Trying to avoid reading any spoilers, but I need to bitch to some fellow gamers:

Game gets off to a fantastic start... but then you save the first group of wastelanders who can't do shit for themselves and NEED YOU TO BUILD A GODDAMN TOWN FOR THEM.

I'm the kind of player who can't be happy just haphazardly dropping beds and stuff wherever there happens to be room, so planning and carefully placing these items is likely going to derail me for several gaming sessions. I was expecting to enjoy customizing an outpost later, but having it forced on me this early is somewhat annoying.

I'm tempted to skip this bit and continue with the main quest, but the fusion core in my power armor is nearly depleted and I need a safe place to store it and some of the other junk weighing me down since I haven't encountered any settlements or vendors yet.

And a good source of water would be nice, tho it doesn't seem necessary. (I miss hardcore mode...)

Has anyone continued onward without building Sanctuary? Did you just drop off your power armor at the Red Rocket station and stash any excess stuff in the workshop there?

I think I'm going to try to quickly scrap everything in 3 or 4 of the houses, throw all of the loose junk in the workshop storage, carefully place beds and whatever else they ask for (just enough to keep them alive and safe), and get back on track without a long delay.

I'm worried that I'm going to have to do this for every group of helpless wastelanders I encounter...

Maybe the game should be titled "Rick Grimes Simulator". ;)

I have to say I'm positively surprised by the game, as some of my biggest issues have been addressed: more interesting characters with personalities, more colorful and interesting environments, more captivating storyline.
The town-building seems more fun than what I saw pre-release.
I'm not playing the game but I'm following Cohhcarnage's playthrough.
It is definitely more fun to watch than I first imagined.

I hate Bethesda. That's it! Beth and I are done!



Ok, maybe, maybe I'll give the next ES a shot. But Bethesda doesn't know how to make a Fallout game. So when it comes to Fallout we are definitely done! Finished! Kaput! And I hate it's them who own the franchise now.

Call me if you ever get Obsidian or inXile working on FO:NV 2 or something.

Currently raking up 14 hours, and as a hardcore fan who loves FO2, has a hate/love relationship with FO3 and liked New Vegas, this game gave me.. mixed signals.

As a Fallout RPG it's TERRIBLE. The way Bethesda handled S.P.E.C.I.A.L. in FO3 carried over to FO4, and it's like they didn't see what Black Isle/Obsidian did with it - to make the character truly special with strenghts and flaws that define him/her. Folks at Bethesda, however, think that its purpose is to give you starting stats that you can max out with perks and bobbleheads, which defeats the entire purpose of the system.
Skills are now merged into Perks that you get with every level. While it does eliminate uncertainty with percentages and S.P.E.C.I.A.L./Skill Points correlation, it also eliminates the specialization of the character. In FO4 it seems like you can only play as a somewhat charismatic army guy who's kinda good at everything, especially involving guns. (Doesn't explain why his wife with a law degree is just as good at firing guns, though..)
And dialogue system is horrendeous, being too vague and seemingly having no rules, which is strange as it copies what Bioware (Mass Effect) and Obsidian (Alpha Protocol) meant to do, and they both pulled it quite well without limiting your choices and giving you a clear idea what your character is going to say. I could also mention how the voiced player character doesn't deliver on the plot's drama, among the generally spotty writing.

But as an action-RPG sandbox first-person shooter in Fallout universe, it's TERRIFIC. The world is vibrant, colorful, dense and very tempting to explore with an excellent score, both from the game and the radio stations. The quick item pickup system (that seriously gives me Bioshock vibes) is an excellent feature, making looting for items/junk much more convenient and less clunky. The gunplay is fantastic, especially after the clunkfest that was in FO3/NV. And the ability to mod weapons and build your own settlement, while being an optional novelty, does allow you to go nuts with customization options (and consider the modding potential!)

This game looks like what exactly I wanted from RAGE, sans the vehicular combat.

i feel you on this. I was annoyed too. I made beds just to see what it was like, but I have no interest in doing anything else. I stopped playing last night when they bitched about needing a well. Dig your own damn well! I just saved you from a freaking *SPOILER* lol. I also have this sick feeling that the more I upgrade, the more likely raiders are gonna hit or something stupid, and i'm just not dealing with that :)
I agree with you so much on this. So much.

