I Survived Four Hours of Fallout 3, Part 2

Gus Mastrapa gets his boots dirty in the Capital Wasteland. Bethesda project manager Pete Hines provides play-by-play commentary.
10/2/2008 7:17 PM | 5 Comments | Page 1 of 3

My Fallout 3 experience continues. Fresh from the Vault I've been exploring the wasteland, killing and looting with glee. I'm purposefully avoiding Megaton and the quest that leads to my long, lost father. With me in spirit is Pete Hines, product manager from Bethesda Softworks. His commentary on my actions appears in italics.

I've turned my attention toward the buildings in the distance. There's a wrecked farmhouse and silo, and further out, I see the remains of a settlement -- a church house's steeple juts into the sky. At the farm I overhear two survivors discussing an oasis to the north. Not so friendly, they insist on killing me for eavesdropping. I arm the Flamer and torch the both of them. The ruins of the farmhouse, roof now collapsed and open to the air, are full of interesting stuff. In the hayloft I find a desiccated skeleton slumped before a working ham radio. I shove the bones to a side and take his chair, but I can't pick up a signal. Downstairs are a couple shelves of what passes for treasure in this dead land: a wood chipper and a bunch of lawnmower blades. The wood chipper is heavy, but it seems valuable, so I clear some room for it in my inventory.

I find myself futzing with my swag frequently. When I grab too much stuff, I become overencumbered -- unable to run. But there are ways to deal with such problems. I can repair items, basically combining two near-broken items to make one less-broken item. The better my repair skill gets, the better combinations I can make. I also start readjusting the kind of stuff I pick up. At first I grabbed every little trinket I could find, but when space becomes more and more scarce, I start dropping spare combat knives and police batons. (They're a dime a dozen.)

In the nearby town, I find a dilapidated Streamline trailer -- the remains of Dot's Diner. Behind the charred counter there's an oven. I peek inside to find that it's empty, and get the wise idea to stash some stuff in there while I explore. I want to unload as much of my accumulated loot as I can before I make the dive into the underground (across the way I'd noticed the entrance to The Jury Street Metro Station), so I stuff the wood chipper and everything else that doesn't seem vital into the appliance's innards. I'll come back for that stuff later.

You've got to be careful about that, because it won't be there when you get back. You stick stuff in a Nuka Cola vending machine and come back 10 days later and it's probably gone. Don't leave stuff in containers that don't belong to you, because it may not be there when you come back.

You live and learn.

I climb down the stairs of the Jury Street Metro Station and head towards the train platforms. Deep beneath the earth, the shattered remnants of a public rail system lie in ruins. The Renegades have set up their makeshift living quarters on a risen platform. Dirty mattresses and tin cans are strewn about. I rifle through the junk looking for useful bits; a pile of surgical tubing looks promising. Nearby I discover a work table -- a place where these ingredients can be crafted into useful tools. But I lack the skills or schematics to create anything.