Fallout New Vegas is the best Obsidian game ever

[Alphons]

Yeah, Vault 11 and 19 need to be found. 22 and 34 are visited during two Sharecropper farms quests (22 is also involved in Veronica's sidequest). Both Repconn facilities are also involved in side quests.

The only interesting location not involved in any quest(aside from Vault 11 and 19) is the gas station near Mojave Outpost, where mayor Stein prepared his hideout before selling Nipton to Legion.

Can't complain about it, considering how much there's to explore in DLCs. Side dungeons in Lonesome Road, Survivalist's caches in Zion, dozens of facilities around Big MT and the entirety of Sierra Madre are very memorable.

 

[Sigourn]

I'm replaying New Vegas and the truth is that the game's design principles reflect those of Fallout and Fallout 2. This really should have been an isometric game, because having to travel long stretches of empty desert interrupted now and then by raiders or radscorpions just isn't as fun in 3D as it is in 2D. Fights are over quickly in 3D and travelling is very slow, the opposite of the isometric's long battles but very quick movement. There's an awful lot of clutter that is simply annoying as well, I didn't realize how much I hated it until I played Ys and loved how everything is either decoration or USEFUL STUFF you can pickup, as opposed to letting the player pick up useful and trash (decorative) items all the same.

 

[sullynathan]

because having to travel long stretches of empty desert interrupted now and then by raiders or radscorpions just isn't as fun in 3D as it is in 2D.

It's fun when a better open world game does it.

 

[DalekFlay]

So I'm currently doing a replay of this game. As opposed to the previous times I played it, I'm taking the time to properly explore the gameworld instead of just going along the main plot path & using fast travel. One problem with this is that it exposes the atrocious amount of invisible walls in this game, most of which have no business being there. Isn't the Mojave Desert supposed to be a lot more flat than this game makes it out to be? I guess Obsidian was banking on most players not going off the "intended" path.

To me New Vegas feels like it was trying to ape 1 and 2 with its world design. Obviously it's open world and has a big exploration element, but it feels like the game is centered around "zones" of interest, with everything between them being much less relevant. Map markers can be for things as basic as a picnic table with Mirelurks everywhere, like a random encounter in Fallout 1 and 2. Areas like Novac have a sort of multi-screen design, with the town, rocket factory and nearby Legion camp. To me it very much feels like it's trying to meld that style of game with Bethesda's engine and design principles.

Personally I quite liked it, as I do like open areas and exploration but only when they feel like every area has a purpose and design. Huge swaths of nothing like in The Witcher 3 do nothing for me.

 

[Invictus]

I don't know guys; I get your point about the “empty spaces” as opposed to the Fallout Themed Park from Fallout 3 but I... kind of enjoy it?

Yeah, having a lot of locations which you explore for exploration sake might sound counterproductive in today’s open world design (especially since even the most sidey of side quests of Witcher 3 has an interesting premise or dialogue rather than just a “set piece” but I cannot help myself with really enjoying that leisurely pace where you just go out looking for adventure for adventure’s sake; I might find a half empty shack in the middle of nowhere with nothing relevant inside but isn’t the trekking part of these games half of the “fun”?
Looking at all these ports for Switch and playing Witcher 3 and Dragon Quest 11 I keep thinking that if Bethesda allowed New Vegas with even basic mods of that system I would basically be in all set for my RPG needs

 

[Üstad]

Given all the MCA vs Obsidian debate going on right now I finally got around installing, modding and playing New Vegas and I gotta say it is by far the best Obsidian game I have played.
Now granted I have not played Neverwinter Nights 2 or its expansions but of all the Obsidian games I have played this is easily the best one
While the Gamebryo engine is still pretty limited, with a few mods and tweaks it is now pretty damn stable and quite a lot of fun
And the main reason for all that fun would the sheer amount of reactivity and C&C
I honestly don’t remember a game giving me more options for quests or the freedom to use any preferred playstyle and be a viable way to proceed... almost felt like playing a game of Hitman but with dialogue options
Other than the combat beign so so (fixable by mods) and the graphics looking dated (fixable too) and my pet peeve of SPECIAL beign basically worthless (other than Intelligence) this is the most fun I have had let alone with an Obsidian game, but a Fallout game period

Which combat mods are fine?

