Fallout: New Vegas

[jrrtoken]

Very much looking forward to Fallout: New Vegas, however the fact that Obsidian has their hands in it turns my stomach. If they screw this one up, I'm done with Obsidian for good...

I'm pretty sure that it's hard for anyone to screw up Fallout even more than what Bethesda has done to it...

[ChAiNz.2da]

I'm pretty sure that it's hard for anyone to screw up Fallout even more than what Bethesda has done to it...

If anyone can, Obsidian can

If they can screw up the NWN franchise AND KotOR, they're more than capable...

[mimartin]

If anyone can, Obsidian can

Seeing how Obsidian only has one year to develop and release Fallout: New Vegas, I’m actually very optimistic. I use to blame LucasArts for the problems with TSL, but after attempt Alpha Protocol I’m truly thankful that they only had a year to add their signature bugs to the game. At least TSL was playable and enjoyable. Hopefully the short production time is a good sign for Fallout: New Vegas too.

[Mav]

From the game-play trailer I've seen you still get to mow down Super Mutants, so I'm in.

[Revan 411]

AND KotOR, they're more than capable...

They didn't screw up KotOR; they enhanced it sufficiently, and fixed up all the mistakes that were left by BioWare in KotOR I.

 

As for Fallout: New Vegas, I'll probably give it a try once it comes out, but my expectations are actually low; not because of Obsidian, but because of the dreaded experience I had with Fallout 3 back in 2008. I actually think it's one of the worst video games of all time, and is a perfect example of what not to do when making a video game.

[JediAthos]

They didn't screw up KotOR; they enhanced it sufficiently, and fixed up all the mistakes that were left by BioWare in KotOR I.

 

lolwut? KOTOR 2 in its original form was buggy, incomplete, and was definitely not "fixed" It suffered from a short development schedule resulting in a game that I would say could have been much more polished.

[Revan 411]

I was referring to the story, plot, and characters; not the technicalities, or game-play.

 

And I'm probably one of the more lucky folks around here, as I encountered very few bugs with KotOR II. A few crashes here, and there, but that happens with most video games I guess.

[Mav]

... but because of the dreaded experience I had with Fallout 3 back in 2008. I actually think it's one of the worst video games of all time, and is a perfect example of what not to do when making a video game.

Explain yourself before I wreck yourself.

[Sabretooth]

I am in loose agreement with Revan 411. My experience with Fallout 3 was rather rough-shod; when the game wasn't crashing unpredictably, it featured some of the most colourless characters imaginable, with terrible story elements (Church of Atom? Really?) and a forced story that puts Bethesda to shame.

 

And this comes from one who greatly enjoyed Morrowind, mind you.

[mimartin]

To me Fallout 3 was Oblivion with guns. I didn’t play it for story, to me it was just a mindless fun game to run around killing things while exploring. Other than a few NPC disappearing and not being able to get my reward in one of the DLC, I don’t remember any major bugs or crashes on the 360 or the PC. Now since I got a new computer with Windows 7, even after about 20 tweaks the game crashes eventually every time I play. No problem for me since I remember being taught to save and save often while playing TSL from this very forum. (Thanks RedHawke and ChAiNz).

 

This thread reminds me how unplayable the minigame swoop racing was in TSL until Darth333 fixed that. I wonder if Darth333 is playing AP?

[JediAthos]

Bethesda details preorder packages for Fallout: New Vegas

 

http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/06/10/Bethesda-Details-New-Vegas-Pre_2D00_order-Incentives.aspx

[mimartin]

Bethesda details preorder packages for Fallout: New Vegas

None of them seem to be worth taking the chance to preorder. If A.P. taught me anything, it is to allow someone else to be the guinea pig before purchasing an Obsidian game. Still a little ticked at our European members for not warning me about A.P.…

[JediAthos]

Yeah...I don't know if I'll be preordering or not though the collector's edition looked kinda cool.

[jrrtoken]

None of them seem to be worth taking the chance to preorder. If A.P. taught me anything, it is to allow someone else to be the guinea pig before purchasing an Obsidian game. Still a little ticked at our European members for not warning me about A.P.…

That's because some people actually think that it's a pretty solid game.

[Mav]

I'll be pre-ordering this, I got lots of Amazon vidya credits.

[mimartin]

That's because some people actually think that it's a pretty solid game.

 

Sorry, I was not counting the Obsidian fanboys in my comment.

