PC Gamer explains how to set up the best Fallout: New Vegas experience with modding:

How to have the best Fallout New Vegas experience today

Our definitive step-by-step guide to setting up and playing this classic RPG.

Now boasting a glossy (and surprisingly authentic) TV adaptation, Fallout is the talk of the town again—not bad for a series that started out as a niche turn-based isometric RPG from the '90s. While Fallout 4 and 76 are probably better known these days, most longtime series fans still sing the praises of Fallout: New Vegas and its hugely reactive, freeform story. At least, they recommend it more strongly than any other game in the series, just with some assembly required. You’ll need to do a bit of legwork unless you happen to enjoy bugs and crashes, even after New Vegas got some official patches and a round of (excellent) DLC.

Years of dedicated community efforts have culminated in New Vegas being a better game than ever (and arguably one of the best RPGs ever made), but only if you’re willing to go that extra mile through the Mojave to gather all the parts needed and cobble them all together at a crafting bench. So here’s a crash course on how to get the most out of Fallout: New Vegas in 2024. Get it all done, and your friends will be atomic-green with envy.

[...]

Thanks Soola!

Couchpotato spotted the Nova Arizona mod for Fallout: New Vegas on Screenrant:

Massive Fallout: New Vegas Expansion Adds New Location, Makes The Legion "More Believable"

Fallout: New Vegas just got even bigger thanks to a massive fan-made expansion that adds an entirely new area that further fleshes out the main story.

SUMMARY 

• The Nova Arizona mod aims to expand Fallout: New Vegas by adding quests and lore to improve Ceaser's Legion.
•  The expansion focuses on Southern territories like Dolan Springs, Solitaire Big Stop, and Newt.
•  Players should expect a significant delay in completion due to the project's scale and volunteer team.

Fallout: New Vegas is already a massive game, but fans who want to take the experience even further by expanding on the game's story and factions are in luck because a new mod is aiming to do just that. Over the course of The Courier's adventure across the Mojave Wasteland, they'll encounter all kinds of colorful NPCs, many of whom belong to some sketchy groups vying for control of the post-apocalyptic United States. One of the more barbaric is Ceaser's Legion, and while they may come across as pure villains in the base game, Nova Arizona wants to improve them.

[...]

Game Rant interviewed the team behind Fallout: Nuevo Mexico:

Fallout: Nuevo Mexico Will Give Players A New Look at Mexico This Year

Game Rant speaks with the Fallout: Nuevo Mexico team about trailers coming later this year, which will bring fans' first look at Mexico proper.

Since its inception, the Fallout franchise has cloaked itself in the retro-futurist Americana of the mid-20th century. That’s changing, thanks to modders like the team behind the Fallout: New Vegas overhaul Fallout: Nuevo Mexico.

Nuevo Mexico isn’t the only project taking the franchise outside the United States. In April, the highly anticipated Fallout 4 mod, Fallout: London, will take the familiar imagery of Ghouls and Mutants across the pond. But looking at New Vegas’ exploration of the greater world of the franchise also means looking closer to home. Neuvo Mexico project lead Zapshock and writer Montana recently spoke to Game Rant about what setting their story in the American Southwest and Mexico brings to the franchise, and how they put their fingers on the pulse of post-apocalypse Mexico.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Hey Poor Player looks back at Fallout: New Vegas:

Fallout: New Vegas Is A Mojave Marvel

Grier And Roving In New Vegas

Back in 2008, Fallout 3 rewrote the RPG rulebook with a gratifyingly evolved post-apocalypse sequel, the likes of which we had never seen before. Boasting a massive irradiated wasteland, zillions of dialogue options, and a zesty compendium of missions, characters, and memorable moments and monstrosities, Fallout 3 appeared to be an unbeatable modern RPG…until Fallout: New Vegas came along. Swapping out a nuclear Washington DC for a rechristened Las Vegas known as New Vegas, this Obsidian Entertainment-developed sequel propels the hallmarks of Fallout 3 to greater heights, thus becoming the ultimate progenitor.

[...]

There’s so much going on with Fallout: New Vegas that it’s incredibly easy to forget to mention a bevy of cool things. This feature hasn’t even delved into the crafting, nor the wicked awesome upgrade perks with abilities such as the Terrifying Presence that doles out a range of alternative dialogue options, and  Better Criticals make you a more ferocious courier than you’d ever be without them. Mind you, writing a 3,000-word novella of Fallout: New Vegas wouldn’t cover everything; it’s that enormous and filled with intrigue and lore. New Vegas is one heck of an RPG, like a citrus fruit that never stops pouring out juicy sustenance, no matter how many times you squeeze it. There are hundreds of hours to deliciously gnaw on, but there are four DLC desserts to ravenously consume afterward. What Obsidian has achieved here is something that surpasses the already almighty Fallout 3, featuring a slew of amazing new additions, new perks, a brand new neon-pulsing setting, a new overarching conflict, many new missions, dialogue options and choices that ripple throughout the Mojave Wasteland. New Vegas is undoubtedly one of the most colossal RPGs there is, and it’s as worth playing today as it ever was. If you haven’t already, go and explore this mastodon and witness for yourself just how enormous it is and how it’ll completely swallow you up.

Thanks Couchpotato!

Couchpotato spotted a new teaser mini trailer for Fallout: Nuevo Mexico:

Four Corners States - Teaser Mini Trailer

This is Side Content, we'll do a gameplay trailer next year along with one more unrevealed State when we get the showcases for the big stuff done first. We hope this people faith we are still working hard on this Project.

DSOGaming reports that a demo for Fallout: Free Cheyenne is now available:

Fallout: Free Cheyenne Demo, fan expansion for Fallout: New Vegas, available for download

Fallout: New Vegas fans, here is something for you today. Modder ‘userKN’ has released a demo for an upcoming fan expansion for Fallout: New Vegas, called Fallout: Free Cheyenne.

Fallout: Free Cheyenne Demo is described as an exciting new adventure to the center of post-apocalyptic America, featuring three new quests, brand new factions, and a whole new world to explore. The modder also claimed that they have used AI tools in order to generate the voices featured in this mod.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Couchpotato spotted a new trailer for the Nuevo Mexico Mod:

Fallout: Nuevo México - Official Gameplay Trailer Part: 1 | "New Mexico"

Couchpotato spotted a new mod for Fallout New Vegas called Out of Bounds:

Fallout New Vegas: Out of Bounds | Official Trailer

Scavenge resources, explore and do quests in the Backrooms. 

In this mod all your stuff is taken away forcing you to scavenge for resources in order to make weapons and to fight the many entities of the Backrooms.

According to the modder, Fallout New Vegas: Out of Bounds features 6 new quests, 17 new weapons and 4 new settlements to explore. Players can also expect 40+ new voice-acted characters, and 800+ lines of dialogue.

@PCGamesN LD's Improved New Vegas mod reintroduces cut content for Fallout New Vegas that was originally left out due to console limitations. Please note that work on this mod is still on-going.

Fallout: New Vegas launched for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 all the way back in 2010. Although each version is largely the same, a range of small details were apparently cut from the first PC iteration, as they would slow down console hardware. These include more varied animations for NPCs, more advanced NPC AI and behaviours, and a litany of small environmental details and enemy spawns.

You may have noticed, for example, that NPCs in New Vegas tend to stand still in one location, rather than cycling through a range of idle animations like sleeping and smoking, or leaving their homes to visit other areas. The new mod, titled LD’s Improved New Vegas, restores all of these features, as well as populating the game with more characters and monsters that were removed to spare console memory space. 

[...]

PC Gamer describes how to set up Fallout: New Vegas in 2022:

How to have the best Fallout New Vegas experience in 2022

Our definitive step-by-step guide to setting up and playing this classic RPG.

Combining the best of Fallout 3's 3D open world with the nuanced roleplaying of the original two isometric games, Fallout: New Vegas is one of those classic PC RPGs that must be played—just not in its original form, unless you happen to enjoy suffering, frustration and confusion. Notoriously buggy and unpolished at launch, New Vegas improved a lot through updates and top-notch DLC, but there was still work to do.

Thankfully, Fallout fans are a strange and extremely dedicated bunch of rad mutants, and years later they’re still hammering out the minor kinks. Thanks to some recent advances it’s easier than ever to play a properly polished, tuned and debugged version of New Vegas. That said, it’s still a surprisingly convoluted process, so wrap up tight and prepare for sandstorms as I help you chart the course to the very newest New Vegas experience, no gambling required.

[...]

Story Mode spoke to Studio Design Director Josh Sawyer and Lead Creative Designer John Gonzalez to explain why Fallout: New Vegas is famous for it's freedom.

loading...

In this video we talk to Studio Design Director Josh Sawyer and Lead Creative Designer John Gonzalez to explore why Fallout: New Vegas is famous for its freedom. In New Vegas you can go anywhere and be anything, yet the game still manages to tell a cohesive story. It accomplishes this by offering the player meaning choices and through the clever design of the reputation system.

Mortismal Gaming reviews Fallout: New Vegas in his 100% series.

loading...

UberDanger has reviewed Fallout New Vegas:

The Birth of a Legend | Fallout New Vegas

loading...

The Act Man took some time to review Fallout: New Vegas.

loading...

Fallout: New Vegas is the stuff of LEGENDS! This game was so close to being a masterpiece. You wanted this video, you got it! Time to review Fallout: New Vegas and find out why it's SO AWESOME?!

Wccftech share a rumour about Fallout: New Vegas 2 development.

According to insider Tyler McVicker, who’s leaked accurate information under the Valve News Network banner for years, but has begun covering a wider range of companies, including Nintendo and Bethesda, Fallout: New Vegas 2 is indeed in the works. This juicy rumor was slipped into a video announcing McVicker’s rebranded YouTube channel, in which he teases upcoming info on a number of subjects, including the Switch Pro, Mario and Zelda’s anniversaries, Back 4 Blood, Obsidian’s new RPG Avowed, and more. So yeah, we’ll all be keeping an eye on his channel going forward – check out the video, below.

loading...

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

ESO has looked over Fallout New Vegas mod Fallout: The Frontier and lets you know what to expect in terms of factions and content.

loading...

Fallout The Frontier is a DLC sized Mod for Fallout New Vegas!

Aubrielle has penned down a very positive retrospective of Fallout: New Vegas, the game that swept her away.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been swept away like Fallout: New Vegas swept me away. From the moment I left Doc Mitchell’s clinic and stepped into the glaring Mojave sun, I was a part of this living, breathing world. Its concerns were mine, and my concerns were steeped in the world. As I made my way down into the dusty settlement of Goodsprings, I wasn’t in my bland little apartment anymore, playing some video game. I was in a backwater caravan stop, deep in the Mojave, all alone. Goodsprings is dominated by a little bar that’s somewhere between biker roadhouse and wild west saloon. Its people eke a living out of the sun-baked desert, far from New Vegas and the watchful eye of its overlord. Out here on the frontier, people always keep one wary eye on the horizon, watching out for roving gangs. Step into the bar or general store and you’re greeted with an old dusty radio and the boxy sounds of country music from the 1950s. You might smirk now, but when you’re in the game, it’s perfect. If you smile, it’s from pure joy and that rare feeling of synergy – when something feels so appropriate, so perfectly placed, that the world instantly becomes so much more believable and real and right. Suddenly, music you would have never noticed before has become a part of this experience you’re having. You’re not playing a video game anymore. You’re experiencing something. Goodsprings has become part of your memories, your awareness. When you describe this later on, you’ll describe Goodsprings as a place you visited, and you won’t think of it as something from a video game.

A new video for the Fallout: The Frontier mod announces the release date and shows off the car system.

loading...

We announce our official release date alongside the first reveal of our new car system, headed by Xilandro over the course of 9 months. It's the most complex and realistic driving system ever developed for a Fallout Title to date, and is unmatched in its quality. We unfortunately could not meet our release of December 2020 due to health issues and a genuine desire to avoid crunch time. These few extra weeks are what we needed to get out heads back in the game. As an added note, we will be putting out nearly daily content up until the release of the mod as a way to help get you excited!

Hbomberguy looks back at Fallout: New Vegas:

Fallout: New Vegas Is Genius, And Here's Why

loading...

Thanks MAHak!

RockPaperShotgun reports on a mod for Fallout New Vegas that adds new voice actors for 145 npc's.

Brave New World is a pretty dang ambitious mod. The creators have recorded 138 voice actors to provide around 7,000 lines for 145 of Vegas’ characters. It’s a serious undertaking that its creators say has been almost four years in progress. “Our team has gone to great lengths to make sure that the project meets the standards of quality expected for voice acting/voice overs within the gaming industry,” the creators say on the Brave New World mod page.

[...]

loading...

Fallout: New Vegas mod Fallout: The Frontier will be getting a Steam release.

loading...

Fallout: The Frontier is a gigantic DLC/New Game . It’s a FREE mod for the PC game : Fallout new Vegas by Obsidian Entertainment, made by a group of passionate on their free time during 6 years.

Story: As the “Courier” (Your character in FNV) you start a new adventure centered around a conflict between the NCR and the Legion in the snow blasted remains of Portland Oregon. Featuring 3 major questlines, 50+ side quests, hundreds of new armours, weapons and items, and thousands of lines of voiced dialogue. 

SuperDerek looks back at Fallout: New Vegas:

Fallout New Vegas - Obsidian's Unfinished Business

loading...

The last beta version for Fallout: New California is out now - next: Version 1.0

Fallout: New California

It's been 7 months since the last update. This is the next major stop of the roadmap to 1.0. One update will remain after this and then the mod is complete and out of BETA.

Thanks rjshae!

@GameBuz A new mod for Fallout: New Vegas allows you to play after the end and experience the consequences of your actions.

I think it’s pretty obvious that I have a lot of respect for modders and that they are the reason why I love PC gaming so much, so this one goes out to a modder called Kazopert. He made a mod that not only allows you to continue playing after the final battle, but the world also changes according to the choices you made.

It impacts the NPCs you will see after the dust is settled, the voice lines of the remaining NPCs and other small details around the world that have an impact on immersion. The creator's description is pretty spot on with what you can expect.

[...]

PC Gamer thinks Fallout: New California is the best Fallout of 2018:

Fallout: New California is the best Fallout game you'll play this year

A huge Fallout: New Vegas mod seven years in the making.

This ambitious Fallout: New Vegas total conversion was, remarkably, seven years in the making. Developed by Rick Hukkanen and Brandan Lee, with the help of dozens of volunteers, the mod is set 20 years after the events of Fallout 2, making it much closer story-wise to the original Interplay series than the Bethesda/Obsidian games. It features new locations, 48 quests, full voice acting, and 13 endings. And best of all, it’s totally free. You can download New California from ModDB, and for most people, installing it is as simple as unzipping the contents into your game directory.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Wccftech reports that the mod Fallout: New California has received an update.

A new update has been released recently for the Fallout New Vegas prequel mod Fallout New California, introducing a variety of improvements and fixes that enhance the experience considerably.

The new update introduces revamped meshes and textures with new compression, which reduce crashes and improve performance. Other visual improvements include improved houses and more.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

TriangleCity asked Chris Avellone about Fallout New Vegas's developement and cut content.

loading...

Episode 8 of F:NV - The Cutting Floor, an in-depth investigation into Fallout: New Vegas's development and cut content. Very special to Chris Avellone for making this episode possible and thanks to J.R. Vosvic for making it all happen.

loading...

Episode 9 of F:NV The Cutting Room Floor, a series where we examine the cut content and development of Fallout: New Vegas. Very Special thanks to Chris Avellone for making this episode possible.

The Tale of Two Wastelands v3.2 has been released. The mod merges the Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas wastelands.

TTW 3.2 Released 2018/11/10!

Post by pintocat » Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:25 am

After 3.5 years, Tale of Two Wastelands has advanced from version 2.9.4b to 3.2.

Check the top bar for the download and FAQ links!

Join us on our Discord for chat https://discord.gg/zg46A6H

We already have some day-zero mod conversions in the new subforum for 3.x mods. Be sure to check back for more as time passes, or join the modding community and convert some yourself.

VG24/7 reviewed mod Fallout: New California and admired its attention to details.

New California is also very good at introducing you to interesting environments, lavish with visual detail, and then failing to populate these places with anything to do or anyone to speak to.

This is a real radroach in your sugar bombs because the voice acting is so bloody good. Early on, I meet an ex-raider named Richard Camper. I’ve already removed my Vault 18 suit as to not arouse suspicion, but he clocks me instantly. His ‘pappy’ came from a Vault, and besides, my healthy skin and eyes are a dead giveaway that I’ve not long been on the surface. As he speaks, his voice cracks with a weary wisdom and playful spark that makes me instantly believe in this world. He’s just one of many similarly great performances.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Rjshae spotted the release of the Fallout: New Vegas mod New California:

Fallout: New California

loading...

Fallout: New California BETA 201, after 7 years of development by Rick Hukkanen(Lead Programmer) and Brandan Lee(Project Lead) is finally released!

The October update for Fallout: New California has arrived and a countdown timer has appeared for the release of the mod.

loading...

We'll continue to do balance, especially by populating the wasteland with "stuff," during 200 and 201, and supporting the mod. Really going BETA for us, we are done, it's just minor things, and any work you guys wany to mod in and we can merge, fixes or more stories or guns, whatever. The core of the mod is there and it's not flawless, obviously, but damn is it fun and full of cool stuff to do.

We got this gigantic branching 12-30 hour single player story that's packed with big tough decisions, we have so many immersive character focused moments, tons of amazing art and voice acting, glorious music that could be a whole mod unto itself, awesome environments -- I'm exited for you to play it. And make mods for it. Just go nuts.

[...]

Thanks rjshae!

@PC Gamer Fearing that Bethesda may cease and desist their mod the makers of Fallout New California ramped up production recently. However Bethesda have said they intend to take no action.

Update: A representative from Bethesda commented on the Fallout: New California mod. Here's the full statement:

"The great thing about modding is that people can build mods about whatever they want. We don’t foresee an issue with this team’s work, and we wish them well in their development."

Original story: 

Fallout: New California is a Fallout: New Vegas mega-mod that introduces a totally new storyline complete with 12 possible endings and some 16,000 lines of voiced dialogue. It's been in development for over five years, and last month the mod team behind it announced it'll officially release later this year on October 23. However, as the mod team explained in a recent Facebook post, New California's production is shifting into overdrive now that Fantasy Flight Games has announced an expansion to Fallout: The Board Game, also called New California, the existence of which could threaten the mod's release.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Fallout: The Frontier is a mod for New Vegas which has a new trailer.

loading...

Exactly one year later, we finally reveal our brand new trailer! Join the Exiled NCR on a brand new adventure! Join us on Discord and discuss about the Frontier. Ask questions, talk to the devs, provide ideas, hang out… all are welcome!

Thanks Drithius!

October 23 - mark it in your calendar:

Fallout New California Narrative Trailer - With Release Date

loading...

For our 5 Year Anniversary, we're finally announcing the exact day we will launch our mod to the public!

DSOGaming reports on a new 4K trailer for Fallout: New California.

loading...

Fallout: New California 2018 Mod Trailer

Will be available on Nexus once released

Moddb Page

http://www.moddb.com/mods/falloutproj...

[...]

According to its description, Fallout: New California adds an all new story around a new player character, an adopted resident of Vault 18, embarking on a journey through the wastelands of the New California Republic’s Cajon Pass.

The team behind this ambitious mod aims to reveal its release date at the end of this month, so stay tuned for more!

PC Gamer reports on a prequel mod for Fallout: New Vegas called Fallout: New California, which has just entered beta.

Fallout: New California is an ambitious standalone prequel campaign mod for Fallout: New Vegas. We first caught wind of its existence in 2013—then known as Fallout: Project Brazil—despite it first being planned for Fallout 3. Now, after nine years of development, the project has entered its beta phase.