 

[Nano]

Which combat mods are fine?

This one is a must: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/67147

 

[Naraya]

Hey people, I am finishing Black Mesa and thus looking for a good RPG that will allow me to forget about all the shit going on in the world right now. Looking for an engaging story, C&C, stuff like that. Does FNV fall into this category?

 

[cretin]

Hey people, I am finishing Black Mesa and thus looking for a good RPG that will allow me to forget about all the shit going on in the world right now. Looking for an engaging story, C&C, stuff like that. Does FNV fall into this category?

yes. I've been playing with the jsawyer mod (the original, not the "im a modder and i think i know better" "ultimate" version on the nexus) and hardcore mode on and its been pretty engaging and fun. The first ~45 minutes or so is pretty dull but it picks up after that in a big bad way.

 

[Lurker47]

That's not saying much.

 

[Invictus]

Tried some of GamersPoet’s tweaks for New Vegas and the game runs like a dream now... very recommend especially on older PCs

 

[Gordian Nutt]

So I'm currently doing a replay of this game. As opposed to the previous times I played it, I'm taking the time to properly explore the gameworld instead of just going along the main plot path & using fast travel. One problem with this is that it exposes the atrocious amount of invisible walls in this game, most of which have no business being there. Isn't the Mojave Desert supposed to be a lot more flat than this game makes it out to be? I guess Obsidian was banking on most players not going off the "intended" path.

Not trying to be contradictory to my own point, but "invisible walls" are better when they are seen (mist, or environmental explanation of the "wall").

One thing I did not like about New Vegas was how close the starting town was to invisible walls, it made it feel like you were forced to travel in one direction which undermined choice

 

[d1r]

Tried some of GamersPoet’s tweaks for New Vegas and the game runs like a dream now... very recommend especially on older PCs

If you use ENB's memory management: Don't use it. It's really wonky, and there are far better alternatives out there.

Get NVAC + NVTickFix + New Vegas Heap Replacer. The bastion of stability for New Vegas.

 

[Terenty]

This game is so boring even voice actors were barely awake voicing their boring lines.

 

[DalekFlay]

Looking at their release list, I don't even understand why this is a question. Of course it is their best game. Most are worth playing for one reason or another... Alpha Protocol to bang the redhead for example... but New Vegas is the best game on that list by a wide margin.

Don't give me that KotOR2 bullshit, a few well written characters do not a masterpiece make.

 

[Gordian Nutt]

This game is so boring even voice actors were barely awake voicing their boring lines.

Considering how many voices and lines, I'm surprised that they were awake and not dead.

Looking at their release list, I don't even understand why this is a question. Of course it is their best game. Most are worth playing for one reason or another... Alpha Protocol to bang the redhead for example... but New Vegas is the best game on that list by a wide margin

I associate New Vegas as a Bethesda and Obsidian game, not an Obsidian game. While other games used tech of other companies, Obsidian could never have assembled all the tech,assets and core system design to make New Vegas happen without the foundation from Bethesda. It is like trying to give credit to Black Isle Studio for the Infinity Engine games without recognizing without Bioware, never would have happened.

Don't give me that KotOR2 bullshit, a few well written characters do not a masterpiece make.

It is when there is only a few characters in the game, which is Knight 2's problem.

Even Obsidian devs said smaller cast makes for deeper dives as long as small cast is not used to make loonnnnnng talking characters like Kreia and Ulysses that go on and on.

As long as text and voice exposed to player is in smaller chunks and not used as an excuse to inflate wordiness, smaller cast can be much better than a New Vegas sprawling cast with doubtful quality.