[jrrtoken]

New E3 trailer @GameTrailers. It's nice to see the desert again after the Soylent Green-tinted skies that lit up the nuclear skeleton that was the Capital Wasteland. I'm more intrigued with the crucifix scene than the actual Vegas strip itself, though, but hopefully it'll have that seedy, anarchical, dystopian vibe that was found in New Reno in FO2.

[mimartin]

This is the first trailer that has actually made me want to play the game. I'm hoping the world is really more alive than the Washington Wasteland in Fallout 3 (although that was fixed with a mod). Only concern I have is it took too many hits on that Eyebot, but it is only a trailer.

[Mav]

*click* pre-ordered

[DarthParametric]

The New Vegas release date has been announced - October 19 USA/October 22 Europe.

 

It seems they have slipped at least 6 months or so past their 12 month mandate, as was expected.

[JediAthos]

http://e3.g4tv.com/videos/46535/E3-2010-Live-Fallout-New-Vegas-Demo/?quality=hd

 

 

G4TV hands on demo with Fallout: New Vegas

[Darth InSidious]

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/29981

 

Another look, this time with 1Up.

 

Things I got from this one, for tl;dw:

 

-F:NV has about twice as many weapons as FO3

-More perks that affect VATS, but otherwise VATS is pretty unaffected

-Barring the few children, all NPCs (including main-quest NPCs) are killable

-Multiple casinos, each of which have slightly different rules

-You can be thrown out of any and all the casinos for making too much (and yes, there's perk for that)

-Companions can be controlled via a new GUI (companion wheel) as well as via dialogue

-Main factions around here are the New Californian Republic (NCR) and Caesar's Legion(s ?)

 

So... yeah. Be sure to watch Athos' too, as it has different information in it.

[mimartin]

After those two videos I’m convinced.

 

-Hardcore mode

* Dehydration

*Weighted Ammo

Usually have to wait for someone to create a mod to get those.

[jrrtoken]

There's a fan Q&A with J.E. Sawyer over at thye Bethesda forums, but to my pure altruism, I'll post the full text here to prevent irradiation by just posting the links.

 

Will perks be available every level, every other level, every third level, etc.?

From OakTable via Bethesda Blog

 

Josh Sawyer: We have shifted the perk rate to a game setting within the GECK. We currently have it set to one perk every two levels. Internal feedback to it has been mixed, so it's too early to say if we will keep it at this setting.

 

Will we be able to level past 20? Or 30?

From Justin via Facebook

 

JS: Our level cap is 30.

 

Will the PC retail game be able to be activated via Steam?

From @litrock via Twitter

 

Jason Bergman, Senior Producer at Bethesda Softworks: Yes. Fallout: New Vegas will fully utilize the Steamworks SDK. This means that retail PC copies will activate via Steam. We are also using Steam for achievements and other features (but not multiplayer, of course. FNV remains a single player only game).

 

I’m assuming that you are reusing some of the animations from Fallout 3. Have you done anything to improve these or are they going to stay the same way that they did in Fallout 3?

From Zearox via Bethesda Blog

 

Josh Sawyer: We started our animation work by determining what new animations we needed, what existing animations we thought needed revision, and what else we could revise. We have already changed some of the core combat animations (for example, all first-person firearm aim animations have been revised) as well as creature animations (our "West Coast" Super Mutants have new idles, walk, and run cycles).

 

Can you confirm 'Dogmeat' will be a companion?

From Barry via Facebook

 

JS: The Mojave Wasteland is full of dogs. Who knows who will want to be your pal this time around?

 

You hinted at multiple ammo choices being available. How deep are you going with that? Will that only be regular and AP ammo?

From DanishMIKI via Bethesda Blog

 

JS: What ammunition sub-types are available to the player depends on the base type. Not all ammunition types have standard, hollow point, and armor piercing variants. For example, there is no armor piercing .22 ammunition. In addition to "standard" ammunition, hollow point and armor piercing are the two most common variants. 20 gauge and 12 gauge shotguns have slug variants in addition to the standard (buckshot). Some calibers also have +P (overpressure) rounds, military surplus rounds (bought in bulk, increased power, increased wear on the weapon), or hand loads. Hand loads are always built at reloading benches in the world and can take a number of different forms. For example, you can craft .308 Jacketed Soft Points or .45-70 Gov't Semi-Wadcutters with very "hot" loads.

