Well with the Oasis and super hero battles you can hear Three dog mention them on the radio. but with everything else I'm just assuming it's the developers wanting you to explore the world on your own and be excited when you stumble on something you didn't know about.

I mean, I was thrilled when I found the Oasis on my own thanks to the coordinates I found from some wastelander. Not just that, but I found the quest itself to be one of the most morally contesting choices in the game. I actually had to stop and fight with my conscious about what I should do.

It just encourages you to explore, that's all. What concerns me is a lot of people won't put in that extra effort, and won't reap the benefits as a result.

I think a lot of people who don't like the game simply haven't given exploration a chance, and have instead just fallen back on doing the main quest and a few side quests, without truly delving deep into the environment.

I love finding the little things. It's where a lot of my playtime has been occupied.

Indigo_Dingo:
how the hell was I supposed to know that there was a downed alien spacecraft? How was I supposed to know there was a group of snobbish humans living in luxury with a ghoul settlement nearby, and you had to choose between letting the ghouls in, or killing them all, cause either way one group had to die? How was I supposed to know about the Oasis, the superhero battles, the Quantum Challenge (which I didn't know about til too late), the followers, and most of all dogmeat?

You're not supposed to know. You're supposed to find out for yourself.

Really, are you so used to linear spoonfeeding that even a slight whiff of exploration beyond the critical path gives you conniptions?

I found most of those while trying to get the "find 100 locations" achievement. I'd just pick a bit of map without many markers and head off in that direction.

Look long enough and you'll find something quirky, or fun, or interesting, or all three.

I remember whilst on my way to GNR, I found a Fallout shelter containing one dead ghoul and about 100 plungers. and not just in a pile. Stuck to the wall, the roof, the furniture, everything. Obviously this guy had become obsessive in the closing hours of his life, And that was cool. It stuck out, it was memorable, and I came upon it completely by chance.

The cool stuff is there, but you have to keep your eyes open, or spend a lot of time on Fallout Wiki finding out there the cool stuff is.

GloatingSwine:

You're not supposed to know. You're supposed to find out for yourself.

Really, are you so used to linear spoonfeeding that even a slight whiff of exploration beyond the critical path gives you conniptions?

It's like root shock. When the gamer is yanked violently from the comforable and familiar, they feel disconnected and weak. I felt that way with Mass Effect at times.

GloatingSwine:

Indigo_Dingo:
how the hell was I supposed to know that there was a downed alien spacecraft? How was I supposed to know there was a group of snobbish humans living in luxury with a ghoul settlement nearby, and you had to choose between letting the ghouls in, or killing them all, cause either way one group had to die? How was I supposed to know about the Oasis, the superhero battles, the Quantum Challenge (which I didn't know about til too late), the followers, and most of all dogmeat?

This. Honestly, one of the most appealing aspects of the game for me is the fact that it doesn't just tell you where everything is. When I find something out in the wastes, I feel surprised and somewhat accomplished knowing that I could very well have gone through the entire main story and never seen it. Likewise, subsequent playthroughs of the game are bound to be interesting, since I'll likely still be able to find new things.

Sounds to me like the OP can't stand the thought of maybe missing something in his first playthrough, and my advice would be stick to linear games. If you can't enjoy Fallout 3 (and the openness of it) then I don't think you'll ever enjoy non-linear games.

You're not supposed to know. You're supposed to find out for yourself.

Really, are you so used to linear spoonfeeding that even a slight whiff of exploration beyond the critical path gives you conniptions?

I explored and found the vault where the air is filled with hallucination gas that has caused the residents to go insane. That place was really freaky for me, I though my VGA cable was on the bust when the screen continued to turn blue and what made it worse is that I had the music from Fallout 2 going so every moment in that vault was me shitting myself.
I regretted exploring that vault but Fallout 3 does offer a lot of strange and unique places like the Republic of Dave or some strange areas that people took shelter in during the great war.

I did the "goody-two-shoes" path and as a result people I met randomly would input locations to explore into my Pip-boy, like the Temple of the Union and Girdershade; other times I'd find locations through looting bodies and finding notes or recordings, which is how I found Oasis. I found the alien crash site simply by having my Pip-Boy radio turned on when walking by. Other stuff I found just by wandering around, like that pool of fresh water in the hills above Little Lamplight and *shudder* Andale.

The game really, really rewards exploring.

(This weekend, it'll be a stroll over to the White House with a side-trip to Vault-Tec HQ to hack their mainframe.)

-- Steve

The side-quests are definitely where Fallout 3 shines. I didn't expect to find a superhero battle in canterburry commons. Heck I just wish there was a car so I could find things faster

I'm fine with this. Only people who want to see all of the game world that Bethesta have created deserve to see it all.

What annoys me about Fallout 3 is that on my first playthrough I was going to finish the story then do all the side missions; instead I was treated to a nice lovely death (even though in one of the 4 endings (another thing, Bethesta said there would be over 200 endings) I don't even die.

I'm actually glad they keep all that stuff 'hidden'. I like feeling like I actually found something on my own! Just wandering in a random direction will always lead to something, which is awesome.

ElArabDeMagnifico:
The side-quests are definitely where Fallout 3 shines. I didn't expect to find a superhero battle in canterburry commons. Heck I just wish there was a car so I could find things faster

Or a rideable Deathclaw, or whatever they call the bears. That would be awesome!

I've had more fun exploring the wastes than I've had following the story. The Super Hero battle was so unexpected it was all the more awesome. I can't wait to find hte downed alien spacecraft.

BTW, has anyone actually solved the "Blue" vault yet? That has been delightfully creepy so far.

Novajam:
It's like root shock. When the gamer is yanked violently from the comforable and familiar, they feel disconnected and weak. I felt that way with Mass Effect at times.

