Fallout: New Vegas - Impressions and stuff

[ROTC1983]

Will preorder it tonight

[Daehawk]

Heck Im so excited i went in to pick it up yesterday. Dangit.

[CeeKay]

Will preorder it tonight

gonna hold off until Monday, hope for at least one review to surface.

[Daehawk]

Hey i found a person that makes and sells Nuka Cola bottle caps!

[CeeKay]

i am in the same boat ceekay.  gluttons for backlog punishment, aren't we? 

yes we are 

[Sarkus]

My only annoyance with the Steam linkage is if they hose PC users by forcing them to wait until mid-day on the 19th to play the game.  Because right now that is what Steam's unlock countdown for the game is pointing to despite the fact that apparently just about every GameStop in my area is doing a midnight launch for the title.

They announced on the official boards tonight that the Steam countdown is no longer accurate.  In the Americas, Steam will unlock at 1201AM PST on the 19th.  The rest of the world will see Steam unlock at 1201AM GMT on the 22nd.

Guess I'm going to buy this at midnight after all. 

[Turtle]

Same here. I've been jonesing for a big RPG like this for a while now.

Has there been any word about using the GECK mod tools with New Vegas?

[CeeKay]

obligatory DLC is on the way.. I'm curious why it only mentions the 360 though, limited exclusivity?

[Sarkus]

obligatory DLC is on the way.. I'm curious why it only mentions the 360 though, limited exclusivity?

XB360 only this year, maybe forever.  Hard to say for sure, but this is what was officially explained on the official boards:

1) All we announced is that the first DLC will be exclusive to Xbox LIVE. It'll be available this holiday season through Xbox LIVE.

The shitstorm is on thread three already over there (they max each thread out around 10 pages.)

[Turtle]

In exclusivity deals, even timed ones, they usually include some legal binding that prevents them from saying that the DLC will be available at a later date on other platforms. Heh, the console war has redefined the word exclusive.

Anyway, I didn't bother with Fallout 3 DLC. Remember that you're still going to have to pay for this extra content. And on the PC, I've got mods.

[frost]

My only annoyance with the Steam linkage is if they hose PC users by forcing them to wait until mid-day on the 19th to play the game.  Because right now that is what Steam's unlock countdown for the game is pointing to despite the fact that apparently just about every GameStop in my area is doing a midnight launch for the title.

They announced on the official boards tonight that the Steam countdown is no longer accurate.  In the Americas, Steam will unlock at 1201AM PST on the 19th.  The rest of the world will see Steam unlock at 1201AM GMT on the 22nd.

Guess I'm going to buy this at midnight after all. 

why not buy now and get pre order bonus gear than.  it says 6 more hours, and it's 9 pm on east coast now.  i'll be asleep and will have to wait until after work tomorrow to play it.

[Fez]

I never finished Fallout 3 on the Xbox as I planned to get the PC version.  Is this a completely separate game, unlike Mass Effect 2, for example?

[CeeKay]

I never finished Fallout 3 on the Xbox as I planned to get the PC version.  Is this a completely separate game, unlike Mass Effect 2, for example?

yep.  same universe but the story is separate.

[Sarkus]

why not buy now and get pre order bonus gear than.  it says 6 more hours, and it's 9 pm on east coast now.  i'll be asleep and will have to wait until after work tomorrow to play it.

Four reasons:

1. I don't care about pre-order bonus gear.
2. My internet connection, while technically high speed, requires hours and hours and hours to download a game that is several gigs in size.
3. I get a discount at Walmart, meaning it's cheaper in almost all cases for me to buy new PC games there.
4. I don't work tomorrow until 2PM anyway, so I can stay up and play tonight.  So, off I will got to a 24 hour Walmart.

[CeeKay]

Joystiq's review.

[Sarkus]

Lots of review links here: http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1122138-fallout-new-vegas-reviews-thread/

Mixed bag on the technical issues, but all(?) seem to be based on the 360 version.

[CeeKay]

character creation is interesting, of course they let you change stuff around to your liking.  I started out in hardcore mode, you can turn it off at any time but there's supposed to be a special reward if you play all the way through with it on.  I also picked the 'Wild Wasteland' trait; it's described here.

[CeeKay]

btw, when the launcher comes up go under data files and make sure everything is checked if you want to have your pre-order stuff.  for some reason the Caravan pack got with Steam wasn't.

