Let's Play Fallout: New Vegas [The Servant]
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[HEADING=1]Back from the Dead[/HEADING]
So, the opening of the game left us in a rather... compromising position. Shot in the head and buried in a shallow grove in the middle of nowhere, it'd be pretty safe to assume that our character would not be getting up after that.
That's where you would be wrong. Though, I can't think of a whole lot of games that start off with you actually dying.
You probably already noticed that game giving us items from the start. Well, that's how they implemented the Pre-Order DLC's/Courier's Stash into this game. They didn't even bother to put it in a container or something outside the Doc's house.
It's all extremely overpowered and unbalanced for this point in the game, so we probably won't use most of it. We'll vote on what weapons we'll actually use later.
Yeah, already had my bearings, thanks though. It's not like there are many sights to take in here anyway, it's a brown shack. Not quite as visually impressive as a Vault, eh?
That's not quite right...
Anyway, the name I choose is Mark (Viking Incognito choose that particular name). Can't show the screenshot of it, becasue my screenshot key is "Q" so it'd appear as "Markq".
I always found his comment here to be a bit silly. I'm a complete stranger, what right do you have to criticize my name?
Also, a complete shock for me when first playing the game, your character does not start the game with amnesia, which you think they would have. I mean, a lot of Obsidian/Black Isle games start with plot-related Amnesia (KOTOR II, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer) and while it was used well in those games, I'm glad they didn't use it here.
Better known as Tutorialville.
Basically, here's a different excuse for you to create your characters features.
This is what we go with at the end.
GAH! I think you messed up my eyes, doc.
Same default controls as Fallout 3.
This is the vigor testing machine. It's basically this games way of having you decide your SPECIAL stats and such. Each stat has different levels with different titles, some of them are quite funny. I'll show all of them off.
These are the final stats I've decided to go with. It's a harder decision in this game, as SPECIAL is more important in New Vegas than Fallout 3.
Here Mitchell makes comments depending on the SPECIAL stats you've chosen. Nothing too major though.
If you've noticed, the process of creating your character is a lot faster than it is in Fallout 3. The game wants you out and into the world as fast as possible.
He gives you these really rather silly questions with answers that really only vaguely coincide with the particular skill.
"Dog."
"Feed."
"House."
"Shelter."
"Night."
"Sleep."
"Bandit."
"Swiss cheese."
"Light."
"Torch."
"Mother."
"Caretaker."
"Okay. Now I got a few statements. I want you to tell me how much they sound like something you'd say. First one. "Conflict just ain't in my nature."
"Agree"
We'll try not to be too confrontational throughout the game, unlike Fallout 3 speech can get you really far in this game.
"I ain't given to relying on others for support."
"Strongly agree."
"I'm always fixing to be the center of attention."
"Strongly disagree."
"I'm slow to embrace new ideas."
"Strongly disagree."
"I charge in to deal with my problems head-on."
"Disagree."
"Almost done here. What do you say you have a look at this? Tell me what you see."
"An angry two-headed ant."
Seriously though, none of these pictures look like anything.
"Okay. How about this one?"
"I see a priceless work of art."
I wasn't aware that there was a painting skill in this game.
"A bearded man."
Again, what relevance does this have to our skills?
This is what we got. Not bad at all if you're going for a doctor/science-y character.
This is what we chose. Boring, but practical.
Now we get to choose our traits. Traits return from Fallout 2, they were absent in Fallout 3. Basically, they're like early perks that give significant bonuses at the expense of others. We pick Small Frame, for the extra agility and Wild Wasteland, because it's freaking Wild Wasteland. More on what that does later.
So now it's time to leave Doc Mitchell's house. Not before taking his stuff, of course.
We can repair this SMG and take it. The game doesn't label anything in his house as owned, so stealing the stuff is a-okay.
Not much of note in his house of course, except for a couple of first aid boxes.
Here's the game's new MacGuffin, the Platnium Chip. Really, it stops being relevant to the story at the end of Act 1 or so, but it's a MacGuffin nonetheless.
"Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this. They call it a Pip-Boy. I grew up in one of them Vaults they made before the war. We all got one."
This Pip-Boy isn't glued onto our arm, thankfully. You think there would be more people with Pip-Boys roaming around the wasteland, but apparently not. These things would be so incredibly useful for adventurer-types to have, you think they'd scavenge vaults just to get more of them.
"Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you been through. I know what it's like, having something taken from you. And put this on, too, so the locals don't pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway."
Mitchell gives us his Vault 21 jumpsuit to wear. Due to the Courier's Stash DLC, we got much better armor available anyway.
"Thanks for patching me up, Doc."
"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for."
Doc Mitchell is a nice guy, but after here and a minor role in an upcoming sidequest, he is pretty much inconsequential to the rest of the game.
"You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn to fend for yourself in the desert. She'll likely be at the saloon. I reckon some of the other folks at the sallon might be able to help you out, too. And the metal fella, Victor, who pulled you outta your grave."
Something gives me the feeling that not a lot of people visit Goodsprings. So when they get a new traveler (Even if he was there just because he was shot right outside of town) they are really enthusastic.
Also, did getting shot suddenly make your character lose all proficency with a gun? I mean, the Courier had to at least know the basics of using a firearm to defend hismelf, and as hinted by Lonesome Road, the Courier is a pretty well travelled guy. Ah well.
"Anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I'll fix you up. But try not to get kill anymore."
Here the game gives you the option for hardcore mode, but I decline. I might do one of the playthroughs on hardcore, but right now it's too much of a nuisance more than anything.
The game does that bright flash of light thing, but it's not quite as dramatic here than it is leaving the Vault.
And like Fallout 3, all of your DLC loads right away.
Let's just get a lay of the land here. Goodsprings is pretty much entirely composed of brown shacks. But these brown shacks have character, dammit!
Our inventory is already filled with tons of weapons. Again, we'll worry about what weapons we take with us out of Goodsprings later.