Ok, I've played about 6 hours of the game and wandered a bit and done some main quest crap. Here are my thoughts so far:

Graphics: Beginning of the game they look super plastic and I didn't like them, but this is before all hell breaks loose. After leaving the vault, the graphics, since everything isn't shiny and new, look great. The detail in this game is insane. You can read every little sign's details, metal has intricate rust and paint chips. Trees, shrubs, vines, etc are very realistic. I'm super impressed. However, the people still look really off. They are very shiny. However, their expressions while talking are very good.

NPCs: The ones in the beginning are just to be ignored. They are filler to get you through to the core game. Once in the wasteland, things get a lot better. The group of people I met are well acted and have great animation to their faces and bodies. However, the retain this plastic feel from the beginning of the game.

AI: Not so good. You know how in Mass Effect you'd direct someone somewhere and they'd kinda go wacky? That's kinda how it is with dogmeat so far. I tell him to go do X, and he just kinda does what he wants. Hmm, maybe dogmeat was suppose to be a cat? However, the enemy AI is good. They hear you and seek you out. Very much like the other fallouts.

RPG: Not good, not good at all. Terrible. I"m really disappointed with this. My character talks first off, which totally ruins immersion. Second, they stole the dialogue wheel from Mass Effect, which was terrible anyways, and implemented it. You have no idea what you are going to say, only a gist. When my character talks, it is through CUT SCENES. This is total garbage. They really dropped the ball here.

Crafting: I've never crafted in fallout, there was no real reason, and it always seemed clunky. NO MORE. The crafting system is AMAZING and one of the things I was really pleasantly surprised about. You collect trash from the wasteland and it gets salvaged for parts/materials and you modify your guns, armor, homes etc with it. Now instead of ignoring those teddy bears and empty cola bottles, you collect them so you can make thermal armor and scopes. I've become a hoarder. To me this is the best immersion factor in-game.

Combat: Another thing bethesda improved upon. The guns feel and handle nicely, and if you are good at FPS, you will have fun and not need VATS. I'm enjoying my modded 10mm a lot right now.

VATS: I normally hate VATS b/c you shouldn't be able to pause in-game to take a shot. Well, bethesda must have heard me, b/c now instead of pausing, it just slows the game down, so you can still take damage.

Skill Tree: I understand that people don't like this, but really, it's the same damn thing as you had before. the only difference is, you don't work your way up to them, you can pick which one you want at any time, so long as you have the SPECIAL points invested in it. And since you can level each of these perks (they start with three to five blank stars that you can put more points in as you increase level), I don't see what the fuss is about. If anything, it's better,, b/c now you can make a lot of different characters even with the same SPECIAL points. Kinda reminds me of Diablo 2 that way. You know, that is what it is like, it's almost like the Diablo 2 skill tree.

So far I am really enjoying the game. I've encountered no game-breaking bugs at all. The only one is some dialogue skipped, but it wasn't that big of a deal. THis is an excellent sandbox game, but a terrible roleplaying one. I'm glad I got it day one, no regrets. I see myself playing this for hundreds of hours.

http://www.twitch.tv/crewdroog

i'll be streaming in a few. i'll show what crafting looks like, the level system, etc. and then i'll probably just run around and get killed a lot or irradiated to death.

Yeah honestly doesn't look bad to me, just different. At first the amount of insane whining about the skill/perks almost led me to believe there wasn't any period.

Your silky smooth lady voice is failing to fix those glitches. Can't wait to see Dogmeat start dog paddling through the air as you find yourself stuck in a wall.

Post of the day goes to... Crewdroog! Well done! :)

You guys are totally missing out. Crewdroog is cussing like a drunk sailor. She's so mild mannered here. It's all a smokescreen. She's actually a tobacco chewing, motorcycle ridin', raider killin' bad mamma jamma.

actually, i was really trying to keep the swearing to a minimum.

hey thanks, i've never done them before. wasn't sure if i was boring or not lol. :) i'm gonna have them all archieved so they can be watched later. it's weird saying outloud what is going on in my head.

Coming from my past talk radio experience, I can happily suggest a friendly trade agreement between your mouth and brain. Just let things come out. Makes commentaries so much more entertaining. Plus you'll get the benefit of therapy. Trust me on that one. Speak your mind, your subscribers will follow.