"So after many years, not only is BETA 200 playable from start to end credits with no major interruptions but it's stable and finally coming together as a finished thing," says project leader Brandan Lee is this ModDB update. "We still have bugs, and we still have defects, but it's approaching a level of polish you'd expect from a release ready product most of the time."

[...]

DSOG reports that a total conversion mod for Fallout: New Vegas has been announced:

Fallout 4 New Vegas Total Conversion Mod Announced, First Pre-Alpha Gameplay Footage Revealed

Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas is considered by many as one of the best modern Fallout games. So I’m pretty sure that a lot of gamers will be happy to know that a team of modders is working on a total conversion mod to bring its world to Fallout 4. Yeap, Fallout 4 New Vegas is a thing, and below you can find its first pre-alpha gameplay video.

The team has not revealed any ETA on when this mod will hit the Internet. As it claimed, this mod will require a massive number of assets. Moreover, its level design team continues to work at the starting areas of Fallout: New Vegas in and around Goodsprings. This basically means that the mod is still in early stages, so don’t expect it any time soon.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

PC Gamer looks back at Obsidian's 2010 RPG Fallout: New Vegas:

Fallout: New Vegas revisited: the most authentic 3D Fallout game

Revisiting Obsidian's much-loved 2010 RPG.

Left for dead, you wake up in the one-horse town of Goodsprings and begin a quest for vengeance in the Mojave Wasteland. That’s the beautifully simple setup for Fallout: New Vegas, which makes the vault sequence in Fallout 3, where you watch your character grow up, seem needlessly long-winded. After a quick chat with a local doctor, voiced by Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica, you’re set free. And it’s up to you whether you want to hunt down the people who tried to kill you, or just drift aimlessly around the desert like Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

@PCGamesN Fallout: New Vegas was constrained by consoles according to lead world builder Scott Everts.

Fallout: New Vegas would have been a better game if it was PC-only, according to the game’s lead world builder. Scott Everts says that the restrictions of the game engine brought about by the game’s console release forced his team to strip away a lot of their initial ideas.

In an interview with Everts, he told PCGamesN “[the game] would have been a lot different if it was PC only. We had a lot of plans early on. Like, ‘Here’s where the water is stored, here’s where the farms are, here’s where the government is centralised’. We had it all planned out - it wasn’t just a bunch of random stuff.”

[...]

PC Gamer reports that Project Brazil has been renamed to New California and will be released this year:

Fallout: New Vegas mod Project Brazil renamed to New California, out this year

The massive mod has been in development since 2009.

It was early 2013 when we first heard about Project Brazil, a tremendously ambitious mod that promised an entirely standalone prequel campaign for Fallout: New Vegas. Set in the year 2260, long before the events of New Vegas, the aim was for a Fallout 3-sized map with a new Vault, an original cast, and "5000 lines of professional-quality dialog" delivered by more than 20 different voice actors. Fast-forward four years and some, and it's still not out, but it's getting closer—and it's got a brand-new name, too. 

"New California is a superior name for this mod," project leader Brandan Lee explained in a ModDB update. "It's opening shot is of California, the intro is all about California, we say California several times in the narration, it's set in California, within New California Republic territory, about the struggles of New California against California factions that impact the New California Republic in New Vegas."

[...]

Thanks henriquejr (who likes the old name more)!

PCGamer looks back at Fallout: New Vegas. In particular one quest titled 'One For My Baby' which captures the 'heart' of the game.

How one quest captures the heart of Fallout: New Vegas.

If Fallout 3 welcomes you into the post-apocalypse with open arms, Fallout: New Vegas is its sarcastic, passive-aggressive cousin. Everyone in the game has an angle, and the only thing standing in the way of the house winning is your growing series of dubious decisions. This spirit of hard-edged humor and escalating choice is perfectly encapsulated by a single quest.

The setup

Looking at the giant dinosaur statue named "Dinky," and the broken No Vacancy sign hanging from the settlement's single motel, you might assume Novac is a pit stop on your path to New Vegas proper. After going through Primm and Nipton, two towns filled with conflict and moral chaos, you finally have a place to rest. That all changes when you meet Boone.

A former NCR sniper, Boone is a man isolated both literally and figuratively. Every night, he walks up a set of narrow red steps leading to the giant dinosaur's mouth. Guarding Novac against this somewhat goofy backdrop, he spends his vigil watching the wasteland through Dinky's faded white teeth-all the while wondering which of his estranged neighbors sold his wife Clara into slavery while he was on patrol.

[...]

The Fallout: New Vegas mod Project Brazil is 4 years in the making:

4 Year Development Anniversary! An Hour of Game-play Video is online!

This is Year 4 of development on Part 2!

Project Brazil's 1st Installment went live in May 2013, which has been online for 4 years as of June 1st. We took several months to fix bugs and get it stable before releasing the 131 update that December, and that last door leaving Vault 18 has tormented nearly 200,000 players ever since. XD

Part 2 incorporates a remastered Vault 18 with all new level designs and new voices for several characters. It also spans 2 major branching quests in the Wasteland, the NCR and Raider Alliance, each with 5 main quests and thousands of lines of dialogue in many deep quests with profound changes to the way the plot plays out. Even small choices play a big role, ensuring each character type and decision spawns a new way of seeing the story unfold, often spawning whole new plots with unique endings.

Behold!

loading...

[...]

Thanks rjshae!

Rjshae spotted this Project Brazil update on Moddb:

Scripts, Carts, Progress Charts! Completing & renovating the mod Start to Finish.

Development progress has been slow, but some stuff got done!

I took a 10 day vacation to San Fransisco to relax and release some tension. My last real break was in 2015, and I worked practically every day at my job or on FPB 10-12 hours, so I needed a detox week. Of course, the instant I got home I got the flu from hell, enjoyed a 4 day fever and lost my voice. :p BUT! Some progress was made, mostly by Rick.

If you've followed us these past several years, you know that Part 2's storyline is divided in half just like Part 1. In Part 1 your decision to tackle or dodge Johnny Matheson in the opening moments of the game sets you down the Scientist or Warrior path (was once the Nerd / Athlete path, but it's got an update to be less harsh and more balanced.)

You also chose to try to help Save the Vault or Join the Enclave! You also found some or all of your Vault Companions and escaped into the Wasteland.

Those decisions get summed up neatly as Part 2 begins, where you go to Pinehaven and meet up with any survivors from Vault 18.

Not long after, though, you're introduced to the Survivalist Raiders, and their alliance of hostile psychopaths & rebels. You can join them on first contact by getting captured, or fend them off and escape Pinehaven. Further down the road you get another chance to be captured, or you can meet up with a Desert Ranger, who allies with an NCR Captain that needs your help, starting the New California Republic quest.

[...]

FragHero has a source that seems to suggest Fallout: New Vegas 2 is coming from Obsidian.

If you think about it from a business perspective. This makes sense. Fallout: New Vegas is estimated to have sold around 12 million copies worldwide. It also received a Golden Joystick Award for ‘RPG of the Year' in 2011.

Gamers have been begging for a Fallout: New Vegas 2 sequel for seven years. It looks like their desperate cries have been heard.

Here's what we know: (according to source)

- Upcoming reveal is planned, possibly for E3.
- Obsidian is involved.
- We'll go fucking nuts, and run around naked in the streets in joy.

Our source promises us he will have actual tangible evidence in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

Fallout New Vegas mod 'Project Brazil' has had a state of the mod January update. There are lots of pictures of the new vault 18 here.

2017 has been a great start to a New Year!

2016 was kinda a downer.

Yes, even for you, that one guy for whom it wasn't. :p

2017 so far is going MUCH better. Take a look.

First off, the most obvious is a brand new Vault 18, the area where you start Project Brazil.

Vault 18 is now comprised mainly of original 3D art assets and all new 2048x2048 texture sheets. New Vegas is an ancient game with terrible memory problems, so all these 200+ hires textures that went into the game are going to be part of an optional download. I use the HD textures with no issues, but my PC (donated to me by Tom Rogers from Green Valley) is a beast, so I might be in the minority here. I'm trying to look out for our lower end PC users, because I was one of them until last May myself.

[...]

There are 2 story paths in Project Brazil - Scientist and Warrior. The first as a Warrior takes you from the Stadium to the Atrium, entering from the Right (which is actually North.) The Scientist path has you start in the Infirmary, and walk to the Computer Lab as Dr.Rossman talk about Vault life.

[...]

We're making all these improvements in an effort to refine things for an eventual release date sooner rather than later. Hopefully in the next coming months baring any life tragidies. (Like starving to death cold and alone, Please Save a Brandan. "In the arms of an Angel....")

There are a lot of things that need major work left to do before we're release ready. A Major character needs to get his voice ripped out, re-recorded, and shoved back in. The Raider Main Quest has bugs and game breaks in the scripts pretty much from the start. We're aware of exactly what they are and where they are, and how to address them, we just haven't got to it yet. We're finishing the NCR Main Quest and ending the last boss battles, scripting the endings, and then swinging back to address the bugs from start to finish. We also need to implement some venders, doctors, environmental NPCs, and immersive NPC dialogue for reactions from standard NPCs.

Anyone who wants to join our currently 4 man team, please sign up.

After that we can start talking about calling FPB officially in ALPHA 190, the big playable from start to finish mod that took 5 years to make.

The mod Project Brazil for Fallout: New Vegas is nearly complete:

2016 was a hard year, but we're almost done with F:PB!

Most of 2016 was kind of a drag in real life. I don't know anyone who's 2016 was a good year. From divorces, to friends nearly losing a child, me almost losing someone I love, people being harassed online, jobs folding, all kinds of awful stuff. There are a lot of people saying it's the election's fault, or celebrities dying, but honestly? To tell the truth, I think it's that people aren't being good to each other, and this is what that air of distrust and anger feels like.

We forgot what it means to be hospitable, to have vitality, fidelity, self-discipline, craftsmanship, and kinship. We're nose deep in social media, but not being social. We're spending money, but not getting things that last. Fighting, but not for victory. Working, but not in joy. We forgot what doing the right thing means, and instead we snipe each other for our failures, then shrug when we get it right.

People need to stop blaming the bad on the year, and decide to be good to each other again.

Especially when it feels like we don't deserve it. Especially when it feels like there is no point.

That's when you have to decide to be better. Not for them. Not because we deserve it. But because we want to live in a better world, and it starts with us making the decision to be decent, even when the world isn't, even when we don't know why.

Choose to do good work. Not because it is easy. But because it is right.

To start a new year off right, we will be giving out the complete Fallout: Project Brazil sometime in the first quarter of 2017, after we go through a closed Alpha phase in our private group of modders.

[...]

Thanks rjshae!

Fallout New Vegas mod 'The Frontier' has released a trailer. Thanks Drithius!

loading...

EDIT: Since people seemed to be confused, this a FREE mod for Fallout: New Vegas

Welcome back to the Frontier’s newest trailer!

Join us on Discord and discuss about the Frontier. Ask questions, talk to the devs, provide ideas, hang out… all are welcome!

Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/010HuEO...

Follow us at:
Official Website: http://www.falloutthefrontier.com/ (Under construction)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FalloutTheFr...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrontierDevs
VAP Power Squad:
http://www.elijahlucian.ca/
Michael La Manna:
http://www.mlamanna.com/

Fallout New Vegas has a new ambitious mod on the horizon called 'The Frontier' which features working tanks and helicopters with voice acting included.

loading...

From Operation Sunburst to The Frontier to Space, we've pushed the Gamebyro to its true limit.

Yes we have mannable turrets and drivable vehicles in the Frontier. Yes on Archimedes II, the space environment will feature low gravity. We also have a ton of new creatures and other new features which will be shown in the future. Obviously we could not fit it all in one video. For now enjoy the fruits of our labor :D

Follow us at:
www.FallouttheFrontier.com
https://www.facebook.com/FalloutTheFr...
VAP Power Squad:
http://www.elijahlucian.ca/
Michael La Manna:
http://www.mlamanna.com/

@dsogaming Xilandro Axeuora has made a mod for Fallout: New Vegas that introduces SUPERHOT’s gameplay mechanics to Obsidians game.

loading...

To start, you need to get the "SUPERHOT" perk, available at level 3. There are four SUPERHOT perks right now, and to activate\deactivate SUPERHOT mode you'll have to press the Q key (MCM configurable).

Here are the key details of this mod:

• The more you move - the faster time will go and bullets will increase in speed as well. Go slowly, plan your moves, think before you act.
• If you look around (move your mouse rapidly) - time will speed up slightly. But enough to kill you if you don't pay attention!
• You can HOTSWITCH only with hostile NPCs.
• If you jump and hold your jump key - time will go faster, but it will still be slow enough for you to dodge bullets. So you can crush your enemies mid-air in glorious slow-motion. True to original game.
• On your death - SUPERHOT will be deactivated.
• If you just killed everybody around (ie you won) with SUPERHOT active and you are not in combat - famous "SUPER HOT" announcer will kick in (re-recorded) and SUPERHOT mode will be deactivated. You won't be able to activate it while announcer is active.
• While you're in SUPERHOT mode - you won't get level-up menu pop-up, so nothing distracts you from gameplay. Level-up menu pop-up is re-enabled once you're out of SUPERHOT mode. Doesn't effect XP gain in any way.
• SUPERFOCUS, bullet slashing and deflection works only if you have Action Points. HOTSWITCH is available only if your AP bar is at least 95% full. HOTEQUIP will work only if your AP bar is at least 50% full.
• Saving and\or loading the game during SUPERHOT mode is active - NOT RECOMMENDED.I mean it. If you do - don't report any bugs about it, I won't respond, in fact, I will delete any such reports immediately. You have been warned. If you want to save the game, or load (except after death) - turn off SUPERHOT first. And only then save\load.I made some precautions for quicksave and quickload. If you quicksave (pressing F5) during SUPERHOT, mod will be deactivated, and only then - game will save. If you quickload (pressing F9), SUPERHOT will be deactivated first, and only then game will load. If you save or load the game via menu\console\CASM during SUPERHOT mode - there will be consequences like all bullets still having red tracers. Maybe more side effects.
• The word "SUPERHOT" was used 23 times in this description. Yikes!
• If this mod doesn't work for you, or you're having compatibility\performance\any other issues, please go and try out SuperHot (Redone) mod by TommInfinite, it might be a lot more stable than this one.

Those interested can download the mod from here.

Have fun everyone!

Farflame spotted this interesting Fallout The Story mod for Fallout: New Vegas:

Fallout the Story is a work in progress at the moment. It is designed as a mod for the NV base game only (no DLCs needed). It is one of the main design goals to keep the look and feel of this all time classic intact. Which means it is a lot of work and needs every support it can get.

Progress level:

Locations:
Vault 13 (100% complete)
Vault 15 (100% complete)
Shady Sands (80% complete)
Junktown (50% complete)
The Glow (started)
Necropolis (started)
Raider Camp (claimed)
The Hub (started)

Travel:
We made a complete new travel system. Which allows the player to discover the map of Fallout 1, also includes random encounters and the ability to flee (if your character is a coward ;) ). The game will be node based as the original. So you travel from one small worldspace to another. It is not a continues world. We have plans to add one larger worldspace which allows a bit more exploration (as easer egg so to say) but this one will be started at the end of development.

Quests:
Vault 13: (start and revisit 100% complete)
Vault 15: (100% complete that was an easy one ;) )
Shady Sands (About 30% done)
Junktown (About 20% done)

Creatures:
All creatures (except I have forgotten one and "The Master" doesn't count as simple creature here ;) ) from Fallout 1 are complete in their original form. Sure we reuse from New Vegas but if changes are needed (Centaur for example) they are made.

Armors & Clothing:
To keep the look & fell of the game at the same level as the original a lot of armors got a makeover. Which means Fallout The Story will look a bit more clean then Fallout 3 or NV but this change is intended.

Buildings, Objects and other Meshes:
We where pretty luck that a lot of modding resources in this field are already made (special thanks to TrickyVein Shady Sands would look a lot different if it weren't for him).

Follower & Reputation:
The follower system is different in Fallout 1 then in the newer versions. They aren't mostly the nice guys which can only be used as pack mules. We try to reflect this with several additions to the standard system.

Follower:
Need ammo (100% complete)
Are part of factions and react to player actions against them (100% complete)
Comment on places that are visited by the player (started)

But we also added the newer features like the companion wheel.

Reputation:
Fallout the story uses the NV reputation system. Which is a bit more complex then the original and maybe a bit more unforgiving but we think it's worth it.

loading...

loading...

Maybenexttime has released a new trailer for the Fallout New Vegas mod The Frontier:

loading...

From Operation Sunburst to The Frontier to Space, we've pushed the Gamebyro to its true limit.

Yes we have mannable turrets and drivable vehicles in the Frontier. Yes on Archimedes II, the space environment will feature low gravity. We also have a ton of new creatures and other new features which will be shown in the future. Obviously we could not fit it all in one video. For now enjoy the fruits of our labor :D

Please like and share our video!

The only FAQ that matters:
When will the mod be released?
We have an internal goal of pushing it by summer but with modding, giving exact dates can get tricky.

Follow us at:
www.FallouttheFrontier.com
https://www.facebook.com/FalloutTheFr...
VAP Power Squad:
http://www.elijahlucian.ca/
Michael La Manna:
http://www.mlamanna.com/

Slides and Logo created by Benn33.

Got questions or comments? Post them below!

Thanks for all of the love and support. Without you, there is no us.

Song: Garbage - Not your kind of people

The Fallout New Vegas Mod called Fallout: Project Brazil is just about ready for beta. There has been a lot of progress on this one recently. Read more about it @Moddb.

There is great news! This is one of the last news updates for Project Brazil before we release Beta 200 this Spring, sometime in the time between late March and the start of May!

[...]

We've got practically all the new 3D art done. I've got some touchup and collision meshes to fix on Vault 18 and the Father's Den, some Navmeshes to adjust, and a few texture flickering problems to solve, then we're in the clear as far as Art goes, forever. :)

As you might have seen last time, we have all new Armour & Armour textures in Vault 18, all new Vault Environment art, and rebuilt combat mechanics. Including Melee Vault Shields!

We only have a handful of new Voice actor dialogues left to cut as well thanks to Quinn Kurmaskie and Mark Hickman. Together they have cut over 2300 lines, covering General Silverman, Warlord Elsdragon, Wilson Wilco, Dr. Rossman, Senator DuVille, and many, many others. We have 5300 lines of dialogue in Project Brzil, ~4900 of which are playable outside of cut content, so it's a MASSIVE undertaking. Not getting burned out on that process is hellish hard. So much gratitude to them.

Rejoice! If you like multiplayer that is. PCGamer has the story but I've quoted the relevant stuff below.

Multiplayer variants of Bethesda RPGs are modders' Everest. Almost insurmountable, but oh so in demand. Imagine it-wandering the Wasteland with companions who don't get stuck in doorways. The stuff of fantasy. Morrowind multiplayer is making headway, and now a mod for Fallout: New Vegas is seeking beta testers to quest together.

Developer nvmp_corporal explained how NV:MP works on Reddit. Quests are still handled client-side; that is, each player retains their own quest log. However, NPCs are synchronised to a host player in any given region-if the host caps a quest giver, he'll be dead for everyone else in the area, forcing relevant quests to fail. This could break friendships. Once they leave the area, a new player becomes host and NPCs re-sync. It's messy, but clever nonetheless.

VATS is disabled outright (slowing time for one player would cause the server to wet itself), but the inventory works almost as normal, with the exception that items are stored server-side and you become invulnerable while it's open. As this is beta, you should expect saved states to be wiped now and again.

More interesting still, mods that don't add new regions or items to the game ought to be compatible with NV:MP, although the New Vegas DLC won't function as yet.

The next test is in two weeks time, and you can sign up at this flashy site.

Game Maker's Toolkit analyzes role-playing in Fallout: New Vegas:

loading...

