Alright, these are the stats I ended up with. I apologize if I didn't choose the combo that you particularly wanted, but remember, SPECIAL in Fallout 3 is much less important than it is in 1 and 2 or even New Vegas.
Lily (Thanks for the name CM156)
Female
Good Karma
Small Guns, Speech, Repair (These seemed to be the most commonplace)
S-5
P-5
E-3
C-8
I-10
A-5
L-4
Now, I want to get through Vault 101 in 1 update if I can, so I want you guys to make a small choice.
Do we kill or spare the Overseer? This will have a minor effect on the Trouble on the Homefront sidequest later in the game.
To avoid getting warned for a low content post, I'd also like to add that I will be doing all of the Fallout 3 DLC. In what order is up to you guys, but for obvious reasons Broken Steel will be last.
Whoo! Can't wait to see this. When do you plan on releasing the first LP? Also, are you going to be posting it here on the Escapist, on lparchive, or somewhere else entirely?
Call yourself Barry Burton have no speach or Barter or science computer or lock picking, its all small guns and unarmed, shoot first ask questions later, alternativly you can just walk around punching deathclaws to death as they beg for mercy. Also only eat sandwhiches
To avoid getting warned for a low content post, I'd also like to add that I will be doing all of the Fallout 3 DLC. In what order is up to you guys, but for obvious reasons Broken Steel will be last.
Whoo! Can't wait to see this. When do you plan on releasing the first LP? Also, are you going to be posting it here on the Escapist, on lparchive, or somewhere else entirely?
Nah, the LP Archive is where they archive finished Let's Plays from Something Awful. It will be entirely on this site, though I may link off-site for some extra background info.
Edit: @ChupathingyX: Mothership Zeta is pretty much a must, considering it's canon, if I remember correctly. Much rage will ensue, trust me.
Well, I do think mixing up the main quests with some interesting side locations would be for the best. I don't want to get to Rivet City *right* away.
And I don't think I'm going to go out of my way to get the bobbleheads, but if I see one, I'll take it. They have an interesting effect on the game, especially when it comes to min-maxing. Don't know their locations off the top of my head anyway, could use the wiki though.
Well, I do think mixing up the main quests with some interesting side locations would be for the best. I don't want to get to Rivet City *right* away.
And I don't think I'm going to go out of my way to get the bobbleheads, but if I see one, I'll take it. They have an interesting effect on the game, especially when it comes to min-maxing. Don't know their locations off the top of my head anyway, could use the wiki though.
Make sure you check the wiki if you plan on using Energy Weapons, because the bobblehead for that occurs in the main story, but you lose it forever if you don't get it at the right time.
Due to the rather massive amount of screenshots I ended up taking for the update, I had to change the way I'd do dialogue. So for each conversation I will post the first line of dialogue in a screenshot and then continue the conversation in text form so you know who I'm talking. There was simply way too many screenshots. There maybe exceptions to this later on, but right now this is just the most efficient way of doing it. Just want to give a key for what everyone's saying. I will update the first post with this as well. Everything being said is in game, didn't throw in any flair or anything.
Normal quotes are from characters in the game.
Italicized quotes are the player responses.
Anything outside quotes are my personal comments.
Once it gets a bit more complicated I'll add onto it. Expect the first update later this afternoon, going to go through the Vault area in one go.
Before the Let?s Play begins, I want to introduce everyone to a concept that you may or may not be familiar with. Your Mileage May Vary [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YMMV?from=Main.YourMileageMayVary] (Warning TV Tropes link.) What one person may dislike, the other may like, it just depends on your point of view. Many of the complaints people have with Fallout 3 can fall underneath this. If you played the first two first, your perspective might be very different from someone who?s played 3 first. Doesn?t mean either person is right or wrong, it?s just opinion. There are some things that really don?t make much sense, contradict previous games or are rather stupid no matter how you slice it though, that happens with every game.
While talking about Fallout 3, I will be critical but hopefully not overtly so. My goal is to point out just as much of the good as the bad and to analyze how the game fits in with the rest of the series. You are pretty much guaranteed to disagree with me at one point, Fallout 3 is a pretty divisive game for fans of the series. So without further ado, let?s get started.