 

Energy Weapons and Explosives can also use ammunition subtypes. Some energy ammunition has "over charge" or "bulk" variants, the former being high-powered but damaging to the weapon and the latter being cheap but under-powered. 25mm grenades (used in the grenade machinegun) have a high explosive variant and 40mm grenades have an incendiary variant.

 

Are the Super Mutants in the screen shots graphical stand ins? Will they eventually have the unique appearance of the Mariposa Super Mutants from FO1 & FO2 (as seen in talking head dialogues), or will they appear as they do in the screen shots, almost identical to FO3 Vault 87 mutants?

From Chadious Maximus via Bethesda Blog

 

JS: Our early Super Mutant and Nightkin models were placeholders. All of them have been re-textured, slightly remodeled, and re-animated to more closely resemble the Mariposa Super Mutants.

 

Will the ending slides for all of the settlements return in New Vegas?

From @B3nt0k via Twitter

 

JS: We may not hit every single group or location, but our ending is pretty comprehensive in what it covers.

 

What other creatures are in New Vegas, and is it possible to see concept art of a new creature?

From Richard via Facebook

 

JS: One of my favorites is the Cazador. Cazadores are mutated tarantula hawk wasps that have found their way north from the Sonoran Desert. They aren't very durable, but their poison is deadly and they are very creepy looking.

Cazador Concept Art

 

Will each faction have a radio station?

From @hawker101 via Twitter

 

JS: Not every faction has a radio station, but I hope people are happy with the radio stations, DJs, and music selection we have.

 

Will there be any sort of party involved? A few companions to tag along?

From Rui via Facebook

 

JS: Yes. The player may have one humanoid and one non-humanoid companion at any given time.

 

Will you get to meet that badass from the teaser trailer?

From @Xenoliath via Twitter

 

JS: Eventually.

 

What does Steamworks mean to you? Senior producer Jason Bergman explains:

 

"Fallout: New Vegas uses Steamworks for achievements and other features (such as friends lists, cloud storage of user preferences and so on). Use of Steam will be mandatory at retail. So what does that mean? We’ve implemented Steamworks in as light and unobtrusive a way as possible. Yes, you will have to install Steam when you install Fallout: New Vegas if you don’t already have it. And yes, you will have to be online at the time of that initial install. However you can install the game on as many systems as you want (with no restrictions!), and you do not have to be online to play the game after your initial activation. Not only that, but once the game has activated on Steam, you can throw out the game DVD entirely and just download the game over Steam. If you don’t even have a DVD drive, you can just take the CD-Key from the box, enter it into Steam, and download it without ever using the disc at all.

 

For those concerned, this will have no affect on mod development whatsoever. Modders will still be able to create and distribute their plugins the same way they have in the past.

 

We made the decision to use Steam after looking at all the various options out there and decided that it provided the best, least intrusive experience for PC gamers. We think you’ll agree."

 

How many new perks are there planned to be included in Fallout: New Vegas?

From Oerjeke via Bethesda Blog

 

Project Director Josh Sawyer: A lot. We've removed some old perks, modified some existing perks, and added a bunch of new ones. We believe that New Vegas' selection of perks will make the selection process difficult but rewarding for the player.

 

Will the Fallout: New Vegas Version of the GECK ship with the game, or be downloadable on release?

From @The3rdType via Twitter

 

JS: Yes. In addition to the normal GECK functionality F3 modders have come to expect, the F:NV GECK will allow modification of ammo lists, ammo subtypes, the hardcore "basic needs" rates, and a lot of the other new bits of data we have added. It will also contain the F:NV dialogue editor, which can be used with or without the standard F3 dialogue editor.

 

Will Area 51 be in the game?

From Daniel via Facebook

 

JS: Area 51 is a bit too far outside of our Mojave Wasteland to include.

 

What type of graphics options will there be? DX 9/10/11?

From @Z999z3mystorys via Twitter

 

JS: F:NV's renderer still uses DX9.

 

Will there be character "traits" as in the classic Fallout games?

From @TheBearPaw via Twitter

 

JS: Yes. During character creation, you will have the option to select one or two traits. Traits include some of the classics, like Small Frame (in F:NV it gives a bonus to AG but you break limbs more easily), and new ones, like Four Eyes (bonus to PE while wearing glasses, penalty while not).

 

What kinds of Companions will we see this time round.

