Official Fallout 3 Catch-All

This is exactly what I was referencing above. I have to draw the line somewhere, with all the hacking and whatnot. I'm already a few hours in just trying to get the texture mods working how I want, frakking around with the mouse jitter, etc. I'm barely in Megaton by now and haven't actually played that much. I figure I've got TF2 and X-COM and L4D2 if I really want to get Steam-social (and I do); I don't necessarily need to show everyone how much (more) Fallout I'm playing.

...until I start on NV. Again, but on PC.

muraii wrote:

This is exactly what I was referencing above. I have to draw the line somewhere, with all the hacking and whatnot. I'm already a few hours in just trying to get the texture mods working how I want, frakking around with the mouse jitter, etc. I'm barely in Megaton by now and haven't actually played that much. I figure I've got TF2 and X-COM and L4D2 if I really want to get Steam-social (and I do); I don't necessarily need to show everyone how much (more) Fallout I'm playing.

...until I start on NV. Again, but on PC.

Renaming a few exe's and launching Steam through MO isn't that much of a hack. I've done way more involved stuff just trying to get specific mods to work. I think being able to use the overlay to look up a quest you're stuck on or something would be worth it..

FONV shouldn't need such tinkering, from what I've read. When I played through it last year I was using FOMM though, so I can't say for certain.

Stengah wrote:
muraii wrote:

This is exactly what I was referencing above. I have to draw the line somewhere, with all the hacking and whatnot. I'm already a few hours in just trying to get the texture mods working how I want, frakking around with the mouse jitter, etc. I'm barely in Megaton by now and haven't actually played that much. I figure I've got TF2 and X-COM and L4D2 if I really want to get Steam-social (and I do); I don't necessarily need to show everyone how much (more) Fallout I'm playing.

...until I start on NV. Again, but on PC.

Renaming a few exe's and launching Steam through MO isn't that much of a hack. I've done way more involved stuff just trying to get specific mods to work. I think being able to use the overlay to look up a quest you're stuck on or something would be worth it..

FONV shouldn't need such tinkering, from what I've read. When I played through it last year I was using FOMM though, so I can't say for certain.

I guess I didn't realize the benefits of the overlay. I've played very little on Steam, mostly Spec Ops and not very much of that, so I've never used anything Steam has to offer while in-game. I recall reading it as more than just renaming stuff, but it was probably late and I was probably impatient and thought it should Just Work and blah. I'll give it a shot.

muraii wrote:
Stengah wrote:
muraii wrote:

This is exactly what I was referencing above. I have to draw the line somewhere, with all the hacking and whatnot. I'm already a few hours in just trying to get the texture mods working how I want, frakking around with the mouse jitter, etc. I'm barely in Megaton by now and haven't actually played that much. I figure I've got TF2 and X-COM and L4D2 if I really want to get Steam-social (and I do); I don't necessarily need to show everyone how much (more) Fallout I'm playing.

...until I start on NV. Again, but on PC.

Renaming a few exe's and launching Steam through MO isn't that much of a hack. I've done way more involved stuff just trying to get specific mods to work. I think being able to use the overlay to look up a quest you're stuck on or something would be worth it..

FONV shouldn't need such tinkering, from what I've read. When I played through it last year I was using FOMM though, so I can't say for certain.

I guess I didn't realize the benefits of the overlay. I've played very little on Steam, mostly Spec Ops and not very much of that, so I've never used anything Steam has to offer while in-game. I recall reading it as more than just renaming stuff, but it was probably late and I was probably impatient and thought it should Just Work and blah. I'll give it a shot.

Its got a built in internet browser, which is the only thing I use it for, but I use that enough to make it worth it.

I like the steam overlay for snagging some in-game screenshots.

Works mostly fine. Thanks for the tip. Only thing: I can't get FalloutLauncher to run with the launch dialog that lets me change graphical settings. Not even if I use the original launcher, e.g., "FalloutLauncher-Orig.exe". Any attempt to launch Fallout, either from MO, or Steam, or from the executables themselves, jumps straight into the GOAT intro. I'm still tweaking with which combination of textures and display settings I want to use.

For now, I'll just drop down to smaller textures, but if I still need to tweak I'll undo everything, make tweaks, and then redo.

EDIT: Nevermind. Hadn't tried launching FalloutLauncher-Orig.exe from MO, which worked when launching it directly didn't. I wouldn't have expected that.