This is going to be a big update. I didn't want to get bogged down in the tutorial, so I decided to do that Vault in one go. Doesn't take too long, there's just a ton of dialogue. Also, next update alot less screenshots, I promise you. Vault 101 is filled to the brim with dialogue and considering we won't be returning for a very long time, I wanted to take as many screenshots as I could.
[HEADING=1]Prologue - Life in Vault 101[/HEADING]
Opening
Narration
Like always in the Fallout games, Ron Perlman is in top form. I don't really have any complaints about the opening narration in this game, it does it's job pretty well. What's kind of funny about the opening though is the "Slowly pan out to reveal destruction" was done in 1 as well. In fact, the opening narration is pretty much the same exact thing. I suppose it makes sense, considering 3 rebooted the series for a new audience. New Vegas pans out more and more as a way to show the different factions and locations in the game. One thing about New Vegas's narration however, is that it assumes you already know the basic backstory of the war. Abruptly, right after the opening finishes, this happens...
You're born! Bit of a strange way to start the game, but at the very least this gives you a decent plot-related excuse for character building. Apparently you're dad has no idea what your gender is, so let's help him out a bit.
?Oh? Oh James? We did it? A daughter? Our beautiful daughter?
The other doctor in the room doesn't talk much and you'd probably think she would never show up again in the game. You would be wrong.
I decided to pick a female character by the name of Lily. There's significance in that name, especially with the main plot of the game. To the choosing our particular name, Liam Neeson- I mean dad replies.
"That's a good name don't you think? It fits you perfectly.'
Obviously there's some silliness in how your father doesn't know your gender or decide your name until you tell him to but it's to be expected. It's alot less silly than it could have been at least. Your father pulls up this screen and now you get to decide what you're character looks like.
This is the best I could come up with. I know, but the Gamebyro engine just has this terrible habit of making bad looking characters. Fallout 3/NV are miles better than Oblivion though, where people look like they have tumors all over their face though.
Unfortunately, your mother starts to go into cardiac arrest right after your birth. You're carted out of the room, and things flash white as the transitions to the next stage of your childhood...
Apparently the flashing effect was caused by the lights on the ceiling in this particular stage of your childhood. You're a toddler at this point in the game, if you press the use key, you make cute baby sounds. You're given one task: Walk to dad. I don't know if can handle this, it's just way too much for me to handle.
Of course your dad, being the irresponsible parent he is, leaves you alone in the room, with an easily escapable pen. There wasn't even an attempt on a lock for that thing. Guess Vault Tec sucks at making water chips AND cribs.
PHYSICS!
Nearby on the wall is a propaganda poster of sorts and then there is a peculiar book on the ground. It's titled "You're SPECIAL". I do really like what Bethesda did with choosing your SPECIAL stats, it's rather entertaining the first time through the game. Same goes for the vigor tester in New Vegas. I'm assuming most people reading this are familiar with Fallout but for those who are not familiar with Fallout, SPECIAL stands for Strength-Perception-Intelligence-Charisma-Intelligence-Agility-Luck. It's not as important in 3 as it is in Fallout 1 and 2. New Vegas made modifications so that it was more important than it was in 3. Still can get through New Vegas with some 1 stats, where as Fallout 1/2 would be very difficult. Especially 1 int. 1 INT in those games meant you could barely speak with people and you missed out on quite a few sidequests.
For Lily, I maxed out our Intelligence to 10, in order to get as many skill points as possible. This will give us a bit more options in how to play the game at the very least. Charisma is usually the dump stat, but we're roleplaying this character a bit. We'll try to talk our way out of fights but still be prepared to fight if need be. Soon after we choose our stats, the next transition arrives.
Bethesda was pretty clever with these transitions, each of them is caused by some bright light blinding the PC. (Player Character for future reference, unless said otherwise) I'm almost sure this is some sort of dream the character is having during the final part of the tutorial, remembering things from earlier on in their life. If someone could confirm this, that would be great.
It's a surprise birthday party for you!
