Fallout Polygons Charlie Hall got stuck in Fallout.

[Xor]

The only time I ever got stuck in Fallout 1 was the first time I did the Glow. I only took one rad x thinking it would be enough, and after exploring the entire base I ended up dying instantly when I tried to travel anywhere. Since I only kept one save file, I was fucked and had to start over. I didn't really view that as a fault with the game, though. It was my fault for being an idiot.

It sounds like this idiot had no idea what he was doing, and he probably hasn't played the game in years and so he's recounting a distorted memory. He's not even aware that companions in Fallout 1 didn't have skills. Who knows what door he was actually talking about. Or if this even happened in Fallout 1.

 

[Jedi Exile]

I didn't have the rope when I first ventured to the Glow. So I had to backtrack and was almost killed by bandits, who looked exactly like Ian (I even shot him a few times thinking he was a bandit, and of course he shot me too 'by accident'). Then I bought the rope in the Hub, went back and explored like, the first level. I could't get any further and decided to return and died on the way from radiation. Then I started the game again and had a lot of other wonderful adventures, killed the Decker (fuck him! he was a tough one), joined the Brotherhood and finally got to play chess with Zax. So, what I was about? Ah yes, the dynamite. It can solve all your problems with 'locked doors', scorpions etc. And if not, there are other ways. Because this is Fallout.

 

[Dickie]

He's not even aware that companions in Fallout 1 didn't have skills. Who knows what door he was actually talking about. Or if this even happened in Fallout 1.

Couldn't Katja pick locks for you?

 

[DragoFireheart]

Extremely obvious plot twist: he didn't actually play the game.

What does he get from making this up, though? There are genuine issues with the game to point out that wouldn't make him look like a bumbling clown.

I remember having a slight rage moment at the end of Fallout 2.


There was an area on the Oil Tanker that I thought for some reason I needed to go to to complete the game. Turns out this was some dummied out area that no longer served any purpose.

B-but there are all those monsters to fight...

Errr, I meant the place where the Enclave and their President were at.

Enclave Oil Rig.

 

[Decado]

It reads like the same kind of shameless nerd-whoring that people who didn't actually play games like to engage in to establish their bonafides. He's telling lies. I am almost sure - and the only reason I am hedging this is because I'm on the Codex -- that there is not a single goddamn door in Fallout 1 that is both crit pathed and "locked" that you cannot bypass by other means. He is making shit up to make it look like he knows what he is talking about.

 

[deuxhero]

Any predictions on what excuse they'll make for this?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

He's not even aware that companions in Fallout 1 didn't have skills. Who knows what door he was actually talking about. Or if this even happened in Fallout 1.

Couldn't Katja pick locks for you?

According to Per's guide, only two particular locks.

 

[Charles-cgr]

(Merged)

My personal take on this, which I wrote elsewhere:

Really the only thing wrong I see with the guy's situation in Fallout is that his only option to get through was to grind trash mobs. There should be interesting opportunities to get through roadblocks. But scurrying back to town and pay for a "key"... Not one of them. Neither is respec imho. I don't mean to be offensive but to me those are lazy designs and there's a reason previous generations of RPGs did not allow them.

Discuss!

 

[nikolokolus]

Well considering the entire situation described by that Polygon writer sounds made up, what's left to discuss?

 

[Charles-cgr]

Well considering the entire situation described by that Polygon writer sounds made up, what's left to discuss?

Roadblocks and options for players to deal with them, respecs good or bad, ... Well that's about it.

Oh and whether that situation was or wasn't made up. And why that even matters.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Parts of that article are rage-inducing to me. Look, I don't know anything about picking locks because that's not a skillset I took time to learn in real-life and I don't care what kind of picks someone handed me... I just wouldn't be able to do it no matter how much I tried. Break the door down? Sure. Blow it up with a grenade? Sure. But pick locks? No. I don't know why every character has to be a jack of all trades in recent CRPGs. I like role-specializations in my characters, and the need to have to make hard choices in character generation. Damn casuals.

 

[Charles-cgr]

Aw shit there's already a thread on this. First thread creation in years & I botched it. Carry on.

 

[Ninjerk]

As if there were any other guide.

 

[MasPingon]

It is the show of incompetence, this dumbfuck should not write anymore. There is not one situation in Fallout when you can't continue you journey because of wrong skillset. There is no "wrong skillset" in FO, this is just bad journalism.

 

[A user named cat]

But the Main Questline is pretty much idiot proof.

There is no such thing as "idiot proof" when it comes to the Polygon/Kotaku/Gawker crowd. The biggest bunch of fake gamer faggots on the internet.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Aw shit there's already a thread on this. First thread creation in years & I botched it. Carry on.

You're the originator. Just ask Jaesun to merge it.

 

[dukeofwhales]

I actually think JES design philosophy for attributes is good, and while such a gamey system rubbed me the wrong way initially (reminded me of how my equipped weapon in Diablo 3 somehow increased spell damage), it seems like it actually will be fun and interesting.