[Glycerine]

Picked it up this morning, even though I didn't plan on it at first.  Loved Fallout 3, but originally I was going to wait on New Vegas until a GoTY version came out.  After finally reading up on it, I couldn't stop myself.

Only managed to blaze through character creation and look around the first town a bit before quitting.  I'm getting a wisdom tooth pulled this morning, otherwise I'd still be playing.  Really looking forward to getting into it this afternoon.

[ANZAC]

Lucky wisdom tooth-pulled guy gets to play, I have to wait.

[Autistic Angel]

I was surprised that the midnight opening for New Vegas was substantially bigger than the one for Halo: Reach just a few weeks ago.  The first five or six people had even brought portable chairs and had clearly been out there for a while to score their copies as early as possible.

The store I usually preorder from has one employee who's been dressing up in increasingly elaborate costumes for each successive midnight release.  A set of long nightelf ears for Wrath of the Lich King, a bloodstained shirt and a little makeup for Resident Evil 5, then a pretty full-featured Penelo cosplay for Final Fantasy XIII.  Last night, it was a dingy Vault 101 jumpsuit, complete with a black wooden PipBoy eternally tuned to GNR.

Shortly after we arrived, the four people in front of us got into a discussion about the fact that Phoenix can beat Magneto and Magneto can beat Wolverine, but since Wolverine can beat Phoenix, there's no linear structure to the power of different mutants.  Some argued that Phoenix actually *chooses* to be beaten by Wolverine because she loves him, rather than because of his mutant abilities, while others maintained that she loves him partially because his abilities make him who he is.  

Then the conversation shifted to debating whether or not Heavy Rain's Scott Shelby could take Alan Wake's Alan Wake in a fight, and I tuned out because the answer is so obvious, I was struggling not to throw my scalding hot coffee in THE WRONG PEOPLE'S STUPID FACES!!1!

Also, we got our CE of New Vegas for the PC.  Box seems nice.

-Autistic Angel

[CeeKay]

Shortly after we arrived, the four people in front of us got into a discussion about the fact that Phoenix can beat Magneto and Magneto can beat Wolverine, but since Wolverine can beat Phoenix, there's no linear structure to the power of different mutants.  Some argued that Phoenix actually *chooses* to be beaten by Wolverine because she loves him, rather than because of his mutant abilities, while others maintained that she loves him partially because his abilities make him who he is.  

X3 doesn't count towards X-Men canon, so the whole argument is null and void 

[hepcat]

 I also picked the 'Wild Wasteland' trait; it's described here.

great minds think alike.  there was no way in heck i was passing THAT up. 

also, the d2d pre-order dlc needs to be checked in the data options, too.  looks like that issue is universal on the pc version.

[CeeKay]

 I also picked the 'Wild Wasteland' trait; it's described here.

great minds think alike.  there was no way in heck i was passing THAT up. 

I'm just hoping it doesn't turn out to be annoying like Bloody Mess did for me in FO3.  sure, it was fun watching a single bullet dismember a mutant the first dozen times, but after that it got old real quick.  however, I did enjoy using VATS and  cutting the head off of a charging coyote with a knife last night.

[Gratch]

I was going to wait on New Vegas until a Steam sale, but am leaning towards just picking it up now instead.  FO3 wasn't my favorite game ever, but I did like it enough to spend 40+ hours playing all the way through. 

[CeeKay]

from what I played last night (through the tutorial) if you like Fallout 3 then you'll like this.  the 'crafting' mechanic where you gather plants looks interesting (so far it's very easy not to realize you can harvest a plant unless you are specifically looking for it) and there's some stuff to do with weapons and ammo that I haven't gotten to yet.  it looks like you keep empty cases for the rounds you shoot off and can reload them once you find the equipment to do so.

Graphically it's about the same, there may be some improvements but I'd have to fire up FO3 to compare them. to me the models seem to look like they did back in Oblivion; this should be this engines swan song.   they picked a bad color for the text on the main menu, amber lettering on a brownish background makes it kinda hard to see.

[Fez]

Anyone playing this using SLI at this point?  Hopefully nVidia will have a profile soon.

[Lordnine]

Crossposted

Just received my collector's edition. 

I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the components.  While not as visually impressive as the lunchbox from F3 everything feels well made.  The chips have some real weight to them and the big one is actually made of metal. 

The playing cards feature numerous designs for both the front and back of the cards giving it the look of a deck that was pieced together from a number of different casinos. 

The graphic novel is hardcover bound with very nice artwork.

The CD key activated flawlessly on Steam and is now downloading.

Enjoy a couple pictures!