This is Victor. He is a cowboy robot, and he is the person who digged you out of that grave.
"Thanks for digging me out of that grave."
"Don't mention it! I'm always ready to lend a helping hand to a stranger in need."
"Do you know who those men were who attacked me?"
"Can't say that I'm familiar with the rascals. Some of the fine folks in town might be able to help you out with that."
"I've never seen a robot like you before."
"I'm a Securitron, RobCo security model 2060-B. If you ever see any of my brothers, tell them Victor says howdy."
Secruitron's are a new type of robot introduced in New Vegas. Even normally they are formidable foes, but they're not at their full potential.
Yet.
Okay, that's enough of Victor, lets check out the Saloon.
This is Sunny Smiles. She looks and sounds an awful lot like Amata from Fallout 3.
"Doc Mitchell said you could teach me to survive in the desert."
You know, before I was I just kind of winging it.
"Yeah, I guess there's a thing or two I could show you. Sounds like you need all the help you can get after what they done to you. Meet me outside, behind the saloon."
Sunny leaves out the back and Cheyenne follows.
Let's keep an eye on Cheyenne. There is a fucking scary glitch involving her.
Oh come on, we're not that horrible at using guns.
One of the very welcome additions to New Vegas are ironsights. Well, very welcome to most weapons other than the varmint rifle. The iron sights on the varmint rifle look terrible.
I think fighting empty sasparilla bottles is a bit too high level for us.
"Tell you what. I gotta go chase geckos away from our water supply anyway. Darn critters are attracted to it. Why don't you come along?"
Right here we can just leave, but for completions sake we'll do all of it.
"Okay, I'm in."
"Follow me. It's just down to the southeast a short ways."
The Varmint Rifle is okay at this point in the game, but it gets very crappy, very quickly. We won't be using it much.
The third person camera for New Vegas is slightly different than that of Fallout 3. It's got more of an over-the-shoulder perspective, and it doesn't zoom out quite far as Fallout 3's.
"Bunch of little monsters is what they are. Seems like Doc Mitchell treats more gecko bites than anything else. Let's see if we can get a little closer. If we move quietly, we can get the jump on 'em. More likely to hit something vital that way."
How does that work?
We're about as stealthy as an exploding car, so this probably wouldn't go very well if these particular Geckos weren't blind.
Can you even see the sight in this screenshot? Cause I sure as hell don't.
Obviously, the Geckos aren't much of a threat at all, but they can move pretty fast.
"There's two more wells that still need clearing. You want, you can come along. It'd be worth a few caps to me."
Again, sure why not?
Three dead Geckos later...
We hear some fighting going on off to the left. Let's check it out.
A goodsprings settler is being attacked by the geckos. She gets swarmed and she will die very quickly if you don't help her. Let's help.
Seriously, the model and the animation for the Varmint Rifle are piss poor.
So, she survives. She can die, but it doesn't really matter either way.
You call that exciting?
"Here's a little spending money for the trouble."
We get a grand total of 50 bottle caps. Woo...
"Thought I might teach you about living off the land, and making useful things for yourself. Interested?"
"Couldn't hurt."
"All right, then. We'll need a couple ingredients to get started. Gonna want some Xander Root and a Broc Flower."
Oh, so it's a fetch quest then? Eh, that's fine, the stuff isn't far.
"Lemme think now... I know I've seen Broc Flowers growing up at the graveyard. And I seem to remember there being Xander Root over by the schoolhouse. Bring those on back to me, and we'll get cooking."
WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOUR EYES?
Cheyenne's disembodied eyes are floating at the side of her head.
Let's get that stuff we need from the schoolhouse.
It's rather hard to find the Xander Root if you don't know where to look. Blends in with the ground.
Inside the school there are a ton of bloody annoying mantises everywhere. They're tiny and hard to hit outside of VATS.
There is a low level safe in here that you can pick. Unfortunately, we don't have high enough lockpick to do so, so let's come back to that later.
So now we're heading up the hill to the graveyard. This is where we were shot and buried, so maybe we can collect some clues as to where the people who shot us went.
Lot's of bloatflys here, but aside from that, no other enemies.
We can see New Vegas off in the distance. We can't simply walk straight there though. We'd be decimated by Giant Radscorpions and Deathclaws before we got anywhere near the city. We'll get there though, all in due time.
This is our grave, cozy ain't it?
We take these "Distinctive Cigarette Butts". They'll be important later, believe it or not.
Also a snowglobe. They replace bobbleheads as the basic collectible of the game, but instead give 2000 caps instead of a stat boost. You have to sell them to an important NPC later on to get the caps though...
There's that Broc Flower. Now, that is all of the important things up here, let's go back to Sunny.
Not sure why we had to do this so far from town, but whatever.
I don't like how she says that...
"All right now. We're gonna be making something folks on the trail call Healing Powder."
Not really a good name for it isn't it? For now on, healing powder that we make will be referred to as "Mark's Miracle Mending Medicine".
"Go on over to that campfire now. Give it a try."
So Obsidian added a new crafting mechanic with the Survival skill. There are quite a few recipes you can find in the game, and they make things of varying usefulness. You can also craft and break down ammo at reloading benches and such.
There are no craftable weapons. So no jury rigged flamethrower swords, although you can get a shiskebab from a normal drop anyways in this game.
We will probably never use it again this playthrough, as I am not planning on putting points into survival.
"Sometimes it won't be a campfire you need. Might need to do some work on your guns and ammo, maybe. Important thing to get is it's all the same idea. You just need to find the right place to set up shop. Workbench or... a reloading bench, whatever. Well, I hope that's enough to get you started. I'm heading back now. Hope I didn't miss anything good on the jukebox. Cheyenne would never forgive me."
Yeah, it probably wouldn't be smart pissing that dog off, if you want to keep your soul at least.
