Okay, so having steadfastly ignored RPGs since Dungeon Master (can’t remember much about that apart from that ‘oof, I’ve hit a wall’ noise when you, er, hit a wall), I’m currently making tentative progress through Fallout.
It’s such a well-loved game I’m feeling under a bit of pressure to really love it. It’s slow going at the moment, but it’s perhaps best to reserve judgement for now.
My lack of RPG nous is pretty obvious. One thing I clearly didn’t understand at the outset is that RPGs allow you a hell of a lot of freedom to go to different places and embark on different quests. When you think about the kind of song and dance people make about a bit of choice and multiple pathways in other genres, it’s nothing compared to the likes of this. And that kind of thing usually spells danger for me.
Another RPG trait, apparently, is having to kill lots of small creatures right at the beginning. In Fallout’s case, it’s rats. After the first few I actually started feeling sorry for the little critters. Not the giant pig-rats though – they can go to hell.
You should be able to dodge those rats if you want. Just use up all your time pips in walking and they shouldn’t be able to catch up with you. And you can try and leave combat if you get enough distance by (I think) hitting that "cmbt" button in the caution taped area.
That was one thing I liked about Fallout; it wasn’t reliant on random encounters or genocide for XP. I remember a few early quests where rats populate the lairs, but you can mostly avoid them and get enough XP with completion of quests. At least you’ll never need to go take a trip to "The Rat Cave" to grind XP as in many RPGs. And most MMOs.
I HATE doing that.
September 12, 2007 @ 7:13 am
I can’t have felt that sorry for them – I didn’t even think of trying to dodge out of their way.
The rat-based action seems to have dried up for now, but I’ll bear that in mind in the future.
I HAVE been trying to avoid fights when dealing with other people though – and I do like the fact you can get XP for doing this and don’t necessarily get penalised for not trying to hone your shooting skills at every turn.
September 12, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
I have no idea what you guys are talking about but Fallout is on my to-play list for years now 🙂
September 13, 2007 @ 10:02 am
The rat-based action seems to have dried up for now, but I’ll bear that in mind in the future.
March 13, 2009 @ 7:09 am