[FO2] Ultra Newbie questions

[Guest]

Ultra Newbie questions

Although I don't have the game yet I recently ordered it online and intend to start playing after I finish Baldurs Gate II. I have a few questions for all you veteran Fallout 2 players out there. Combat questions 1. I read a question about aiming here and that if you have a certain ability called fast shot you can't aim which I thought was a brilliant concept and didn't realize the game had this kind of detail. Anyway, does this mean that there is locational damage? Lets say I am fighting a mutant and he is using a weapon in his right hand. Can I aim at his right arm and blow his arm off making him no longer a threat? Or lets say I am facing a too powerful enemy can I aim at his legs and incapacitate his movement allowing my escape? Do enemies follow you from one screen to another or can you escape by going to a different screen? Are there different death animations for example if I have a flamethrower(if there is one) and I use it on an enemy will he be turned to ashes? Or are all the death animations the same regardless of weapon. How viable is a martial arts type character would they be able to compete against all that heavy firepower? NPC Questions 2. Is it possible to complete the game solo or would that be too difficult without npc's? Is the game more fun with npc's? How many npc's are there in the game that can join your party? I heard there is a robot dog that sounded cool for a npc. Do the npc's interact with you and other npc's or are they silent? Do npc's gain levels and experience? Travel questions 3.Does the car actually move on the screen? Can you wander out in the desert on foot and survive or would that be too dangerous until your a certain level? Is there a large desert area where you can just explore that doesn't have cities and is like an emtpy wasteland? How often do random/special encounters occur? Is it based on the luck attribute so if you have bad luck you will get nasty encounters while good luck will bring favorable encounters? Can you rest/camp in the desert? Do you have to have food and water in the game? Replayability 4.I read that the game can be totally different depending on what kind of character you create. Is this true? How many times can you go through the game until it repeats itself? Are there different endings and if so how many? I read that you don't have to end the game after you beat it. What is the purpose behind this? Are there secret quests you can do after the "official game" is ended? Finally will there be a fallout 3? Sorry about too many questions but this game sounds fascinating and seems like it will be a good change of pace after a traditional fantasy game like BG II. Thanks for any input

 

[Guest]

RE: Ultra Newbie questions

You can't blow weapons out of their hands but you can shoot their legs so they slow down. This is too much effort so you should shoot them in the eyes!

Enemies can't follow you across screens but their friends might be waiting there.
Different animations for different guns (the flamethrower is funny)
Don't be martial arts your first go, that's a lot of work. Heavy weapons is better against the Boss.

NPC's are fun and they are useful at the start, they can also carry lots of stuff.
You can have 5 NPC's at one time with full charisma, but you can have some wait for you whilst you bugger off with others.
There are 3 dogs, K-9, Cyberdog and DOGMEAT. Dogmeat being the geatest NPC of all time.
NPC's interact with you and sometimes each other.
NPC's gain levels but it's nothing special.

Car doesn't move, you get in and it changes the screen to the map.
You can wander into the desert on your own but you get random encouters that might kill you.
Yes, the wasteland is big but there's nothing really in it apart from the encounters.
Specials depend on your luck.
You can rest in the desert.
No food or water thank God!

The character you create doesn't have a major outcome on the ending, it's your actions.
There are different endings for each town, the possibilities are huge but most contradict each other. There's about 3 for each town, some have more, some have less.
I've completed it about 20 times and on this site that makes me a rookie.
You can continue playing after you've won but the towns sometimes don't recognise the fact you've won.
No, there's no secret missions after the game but you get some serious bonusses.

F3! Tactics is coming soon but F3 I'm not sure, go to the suggestions page.

 

[Shadowman]

Answers (spoils)

> Combat questions 1. I
>read a question about aiming
>here and that if you
>have a certain ability called
>fast shot you can't aim
>which I thought was a
>brilliant concept and didn't realize
>the game had this kind
>of detail. Anyway, does this
>mean that there is locational
>damage? Lets say I am
>fighting a mutant and he
>is using a weapon in
>his right hand. Can I
>aim at his right arm
>and blow his arm off
>making him no longer a
>threat?

Yes and no. What aimed damage does is simply affect the overal hitpoints of the target. However an aimed shot to a target's eyes or limbs can blind or cripple them.

> Or lets say I
>am facing a too powerful
>enemy can I aim at
>his legs and incapacitate his
>movement allowing my escape?