"Hey, do me a favor. Trudy - she's the bartender up at the Prospector, kind of the town mom - she likes to meet newcomers. She'd be cross with me if I didn't ask you to poke your head in and say hi."
And with that, the games tutorial is over. That was brief, huh?
That's where you would be wrong. Though, I can't think of a whole lot of games that start off with you actually dying.
You probably already noticed that game giving us items from the start. Well, that's how they implemented the Pre-Order DLC's/Courier's Stash into this game. They didn't even bother to put it in a container or something outside the Doc's house.
It's all extremely overpowered and unbalanced for this point in the game, so we probably won't use most of it. We'll vote on what weapons we'll actually use later.
Yeah, already had my bearings, thanks though. It's not like there are many sights to take in here anyway, it's a brown shack. Not quite as visually impressive as a Vault, eh?
That's not quite right...
Anyway, the name I choose is Mark (Viking Incognito choose that particular name). Can't show the screenshot of it, becasue my screenshot key is "Q" so it'd appear as "Markq".
I always found his comment here to be a bit silly. I'm a complete stranger, what right do you have to criticize my name?
Also, a complete shock for me when first playing the game, your character does not start the game with amnesia, which you think they would have. I mean, a lot of Obsidian/Black Isle games start with plot-related Amnesia (KOTOR II, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer) and while it was used well in those games, I'm glad they didn't use it here.
Better known as Tutorialville.
Basically, here's a different excuse for you to create your characters features.
This is what we go with at the end.
GAH! I think you messed up my eyes, doc.
Same default controls as Fallout 3.
This is the vigor testing machine. It's basically this games way of having you decide your SPECIAL stats and such. Each stat has different levels with different titles, some of them are quite funny. I'll show all of them off.
These are the final stats I've decided to go with. It's a harder decision in this game, as SPECIAL is more important in New Vegas than Fallout 3.
Here Mitchell makes comments depending on the SPECIAL stats you've chosen. Nothing too major though.
If you've noticed, the process of creating your character is a lot faster than it is in Fallout 3. The game wants you out and into the world as fast as possible.
He gives you these really rather silly questions with answers that really only vaguely coincide with the particular skill.
"Dog."
"Feed."
"House."
"Shelter."
"Night."
"Sleep."
"Bandit."
"Swiss cheese."
"Light."
"Torch."
"Mother."
"Caretaker."
"Okay. Now I got a few statements. I want you to tell me how much they sound like something you'd say. First one. "Conflict just ain't in my nature."
"Agree"
We'll try not to be too confrontational throughout the game, unlike Fallout 3 speech can get you really far in this game.
"I ain't given to relying on others for support."
"Strongly agree."
"I'm always fixing to be the center of attention."
"Strongly disagree."
"I'm slow to embrace new ideas."
"Strongly disagree."
"I charge in to deal with my problems head-on."
"Disagree."
"Almost done here. What do you say you have a look at this? Tell me what you see."
"An angry two-headed ant."
Seriously though, none of these pictures look like anything.
"Okay. How about this one?"
"I see a priceless work of art."
I wasn't aware that there was a painting skill in this game.
"A bearded man."
Again, what relevance does this have to our skills?
This is what we got. Not bad at all if you're going for a doctor/science-y character.
This is what we chose. Boring, but practical.
Now we get to choose our traits. Traits return from Fallout 2, they were absent in Fallout 3. Basically, they're like early perks that give significant bonuses at the expense of others. We pick Small Frame, for the extra agility and Wild Wasteland, because it's freaking Wild Wasteland. More on what that does later.
So now it's time to leave Doc Mitchell's house. Not before taking his stuff, of course.
We can repair this SMG and take it. The game doesn't label anything in his house as owned, so stealing the stuff is a-okay.
Not much of note in his house of course, except for a couple of first aid boxes.
Here's the game's new MacGuffin, the Platnium Chip. Really, it stops being relevant to the story at the end of Act 1 or so, but it's a MacGuffin nonetheless.
"Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this. They call it a Pip-Boy. I grew up in one of them Vaults they made before the war. We all got one."
This Pip-Boy isn't glued onto our arm, thankfully. You think there would be more people with Pip-Boys roaming around the wasteland, but apparently not. These things would be so incredibly useful for adventurer-types to have, you think they'd scavenge vaults just to get more of them.
"Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you been through. I know what it's like, having something taken from you. And put this on, too, so the locals don't pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway."
Mitchell gives us his Vault 21 jumpsuit to wear. Due to the Courier's Stash DLC, we got much better armor available anyway.
"Thanks for patching me up, Doc."
"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for."
Doc Mitchell is a nice guy, but after here and a minor role in an upcoming sidequest, he is pretty much inconsequential to the rest of the game.
"You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn to fend for yourself in the desert. She'll likely be at the saloon. I reckon some of the other folks at the sallon might be able to help you out, too. And the metal fella, Victor, who pulled you outta your grave."
Something gives me the feeling that not a lot of people visit Goodsprings. So when they get a new traveler (Even if he was there just because he was shot right outside of town) they are really enthusastic.
Also, did getting shot suddenly make your character lose all proficency with a gun? I mean, the Courier had to at least know the basics of using a firearm to defend hismelf, and as hinted by Lonesome Road, the Courier is a pretty well travelled guy. Ah well.
"Anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I'll fix you up. But try not to get kill anymore."
Here the game gives you the option for hardcore mode, but I decline. I might do one of the playthroughs on hardcore, but right now it's too much of a nuisance more than anything.
The game does that bright flash of light thing, but it's not quite as dramatic here than it is leaving the Vault.
And like Fallout 3, all of your DLC loads right away.
Let's just get a lay of the land here. Goodsprings is pretty much entirely composed of brown shacks. But these brown shacks have character, dammit!
Our inventory is already filled with tons of weapons. Again, we'll worry about what weapons we take with us out of Goodsprings later.