Role-playing games are, funnily enough, about playing a role. The best games offer many opportunities to support the character you've built - whether it's a silver-tongued villain or a benevolent gunslinger. Let's look at how that works in a stand-out quest from 2010's Fallout: New Vegas.

Thanks Couch!

Drithius spotted a new Fallout New Vegas: The Frontier mod teaser:

Fallout: The Frontier Post FO4 Teaser

loading...

The new trailer is showing a couple new effects and locales for this massive FNV mod, complete with a Space Station tease.  The mod is slated for a Summer release.

The new, rich, and poignant Autumn Leaves mod for Fallout: New Vegas might be a nice way to take a break from Fallout 4.  Geek.com tells us why.

Autumn Leaves adds a new location to the New Vegas map, a hidden library just outside the town of Novac. It’s easily accessed by low-level characters, and it is close to a place that players will visit during the main story. As soon as the mod is activated, a fast travel option become available, so it can even be played with newly-created characters.

The new area is a vault-like library that was built before the Great War, to keep a selection of pre-war books safe in the event of an apocalypse. It isn’t an official Vault-Tec vault, and there is no cruel social experiment happening there, just a sincere effort to preserve knowledge.

When the Courier arrives, they find that only the robot caretakers are still alive. Their human creator is quickly revealed to be long-dead. It is a mystery that only the player can solve. However, the suspicious circumstances of his death are but one of the problems that plague the library. The robot librarians, have allowed a handful of outsiders into the library over the centuries, in an effort to share their knowledge while also seeing if humanity is ready to appreciate the higher learning of the old world. Several wastelanders have come and gone, most of them leaving behind some unfinished business that the Courier must resolve.

The robots are an enhanced version of the Protectrons, much more intelligent than the standard issue. These robots have all been given distinct personalities, and are self-aware. They are not quite human, and they are tragically cognizant of their limitations. Most of them are tormented by this knowledge, others have learned to deal with it. The dialog and interactions with these characters has a great deal of philosophizing about the nature of self-awareness. Sometimes this is done for laughs, but often these poor bots are sympathetic characters, struggling to evolve.

More information.

With the news that Fallout 4 will have romance comes the revelation from Josh Sawyer that Fallout New Vegas almost had one too.

"We actually had some ideas for characters that would... like in one story draft we had, Cass would get drunk with the protagonist and then would wake up with The King having married them at The King's School of Impersonation. That seemed very Vegas, but we were also like, that's kind of a complicated series of events, so we decided not to do it. But it's also in the vein of the Fallout 2 more humorous romance, rather than in-depth and serious. It'll be interesting to see how Bethesda approaches that in Fallout 4."

Click here to read the whole article.

The developers intend to release their Fallout: Project Brazil total conversion before Fallout 4 comes out. It's currently in beta. Here's what it's about, and the new intro at the bottom of the newsbit.

 This is a near Total Conversion for Fallout: New Vegas. Fallout: Project Brazil adds an all new story around a new player character, an adopted resident of Vault 18, embarking on a quest to a hidden complex in the ruins of Los Angeles. Along the way you'll discover a pitched battle between the Survivalist Army, the New California Republic, and The Super Mutants, which shapes the politics and events leading to the NCR's invasion of the Mojave. The story takes place in 2260 - many years before the "Courier" awakes in New Vegas, while the Enclave struggles to rise again on the West Coast.

The Mod branches off from New Vegas right from the New Game menu. The game will be released in chapters, with the first release containing 3 parts. The full campaign will contain 16 Main Quests and several side stories, all related to the player's journey through Vault 18 and the wasteland of San Bernardino. Their choices at each stage will shape the next, creating 2 plathroughs worth of unique content.

The download of the First Installment comes with a custom installer package containing a few optional add-ons for your game, like the SGhi.info REVELATION Interface, and DLC compatibility patches.

The game features several hours of new exploration and game play, with each branch of the story telling a new tale for repeat playthroughs.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has an article up in which the author attempt to find the mods needed to make Fallout New Vegas look somewhat like Fallout 4. The author presents the article not as a guide, but as a discussion item.

For context, I barely played Fallout: New Vegas upon release because, despite sterling wordsmiths Obsidian handling it, I found Fallout 3’s engine and especially combat too distractingly wonky to deal with. As much as I wanted to I just couldn’t lose myself to the wasteland, because the wasteland looked and felt like Team America recreating Riverdance on some mudflats. Half a decade later, I can avail myself of the many mods aimed at resolving just that, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally be able to enjoy a game that half the internet is madly in love with. I’ll think about survival, difficulty and new campaign mods some other time: this is about seeing if I can find a way into to the game Obsidian made.

After many and varied types of fiddling, there were three and a half tools I needed before I could meaningfully get going. The first was Fallout Mod Manager, one of several rival tools for (un)installing and managing legions of FNV add-ons. Even that is split into two different forks, which is where the aforementioned half a tool comes in. The most recent ‘official’ FMM is available here, but you’ll almost certainly need to install the 4GB RAM usage patch on top of that. So I went for this custom build which has that built in already, but is only available via (free) registration for the Lovers Lab forum (a place which I should probably warn you is festooned with assorted nudey mods, so possibly NSFW and all that, although the FMM thread itself is clean).

m00n1ight (Core-RPG.Net) interviewed Chris Avellone about Fallout: New Vegas. In this interesting interview (part 1 & part 2) some new insights are revealed (some snippets):

Is it true that in the process of the development a substantial part of the Caesar's Legion content has been cut out? In the final version of the game Legion occupied only a few settlements and a large part of its quests were "evil" counterparts of NCR quests, whereas the latter had many unique quests, not connected with Legion directly. Was it possible to develop the game in a way that both sides would have been represented more or less equally or inequality had been planned right from the start?

To the last question — yes, it was possible to develop both sides, and I agree that NCR felt more prominent in New Vegas, design-wise and scope-wise, than the Legion. While I wasn’t involved with the faction design and divisions in New Vegas (I was mostly companions, some major NPCs like the Legate, the graphic novel, and some end slide work), our lead writer, John Gonzalez, and I did kick around thoughts on Caesar’s role and characterization as well as the structure of his presentation when the player meets him, and I shared the backstory on a number of Legion references in dialogues that herald back to tribes we developed way back when for the first iteration of Van Buren (Hangdogs, Twisted Hairs). I always felt that Caesar’s goals were going to die once he ran out of lands to conquer — he had a war machine, and once it stopped rolling, the other societal problems his faction had at their core would surface and they would tear themselves apart… or simply decay until they became the prey of someone else.

In addition, we did want to include a Legion companion, Ulysses, who would be tolerant of Legion behavior and provide an internal perspective on it, but he got moved to the DLCs as an antagonist. My feelings on the Legion were summed up both with him, and also in a conversation tangent with Rose of Sharon Cassidy, where she inadvertently peppers her anger at the Legion with a slow, grudging respect for some of the other benefits they bring when they conquer an area (protecting caravans, uniting tribes, keeping the peace). In many ways, the Legion is better adapted for the wastes than many of the other factions.

When Bethesda released Fallout 3, it was praised by the majority of players, but quite a substantial group of people not only disliked the game, they hated it and the developer for ruining the series. However, when the next Fallout from Obsidian appeared on the shelves they had a change of heart and named it "the true Fallout”. Along with this, there is a notion that New Vegas is nothing more than a global modification for Fallout 3. Can you think of the changes that made your game more alike the Fallout that the fans of the classic two games had waited?

Different opinions for different folks, I suppose. Personally, I enjoyed Fallout 3 and have said as much, and Bethesda not only did a great job, but they also did a great job of reintroducing players to the Fallout world. I liked Fallout 1 and 2 as well. Hell, all three were fun.

In terms of feel, the locale of New Vegas makes a difference, since the physical proximity of the Mojave wasteland to Fallout 1 and 2 made hooking into some past F1 and F2 world elements easier. This allowed for…

• Continuing the story with nostalgic factions — for example, you got to see more about NCR and how they were fucking up the world.
• Callbacks to events and locales (New Reno, as a simple example) that were in F1 and F2 from locals and travelers were easier to do and made sense.
• Callbacks to old pals from F2 (Marcus, Cassidy's daughter) and a continuation of similar technologies (Cyberdogs).
• Creature callbacks to F2 (Geckos).
• A companion design structure which was a lot like F2's structure. This wasn't a proximity choice, this is just something we do as a studio.

Anyway, that's a few, but you get the idea.

Great Interview m00n1ight - Thank You!

Christopher Gates(GameRant) made a report about the Fallout: New Vegas mod 'Dust':

With rumors about a potential Fallout 4 reveal flying fast and furious in the lead-up to Bethesda’s first-ever E3 press conference, one mod promises to breathe new life into New Vegas’ aging post-apocalyptic landscape. It’s called DUST Survival Simulator, and it replaces New Vegas’ quest-based structure with a single, seemingly insurmountable goal: just stay alive.

According to naugrim04, DUST’s author, “DUST is a Post-Apocalyptic survival simulator” that “completely overhauls nearly every aspect of the game to better represent an apocalyptic survival-horror atmosphere.” In DUST, supplies are limited, and the environment much harsher. Players will starve to death, or die due to dehydration (“Don’t go to bed thirsty,” naugrim warns. “You will die.”), while food and water are hard to find. Ammo is scare, and combat is incredibly punishing. Don’t worry too much, though: if food becomes too hard to come by, cannibalism is an option.

There is a story in DUST, but players “are not the main character,” and the story will unravel primarily via environmental clues, a la Portal or Left 4 Dead. DUST players can “win” by escaping the desert, but the exit is hidden, and reaching it isn’t easy: naugrim himself can’t finish the game without cheating via the Fallout 4 console. Don’t expect previous New Vegas playthroughs to help, either. Naugrim changed the topography, the NPCs, and some of the graphics. Not everything’s brand new in DUST, but much of it is.

In order to install DUST, players need a copy of Fallout: New Vegas, the game’s three story DLC packs, and a handful of supporting mods. Look for more information at DUST’s official NexusMods page.

m00n1ight of Core-RPG notified me his site did a new interview with Chris Avellone.

Is it true that in the process of the development a substantial part of the Caesar's Legion content has been cut out? In the final version of the game Legion occupied only a few settlements and a large part of its quests were "evil" counterparts of NCR quests, whereas the latter had many unique quests, not connected with Legion directly. Was it possible to develop the game in a way that both sides would have been represented more or less equally or inequality had been planned right from the start?

To the last question — yes, it was possible to develop both sides, and I agree that NCR felt more prominent in New Vegas, design-wise and scope-wise, than the Legion. While I wasn’t involved with the faction design and divisions in New Vegas (I was mostly companions, some major NPCs like the Legate, the graphic novel, and some end slide work), our lead writer, John Gonzalez, and I did kick around thoughts on Caesar’s role and characterization as well as the structure of his presentation when the player meets him, and I shared the backstory on a number of Legion references in dialogues that herald back to tribes we developed way back when for the first iteration of Van Buren (Hangdogs, Twisted Hairs). I always felt that Caesar’s goals were going to die once he ran out of lands to conquer — he had a war machine, and once it stopped rolling, the other societal problems his faction had at their core would surface and they would tear themselves apart… or simply decay until they became the prey of someone else.

In addition, we did want to include a Legion companion, Ulysses, who would be tolerant of Legion behavior and provide an internal perspective on it, but he got moved to the DLCs as an antagonist. My feelings on the Legion were summed up both with him, and also in a conversation tangent with Rose of Sharon Cassidy, where she inadvertently peppers her anger at the Legion with a slow, grudging respect for some of the other benefits they bring when they conquer an area (protecting caravans, uniting tribes, keeping the peace). In many ways, the Legion is better adapted for the wastes than many of the other factions.

Read the lnk above for more good questions, and answers about it's development.

I don't know if many of you remember the total conversion mod for Fallout: NV called Project Brazil that was released back in 2013. After a one year hiatus the developer is  trying to finish the second part called "Night in Pinehaven."

So 2014 pretty much blew past in the blink of an eye, and while a lot of work was done, we kinda fell off the rails there for a while. But! We've been back online for a while now and began making progress. We have the story in the GECK, some interesting new plot twists, and a long way to go.

If you were to go back to 2011 and tell me that in 2015 I'd still be working on Fallout: Project Brazil, I'd probably have a heart attack. That is a long time to be working on anything. But, as history shows, here we are.

We are currently down to just two coders, one of which is our venerable RickerHK from the 1st Installment, and our other mate only drops by every few months or so. We lost Freddie to the responsibilities of real life, along with Marco.

That leaves us with a bit of a problem, since I, Brandan Lee, am not a programmer. I chose to play a 3D Art & Designer cross class character and rolled a 4 on programming. That means that after Level Design and Quest Dialogue Writing are finished, I get to sit on the bench and be a cheerleader.

When I open my email in the morning, my heart either soars or gets crashed depending on whether there is a team update waiting or not.

You can also download the mod on the nexus.

I found news of a new Fallout New Vegas mod called The Frontier. It seems to be in the early stages, but the developers have a Facebook page. Here is the new teaser video.

Fallout: The Frontier will bring a new worldspace, with next gen effects, new gameplay with unrivaled scripting.

Lets hope it doesn't become another unfinished ambitious mod.

I think New Vegas is enough of a favorite around here that a big new mod counts as news -- especially when it's one that Christopher Avellone has given his seal of approval. Hereisthecity reports:

Christopher Means set out to initially create a mod for the game that was just going to be a single town in his native Texas.

When Means attended GDC in Austin he met Chris Avellone, one of the designers for Fallout: New Vegas, and pitched his mod idea to the developer. Avellone was taken by the idea and convinced Means to broaden the project's scope, and even helped him recruit more Fallout community members to work on the mod.

Now the mod is looking more like a fully-fledged game project...

Most amazingly of all, this is an indie game project that does not appear to be asking for your money ahead of time.

RPGamer has a new audio podcast with a look back at Fallout:NV.

Of course there are people and things to shoot around New Vegas, but this most recent incarnation of the Fallout universe doesn't stop there. Enjoy going down the Vegas Strip and taking in all its scenic delights between the killing sprees in the desert.

Wastelander75 of Enthusiacs posted a new retrospective for Fallout: NV. After reading the article why not vote on our latest poll for the best Fallout game.

While the open world flavor has been preserved, and even expanded upon due to Obsidian’s expansive and impressive display of the Fallout universe (FYI most, if not all, of the Obsidian team committed to Fallout New Vegas are former Black Isle Studio members. The original creators of the Fallout brand), the technical issues are a detriment to the series. While I am hopeful that the future will look brighter for future Fallout games now that Bethesda has done away with their Gamebryo engine for the better looking (if still flawed) Creation Engine, Fallout New Vegas is a game that is far from perfect.

And yet, far from being a bad experience. The story, the side-stories I should say, will hopefully leave that lasting and indelible mark upon the players that experience them. Forget politics, forget devious machinations and personal vaunts of egotistical supremacy that reside within the main story.

Give me more of this. Give me more of its beating heart and soul. Give me more of its unexpected surprises. That is something I personally hope to see in the tomorrow. Because more of that gives me hope for a better, and unquestionably brighter, Fallout future.

If your a fan or the previous short films, and web series based on Fallout:NV then your in for a treat. Encryption Films and Dracogen INC announce Lanius Crossroads.

“FALLOUT: LANIUS CROSSROADS” ANNOUNCED

New Mirco-Short to launch in 2014

Perth, Western Australia- (December 11th, 2013) ENCRYPTION FILMS and DRACOGEN INC. are proud to announce ‘FALLOUT: LANIUS CROSSROADS’.

‘FALLOUT: LANIUS CROSSROADS’ is a new ‘Micro-Short’ from the award winning team behind ‘FALLOUT: LANIUS’. The film will launch in early 2014, being released to Crowd Funders first. It is expected that a larger project will be announced sometime in 2014. 

The film is a small offering, designed to thank both the gaming and Fallout communities that have supported the team. Director Wade K. Savage commented, “This little film is our way of saying thank you. It’s a more Classic Fallout adventure – and we know Fallout Fans new and old will love it”. 

No release date has been announced, as the team is currently working on a myriad of different projects. “What we can say” Savage continued “Is that this film will connect to a much larger picture. When we are ready to speak about it, you will know everything there is to know. Including if we do another crowd funding campaign”.  

“FALLOUT: LANIUS” was launched in august and smashed 100,000 views in 24 hours. It was covered globally.

The new film has been announced by their Official Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/FalloutLanius).  

“FALLOUT: LANIUS CROSSROADS” is a blood soaked high concept action adventure short film, based on the 2010 video game "Fallout: New Vegas".

STORY SUMMARY

In the Mojave Desert a Mysterious Vaulter takes on a wandering band of Caesar’s Legion killers. But who survives the encounter - will be left up to more than just fate.

HardcoreGamer has posted a new article asking the great question that most of us still can't agree on. The quesion I'm talking about is whether Fallout 3 or Fallout:NV is better.

It’s clear that Fallout: New Vegas is without a doubt the better game, but I’ll always have a soft spot for Fallout 3. Of course, an extremely iterative sequel like Fallout: New Vegas will usually win in a head to head matchup like this. Obsidian was able to take everything that was great about Fallout 3 and bring their own strengths to the table to create a game that is quite simply better in almost every way. However, if I think about what game I enjoyed more, it’s probably Fallout 3. Fallout 3 was a much more “important” game, being the revival of a classic series and the first game made in this style. The revelatory experience of playing Fallout 3 for the first time back in 2008 is one that could never be recreated. Playing Fallout: New Vegas for the first was much less of an event, it simply felt like a slightly improved version of Fallout 3. So, while the people that played Fallout 3 first (including myself) probably got more enjoyment out of it than New Vegas, there is really no denying that Fallout: New Vegas is the better of the two.

Jhwisner sent us news of a new trailer for season 2 of Nuka Break. It's a video series based on Fallout: New Vegas for those that have never heard of it. Anyway here is the trailer.

Nuka Break, the acclaimed Fallout fan series, continues on October 28th.

PCGAMER has an article talking about a new fan film called Lanius based on Fallout NV.

You may remember clashing with the overly gruff Monster of the East in one of Fallout: New Vegas’ endings. Legate Lanius—whose name is Latin for “butcher,” naturally—wasn’t terribly complex beyond being New Vegas’ token Bad Guy, but a fan film is seeking to change that by attempting to color in his backstory. This here is the first teaser for the fan film Fallout: Lanius, which is debuts this weekend.

Haven’t played New Vegas? How convenient, then, that Steam is currently selling it for a mere $2.50. You won’t need to overly familiar with the wasteland to appreciate this high-concept action flick, however.

Lanius’ origin story is a lovingly put-together project by filmmaker and gamer Wade K. Savage, with the likes of New Vegas writer Chris Avellone being amongst those who donated to its crowdfunding campaign last year. While this teaser doesn’t reveal very much at all, it won’t be long till we learn fully about Lanius’ frenzied ascension to brutality—the world premiere happens this Saturday at PAX Australia.

Machinima has posted the full length fan film that is based on the Fallout series. The film  is around 30 minutes so kickback, and relax while watching it.

As its description reads, as the Ranger makes his way through the wasteland, his purposefully solitary life is interrupted when he is faced with an important choice: remain safely anonymous or become known as a hero? Set between the time periods of the original fan film and season one of Fallout: Nuka Break, Red Star is a dark look into the makings of a legend. Enjoy!

No Mutants Allowed bring us an overview of material that was cut from Fallout: New Vegas according to a trustworthy source.

Here are two of them:

When Ulysses was still a companion in the game, he was indeed meant to be recruitable at the location that became Wolfhorn Ranch, as some people have guessed from the fact that the location was called "Ulysess' camp" in some localized versions of the game. This version of Ulysses would actually not be open about his allegiance with the Legion, but rather try to gently steer the character to more pro-Legion views while offering commentary of the various locations and events of the game. Ulysses would only openly admit his pro-Legion beliefs when dealing with a Legion-affiliated PC.

