Game News Fallout: New Vegas gets the Old World Blues

[Admiral jimbob]

yet in virtually every thread where someone asks for help with a character build for one game or another the majority of answers are full of ways to take advantage of the system in order to max as much as possible.

"Taking advantage of the system in order to max as much as possible" doesn't generally involve doing nothing more than levelling up.

 

[Gord]

Well, unless you set INT to 10 and get that perk that gives you an aditional 3 points to spend you will need some time to get much more than 2 or 3 talents to 100.
At least if you put a few points into other talents as well every now and then.
New Vegas is better than FO3 in that regard. Also in my pre-DLC days I had never reached lvl 30 at the end of the game. Then again I never tried to do everything with the same character.
With all the DLCs it's getting much easier, though, to level up fast. Honest Hearts easily brought me from 14 to 20-something, just too much exp-inflation.

 

[Metro]

Exactly. The hypocrisy is stunning here when people rage at being able to max all skills and become gods yet in virtually every thread where someone asks for help with a character build for one game or another the majority of answers are full of ways to take advantage of the system in order to max as much as possible.

Significant difference if you compare advice like that as it applies to something like Gothic 2 NOTR versus New Vegas. In the former you still have mutually exclusive character builds and you're just looking to min/max said builds. In the latter 'builds' pretty much go out the window around level 15-20ish unless you're using a mod. Also, as said there's really no advice to give in New Vegas regarding builds other than just level up and fill skills up until they hit 90ish -- there are no trade offs/learning point investment curve.

NV really did a lot to avoid such an imbalance from the get go, even if all the DLC is having a negative effect. I'm hoping that eventually a patch or mod is released that balances things again.

It's an improvement but, again, any specialization pretty much breaks around level 20 usually giving you at least three or four solutions to all of the late game skill checks/quests/whatever.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

Well, unless you set INT to 10 and get that perk that gives you an aditional 3 points to spend you will need some time to get much more than 2 or 3 talents to 100.

Nigga, old world blues lets you craft unlimited skillbooks.

Edit: NVM, munchkinize away

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Well, unless you set INT to 10 and get that perk that gives you an aditional 3 points to spend you will need some time to get much more than 2 or 3 talents to 100.

Yeah, to a degree. Though INT 10 in Fallout 3/New Vegas is pretty much the equivalent of Gifted in F1/F2 in that there's little reason to not go that route; it's just that good. SPECIAL is mostly gutted, as you gain the most utility out of each point from Intelligence...no other stat comes close because they don't scale up/down the way they did in F1/F2. Skills are what counts, and Intelligence delivers this. Other stats, not so much. For example, Agility was great in Fallout 1/2, giving you more action points, making you effectively faster in movement and in firing rate. In Bethesda's system, you get a boost to some skills and a marginal amount of VATS points. Woo-hoo.

New Vegas seems a lot better than Fallout 3 so far, between the lack of perks every level, as well as the scarcity of skillbooks and removal of bobbleheads. Sure, at level 20 I have Energy Weapons, Repair, Speech, and Science maxed with Guns and Lockpick at around 70-75, but in the Capital Wasteland, you couldn't go two steps without tripping over a skill book making it easy to max out all but one or two skills. It still is a broken system at the core, though, despite how much Obsidian has tried to patch it up.

 

[Metro]

It still is a broken system at the core, though, despite how much Obsidian has tried to patch it up.

That's New Vegas in a nutshell. The (horrible) core mechanics by Bethesda are beyond redemption regardless of who got their hands on them.

 

[Misterhamper]

It still is a broken system at the core, though, despite how much Obsidian has tried to patch it up.

That's New Vegas in a nutshell. The (horrible) core mechanics by Bethesda are beyond redemption regardless of who got their hands on them.

Lettuce romaine in real tea here, Project Nevada have managed to make it a pretty good shooter already, and it is far from completed.

 

[Lexx]

Well, unless you set INT to 10 and get that perk that gives you an aditional 3 points to spend you will need some time to get much more than 2 or 3 talents to 100.

Nigga, old world blues lets you craft unlimited skillbooks.

As far as I can see from the article at The Vault, you can only craft one, because you need a Skill X holotape for the crafting.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

You're right, didn't notice that the recipes got consumed when you crafted.

 

[Alex_Steel]

I'm playing it right now. The dialogues are pretty good, with funny lines and lots of skill checks(although most of them succeed because of high level). Also, very good voice acting. The quests are typical until now and there are enough options around.

A-class Sci-Fi B-movie material with silly characters, stupid projects and grand item names!

If you liked NV, play it!

 

[curry]

I'm playing it right now. The dialogues are pretty good, with funny lines and lots of skill checks(although most of them succeed because of high level). Also, very good voice acting. The quests are typical until now and there are enough options around.

A-class Sci-Fi B-movie material with silly characters, stupid projects and grand item names!

If you liked NV, play it!

Thanks for the info, son

 

[Metro]

Project Nevada have managed to make it a pretty good shooter already, and it is far from completed.

Maybe, but I'm not interested enough to try it out. FWE didn't improve base FO3 enough for me to enjoy it. Also the shooter aspects of New Vegas aren't the ones that appeal to me, anyway.

 

[Texas Red]

Is there a good mod that makes leveling up more difficult? Another one I'm looking for that would make items much more expensive.

In NV every spot is covered in easy XP and loot. I never felt excited at leveling up because it just makes things even more easier. You can obtain the best weaponry and armor without any effort either. Why is it so goddamn hard to create even slightly interesting gameplay?

 

[DragoFireheart]

The solution would have been simple:

1. Increase the amount of skill points you need to raise a skill (1 for 0-50, 2 for 51-75, 3 for 76-100). I'm sure the system could have been adjusted to fit this simple change. Tag skills would drop those requirements down a level, basically changing it to (1 for 0-75, 2 for 76-100).

2. Double or Triple the amount of experience you need. Simple.

 

[Xor]

Increasing the amount of XP you need wouldn't really fix things. It would just take longer for the combat to become broken, and obsessed powergamers would have just been pissed at the amount of grinding they'd have to do to reach the cap.

Your first idea is much stronger; it gives the illusion of advancement without letting the system become too broken.

As for loot, yeah, they could have toned that down quite a bit. The first two games suffered from that same weakness, though, and it was just as bad if not worse in Fallout 2.

 

[Drakron]

The funny thing is the system is just fine, OWB at higher level just kicks your ass if you going half assed at it and without proper gear.

This is a example of Diablo mentality but on reverse, complaining about it showing "100" because its the maximum it can go despite not being in any way "god mode".

I suppose the older Fallout did better because it could go to 300% despite there was no real advantage to go beyond 100% due to diminishing returns, it was a cleaver ruse to keep the illusion you have not "maxed up" the skill despite it already reached optimal range (as shown by the Outdoorsman were it was complete waste of points going over 100), everything above was just a cherry on top.

You are as bad as the people that want "maximized" characters because the character sheet says so, only you attempt to have non "maximized" characters because it somehow offends you, never mind the ACTUAL effects in the game.

 

[Forest Dweller]

The solution would have been simple:

1. Increase the amount of skill points you need to raise a skill (1 for 0-50, 2 for 51-75, 3 for 76-100). I'm sure the system could have been adjusted to fit this simple change. Tag skills would drop those requirements down a level, basically changing it to (1 for 0-75, 2 for 76-100).

Yes, this. Like I said, a simple mathematical algorithm, and it would have basically put it on the same level as the first two games. And I don't think Bethesda forced them to keep it that way, considering how many other things they let Obsidian change.

I also would have gotten rid of skill magazines entirely.