This is Victor. He is a cowboy robot, and he is the person who digged you out of that grave.
"Thanks for digging me out of that grave."
"Don't mention it! I'm always ready to lend a helping hand to a stranger in need."
"Do you know who those men were who attacked me?"
"Can't say that I'm familiar with the rascals. Some of the fine folks in town might be able to help you out with that."
"I've never seen a robot like you before."
"I'm a Securitron, RobCo security model 2060-B. If you ever see any of my brothers, tell them Victor says howdy."
Secruitron's are a new type of robot introduced in New Vegas. Even normally they are formidable foes, but they're not at their full potential.
Yet.
Okay, that's enough of Victor, lets check out the Saloon.
This is Sunny Smiles. She looks and sounds an awful lot like Amata from Fallout 3.
"Doc Mitchell said you could teach me to survive in the desert."
You know, before I was I just kind of winging it.
"Yeah, I guess there's a thing or two I could show you. Sounds like you need all the help you can get after what they done to you. Meet me outside, behind the saloon."
Sunny leaves out the back and Cheyenne follows.
Let's keep an eye on Cheyenne. There is a fucking scary glitch involving her.
Oh come on, we're not that horrible at using guns.
One of the very welcome additions to New Vegas are ironsights. Well, very welcome to most weapons other than the varmint rifle. The iron sights on the varmint rifle look terrible.
I think fighting empty sasparilla bottles is a bit too high level for us.
"Tell you what. I gotta go chase geckos away from our water supply anyway. Darn critters are attracted to it. Why don't you come along?"
Right here we can just leave, but for completions sake we'll do all of it.
"Okay, I'm in."
"Follow me. It's just down to the southeast a short ways."
The Varmint Rifle is okay at this point in the game, but it gets very crappy, very quickly. We won't be using it much.
The third person camera for New Vegas is slightly different than that of Fallout 3. It's got more of an over-the-shoulder perspective, and it doesn't zoom out quite far as Fallout 3's.
"Bunch of little monsters is what they are. Seems like Doc Mitchell treats more gecko bites than anything else. Let's see if we can get a little closer. If we move quietly, we can get the jump on 'em. More likely to hit something vital that way."
How does that work?
We're about as stealthy as an exploding car, so this probably wouldn't go very well if these particular Geckos weren't blind.
Can you even see the sight in this screenshot? Cause I sure as hell don't.
Obviously, the Geckos aren't much of a threat at all, but they can move pretty fast.
"There's two more wells that still need clearing. You want, you can come along. It'd be worth a few caps to me."
Again, sure why not?
Three dead Geckos later...
We hear some fighting going on off to the left. Let's check it out.
A goodsprings settler is being attacked by the geckos. She gets swarmed and she will die very quickly if you don't help her. Let's help.
Seriously, the model and the animation for the Varmint Rifle are piss poor.
So, she survives. She can die, but it doesn't really matter either way.
You call that exciting?
"Here's a little spending money for the trouble."
We get a grand total of 50 bottle caps. Woo...
"Thought I might teach you about living off the land, and making useful things for yourself. Interested?"
"Couldn't hurt."
"All right, then. We'll need a couple ingredients to get started. Gonna want some Xander Root and a Broc Flower."
Oh, so it's a fetch quest then? Eh, that's fine, the stuff isn't far.
"Lemme think now... I know I've seen Broc Flowers growing up at the graveyard. And I seem to remember there being Xander Root over by the schoolhouse. Bring those on back to me, and we'll get cooking."
WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOUR EYES?
Cheyenne's disembodied eyes are floating at the side of her head.
Let's get that stuff we need from the schoolhouse.
It's rather hard to find the Xander Root if you don't know where to look. Blends in with the ground.
Inside the school there are a ton of bloody annoying mantises everywhere. They're tiny and hard to hit outside of VATS.
There is a low level safe in here that you can pick. Unfortunately, we don't have high enough lockpick to do so, so let's come back to that later.
So now we're heading up the hill to the graveyard. This is where we were shot and buried, so maybe we can collect some clues as to where the people who shot us went.
Lot's of bloatflys here, but aside from that, no other enemies.
We can see New Vegas off in the distance. We can't simply walk straight there though. We'd be decimated by Giant Radscorpions and Deathclaws before we got anywhere near the city. We'll get there though, all in due time.
This is our grave, cozy ain't it?
We take these "Distinctive Cigarette Butts". They'll be important later, believe it or not.
Also a snowglobe. They replace bobbleheads as the basic collectible of the game, but instead give 2000 caps instead of a stat boost. You have to sell them to an important NPC later on to get the caps though...
There's that Broc Flower. Now, that is all of the important things up here, let's go back to Sunny.
Not sure why we had to do this so far from town, but whatever.
I don't like how she says that...
"All right now. We're gonna be making something folks on the trail call Healing Powder."
Not really a good name for it isn't it? For now on, healing powder that we make will be referred to as "Mark's Miracle Mending Medicine".
"Go on over to that campfire now. Give it a try."
So Obsidian added a new crafting mechanic with the Survival skill. There are quite a few recipes you can find in the game, and they make things of varying usefulness. You can also craft and break down ammo at reloading benches and such.
There are no craftable weapons. So no jury rigged flamethrower swords, although you can get a shiskebab from a normal drop anyways in this game.
We will probably never use it again this playthrough, as I am not planning on putting points into survival.
"Sometimes it won't be a campfire you need. Might need to do some work on your guns and ammo, maybe. Important thing to get is it's all the same idea. You just need to find the right place to set up shop. Workbench or... a reloading bench, whatever. Well, I hope that's enough to get you started. I'm heading back now. Hope I didn't miss anything good on the jukebox. Cheyenne would never forgive me."
Yeah, it probably wouldn't be smart pissing that dog off, if you want to keep your soul at least.
"Hey, do me a favor. Trudy - she's the bartender up at the Prospector, kind of the town mom - she likes to meet newcomers. She'd be cross with me if I didn't ask you to poke your head in and say hi."
