I just got the new Fallout in today's mail. I expect that I may see the morning from the long way around....

The Auld Grump, installing right now.

Is that for the PC? I have FallOut3 for the PC along with the Broken Steel / Point Lookout expansion. Was looking at getting New Vegas myself. What do you honestly think of it? Worth getting?

Well, I'm liking it so far. The changes are interesting, play is smooth. And it is very possible to wander into trouble very early in the game. My first death - torn apart by geckos... about a dozen of them... at level 3.

I also got killed by a deathclaw at level 3, but it was kind of on purpose - there is a warning sign saying 'Warning! Deathclaws Ahead.' So I saved the game, and went to check... sure enough, deathclaws....

There is now specialized ammo - armor piercing bullets kept me alive in a battle against a radscorpion. Regular bullets were doing nothing. I was able to cripple its legs with the AP bullets - even though the AP bullets do less damage they were at least able to make it through the exoskeleton. Hollow points, by contrast, do more damage, but pretty much stink against armor. There is also some really cheap ammo - screws up your weapon a bit, but really cheap. Reloads are something you can do - you save your spent brass.

Also added are repair kits - and if you can find the parts you can make your own. So you no longer need to scrounge weapons in order to repair your own - though that still works too.

Though not from a Vault you do end up getting a Pip-Boy, so VATS is still available. Again, if I did not have it I would have been radscorpion chow. I really needed to slow that bugger down. As it was I managed to live long enough for help to arrive.

Going back to the game right now.

The Auld Grump

I have only played it for a couple of hours. Other than some camera bugs on the 360 version I am having fun so far. To me it seems so far to be more of the same, but I have gotten into very few fights, so I haven't gotten much time to experiment with the new systems much.

So far my review is if you liked Fallout 3 you will like New Vagas.

I am also back in the wasteland, a few hours in. The map is way smaller.... we'll see how that plays out. Hardcore mode is appealing, but thats for the second run through.

Got it for the PC, it runs smooth and looks sharp. The first game I have ever purchased on release day I think, but for GTA 4.

A few graphics hiccups in the far views, and Ringo attacked me for no reason after I saved him so I had to plug the jerk.

It's also kind of depressing...such a tragic, ruined world....

Oddly enough, the map is actually the exact same size - but the open spaces allow a lot more straight line travel, so it seems a lot smaller. In DC so many routes were blocked, until you could fast travel to it you couldn't just go from Megaton to Vault Tech HQ, say. The Mojave has a whole lot of open space.

Of course, the open nature allowed my 2nd level character to wander into a place where he managed to get both poisoned and set on fire - at the same time. I ran around for a while, then fell over and died.

Next time I went into the area I used up my Stealth Boys, and found... something that was absolutely wrong for my character, but is too good not to use. Brass knuckles named Love and Hate. I do more damage with my fists than with my gun, and I suck with my fists!

I'm running around the wasteland punching things. I punched out an entire hotel full of hooligans. It is a sad, sad state of affairs. ) The really sad thing is that I had not intended to keep that save - I just wanted to find out what was there then ditch, because I really didn't have a lot of Stealth Boys. Now I don't have any Stealth Boys, but I do have Love & Hate.

My favorite death is still the Gecko mini quest... I managed to sneak right into their middle before they spotted me, and then all I saw were mouths and teeth.

One way that the NCR is better than the Brotherhood - the NCR is building infrastructure, not hiding in a fortress, collecting old books, then sitting on their hands. (Lyons is okay, at least he has them doing things! But for the most part the Brotherhood is just a drain on limited resources.)

Mods are already coming out. Nothing super exciting yet, but I am hoping for some expanded radio stations - I like the music, but dang it repeats fast. There are some house mods, I grabbed one for a place to drop off my stuff, and two different versions of the Barrett. (Everybody loves the Barrett. Hell, I love the Barrett! But demme, the sucker is heavy.)

Is anyone surprised that three of the first thirty mods were nude patches? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

The Auld Grump

Only 3 that's only 10%. O internet how you have fallen, you have built yourself up as the last bastion of depravity and it turns out you are only 10% deprave.

I think that I mentioned that everybody loves the Barrett - now I know someone who loved it enough that he bought one.... (Much as I like the gun, I consider this a matter of more dollars than sense.... Plus, maybe, a dose of late midlife crisis....)

