There was a huge map to explore, lots of places that are "off the grid" and special encounters. This wasn't a problem in FO1 and FO2, even though there were more settlements and people, because there was much more distance between locales. There wasn't nearly as much to explore, it seemed the populations of even small towns were bustling by comparison to FO3, and to me it just didn't capture the post apocalyptic feel that FO3 did.
In New Vegas, I swear to God, it felt like I couldn't take 2 steps without running into some sort of outpost or settlement. In FO3 I could walk for an hour without running into a settlement if I wanted to do so, only seeing scattered merchants or travelers (this is reasonable for a POST APOCALYPTIC environment). That, and add to the fact that there were *genuine* random encounters instead of set enemies at set locations, and FO3 managed a very wild feel to it-a feel that I loved and to this day, that is why FO3 remains my favorite of the console versions of the game (though FO2 is my favorite FO game overall). To me, Fallout 3 felt far more post apocalyptic than New Vegas-and there was so much to explore. I liked the atmosphere of FO3 more than New Vegas (and again, I better get out the fire retardant here). So while New Vegas deeply fail to show places that are supposed to be big, i think they succeed in making the area fairly populated. Unfortunatly, most of them are generic, but they are here, and help feel like that the area is, in the same time, fairly populated with some hotspots that are constantly watched, AND also have areas where you get ends up alone, trapped and killed without anyone noticing. There are a whole lot of people in every settlement, factions headquarters, or even in the roads, with caravans (far more than Fallout 3), travelers (voiced by Mike Novick), factions patrols. On the other hand, the way the Mojave is populated make sense. Ingame, they feel like they are on the boundaries of Vegas, the first step of the travelers, that are hurry to sleep before reaching the Strip or Freeside. Then, there are also Nipton, Goodsprings, Novac, that, according to external sources, are supposed to be cities on their own. The game would have been much more believable is it wasn't named New Vegas. It seems like a small or medium village that have some ressources that interests some factions, but not the biggest city in Nevada.
You can circumnavigate the whole city in less than an hour, the buildings are very low sized, and there are no landmark. In Fallout New Vegas, the actual city that is on the center of the map doesn't feel like a big city, or even a city. So, while the space is believable, the population isn't. The settlement are scarce, tiny and doesn't seem to involve a logical way to replenish their food, water, children, and ressources. On the other hand, the game want you to believe that there are some travelers, caravans, patrols, (and 3dogs informants that run to him everytime you do something) while you barely meet someone outside. Also, the city is conveniently in the corner of the map, so it implies that you only see a tiny part of the city. In Fallout 3, the actual city of Washington is pretty big, with a lot of locations to explore.
#Fallout new vegas cities plus#
On the plus side, we've definitely come a long way since Girdershade.Īctually, i think that New Vegas & Fallout 3 had dealt with the space/population in a very opposite way. The Strip, the battle of Hoover Dam, the exterior of the Old Mormon Fort) the illusion is noticeably less well-realized than others. They give you just enough to simulate the experience of exploring a locale and to facilitate suspension of disbelief. They do the same thing with scale and distance NCR, the largest settlement anywhere in the wastes, could handily be traversed in Fallout 2, on foot, in under 60 seconds, and each of those Vaults you find in 3 and NV with their two or three bunkrooms apiece are supposed to be able to accommodate up to 1,000 people.
#Fallout new vegas cities series#
They've done it for every game in the series (and really, most roleplaying games ever made), both because of engine limitations and because no one wants to have to sift through a few hundred constantly moving and milling citizens in order to find Billy Questgiver. It's not necessarily that the wasteland is underpopulated though, just that the population is underrepresented.