have I missed a lot of fun in game if this is all I did?

[peteed1985]

this is not meant as a complaining post the issues i'm just listing so people know what help i'm asking for and need (having Aspergers Syndrome I tend to come off a whiny)

 

I played pretty much the main story with no DLC or mods and was shocked to finish the story at like level 13 or 14 I had maybe 10 or 20 areas on my pipboy map in the end that I could map travel to

 

I had 4 skills at 100 repair and small guns and medicine and lockpicking and had found maybe 2 or 3 skill books total yet I hear people say theres almost 300 and had only found 2 or 3 bobbleheads as well

 

I did all this and then scratched my head and went "huh?" I had no idea when I started that getting to the end of the game would only find 1% of the skill books thats mind blowing considering how much I saw and considering that if I only got 1% of the books I probably haven't seen a tenth of the game areas so yeah am I weird or is that how most peoples first run through goes?

 

I have tried searching the internet for this but seems to not be much help in a game with so many builds and ways to make a character I find it odd that I can't find a decent guide to making a good character

 

am having issues of for example not knowing where to put my special points into for certain builds and how to build a character thats for example good with assault rifles since they seem to me to be the best weapon

 

I spent most of the time in that first run through managing inventory trying not to go over my carry weight than I did fighting and playing and i'd get a lot of loot then go to try and sell it only to have shop run out of $$$ after buying 3 of the 100 items

 

is it just me or does character seem to moonwalk like michael jackson rather than actually take steps? not sure if theres a way to make it more real or if its down to a game engine limitation

 

so all in all what I mainly want help with is making a good character to fit my play style which is assault rifles and lockpicking with enough of the other skills to do well and also any other suggestions or advice you can offer to do with the rest of the stuff I talked about :)

 

despite how little I did the game is sooooooooo awesome to me that I have a pre order on new vegas collectors without a second thought (I hear they haven't got enough collectors for even a quarter of the collectors pre orders its that popular)

 

I also have broken steel in case that changes the advice given

 

thx in advance :)

[Gishank]

The idea given with Fallout 3 is that you explore the wasteland and don't just stick with the main storyline. Personally I was forced in to exploration on my first playthrough as I killed Moriarty at his bar because he wouldn't give me the information I wanted, lol. As for walking animations, yes it does seem like he glides when walking diagonally. D=

[WastelandAssassin]

well, you need to remember one thing

Fallout is working on an XP system, meaning that the more you do, the stronger you get

so, if you decided to do only the main quest, or mainly the main quest, you will see very little of the world

 

now, in most games, the best stuff isn't found in the main quest, it is in places that you won't normally reach

 

you want your characters to be extra good?? you'll probably have to work for that part

start exploring more, do some side quests, see the world

besides, you won't believe how much you can find

 

for instance, since you said you are into ARs, and have not been using mods

so, have you found the Xuanlong CAR?? (chinese AR)

you see, if you want the best in the game, then you have to work for it, as many of the greatest items are hidden

 

now, if you are playing with ARs, i assume you are not using VATS that much

that means that you must have a good armor, and good medicine skills

now, Broken Steel does have better armors then the normal games, but it also has some creatures that are really powerful, and an AR might not be the perfect choice again one of them

 

if you do plan on doing a more thorough playthrough, i would suggest you to have, aside from your AR, a good shotgun (the terrible shotgun or the kneecapper, if you can get any of them) and a good sniper rifle (mainly the victory rifle or the reservist's rifle), because there are enemies that are just too hard for ARs, unless you plan on spraying bullets like hell

 

so basically, wait untill your character is decent, meaning that it can survive in the wastes, and start exploring places

you will find many good rewards just waiting to be picked up

 

also, get a house, if you don't yet have one

the house in Megaton is rather easy to get, just do the quest

then, you won't have to do so much carrying

besides, you probably won't have to buy items at all, seeing as there are enough items for repairs, and plenty ammo to go around

 

if you need any more tips, want help, or just want to talk, you can PM me anytime :)

 

hope this was helpful

and do enjoy the game ;)

 

Aviv

[JCHR]

this was me, on the very first playthrough I did.

 

but then at my current playthrough, I decided to avoid the quest marker and go wherever I wanted to.