And our very own pip-boy! Cool. That's probably the best gift we'll get today. No joke actually, our other gifts are pretty lame. And hahaha, Mr. Overseer, joking about us doing work assignments when we're only ten. What a funny guy, I'm sure him and everyone else in this Vault is completely normal and mentally stable...
Moving on...
There is some silliness involving the pip-boy and Operation Anchorage. While I won't get into it before we actually do Operation Anchorage, but apparently in Fallout 3, you're pipboy is something of a MacGuffin [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin]. TV Tropes again, I promise I won't go overboard with the TV Tropes links. It's odd, because there's a line in Operation Anchorage that gives you the impression that the pip-boy is permanently stuck to your arm, which is not true, at least I think it isn't. Again, I'll save it for Anchorage but it was weird.
Also, the pip-boy in 3 and New Vegas are significantly different than the old pip-boy:
Old Pip-Boy (Pip-Boy 2000) [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Pip-Boy_2000]
New Pip Boy (Pip-Boy 3000) [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Pip-Boy_3000]
Main difference between the two is that one is a handheld GPS-like device, the other is like a bracelet. Absolutely pointless to mention the differences but it's interesting nonetheless.
?Great party Amata! Thanks for doing this for me.?
?You?re welcome. But your dad did most of it. I just helped with the decorations and stuff. Hey, I bet you can?t guess what I got you for your birthday. Go on, guess!?
?I really have no idea.?
?Ha, I knew I?d surprise you. Who?s your favorite barbarian? That?s right, Grognak! Issue 14, and with no missing pages! Well I?d better let you get back to ?mingling? with your guests. We?ll talk later, okay? Happy birthday.?
What kind of 10 year old uses the word "mingling"?
I like Amata. I know alot of people don't like her, but she's the only kid from the Vault that doesn't treat us like crap. Let's check out our new Pip-Boy
The Pip-Boy is basically our character screen, with our stats, health and so on. The other 2 screens aren't really important at the moment, since we don't have any perks yet, nor have we gotten any karma gains or losses.
Old Lady Palmer gives us a sweetroll for our birthday (It was probably just a sweet roll that they were serving for the party) and doesn't say anything of any importance, except for one tiny detail. "It seems only yesterday that your daddy came.."
Suspicious.
And before I get to see our name on the cake, the robot destroys it. Great. I don't think this party can get much worse-
Oh great, it's Butch.
?How bout we share it? Half for me, half for you. That?s fair, right??
??How bout we share it??? What are you, five? Give me that sweetroll or I?m going to pound you.?
I try to be diplomatic and he acts like an asshole. Fine, be that way.
?Go soak your head butch. I?m not giving you the sweet roll?
Then the asshole starts attacking me. Christ, over a fucking sweet roll in the middle of a crowded room filled with adults? You can't fight back and kick his ass either.
Butch is eventually stopped by Officer Gomez. The kid has some issues.
Wait they have different types of Pip-Boy 3000 models? Why didn't I get the best one, I mean I'm sort of friends with the Overseer's daughter. Life just ain't fair sometimes.
I love this kid's voice. It sounds so bored and uninterested, like he's falling asleep just talking to you. Not sure if it was on purpose, but A+ Bethesda.
We have another chat with Amata.
Is it just me, or do all of the little girl NPC's in this game look rather creepy? Maybe it's just because of...
Ugh.
What do you mean for a little kid? You're fucking 10.
Oh fuck no. You're not sending me a quest to get a water chip if it breaks, fuck that. Been there, done that. Send Butch, he's stupid and expendable enough for the job.
Little bulletin board in the room.
Oh, another surprise. Sounds fun, it'd be best to get out of this room full of idiots anyway-
Oh god, it's you. Let me go past, damn it-
?Since this was such a special occasion, do you know what I did? I wrote you a poem! Just for you. I hope you like it.?
?Thank you. I will treasure it always.?
What kid would want a fucking poem for their birthday? I've never actually read that poem, maybe we'll save it as a surprise for next update. You know, to keep suspense up and stuff.
Let's quickly move down the corridor and away from all the stupidity.
?The Overseer gave you your Pip-Boy, and you?re old enough to do some work. So I figure you?re old enough for this. Your own BB gun! It?s a little old, but it should work perfectly.
