aside, it's a good game. Better than Fallout 3 in my opinion - a little more realistic/consistent and less theme-parky. The crafting is pretty cool actually, even if I don't can't be bothered with it a lot.

Also, it has to be played on hardcore. It's not a big thing, but it makes the crafting more interesting and generally makes it more "worldly" when you have to scavange food and water when you come across it.

[LK]

It has some improvements but Fallout 3 takes the cake for me in having a better introduction sequence (Liam Fucking Neeson is your dad) and narrative. You don't start in town with a clear tutorial, a cinematic intro that shoe-horns you into the world, and a starting town that has no problems with clean water (compared to D.C. And Fallout 3 whose whole plot stemmed on providing clean water for the area).

[Azazel]

And Felicia Day is the best companion ever. She makes heads assplode like no one else. She does like stepping in front of me in combat and being decapitated with the Bumper Sword, which kinda sucks.

Did they make her look like Felecia Day? Well, Felecia Day as interpreted by the Oblivion Engine?

[jakonovski]

Is it just me or is shit really scarce on Hardcore? I'm constantly running out of ammo and the only reason stimpaks aren't gone is that they heal so slow you might as well sleep anyway.

[Tarami]

Note that the cases from ammo you've fired are kept, so you can reload them infinitely as long as you have the other materials.

But yes, you have to be somewhat strategic with what guns you use. I use the Ratslayer as my sniper rifle just because it uses a common cartridge (5.56.)

[Rendakor]

Do you remember by any chance where you found a sniper rifle? It's the one gun I've been hurting for this whole time.

[gimpyone]

After the latest update Veronica doesn't seem to comment on events any more, thereby preventing me from starting her quest.  Other companions have disappeared randomly as well.  I should have waited fort the GOTY edition.

[jakonovski]

I just got Veronica today, all she does is threaten me whenever I shoot at anything. Oh and she also likes to punch Brahmin to death.

Does anyone know if ED-E's quest works on the pc? He's been tagging along for ages and the recording never happens.

edit: nvm on that. It just took a long time.

[Tarami]

Do you remember by any chance where you found a sniper rifle? It's the one gun I've been hurting for this whole time.

It's not a real sniper rifle. It's a Varmint rifle with default mods. Found here:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Broc_Flower_Cave

If you take it to Mojave Outpost (south-east corner of the map) you can get it repaired to 100% which makes it a pretty good sniper rifle against anything human.

[Furiously]

Bugs aside, it's a good game. Better than Fallout 3 in my opinion - a little more realistic/consistent and less theme-parky. The crafting is pretty cool actually, even if I don't can't be bothered with it a lot.

Also, it has to be played on hardcore. It's not a big thing, but it makes the crafting more interesting and generally makes it more "worldly" when you have to scavange food and water when you come across it.

I'm enjoying it a lot more than fallout 3. It does feel like a world. Also... the military camp where they have the front line against the legion... OMG. (Is it Camp Forlorn?)