Hello All,

I played FO3 at length, but not 1 and 2.

Do I need to play these to better understand / enjoy New Vegas?

Thanks,
R

Nah you don't need to play them but it would help a little to have a better understanding of some factions and history and past events.
Besides, the old games kick ass! Go buy 'em!

I wouldn't say it's NEEDED, however since Black Isle are a main part in this, and they were a main part in 1 and 2, it would probably be a better experience if you did play them. I just bought them both 2-3 weeks ago 'cause I didn't want anything to pass by me in New Vegas, and I've gotta say, Fallout 1 and 2 are extremely good games, so I change my first line now, it is NEEDED!

As others have said, not necessary but recommended.
It will just give you a better understanding of references, past characters that are reappearing, etc.
Personally, I haven't even touched the cases of either, and don't plan to either.

You can get FO1, FO2 and FO Tactics all for 20$ on Steam.

I'm worried that the graphics will put a quick stop to my efforts of playing Fallout 1 & 2

How long do you think it will take me to play both games (time I will spend in the games themselves).

Dude, graphics have nothing to do with the game, it's about whether or not you can handle the turn-based combat and point and click gameplay and whether or not you like reading because most dialogue is not spoken to you.
You will probably mess up the first 2 or 3 runs on fallout 1 so I would say that it would take you a couple of weeks to play it.
And fallout 2, I dunno man, could very well take you a month or so.
You will probably mess up the first playthroughs there as well and have to start over and once you finally have a great character that you're comfortable with you're going to be in maze of confusion.
But if you follow a guide on the internet then I guess you could complete fallout 1 in a couple of days and fallout 2 in 2-3 weeks.

While I haven't played any of the originals (yet) I have perused The Vault extensively. I would advise it just cause you learn some cool stuff and most of the history is fairly interesting.

I'll get around to buying them eventually, I just haven't found them at any stores I frequent. And I loath Wal-Mart with a passion and am kinda weary about steam.

If you play them using a game guide..(I recommend Steve Metzler's guides.. His guide will get you through the games pretty quickly but allow you to see and experience the most.. http://www.metzomagic.com/showArticle.php?index=619 )
I think 30 to 60 hours depending on your playing style and how much you like to explore on your own.
Since I grew up with these games and graphics I have that nostalgia playing experience but I understand that these older graphics don't appeal to everyone.. that's why I think you'll get some good use out of the guides. Get through quickly but experience the game in the best possible manner.

Internet stores?

I've never even played 1 or 2, I don't like turn based combat, but that did not stop me enjoying Fallout 3(still do!), occasionally I'll look into a bit of history to make some connections but I treat each game as a seperate entity(ducks from the fallout fan flack), I will treat F:NV in much the same way.

:huh:

Not necessary, but HIGHLY recommended.

I suppose. It really never even occured to me.

> Turn based combat

> Fallout 3

WAT :blink:

wait fallout 3 didnt have turn based combat?

i would not consider VATS turn based. that would be like calling Red Dead Redemption a turnbased game because you can slow down time to line up a shot.

either play 1 and 2.

or just look up some things on the vault.

if i had to choose one though i would say play the games. i played fallout 3 first, and when i saw the first two games i thought i would not like them. but i ended up enjoying them more then fallout 3

The only things you really need to read up on in lieu of Fallout: New Vegas are NCR/ New California Republic, Enclave, Brotherhood of Steel. And possibly Caesers Legion, but as of now, most of it is based on Van Buren, which is not canon (VB is the cancelled Fallout 3)

The originals are not required to enjoy New Vegas, probably. But, there will probably be a good amount of content that has a backstory that only people who have knowledge of the originals would know. If you don't want to play them, just lurk the Wiki for a couple of hours.

And to be honest, the combat is actually really enjoyable once you turn up the combat speed. And I actually liked the graphics. The game looks really cool with the high-res patch on 1080P.

• The first game really cements the series setting and attitude (more so than any other Fallout title).
  
• FO2 is derived from FO1, and had interface improvements as well as a larger gameworld.
  
• Fallout Tactics is a linear mission combat game where the combat is improved (but the RPG aspects are mostly ignored); Tactics really did a fantastic job improving the TB combat of the IP, (they also added a hack to give it mediocre RT combat).
  
• FOBOS (is further degraded from Tactics, and goes to fully real time combat), it seems to be a poorly (IMO) reskinned Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance/ with a pinch of "Heavy Barrel".
  
• Fallout 3 (contrary to published statements), IMO seems derived partly from FO2 and mostly from FOBOS, as a re-dressing of TES4. Its a very good game, but its a different game entirely, and retains almost nothing of what made the first two special.

I would say that Fallout 1 based on its ranking high on almost every top game list of RPG's is not to be missed. Most people who love Fallout 1 seem to prefer playing FO2 even though they might actually like FO1 better (FO2 addresses many gameplay issues that should have been fixed in FO1).

I like the head graphics better than FO3's (it is intrinsic to the freedom they have with the 2d art, but honestly I don't see why modern PC hardware could not run meshes like those in realtime these days).

You might want to play through the originals so you can catch all the references and understand the backstory a little better. That only really applies to the BoS/NCR since almost everything else ties in to Van Bueren, which you can look up at the Vault.

I want to buy them but I don't like the idea of buying over the internet.

Not sure how I could find these games in real life. Always afraid of Identity theft or something.

Well, I got my copy of the Trilogy Pack from Wal Mart. I also saw it at Fry's. Might be worth it to look at the PC games section at your local electronics store.

My old (original) discs are scratched all to hell, so I bought the "Trilogy" at Gamestop from the bargain bin. What is cool, is the trilogy includes a lot of patches and fan mods, like the "hi res" patch. If you posted this topic, you are at least open to the idea of playing the games, so I'm not sure what all anyone can say to influence you further than your own curiosity.

Guess I'll give it a shot, if that doesn't work guess I'll try steam.

No, you don't. You're welcome to try if you want to, but the combat will put you to sleep. It sure did for me, and I had combat speed cranked way up.