Trying to dial in the graphical performance. My GTX 460 (1GB model) doesn't like anything above 4x AA, prefers no AF, and can't even muster the 512x512 textures from NMC's texture pack (the low-end variety). Not, that is, without some precipitous dips in FPS. I also get noticeable texture pop-in at those settings (default large textures, 1080P, 4x AA, no AF), but that seems par for the course.

On a much, much higher note, Puce Moose's Mantis Imperative is fantastic, and I've only seen a couple of its effects. The deadlier combat is nicely tuned, though I'm surviving a little more than I expected. That's fine, but I might see if there are settings to make there. But, boy howdy, was I surprised by the fireflies! It's a superlative addition to the game. They're a tougher version of the bloat fly, and I'm impressed with the fire attack.

Even with the compromises from high (let alone ultra) GPU settings, it's almost a different game. Being able to see a realistic distance, versus the mud you get playing the PS3 version, makes for a substantially better experience.

Mud ants!

I finally got to this game after examining The Pile. The only other Bethesda game I've played is Skyrim (I know, I know) and I have to say that this is right up my alley. I wish the skilling system worked like Skyrim's in that you level up what you use, but that's a small complaint. The setting and theme are awesome.

Now, having said that I've never played through this, I see Fallout Wanderer's Edition and say to myself: "This is the game I've always wanted to play."

At this point in my life I will probably not play through Fallout 3 multiple times. I would like to savor and work my way through it slowly. I've got about 5 or 6 hours in and haven't done much in the main quest.

Can anyone who has played the Wanderer's edition comment on how much it changes the gameplay? If it makes it harder, I'm fine with that. I would be up for an immersive, difficult, no-fast-travel playthrough. More survival-y is what I'm looking for.

Aside from that, I don't want to go too far down the rabbit hole. I've installed the unofficial patch, Fellout, and a few other light texture mods like up-res'd weapons. I also added Forested flora.

Phone ate longer post...

World scales with character, iirc.
I played without fast-travel, mostly.
Take your time.
Enjoy.

muraii wrote:

On a much, much higher note, Puce Moose's Mantis Imperative is fantastic...

Don't forget to pick up his Evening with Mister Manchester as well. All of his stuff is great, but those two were my favorite for FO3.

bighoppa wrote:
muraii wrote:

On a much, much higher note, Puce Moose's Mantis Imperative is fantastic...

Don't forget to pick up his Evening with Mister Manchester as well. All of his stuff is great, but those two were my favorite for FO3.

To Michael's question and in response to this, the Mantis Imperative adds difficulty and creatures. I also avoid fast travel as much as I can. It really is a great game. I've only installed MI and a light texture mod, not even the patch.

Heh, funnily enough, I dug through my cd collection and reinstalled this last night and a whole bunch of mods and having a great time. Such a fantastic game. I've got all the super high res texture packs and it looks amazing.

I dug it out on 360 recently and am enjoying another play though. It was the talk of Fallout 4 and enjoying Skyrim that sent me back down this particular irradiated rabbit hole.

I started a Fallout series playthrough about a week ago. I got through both Fallout 1 and 2 and enjoyed myself quite a bit with both. And now that I've put about 3 hours into Fallout 3, I just have to say..

This is one of the most boring, lifeless, soulless games I've ever played. The stories and characterization were never that amazing in Fallout 1 and 2, but what was there was generally charming enough. That isn't the case here. Everything the NPCs say goes in one ear and out the other. The world itself is just as bland as you can get. I don't feel anything while in it. I don't feel like I'm in a post-apocalyptic world despite all its attempts to make it seem like it is. If Bethesda wants to know how to do post-apocalyptic, they need to check out Call of Pripyat with the Misery mod.

You got through Fallout 1 and 2 in a week? Not bad at all.

I'm with you regarding Fallout 3 seeming lifeless though. There are very few memorable characters, unlike those in 1 and 2. That seems to be a recurring drawback with Bethesda's open world rpg's. Some of the plots were intriguing and I enjoyed building my character, but I can't name a single npc from the game, outside of 'dad'.

Three Dog?

Yeah, writing ain't exactly Bethesda's strong suit. Three Dog and Moira are the only memorable characters for me, and Three Dog I mostly find annoying.

Zane: I bet you'd find New Vegas much more to your liking.

In Bethesda RPGs, the world is the character. And no, the characters and writing don't get better.