The Black Mountain location was meant to play a larger role in the NCR/Legion conflict at one point, with factions interested in controlling it due to its satellite system (the NCR to expand their broadcast range and the Legion to use as a jamming system). Digging through the files of the game one can still find some references to a quest that involved blowing up the satellite dishes that was tied to that older design of the area.

Fallout: Project Brazil is a free fan-made expansion for Fallout: New Vegas. In fact it has been over four years in the making. The mod will be released in three installments one after the other if everything goes as planned.

From the Project Brazil Nexus site:

Project Brazil tells the story of your player character, an adopted resident of Vault 18, on the night of the last big Vault-Ball game of the season. The consequences of your player’s decision to dodge or tackle Johnny Matheson shapes the rest of their life, playing as an computer Nerd or a popular Athlete. When the war finally reaches the Vault after one prominent figure turns out to be a member of the Enclave, a civil war erupts overnight, forcing the player to pick a side and escape into the wasteland with their rag-tag party of Robots and Friends.

Project Brazil is a "near Total Conversion" mod that serves as a prequel to the story of New Vegas. A surprisingly good intro trailer has been released and the first installment is due for release this month:

This is a near Total Conversion for Fallout: New Vegas. Fallout: Project Brazil adds an all new story around a new player character, an adopted resident of Vault 18, embarking on a quest to a hidden complex in the ruins of Los Angeles. Along the way you'll discover a pitched battle between the Survivalist Army, the New California Republic, and The Super Mutants, which shapes the politics and events leading to the NCR's invasion of the Mojave. The story takes place in 2260 - many years before the "Courier" awakes in New Vegas, while the Enclave struggles to rise again on the West Coast.

The Mod branches off from New Vegas right from the New Game menu. The game will be released in chapters, with the first release containing 3 parts. The full campaign will contain 16 Main Quests and several side stories, all related to the player's journey through Vault 18 and the wasteland of San Bernardino. Their choices at each stage will shape the next, creating 2 plathroughs worth of unique content.

The mod's first installment should be released in January.

Fallout: Project Brazil requires no DLC or additional downloads.
Just Fallout:NV, right out of the box.

The story features:

An Alternate Start in Vault 18 with a new Childhood Story and Escape
A very large worldspace in California - Black Bear Mountain National Forest
An epic battle between The Super Mutants, The Survivalists, and The New California Republic
A small Wasteland by the Ocean in Santa Monica, California
A Pirate Radio Station
Giant Robot Armies
Epic Battles
Inter-Dimensional Travel
Hacking
Zombies
And A Ruined Underground City called "Project Brazil!"

[This mod has nothing to do with the country of Brazil. No, seriously, it's not The Country of Brazil. I swear. Project Brazil is a working title. The artistic form and story themes are heavily influenced by the Monty Python veteran Terry Gilliam, the classic 1985 film "Brazil."]

Spotted at PC Gamer.

In response to a question on his Formspring, J.E. Sawyer has posted a video about Developing Locations and Characters in Fallout: New Vegas.

Polygon at the Verge has an editorial based on a presentation that Chris Avellone did at GDC Online Panel. In it, he talks about how Obsidian "expanded the Fallout: New Vegas universe with 10,000 lines of dialogue". As always, a snip:

The studio had to streamline the voice-over recording process as much as possible to stay under budget. That process involved sending casting directors extensive rundowns on specific characteristics Obsidian desired for each voice actor. They then worked with the actors to give as much background on the characters in as little a time as possible, and passed along a script that had been annotated to provide important context to dialogue — things like intended tone and pronunciations of esoteric terms were bracketed, and placed in the script.

JE Sawyer has released v5 and then subsequently v5.1 of his "hardcore" mod for Fallout: New Vegas. Follow the link for the notes.

Edge Online's "Still Playing" column turns their attention to Fallout: New Vegas, explaining the allure the game still holds:

I’m always averse to finishing stories in games when the world you’re presented with is far more enticing than any tale playing out within it. A lot of this is down to my lack of enthusiasm for vanquishing evil forever and ever until a sequel appears, and my inability to suspend disbelief when narrative events allow me to single-handedly decide the fate of entire societies locked in endless, self-sustaining wars. Personally, I’m much happier finding my own path to zen by wandering a game’s geography and exploring the limits of its mechanics.

Fallout: New Vegas is about as perfect an example of this sort of game as you could hope to find. I’m still playing it precisely because I refused to take a role in its prescribed endgame, where the gritty world unfurls a host of gritty decisions to make over which gritty faction gets control. Having been through Fallout 3’s cartoony wrap-ups, I don’t think there’s going to be a satisfactory tying up of the game’s narrative strands. Some might say that choosing the most palatable conclusion from a bad bunch is the point of New Vegas, but having spoiled all the endings for myself (to no overall loss of satisfaction), I decided to define my own endgame by taking to the wasteland as an agent of justice, creating an endless, noble quest of subsistence that'll last as long as my actual, natural life.

Modmaker Moburma has made an overview of the mods he created to restore the cut elements from Fallout: New Vegas. Usually things are cut from a game because they are buggy, incomplete or simply do not fit in one way or the other, so having these mods might not make it a better game (although quit a few things have been fixed by the mods), but at the very least you have the option now to find that out. The series involve a total of nine mods.

Thanks CountChocula.

Josh Sawyer has kicked up a new version of his F:NV hardcore mod - head over for the changelog.

Yeah, I don't have a good excuse for why it took me this long to update the JSawyer mod.  But the battle.net outage gave me a nice chunk of time to fix up a few things.  Updating the mod should not conflict with your current save games, but what do I know?

As always, it is located here:

http://diogenes-lamp.info/jsawyer_fnv_mod.zip

G4TV writes about a PAX presentation from Chris Avellone about tying the four Fallout: New Vegas DLCs packs into one story arc:

They knew the player was a courier, often delivered dangerous packages, and had traveled out west into the Mojave desert. Obsidian wondered what would have happened had the Courier delivered their package rather than being shot and having it stolen before the game began. That single, successful delivery would have completely changed the scope and layout of the entire Mojave Wasteland. Avellone and his team wondered about all the other side quests in New Vegas, and what if even a small percentage of them had the same world-shattering impact? That's when the team began to get excited about the four DLC packs.

Fascinating news via Joystiq who claim Obsidian's contract with Bethsoft for Fallout: New Vegas was a straight payment - no royalties but a bonus for making 85% on Metacritic...which they missed by a point. The original tweet from Chris Avellone seems to have been deleted, so we'll have to take it at face value at the moment:

Business sucks, alright? It's cold and rigid and occasionally unfair. Such is the case with Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas contract with Bethesda, wherein the developer only received royalties if the game matched or exceeded an 85 rating on Metacritic. Leaving aside the fact that Metacritic is a woefully unbalanced aggregation of review scores from both vetted and unvetted publications, agreements like this can leave indie studios -- like Obsidian -- in the lurch should that Metacritic score just barely miss the mark.

Unfortunately for Obsidian, Fallout: New Vegas currently has a Metacritic average of 84, a single point below the average that would've earned the company royalties on its product. "[Fallout: New Vegas] was a straight payment, no royalties, only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn't," Obsidian creative director and co-owner Chris Avellone told one Twitter user.

J.E. Sawyer has posted a .pdf of his GDC presentation titled Do (Say) The Right Thing: Choice Architecture, Player Expression and Narrative Design in Fallout: New Vegas. Josh also includes some responses to commentary he has seen. Since the .pdf is hard to quote, here's one of his commentary responses:

Validating all choices specifically does not mean that they should all be subjectively equal.  I gave two examples of "good" choice agony from Greek tragedy: Orestes and Antigone.  Both of these characters have two choices for one decision.  The choices have good aspects and bad aspects, but they are not "six of one / half a dozen of the other".  The values implied by each choice are subjective.  There is not a single right thing to do for each character: both choices contain virtue and sacrifice -- and both are valid.  Validation also does not need to come through mechanics, though using something like reputation or influence (i.e. an Indirect Reaction System) can make an abstracted validation easier than hand-scripting specific benefits and drawbacks to every choice.

Bethesda, and Obsidian, has released the Ultimate Edition of this game. It includes both the game and the 5 DLCs for 40 US dollars for PC and 50 US dollars for consoles. An excerpt from the release news at fallout.bethsoft.com

With the introduction of the Ultimate Edition Bethesda Softworks presents the definitive edition of Fallout: New Vegas®. This complete package, which includes the Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues and Lonesome Road add-on packs, allows you to experience everything that New Vegas has to offer. To sweeten the pot, you'll be armed with the latest cache of unique weapons, ammo types and recipes from the most recent add-on packs Courier's Stash and Gun Runners Arsenal.

You'll find there are more friends – and enemies – to make whether you're a seasoned explorer of the Mojave, or playing the game for the first time. You'll discover there are also more consequences to be responsible for, and more opportunities to live in glory – or infamy – throughout the Wasteland. The choices you make will be as influential as ever.

Enjoy your stay.

Note that the game is now available in North America, it will be made available on February 10th throughout Europe.

Joystiq has a piece titled The Rhythm of the Quest in Fallout 3 and New Vegas that argues Fallout 3 has more "rhythm" variation than New Vegas, which makes for a better game. As far as I can tell, this boils done to preferring the exploration in FO3 over F:NV - beyond that, I'm not sure I follow the argument. A bit on the underlying premise:

Video games have a certain rhythm to them. Really, they have several different rhythms to them. Musician and critic Kirk Hamilton has written eloquently on the subject, focusing on the moment-to-moment rhythms of games. But there's also a broader rhythm, which comes down to what you spend your time on overall. In Gears Of War, it's simple. You start a fight, you win the fight, reinforcements appear, you beat them, you explore the area, you move along, watch a cutscene, and then pick another fight to start the rhythm again. RPGs have these rhythms too, usually based around quest structure.

The conventional quest rhythm of the modern RPG started with the original Fallout, back in 1997, as so many things did. It was refined by BioWare in Knights Of The Old Republic, and in multiple MMRPGs. The game's main quest guides your character to a central location – a hub – usually a town, where multiple characters offer you quests. If you're like me, you load up on as many of these as possible, and then try to clear them up as efficiently as possible.

J.E. Sawyer has released v3 of his Hardcore Mod - the notes are too long to post here but here's a snip:

v3 Changes:
===
1.8.2012
* THE MOST IMPORTANT BUG HAS BEEN FIXED: "HAS BACKPACK" HAS BEEN CHECKED ON ALL RANGER COMBAT ARMOR AND RIOT GEAR!!!!!!! WOWOWOWOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
* Sturdy Caravan Shotgun added to ShotgunSurgeonWeaponsList
* Super Slam, Piercing Strike, Unstoppable Force, Slayer set to have OR conditionals for equivalent Unarmed or Melee Weapon skill levels.
* Lead Belly now negates ST penalty from eating raw meat (of all kinds).
* IsHardcore condition on raw meat ST reduction removed.  This means you will always suffer ST loss from eating raw meat unless you have Lead Belly.
* Ninja now adds 15% to Critical Hit Chance with Melee/Unarmed (instead of multiplying by 1.15).  Prereq allows Melee Weapons or Unarmed to qualify.
* Lady Killer and Cherchez La Femme damage bonuses increased from 10% to 15% due to proportionally lower numbers of female characters in the game.
* Demolition Expert now has only 2 ranks.  Each rank grants +10% damage and +10% larger explosion radius.  Don't worry; Explosives are still very powerful.

Bethsoft has released a trailer for the upcoming Ultimate Edition, which features all of the DLC packs. Watch it at the Bethblog and here's the blurb they sent over:

This complete package, which includes the full version of Fallout: New Vegas as well as the Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues and Lonesome Road add-on packs, allows you to experience everything that New Vegas has to offer. To sweeten the pot, you’ll be armed with the latest cache of unique weapons, ammo types and recipes from the most recent add-on packs Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners Arsenal.

 Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition will be available in retail stores across North America on February 7^th 2012 and throughout Europe on February 10^th. 

While we're talking about New Vegas' DLC, PC World NZ has a review of all the DLC with a score of 4.5 stars.

Josh Sawyer updated his Fallout: New Vegas mod to version 2. For those interested in the full version, you can view it here.   A snip, as always:

v2 Changes:

1.1.2012

* Logan's Loophole modified to cut the player's advancement off at 20th level. I know that ruins the reference but...

* Broad Daylight level prereq from 36 to 24, Sneak 70 prereq added

* Certified Tech level prereq from 40 to 24, Sneak 90 prereq added

* Just Lucky I'm Alive, Thought You Died, Ain't Like That Now prereqs from 50 to 34.

* Gum Drops from 1.0 to 0.25 weight.

* Bubblegum from 1.0 to 0.1 weight. Wow!

1.2.2012

* Reverted XP halving to address more comprehensively through iXPBase and iXPBumpBase

* iXPBase set to 275 (from 200) & iXPBumpBase set to 200 (from 150) - Increasing required XP by a little more than 1/3.

* Lowered base player HP (before any bonuses) from 100 to 50.

* Reverted fPCBaseHealthMult change as it had no obvious effect.

* Lowered fADVHealthEnduranceMult from 15 to 10.

* Vanilla F:NV HP formula: 100 + (End * 20) + ([Level - 1] * 5) -- JSawyer HP formula: 50 + (End * 10) + ([Level - 1] * 5)

* Sierra Madre Martini HP bonus dropped from 75 to 40.

TruePCGaming writes they have a "fashionably late" review of Fallout: New Vegas after a massive 250 hours of play:

I’m shivering a bit while watching the credits for New Vegas roll by, and it’s hard not to feel like I just finished the best game of this generation. It’s also hard not to blame such high praise on the simple measure of its longevity. New Vegas took me 250 hours to finally put down, with most of that time spent playing my second character. Two-hundred and fifty hours, man. Think of the things I could’ve done with that time.

What was it that kept me going?  The small stuff. New Vegas has all the ambition, scope, and possibility that Bethesda’s grandiose RPG engine can provide, but is written by the same staff that brought us the mature and detailed writing of Planescape, Baldur’s Gate, and the old-school Fallouts. It’s a stellar combination. Though New Vegas is almost the same game as Bethesda’s version of Fallout, Obsidian’s interpretation of what it means to be an RPG couldn’t be more different. Just note how many more dialogue options you have with a light switch than you do with Ulfric Stormcloak.

J.E. Sawyer has released his personal mod for Fallout: New Vegas, intending to make the game more challenging and address some inconsistencies with karma and alignment. This isn't an "unofficial patch" (or an official one, for that matter) and isn't intended to fix bugs or add content.

The full suite of DLC is required - even the Gun Runners Arsenal and Courier's Stash - hopefully you can pick them up cheap if you don't have them. Grab the mod file here direct from Josh's personal site.

Here's the short version of the changelog from his Formspring postings (full notes are included with the file):

It's mostly general balance adjustments I couldn't do for various technical/time reasons, plus some general "make the Hardcore game harder" adjustments. I've made a couple hundred adjustments, but the most significant are probably:

* Max level with all DLCs installed is 35.
* XP rate is halved.
* Base player health is quartered and level-gained health is reduced by 25%.
* Base Carry Weight from 150 to 50 (related perks/things have also been adjusted).
* Energy Weapon ammo weighs less than its nearest equivalent Guns ammo.
* Energy Weapon durability is in the same ballpark as Guns durability.
* Medium Armor has a small amount of DR proportional to its DT.
* Heavy Armor has even more DR proportional to its DT.
* Power Armor does not require a perk, but if you have the perk, the weight of the armor is essentially negated.
* Karma/Alignment values adjusted all over.
* H2O/FOD/SLP rates doubled, but the first threshold is moved from 200 to 400 (statuses roll over ever 150 after).
* Water and Food drop rates on NPCs is dramatically lower. It is difficult to stay out of Dehydration/Starvation by looting enemies.
* Water/Nuka-Cola/Sunset Sarsaparilla heal much less, but now all restore H2O (alcohols will as well, but at lowered values).
* Default Stimpaks are uncommon. A new variant, Stimpak, Expired is the default. It is not that great.
* The player's Workbench recipe now makes Stimpak, Homemade. It is better than Expired, worse than default Stimpaks, and has the PE penalty from Healing Powder.
* All Stimpaks have weight.
* Pre-Order items have been adjusted to be more well-balanced and not worth that much if you rush to Chet's to trade them in.
* A bunch of fixes I couldn't make during development because of load order conflicts, time, etc. E.g.: Automatic Rifle spread re-adjustment, putting the Police Pistol on the Cowboy List, Bozar on Grunt, Junk Rounds are now actual ammo variants you can make, etc.
* Some other stuff.

It requires a load order manager (must load after all retail .esms) and every single DLC, including GRA and the pre-order packs.

Note that Josh has done around 20 hours of testing but makes no guarantees:

* I played with this mod for about 20 hours.  That's the extent of its testing.  Really.  BEWARE.

* This is not official and it's not a patch.  If it disintegrates your game, do a Kareem and skyhook the .esp into your Recycle Bin.

* I didn't add any huge new things because that wasn't really the point of the mod.

* I avoided anything that involved heavy scripting because I am bad at scripting and didn't want to blow everything up.

* Will probably conflict with some of your 10,000 other mods.  Sorry.

GameBanshee has kicked up the second part of their Fallout: New Vegas post-mortem interview with Chris Avellone:

You've mentioned Zelazny's Damnation Alley as a source of inspiration for Lonesome Road. That story took place decades after the apocalypse, and indeed Lonesome Road is the most recently apocalyptic area ever seen in a Fallout game. Was this intentional after the post-post-apocalyptic atmosphere of New Vegas? Is this a direction you've been wanting to take for some time?

My only intention was I wanted the player to feel like they were traveling the road to The End. The proper "The End" feel for any Fallout game lies in seeing the wreckage of the world before, all its architecture twisted and cracked and flooded with invisible fires, radiation, and seeing the grave of the world that was. Your road started here, it leads back there, and at the end, you get to see what your journey meant to someone else - and hopefully, decide what it means to you. There are countless ripples that stem from the Divide. Without it, you never would have found the Sierra Madre, encountered Christine, Elijah, and Ulysses, seen Big MT, and more. From one simple act, countless others were born.

Lastly, I wanted to nuke the Fallout world to reset things. NCR's getting a bit big, and it's making things too civilized. Lonesome Road was a way of resetting the culture clock.

Chris Avellone sat down with Gamebanshee to discuss Fallout New Vegas and the DLCs. The interview is separated into two parts. This is part mostly goes over the DLCs for the game. Here's a snippet from this excellent interview:

Each of the DLCs you've released takes a different approach in both gameplay and setting. What steps did you take to ensure that each one retained a consistent feel with New Vegas, as well as Fallout in general?

We recognized each DLC had to set itself apart, but still fit in the universe. There were a few steps we took, some resource-dependent, others more design-dependent:

- We set up narrative and visual hooks in the Mojave that would tie to the DLCs, whether players recognized them (the Canyon Wreckage was pretty obvious) or only in retrospect (Sierra Madre billboards and posters, Burned Man graffiti and dialogues).

- With respect to the narrative, we made sure we laid the foundation for Ulysses with Nash in Primm to establish the mystery for Lonesome Road, there were plenty of references to the Burned Man in Honest Hearts in the loading screens and in character dialogue that Josh Sawyer (NV Project Director) took care to place in, and I fleshed out the Elijah hooks with Veronica in coordination with Eric Fenstermaker and sat in on Felicia Day's voice recording session for her backstory with Elijah to make sure it connected to Dead Money (although we had to mask the references in the GECK so it didn't spoil what was to come). Eric also helped by setting up evidence of Elijah's path with the bomb collar victims in the Mojave as well.