 

I discovered so many places, I have already 100 on every single skill and am lvl 30 without even completing broken steel quest

 

not enough with that, I completed all 5 DLCs AFTER reaching lvl 30, and THEN, I downloaded a whole bunch of mods and enhanced my game experience even more

 

and it all sumed up to 50 hours of gameplay, and in my current state, I'm still discovering new places I've never heard of (imagine I didn't even know about the arlington cementery zone in my first playthrough)

[evilneko]

I spent most of my first playthrough trying out mods and along the way found out the main quest ended the game, so I avoided it for a long time and didn't finish it until I got Broken Steel.

 

This happens in games with large worlds though, and Fallout 3 is by far not the first game (and certainly won't be the last) whose main quest doesn't take you to even half the points on the map. Heck, any game where the world has more points of interest than required by the quest line will have it happen. It's pretty much assumed you'll want to explore rather than stay on the rails of the main quest. Otherwise, why build the rest of the world?

[peteed1985]

well came as a shock to me normally games i've played if they were single player games there was really only the main storyline not much else

 

its kinda hard I find to use a sniper rifle because theres no sniper rifles to repair with

 

Xuanlong CAR? nope only found normal CAR without the Xuanlong

 

any advice on the SPECIAL numbers? from memory I put em in pretty randomly due to having no clue what I was doing not sure what a good layout for them is

 

also another issue I had was ammo only 10mm ammo and the assault rifle ammo is easy to get anything else I could barely use before running out speciallly the sniper rifle

 

other than a couple of gun types and repair and medicine and lockpick are there any other skills that are pretty much a must have?

[WastelandAssassin]

again, the idea is to put the SPECIAL numbers as you play the character

if you still plan on going for a AR game, then endurance is what you should have, since it gives you more health

 

if you plan on making the game as long as you can, then Intelligence is very important, as it gives you more skill points to spend

i would also take the perk that gives you 3 more points per level (it's a level 3 perk, educated or something like that)

 

now, if you increase your barter skill, you can buy more things, since you buy for less money, but if you barely have enough skill points, this isn't really a smart choice

now, snipers are hard to find, but you can always buy them, and the ammo

 

basically, you need to decide how you want to play the game, and if you want to play with or without mods, as it also changes it all

 

if you still want he Xuanlong CAR, go to the museum of technology, activate all the computer stations there

save if you see an option like *000

if you choose the right option, it would activate

if not, reload and try again

after you found all 3 correct codes, you will get a note, telling you where to find the Xuanlong CAR, which is the best AR in the vanille game

 

enjoy :)

and if you have any more questions, feel free to PM me

i will do my best to help :)

[Justin11111]

if you really want to use an assault rifle, get the Fallout Wanderers Edition turn up the damage global and hide behind rocks as the NPC blindly runs into your hail of bullets, power armor doesn't stop a 5.56 round to the face. :wallbash:

[Trueform]

Well, for a start, there is 25 of each skill book in the game; as everyone else has also said, Fallout 3 is all about exploring, which is how you get the most out of the game - I completely ignored the main storyline, ended up finding a location needed to progress the story by accident, but refused to complete the game until I was maxed in level :P but that's just me, everyone is different.

 

As for special, stats and perks:

 

Charisma, while interesting, is not essential if you have patience, just save before attempting each speech challenge then, if you fail, reload and try again.

 

Intelligence and strength is useful for every type of character; intelligence will give you more stats points to distribute when you level up. I always put mine at 8 at the start of the game, put another one on when I exit vault 101 then go and find the intelligence bobblehead to max it out. I spend the next couple of levels getting my SPECIALs perception and endurance up to 6 each so I can get the sniper perk; that - and commando - significantly increases your accuracy with rifles in VATs. I go for educated (for extra stats points on level up) as soon as it's available and comprehension (for more points from skill books).

 

Small guns is the skill to go for when you use rifles, the higher the better. It will increase your reload speed and, if you use sniper rifles, at 100 it will stop the hand wobble when you look through a sniper scope. Repair is very useful, so you can keep your gear in better condition and repair things to a higher degree and reduce the amount of carry weight you have. Stong back is a very useful skill for carrying extra stuff and I always go for toughness.