And with that, the games tutorial is over. That was brief, huh?
Sorry that it took so long to get this out. With finals, then Christmas, it made it rather hard to find time to work on it.
Off-topic: I've been playing a lot of games lately, mostly replaying the ones I already have. Currently progressing through my second playthroughs of both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Been playing through Legened of Zelda: Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword (Just got that one, haven't played it yet) as well. Going to beat Wind Waker, then Twilight Princess, then to Skyward Sword. Just been in a really Zelda-y mood lately, don't know why. Also, just played and beat Shadow of the Colossus for the first time this week. Holy shit, that game is amazing.
What have you guys been playing?
Make sure you get that perception up to 8 before going to Dead Money ;DAlternatePFG said:
Obviously that's two bears high-fiving.
"A bearded man."
No kamikaze?
*sadface*
I haven't really been playing that much except Dawn of War II - Retribution, last stand mode.
I did, however, watch every episode of Red vs Blue all over again, it never gets old.
Can't wait for the next season...damn cliffhangers!
Actually, the Exile in KotOR II doesn't have Amnesia. He can be quite conversant about his past. He's just not up-to-date on some things because he was away...on exile.
So some fans saw this and decided it looked like two bears high-fiving. They felt this so strongly that they created a mod which included that as a response to Doc Mitchell's query. Then, if you have the Wild Wasteland trait, you meet a member of the Dead Horses tribe (in Honest Hearts) named...Two Bears High-Fiving.
Also, Destructoid sells this shirt...
And now I see ChupathingyX has gotten to that point before me. I like your vigilance, sir!
I feel like an idiot right now, though. In my four playthroughs of New Vegas, I never once noticed those cigarette butts. I need a bigger TV...
Anyway, I've been playing a lot of games lately (haven't we all?). Skyward Sword, Skyrim, The World Ends With You, KotOR I and II (and I've been reading the Revan novel. I wish I hadn't, though. Soooo much KotOR II retconning!). I've played more than that, but those are the most recent ones. It's been another great year for gaming. I didn't play a single game I thought was bad. Not a bad accomplishment, considering I've played quite a lot this year.
So some fans saw this and decided it looked like two bears high-fiving. They felt this so strongly that they created a mod which included that as a response to Doc Mitchell's query. Then, if you have the Wild Wasteland trait, you meet a member of the Dead Horses tribe (in Honest Hearts) named...Two Bears High-Fiving.
Also, Destructoid sells this shirt...
And now I see ChupathingyX has gotten to that point before me. I like your vigilance, sir!
I feel like an idiot right now, though. In my four playthroughs of New Vegas, I never once noticed those cigarette butts. I need a bigger TV...
Anyway, I've been playing a lot of games lately (haven't we all?). Skyward Sword, Skyrim, The World Ends With You, KotOR I and II (and I've been reading the Revan novel. I wish I hadn't, though. Soooo much KotOR II retconning!). I've played more than that, but those are the most recent ones. It's been another great year for gaming. I didn't play a single game I thought was bad. Not a bad accomplishment, considering I've played quite a lot this year.
AlternatePFG said:
Not to be critical, but I thought that you started MotB just transported elsewhere, not with amnesia. I mean, you remember the King of Shadows, and are able to tell which love interest you have that you already have someone waiting for you. That, and you fully remember Bishop. I agree, though. Most of their games have you lying prone or in some form of danger. By the way, Safiya somewhat reminds me of Sharon Cassidy, in regards to personality
Which reminds me: I should replay MotB. Favorite RPG ever.
You know, I missed those both times. Pity.
Just like actual reloading, I found it to be a waste of time. But that?s just me.
I finally beat Oblivion, and I?ve been playing Skyrim. Other than that, not much.
I've been lurking this LP thread for some time now, but I must surface to say that I loathe Small Frame. Agility isn't a bad stat to crank up, but is one point really worth the ubiquitous crippling?
Other than that, I look forward to seeing this adventure through ^^.
Other than that, I look forward to seeing this adventure through ^^.
Glad to see this LP is starting up again! Have you decided who you'll be backing on this playthrough, or will you be polling us on it later?AlternatePFG said:[HEADING=1]Back from the Dead[/HEADING]So, the opening of the game left us in a rather... compromising position. Shot in the head and buried in a shallow grove in the middle of nowhere, it'd be pretty safe to assume that our character would not be getting up after that.
That's where you would be wrong. Though, I can't think of a whole lot of games that start off with you actually dying.
You probably already noticed that game giving us items from the start. Well, that's how they implemented the Pre-Order DLC's/Courier's Stash into this game. They didn't even bother to put it in a container or something outside the Doc's house.
It's all extremely overpowered and unbalanced for this point in the game, so we probably won't use most of it. We'll vote on what weapons we'll actually use later.
Yeah, already had my bearings, thanks though. It's not like there are many sights to take in here anyway, it's a brown shack. Not quite as visually impressive as a Vault, eh?
That's not quite right...
Anyway, the name I choose is Mark (Viking Incognito choose that particular name). Can't show the screenshot of it, becasue my screenshot key is "Q" so it'd appear as "Markq".
I always found his comment here to be a bit silly. I'm a complete stranger, what right do you have to criticize my name?
Also, a complete shock for me when first playing the game, your character does not start the game with amnesia, which you think they would have. I mean, a lot of Obsidian/Black Isle games start with plot-related Amnesia (KOTOR II, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer) and while it was used well in those games, I'm glad they didn't use it here.
Better known as Tutorialville.
Basically, here's a different excuse for you to create your characters features.
This is what we go with at the end.
GAH! I think you messed up my eyes, doc.
Same default controls as Fallout 3.
This is the vigor testing machine. It's basically this games way of having you decide your SPECIAL stats and such. Each stat has different levels with different titles, some of them are quite funny. I'll show all of them off.
