Rowan, are you using fast travel? It is so easy to zip out, heal up and zip back.

How does the fast travel work? When I click on a map icon I get the message that fast travel is not available in this location.

A message should pop up when you have visited several locations. It won't work till you actually visit. I think I had three or four locations that I had visited when I first got the message--the Supermart, Vault 101, Springdale and the minefield.

Right, they patterned the fast travel more along the lines of Morrowind. Actually, the more I play this the more it reminds me of Morrowind over Oblivion even though it is using the same update to the original graphics engine as Oblivion.

I totally empathize with you Rowan, it can be a very difficult game at the lower levels. Leveling is a slow process and the bad guys definitely hit harder as you advance. I recall coming across some mercenaries in level 2 or 3 that I could take down by rushing with a baseball bat, by level 10 they're carrying missile launchers or taking me down with 2 or 3 shots from a combat shotgun

Also, if you get frustrated and want to play on easy for a bit you don't have to restart. You can just adjust the level until you have a better lay of the land. I cranked it up for a bit and man did the monsters ever multiply, I couldn't take three steps into the wasteland without being accosted by a flock of one-eye purple people eaters That made normal feel a lot more tolerable...

Just a tip: don't spend money on healing items. There are always breaks in the action when you can sleep and heal for free (even if you have to fast travel somewhere). I think you can only fast-travel outdoors.

Also, when fighting enemies from a distance, shoot normally (and use the steady aim) because there's usually more chance of hitting them than when in VATS. At a distance, VATS can give you really poor hit percentages.

Thanks all again. I finally fast travelled - right into the arms of a super-mutant and I was turned into a I think I will try another location next.

Is anyone else having trouble patching their game? When I click on the link to run the patch the game starts instead.

Another good tip is that the hunting rifles are way better at a distance shooting than the assult rifles. Just slower to shoot because they are bolt action.

EDIT: Well, I decided to get a parallel game going that is along the dark side of the games path.

Has anyone been able to patch the leak that you see when stand on the clinic roof? I've patched 2 other leaks but this one seems to be out of reach. I wish I could reach it as this would finish that quest.

Rowan, the space bar is your jump key. Just get to a point on one of the walk ways above the leak, jump over the guard rail to the roof next to or somewhere near the leak, walk over to it, and then fix the leak. Just watch yourself getting down, you can be injured or killed falling from heights.

Just a quick note regarding the quicktravel: exactly like in Oblivion, you have to be outdoors. If you get the "can't travel from this location" message, it's because you're indoors. Just find an exit, and Bob's your uncle.

For anyone that is interested - So far, the same console commands that worked for Oblivion also work in Fallout 3.

Example: if you want to name your saves as opposed to just going with the auto numbering sequence you just bring up the console by hitting the [~] key, then if you only use a one word name for the title just type save then a space and whatever word you wish to use:

save Mutants

If you want to use more than one word you'll need to put it in quotes like so:

save "This is My Save"

In either case you just hit enter after typing and that will make the save. You won't get any acknowledgement after you hit enter, but it will save. To close the console hit the tilde [~] key again.

I'm getting the hang of this game a bit better now. The biggest difference occurred when I finally deactivated the bomb and I got my own house. A bed is such a luxury. Then, thanks to you guys, a learned how to teleport.

When I was looking for Ian in the underground train tunnels I noticed an incredible amount of loot. I never took any because I didn't want to fight with all those "people" down there. Now that I saved him can I go back there when I'm strong enough or do I need the goodwill of these "people" in future? My little thievy fingers are twitching but I don't want to ruin any future quests that I don't know about yet. Has anyone played far into the game yet?

I'm finding this game really fun. It seems harder than Oblivion and I like that. Though I like being a hero nobody can hurt, to be honest the struggling part of the game is what I enjoy most. Gotta say so far its hard to get caps...I'm using a lot of my loot to repair items, not sure if that's smart money wise but other wise I have to leave a lot of loot because of weight issues. I dispear ever tricking out my house.

Its probably too soon but does anyone know if you buy a theme for your house and then try another one...can you repurchase the first one if you like it better? Just wondered...Bet I'll play several different ways so I can see all the theme's eventually.

As Eartha Kitt sings "I wanta be evil, I wanta spit tacks"...that's for my next game!!!

I don't have enough caps ever to buy anything for the house. I try repairing items myself when I can. This also lessens the load of equipment I carry plus it increases their value. I do ask Moira to repair my favorite weapons and armor since I usually can't get duplicates for these items. I still carry about an old lab coat from the vault which increases my repair skill. I put it on in a safe place and I regularly go through my inventory to fix things.

You can definitely buy multiple themes for your house but I'm not sure if you can swap back because I haven't done it myself.

The game gets easier as you progress I find. You have to fight more enemies, but the more you play, the more quality items you get (and in more quantity) so in general you become richer, faster. I repair my own items with duplicate items so it saves me going to somewhere and paying to get it done.

Also, about The Family, after I saved Ian I never went back there so I'm not sure if there are extra quests from them. Personally, I think the best element of Fallout 3 is that there are consequences to your actions, so I try not to worry about quests that I might miss because that's just a part of it.

Help, please!

Sorry, Moondancer, I haven't played that far yet. I just got to the radio station. I think I'll halt the main quest here for a while, do some exploring and levelling up before I pursue anything else.

I'm going to leave the main quest for last unless it interacts with where I am. I'm trying to do the minefield quest for Moira but I keep getting side tracked just exploring and then walking home with all my loot. I killed a Savenger which gave me bad karma, I guess I won't do that again, but I just didn't trust him enough to put my gun away and back off.
I like it that you can't build up skills by just doing dumb things over and over again. Its hard though to have to assign skills right when you level up...I liked Fallout 2 where you could save up points until you figured out where you needed them...but its Ok I just have to have a plan ahead of leveling up.

Sorry Moondancer I haven't done that quest yet. I did a quick search and couldn't find your answer.

If anyone does find it, please place the answer in a Spoiler Box as this is a pretty major piece of the puzzle if I understand it correctly...

Moondancer, you may find the answer here .

Moondancer,

I just played through that section and...

Thanks, Rowan and Trail_Mystic, in the end, I actually tried both ways to exit, and at first, I could not understand why one was considered "good" and the other bad;

I'm stuck and need a spoiler. I've arrived at Rivet City via land route but can't find an entrance to the city. There's a metal structure where the town name is and the beggar, Carlos, is on the platform. The arrow on my map show that Rivet City is right here. However, there's nothing but this structure and Carlos. What am I missing?

Rowan, I'm at the same spot except that Carlos is dead. Hope I don't need him. I have searched all over but haven't found a hotel. Did you go down the metro station? I met up with three mercs wearing talon armor and got some armor to repair mine.

Carlos just wants pure water. You only need him to boost your good karma.

I'll try going down the train tunnels. Maybe there is an underground way in. Try not to shoot me if you run into me in the tunnels.