[Knightshade Dragon]

I know it is for the 360 version, but I have my review up - http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=1519

[Sarkus]

The 360 version does seem to be getting hit with crashing complaints, though not always as some reviews don't mention problems at all.

That said, my early experience on the PC has been bug free and the few long-term comments I've seen (a few reviewers have been playing the PC version) indicate it's pretty stable in comparison.

[kathode]

I was going to wait on New Vegas until a Steam sale, but am leaning towards just picking it up now instead.  FO3 wasn't my favorite game ever, but I did like it enough to spend 40+ hours playing all the way through.  

Didn't you have to give it up early on because your dog didn't like it or something?

[Gratch]

I was going to wait on New Vegas until a Steam sale, but am leaning towards just picking it up now instead.  FO3 wasn't my favorite game ever, but I did like it enough to spend 40+ hours playing all the way through.  

Didn't you have to give it up early on because your dog didn't like it or something?

LOL, I had forgotten about that.  I had to switch from 360 to PC so I could play it with my headphones.  My dog would go hide in a corner and whimper anytime I was playing...something about the mutant's voices totally freaked him out.  Strange, because in 7 years he's never had that reaction to anything else - game, TV, or movie.

[MaxSteele]

The 360 version does seem to be getting hit with crashing complaints, though not always as some reviews don't mention problems at all.

That said, my early experience on the PC has been bug free and the few long-term comments I've seen (a few reviewers have been playing the PC version) indicate it's pretty stable in comparison.

From what I've gathered, the reviews that don't talk about crashes and long load times didn't play the game longer than a few hours.

The reviews that played for 30+ hours on the 360 saw the crashes and long load times.

What I've heard happens is getting into New Vegas, the game starts memory leaking, which makes load times longer and longer.  Then the crashes happen.  We'll see if the PC suffers the same fate.

[Knightshade Dragon]

The 360 version does seem to be getting hit with crashing complaints, though not always as some reviews don't mention problems at all.

That said, my early experience on the PC has been bug free and the few long-term comments I've seen (a few reviewers have been playing the PC version) indicate it's pretty stable in comparison.

From what I've gathered, the reviews that don't talk about crashes and long load times didn't play the game longer than a few hours.

The reviews that played for 30+ hours on the 360 saw the crashes and long load times.

What I've heard happens is getting into New Vegas, the game starts memory leaking, which makes load times longer and longer.  Then the crashes happen.  We'll see if the PC suffers the same fate.

Some of us take our jobs more seriously than others.    

[Kagath]

Crossposted

Just received my collector's edition. 

I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the components.  While not as visually impressive as the lunchbox from F3 everything feels well made.  The chips have some real weight to them and the big one is actually made of metal. 

The playing cards feature numerous designs for both the front and back of the cards giving it the look of a deck that was pieced together from a number of different casinos. 

The graphic novel is hardcover bound with very nice artwork.

The CD key activated flawlessly on Steam and is now downloading.

Enjoy a couple pictures!

Damn, I wish I had been able to get this. Couldn't find it anywhere in my little town since most places either didn't get it or didn't even get enough to cover their orders... Stupid me didn't preorder early and the PC CE was sold out at Amazon. Ah well, need to finish F3 anyways. 

[ROTC1983]

character creation is interesting, of course they let you change stuff around to your liking.  I started out in hardcore mode, you can turn it off at any time but there's supposed to be a special reward if you play all the way through with it on.  I also picked the 'Wild Wasteland' trait; it's described here.

thanks for the link...I didn't know what that trait actually does.

[ROTC1983]

WTF, I couldn't find the Collector's Edition for the PC anywhere...Amazon said it didn't exist and I couldn't find it anywhere else.  Anyone have any recommendations?

EDIT:  Ah, they sold...now I am sad

[CeeKay]

the G.E.C.K. tools for New Vegas are out.

[Daehawk]

I am pleasantly surprised by the poker chips it comes with. i was expecting cheap plastic or even wood. But these things are heavy. must be like the real ones in Vegas. The 38 one is nice metal too. You used to get stuff like this in the normal boxes in the old days. then again games then costs $75

[CeeKay]

character creation is interesting, of course they let you change stuff around to your liking.  I started out in hardcore mode, you can turn it off at any time but there's supposed to be a special reward if you play all the way through with it on.  I also picked the 'Wild Wasteland' trait; it's described here.

thanks for the link...I didn't know what that trait actually does.

I haven't seen anything weird with it yet.