- Old World Blues was the anomaly, it took everything in the Mojave I thought was odd and tried to give a logical underpinning for it (Cazadores, Nightstalkers), so in essence, Old World Blues was a way of pulling back the curtain and see additional support structure for creatures and events in the Mojave.

- One element of consistency that was resource-dependent was using the existing architecture that had been established both in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, both terrain and actual buildings. We did make an effort to try and use these architectural building blocks in new ways (Lonesome Road being the best example). Seeing consistent architectural styles and props go a long way to making you feel like you're sharing the same space as the Mojave even if other elements of the DLC are new (atmospheric changes such as rain, toxic clouds, dust storms, and so on).

- I do believe because some of us had worked with Fallout for so long, that helped maintain consistency as well. Scotty Everts, who built all the maps for Fallout 1, for example, has been constructing the world of Fallout for a good chunk of his design career, so having his eyes on the New Vegas and DLC terrain was a plus as well.

If you didn't grab the Collector's Edition of Fallout: New Vegas when it was released, you can now download the graphic novel All Roads that Chris Avellone penned for that edition:

We’re pleased to announce that “All Roads”, the 48 page graphic novel originally released in the Fallout: New Vegas Collector’s Edition, is now available via Dark Horse Digital. You can download the graphic novel, which tells the story of some of the characters and events that lead up to Fallout: New Vegas, from iTunes as well as the following iOS site: https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/712.fallout-new-vegas/.

“All Roads” was written by Chris Avellone, the game’s creative director, and created in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics. With cover art created by legendary illustrator and comic book artist Geof Darrow with colors by Peter Doherty, the graphic novel also features art by Jean Diaz (Incorruptible) and Wellinton Alves (Marvel’s Shadowland: Blood on the Streets, Nova).

For more information on Fallout: New Vegas, visit www.falloutnewvegas.com.

Porn and Literature: Examining Game Stories with Puce Moose is an editorial on game stories at True PC Gaming that uses Fallout 3 / New Vegas modder Puce Moose as an illustration. The actual article is spoiler heavy but here's a snip dodging the spoilers:

What’s important here isn’t simply the sheer tragedy behind the story, but how well it was told. It wasn’t told through cinematic cutscenes or textual briefings, but rather through the player’s own ability to seek out important environmental details and decode clues from thick blocks of writing. That the story was interactive, engrossing and immersive without becoming preposterously cheesy in the process means that Puce Moose knows what he’s doing. Suffice to say, it wouldn’t have been nearly as stimulating if told through any another less-interactive medium.

So,  the Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition has been announced for next February:

We’re pleased to announce the Fallout: New Vegas® Ultimate Edition will be available in retail stores across North America on February 7^th 2012 and throughout Europe on February 10^th. The Ultimate Edition comes complete with all of the game add-on content for Fallout: New Vegas -  Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, Lonesome Road, Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners’ Arsenal. 

For players who are seasoned explorers of New Vegas or just getting into the game for the first time, the Ultimate Edition expands beyond the Wasteland like never before with the Sierra Madre Casino, Zion National Park, Big MT research crater and the treacherous Divide now open for exploring.  Along with new areas to explore, each of the four main add-on packs increases the maximum level cap by five levels, ultimately raising the cap to level 50.

Fallout: New Vegas  is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information on Fallout: New Vegas please visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

Gaming Industry News has a review of Lonesome Road, with a score of 5/5 across all categories:

Whereas Dead Money was all about adding a little bit of a horror aspect to the Fallout World and Honest Hearts was a wilderness adventure, Old World Blues was kind of a humorous take on the wasteland. Lonesome Road is all about story telling. The gameplay itself is more or less traditional. You will be fighting in urban and suburban environments and inside some underground places, even high on a freeway overpass at one point. Your goal is to get from one end of The Divide to the other, and let's hope you have your walking shoes ready, because it's a big place.

CountChocula writes Fallout: New Vegas has won Best RPG in the Golden Joystick Awards. The Witcher 2 and Dragon Age 2 took out second and third places, apparently.

The LazyAssGamer sent us a submission but there was no link, so I'm going to assume it was their three-part series on Fallout: New Vegas mods - for example:

Fellout

This mods main features are a change to the world to make it seem harsher and, my particular favorite part of this mod, makes the night MUCH darker and almost stops night travel unless you take the correct perks or find some other way to see. I suggest downloading the optional fix for the friend of the night perk included with this mod or the perk will be basically useless, activate it after the main part. If you wish to use the dlc addons activate them after the main part and place them after it in the list. If using this with Nevada Skies activate this after Nevada Skies and place it after NS in the list.

A Lonesome Road review from TruePCGaming, who weren't impressed at all:

Lonesome Road lasted this reviewer about six hours and most of it was a chore to play through. With that being said, it’s not quite worth the $10. But you know what is? The other DLCs. The pervading dullness of Lonesome Road is made only more obvious when compared to the life and energy that is found in Obsidian’s other DLC chapters. However, it’s not all bad. It had some good moments—most of which involved some truly desperate, white-knuckle combat against the high-level Tunnelers and Deathclaws. But for the most part, Lonesome Road’s evident dullness does more to red-flag it as the weakest link in New Vegas’ DLC chain than showcase it as a worthy purchase. One last word of advice: Lonesome Road is intended for players leveled 25 or higher.

Time for a couple of Lonesome Road updates. Hardware Heaven has a review spanning all the DLC and awarding a Gold Medal, while IncGamers says 7/10. Here's a snip from the latter:

One of the bigger strides taken by the DLC is in fleshing out your character's past. The courier character has never been a pure 'blank slate' (as he or she clearly has a past and receives hints about it throughout New Vegas), but this is the first time when an event in 'your' life has been revealed in a semi-detailed way. This reveal adds convenient history between yourself and Ulysses and provides some explanation for his actions towards you. As a narrative device it does its job, but it feels a bit jarring to suddenly have an 'off camera' event imposed upon you like that.

Another announcement from Bethsoft with both Courier's Stash and Gun Runners Arsenal DLCs released:

We’re pleased to announce that Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners’ Arsenal is now available for download on Xbox LIVE and will be available later today on PlayStation Network and Steam.

Courier’s Stash (Xbox LIVE for 160 Microsoft points, PlayStation Network and Steam for $1.99) gives players immediate access to four content bundles previously available only through pre-ordering Fallout: New Vegas. The Caravan Pack, Classic Pack, Mercenary Pack and Tribal Pack each offer unique weapons, apparel and aid advantages that will help you throughout your journey.

Gun Runners’ Arsenal (Xbox LIVE for 320 Microsoft points, PlayStation Network and Steam for $3.99) increases the range of unique weapons, weapon mods, ammo types and recipes waiting to be uncovered in the vast Mojave Wasteland. 

For more information on Fallout: New Vegas please visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

As a side note, Lonesome Road still seems to be selling well so currently Fallout:NV DLC occupies three spots in Steam's Top 10.

The Bethblog also has J.E. Sawyers' last GRA preview segment:

Two-Step Goodbye - A unique Ballistic Fist for professional wastelanders only. On a particularly devastating kill shot, it plants an explosive charge onto the target. You’ll know what’s coming when you hear the beeping. You’ve got two steps to get away. Use them wisely. Note: we’ve already repaired and re-sold this weapon three times for friends of people who didn’t heed the warning.

The Bethblog has rushed out three more parts of Josh Sawyer's preview of the Gun Runners Arsenal DLC with More of the Gun Runners Arsenal, GRA Preview Part 3 and Bring the Boom with GRA:

Low Yield, Big Kid, and Tiny Tots Mini-Nukes - The Fat Man. You’ve been carrying that huge lump of meta around for how long, and how many times have you fired it? Once? Twice? Seventeen? Whatever the frequency, it’s still not enough. Trust us, we’re the experts. That’s why we’ve brought you three new Mini-Nuke variants. Low Yield is your “everyday” light payload, good for liquidating irritating raiders or the occasional horde of Nightstalkers on the horizon. Traveling through Quarry Junction? Try our Big Kid variant for extra Deathclaw-eradicating power (warning: range is reduced). Last but certainly not least, the Tiny Tots are the answer to a question no one asked, “What if I want to decorate two city blocks with a scattering of miniature mushroom clouds?”  N.B.: requires GRA Fat Man or Esther. Specialized Mini-Nukes cannot be fired from a standard Fat Man.

The Bethblog has a look at the Gun Runners Arsenal DLC pack due next week. A sample:

Mad Bomber (Perk) - Specialized training is now available for wastelanders with a talent for Repair and a love of Explosives. Learn how to get the most of your Powder Charges, Bottlecap Mines, and Time Bombs! Love Mini-Nukes but hate carrying around a Fat Man? Slap on a Sensor Module and make a Fat Mine! Want to find another use for those heavy Microfusion Cells? With a bit of Scrap Electronics and some know-how, you’ll be hurling MFC Grenades and MFC Clusters in no time! Crafting humble Tin Grenades and even devastating Nuka-Grenades are a snap with this handy perk.

Tin Grenade, Fat Mine - Two ends of the Mad Bomber spectrum, similar purposes: blowing things up.  A Tin Grenade is one of the simplest recipes we’ve seen. Take some ordinary Pistol Powder, a Tin Can, and some Duct Tape. Wrap them up (you put the Pistol Powder into the can, we’re told) and you’ve got a cheap, low-power grenade. How does it detonate? Don’t ask us. If you like the explosions generated by Mini-Nukes (who doesn’t? we don’t want to know them) but don’t like carrying around a Fat Man, you can use some Scrap Metal, Scrap Electronics, and Sensor Module to turn that Mini-Nuke into a Fat Mine. Same explosion, different detonation technique. Warning: be careful about planting these on folks — for reasons we hope are obvious.

Brother None has penned a review of Lonesome Road for NMA. The linear nature and the narrative structure are criticed but the atmosphere is praised. On balance, it gets a modest recommmendation with caveats that not everyone will be satisfied:

The DLC is also very focused. What I mean by that is that it has no side-quests, just its main quests done in a pre-set order. It has no non-hostile NPCs other than ED-E and Ulysses. It doesn't have a lot of explorable optional areas. So it figures this DLC is pretty short compared to the others, I clocked in at about 5 hours, but it is also much denser than the two preceding DLC, you go from fight to fight and dialog to dialog, with no walking back and forth or searching around in between, as opposed to the main game and the preceding two DLCs.

The DLC's strongest point is atmosphere. Unlike the other DLCs, you're given no background through slideshows or expository opening dialogs, you just wander in and have to discover more yourself. The Divide is by far the most thoroughly destroyed area seen in any Fallout. After the post-post-apocalyptic feel of much of New Vegas, it does a great job of giving us a place more freshly off an apocalyptic event, deadly to travel in, wandering through buildings askew (warning: may cause nausea) and crumbling around you. A “Damnation Alley”-esque atmosphere, as creative director Chris Avellone put it, that book's story happening decades after the apocalypse, rather than centuries. There is a constant feeling of danger, and it is underscored very well by having ED-E around responding to imminent threats with whimpering sounds. There's a lot of little moments, such as the first time you meet the tunnelers, you see a deathclaw in the distance attacking one and promptly getting torn to bits. Moments like those really set up the atmosphere.

NMA also has some other Lonesome Road reviews here that we haven't covered.

With Lonesome Road released yesterday, here are the first three reviews we've found. Let's start with the biggest site in this trio, Eurogamer, who score a harsh 5/10:

But it's the big story we're interested in, and it's here that Lonesome Road suffers. Ulysses pops up periodically, speaking via ED-E, and dribbles mouthfuls of mushy exposition into your lap. He talks in the sort of elusive quasi-mythical twaddle that made the later seasons of Lost such a chore to get through, and long before you actually meet him face-to-face, you'll be wondering if all that purple prose is being used to cover up the fact that the story isn't particularly compelling.

Just Push Start is more charitable, calling it "a fitting end" and scoring 3.5/5:

Fallout New Vegas: Lonesome Road is a fitting end for the story of the courier but due to the lack of content/replayability it is a disappointment following the hugely successful Old World Blues. While the story and some of the characters will have you enjoying the experience the rest of the add-on will make that feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment will quickly fade. This is best for those who are heavy duty Fallout fans and those who can look past the problems in the downloadable content.

At the other end of the scale, Empty Lifebar loved it and scores 5/5:

Once Ulysses has made his intentions clear it’s up to you to find him.  Along the way you’ll learn about the past you share and his strange fascination with you.  You and him will have an ending to things, a meeting between two Couriers that will be remembered for years to come.  Your choices at the end of the road have the chance to affect the Mojave, and thus, the rest of your game.  There are numerous choices, and thus several different endings.  No matter your decision in the end, feel free to sit back and relax, it’s been a long journey, but it’s finally over.  Lonesome Road is by far the best Fallout DLC yet, adding tons of new weapons and gear, new combat scenarios, and a well-written story.  The way in which the tale ends makes it feel as though it had always been planned as one of the installments.   One possible complaint regarding the add-on is the lack of characters to speak with.  Aside from Ulysses and your companion, the only voices you’ll hear are that of pre-recorded Holotapes of the long-dead.

The last story-based DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, Lonesome Road, has been released and is available from Steam and the respective console stores (PS3 is delayed for a few hours) for $9.99 or the equivalent:

In Lonesome Road you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of Fallout: New Vegas. Ulysses promises the answer as to why he didn’t take the job,but only if you make one last journey into the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. It's up to you whether you take the job or not.

The road to the Divide is a long and treacherous one, and of the few to ever walk the road, none have ever returned. Is finding answers to your own past worth the risk? Bring all your gear, all your weapons, but leave your companions behind...this is one road you must walk alone.

Chris Avellone has penned a dev diary on the subject, which you can read at Bethsoft. A sample:

Lonesome Road is an artery twisting west out of the Mojave into one of the most dangerous places in the wasteland. The level design complements this - it's like no other road we've constructed for a game before. Bring what weapons you want, what faction allegiances you want, and if the end of the road doesn't beckon you, you can turn away at any time, return to the Mojave... until you're ready to face your past. We're not going to strip your gear or lock you in place. Come and go as you please if history matters to you.

When setting out, the goal was to deliver a Zelazny-style Damnation Alley experience in the Fallout universe (if you haven't read Damnation Alley, I highly recommend it, and recommended the same with our DLC team). Marvel did a more recent take on it with Old Man Logan, and that was a great spin on Damnation Alley as well.

In short, the idea for this last DLC would be the player would be contracted to travel one of the most dangerous roads in the wasteland, the goal a linear one - head for the setting sun, starting at point A, and try to survive to reach point B. In an original draft, we tried to think what payment would work for accepting such a job and what you would carry, when it occurred to us that the player may simply want to satisfy their curiosity about the past and who's been hunting you all this time. So we left it at that.

Chris goes on to describe the Road and Ulysses - well worth a read.

Bethesda has released the third Holotape for Lonesome Road, with the release of this last story-based DLC imminent:

With less than a day until the release of Lonesome Road, we’re sharing one final holotape. After this, you’re on your own to find the rest.

Once more, here’s project director Chris Avellone… 

The past can be difficult to escape from. If you’ve played Honest Hearts, not only will you have heard hints of Ulysses’ presence, you will have seen the results of what he’s done in the past that helped shape the White Legs, from their armaments to their rituals. The knowledge your Courier can find in the Divide can help put the tragedies of the past in a larger perspective.

History follows strange roads, and it can follow you no matter how far you walk. This is the third of several holotapes your Courier can discover in Lonesome Road, and helps shed more light on New Canaan, the White Legs, and Graham.

The rest of the holotapes? They are for your Courier to find in the Divide. Perhaps the history within them holds the key to the future.

Ulysses_WhiteLegs_0001

Bethsoft has released the first trailer for Lonesome Road, the fourth DLC for Fallout: New Vegas.

Flaming Mac blog writer Emilio argues Fallout: New Vegas missed the mark by not embracing the same "Fallout archetype" with the protagonist. Here's an excerpt that encapsulates the point:

The first three major Fallout games follow a narrative that is the core of their immersion and satisfaction. This satisfaction transcends the weapons and action, the joys of “Bloody Mess”, the celebrity voices (Wayne freakin’ Newton!), and even the massive and detailed game world: there is an emotional involvement built on the player character’s background and decision making opportunities.

The essential element for this emotional involvement is a player character (PC) that is initially isolated from the wasteland and naive about its nature. The PC starts in a protected community with the support of family and friends, a familiar environment, and plentiful food and water. There may be tension and trials at home, but everyone knows their life is privileged compared to the wasteland outside.

This safe, stable home is then threatened with crisis: a dwindling water supply in Vault 13, a drought in Arroyo, and political instability in Vault 101. At the command of an authority, the PC must then leave this place – leave Eden – to face an unknown world alone with nothing but a small amount of equipment and resources.

The Bethblog has posted the second Holotape recording for Lonesome Road - here's Chris Avellone's introduction and the link to the .mp3:

A week from release, Chris Avellone returns to discuss the second holotape you’ll discover in Lonesome Road…

The Fallout New Vegas DLCs have been a unique opportunity to do short stories in the Fallout universe, and a rare opportunity to know, for certain, you’re going to be able to do a series of adventures, with a clear ending. As a narrative designer that allows you to do something rare in the game industry – foreshadowing across multiple titles.

As an experiment, we decided to use this opportunity to tell an overarching story in the Fallout universe, and let the player see firsthand the wreckage left behind in the tracks of two couriers, from your Courier, to Elijah, to Christine, to the Sierra Madre, to Graham and the White Legs, to the Old World madness of the Big Empty… and lastly, the road that leads into the heart of the Divide and the player’s past through Ulysses’ eyes.

This is the second holotape your Courier can discover in Lonesome Road, and helps put Ulysses’ journey to Big MT in Old World Blues in perspective. It was another accident sparked by what happened at the Divide, with far-ranging consequences.

Ulysses_BigMT_0002

The Bethblog has the first of a weekly series of "holotape" .mp3 recordings From Ulysses, the mysterious courier that you will finally encounter in Lonesome Road. This is the intro text from Chris Avellone:

Lonesome Road brings the DLC story arc to a close – events that were first hinted at in New Vegas and Dead Money come to pass, as the last of the DLC cast of characters, Ulysses, reveals himself. For a time, we just introduced him through the perspectives of other characters, a description of another Courier who wore an Old World flag on his back, and in Old World Blues, a mysterious figure who marked his presence through graffiti and holotapes left in the Big Empty.

But those holotapes weren’t the only recordings. Ulysses carried more on his journey back to the Divide, and used them to chronicle his past and yours. As your Courier will discover in Lonesome Road, these recordings of Ulysses are buried in the wreckage and storms of the Divide. As you walk the road, you’ll have a chance to hear the history of the courier who has spent years hunting you down.

This is the first of a series of holotapes your Courier may find in the Divide. While we, as developers only knew a few things for certain about your player character’s history, Ulysses can shed more light on past events – and events to come.

Ulysses_BigMT_0001

NMA has collected some comments from J.E. Sawyer answering questions about the F:NV Gun Runners Arsenal item pack DLC. You can read them on his Formspring account or at NMA. Here's the sort of thing you'll find:

I know your not sinking to EA'snickel and diming for clothing and weapon packs that cost a few bucks each but still not a road I want Obsidian to go down. One day just like Mass Efect 2 you'll charge $3 for a few diff clothing options.

I specifically asked to make GRA because I wanted to show players, publishers, and developers that you could make a reasonably-priced weapon pack that added more than two retextures.

Well, that and because I wanted to add some more weapons and ammo types.

In any case, I feel that players will get a very good value for GRA. There's a lot of cool stuff in it.

The Bethblog announces Lonesome Road with be released on September 20th. They also note two additional DLCs - item packs called Courier's Stash and Gun Runners' Arsenal - will be released the week after:

The Courier’s journey ends this September.