These are the final stats I've decided to go with. It's a harder decision in this game, as SPECIAL is more important in New Vegas than Fallout 3.
Here Mitchell makes comments depending on the SPECIAL stats you've chosen. Nothing too major though.
If you've noticed, the process of creating your character is a lot faster than it is in Fallout 3. The game wants you out and into the world as fast as possible.
He gives you these really rather silly questions with answers that really only vaguely coincide with the particular skill.
"Dog."
"Feed."
"House."
"Shelter."
"Night."
"Sleep."
"Bandit."
"Swiss cheese."
"Light."
"Torch."
"Mother."
"Caretaker."
"Okay. Now I got a few statements. I want you to tell me how much they sound like something you'd say. First one. "Conflict just ain't in my nature."
"Agree"
We'll try not to be too confrontational throughout the game, unlike Fallout 3 speech can get you really far in this game.
"I ain't given to relying on others for support."
"Strongly agree."
"I'm always fixing to be the center of attention."
"Strongly disagree."
"I'm slow to embrace new ideas."
"Strongly disagree."
"I charge in to deal with my problems head-on."
"Disagree."
"Almost done here. What do you say you have a look at this? Tell me what you see."
"An angry two-headed ant."
Seriously though, none of these pictures look like anything.
"Okay. How about this one?"
"I see a priceless work of art."
I wasn't aware that there was a painting skill in this game.
"A bearded man."
Again, what relevance does this have to our skills?
This is what we got. Not bad at all if you're going for a doctor/science-y character.
This is what we chose. Boring, but practical.
Now we get to choose our traits. Traits return from Fallout 2, they were absent in Fallout 3. Basically, they're like early perks that give significant bonuses at the expense of others. We pick Small Frame, for the extra agility and Wild Wasteland, because it's freaking Wild Wasteland. More on what that does later.
So now it's time to leave Doc Mitchell's house. Not before taking his stuff, of course.
We can repair this SMG and take it. The game doesn't label anything in his house as owned, so stealing the stuff is a-okay.
Not much of note in his house of course, except for a couple of first aid boxes.
Here's the game's new MacGuffin, the Platnium Chip. Really, it stops being relevant to the story at the end of Act 1 or so, but it's a MacGuffin nonetheless.
"Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this. They call it a Pip-Boy. I grew up in one of them Vaults they made before the war. We all got one."
This Pip-Boy isn't glued onto our arm, thankfully. You think there would be more people with Pip-Boys roaming around the wasteland, but apparently not. These things would be so incredibly useful for adventurer-types to have, you think they'd scavenge vaults just to get more of them.
"Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you been through. I know what it's like, having something taken from you. And put this on, too, so the locals don't pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway."
Mitchell gives us his Vault 21 jumpsuit to wear. Due to the Courier's Stash DLC, we got much better armor available anyway.
"Thanks for patching me up, Doc."
"Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for."
Doc Mitchell is a nice guy, but after here and a minor role in an upcoming sidequest, he is pretty much inconsequential to the rest of the game.
"You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn to fend for yourself in the desert. She'll likely be at the saloon. I reckon some of the other folks at the sallon might be able to help you out, too. And the metal fella, Victor, who pulled you outta your grave."
Something gives me the feeling that not a lot of people visit Goodsprings. So when they get a new traveler (Even if he was there just because he was shot right outside of town) they are really enthusastic.
Also, did getting shot suddenly make your character lose all proficency with a gun? I mean, the Courier had to at least know the basics of using a firearm to defend hismelf, and as hinted by Lonesome Road, the Courier is a pretty well travelled guy. Ah well.
"Anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I'll fix you up. But try not to get kill anymore."
Here the game gives you the option for hardcore mode, but I decline. I might do one of the playthroughs on hardcore, but right now it's too much of a nuisance more than anything.
The game does that bright flash of light thing, but it's not quite as dramatic here than it is leaving the Vault.
And like Fallout 3, all of your DLC loads right away.
Let's just get a lay of the land here. Goodsprings is pretty much entirely composed of brown shacks. But these brown shacks have character, dammit!
Our inventory is already filled with tons of weapons. Again, we'll worry about what weapons we take with us out of Goodsprings later.
This is Victor. He is a cowboy robot, and he is the person who digged you out of that grave.
"Thanks for digging me out of that grave."
"Don't mention it! I'm always ready to lend a helping hand to a stranger in need."
"Do you know who those men were who attacked me?"
"Can't say that I'm familiar with the rascals. Some of the fine folks in town might be able to help you out with that."
"I've never seen a robot like you before."
"I'm a Securitron, RobCo security model 2060-B. If you ever see any of my brothers, tell them Victor says howdy."
Secruitron's are a new type of robot introduced in New Vegas. Even normally they are formidable foes, but they're not at their full potential.
Yet.
Okay, that's enough of Victor, lets check out the Saloon.
This is Sunny Smiles. She looks and sounds an awful lot like Amata from Fallout 3.
"Doc Mitchell said you could teach me to survive in the desert."
You know, before I was I just kind of winging it.
"Yeah, I guess there's a thing or two I could show you. Sounds like you need all the help you can get after what they done to you. Meet me outside, behind the saloon."
Sunny leaves out the back and Cheyenne follows.
Let's keep an eye on Cheyenne. There is a fucking scary glitch involving her.
Oh come on, we're not that horrible at using guns.
One of the very welcome additions to New Vegas are ironsights. Well, very welcome to most weapons other than the varmint rifle. The iron sights on the varmint rifle look terrible.
I think fighting empty sasparilla bottles is a bit too high level for us.
"Tell you what. I gotta go chase geckos away from our water supply anyway. Darn critters are attracted to it. Why don't you come along?"
Right here we can just leave, but for completions sake we'll do all of it.
"Okay, I'm in."
"Follow me. It's just down to the southeast a short ways."
