Three things that would help continuity in the endgame...

[WrathOfDeadguy]

The title says it all. Truthfully, it didn't even occur to me right away (mainly because Fawkes got killed by an artillery shell on the way back to Purity), but I got to thinking a few hours after beating the game and this is what I came up with.

 

1. During the Water of Life quest, two Enclave soldiers in power armor die from the radiation James released into the Purity control room. Later, Enclave soldiers in power armor enter Vault 87 through the main entrance, which is surrounded for quite some distance on all sides by intense radiation that kills the player in mere moments (even hopped up on Rad-X and wearing an Adv. Radiation Suit). This represents a discontinuity; the Enclave power armor has to be impervious to radiation or those soldiers couldn't have been in Vault 87 (unless they came through Lamplight instead, which is unlikely because they would've had to leave that way too and they'd have had to either been noticed by the kids or use Stealthboys for themselves and you). This could be easily remedied by replacing the two enclave soldiers in the Purity control room with the unarmored officers, and granting the Enclave Power Armor a very high radiation resistance (Autumn could've worn armor to enter Vault 87, and the player could've been put in some manner of protective device while leaving).

 

2. Fawkes, everybody's favorite Super Mutant, refuses to enter the control room at the end of the game despite being virtually immune to the effects of radiation (as demonstrated when he retrieved the GECK). Not only is that completely out of character for him (he's a good guy; he wouldn't have just let you die), but it just doesn't make sense. If you can order Lyons into the chamber (which, given #1, really only makes sense in light of the fact that she either forgot her helmet or just chose not to bring it), you should be able to do the same with Fawkes- who would, of course, survive. So, to correct this little problem, two possibilities exist:

 

A. Allow the player to send Fawkes into the control room if he survives the assault. Could be a lead-in for an unending game, as nobody important dies.

 

B. Have Fawkes die in a scripted sequence before reaching the control room. Either have a sniper pop his head off, a shell blow him to bits (what happened to me), or even have Autumn and his goons kill him. I would actually prefer it that way, because I found the ending to be quite satisfactory otherwise. He gets a heroic death, and so do you (that is, if you don't decide to let Lyons cook herself instead like a naughty little self-preservationist).

 

Thoughts?

[InfiniteRealm]

Lyons chooses not to wear a helmet, possibly to keep morale up, because people will know who she is, and that she isnt dead, i suppose.

 

And the reason Fawkes doesnt offer to go into the vault is because only you good guys can have Fawkes. Us evil sods can't, remember.

 

And whats to say the Enclave don't go through little lamplight? They aren't scared of a few kids.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

No, Fawkes won't go with evil characters... but having him say "I can't go, it's your destiny" feels a bit flat for good characters, if he survives. Even though the game ends, which is fine- you don't have to take the last quest until you want to, after all- the plot hole needs to be filled by either the player being allowed to send Fawkes in or by Fawkes being killed before the final scene.

 

As for the kids in Lamplight, they mention nothing that would even suggest that the Enclave passed through. It's possible, of course- like I said, with a generous supply of Stealthboy units (the gates were already open, after all)- but you'd think that a bunch of extremely paranoid kids who get raided frequently would notice something, but they don't. Interestingly enough, if you go back into Vault 87 after escaping from the Enclave, you can gain access to the door through which the Enclave goons and Autumn entered the room where you were captured- it leads to the main entrance of the Vault. They could have just been hiding in there until you came back through with the GECK (knowing that you wouldn't risk the main entrance and all that radiation), I suppose.

 

Maybe I'm just over-thinking that part, seeing as how the player isn't supposed to go back to Vault 87 at all, but it is strange that it would be left incomplete and unexplainable (It'd have left fewer questions, I think, if Lamplight Caverns was just sealed off as a location after that quest for simplicity's sake, sealing off the town's sidequests and implying that the kids were either killed or run out). That and the Fawkes thing (which, to me, is somewhat less forgivable) make me wonder if some bits weren't rushed just a little at the end. I love the game to death; it's a fantastic game and I'd recommend it to absolutely anyone, but there are a few things that could use a bit of smoothing over through mods (or patches, which aren't as likely). Every game has it's flaws; I'd still vote Fallout 3 as GOTY anyway.