That said, using Fallout as an example was wrong, and I'm sure JES would disagree with that being an example of what he was trying to prevent. If I were to sum up Fallout 1 in one sentence, it would include the phrase "there is always another way" - when I came to a roadblock like a locked door I couldn't open, there was always another way to do what I was attempting (and it never involved grinding levels, unless you count very difficult enemies being used as a content/level gate, which given how simple combat was is basically how it was used). JES just wants you to always be able to spend your skill points in a way that they are never wasted, and that you never come to a roadblock where you cannot continue (hence his anti-hard-counters philosophy, though I would argue that you could always just brute force BG2 battles). Good idea, bad article.

 

[Charles-cgr]

I actually think JES design philosophy for attributes is good, and while such a gamey system rubbed me the wrong way initially (reminded me of how my equipped weapon in Diablo 3 somehow increased spell damage), it seems like it actually will be fun and interesting.

That said, using Fallout as an example was wrong, and I'm sure JES would disagree with that being an example of what he was trying to prevent. If I were to sum up Fallout 1 in one sentence, it would include the phrase "there is always another way" - when I came to a roadblock like a locked door I couldn't open, there was always another way to do what I was attempting (and it never involved grinding levels, unless you count very difficult enemies being used as a content/level gate, which given how simple combat was is basically how it was used). JES just wants you to always be able to spend your skill points in a way that they are never wasted, and that you never come to a roadblock where you cannot continue (hence his anti-hard-counters philosophy, though I would argue that you could always just brute force BG2 battles). Good idea, bad article.

The part about attributes has some merit for me but always having a mercenary available with the right skill tree not so much. The way I see it the game becomes a shopping sim.

Aw shit there's already a thread on this. First thread creation in years & I botched it. Carry on.

You're the originator. Just ask Jaesun to merge it.

Done!

 

[dukeofwhales]

The part about attributes has some merit for me but always having a mercenary available with the right skill tree not so much. The way I see it the game becomes a shopping sim.

I don't think that's really the point of the Adventurer's Hall so much as the writers (mis)interpretation. I guess it is a gameplay side effect of being able to recruit NPCs at every level up to (or one below?) your current level, whereas in IWD you could only recruit level 1s. The idea is only that you can create a full custom party or supplement the NPCs you like with a couple of extras rather than having to deal with Aerie's whinging because she is just so damn versatile.

 

[Charles-cgr]

The part about attributes has some merit for me but always having a mercenary available with the right skill tree not so much. The way I see it the game becomes a shopping sim.

I don't think that's really the point of the Adventurer's Hall so much as the writers (mis)interpretation. I guess it is a gameplay side effect of being able to recruit NPCs at every level up to (or one below?) your current level, whereas in IWD you could only recruit level 1s. The idea is only that you can create a full custom party or supplement the NPCs you like with a couple of extras rather than having to deal with Aerie's whinging because she is just so damn versatile.

In that case is there really anything new? Surely Might isn't going to solve everything - just save a few points for other things. You can still choose to spread yourself thin and make a pretty useless character with many low level skills. I can't imagine a game that lets you win by doing that being much fun.

 

[t]

The only time I ever got stuck in Fallout 1 was the first time I did the Glow. I only took one rad x thinking it would be enough, and after exploring the entire base I ended up dying instantly when I tried to travel anywhere. Since I only kept one save file, I was fucked and had to start over. I didn't really view that as a fault with the game, though. It was my fault for being an idiot.

It sounds like this idiot had no idea what he was doing, and he probably hasn't played the game in years and so he's recounting a distorted memory. He's not even aware that companions in Fallout 1 didn't have skills. Who knows what door he was actually talking about. Or if this even happened in Fallout 1.

I'm quite sure there was some RadAway in the glow.

 

[dukeofwhales]

Honestly I'm not the guy to argue the finer details of the new attribute system, but apparently it does allow for a variety of interesting character builds within each class and allows players to build characters which are different from usual D&D tropes but are still viable to complete the game (though not all equally strong) which was the aim.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

In that case is there really anything new? Surely Might isn't going to solve everything - just save a few points for other things. You can still choose to spread yourself thin and make a pretty useless character with many low level skills. I can't imagine a game that lets you win by doing that being much fun.

You mean, a game like Fallout?

 

[Jick Magger]

I remember feeling like a fucking retard for getting stuck at the door to Vic's shack in Fallout 2. Spent like five minutes trying to just brute force the lock before realizing that I could just blow it open with a stick of dynamite.

 

[Xor]

The only time I ever got stuck in Fallout 1 was the first time I did the Glow. I only took one rad x thinking it would be enough, and after exploring the entire base I ended up dying instantly when I tried to travel anywhere. Since I only kept one save file, I was fucked and had to start over. I didn't really view that as a fault with the game, though. It was my fault for being an idiot.

It sounds like this idiot had no idea what he was doing, and he probably hasn't played the game in years and so he's recounting a distorted memory. He's not even aware that companions in Fallout 1 didn't have skills. Who knows what door he was actually talking about. Or if this even happened in Fallout 1.

I'm quite sure there was some RadAway in the glow.

Doesn't help when you're above 10k rads.