The history (and present) of Fallout New Vegas
Added 2024-04-23 07:01:01 +0000 UTC
Amazon's Fallout TV series inspired us (and countless others) to revisit our favorite wasteland. In this episode of The Resties, Frushtick recounts the oddball path the franchise took from its early days as a CRPG to the lightning-fast production of New Vegas at Obsidian Entertainment. Then, Frush and Plante talk about playing this "ahead of its time" video game over a decade after its release.
In the back half, Plante previews Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. The new puzzle/adventure game from Simogo has the potential to be one of the year's buzziest indies.
Games discussed:
Here's a link to the full Fallout series on Steam!
Fallout
Fallout 2
Fallout Tactics
Fallout 3
Fallout 4
The first page of Plante's Lorelei notebook
The Japanese learning app Plante mentioned
Nativshark. From Plante: There's a cottage industry of YouTubers claiming anybody can learn Japanese in a year. This video, explaining the challenges that reveal themselves while learning Japanese across seven years, convinced me to give Nativshark a try. I'm so glad I did! If you're curious about the Japanese language, this is the best "low-friction" tool for learning and studying grammar, vocab, and kanji in one place.
We also recommend
10 years of retro game history!
The time Plante got stuck in an elevator in Fallout 4
The Knuckle TV show streams on Paramount+ this weekend, and y'all, it's batshit in the best ways
Comments
If you level INT you will have more than enough points to max out all of your skills by level 50. There's also a small building to the northwest of the strip that will sell you implants to up your SPECIAL stats, according to your endurance stat. Not to mention a number of stat increases from plot specific upgrades in Old World Blues.
Casey Francis Alger
2024-05-09 19:28:15 +0000 UTCGreat episode! Just wanted to add to Plante's recommendation. I've also been learning Japanese for the past couple of years, and I can't stress enough how lucrative it has been to start reading and engaging with native material. I've been using the site LearnNatively to track my reading, and it's been very rewarding to go from graded readers to light novels and Shounen manga. I highly recommend getting into native input for quick language learning gains!
Elliot Simpson
2024-05-06 23:59:27 +0000 UTCI'm not the first to say this, but The Outer Worlds really shows why Obsidian should take over fallout - iirc Justin brought it as a GOTY contender in its year. They really don't miss with their RPGs.
Leo Siebert
2024-05-01 21:57:13 +0000 UTCHey Chris! I'm one of your listeners that never played Fallout, and didn't know there were other ghouls in the show. Careful with your spoilers, man. 😔
Benjamin J Pulley
2024-04-30 14:41:29 +0000 UTCI loved this episode. I’m grateful for the way you put the conversation together to avoid spoilers (I tend to avoid the bracket episodes because I’m a slow gamer who likes to play older games at times) but also talk to the parts that make things fun for you all. Great job! Thank you!
geopet
2024-04-26 17:42:12 +0000 UTCThat said, I personally think everyone should have Genki 1 and 2 alongside whatever they use!
Chris
2024-04-26 14:22:36 +0000 UTCGreat question! For me, no one tool has been perfect, and I've shifted between them to avoid getting bored over the past couple of years. On one hand, novelty has kept my learning journey moving, and that's what matters most. But on the other hand, I've shifted my focus between grammar, kani, speaking, writing, and vocab retention so many times that I'm okay at all of them, but great at none of them. In hindsight, I wish I had something like NativShark that had me working through everything holistically. You're right that it moves at a very strange pace, but I also think that might be a strength. I started from the beginning to see how it approached onboarding and I like how much actually useful info it teaches early without getting buried in the the minutiae that's important long term but doesn't need to be understood immediately. Weirdly, I too can't stand silly affirmations. But I like them here? Mostly because they're less affirmations than they are "hey, don't worry about perfectly understanding this for now." Which I wish someone had been telling me early on!
Chris
2024-04-26 14:22:01 +0000 UTCDownloaded NV the other day, and it’s now the first game I’ve ever modded! And it’s running so nice on modern hardware with fresh textures.
Earthmover
2024-04-25 21:54:40 +0000 UTCAmazing episode!