Well you could, but personally I've never needed to do it. I never run from a fight

>Do
>enemies follow you from one
>screen to another or can
>you escape by going to
>a different screen?

No, in random encounters and such there is only one screen. Once you hit the exit grid the fight ends.

> Are there
>different death animations for example
>if I have a flamethrower(if
>there is one) and I
>use it on an enemy
>will he be turned to
>ashes? Or are all the
>death animations the same regardless
>of weapon.

No, different types of weapons have different death scenes, but not as many as I would have liked

> How viable is
>a martial arts type character
>would they be able to
>compete against all that heavy
>firepower?

Very viable. There are a lot of perks geared towards hand to hand characters and there are also some weapons in the game that use your unarmed skill.

NPC Questions
>2. Is it possible to
>complete the game solo or
>would that be too difficult
>without npc's?

No, it's possible to finish without NPCs and in some ways it can be easier as you don't have to look out for someone else in combat. Unlike the NPCs in Baldur's Gate you have no control over them during combat. They do have combat settings that you can set.

> Is the game
>more fun with npc's?

Yes, I feel it is, but that's a personal preference. You'll have to find out what you like more for yourself. They at least can be your packmules during the time you don't have a car.

>How
>many npc's are there in
>the game that can join
>your party?

If you want a list of NPCs int he game look on the main page in the fallout 2 section. You'll find all of them there.

You can have a maximum of five NPCs in your party, but a bug in the game allows you to have one more. Generally the amount of NPCs that will travel with you is based on your charisma. The formula is is Charisma/2=Max NPCs), rounded down.

>I heard there
>is a robot dog that
>sounded cool for a npc.

There are two robotic dogs in the game.

>Do the npc's interact with
>you and other npc's or
>are they silent?

Well they do interact by yelling out random phrases, but it's not nearly as deep as the interactions in Planescape: Torment for example.

>Do npc's
>gain levels and experience?

Yes they do. Everytime you level your NPCs have a chance to level too. The best thing is to save before you level and if they don't level up reload the game.



Travel
>questions 3.Does the car actually
>move on the screen?

No, you basically see a dot on the worldmap that represents your party.

>Can
>you wander out in the
>desert on foot and survive
>or would that be too
>dangerous until your a certain
>level?

Well if you travel on foot you get more random encounters which could get you killed more often, but if you're strong enough it shouldn't matter. The car is just convenient for travelling faster to where you want to go.

>Is there a
>large desert area where you
>can just explore that doesn't
>have cities and is like
>an emtpy wasteland?

Oh yes, there's lots of wasteland.

>How often
>do random/special encounters occur?

That depends on your luck and whether you are walking on foot are travelling by car. You'll get plenty of random encounters, but the special random encounters are a lot harder to find.

>Is
>it based on the luck
>attribute so if you have
>bad luck you will get
>nasty encounters while good luck
>will bring favorable encounters?

Yes, but even with good luck you can have bad luck encounters and vice versa.

>Can
>you rest/camp in the desert?

Yes.

>Do you have to have
>food and water in the
>game?

No, you don't have to worry about food and water.

> Replayability
> 4.I read that the
>game can be totally different
>depending on what kind of
>character you create. Is this
>true?

Yes it is. There are several solutions to most quests. You can choose to be a fighter, a diplomat, a thief or a jack of all trades. It's all up to you. Also, the stats you have affect the game. Someone with a higher intelligence and perception may notice things a character without those stats wouldn't.

>How many times can
>you go through the game
>until it repeats itself? Are
>there different endings and if
>so how many?

Many times. I've played the game about a dozen times now and everytime I played I discovered new things aobut the game. There are different endings for different places you visit, but some of them only have one ending.

>I read
>that you don't have to
>end the game after you
>beat it. What is the
>purpose behind this? Are there
>secret quests you can do
>after the "official game" is
>ended?

No, but you can finish sidequests you didn't finish before you ended the game. And there are a few bonuses for after you finish the game...

> Finally will there
>be a fallout 3? Sorry
>about too many questions but
>this game sounds fascinating and
>seems like it will be
>a good change of pace
>after a traditional fantasy game
>like BG II. Thanks for
>any input

Yes there will be a Fallout 3. Black Isle representatives have hinted that the question isn't if fallout 3 will be made, but rather when it will be made.

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