?Thanks Dad?
?You know how tough it is to find a spring that small? Good thing Butch ?misplaced? that switchblade of his. Ha ha ha!?
Why the hell would you let a 10 year old have a switchblade?
This is shooting in Fallout 3. As you probably know, Fallout 3 is a shooter instead of a turn-based game. The game doesn't have ironsights but instead a zoom feature. It's functional enough, I prefer ironsights, but at the end of the day, zoom is fine too. I'd get a Fallout 3 iron sight mod but it has a habit of crashing my game every time I aim down sights. No joke.
We shoot the little targets when...
OH FUCK A RADROACH, SHIT JUST GOT REAL
VATS is an intersting mechanic in this game in that it's entirely fucking broken. It's awesome, no doubt but arguably the most broken thing about the game. During VATS, you can stop time and target a specific section of the enemies body. Sounds okay, since they can attack you during your long attack animations as well right? Well, during VATS you only take 10% of normal damage, so you're practically invulnerable when in VATS. New Vegas this effect has been omitted and as a result, VATS is not nearly as useful.
It was a tough fight but we managed to take down the radroach.
We stand to take a picture together, and that cues the next transition.
Again, a clever transition into the next part of the story.
?As far as I can tell, you?re a perfectly healthy 16 year old girl. So yes, you have to go to class and take you G.O.A.T. exam.?
?Anything I need to know about the G.O.A.T.??
?The Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. G.O.A.T.! Everyone here in the Vault takes it when they?re sixteen. You know what the Overseer says. ?We?re born in the Vault. We die in the Vault.?
?Do we have to die in the vault? Can?t we ever leave??
?I want to tell you something now. It?s important, so listen closely: this place, the Vault? it?s not perfect. I know. But it is your home. You?re safe here. Stay on the Overseer?s good side and you always will be. You understand? You need to appreciate all you have.?
?Can we talk about, you know?mom??
?Your mother, she?she was beautiful. But? beyond the beauty you?ve seen. There?s just so much those old photos can never show. And so! Time for you to stop stalling and get to class! Please, honey, please take these achievement tests seriously. The last thing I need is your mother?s ghost haunting me because her only child became a garbage burner. Take care sweetie. Now get out of here. And good luck.?
But you know, if you become a mass murderer, I'll only be slightly disappointed in you.
Okay, at this point in the tutorial, I really like James. Liam Neeson is a great voice actor, and he is by far the best voice actor in this game. (Not saying much but shut up) He just seems like a really caring father and a nice guy. That's what makes what is coming up anger me so much more.
Anyway, I want to touch on the different PC origins of the Fallout games. In Fallout 1 and 2, you're main quest goal is about your home. However, in 3 and New Vegas, the Lone Wanderer is forced from his home (Much like the Vault Dweller at the end of Fallout 1) and the Courier doesn't really have one that's outright shown in the game, though it has been hinted at that it's in the Divide at the moment. Both of them are more personal stories, at least the first act of them is at any rate.
I want to compare and contrast the tutorial areas for Fallout 3 and New Vegas. See, Fallout 3's opening gives you character more of a background and emotional motivation for the main quest at the start, while New Vegas is much more open to roleplaying because the Courier is a blank slate for the player to build off and gives you a bit more room to mold the Courier's motivations as well. Neither of them are better than each other in my opinion, and really what it comes down to is personal taste. I just have a problem with Fallout 3's main storyline, in that I don't know why you would want to find the man who abandoned you in a horrible situation unless you wanted to make him pay. I guess one could say the same thing for New Vegas, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
We found the Medicine bobblehead. Bobbleheads basically are scattered across the game map, and give decent bonuses to your stats. Either +10 to a particular skill, or +1 to an attribute. I know some people like to build around these and min-max, but I don't. I probably only know where one or two are off the top of my head anyway.
Wow these guys are using immature insults like that? They're like 16 and they're acting like 10 year olds. I don't know if that's worse than the fact that Amata was actually insulted by them.