The Varmint Rifle is okay at this point in the game, but it gets very crappy, very quickly. We won't be using it much.
The third person camera for New Vegas is slightly different than that of Fallout 3. It's got more of an over-the-shoulder perspective, and it doesn't zoom out quite far as Fallout 3's.
"Bunch of little monsters is what they are. Seems like Doc Mitchell treats more gecko bites than anything else. Let's see if we can get a little closer. If we move quietly, we can get the jump on 'em. More likely to hit something vital that way."
How does that work?
We're about as stealthy as an exploding car, so this probably wouldn't go very well if these particular Geckos weren't blind.
Can you even see the sight in this screenshot? Cause I sure as hell don't.
Obviously, the Geckos aren't much of a threat at all, but they can move pretty fast.
"There's two more wells that still need clearing. You want, you can come along. It'd be worth a few caps to me."
Again, sure why not?
Three dead Geckos later...
We hear some fighting going on off to the left. Let's check it out.
A goodsprings settler is being attacked by the geckos. She gets swarmed and she will die very quickly if you don't help her. Let's help.
Seriously, the model and the animation for the Varmint Rifle are piss poor.
So, she survives. She can die, but it doesn't really matter either way.
You call that exciting?
"Here's a little spending money for the trouble."
We get a grand total of 50 bottle caps. Woo...
"Thought I might teach you about living off the land, and making useful things for yourself. Interested?"
"Couldn't hurt."
"All right, then. We'll need a couple ingredients to get started. Gonna want some Xander Root and a Broc Flower."
Oh, so it's a fetch quest then? Eh, that's fine, the stuff isn't far.
"Lemme think now... I know I've seen Broc Flowers growing up at the graveyard. And I seem to remember there being Xander Root over by the schoolhouse. Bring those on back to me, and we'll get cooking."
WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOUR EYES?
Cheyenne's disembodied eyes are floating at the side of her head.
Let's get that stuff we need from the schoolhouse.
It's rather hard to find the Xander Root if you don't know where to look. Blends in with the ground.
Inside the school there are a ton of bloody annoying mantises everywhere. They're tiny and hard to hit outside of VATS.
There is a low level safe in here that you can pick. Unfortunately, we don't have high enough lockpick to do so, so let's come back to that later.
So now we're heading up the hill to the graveyard. This is where we were shot and buried, so maybe we can collect some clues as to where the people who shot us went.
Lot's of bloatflys here, but aside from that, no other enemies.
We can see New Vegas off in the distance. We can't simply walk straight there though. We'd be decimated by Giant Radscorpions and Deathclaws before we got anywhere near the city. We'll get there though, all in due time.
This is our grave, cozy ain't it?
We take these "Distinctive Cigarette Butts". They'll be important later, believe it or not.
Also a snowglobe. They replace bobbleheads as the basic collectible of the game, but instead give 2000 caps instead of a stat boost. You have to sell them to an important NPC later on to get the caps though...
There's that Broc Flower. Now, that is all of the important things up here, let's go back to Sunny.
Not sure why we had to do this so far from town, but whatever.
I don't like how she says that...
"All right now. We're gonna be making something folks on the trail call Healing Powder."
Not really a good name for it isn't it? For now on, healing powder that we make will be referred to as "Mark's Miracle Mending Medicine".
"Go on over to that campfire now. Give it a try."
So Obsidian added a new crafting mechanic with the Survival skill. There are quite a few recipes you can find in the game, and they make things of varying usefulness. You can also craft and break down ammo at reloading benches and such.
There are no craftable weapons. So no jury rigged flamethrower swords, although you can get a shiskebab from a normal drop anyways in this game.
We will probably never use it again this playthrough, as I am not planning on putting points into survival.
"Sometimes it won't be a campfire you need. Might need to do some work on your guns and ammo, maybe. Important thing to get is it's all the same idea. You just need to find the right place to set up shop. Workbench or... a reloading bench, whatever. Well, I hope that's enough to get you started. I'm heading back now. Hope I didn't miss anything good on the jukebox. Cheyenne would never forgive me."
Yeah, it probably wouldn't be smart pissing that dog off, if you want to keep your soul at least.
"Hey, do me a favor. Trudy - she's the bartender up at the Prospector, kind of the town mom - she likes to meet newcomers. She'd be cross with me if I didn't ask you to poke your head in and say hi."
And with that, the games tutorial is over. That was brief, huh?
Sorry that it took so long to get this out. With finals, then Christmas, it made it rather hard to find time to work on it.
Off-topic: I've been playing a lot of games lately, mostly replaying the ones I already have. Currently progressing through my second playthroughs of both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Been playing through Legened of Zelda: Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword (Just got that one, haven't played it yet) as well. Going to beat Wind Waker, then Twilight Princess, then to Skyward Sword. Just been in a really Zelda-y mood lately, don't know why. Also, just played and beat Shadow of the Colossus for the first time this week. Holy shit, that game is amazing.
What have you guys been playing?
On a side note, the Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit and Weathered 10mm Pistol from Courier's Stash will serve you very well both mechanically and aesthetically for quite a large portion of the game. I can't really speak for the other stuff, though. I got the Classic Pack with my Collector's Edition pre-order and never bothered with Courier's Stash.
As for games I've been playing, I played through Deus Ex: Human Revolution on a pacifist playthrough earlier this month, and restarted New Vegas on my first Hardcore playthrough So far I've got to New Vegas and completed Honest Hearts with no big hiccups or dead companions. I want this character to back Mr. house, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do so, having been Idolized by the NCR and made a Paladin by the BoS. I hate stabbing people in the back in games like that. Since Christmas, I've been playing Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3 and Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call, all of which I received for Christmas.
Crippled limbs aren't really that bad to deal with, especially if you tote around a few doctor's bags. The only time that I've ever had crippled limbs is when I wasn't able to get away from a couple mines fast enough.mirror said:
Personally I like using Built to Destroy and Small Frame first, then pick up WW as my third after I've picked up the YCS-186 gauss rifle.