From @Neo_Wolf via Twitter

 

JS: We have a varied cast of companions ranging from Raul the ghoul mechanic to Boone the ex-NCR sniper to some more unusual fellows. Each of the companions has their own personal conflict the player can help resolve. These conflicts can be relatively simple to address or they can involve major quests that span the Mojave Wasteland.

 

Will there be anything like Fallout 3's bobbleheads in New Vegas to collect?

From @Neon0x via Twitter

 

JS: Yes, there will be something similar to bobbleheads in the game, and you'll receive an in-game reward for finding them. That said, they do not give you SPECIAL or skill bonuses when found.

 

In Fallout 3, it was easy to max out most, if not all, of your skills. Is anything being done to prevent this?

From Ryan via Facebook

 

JS: We have done several things to adjust the skill point economy. First and foremost, the formula for calculating skill points per level has changed. We are still experimenting with what formula to use, but a 10 IN will likely not boost a character's skills as much as it did in F3.

 

Most of the skill boosting perks have been removed, which means that method of advancing skills no longer exists. Skill books now give +3 skill points, +4 with Comprehension, but there are far fewer skill books in the world. This both reduces how much of a boost skill books will give overall and reduces the impact of Comprehension on that value (don't worry, Comprehension also gives a bonus to skill magazines, so it has more broad applicability). Our "Bobblehead equivalent" does not give SPECIAL or skill bonuses, so those are also removed from the skill point economy.

 

Are Bottlecaps the source of currency or will it be poker chips?

From Rob via Facebook

 

JS: Bottlecaps are the main currency in the Mojave Wasteland. Bottlecaps are a water-backed currency controlled and regulated by NCR merchant caravans. The caravan houses conspired to re-introduce the currency when traders lost faith in NCR money. This loss of faith was the result of the NCR moving from a gold-backed currency to fiat currency due to repeated attacks on NCR gold reserves by the Brotherhood of Steel. Though the transition helped stabilize NCR's economy, NCR dollars are devalued compared to bottlecaps and even more devauled when compared with the third form of currency: Legion coins. Caesar's Legion mints silver and gold coins from captured pre-war material. Despite the NCR's running conflict with the Legion, merchants and citizens throughout the Mojave Wasteland accept all three forms of currency.

 

Poker chips are used by all functional casinos. Each casino has its own chips that must be used for gambling. Players can exchange any form of currency for chips and can receive their payout in any form of currency. Mr. House doesn't let the ongoing war get in the way of potential profits.

 

Will you be able to marry or even bettter marry a super mutant?

From Josh via Facebook

 

JS: Only in your dreams.

 

Will we be able to keep playing once we beat the game with this one?

From Sean via Facebook

 

JS: This is something we really wanted to do, but ultimately we realized that supporting post-endgame content would jeopardize the quality of the ending, which we wanted to tell the definitive stories for all of our major factions, locations and characters. Instead, after the credits roll the game will prompt you to reload a save created just before the endgame sequence, allowing players to go back and complete any quests they may have missed. Additionally, we make it very clear when you're about to reach the end of the main plot, so it shouldn't come across as a surprise.

 

Demo anytime soon?

From Gavin via Facebook

 

JS: We have no plans for a demo.

 

Will I be able to play, and complete, F:NV without killing anyone or anything, except perhaps in self-defense?

From Billy Ocean via Bethesda Blog

 

JS: Yes. There are ways to win the main plot by killing no one and by killing everyone. It was one of our initial design tenets. You will find it difficult to get by as a pacifist, and you will miss a great deal of content by killing everyone you meet, but it can be done.

[Jeff]

Just pre-ordered the collector's edition for PC after learning that it used Steamworks, before I was on the fence between the Steam version and the CE.

 

I got to play this game for at least 20 minutes at E3. Just like everyone has been saying, it's very similar to Fallout 3, with the same Pip-boy interface, same overall gameplay, graphics, etc. The opening sequence is much shorter than it was in Fallout 3, probably only about 5 minutes long (though I was sort of skipping through dialogue). I also did some of the minigames in a casino, blackjack and roulette. And then I did the same quest twice, but for both factions. Basically, you were neutral with both of them until you attacked, so it allowed for some pretty creative ways to get them done. Of course you could just go in guns blazing, which I did on the first playthrough with the "good" faction, but the second time through I did a reverse pickpocket, and put C4 in the dude's pocket and then ran away and watched gloriously as he exploded. The game definitely isn't finished as I was told not to go in one area, but aside from a couple frame hiccups, didn't run into any major problems.