And this is our introduction to speech checks. We can resolve conflicts more peacefully with a higher speech skill. The more speech we have, the higher chance we have of passing a particular check. Personally, I hate this method of speech checking, as you have to save scum sometimes even if your speech skill is high.
After that nonsense is over, we go into the classroom and get ready to take the GOAT exam. While I think they're funny, having a screenshot for each question is a bit excessive and might stretch the page a bit too much.
Chaplain? What? I really have no idea how they got that, maybe becasue speech was tagged? Does it change depending on your tagged skills, usually I use a quick start mod.
"Just between you and me? This test is a joke."
No kidding, eh?
We tagged Repair, Small Guns and Speech. Tagging isn't nearly as useful in Fallout 3 and New Vegas as it was in 1 and 2. 15 skill points is really nothing honestly, you'll have more than enough to skill points in this game with 10 INT to pretty much max out any skill you want.
And finally, present day. Well, in this game anyways. Amata wakes us up with some urgent news.
?Come on, you?ve got to wake up!?
?Huh? What?s wrong, Amata??
?You?ve got to get out of here! Your dad is gone and my father?s men are looking for you!?
?What do you mean, my dad is ?gone???
?He?s left the Vault! I don?t know how, but he?s gone, and my father? he?s kind of gone crazy.?
?I?ve never seen you so scared, Amata. What?s happened??
?It?s Jonas? they killed him! My father?s men. They took him, and? Oh my God, you have to leave now!?
?So they killed Jonas, and I?m next, is that it??
?Yeah. It?s lucky I got here ahead of them. But we can?t stand here talking! You?ve got to get out of here!?
?My dad can?t have left. The door is sealed shut.?
?Not anymore, apparently. But? Are you honestly telling me you had no idea your dad was leaving? He really didn?t tell you?
?No, I had no idea he was planning to leave?
?Oh, I?m sorry. I?m sure had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was supposed to explain everything to you? But it doesn?t matter. I can help you escape. I have my own plan!?
?Escape the Vault? How??
?Listen. There?s a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father?s office to the exit. You?ll have to hack the computer in his office to open it.?
?Sounds like a good plan. Let?s get out of here!?
?Oh, one more thing. I stole my father?s pistol. I hope you won?t need it, but you?d better take it just in case.?
?No, you keep it. You may need it more than I do.?
?All right. I?ll try to meet you at the exit. Watch out for security. Good luck!?
Lily must be a really heavy sleeper, considering she just slept through a radroach invasion and the chaos erupting throughout the Vault. Why did dad leave?...What? There has to be a note or something he left behind. Whatever, priorities are getting the hell out of here first.
Grab some junk out of a nearby drawer, a baseball bat, and some stimpaks out of a medical box and get out of here.
Oh crap, the guards are after me. STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM! YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE LAW.
But.. they're too distracted by radroaches to even care about me. Apparently the radroaches are killing a rather large number of people in the Vault, which is really weird. I mean they're big, yeah, but you still can step on them.
?Come on. Let?s go see if we can help her?
?No I can?t go back in there. It?s? it?s dark and there?s Radroaches.?
Normally I'd just give Butch the BB gun and tell him to man up and save his mom himself but this a good karma playthrough, so we'll help her.
Still don't see the threat honestly, they only seem to be viciously jumping at her.
She was fine, all she had to do was walk away and shut the door behind her. Standing still and letting them hurt you is probably not the best idea.
Uh... thanks?
Man, these vault dwellers aren't very sturdy.
The officer and the robot are killing the Radroaches nearby. The robot is using a flamethrower for it, which I think is a bit excessive honestly.
?You?re lucky it was me who found you. The others won?t be so forgiving.?
?Thanks Officer Gomez. I always liked you?
?It?s a real shame it?s come to this. I can?t believe what they did to Jonas? Officer Mack was just out of control? But you?re a good kid. You didn?t do anything to deserve this. Go find your dad, if you can.?
Guess that makes two people who aren't totally jerks to you in this vault, not counting your dad. I guess you could count Jonas as well, but he had about 5 lines before they killed him off.
This guy gets mowed down by the guards as he tries to escape. This is pretty much telling you "Run and get the fuck out of there". Seems a bit excessive, killing people. I mean there's already a limited population in the Vault. But then again, the Overseer doesn't strike me as a particularly smart person.