We’re excited to share that Lonesome Road, the fourth add-on pack for Fallout: New Vegas, will be available for download on Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network and Steam on September 20th.

In Lonesome Road you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of Fallout: New Vegas. Ulysses promises the answer as to why he didn’t take the job, but only if you make one last journey into the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. It’s up to you whether you take the job or not.

But wait! There’s more!!

Today we’re also announcing two additional DLC packs, Courier’s Stash and Gun Runners’ Arsenal, which will be available for download one week later on September 27th.

Courier’s Stash (Xbox LIVE for 160 Microsoft points, PlayStation Network and Steam for $1.99) gives players immediate access to four content bundles previously available only through pre-ordering Fallout: New Vegas. The Caravan Pack, Classic Pack, Mercenary Pack and Tribal Pack each offer unique weapons, apparel and aid advantages that will help you throughout your journey.

Gun Runners’ Arsenal (Xbox LIVE for 320 Microsoft points, PlayStation Network and Steam for $3.99) increases the range of unique weapons, weapon mods, ammo types and recipes waiting to be uncovered in the vast Mojave Wasteland. Check out a sampling in the screenshots below…

Another highly positive review for Old World Blues, with Stategy Informer handing out a 9.3/10:

I wasn’t that impressed by the previous two DLC packs for Fallout: New Vegas. I loved the main game, but both Dead Money and Honest Hearts felt decidedly lacking. Consequently the latest DLC, Old World Blues, had to do a hell of a lot to impress me. The shocking thing is, it has done. Many times over. It’s not only the best Fallout DLC, but one of the best add-ons for any game ever.

Senior Producer Jason Bergman has posted on the Bethsoft forums that Lonesome Road has been delayed due to "circumstances beyond our control". He points out it isn't a code problem and, intriguingly, hints at more F:NV news coming soon. Presumably a GotY compilation or similar might be one item but it sounds like their might be more to it:

We just wanted to drop in here and let you know that due to circumstances beyond our control, Lonesome Road won’t be out this month. This isn’t due to any major issue with the code or content, but there are lots of factors involved in releasing these things, and one of those is causing us to slip past our intended release date.

We don’t have an exact date yet, but we’re working to get it out as quickly as possible. We’ll be announcing the final date, along with a couple of other interesting FNV-related items in the near future.

I'm going to link via the Bethblog, which has the first screenshot in addition to Jason's post.

NMA has posted the Steam Achievements for F:NV - Lonesome Road, the last DLC for Fallout: New Vegas. There's nothing overly interesting in the Achievements themselves, but hopefully this means the release  is still this month as previously indicated.

NMA has kicked up a review of Old World Blues, calling it "by far the best Fallout downloadable adventure yet". Here's a snip on exploration:

In terms of gameplay, the add-on is quite obviously tailored for exploration: a central landmark is provided, complete with a base of operations, as a reference point, each of the locations has a strong, unique look and a feature distinguishing it from the landscape and strong incentives are provided as a reward for exploration, be it unique weapons, holotapes that expand home base functionality or, at the very least, background information on the Fallout universe. Despite the obvious tailoring of the Big MT, it's not noticeable during regular gameplay; exploration feels natural and any obstacles on the way, such as forcefields, don't come across as arbitrary piles of rubble preventing the player from progressing, but as just that: obstacles to be overcomed. Hostiles harassing the player during their exploration also don't feel like arbitrary inclusions just for the sake of cool, but are well grounded in the story of the Big Empty and work well in its setting.

The Obsidian site has posted a new roundup of Old World Blues reviews, which I'm going to rip directly:

• FPSguru (9/10) - "This was seriously one of the best games that we have ever played."
• Daily Joypad (5/5)  - "...provides some of the funniest lines in any Fallout game/DLC so far."
• VGR - "my favorite DLC for the game so far."
• MSXboxWorld (8/10) - " Full of creativity, an engaging story, and some downright hilarious dark humour..."
• Electronic Theater (88%) - "an experience that comes together as a unique, almost stand-alone expansion..."

The Bethblog has a lengthy roundup of Old World Blues reviews; we covered many of them but check it out if you have to read every review possible.

A small collection of Old World Blues reviews taken straight from the Obsidian news.

GameSpot calls it "great", with a score of 8.5/10:

What would you do if your spine was ripped from your body? What would happen if you had a big gun with a dog's brain? Do light switches get along with each other? These are questions you've likely never thought to ask, yet Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues answers them with more humor and irreverence than is contained in the entirety of the last two full Fallout games combined. In this downloadable add-on, you have a conversation with your own body parts and learn the meaning of the word "sonjaculate," perhaps while dressed in an insecure suit of armor that asks, "Do you like me?" Expect to laugh and laugh often, even as you clobber murderous robot scorpions with a sonic weapon that you can program to sound like an opera singer. This kind of wit penetrates every aspect of Old World Blues, which turns ordinary fetch quests into surreal excursions that cleverly hark back to previous threads of dialogue without calling undue attention to the link. And there are so many bizarre touches tucked into the add-on's nooks that you'll want to turn over every stone and open every door, lest a shrewd secret go undiscovered.

Primary Ignition - 9/10

GamePlayToday - 8.5/10

GameTrailers - video review

Here's another F:NV Old World Blues reviews roundup.

AtomicGamer awarded 9/10 and here's the intro, which sets out their position:

If you're looking for smart, funny, exciting new gameplay this summer, you don't have to run down to GameStop to find it. Get on Steam, PSN, or Xbox Live Arcade and pick up the Old World Blues DLC for Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout: New Vegas. Paid DLC gets a bad reputation pretty often, especially from PC gamers, but it's important to point out that if we didn't have it, we wouldn't get wonderful, smart, themed addons like Old World Blues. The price is a rather reasonable ten bucks, and for that you get hours of brilliant writing, off-beat characters, spot-on voice acting, and more RPG choices and action in the style of the already great New Vegas.

MTV - 4/5:

My favorite piece of "Fallout 3" DLC was "Point Lookout." The reason it succeeded was because it allowed for large-scale exploration, in contrast to the other, mostly-linear DLC packs. "Old World Blues" is just as exploration heavy. You're given free reign to explore the remains of a massive scientific complex known as Big MT (short for Big Mountain). There are a few dozen locations to stumble upon and many of them are completely off the main quest path. If you're the sort that just likes to wander around and stumble into trouble, "Old World Blues" is the DLC for you.

GameSpy - 4.5/5:

Beyond the humor, Old World Blues delivers a welcome challenge steeped in 1950s pulp sci-fi. Step outside of the cozy confines of the Think Tank for the first time, and you quickly discover why Obsidian cautions that Big Mountain is meant for players level 15 or above. Even with my hardened level 40 Wasteland badass, I quickly found myself under fire by .357 magnum-packing Lobotomites while Cyberdogs, Nightstalkers, and Roboscorpions swarmed.

Capsule Computers - 9/10:

Old World Blues may be the third piece of downloadable content for Fallout: New Vegas but it is by far the strongest of the bunch. There isn’t a whole lot changed from your standard gameplay formula but the amount of content added is certainly worth the price of admission. Simply running through the story alone will take the average player around six hours, but with many areas to explore it would be a waste to simply blow through the quirky and enjoyable world that has been hidden away in Big MT.

More reviews for this game have surfaced. I'll quote from two of them and list the rest.
First up is Duck & Cover, scoreless:

The DLC is reasonably long, clocking 12 hours my first playthrough to discover everything, and about 3-6 subsequent playthroughs (summer break, bored out of my head)The new weapons give us new unarmed, melee, energy and traditional weapons. There is a truly outstanding new armor option for stealth players, and various scrubs if you have a doctor fetish. Most of the weapons will feel underpowered, but that's more because of the fact that everything at Big Moutain has either heavy armor or alot of health, take them back to the mojave to REALLY get your kicks.

Then we have IGN 8/10

The gameplay is typical Fallout and Old World Blues increases the level cap by five yet again. You'll be given lots of fetch quests to pursue unless you'd rather wander around exploring or murdering things. If all of this doesn't sound appealing to you, then I'm not sure why you still own the game. Similar to past downloadable contents for New Vegas, it ends with various cut-scenes detailing how the decisions you made along the way affected the whereabouts and fates of the characters you've interacted with.

Australian Gamer, scoreless

Pixi Geek 5/5

Just Push Start 4.5/5

GameBanshee has been able to kick up a review of Old World Blues. They liked it a lot - but the author notes the humour won't suit everyone:

Why do I bring this up? Well, one of New Vegas' most-praised points by the original fanbase was the return to the franchise's roots, casting off much of the absurdity that crept into Fallout 2 and more so into Fallout 3. With that in mind, it's worth saying it straight out: Old World Blues is just plain ridiculous. It's silly, it's hilarious, and often winks at the fourth wall. It grabs hold of those 1950s underpinnings the original series had, and inflates them to the point where Old World Blues feels about as tongue-in-cheek as a game can be. And this, really, is the deciding point on whether you should pick up Old World Blues, because right from the moment you start it, it doesn't let up. As good as it is, I have no problem telling some players that they simply might not like it, because of how close to heart they hold Fallout and how strongly-conceived a vision they may have of it.

At the same time, all the absurdity is handled with a certain amount of class, a degree of intelligence - for every unexpected joke about "hand penises", there's another five or ten obscure references, innuendos, wordplays, etc., and it's all brilliantly well-implemented, tying in with the main characters in a way which brings them well beyond mere comic relief. Upon first visiting the Big Empty, I was a little bewildered at just how off-kilter it all was... but after spending a little longer, I began to realise what a finely-crafted world it really was, the underlying logic behind all the absurdity. By the end, the silliness gave way to a degree of poignancy and reflection, just tragic enough, and it made me appreciate the characters on a level above what I initially took them for. Funny though it may be, Old World Blues' biggest success isn't that it got me to laugh more than any other game in a long time, but that it did so without undermining its own integrity, and did so in a way that was respectful both to me, as a player, and to itself.

Obsidian is pointing out a handful of rather positive Old World Blues reviews.

Gaming Irresponsibly, with a score of 5/5:

This is the funniest Fallout DLC I have ever played. There’s humor coming from all angles: with robots that think you have penises for fingers and toes, a mad drug addicted robot and the egomaniac toaster. Old World Blues is definitely the most fun and entertaining add-on to any of the Fallout series. There are hours of gameplay in this DLC: Bethesda has added 5 more levels to your level cap making it 40, 5 new perks, an extra 4 unlock-able perks and 5 new achievements/trophies. The only bad point I can think of with this DLC is that some of the side quests are rather tedious. At certain points they have you going to four certain destinations then to four more, then to the same four you previously went to, and so on. There is also a tad too much dialogue at the beginning of the game when you meet Dr. Klein, but apart from that it is totally worth purchasing!

The Examiner, with 'A-':

And so, you can imagine how excited we were when we realized that Old World Blues was both A) very, very funny and B) absolutely worth the price of admission.  There are a number of new weapons on-hand (the new gun that's basically a gatling gun with a dog's brain strapped onto the side of it is great fun to shoot), new enemies to slaughter (the mechanized Radscorpions look like Iron Man crossed with, uh, Radscorpions), a ton of locations (35 in all), a great story (we'll get to that in the next paragraph), and the scenery's 300 times more interesting than anything we saw in Honest Hearts.  This is-- simply put-- the best Fallout DLC since Point Lookout.  Yeah, I said it.

A short article at The Controller, with a score of 8/10:

Welcome to Big Mountain where Science is a noun. The third Fallout New Vegas DLC installment, Old World Blues, is upon us. Dead Money was great and Honest Hearts was not, so how does this add-on fare? With an interesting new setting, cool new weapons and perks and a completely different tone, it is a great addition to the Fallout New Vegas family. At times un-nerving and always humorous, Old World Blues is a must have for Fallout fans.

After modest review scores for the first two Fallout: New Vegas DLCs, it looks like Obsidian might have found a winner with Old World Blues - at least judging from these two early reviews at Eurogamer and RPS.

Eurogamer's score is 9/10 and here's a snip:

That blast of entertaining exposition out of the way, you're free to explore the ruined crater in which the facility sits. The plot is minimal at first, unfolding naturally as you poke around and fetch bits and pieces for Klein. Basically, one of the science brains - inevitably named Dr Mobius - has gone rogue and now fills the area with robot scorpions and beams, rambling threats at the rest of his former team. Mobius has also stolen your brain, and the radar fence surrounding the crater will kill you if you attempt to leave without retrieving it.

From there, it becomes the most open DLC yet for New Vegas. The game doesn't nudge you towards attempting the quests in any particular order, and the Big Empty crater is anything but. It's small in terms of square footage but dense in features, with 35 specific locations sprinkled across (and below) its surface. So if you'd rather poke around, discover the enticingly titled Mysterious Cave and tackle the monstrous Legendary Bloatfly, that's entirely up to you. In any other game, this would be a story-punctuating boss battle. Here it's just one of several surprises tempting you off the beaten track.

The laissez-faire approach pays dividends as the story unfolds at its own pace, filling in not only the backstory of the warring science-brains and their mountain retreat, but also other elements of the wider Mojave wasteland. There's a lot of information on Elijah, antagonist of Dead Money, and even explanations for some of the unique flora and fauna of New Vegas. If you want to know who to blame for f***ing Cazadores, this is the download for you.

...and from Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

What really makes Old World Blues a joy though is its sense of humour. It knows how silly it is, and it utterly embraces it. Obsidian’s obviously been playing a lot of Portal recently, but it comes through in all the right ways – the crazy characters, the hilarious back-and-forths between the squabbling scientists, the snide messages on terminals, and even a few bits where you outright enter test chambers to solve problems and retrieve fancy guns. Unlike Portal though, you get full RPG interaction with everyone and everything, letting you fire a few shots back at the arrogant machines – literally or figuratively – and twist them around your little finger – figuratively. Hell, at one point, as long as you’re packing the right Traits, you can seduce a lightswitch.

Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues has been released (in some territories, anyway) and Chris Avellone has kicked up a blog post about the story development for this DLC:

Old World Blues is built around the history of Fallout games we’ve worked on. It’s history-that’s-created-history, with a dash of what might have been from past games, media, and design documents from Fallout 1, 2, and past Fallout projects given new life. From Lobotomites, DNA splicing, Cazadores, Night Stalkers, where-the-hell-did-those-plants-in-the-Mojave-come-from, the scientific enclave of Big MT itself, Proton weapons, and giant robotic scorpions, all of these things formed the nucleus of taking a trip into the past-is-present Fallout universe to see a slice of the Old World that’s been fenced in and feeding on itself for far too long. We wanted you to see the context and homages to the Fallout universe in a scientific preserve, both from the distant Fallout past to more recent adventures in New Vegas and the DLCs. As you’ll discover, Big MT (or the Big “Empty”) is filled with what-might-have-been… and all that was lost that potentially could have made a better world for all. There’s an undercurrent of the blues all around Big MT… but if you’re strong enough, you can change it, and the whole meaning of Old World Blues forever.

Designing Old World Blues was an adventure in itself. It involved taking a trip down memory lane, both in terms of past games and also in terms of 1950s sci-fi cinema to get the exaggerated “Science!” feel, where a great many inventions were atomic and anything nuclear promised amazing things for the future. Usually with an exclamation mark. Over the course of Old World Blues, we watched and paid respect to some of the 50s science fiction films from Brain from the Planet Arous, Things to Come!, Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Collide, the Deadly Mantis, Tarantula, the Mole People (although we pushed some of that out for the next DLC), the Monolith Monsters, and more. There’s also a little Wizard of Oz thrown in for good measure… although it’s in the Fallout context.

IGN has a new Old World Blues trailer with around 1:30 of footage cut together.

NMA has news of a Jason Bergman (Bethsoft) tweet that an updated version of the Fallout: New Vegas GECK mod tools has been released.

In this thread we told you about the upcoming patch for this game. Via his twitter account Jason Bergman thas tweeted that patch 1.4 is out for PS3 users in North America. It is also out for PC users via Steam. The patch is very huge so please go this site to view the changelog. 

There's an update at the Bethblog that has the changelog for the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas patch that will apparently get released by Thursday across all platforms. It's too lengthy to list here so head over and check out the Old World Blues screens in the same post.

In an editorial at The Border House,   Ms. Haitch explains how sexuality works in Fallout: New Vegas. Here's the lengthy intro:

“Why hasn’t some lucky man scooped this bachelor off his feet?”

In the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 3, sex is serious business – so serious, in fact, that it’s generally mentioned in the most euphemistic fashion possible, and you could get burned.

(I may be unreasonably bitter on that one. How was I to know that when I “rented a room” I would lie on a bed with a waitress and then get up again?) Unlike the first two entries in the Fallout series, in which a PC could flirt with and marry same-sex partners, it’s mostly straight as an arrow. Play a female character and you can have the “room rental” scene with the waitress, but there is no opportunity to flirt with the women of the wasteland. A perk gives access to damage bonuses against and special conversation options with the opposite sex, but there is no same-sex equivalent. So you may imagine my delight when, trundling around the wasteland of New Vegas killing wolves and stealing beer bottles, I discovered a new perk: “Confirmed Bachelor”. 

Cue much speculation from my partner and me. Did that mean…? Well, the picture DID have a man looking deviously at another man in bed… But maybe the game makers just meant the damage bonus thing… Wait! There were gay conversation options! There were female gay conversation options! You could have gay AND straight conversation options! That’s right: in New Vegas you can choose to be gay or bisexual. And you get combat bonuses for doing so.

While the focus has obviously shifted to Old World Blues, CPUGamer has a review of the first F:NV DLC, Dead Money. The score is 7/10 and here's a snip:

Dead Money is interesting in that it truly changes things up for the formerly over-confident gamer. By the time I played this content, I was already level 30 and had a deadly arsenal and high stats and skills in most categories. What I found was that excelling in Dead Money required me to develop different skills. I found the need for a higher medicine rating and cannot understate how helpful melee combat skills were. The weapons were few and far between, and the ammunition was also hard to come across. Those who embraced making ammunition and equipment likely had a far easier time that I did at the beginning of this episode.

Two reviews for this DLC for Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas has appeared. First up is

PC Gamer - 66/100

Like the first chunk of FNV DLC, Dead Money, the plot and dialog of Honest Hearts are its strongest features. The two central characters encountered in this open-world tract of Utah desert, Daniel and Joshua, are both post-nuclear Mormons working to save a peace-loving tribe from hostiles, and their passionately argued disagreement as to how to approach the problem creates a real ethical dilemma as you pick a side. Joshua’s history—and his link to the events in the Mojave—is great to read into as well.

Then we have

Thunderbolt Chimes - 5/10

There are around thirty new locations to be discovered but many of them are simply caravan sites or small piers, which are relevant given the setting, but are far from satisfying to an excitement-seeking adventurer. Upon exploring the map’s cave system, you may uncover the most compelling aspect of the DLC: the uncovering of a segmented sub-plot where you learn about a survivor of the war on the verge of suicide, who settled in the area whilst assisting the locals without them knowing.

The Bethblog has been updated with the release date of July 19th for this DLC by Bethesda.
A snip from the announcement:

We’ve received plenty of inquiries asking when we’ll be releasing Fallout: New Vegas’s third DLC, Old World Blues. Today I can confirm the content will release on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on  Tuesday, July 19th.

Prior to release, we will release a new title update for New Vegas. Along with adding support for Old World Blues, the update will bring improvements to performance and stability in major areas.

You can view the 3 screenshots via this Gamebanshee page.

NMA has some concept art and a video interview with in-game footage for Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues, taken from Sony's Qore. The audio is terrible, so be prepared to turn the sound up.