Today I spent putting rounds through a Barrett M82 that a friend bought for his fiftieth. I have come to several conclusions about the Barret:

Damn, but that gun is ugly! The engineers really loved metal brakes. If it weren't so solid it would look cheap.

Damn, but that gun is heavy! Freakin' heavy! (This I remembered from the only other time I have gotten to fire a Barrett.)

Damn, but that is way too much gun for me! I was good with the bipod, and was no where near center without it. (This I also remembered, and if I hadn't then my shoulder would have reminded me....)

Damn, but the ammo is expensive! Dave is going to be doing a lot of reloading. (Fortunately, he is the kind of gun nut who thinks that he has a great gun and he gets to do reloads.)

Damn, but finding a range where he could fire it meant travel! The local club would not let him use their range for it - not enough room. We had to go about an hour up north to use a range. (The last time I used one was on a National Guard range.)

In short, just damn!

He got it for only $1,800.

All that said, it is, in its butt ugly way, a thing of beauty - tearing it down, cleaning it, and putting it back together showed how well made the brute is. The thing is solid, not a delicate sports gun.

If any gun is likely to survive an Apocalypse, this is likely it... but there is no way that I would spend that kind of money on a gun that is so far beyond anything that I would ever likely need.

The Auld Grump, but I almost wish that I did... or will, after my shoulder stops hurting.

*EDIT* I just realized that Dave picked up a .50 cal for his 50th birthday. How the Hell did I miss that? Not midlife crisis, but a proclamation of 'I'm 50 and proud of it!' Weird how noticing one thing can change the perspective....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnKd6iXHTQg

I want this.
fires .45 ACP
1100 rds/min (1500 tuned)
zero net muzzle rise
about 75% less recoil than any comparable weapon

Of course, a Barrett is a thing o' beauty in its own way - a good rifleman can put a fist-sized hole in a soft target from most of a mile away - but as you said, it's hard to find a place to shoot one.

Grump: I'll also throw in that the M107 (Barrett M82 A1 model) is still called a 'light fifty' - it's not a heavy rifle; it's a light cannon

Nar, the Barrett XM109, now that's a light cannon.... (25mm rounds?!!!) Even I'm impressed with that round, and I typically fire round shot muzzle loaders....

The Auld Grump, and I have a friend who owns a buccaneer musket, also about an inch across....

How can you guys even BUY all these super sniper guns? I;m guessing they are illegal.

2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution.....

Only thing you can't buy is fully automatic weapons... but you can buy the kits that make them that way and keep it next to the weapon you want to make full auto..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_i ... _(by_state)

Oh, yeah, thats right. You guys live in the States.

We ever only see guns with cops and museums here.

My dad smuggled some shot guns into Canada.

He painted the barrels with green latex so they looked crappy (but easy to clean). Then he put some cheap kids fishing rods into the barrels, and mailed them as fishing rods. I think that at the time, the barrels were all they were looking for.

Alternatively, you can just drive across the border from the states.

I am reluctant to install the game. Not because it looks bad in any way, but just the opposite. I don't think I can justify the hours that will undoubtedly be consumed. (not to mention the sleep I would lose due to being up so late).

Dead Geko's worth anything? In some gameplay vids I see people lootin' the bodies but haven't seen what the goods are good for.

Mostly they are worth money. Plus you can tan the skins to increase their value.

Some very important utilities are finally available for the game:
New Vegas Mod Manager - an early Alpha, but updates should be frequent. By the creator of the indispensable Fallout Mod Manager.
New Vegas Invalidator Invalidated - Automatically updates the Ini to show your pretty new textures.
New Vegas Script Extender - Allows longer and more detailed scripts, necessary if you are doing your own mods, or using others that are written with extended scripts. Will only support the Steam versions of the game (which, at this point, is all of them).
Radio Active Channel Extender - Much as I like the choices of music in FONV there just isn't enough of it. This mod allows the creation and expansion of radio stations in the game. (And I may start a thread for appropriate music. )
Better Binoculars - Anyone who has actually used binoculars knows that you don't get two circular images... this mod makes the binocs worth having.
Bottle That Water! - Goodsprings has clean water. You have bottles. Why not bottle that water? *EDIT* A better bottling water mod - if you bottle irradiated water you end up with a bottle of irradiated water....
Blackwolf Backpacks Packs! For your back!
CASM-NV - Bethesda makes some great games, but they are prone to crashing. CASM creates an autosave, how often is up to the user, keeping ten saves for when the inevitable crash happens. Requires the aforementioned script extender.

