» Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:01 am First of all, congrats on a great idea and a number of improvements from Fallout 3. In spite of all the criticism I'm about to write about, I think Obsidian has done a great job in getting back the right feel of the game.
- The sit-and-aim system is complete Win! - realistic and with a Run-n-Gun perk for the easy way out.
- Separate survival mode that brings back Thirst and Hunger to the RPG genre - See? That wasn't so hard, was it?!! - and to think you only had to make it an option and not a game-breaking necessity. Hoorah, you've finally gotten it. :clap:
- Less-worthless Junk - Shovel usage is a great detail that livens up the world, same with food actually being meaningful and more junk usable as components.
- The focus on more weapons and weapon mods is also an excellent choice - kudos for bringing back Fallout 2 stuff, too.
- Ammo types - Finally we're back to Fallout basics, with the ability to choose your weapons and ammo based on how you assess an enemy, instead of just guns blazing mindlessly.
- Finally some REAL cliffs and canyons, creating a much more vertical experience as well.
- I love the Rebreather - it's a great item to get later in the game, to remove the hazzle of underwater movement. Suggestion: Maybe design an Underwater Vault in a DLC later on, with harpoon weapons and underwater fighting?
And now, to the negative feedback *gloomy music*. Seriously, I'm probably not the first to say these things, but I want you guys at Obsidian/Bethesda to read this cause the bugs and flaws of New Vegas borders to ridiculous at times.
Apathetic Questgivers: (major bug)
Sometimes, critical questgivers such as Elder McNamara, will just stop in their tracks if you talk to them and not continue to their destination (after dialogue ends). In McNamara's case, this means that you'll never get to start his quests. He just stands at the same spot frozen, even if you reload, exit and enter, sleep or whatever.
Disappearing Companions: (major bug)
When entering the Lucky 38 and activating the elevator to go to the Penthouse floor (to which your companion cannot follow), the companion (Cass in my case) would disappear into the void and not be reachable. This results in me having Cass in my party but I cannot get to her - thus I cannot activate her companion wheel (for whatever reason) either - e.g. to fire her and get a different companion.
Reckless Companions: (gameplay issue)
I've also found the companions to be excessively reckless. On several occasions, I've discovered that they spot an enemy and run after them in pursuit, only to get themselves killed by aggroing more enemies - e.g. Deathclaws. Sometimes, I haven't even noticed until I look around and the companion is gone, and I suddenly get the death message. Extremely annoying and the main reason why I chose Cass as my companion with an Anti-Material rifle, so that she can shoot from where she stands lol.
This problem should be fixable by giving companions a hard limit to how far away they can move from you - AND / OR - Giving them the simple abilities to set target parameters between "Fire at Will", "Return Fire", "Protect Player" or similar. The companion wheel is an excellent idea that just seems abit squandered away due to bad utilization.
The missing Laser Pistol (minor quest bug)
When I got the quest to find the Missing Laser Pistol for the BS Quartemaster, I never got the quest notification in my Pipboy, although I did get the quest triggered and I even completed it with XP received. It simply didn't show up as a quest, that's all. So it's a little sloppy.
Bad Housing (design issue)
When I first played Fallout 3, I was somewhat dissapointed by the overall feel of the Megaton and Tenpenny housings. They were solid for any casual player, but they also left something to be desired, design-wise. It always seems like the same routine of devs creating minimalistc houses and then the community reacts by overexaggerating it with a huge mansion and 100 containers (at least in Morrowind and Oblivion) - but in both cases, very little understanding of the architectural "feel" that such houses should have.
For New Vegas, it was equally "lifeless". The Novac House was a good design, I actually liked that the only issue was that the bathroom door went in the way. But the problem with Novac is the overall size. As a player, you'll want a properly sized house - preferably your own building with 2-3 rooms and all amenities. It is, after all, your primary base of operations. As for the Presidential Suite, it almost seemed like Obsidian had just quickly painted down a bunch of wardrobes and containers instead of using some time with making it all look good. The suite is also terribly poor lit and the casino itself just looks like a haunted mansion. (I'm assuming this is storyline-related and that the Casino will open up or something later, but still).
My Perfect House:
Whether a player wants an extravagant house or not, isn't really that important for a core housing scheme. Nobody needs 100 generic containers. But what is important, is that the house offers all those solid things that you'd expect of any game that is largely about scaving and hoarding. Enter the Courier's Home. Your home:
Location: Somewhere central (maybe near Boulder City?)
Exteriors: A shack/garage closeby with Reloading Bench, Workbench etc. Main house is like a small mansion. Maybe 1 secure Dumpster as well, for various junk and components.
Interiors: Livingroom, bedroom, kitchen corner, bathroom, basemant. Just that it doesn't require too much walking back and forth - it's nice to have it all at an arms length.
Containers:
- 2 Armor lockers (1 for unique, 1 for generic or otherwise, see "Safe" below)
- 1 Gun Cabinet (for generic weapons)
- 1 Personal Footlocker (next to bed etc for unique weapons or otherwise - see "Safe" below)
- Several named ammo containers - Pistol, Rifle, Explosives, Missiles etc.
- 1-2 Wardrobes - OR - 1 Wardrobe and 1 Dresser for variety (1 for uniques, 1 for generic).
- 1 Desk + 1 Filing Cabinet (for various quest items, notes, cash and similar.
- 1 Briefcase (for special items like the cards)
- 1 Safe, for precious items (also gives players more freedom in choosing what to put where - e.g. unique armor in the safe and have separate armor lockers for light and heavy (power) armors.)
- 1 Refridgerator, 1 Oven.
- 1 Nuka-Cola Fridge and 1 Sarsparilla Fridge
- 1 Medkit on the bathroom wall
...plus other minor containers that are optionable to use and not lying in the way.
Triggers: Bed for [Sleep], Bathroom Sink for [Water] and a scripted Cooking Pan on top of the Oven for [Food].
Surfaces: It's also important that a house has a proper amount of horizontal surfaces so that players can decorate it with various junk and stuff that isn't to be put inside containers. I'm talking tables, shelves, and similar stuff. The science theme in Fallout 3 had some interesting features, as did the other features too.
Optionally, the house could also have extra rooms and containers for your current companion. The house itself could be associated with a quest or something that gave you the key, sort of like a minor DLC similar to the various housings in Oblivion (e.g. the Mage's Tower). Also, once you got the house there could be someone in Boulder City who could sell you various stuff for the house.
Other problems:
There are also some beauty issue in the game, such as rock meshes etc floating slightly above ground so you can see inside them if you duck. You should've spent a little more time double-checking the terrain and correct such terrain flaws. Never experienced too much of it though, but more than in Fallout 3 and it's worth reviewing.
Conclusion:
Well, I obviously focused on the housing issue, but it's a good, solid game and the problems I've mentioned here are the main issues that I'm personally experiencing. Also, for the future of this game, maybe you should try investing in a few more DLC's - Fallout 3 had a decent amount but then New Vegas came and Fallout 3 is somewhat phased out. So for New Vegas - maybe 6-7 minor DLCs and maybe a trilogical (2 DLCs) main questline or something. I mean, with the size of the DLCs, the budget should allow for it, especially if Fallout 4 isn't coming out for a good while (if at all). I'm sure you won't have problems selling them and keeping the Fallout franshice fresh until you decide to make Fallout 4 or Fallout Online.
Keep up the good work!