You can also take perks to sort of cancel out the negative consequences of Small Frame, like Adamantium Skeleton. A few Old World Blues perks make it so certain body parts can't be crippled (Big-Brained and Brainless: Head can't be crippled, Spineless: Torso can't be crippled). Though I guess "limbs" only means arms and legs. But if your head and torso can't be crippled, then those are more stimpaks/doctor's bags that are available for your arms and legs.Berenzen said:
Oh yeah, almost completely forgot about the Courier's Stash DLC items. We will choose one weapon and one piece of armor to bring with us out of Goodsprings. The other stuff will be put into safe storage until later in the game when the weapons stop being so overpowered. This is what we can choose from.
Weapons
-Sturdy Caravan Shotgun
-Weathered 10mm Pistol
-Mercenary's Grenade Rifle
-Broad Machete
Armor
-Lightweight Leather Armor
-Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit
-Lightweight Metal Armor
-Tribal Raiding Armor
The other items like stimpaks and ammo will be held onto for simplicity's sake.
Weapons
-Sturdy Caravan Shotgun
-Weathered 10mm Pistol
-Mercenary's Grenade Rifle
-Broad Machete
Armor
-Lightweight Leather Armor
-Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit
-Lightweight Metal Armor
-Tribal Raiding Armor
The other items like stimpaks and ammo will be held onto for simplicity's sake.
I can't decide out of those two. Probably the 10mm for nostalgia.AlternatePFG said:
That one because it is the most "Mad Max-y" of all the armours in New Vegas.
Although the lightweight metal armour looks really cool and offers the most protection, but also takes 1 agility away.
I vote for the broad machete, seeing as there are already soooo many guns carried by the powder gangers you'll be mowing down by the truckload. And the Vault 13 jumpsuit for nostalgia's sake.AlternatePFG said:
Just giving you guys a heads up, I'm probably going to be installing a HUD mod or two for New Vegas soon. I already have one update without it, but due to some issues I've been having with the vanilla HUD I can't really continue on without adding it. I used the Steam screenshot feature for most of the Fallout 3 LP believe it or not, but it's simply too laggy in Fallout: New Vegas so I've resorted to using the in-game screenshot function instead. (For now)
It works pretty well, but there's the notification menu that pops up for taking screenshots and it's pretty large and distracting, so getting a smaller HUD will certainly alleviate some of that. Not to mention the default HUD for New Vegas on PC is pretty crappy anyway. I'll probably be using DarNUI [http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1143482-wipzbeta-darnified-ui-nv/] again, as it's pretty much identical to the one I used in Fallout 3 and it works really well.
It works pretty well, but there's the notification menu that pops up for taking screenshots and it's pretty large and distracting, so getting a smaller HUD will certainly alleviate some of that. Not to mention the default HUD for New Vegas on PC is pretty crappy anyway. I'll probably be using DarNUI [http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1143482-wipzbeta-darnified-ui-nv/] again, as it's pretty much identical to the one I used in Fallout 3 and it works really well.
My vote is for the Weathered 10mm and the Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit.AlternatePFG said:
It's good to have you back doing this. I'm looking forward to seeing your take on New Vegas.
Definitely the Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit and Weathered 10mm Pistol. They look great and perform really well. I got Courier's Stash with my pre-order and I don't think I even took off the jumpsuit until I got to Vault 34 and looted some Security Armor.
Throw my vote behind the Weathered 10mm, and either the lightweight leather armor or the armored vault suit.
One of the reasons I think the Vault 13 suit is a good choice is that it's an excuse to talk about Fallout 1. Which is, I'm told, a good game. Plus, I heard that New Vegas is closer to Fallout 1 than Fallout 3 was in tone and things like that.Dr_Horrible said:
Yeah, my favorite thing about New Vegas is that it takes Fallout 3's mechanics and makes a 'true' Fallout reboot with it. I never got very far in either of the original games, because I suck at them, but I love them anyway.CM156 said:
Lightweight Leather Armor or Armored Vault 13 jumpsuit w/Steady Caravan Shotgun. the 10mm pistol gets outclassed pretty quickly by other pistols, and you need a powerful short-range weapon, which the shotgun can do- seriously, you can and will destroy anyone early game, and by the time you're facing creatures that have a DT that can neutralize the shotgun you either have shotgun surgeon or a better weapon. As for the Armors, I personally like the Lightweight Leather Armor because and I think it looks cooler, but both give the same amount of DT. and have the same weight, also, the Vault suit gives more cash.If you're using light armor, make sure to get the light touch perk, 5% crit is ridiculous, and reducing enemy chances to crit you means higher survivability. Using Ulysses duster with it makes you a crit GOD.
In the end a modded 9mm ends up being better for mid-range combat than the Weathered 10mm, and the silenced .22 is so broken, it alone can wipe the floor of any time you want to use stealth. I've cleared the entirety of the NCRCF using a fully maintained Silenced .22.
Though honestly, the weapons are not that broken- they're a little better than their normal versions, sure, but honestly, I end up using other weapons by the time I leave Goodsprings in the end, typically a fully modded Varmint rifle and 9mm pistol, with a silenced .22 Pistol for stealth. And the armors aren't really that much better than others, except for being 2lbs lighter.
In the end a modded 9mm ends up being better for mid-range combat than the Weathered 10mm, and the silenced .22 is so broken, it alone can wipe the floor of any time you want to use stealth. I've cleared the entirety of the NCRCF using a fully maintained Silenced .22.
Though honestly, the weapons are not that broken- they're a little better than their normal versions, sure, but honestly, I end up using other weapons by the time I leave Goodsprings in the end, typically a fully modded Varmint rifle and 9mm pistol, with a silenced .22 Pistol for stealth. And the armors aren't really that much better than others, except for being 2lbs lighter.