A bit OT, but I have to ask: what part of Mass Effect struck you as new and unfamiliar? The gameplay as a whole was fairly similar to KotoR, and even if the moral system was a bit different from "Light Side/Dark Side" it was still more a development than an innovation, IMO. I did like the game, but I never really felt that there was anything shockingly "new" about it...

the superhero battles

Best quest intro ever. I was so amused when I came across Canterbury commons randomly while searching for vaults. I was giggling all the way to the AntAgonizer ;D

Anyway, I quite liked that Fallout 3 was all about exploring on your own. The little arrows on your HUD told you were map markers were so that helped, but on the whole the exploration was quite fun for me.

This game really rewards exploration, I stumbled across Hubris Comics and found a text "Grognak the Barbarian" Adventure, classic style, that was awesome. Also, Andale was really creepy, and I found out about that by wandering the wastes near Tenpenny and just stumbling across it.

PedroSteckecilo:
I've had more fun exploring the wastes than I've had following the story. The Super Hero battle was so unexpected it was all the more awesome. I can't wait to find hte downed alien spacecraft.

BTW, has anyone actually solved the "Blue" vault yet? That has been delightfully creepy so far.

I did, and (to spoil no spoilers I won't go into details) I either did it improperly or there isn't really a clear conclusion... maybe I missed a terminal or something. I did get enough to figure out what happened in the Vault, just not to the individuals in it.

The "Gary" Vault was hella weird too.

-- Steve

Indigo_Dingo:
Like I said, they told me there was nothing there. The overlying area is called a wasteland - I naturally assumed that there would be nothing there. I'm fine with exploration, but it actually discouraged me from exploring in the first place.

If you're going to play a game by the people that made Oblivion, and you see how big the map is, it's your own fault for being oblivious if you don't explore. The main mission in Fallout 3 barely matters. I don't know why they didn't just junk it altogether and spend more time building interesting little corners of the map with more freaks to talk to.

And I love the accidental discovery of cool weapons. It's like when you run into a bunch of baddies on the Wasteland and they're too busy fighting each other to bother you: it really gives you the sense that you're in this giant, living world.

I remember the first time I got over to the Capitol. Raiders were battling Supermutants inside. When I got around the back, robots were everywhere fighting the Supermutant reinforcements. Then I heard a helicopter and went around the front. Enclave troopers with robot support and Supermutant remote-controlled cyborgs were mopping up. I literally stood their for 3 minutes watching everyone blow each other apart, before I lobbed a few missiles at the enclave copter and it killed the rest of their troopers with a giant nuclear explosion.

And all of this had nothing to do with the main mission, on a part of the map you don't even have to get near going through it. Wake up, Indigo.

Indigo_Dingo:
Like I said, they told me there was nothing there. The overlying area is called a wasteland - I naturally assumed that there would be nothing but ruins. I'm fine with exploration, but it actually discouraged me from exploring in the first place.

I think you're interpreting "wasteland" a bit too literally... in this context, "wasteland" means "nothing much grows here", and is more like the term "Badlands" is elsewhere. There's plenty of stuff to find in the ruins, in a game context. Indeed, because it's so lightly populated it makes sense there's plenty to find; in a scavenger economy, "lightly populated" means that fewer people have already ransacked it to grab the good stuff.

-- Steve

Indigo_Dingo:

TheBluesader:

Indigo_Dingo:
Like I said, they told me there was nothing there. The overlying area is called a wasteland - I naturally assumed that there would be nothing there. I'm fine with exploration, but it actually discouraged me from exploring in the first place.

If you're going to play a game by the people that made Oblivion, and you see how big the map is, it's your own fault for being oblivious if you don't explore. The main mission in Fallout 3 barely matters. I don't know why they didn't just junk it altogether and spend more time building interesting little corners of the map with more freaks to talk to.

I didn't play Oblivion.

Yeah there's your problem. Bethesda always hides the good stuff for people to find. They did in Morrowind too. Did you find the Bethesda Office ruins in Fallout 3? That was fun.

nathan-dts:
What annoys me about Fallout 3 is that on my first playthrough I was going to finish the story then do all the side missions; instead I was treated to a nice lovely death (even though in one of the 4 endings (another thing, Bethesta said there would be over 200 endings) I don't even die.

There are a lot of variations that are based upon completed sidequests. If you complete the "Head of State" ending it add something. If you skipped Head of State but did Agatha's song it's different. Your actions and the time you take exploring change those base endings.

xitel:
Did you find the Bethesda Office ruins in Fallout 3? That was fun.

Not yet... that'll come after I do my little Penn'a Ave tour, and then go visit the Arlington Memorial site. (And, I must confess, a quick trip to Google Maps to find where Bethesda's studio is in the real DC map...)

-- Steve

the only thing i didn't like about the whole exploration thing is that theres too much stuff.
like for instance hundreds of guns and food in a camp for three raiders. it makes the game too easy. like their raiders they dont camp!

alwaysrockon:
the only thing i didn't like about the whole exploration thing is that theres too much stuff.
like for instance hundreds of guns and food in a camp for three raiders. it makes the game too easy. like their raiders they dont camp!

Why wouldn't they? They need somewhere to sleep and eat, and store their stolen goods.

their supposed to live off the land
never stay in one spot, you know
btw has anyone killed the source of fire ants? i gots no clues

damn u got me beat.
but it still makes the game too easy for after every little skirmish you get like twice the amount of ammo and food.

We all have to think about one thing...they actualy did try to cut out the exploration with one of the perks that convinently showed every location on the map.

TheTemby:
We all have to think about one thing...they actualy did try to cut out the exploration with one of the perks that convinently showed every location on the map.

Yes, once you've reached max level. Once your that good you should really already have found a lot of places.