The Auld Grump

Are the mods worth it? I am finding the vanilla game pretty cool.

Well, the ones I suggested are!

Seriously, I tend to like immersion mods - things like the backpack are nice, but I really like things like the radio stations. But generally, mods that allow you to do things that you should be able to do - bottle water, wear a pack, carry a bedroll or tent (notice how smoothly I slipped that in), things like that.

Less believable would be a small freakin' town on the back of a brahmin! (Allows you to start your own town... eventually.) RTS was kind of interesting in FO3, but really made it a different game. I am sure this will be the case when the port is finished.

The saves one depends on how stable your platform is, I have not yet had a crash on my game, but my roommate has had a bunch.

Right now I have a Love/Hate relationship with Veronica... she likes punching folks, so I gave her Love & Hate.

The Auld Grum

Quick warning - some of those mods may have been broken by the latest patch. The only one that I know for certain was broken is Validator Invalidated.

The Auld Grump

Yea a patch. Every time I talk to the Powder Gangers to talk to the ex-lawman they start shooting AFTER I paid my caps to talk to them and I'm neutral.

Hopefully the patch fixes things like that.

I solve that problem by shooting first.

The Powder Gangers and I have never gotten along.

The Auld Grump

Vault 22....


Nuff Said.

What are you, some kind of herbiphobe? So an old vault got over run with plants? Just the wheel of life, slowly turning.....

The Auld Grump, just like those old Disney films.....

My son's laughed their asses off when I literally jumped out of my chair while in that vault.

I started over - my character was just not coming out the way that I wanted. (Dang you Love & Hate! Dang you to heck! Making me run around punching things!) Plus I wanted to try Hardcore mode and the VG0Preorder Alternative Pack - alternatives for folks who did not get the pre-order versions of the game.

In many ways this is a better mod than the original - more balanced, since it is 'purchased' with one of your two starting perks. And it stacks with the actual pre-order packs, so you could get the Caravaner pre-order pack and the Mercenary pack from this mod. (Or do what I did, and uncheck the 'official' pre-order pack in the mod manager.)

I gotta tell you, starting with decent armor makes a big difference - I actually survived the giant radscorpion near the Yangtze Memorial this time... I did last time too, but that was by using my favorite tactic of 'Run Away! Run Away!. This time I actually managed to kill it, only losing a leg in the process....

I have come to the conclusion that for me Hardcore is the way to go.

The Auld Grump, funny how fast you can get dehydrated in the Mojave.... Which reminds me, I added a better Bottling Water mod to the list above. Bottling dirty water does not make it purified water....

If it helps restore your faith in human nature... someone has done a nude mod for ghouls.... Ummm... well done, but eugghh! And she did both male and female ghouls. (Including some that have skivvies.)


Leave it on! Leave it on!

The Auld Grump

I hope that you are taking notes for Titan.... (I wanna Vault!)

The Auld Grump

I got New Vegas for Christmas and all I can say is it is S**T

I seem to be one of the few that has the bug when I enter VATS the game causes my computer to violently crash. I don't think I would mind half as bad if the game crashed to the desk top, but I get blue screen of death and the computer either shuts down or I have to force it to shut down.

Do you think I can find anything on the web about it? Sure, but no real solutions. I've tried the FPS patches that were recommended, but those did not work.

Do you think I can find anything on STEAM (which I wish would die a horrible death, I hate the blasted thing) or Bethesda have anything on their tech help? Not that I can find.

I just uninstalled it and now reinstalling it. The first time it took over nine hours for Steam to update New Vegas. I wonder how long it will take today?

I may be old fashioned but I much preferred how games used to be distributed. I never had such problems with games before.

Thats why I much prefer console games. Yeah now they get patches and updates too. But they can all be played right out of the box. PC ones are often a lot more trouble to get running.