GameSpot takes a look at Honest Hearts, resulting in a 7/10 score:

In the Fallout universe, nuclear war has ravaged the country, but religious faith abides. In Fallout: New Vegas - Honest Hearts, men of God struggle to find peace in a land where strife is inescapable--a powerful theme for a downloadable add-on. The story in Honest Hearts doesn't take advantage of this fertile premise, but that premise still enriches this formulaic yet enjoyable adventure into Utah's Zion National Park. As its name would suggest, some see this region as a promised land, and it's here that two religious leaders struggle to maintain control in the face of a warring tribe that would drive them out. Zion is a big and atmospheric setting for a new adventure, and there's enough new content here to keep you busy for four or five hours as you shoot up charging geckos and get to know the local tribes. That said, Honest Hearts doesn't make a lasting impression; none of its characters, places, or events stand up to those of the main game or even those of Fallout 3's better content packs. Yet, this enjoyable excursion gives you several welcome chances to exercise the power of choice, and it rewards you with new perks, new weapons, and an increased level cap.

GameBanshee takes a look at Honest Hearts for F:NV in their latest review. In the words of the reviewer himself, he is still making up his mind:

Honest Hearts, the second downloadable add-on for Fallout: New Vegas, is a title I’m still having a little trouble fully making my mind up about, as it finds itself disappointing in some respects but excelling in others. On the one hand, it offers up a sizeable new area to explore with dozens of locations, a totally unique aesthetic style, some surprisingly fleshed-out lore, and characters that are both interesting in terms of backstory and gripping as far as their personalities go, but on the other, the overall structure and storyline are lacking much of the drama, intensity and focus that it hints so promisingly at early on.

The Honest Hearts DLC for F:NV has been reviewed at NMA, with a positive outlook overall:

Much like Dead Money, Honest Hearts is primarily story and character driven. The main plot focuses on the conflict between the savage White Legs and the indigenous tribals of Zion: the Dead Horses and the Sorrows. Its enjoyable - but linear - quests have to be completed in a predetermined order and it is not until the end that the player can make some real decisions. However, the amount of subplots and background information included in Honest Hearts more than makes up for the simplicity of the main plot.

I'd collected a couple of Fallout: New Vegas Honest Hearts reviews to post but NMA has those and more, so I'll link to them. Here are two opposing samples:

From Gamespy - 2/5

It's a storyline with promise, but various issues prevent the this expansion from fulfilling its potential. In particular, the bugs of New Vegas are still present, only when you consider the core game was released nearly eight months ago, they're unforgivable. You mean to tell me if I completed the "ED-E, My Love" side quest in the core game, I can't play Honest Hearts? Yes, this bug actually exists (at least, in the PC version). WTF, Bethesda and Obsidian? And various new bugs have chewed their way into the game's code and laid plenty of eggs, resulting in a frustrating, glitchy experience.

...and from GamingLives (no score): 

Compared to Dead Money I found this DLC infinitely more fun and much more on par with some of the previous Fallout 3 DLC. Whilst lacking in depth and difficulty, you can't ignore that it has brought back one of the main elements to a Fallout game: exploration. 800 Microsoft points seems a worthy trade for an average playtime of five hours and although, other than the background environment, there isn't anything new on offer in terms of gameplay, the extra perks, new weapons and additional story relating to the Burned Man are not to be sniffed at - especially for a second playthrough or someone still mid-adventure in the Mojave. I found my playthrough a leisurely one; almost a break from the punishing Mojave environment, but more importantly an enjoyable one. A definite step in the right direction and hope has been restored for the two already announced future DLC content packs.

On a related note, Chris Avellone tweets he has just wrapped up writing for F:NV.

Today, I wrote the last line to be spoken by a Fallout New Vegas character, and can now rest and await armageddon.

IGN follows up their web review of Fallout: New Vegas with a video review, for those that would like a closer look at the game.

IGN has a review of Honest Hearts, with a score of 7.5/10. The story again gets criticised but they still liked it overall:

When considering the $10 or 800 Microsoft point purchase, ask yourself these questions: Do I like Fallout, but need a new place to explore? Do I want a higher level cap? Do I want to know more about the Burned Man? If the answer to any of these is “yes”, then do yourself a favor and download Honest Hearts. It doesn’t change much of the Fallout formula, which is a good thing. The narrative could be stronger and there’s a lack of variety in terms of creatures occupying the park, but these are minor complaints about an otherwise enjoyable time.

A few readers wrote in to say Honest Hearts was released not long after I posted about it yesterday, so head to Steam if you are interested. A bit from the blurb about the game:

An expedition into the unspoiled wilderness of Utah's Zion National Park goes horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion.

Eurogamer has the first review we've seen and the score is a mediocre 6/10, apparently because the story is "thin":

As a side story to the main event, Honest Hearts is forgettable and predictable. Where it justifies its asking price is in the takeaway benefits it supplies to the long-term wasteland wanderer. More levels, more perks, new weapons and new enemies - this is what really benefits the game, and Honest Hearts delivers more than enough to make it a worthwhile diversion for players of all levels. It would just be easier to recommend if the story wrapped around the gameplay additions was more compelling.

Honest Hearts is due for release today and looking around, it seems the X360 version is live but we're still waiting on the PC release through Steam (in fact, I can't see a mention of it on Steam at the moment). Here's a tweet from Bethsoft's Jason Bergman:

Honest Hearts for 360 is out! Go download it! PC should be up shortly. Marketplace link for 360: http://bit.ly/iMSoJy

PS3 version is delayed because of PSN issues.

The Bethblog has the first official trailer for F:NV Honest Hearts, with around a minute and a half of footage to check out. They also have a screenshot slideshow.

Bethsoft has announced three DLC packs for Fallout: New Vegas, with the first due May 17th and the others in June and July:

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS REVEALS DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT PLANS FOR FALLOUT®: NEW VEGAS™

Three Additional Add-on Packs Releasing in Coming Months
for Xbox 360, PlayStation®3 system and Windows PCs

May 3, 2011 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced three downloadable content packs will be released in the coming months for Fallout®: New Vegas™. The three packs will be released simultaneously for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Windows-based PCs.

Honest Hearts™, Old World Blues™ and Lonesome Road™ will further expand upon Fallout: New Vegas. Fallout: New Vegas takes all the action, humor and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes.

Available on May 17, Honest Hearts takes you on an expedition to the unspoiled wilderness of Utah’s Zion National Park. Things go horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave, you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion.

In Old World Blues, releasing in June, you will discover how some of the Mojave’s mutated monsters came to be when you unwittingly become a lab rat in a science experiment gone awry. You’ll need to scour the Pre-War research centers of the Big Empty in search of technology to turn the tables on your kidnappers or join forces with them against an even greater threat.

Lonesome Road, available in July, brings the courier’s story full circle when you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of New Vegas. In his transmission, Ulysses promises the answer as to why, but only if you take one last job –a job that leads you into the depths of the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. The road to the Divide is a long and treacherous one, and of the few to ever walk the road, none have ever returned.

Reviews of Fallout: New Vegas have called the game as “an utterly essential purchase” (MSN UK) and as “addictively, rambunctiously fun” (Entertainment Weekly). The Associated Press awarded it a 4 out of 4 stars and said “Bottom Line: It’s a Blast”, while GameSpy gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and called Fallout: New Vegas “one of the best games of the year.”

All downloadable content for Fallout: New Vegas will be available for download on Xbox LIVE® for 800 Microsoft Points, the PlayStation®Network for $9.99, and both Steam and Direct2Drive for $9.99.

Published by Bethesda Softworks and developed at Obsidian Entertainment, Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, Lonesome Road, and Fallout: New Vegas have been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.  For more information on Fallout: New Vegas, including the game’s downloadable content, please visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

The v1.3 patch for Fallout: New Vegas has issues on the X360, though an update for the update is close. From the Bethblog:

Update (4/29): The update should be available worldwide on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Regarding the Xbox 360 update, we’ve discovered a solution to the issue that’s causing problems with game saves. Updated news on the Xbox 360 update for New Vegas. The update for English versions of the game should be going live later tonight. Exact time is TBA, but it’ll probably be later in the night. For folks playing the game in other languages, the wait is going to be a little longer. When we have a better estimate of what that will be, we’ll let you know.

The promised update for Fallout: New Vegas is now available on Steam and Jason Bergman has updated his previous post on the console releases. As you may have heard, PSN is down, so they don't know here that one is at but the X360 version should be up by week's end.

Fallout: New Vegas Senior Producer Jason Bergman has a rundown of the balance tweaks included in the new patch expected Monday (for PC, later for consoles). Here's the Gun section and head over for the rest:

• Automatic Guns - SMGs, the Assault Carbine, and the LMG are more accurate across the board. They're also more durable. 12.7mm SMG mag capacity increased to 21.
• Shotguns - Buckshot has received a x1.2 inherent DAM mod. This slightly incentivizes using buckshot over slugs when enemy armor is not an issue. Magnum buckshot has a x1.3 DAM mod and a small amount of DT bypass. Spread for many shotguns has been lowered.
• Hunting Rifle, Anti-Materiel Rifle - Hunting Rifle and AMR now have the lowest spread of all rifles. Hunting Rifle RoF increased, Crit Chance set to x2. Anti-Materiel Rifle's Crit DAM has been raised from 80 to 110 to make it more viable when compared to the Gobi.
• Sniper Rifle, Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle - Sniper Rifle and Gobi now have a higher RoF and lower AP cost. Both have x2 Crit Chance. Gobi has increased DAM and much higher Crit DAM over the Sniper Rifle.
• That Gun - That Gun is now a slow-firing hand cannon that does huge DAM firing 5.56mm out of a short barrel.
• Hunting Revolver – Rate of Fire increased.
• Service Rifle - DAM slightly lowered, firing animation changed to the one used by Marksman Carbine, RoF dramatically increased. Spread decreased.
• Silenced .22 Pistol, SMG - Crit DAM and Crit Chance significantly increased.
• 5mm Ammo - Base ammo has 10 points of DT bypass. AP variants have 25 points of DT bypass. This affects the Assault Carbine, Minigun, and CZ57 Avenger.
• .308 JSP - DAM mult reduced from x1.5 to x1.3. x2 CND degradation effect added.
• Lever-Action Rifles - Cowboy Repeater, Trail Carbine, Brush Gun - RoF has been slightly reduced, AP costs have been significantly increased, and spread has been slightly increased. Cowboy Repeater Custom Action RoF increase has been reduced. La Longue Carabine spread has been significantly lowered.

VG247 has spotted a Fallout: New Vegas Game of the Year listing on Amazon (UK). There are no real details, so we don't know if all the DLC will be included, although that would be the usual expectation.

Dead Money for Fallout: New Vegas has been reviewed at No Mutants Allowed. It's a positive piece overall, and they seem to appreciate the emphasis on the survival tone:

While Dead Money in general plays the same as the main Fallout New Vegas game the focus on the player skills are somewhat different than the main game. Dead Money is still an action role playing game, but an important aspect of the game is survival which is implemented in the game through the various hazards and the strong enemies as well as the severe lack of resources such as stimpaks, weapons, and ammunition the player could take for granted in New Vegas. These are very rare and precious now and sometimes it is better to avoid a conflict or try to use a trap against an enemy rather than trying to approach the situation Action Boy style.

Jason Bergman brings news that the next DLC for Fallout: New Vegas will be released soon but they've also been working on a patch:

Hi everyone,

On behalf of all of the hard-working teams at Bethesda and Obsidian, I’d like to give you an update what we’ve been working on these past few months.

Well, here’s what happened: our next DLC release (announcement coming very soon, we promise) has been complete while we worked on getting a patch ready for you all. We didn’t want to just release more DLC before we had a patch that would improve the overall New Vegas experience.

The good news is that we do have such a patch and it’s been handed off to the necessary platform owners. It should be released in the next couple of weeks on 360, PS3 and PC (can’t be more specific than that, I’m afraid, although PC will almost certainly get it first).

So what’s in that patch? First and foremost, optimizations and stability improvements. While there are bug fixes, our core focus was on improving stability and performance. We worked directly with first party platform owners to identify issues, and we have fixed a great deal of the crashes and lockups that people were experiencing. In addition, we scoured the forums and this patch includes weapon balance tweaks and other requested fixes.

We know we’re not done yet. There’s still more work to do, and we’ll be monitoring the forums very carefully following the release of this patch, looking for more issues. We do have another update planned further down the line.

So I’d like to apologize for the radio silence. Hopefully you’ll be pleased with the enormous amount of work we’ve put into this update over the last few months, and will enjoy the rest of our DLC releases. We have some pretty cool stuff coming soon. Stay tuned!

Thanks,
Jason Bergman
Senior Producer, FNV

Some tiny tidbits of (presumably) the next Fallout: New Vegas DLC with Duck & Cover offering a couple of stills from an (as yet) unreleased trailer and the news that Bethsoft has a press event this week - perhaps the announcement is imminent?

There's a short review of Dead Money at GameBanshee, with the author obviously enjoying it:

Nicely, Dead Money has a lot of things going for it.  Most importantly, at least for me, is that it doesn't play anything like New Vegas or Fallout 3.  The action takes place at the Sierra Madre Casino and the villa surrounding it, which has a unique appearance (and possibly even answers the question of what Fallout: Spain might look like), and you have to do odd things like dodge radios and speakers, run through poisonous gas, and defeat enemies by dismembering them or decapitating them (if you don't then they just get right back up and attack you again).  Plus, because you lose your equipment, you have to scrounge around for supplies (which are seriously limited, at least for a while), and you have to use items that you're not accustomed to.  I bet I ate more pre-war junk food in the DLC than I had with all of my New Vegas and Fallout 3 characters combined.

The Vault via Play.tm has some rumours that new Fallout: New Vegas DLC, titled Honest Hearts and Old Bones, will be released around March 22 and April 26 respectively. Word is these will be released simultaneously on all platforms and won't be X360 exclusive.

GameOver has a review of Dead Money for the PC. The reviewer is "conflicted", so the resulting score is 70%:

I’m really conflicted about the first DLC for Fallout New Vegas – Dead Money. On the one hand there is the ancient and honorable custom known as milking it. The same thing that gave us seven Police Academy sequels and the however many books were written in the Dune series after Frank Herbert’s death has apparently resulted in not only four DLC packs for Fallout 3, but Fallout New Vegas (which isn’t all that different from Fallout 3). And now (Wikipedia informs me) there are to be eight, count ‘em, eight DLC packs for New Vegas. Oy. Seriously? On the other hand, given the somewhat limited possibilities of the Fallout gameplay engine as a whole, Dead Money, while not actually breaking out of that mold, manages to bring some fresh tension. It forced me out of the comfortable pattern – meet a creature, activate the VATS, blow its head off, wash, rinse, repeat – that served me pretty well up until now. Then it takes that innovative gameplay mix and smashes it flat with an enormous repetitive sledgehammer.

The Big Download has a review of Dead Money with a verdict of "Must Own":

At the same time, the Sierra Madre villas make it a fresh place that's unlike anywhere else found in New Vegas, apart from everything being trashed and looted. Dead Money's greatest strength is in its story and characters, which might be especially appealing to players that want further closure on the Helios One and Veronica storylines. We loved the idea of holograms wandering around on infinite loop in an abandoned city like ghosts. There are also a handful of clues scattered around indicating what the next DLC expansion will include. Howver, we wish some of the heist elements were a little more involved. For example, one guy's role is to hold two wires together once you trigger the signal. On the other hand, we enjoyed seeing things play out as the crew inevitably turns against you, and all you have to do is set things up so that the Ghost People won't rush him immediately after the task. Furthermore, the rewards of playing through Dead Money are somewhat limited.

GameSpot has a review of Dead Money for the PC, with a score of 6.5/10:

If you were to list your favorite aspects of Fallout: New Vegas, "trap avoidance" would not likely be a top entry. Nevertheless, New Vegas' first downloadable add-on, Dead Money, requires you to make your way through trap-infested streets and corridors, where you must keep your eyes peeled and your ears keen, lest you miss the signs of the game's deadly hazards. The focus on careful exploration sometimes acts as a strength; at other times, a weakness. Escaping a mine-infested street can make for tense progress, which in turn leads to a pleasant feeling of relief should you make it through unharmed. On the other hand, these constant dangers eventually lead to frustration because the labyrinthine and monotonous levels suck the joy out of exploration. Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money too often stresses the main game's worst qualities. For example, it's incredible that developer Obsidian Entertainment thought to include several jumping bits, considering the game engine's terrible, unresponsive jumping mechanics. Fortunately, great voice acting and intriguing new characters provide a counterpoint to the flaws and inspire you to push ahead regardless of the frustrations.

Dead Money for Fallout: New Vegas has been released for the PC through Steam.

Second Letter Media sent in their review of Fallout: New Vegas.  There's no score but the article subtitle of "the neverending fetch quest" sets the tone, although I found the short piece left far too much unexplained.  Here's the summary:

I guess I can stop hating long enough to be objective and say that Fallout New Vegas is a good game. There were several concepts introduced that would have been outstanding had they been fleshed out a bit better. The concept of Caesar's Legion, I thought, was particularly awesome. That was easily the best storyline to me. I could never give a fetch-quest marathon like this "RPGOTY" honors (*looks at Risen review and tries to avoid calling self a hypocrite*), but it can be a very enjoyable experience for folks that like the "choose your own adventure" style of the Fallout series. If you loved FO3, go for it. You'll probably feel, as I did, that it's not quite as good as its predecessor. However, if you couldn't get enough FO3, this is more than capable of scratching your itch until a proper sequel is made.

Bethsoft sent us news that Dead Money for Fallout: New Vegas will go multi-platform on February 22nd, with three more simultaneous-release DLCs planned for down the track:

We have a couple Fallout: New Vegas-related news items that we’re excited to share with you. On Tuesday, February 22^nd,  we’ll be releasing Dead Money for PlayStation 3 via PSN and PC via Steam and Direct 2 Drive.  In addition to Dead Money, we will be releasing three additional add-on packs in the coming months. These packs will launch simultaneously on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

There's a video review of Dead Money over at G4TV, which they describe as a "must have".

A couple of miscellaneous Fallout: New Vegas items with Games Radar posting an a guide to completing the Challenges and Destructoid writing about their experiences imposing their own hardcore rules on a playthrough.  A sample from the latter:

Ignoring these nagging concerns to my sanity, I tossed together a new character, named him, selected a properly grizzled beard, and then sent him off to the most remote corner of the game, at the scenic Mojave Outpost. I dropped all my equipment save for a vault jumpsuit, a simple pistol with a single clip, and one bottle of clean drinking water. Then, finally, I set myself up with the following insane list of “hardcore” changes:

- Difficulty increased to its maximum
- Food consumption increased
- Water consumption increased
- HUD display turned completely off
- No VATS mode whatsoever
- Perma-death rules

If anyone ever doubted the quantity of my nerd cred, I would tell them about the ridiculous charts I made for myself which, along with a little stopwatch, kept me on a regular schedule of food and water consumption. I won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say it made me use up a much more realistic amount of supplies for the energy I was expending trudging through a terrible wasteland.

The Bethblog has released a music track from the Dead Money DLC titled Begin Again, apparently after requests from gamers.  It was written by Obsidian sound designer Justin Bell along with other Obsidianites, so there's obviously some musical talent over there, because J.E. Sawyer and others also had a track in the main game as I recall.

VG247 has posted a snippet of an upcoming interview with Pete Hines as he confirms more DLC for F:NV without actually giving any details.  They also asked about other platforms, which he just entirely sidesteps:

The Obsidian RPG has only been bolstered with one pack so far – Dead Money – but Hines confirmed the common assumption that more content is on the way.

“Oh absolutely,” said the company’s VP of PR and marketing when asked if we could expect more packs in 2011.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a product where we said, ‘Yeah, we’re just gonna do one DLC pack and that’s all she wrote.’ We like to support our products. We like to do a good job of that, and I don’t think putting out one DLC pack would reach that.

“I would say you can probably look for other stuff from us down the road.”

Thanks to Omega for this and several other items.