How is this my fault? ;_;
Amata is backed into a corner by the Overseer's (Her dad's) guard. Things are about to get really messy, but I get interrupted by a guard attacking me.
Oh well, there's goes the pacifist playthrough. You can't do that in Fallout 3 anyway, 1, 2 and New Vegas on the other hand...
And she just gunned down the guard. Whoops. Let's intervene before this gets worse.
?I hope you?re here to turn yourself in, young lady. You?re already in enough trouble as it is. Don?t make it worse for yourself.
?If you ever lay a hand on Amata again, I?ll make you regret it.?
?I place the good of the Vault above everything, even my own paternal feelings. We must not allow sentiment to cloud our judgment. But I admire your protective instincts. Very well. I give you my word that Amata will not suffer further because of your actions.
?My father?s no traitor. But you?re a murderer and a thug.?
?Let?s let history be the judge of that. If you had paid attention to Mr. Brotch, you?d understand that history is invariably written by the victor. And I intend to be that victor. You won?t survive the night. Guards! Help me!?
I'll give credit to Bethesda, that is a pretty great line for a villain but it's undermined somewhat by:
A) He calls for his guards right afterwards
B) And goes down in one or two hits, even with a character that has mediocre strength and low melee skill.
C) This is the beginning of the game, and the line really doesn't have any context.
I didn't want to kill the Overseer, and I wasn't planing to. I would chew him out for being such an asshole, and maybe might do something in a future quest, but I didn't expect him to attack me. He was hostile after that dialogue and I had to fight him. I do think killing the Overseer adds a bit of emotional weight to this part of the game but that's just me. Amata is not going to be happy.
She acts like we killed him in cold blood.
Guess it's time to keep moving forward then.
You know, finding Jonas dead would be sadder if he had more than one scene where he actually talked with you. There is a note from your father on his body.
?Hold on Jonas. I need to record this first. I don?t really know how to tell you this. I hope you?ll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there?s really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It?s best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I?m gone. It was something I needed to do. You?re an adult now. You?re ready to be on your own. Maybe someday, things will change and we can see each other again. I can?t tell you why I left or where I?m going. I don?t want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn?t perfect, but at least you?ll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going. Goodbye. I love you.?
This would have been really sad, and effecting if it weren't for one thing: He was careless, and didn't consider the Overseer might decide to attack his kid out of anger. He even says there's no way to know how the Overseer will react, so at the very least, you could have possibly notified your kid of it, so they might have a chance to defend themselves. If it weren't for Amata warning us, we would almost certainly be dead. I don't want to give all of my opinion on this right away, considering this plot thread goes on for a good chunk of the game but I was pissed off.
There's a pretty decent bit of a lore in this terminal right here. I don't want to post a screenshot of all the entries, because that would be quite a bit but it confirms that:
A) The Overseer is a total asshole.
B) They're aware of the existence of Megaton, a city that isn't even a mile away from the Vault
Vault-Tec has always been kind of a weird thing for the Fallout games. They really didn't get into the social experiment Vault idea until 2, and they've gone full blown with it for 3 and New Vegas. Don't want to get too deep into that until we start exploring some Vaults, but frankly, some of it gets silly.
We go through the tunnels underneath the Overseer's room...
And into the Vault door room. We activate the panel nearby, and Amata shows up for some odd reason. Maybe she wants to say goodbye after all?
?Good. You?re leaving. I guess you were trying to help me. But you? You didn?t have to kill him!?
?I?m sorry, Amata. But I had no choice.?
?So you say. Maybe one day I?ll be able to forgive you. But not now. I hope you never have to find out what it?s like to see your father killed right in front of you."
Hilariously specific foreshadowing right there.
"No, don?t listen to me. Just? just go. Find your father. I have to go bury mine.?
?Why not come with me? There?s nothing here for you anymore.?
?No, I can?t. Not with you, not now. You?d better leave before I change my mind about letting you go.?
This part does make me pretty sad in all honesty.
Oh god, open up faster you damn door.
Freedom. With one last blinding flash of light too.
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