Fallout 3 discussion

[econ21]

Is there any way I can tell if I need the official patches?

I suspect you are fine. I got the white label CD collection and I think it had the patches on, but I did not need to install them or something strange like that (it's been a while).

So, anyone got any tips for a frog? Character creation, things to do, things not to do, easily missible quests/places/goodies ... anything?

The Fallouts are like the BGs in that there are lots of things that are potentially missable. The problem is that if you use an external reference to find them, you end up losing the wonder of discovery while exploring the game world. With these games, I'd be inclined to try to play them blind and indeed "role-play" them - act as if you were stuck in the wasteland, rather than try to max your stats/power etc. They are one of the few CRPGs where actually role-playing would not be ludicrous.

As with most RPGs, save often. You can hit a random encounter that can get you killed in one shot; you can get stuck for eternity behind an immovable NPC (one thing FO2 fixed); your computer can crash or hit some weird glitch. Be forgiving - it's worth persevering.

In terms of character creation, it is worth planning your perks like you would your feats in DnD or KOTOR. The really good stuff comes late but often has formiddable prerequisites you have to plan for.

With stats, arguably the two most important are intelligence - as it gives you skill points on each level up - and agility - as it gives you action points in the turn-based combat. Going for 9 or 10 in those stats would not be excessive and indeed may be the norm (for me anyway). The DnD standbys - strength and toughness - are actually lesser stats here, although a strength of 6 would help you carry stuff and maybe necessary for the good armour. Perception helps shooting - a 6 or 8 would be good. It's probably good not to go below 4 in any stat. Taking the gifted trait makes the point-buy system so much more forgiving and is the no brainer choice in character creation.

With skills, small guns is the dominant combat skill so probably should be tagged (the second no brainer). Speech is useful too - there's a lot of talking in Fallout and you will encounter situations where fighting is not really feasible.

You should keep an eye out for recruitable NPCs. Ian (a chap in black leather jacket and blue jeans) and Dogmeat (a mottley grey dog) tend to be the favorites. Don't expect them to live forever, though: like you, they can die with one shot, but unlike you, they are controlled by a rather basic AI.