Fallout 3. Oh GOOD, there goes my life for what looks to be two months.

[FormerDittoHead]

Dead Space made my wife a widow for about 10 days, but Fallout 3 has sucked me in never to be seen again!

FWIW, I got a copy of Fallout 3, used, from eBay for $22, and that was the least of my trouble.

My BIG problem is how am I EVER supposed to get my life back playing this thing?

THIS GAME ROCKS.

Before, I've tried to get into Oblivion, which has many similar elements, but I never 'got into' its Medieval theme. My persistent question was, "why do I have to hurt/kill people all the time"?

But Fallout 3 provides a narrative which lends itself to violence and hostility.

I'm usually a FPS player, and so the integration of the RPG+FPS genres makes it a natural transition for me into this RPG genre.

A personal omission, the real sad thing, IMO, is how much I'm projecting my own life into the game. I'm finding myself in rooms talking to people having conversations which have

Never have I been so captivated by a RPG game.

[Occulus]

1. Hee.

Your life is gone until you get tired of the game or finish it. Accept it. Relish it. And move on.

And you haven't added any mods yet. This one has infinite replayability, like other Bethesda games :D

You should spring for the strategy guide if you haven't already. Fallout 3 is a huge game chock full of missions and special items and you will miss most of them if you just play through the main quest.

There's a major film coming out soon or out already (is it Book of Eli?) that made me think of Fallout 3 in the first five seconds. Someone on the art direction team played and loved Fallout. You can just tell.

[Ignis]

2. See you in a few months.

Don't forget to send a postcard from the Wasteland! ;)

I'm on my 3rd F3 playthrough now. Just...can't...stop!

[ZombieHorde]

3. I have played through Fallout 3 about five or seven times.

Things they don't tell you in the booklet... (at least not in the PS3 booklet)

Every odd point of Luck gives you a +1 to all of your skills.

Your Luck = your percent chance to land critical hits.

Your base Unarmed damage = 1/4 your Unarmed skill.

Put your gun away by holding the reload button.

Turn your flashlight on and off by holding the Pipboy button.

The game ends and you won't be able to play your character any more if you complete the mission Take it Back. <-- white font, click and drag if you want to see.

There one skill book which comes back every four days. Big Guns book in Bethesda Ruins East, a raider with a Flamer will have it. Bethesda Ruins is North of Megaton, across the river. <-- white font, click and drag if you want to see.

Finding the same Schematics improves the Schematics. For example, having two Bottlecap Mine Schematics means you will get two Bottlecap Mines every time you make one, having three Bottlecap Mine Schematics means you will get three, etc. The power of the Rock-it Launcher is improved by 10% for each additional Rock-it Launcher Schematic found. <-- white font, click and drag if you want to see.

The Perk which makes you 50% less likely to become addicted to Chems is garbage, but the one which makes your Chems last twice as long is pretty good.

The Infirmary for your house can heal all of your Rads and the Chem Lab can cure you of all addictions.

[FormerDittoHead]

4. THANKS!

>Put your gun away by holding the reload button.

Oh for Pete's sake. HOLDING. I was constantly switching to the baton and then pressing reload.

>Turn your flashlight on and off by holding the Pipboy button.

I remember they said this early on, but (again), I didn't get the 'holding' part.

I haven't gotten so far as to know what the white font clues are, but all of it is very much appreciated.

[ZombieHorde]

5. If you need to know where one or all of the Bobble Heads are, I can give you list with coordinates.

"I was constantly switching to the baton and then pressing reload."

I was doing the same thing, I discovered the "holding trick" on accident.

[Ignis]

6. There's a LOT of great information, maps, etc. here:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Portal:Fallout_3