is this an expansion of Fallout 3 or a stand alone game ?

Dave

It's a whole new game made by Obsidian, a company with some of the original makers of the Fallout franchise, and published by Bethesda. I know it looks like Fallout 3 'cause the same engine, but the game isn't linked to Fallout 3 in any way, apart from maybe a few Easter Eggs.

EDIT:http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1087573-fallout-new-vegas-frequently-asked-questions/, it'll answer most, if not all of your questions.

Most certainly not an expansion. New Vegas has twice the weapons and quests that Fallout 3 did and the game world is of similar size with many settlements and characters.

There are also many new gameplay mechanics such as the Companion Wheel and combat improvement with iron sights. There's a lot here, so don't worry about it just being like an expansion pack.

Stand alone, improving lots on Fallout 3 and probably bigger too. Definitely not an expansion, far from it.
Although it uses the same engine, so most of the graphics and animations are the same. Don't be expecting anything much different in those departments. However, they are being tweaked and improved, and are looking good.

good to hear, i will defenatly be purchasing it then cheers lads

Dave

Why doesn't anyone use wikipedia for information?

in the interviews they say again and again is a whole new game :drool:

I wouldn't blame you, the previews and images resemble a striking similarity to fallout 3. A very large similarity....

...now don't start [censored]in'. =)
The similarity actually resembles a bit of reliability and stability for the game IMO. I mean, if it has the same engine then not much can really go wrong. You could say it's got the recipe of a great game, so it'll be a great one itself. Then you think of all the improvements and tweaking...

EDIT: sorry, I won't turn this into an engine thread.

Stating my opinion - I don't agree on reliability. There were so many bugs it was really disappointing and now all the textures and skins have been brought from fallout 3 and reused again. That's why some think it's a dlc. However, there are the voice actings and interesting rp elements that could make up for it. Then again, iron sights and weapon mod kits can all be found in the fallout3nexus.

NO! It's gonna be HUGE!!!

I agree, but I meant more along the lines of the fact that if Obsidian made a whole new engine, I'd really be suspicious and doubtful of it because who knows what it could have been like. When I heard they were using the same engine, I thought good, because it's unlikely the game will fail, and I've always loved the ES/Fallout 3 game engine.
But yeah I understand how reliable could be a bit misleading. The engine tends to be quite buggy. And the textures are a bit old, but that doesn't really matter to me. Plus it seems lighting has been improved, which will help.

How is it I've seen these kind of things on the internet since February and it STILL makes me rageface?

Because some people can't take the time of 5 minutes to search for the information themselves?

True, it's been 2 years as well. Not enough time to really work on a new engine, but as you said, who knows because we haven't even played the game yet.

That could very well be true. But, they do look similiar, a comfort to me, but its understable people would assume its an expansion/DLC