 

[Quillon]

I associate New Vegas as a Bethesda and Obsidian game, not an Obsidian game. While other games used tech of other companies, Obsidian could never have assembled all the tech,assets and core system design to make New Vegas happen without the foundation from Bethesda. It is like trying to give credit to Black Isle Studio for the Infinity Engine games without recognizing without Bioware, never would have happened.

Hence shallow af Outer Worlds.

 

[DalekFlay]

I associate New Vegas as a Bethesda and Obsidian game, not an Obsidian game. While other games used tech of other companies, Obsidian could never have assembled all the tech,assets and core system design to make New Vegas happen without the foundation from Bethesda. It is like trying to give credit to Black Isle Studio for the Infinity Engine games without recognizing without Bioware, never would have happened.

Sure. I've said numerous times on here that despite the praise New Vegas gets and the hate Fallout 3 gets, they're 90% the same game when it comes to what you're spending your time doing. It's a marvel honestly of the power of better writing and quest design to change a game's enjoyment factor by such a large degree. They took what works about the basic formula of Bethesda's games and enhanced it through better execution. So in that sense it's a collaboration I suppose, yeah.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Sure. I've said numerous times on here that despite the praise New Vegas gets and the hate Fallout 3 gets, they're 90% the same game when it comes to what you're spending your time doing. It's a marvel honestly of the power of better writing and quest design to change a game's enjoyment factor by such a large degree. They took what works about the basic formula of Bethesda's games and enhanced it through better execution. So in that sense it's a collaboration I suppose, yeah.

I'd also say that the parts they changed - some systems but not all - actually made the experience more confusing and less fun. Hardcore mode was just stupid. Edit - "lame".

I did like the companion UI wheel though.

 

[Gordian Nutt]

Hence shallow af Outer Worlds.

Yes and made worse with marketing making Fallout comparisons and missing a lot about Fallout in process

 

[Ol' Willy]

I associate New Vegas as a Bethesda and Obsidian game, not an Obsidian game. While other games used tech of other companies, Obsidian could never have assembled all the tech,assets and core system design to make New Vegas happen without the foundation from Bethesda

The worst parts of New Vegas are the courtesy of Shittesda GameAbortion engine, though

 

[Gordian Nutt]

The worst parts of New Vegas are the courtesy of Shittesda GameAbortion engine, though

I do not argue this but it is better than the nothing or less-than-effort Obsidian could have made to produce New Vegas and even shitty engine that allows for the experience is better than no engine at all

and when I bring up Bethesda I bring up system design monster design and stat editors and art assets - these also may be shitty but the huge amount of them and the groundwork deserves recognition since an open world game requires so many assets to flesh out

I do believe it is possible that in half the time and with right number of programmers, Obsidian might have done a good open world engine

But they even abandoned their own limited and non open-world engine Onyx because their technology is weak and the company does not seem to be interested in building up its programming strength or could afford to in the past

With Microsoft it might be different but Avowed will be the first open world game they make on their own presuming they do not again license tech and they will most probably have lessons to learn while doing it

My point is Bethesda contributed a lot to New Vegas and Obsidian could not have done it on their own even if the development time was doubled or even tripled and would have been out of business before then

 

[Quillon]

Avowed will be the first open world game they make on their own presuming they do not again license tech

it's being made in unreal engine fo'sho

 

[Gordian Nutt]

it's being made in unreal engine fo'sho

Makes sense for production aspects

Obsidian still had struggles with using Unreal in the past so we will see - Obsidian are normally not a good technical company and using another engine does not fully help because they do not usually work with the same engine twice except Unity maybe

 

[Ol' Willy]

and when I bring up Bethesda I bring up system design monster design and stat editors and art assets - these also may be shitty but the huge amount of them and the groundwork deserves recognition since an open world game requires so many assets to flesh out

This is very female argument - "the end result doesn't matter, how much effort I put into this is what matter!"