Kalle
2921
You don’t really need to reference anything. The game will tell you when you need to eat/drink/sleep by applying a minor penalty which will show up as a little reminder on your HUD. There are four levels of penalties and the first isn’t something to be at all concerned about.
I dunno, losing 1 strength and thus 10 pounds of stuff I can wear makes me eat as soon as possible.
and btw Darnified is a must, really. I probably would not want to play hardcore either with default UI.
I did my first play through on Hardcore, just to see how it was. I agree with most of the comments here–I liked the heal over time and limb fixing aspects, but found the food and water aspects rather disposable. The dying companions bit is annoying; I’m not sure whether it makes me more realistically cautious or simply highlights the lackluster companion AI. I think the latter; when you have to constantly tell your companions to wait while you do anything indoors or in difficult geometry, it kind of negates their value.
My second play through I’m on hardcore but will possibly switch out.
I would say “both”, Wombat. It makes me more cautious in fights… but it also made me wish of a better control over AI mates (and better AI in general).
Yup, as LK says HC definitely highlights some shortcomings…
But even with HC off I always ditch the NPCs indoors (which means ditch them for the big-time encounters)… just too annoying trying to herd them… Ideal NPC would be some kind of parasite or cybernetic graft that pokes out of your shoulder and gives colour commentary/shoots plasma bolts.
I like NPCs for pest control, don’t have to fumble with the muddy controls to line up my shots on a dinky radscorpion, or click click click through vats and the stupid slo-mo cam.
I don’t think companions are THAT bad in New vegas. At first i babysat them a ton inside, but after i realized that they can find me pretty easily again even if we get separated, i don’t worry as much anymore.
Of course this means sometimes i don’t have them with me and sometimes they get knocked out, but they stay with me most of the time with minimal attention upkeep.
Oh, in most fights they companions won’t die. Still, it’s annoying the few times they die, because you know that if the game would offfer a better way to define their behavior they could have survived.
Wolff
2928
Agree with the general “hardcore” sentiments here. Will most likely just mod in HoT stimpacks at some point. Its just too easy to find all the food and water you need.
I may look to either make or find a mod that gives you the companion perks permanently after you beat their quests or something to that degree.
Hit another bug - Boone lost the ‘This Machine’ I gave him and is in melee, and he can’t switch back even to his default rifle. Frustrating. Last save is ways-aback.
edit: Apparently this is an known issue for companions leaving casinos. CRAP.
ElGuapo
2930
Part of hardcore mode for me is “no fast travel”. I’ve limped through many a desert landscape, pausing to get my bearings and my head ringing/vision blurring because my legs and head were crippled. When you are limping and your heartbeat is in your ears, it makes that last push back to town a big deal and you get a sense if relief at being in a safe town. Makes the wilderness much more dangerous.
One time because my vision started to blur and the ringing started (this happens when your head is crippled) I didn’t see a Golden Gecko that was coming up behind me. I tried to get away from it but it knocked me off a cliff to my death. Cool animation for that.
I didn’t start fast traveling until I got to New Vegas. There are quests where you have to run from one side of the map to the other and back again. You’ll want to fast travel.
oh and i love ed-e. Playing that western song whenever he engages an enemy never ceases to amuse me. Flying enemies (like those fly things) also seem to have problems hitting him which is nice. He can also carry all of my junk.
The other mechanical companion will have to offer a lot to make me switch.
I do the same thing. I’ll fast-travel around New Vegas itself, but any trips out into the wasteland are on-foot. Makes things interesting.
I use fast travel, except that sometimes i forget that i have the option to fast travel, then i go walking everywhere. Damn inmersion!
I heard some amusing comments from the fiends of Vault 3. “Man, a flying robot! i’m so fucked up!”
I wouldn’t mind the companions getting killed so much if they actually behaved better. They tend to detect enemies through walls, doors, and floors, and run off to goodness knows where, usually brandishing a machete or something, only to run into a horde of bad guys and die screaming. Of course sometimes they run into a horde and kill it, too.
A guy is doing a pacifist run (0 kills). The interesting thing is how he reached level 24 (and still hasn’t finished the game). That’s a lot of experience to obtain without having the xp from kills.
skyride
2937
Who gets credited for the kill if your companions are doing all the killing? I know you still get the xp.
XPav
2938
“I’m a pacifist, so I won’t hurt you… but I’ll tell my buddy with the gun to kill you!”
“I promised not to hurt you and I’ll keep that promise. Boone, kill him.”
pilonv1
2940
I’m pleasantly surprised how many quests there are that don’t involve killing something, or if you do need to kill something there’s a way to do it peacefully.
Having a high speech/science skill is much more enjoyable in New Vegas. Still not sure what to think of the fact there’s no more failing on speech options though. I do like that there’s more variety, seeing options based on Luck or Survival is great, there wasn’t enough of that in Fallout 3