James1645
2024-04-25 15:26:41 +0000 UTCI'm finally catching up on the episode, and I wanted to say that it's definitely not just Planted having issues with FNV on PC. Mine, with multiple fresh installs, crashes on the first load screen after Chandler Bing shoots you 100% of the time. I played a couple of hours on XBOX, but I'll have to try modding it on PC because gunplay felt miserable on XBOX.
emjaybee_3
2024-04-24 17:31:25 +0000 UTC@Chris Plante can you speak more to why you digNativShark? I tried their free trial and it felt like there was a lot of pieces of the puzzle all in one place but it felt to me a little rough around the edges. The example sentences, mnemonics, vocab order and other material choices felt sometimes super on point, sometimes really strange and the general screen to screen things were slow to load and behaved odd. I also know I'm someone who is off-put by affirmations and personal anecdotes that I think are formulaic 🙈
Ian Grossberg
2024-04-24 16:52:44 +0000 UTCInteresting to hear that people were upset about Obsidian getting the reins. Hindsight 20/20 I guess. Also 18 months is INSANE
Will Metzler
2024-04-24 16:43:10 +0000 UTCWeirdly enough, there is a doctor who reference all the way back in Fallout 1!
Matthew R
2024-04-24 16:19:53 +0000 UTCHeck yeah, plante and Russ answered my question 😎
Patrick Hynes
2024-04-24 13:41:18 +0000 UTCAlright, I can deal with A24-core. I've been excited about this game since they announced it, talking about how it's inspired by Last Year at Marienbad. So I'm expecting at least a *little* midcentury European art film energy.
Matthew Parsons
2024-04-24 13:28:35 +0000 UTCI feel like The Outer Worlds belongs in this conversation. I had a fun time with the game. It gave me Fallout vibes crossed with Firefly (the TV show). It even had a party system with party member quests. There was a surprising amount of player freedom and it’s not a super long game either.
Evan
2024-04-24 13:21:28 +0000 UTCOof ouch the idea of 10 years from a new fallout... With FO76 I'm sure they're in no rush 😭
Jenna Stoddard
2024-04-24 13:20:11 +0000 UTCHey Chris and Russ, I have been playing a little bit of NV this past year and decided to hop back on seeing that you're going to do an episode on it! Thing is, I never know how to enter Fallout games; in particular, I always get choice anxiety when it comes to what stats to level up (SPECIAL, perks, etc.). Do you usually go into a playthrough with a certain build/morality in mind or go along as you please and level up based on how you think the story is going in the moment? Personally, I used to get worried about min/max if I was choosing optimized stats but I found it kept me from immersing myself and being more present with the game. I'm currently trying to find a good balance between the two sides of the spectrum. Interested to hear what others think, too! (Sorry for posting in two threads, idk which one you guys would read) P.S. Plante - who would you pick for best performance: Laura Dern in Inland Empire or Isabelle Adjani in Possession?
Elklodge
2024-04-24 03:45:55 +0000 UTCand bless the 8 1/2 goof
Chris
2024-04-24 01:51:23 +0000 UTCsurprisingly, i'd put it at a 2. it's much more A24-core.
Chris
2024-04-24 01:51:11 +0000 UTCI asked Cass at Polygon (our resident Fallout 76) fan and they said it's improved a ton. It's still messy but has a great community ~Plante
Chris
2024-04-24 01:50:16 +0000 UTCPlante, on a scale of 1 to 8½, how Criterioncore is Lorelei and the Laser Eyes?
Matthew Parsons
2024-04-24 01:11:51 +0000 UTCAs someone who picked up NV halfway through last year, I'm so happy you all did this episode!! I originally picked New Vegas up because I had never modded a game before and, from everything I had heard, this was the game to mod. The game is really in a league of its own when compared to other Bethesda games. The choices, dialogue, random encounters, and characters you meet really outmatch most modern RPGs. I could not stop playing once I picked it up.... and I'll probably start it again after I run through Wasteland 2 and 3. So, with that said I would highly suggest that anyone wanting to play to at least dabble with the mods. Most of the ones I used really improved the games performance, overall ambiance (Higher resolution texture packs for NPCs and added vegetation were really fantastic), and some really nice QoL changes. But I also found out that there are a lot of naughty little modders out there raising the horn dog levels of this game to new heights. Luckily they're pretty easy to avoid and usually labeled as NSFW on Nexus Mods. If you're playing on PC, I really cannot recommend modding highly enough.