[Probe1]

I think I see a hole in your Vault 87 problem. Yes, there is definitely a hole there large enough to drive a vertibird through it. Plus, considering The Enclave is supposed to be more advanced then the BoS then you could just assume they had better anti rad drugs or genetic enhancement.

[InfiniteRealm]

they are? I thought the BoS were more technologically enchanced, what with beign the ones who worhsip technology and dedicate their lives to aquiring more advanced technology.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

No; the Enclave are more advanced. The Brotherhood was formed right after the Great War by an ex-Army officer and is dedicated to collecting and preserving advanced technology- but they haven't made all that many advances of their own in 200 years; they're mainly just using pre-war tech. It's tech that very few other people have access to, so it is incredibly advanced by comparison to almost everybody else, but it's all still two centuries out of date. The Enclave is a holdout of the old US Federal Government and has actually made some advancements of their own since the War- their power armor is an example; while the Brotherhood uses the T-51a and T-51b armors which were the US military's standard equipment at the time of the War, the Enclave developed an improved power armor (and kept improving it, resulting in the Tesla Armor) which became their standard issue. Their weapons and vehicles are significantly more advanced than the Brotherhood's, too.

 

Of course, the Enclave is dedicated to wiping out every impure (read: non-Enclave) human on Earth, while the Brotherhood adopts a more live-and-let-live approach (with the hope of one day aiding the return of civilization by preserving technologies which otherwise would have been lost and forgotten) unless a significant threat (like the Super Mutants or the Enclave) rears its head.

[Stephanebx]

"the Brotherhood uses the T-51a and T-51b armors which were the US military's standard equipment at the time of the War"

Not exactly true. T-51a & b are experimental power armor used at the start of the war against canada (has seen in Fallout 1 intro propaganda video) it seems that war against China have forced US army to pass in a low cost fast mass product policy that conduct to the east coast BoS and Outcast power armor. The original Brotherhood having taken the rare and powerfull t-51 in their keep. There is one of these in the area. Sure yhe Outcast would be glad to put their hands on it. (Could become a good side quest)

[randominterloper]

A big thing that did bother me was the fact Charon, the shotgun wielding ghoul refused to do a damn thing.

 

Sucka's a ghoul and gets healed by radiation. He's brainwashed to follow the orders of whomever holds his contracts, as demonstrated by his former employer (which he blows away with much glee, might i add) with no word of refusal possible.

 

so when he tells me 'i've bailed you out enough times' i promptly melted him.

 

 

WRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?

[caseycox]

A big thing that did bother me was the fact Charon, the shotgun wielding ghoul refused to do a damn thing.

 

Sucka's a ghoul and gets healed by radiation. He's brainwashed to follow the orders of whomever holds his contracts, as demonstrated by his former employer (which he blows away with much glee, might i add) with no word of refusal possible.

 

so when he tells me 'i've bailed you out enough times' i promptly melted him.

 

 

WRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?

 

 

Damn right, that pissed me off big time. Brainwashed to do whatever you say.... usually. Its ridiculous.

Im pretty disappointed in the ending and it definitely seems like things were rushed a bit, or Bethesda was just lazy. I was afraid they'd ruin it completely, but they didnt. Its still an awesome game but Im pissed that they didnt give the full respect that Fallout deserves.

[ironsightsffs]

A big thing that did bother me was the fact Charon, the shotgun wielding ghoul refused to do a damn thing.

 

Sucka's a ghoul and gets healed by radiation. He's brainwashed to follow the orders of whomever holds his contracts, as demonstrated by his former employer (which he blows away with much glee, might i add) with no word of refusal possible.

 

so when he tells me 'i've bailed you out enough times' i promptly melted him.

 

 

WRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?

 

 

Damn right, that pissed me off big time. Brainwashed to do whatever you say.... usually. Its ridiculous.

Im pretty disappointed in the ending and it definitely seems like things were rushed a bit, or Bethesda was just lazy. I was afraid they'd ruin it completely, but they didnt. Its still an awesome game but Im pissed that they didnt give the full respect that Fallout deserves.

 

My theory is that they spent way too much time on the beginning of the game, before you leave the vault. Maybe it was to help review scores, or maybe they just logically started there and got too caught up in writing the rhymes for "You're Special", or something. They did a really good job on that part of the game, too bad it is the most boring part that we are forced to sit though every new game. Incidentally, when I heard the bits and pieces pre-release about how many things happen pre-exodus, this was exactly what I was worried about.