Fallout 3 is very enjoyable, but it's quite a different beast than the earlier two games. If you want 'more Fallout,' Wasteland 2 is coming soon.

Fawkes!

Demosthenes wrote:

Fawkes!

Yeah, my BFF that told me to kill myself!

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

Fawkes!

Yeah, my BFF that told me to kill myself!

Oh I love that guy.

I kept almost typing in my own character recommendations to point out how cool FO3 was and then I realized all the ones that kept springing to mind were from New Vegas.

Dogmeat was my favorite character in FO3.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

Fawkes!

Yeah, my BFF that told me to kill myself!

Nice to see I'm not the only one still annoyed by that wonderfully stupid plot-hole.

Demosthenes wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

Fawkes!

Yeah, my BFF that told me to kill myself!

Nice to see I'm not the only one still annoyed by that wonderfully stupid plot-hole.

I'm still so pissed about the ending I have never played any of the DLC.

tboon wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

Fawkes!

Yeah, my BFF that told me to kill myself!

Nice to see I'm not the only one still annoyed by that wonderfully stupid plot-hole.

I'm still so pissed about the ending I have never played any of the DLC.

That was just the worst part of the game for me. I even went to the wiki just to see if there was any way to survive the ending. Nope. Fawkes gives you some BS about not denying you your destiny, and the Mr. Gutsy calls you a coward if you even ask him.

Seriously, wtf? Let's give the player a companion that is either immune to or healed by radiation but make the character march to his or her death because... Narrative?

That said, I couldn't get into New Vegas. Sure, there were dull characters here and there in FO3, but every single person you meet in New Vegas is such a gigantic sphincter that I just just couldn't care about the world. To me it felt like Bethesda said "you know what this series needs? Let's get rid of Moira and make everybody into a variant of either Moriarty or Tenpenny."

Bleugh.

That combined with the brutally punishing exploration (Oh, did you leave the main road? Here's a swarm of giant wasps that kill you faster than Deathclaws. Oh, and we put Deathclaws everywhere too.) were the reasons why Fallout 3 is the game I return to again and again while New Vegas got traded in as soon as I completed the main story quest.

At least once every couple of years I load FO3 up, completely ignore the main story quests and just wander around.

My most recent build is a lady ninja. Max unarmed, max stealth. Sneak up on super mutants and punch them! Yeah.

I uninstalled the game. I gave it a fair shot having put 4 hours into it, but it just wasn't happening. It is a shame, but at least I had a great experience with Fallout 1 and 2. I'm going to move on to Fallout Tactics and maybe I'll try out New Vegas some day.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

That said, I couldn't get into New Vegas. Sure, there were dull characters here and there in FO3, but every single person you meet in New Vegas is such a gigantic sphincter that I just just couldn't care about the world. To me it felt like Bethesda said "you know what this series needs? Let's get rid of Moira and make everybody into a variant of either Moriarty or Tenpenny."

Bleugh.

That's a fairly ridiculous exaggeration, even by internet standards. All you have to do is start up the game, and the first character you meet ingame will disprove it.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:
tboon wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:

Fawkes!

Yeah, my BFF that told me to kill myself!

Nice to see I'm not the only one still annoyed by that wonderfully stupid plot-hole.

I'm still so pissed about the ending I have never played any of the DLC.

That was just the worst part of the game for me. I even went to the wiki just to see if there was any way to survive the ending. Nope. Fawkes gives you some BS about not denying you your destiny, and the Mr. Gutsy calls you a coward if you even ask him.

Seriously, wtf? Let's give the player a companion that is either immune to or healed by radiation but make the character march to his or her death because... Narrative?

That said, I couldn't get into New Vegas. Sure, there were dull characters here and there in FO3, but every single person you meet in New Vegas is such a gigantic sphincter that I just just couldn't care about the world. To me it felt like Bethesda said "you know what this series needs? Let's get rid of Moira and make everybody into a variant of either Moriarty or Tenpenny."

Bleugh.

That combined with the brutally punishing exploration (Oh, did you leave the main road? Here's a swarm of giant wasps that kill you faster than Deathclaws. Oh, and we put Deathclaws everywhere too.) were the reasons why Fallout 3 is the game I return to again and again while New Vegas got traded in as soon as I completed the main story quest.

At least once every couple of years I load FO3 up, completely ignore the main story quests and just wander around.

My most recent build is a lady ninja. Max unarmed, max stealth. Sneak up on super mutants and punch them! Yeah.

That's a fun build.