Zak Kerr
2024-04-24 00:23:30 +0000 UTCI typically hold onto them for a while, using them for either crowds of little things (raiders included) or for something that has a ton of hp, since I probably would have to spend a lot more ammo to take it down. They're also really strong indoors, as you might expect, and mines have a second delay so if you are being chased you 'probably' won't die to it if you throw it behind you
Mister Cakes
2024-04-23 18:26:02 +0000 UTCTo be fair, The Outer Worlds is basically New Vegas 2, just in space. Smaller scope, though, I suppose. Maybe TOW2 will fix that?
EtherEli
2024-04-23 18:14:39 +0000 UTCI am going to take this tip! I feel like I don’t have enough caps for the weapons I actually want, but I don’t know why I’m holding onto weapons I don’t use, now that I think about it. Does that go ditto for like, dynamite and grenades, for you?
EtherEli
2024-04-23 18:13:55 +0000 UTCIt’s tricky because while I’m on the strip I want to talk to people so I at least am, I dunno, efficient. In the sense that while I’m in one area I’m checking off all the to-dos for people in that area. But the funny thing is with SSDs and fast travel, you don’t really need to play that way anymore. So yeah, sucking up all the quests just to have my journal bloated maybe wasn’t the best way to go. Doing the next thing in front of you, or just ignoring everything but main story, is maybe the way to go. I just also feel like my build is too weak to get to Caesar’s camp without dying a lot, which is what happened to me last night. Have you played it before, or a lot, and if so do you like, plan your build? Meaning just your special, skills and perks, in advance?
EtherEli
2024-04-23 18:12:14 +0000 UTCMy wife's been enjoying getting back into it. If you don't mind changes to gameplay to fit a multiplayer setting, it's got a decent story and lots to do. My big thing is that VATS is a huge part of Fallout for me, and the way they set up VATS in 76 to me is not a great system. I also don't care for the perk system they set up.
AWildBrozerker
2024-04-23 18:04:28 +0000 UTCYeah, I feel like you have to change your mindset about how you play games to play something like this. I try to focus on what story I have at hand before I move on to something else, while of course doing things along that path but won't push far if it takes me out of the way from what I'm actively doing.
AWildBrozerker
2024-04-23 18:00:16 +0000 UTC"With a big iron on his hip!"
AWildBrozerker
2024-04-23 17:54:33 +0000 UTCNot to bad, some small things/early game stuff, but mostly just a conversation about Fallout overall in its entirety.
AWildBrozerker
2024-04-23 17:53:53 +0000 UTCHow spoilery is this episode for FNV? I started it for the first time last week and think I'll go back to it after Eiyuden Chronicle.
emjaybee_3
2024-04-23 17:28:12 +0000 UTCWhat I really need to know is; what’s y’all’s favorite song in New Vegas and why is it ‘Big Iron’?
ThanaThots
2024-04-23 15:25:43 +0000 UTCFrom what I've heard it is far better than it was at launch but still a lesser Fallout game when compared to New Vegas, 3 and 4
I am a robot who turns into a car and I find no humor in this
2024-04-23 15:04:04 +0000 UTCIt’s funny I started playing NV around when they posted they’d be playing it, and I felt like I was rushing to get to the end so this conversation wouldn’t spoil anything or I’d be more informed. I’m nowhere close to the end, about 15 hours in. I’m kind of near the end of the beginning. But once you get into Vegas and the strip (and Camp McCarran and the Caravan company) and you meet all those people, holy moly do you rack up the quests. And I’m so bad for getting distracted by the most recent thing to happen to me. I’ll say that the appeal of NV as Russ is pitching it here is a terrible fit for me - I like bespoke narrative experiences and a game this open gives me anxiety about which way to go. With that being said, Citizen Sleeper is one of my favorite games in recent memory, so the choice-based narrative is something I value, I just am left feeling like I have to restart and make different choices to experience it all, and with a small game like CS that’s not too bad, but it’s a big part of why I’ve been dragging my feet on BG3 since it came out and I feel like this game, New Vegas, sits kind of in the middle of them. Russ’ point about reviewing a game like this when you have a couple of weeks and other commitments really hits home. With that being said, I have beat the main story before but never touched the DLC, so that is my main goal this time around. I really can’t bring myself to play it differently in terms of, say, siding with the Legion. Maybe try a different build, but man is my build broken right now (I have 5 CHA and love dialogue but 7 STR and INT and like 15 Energy Weapons and Unarmed, but 30 guns and meanwhile 50 Speech and Barter and Science and hoo boy) I get that that’s how RPGs work, lol, but man is this kind of scope not for everybody. Still, glad to have the excuse to get back into it and finally get around to the DLC
EtherEli
2024-04-23 14:29:54 +0000 UTCThey don’t really talk about Fallout 76. I know it had problems at launch, but as the only Fallout release I haven’t played I’m curious if it’s now in a better state and worth playing?
n murphy
2024-04-23 14:27:53 +0000 UTCI somehow didn't know about 'Van Buren' ... so I know what I'll be reading about for the next few days!
Sammy
2024-04-23 14:18:38 +0000 UTCThanks so much for the Japanese learning platform!! I’ve been wanting to learn but haven’t landed on a good teaching tool, and this is perfect!!
Thomas Barker
2024-04-23 14:11:47 +0000 UTCI think also a really cool thing it does is give you "soft barriers" where to a new player it's real, but you can learn, as a player, ways around them. For example, the path to New Vegas is seemingly dangerous in every direction and even after that a difficult entry into the actual gates, but getting in on later playthrough can take just 10 minutes from leaving good springs to in a casino. Also, as an aside, I recommend selling the dlc pack weapons and armor, keeping only the canteen, and then buying a new weapon with those caps
Mister Cakes
2024-04-23 13:51:41 +0000 UTCRegarding a new game, Obsidian likely won't be able to make a Fallout anytime soon either. After Avowed, they have The Outer Worlds 2 on deck. Would love to see it happen though.
Matthew Aitken
2024-04-23 13:35:24 +0000 UTCGreat recommendation!
Chris
2024-04-23 13:19:18 +0000 UTCFor the person that sent in the question asking about games that have similar progression loops, you should look into Wasteland 1 and 2 if you haven't already! Fallout 1 was actually a take on Wasteland.
AWildBrozerker
2024-04-23 13:17:13 +0000 UTCMan I really want to peek into the timeline where Obsidian wasn’t shot in the foot and was allowed to finish their games rather than getting unfairly rushed by the people above them. They could be household rpg studio names on par with Larian, BioWare, Fromsoft, Bethesda themselves, if they were allowed the proper time to finish Kotor 2 and New Vegas. They’re already such good games they compete for best in their series in spite of their bugs and unfinished content, imagine their unlocked potential if allowed the proper time to finish. After enjoying outer worlds and only hearing fairly good things about their other recent releases of Pentiment and Grounded and Pillars of Eternity, I’m excited for Avowed and outer worlds 2. Maybe they’re the studio to go with for Baldur’s Gate 4 with Larian not wanting to do it. Even when Wotc inevitably comes down too hard, gets too impatient and starts to meddle too much Obsidian might still get us a decent game out of it.
William (Biggggg5) Mason
2024-04-23 13:10:40 +0000 UTCBecause you’re a monster, clearly
EtherEli
2024-04-23 13:04:56 +0000 UTCSimilar to Plantes experience the first time I played Honest Hearts I was a long distance sniper. At the very beginning a critical NPC sneaks up on an enemy to help you. I was so far away that when the enemy'e body fell away my sniper bullet missed and hit the allies head. I instantly failed every single quest for the DLC in a way that locked me into the bad end, helping enemies I never even met, and I had no idea why
Chase Curtin
2024-04-23 11:50:27 +0000 UTCTy
Luke
2024-04-23 11:47:41 +0000 UTCIts barely spoilery, its basically the first 2 towns discussed lightly
Chase Curtin
2024-04-23 11:47:07 +0000 UTCI've never played FNV. This is going to get me hooked when I'm waist deep in Botany Manor isn't it? 😂
Mike Corris
2024-04-23 07:19:32 +0000 UTCI just installed the A Tale Of Two Wastelands mod on my Steam Deck to play through Fallout 3 and New Vegas back to back, I'm loving it so far! Can someone let me know if the New Vegas discussion is spoiler-y for the quests in that game? Totally understand if it is, that game is old enough that open discussion is fair game
Luke
2024-04-23 07:07:20 +0000 UTC