Omega points out a Fallout: New Vegas Hi-Res mod from 4Aces that increases the major textures in the game by 400%.  I'm not sure it actually looks better but some of you will be far more informed on graphics than I am.

The Bethblog is highlighting Project Nevada, a new mod project from the team behind Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition:

The video above is for Project Nevada, a work-in-progress New Vegas mod that includes plenty of nice features — including unique HUD visors, enhanced vision modes, new scopes, dynamic crosshairs, and even the ability to sprint and tackle (don’t miss the hilarious tackle at the 3:25 mark of the video).

Here's another review of Dead Money, with Pop Matters awarding a score of 7/10:

One of those tired old gaming canards that I usually abhor is the sudden and unstoppable stripping away of all of the player’s gear. Usually this feels lazy to me, but often it’s the only way that the designers can think of to set the stage for the right kind of drama. It happens here too, but I think that the results are worth the credulity straining event. I came into the DLC at Level 26 (this expansion raises the level cap by five) with a ton of great weapons and drugs. It had been a long time since my character had been desperate for ammo and stim packs, so it was fun to be put back into the scrounging mentality that Fallout places the player in so very well. Stuck in a mysterious new environment with a variety of new dangers—poison gas, radio signals that can kill you, and creepy new enemy types—all conspired to create a terrific sense of dread and desperation. While there’s a kind of limited set of new geometry and textures that gets a little repetitive, the Sierra Madre and its environs aren’t quite like anything we’ve seen in Fallout before, which makes for good DLC.

Ausgamers has a review of Dead Money, with a score of 7.9/10:

Immediately Dead Money feels completely different and separate from the rest of New Vegas. You’re companionless, weaponless, cut off from the rest of the world by a purple toxic cloud and no fast travel, and held at bay by an explosive charge embedded in the collar on your neck. You’re at Father Elijah’s beck and call, and he’s gonna make you work for your freedom.

You’re tasked with working through the labyrinth-like Villa on the Casino’s outskirts to recruit three eclectic companions (a ghoulish entertainer, a mutilated mute tech-whiz and a bi-polar super mutant) to help you break into the vault, each with their own motivations, quirks and explosive ring around the collar. The twist is that all of your collars are linked, so if one dies, you all die. That’s one way to build teamwork now, innit? Not only do you have to keep your offsiders onside to stop your head going boom, but outside factors also come into play.

Omega sends in a couple of late reviews for Fallout: New Vegas, one quite positive and the other less so because of bugs.  From GoozerNation:

I find myself using Fallout Wiki a lot. Anytime I start a new quest, that website is my first destination. It’s not to figure out how to do the quest however, it’s to see what kind of bugs I should expect to deal with in the upcoming area or quest. I have avoided entire quests based on either wanting to avoid bugs, or decided my blood pressure was more valuable then attempting the quest for the 14^th time. I should have read these ahead of time, before I realized you can’t modify unique weapons, despite the fact that the game still gives you the option to do so. The end result is a lovely distorted screen that requires you to sell your awesome weapon in order to remove.

These glitches have also forced me to invent new ways to achieve my missions or goals. While amusing at first, repeatedly not being able to do things the “correct” way over and over gets old. Imagine if you were given a Monopoly board, with half the board missing and someone said “Now figure out how to play.” I found myself having to steal plenty of goods from Mick & Ralph’s in Freeside in order to get stuff I want/need.

...and from The Graduate Times:

New Vegas differs from Fallout 3 in the increased importance of balancing reputation with the various factions. New Vegas, like Fallout 2, is a world where humanity is no longer just recovering from an Apocalypse. Settlements have grown, powerful weapons and technology have been recovered and now there are large organised groups fighting for dominance of the Strip, all insistent on waging war, gaining control at all costs and generally not learning from the mistakes of the past. They are often too big to just walk in through their front gates and wipe them out on your own (at least until you reach level 30) and besides, you would never be able to carry all of that loot, so you might need the help of their rivals. Scheming and plotting, setting one side against the other, taking down a faction from within after building enough reputation with them that they practically worship you – New Vegas is a fun game if you have a high Charisma and high speech, ‘Confirmed Bachelor’ and ‘Lady Killer’.

MTV Multiplayer looks at hints in Fallout: New Vegas and Dead Money they think point to future DLC.  They discuss The Burned Man, which has been speculated before, a place called The Big Empty and "the other courier":

One of the characters you meet in the Sierra Madre is Christine. She starts off as a mute, but eventually you discover that she's actually a member of the Brotherhood of Steel. Her mission was to track down Father Elijah, the main antagonist of "Dead Money," and bring him to justice. Unfortunately, in tracking him down, she was captured and held in something she calls The Big Empty. It's here that she was experimented on, as evidenced her numerous scars.

They go on to explain The Big Empty originated with Van Buren - a snip from an old Chris Avellone interview at NMA:

"...my favorite was the Big Empty (the Big Mt. Training facility run by Mr. Handys). There was lots of military-inspired goodness, plus an obstacle course we planned for a player to be able to run, using their different skillsets to outwit the mechanical judges and training officers."

Thanks to Omega for this and a number of other tips.

Here's a couple of conflicting Dead Money reviews.  First, The Adrenaline Vault says 2/5 and recommends skipping it:

Good length and getting value for your money only constitute a solid deal if the game is actually fun to play. So while it’s great that Dead Money is nice and long, it’s just so darn hard and repetitive, that it’s tough to get any real enjoyment out of it. I finished the entire quest and was more happy that it was over than feeling any sense of accomplishment. The game gives you a warning not to even try undertaking it unless you have an experience level of 20 or higher, and they sure do mean it. Also, Dead Money assumes that your character is proficient in skills other than weaponry (i.e. Science, Lock picking, etc.), which isn’t always the case for many players.

On the other hand, The Escapist recommends "buy it":

That's where the knocks on Dead Money end though, because it brings a great deal to the table that is both much-appreciated and sorely absent from previous Fallout titles. Namely: tension. The new enemies, the mysterious "Ghost People," feel somehow more sinister than anything yet devised for a Fallout game, and in any event are surprisingly difficult to kill. This, combined with the first ever genuine shortage of weapons and ammunition in a Fallout game (odd, considering these are "post apocalypse" games), and the introduction of "the Cloud" a toxic gas slowly consuming the Sierra Madre, serve to introduce an element of dread, making Dead Money worth playing for the adrenaline alone.

Omega points out Direct2Drive has a sale with $20 off Fallout: New Vegas (as well as 20% off MMOs).  I'm guessing that makes the price $29.95 for North America but D2D never likes my region, so it shows $54.95 for me.  The details via Joystiq.

NMA points out a discovery at NeoGAF of three Zenimax trademark applications that would seem to hint at Fallout: New Vegas DLC titles.  The first, Honest Hearts, is already known from in-game graffiti but now there's Lonesome Road and Old World Blues.

Fallout: New Vegas has been nominated for the Writers Guild of America's 2010 Videogame Writing Awards, according to the Bethblog.

They also have a roundup of F:NV awards and (favourable) Dead Money reviews, some of which we've missed.  Here's a rip of the Dead Money reviews:

• Battle4.net — 5/5
• Elder Geek — Worth Buying
• Thunderbolt Games — 8/10
• Platform Nation — 8/10
• Capsule Computers — 8/10
• VGRevolution — No Score

GameSpot has kicked up their review of Dead Money for Fallout: New Vegas.  The score is 6.5/10 as they cite frustrating exploration but great writing and voice-acting:

If you were to list your favorite aspects of Fallout: New Vegas, "trap avoidance" would not likely be a top entry. Nevertheless, New Vegas' first downloadable add-on, Dead Money, requires you to make your way through trap-infested streets and corridors, where you must keep your eyes peeled and your ears keen, lest you miss the signs of the game's deadly hazards. The focus on careful exploration sometimes acts as a strength; at other times, a weakness. Escaping a mine-infested street can make for tense progress, which in turn leads to a pleasant feeling of relief should you make it through unharmed. On the other hand, these constant dangers eventually lead to frustration because the labyrinthine and monotonous levels suck the joy out of exploration. Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money too often stresses the main game's worst qualities. For example, it's incredible that developer Obsidian Entertainment thought to include several jumping bits, considering the game engine's terrible, unresponsive jumping mechanics. Fortunately, great voice acting and intriguing new characters provide a counterpoint to the flaws and inspire you to push ahead regardless of the frustrations.

Thanks, Omega, for this and several other items!

Here are four Dead Money reviews, all courtesy of No Mutants Allowed.  Some common themes come through and the scores are pretty consistent.

• Metro.co.uk - 6/10
• GamingBolt - 6/10
• Dealspwn - 7/10
• NowGamer - 6/10

And a snip from the latter:

We just don’t understand the point of releasing this kind of DLC for this kind of game – other than milking more revenue out of fans and putting people off the idea of trading their copy in once the main game is done. Fallout: New Vegas is a game set in a huge, detailed world with dozens of cleverly interwoven quests and a real sense of freedom and meaningful choices throughout. Dead Money is none of that.

Instead, Dead Money is a standalone, linear series of quests set across a few bland, samey maze-like environments, with very little in the way of freedom, choice or fun. It’s a new piece of New Vegas with none of New Vegas’s strengths included. But New Vegas’s bugs, glitches and crashes? Oh yeah, it’s got those.

 The IGN 6.5/10 review talks about some nasty bugs, they've met while playing this DLC.  

Typical of Fallout games, there are performance issues and game-breaking bugs that seriously detract from the experience. There's also a random difficulty spike halfway through that can be really frustrating. The game switches from a stealth focus to combat-heavy, but with such limited ammo and supplies, fighting off waves and waves of overly aggro ghosts isn't much fun.

The review at Eurogamer  7/10 talks about a frustrating experience while gaming; quantity over quality is offered, they think. Here's a snippet where they talk about how the game's elements become annoying:

All these elements are used to herd you along, but they can become annoying – particularly when their use combines with the maze-like streets of the villa exterior. Having less than ten seconds to locate and destroy a radio before your head explodes is exciting the first few times, but by the end it's become a chore and one that reduces one of Fallout's greatest pleasures – exploration – to a frustrating save-and-reload routine.

Gamer Limit is the first site we've seen with a review of Dead Money for F:NV.  The score is 7/10, with the author questioning the value, high difficulty and lack of loot.  Here's a bit on the writing:

In spite of some mechanical issues, the writing for Dead Money is on par with the quality of New Vegas. All of the characters have their own demons to deal with, and I really enjoyed talking to them at great length, as well as dealing with their fates at the end of the package. While your team’s backstory and narrative is fleshed out, the actual quest isn’t as engaging – like the Resident Evil series, the bulk of your information is going to come from various notes and computer logs – not from the events of the main story. While there are a few key tidbits here and there that really bring the narrative together at the end, a lot of players will most likely glance over them. In the interest of not spoiling the game for everyone, I don’t want to talk about the story more than that, as pretty much anything else I could reveal would ruin it.

Dead Money has been released for the X360:

Hi!

We’re pleased to announce that Dead Money, the first downloadable content for Fallout: New Vegas, is now available on Xbox LIVE!

As the victim of a raw deal you must work alongside three other captured wastelanders to recover the legendary treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino. In Dead Money, your life hangs in the balance as you face new terrain, foes, and choices. It is up to you how you play your cards in the quest to survive.

Dead Money is available for 800 Microsoft points. For more information on Fallout: New Vegas or Dead Money please visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

New screens here at VoodooExtreme.

NMA has some details on Dead Money from a recent Major Nelson podcast.  Apparently it will take 4-6 hours to complete, each companion has their own perk, Veronica has new dialogue options after completing the DLC and more.  I like the sound of the nightkin companion.

News via the Beth forums that the X360 version of Fallout: New Vegas has now been patched, following the other versions that received the updates a few days back.

The official trailer for Dead Money has been released and you can check it out on the Bethblog.  Dead Money is due for release on the X360 next Tuesday.

The v1.2 patch for Fallout: New Vegas has hit Steam - this was a ~250Mb update for me.

The Bethblog announces the 1.02 patch for Fallout: New Vegas has hit the PS3 and will follow for the X360 and Steam early next week.  The patch notes are supplied and look like a pretty comprehensive list, although there isn't much actual detail.  Here's a snip, which is followed by some 40-ish quests that have also been fixed.

Top fixes:

• Companions now show up as waypoints on the map
• Companions will always fast travel with you, unless told to wait or sent away
• Fix: DLC error/save corruption
• Fix: Entering the strip after Debt Collector causes crash and autosave corruption
• Fix: Using Mojave Express dropbox can cause DLC warnings
• Crafting menu now filters valid (bright) recipes to the top of the list
• Weathered pistol no longer glitches when applying mods

In addition, this patch addresses issues with the following areas:

• Pip-Boy Interface
• Pre-Order DLC Items
• Reputation System
• Radio Stations
• Companion fixes
• Companion Quests
• Repair Menu
• Caravan
• Weapons and Weapon Mods
• Hardcore Mode
• Perks
• Skills
• Crafting Recipes
• Crafting Menu
• Mojave Express
• Chems/Addiction
• Doctors
• Vendors

Reading the comments on the Bethblog, Matt Grandstaff says the X360 and PC "should be good to go for Monday" after "The team wanted to make some last minute checks on the update".

A sort of second-review-slash-commentary on Fallout: New Vegas is up at IGN, titled Contrarian Corner.  I noticed it in the PC section but the author played the console edition, for what that's worth, and clearly isn't used to RPGs.  Still, he seems to appreciate other aspects:

New Vegas has a traditional video game story, and all of its sub-stories are spelled out with familiar emotions and moments of conflict, but it resonates in a way that film and prose stories are incapable of. Rather than give privilege to an individual story, New Vegas creates an authored environment of interrelations in which players perceive common threads in hundreds of isolated happenings. All stories merge into a world view, rather than a single plot. Most remarkably, every major class of life has a sympathetic voice in New Vegas. The special strain of Super Mutant that's become addicted to using Stealth Boys in an early mission, gains a noble spokesperson in the later game. So too ghouls, various gang members, and factions that might be condemned as bullet fodder in any other game. There is a reason to help everyone, and there is a reason that everyone you meet can be made your enemy.

News via Twitter that the big Fallout: New Vegas patch has been completed and submitted to the various services:

We’ve wrapped up work on the Fallout: New Vegas patch and submitted it. We’ll let you know when it’s up on PS3, 360, and Steam.

CVG has a piece called 10 Things You Must Try In Fallout: New Vegas.  It's too spoilerific to quote, obviously, but the first entry is some examples of the fun if you choose the "Wild Wasteland" perk.

In a lengthy review GameBanshee shed their light on Fallout: New Vegas and reaches the following conclusion:

While I have made a lot of comparisons to the Fallout franchise throughout this review, I haven't really addressed how it compares to Fallout 3. Well, to begin with, it really isn't "just a large expansion pack" for Fallout 3. One might get that impression after a short period of gaming, but if you sit down for a few extended sessions or have even a half-professional gaming eye, you'll soon note that Obsidian's intent in design is much different from Bethesda's in many key ways. These have been described above, and what they come down to is that where Fallout 3 was focused on offering an experience without any barriers for exploration and enjoyment, New Vegas tries to grab back further to Fallout 1 and 2's roots. Not only is it more different from Fallout 3 than a casual glance would admit, it's also an enormous game, easily the size of Fallout 3 in world exploration, and a whole lot bigger when it comes to depth and breadth of quests and factions.

When I start comparing the two, the first notable point of reference is the writing, simply because New Vegas' writing is very superior to Fallout 3's. Fallout 3 is a low standard to begin with, but as long as you don't expect too much from the main story, New Vegas offers some of the best writing of any recent RPG. The fact that it also does so much to improve the RPG mechanics and their effect on the world means it is much closer to being a game where your character build matters, and therefore more of a joy for role-playing enthusiasts than Fallout 3 was.  To put it simply: Fallout: New Vegas isn't just a superior Fallout title, it's also a superior RPG.

Bethesda has released a few details about Dead Money, the first DLC for Fallout: New Vegas. Dead Money is set in the Sierra Madre, an extravagant resort that was going to be the greatest casino in the west. That was before the bombs fell and the place locked down tight:

Dead Money is set in the Sierra Madre, an opulent and extravagant resort that was supposed to be the greatest casino in the west – except that it never opened. Bombs fell before the gala opening, and the Sierra Madre froze in time, its state of the art security system locking the place up tight. Nothing could get in, and none of the guests could escape. Years passed. The climate control and air conditioning system within the facility began to spit toxins into the surrounding city, causing a slow cloud and haze to form over the area - which proved lethal to anyone who tried to explore the city. Only a mysterious group called the Ghost People survived to call the city home, trapped inside what appeared to be hazmat suits and never speaking to their victims... only capturing them alive and dragging them away to the depths of the city deep within the Cloud.

 

And so the Sierra Madre faded from the history books, only occasionally being seen in posters across the wastes, until it took on mythic ghost story status... a supposed "City of Gold" in the Mojave Wasteland where all the treasures of the Old World were rumored to be held. It was kept alive as a late-night saloon story by prospectors who'd claimed to have found maps leading there... and were willing to part with the "map" for a few caps. Or a drink. Or a warm place to sleep.

 

............................................

 

Can you share details on some of the new creatures/enemies players will encounter?

This being an extension of Fallout: New Vegas, players will encounter several unique characters, each with their own motivations, all of whom will have to work together if any of them are going to survive. Aside from just struggling with their would-be companions, the courier will also have to deal with the mysterious Ghost People as well as the casino's substantial defense systems.

Source: Neoseeker

No Mutants Allowed review Fallout: New Vegas mentioning the good, the bad and the following conclusion:

New Vegas is a huge game. I can probably write another 6 pages examining New Vegas’s various aspects, but I’d rather play the game some more. Like any other game, it’s far from being perfect and has many flaws. If you share my opinion that quest design is the most important aspect of an RPG, then you’ll like New Vegas a lot. If you think that RPGs are all about character system and/or combat, your opinion will depend not so much on New Vegas, but on whether or not you liked Fallout 3.

I think it’s an excellent RPG and when it comes to shaping your story and making decisions, instead of following a pre-determined path, New Vegas can easily compete with the original games and is definitely top 10 material. If the combat was more challenging, and surviving in the wasteland wasn’t so disappointingly easy, the game could actually have competed for the #1 spot.

The first DLC available for Fallout: New Vegas has been announced. It is however only available on Xbox 360.

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS REVEALS DETAILS FOR FIRST FALLOUT®: NEW VEGAS™ DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

‘Dead Money’ Available December 21^st Exclusively on Xbox LIVE

November 17, 2010 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that Dead Money, the first downloadable content for Fallout®: New Vegas™, will be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft beginning December 21, 2010.

 “We’re pleased to give fans a chance to expand their experience in Fallout: New Vegas this December with Dead Money,” said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing for Bethesda Softworks. “The release of Dead Money illustrates our commitment to creating entertaining add-on content for players to enjoy in already massive games like Fallout: New Vegas.”

 As the victim of a raw deal you must work alongside three other captured wastelanders to recover the legendary treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino. In Dead Money, your life hangs in the balance as you face new terrain, foes, and choices. It is up to you how you play your cards in the quest to survive.

 Fallout: New Vegas, the follow-up to Fallout 3 – the 2008 Game of the Year – brings this beloved franchise to a location only Fallout could do justice: Vegas.  Fallout: New Vegas takes all the action, humor and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes.

 Reviews of Fallout: New Vegas have called the game as “an utterly essential purchase” (MSN UK) and as “addictively, rambunctiously fun” (Entertainment Weekly). The Associated Press awarded it a 4 out of 4 stars and said “Bottom Line: It’s a Blast”, while GameSpy gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and called Fallout: New Vegas “one of the best games of the year.”

 Published by Bethesda Softworks and developed at Obsidian Entertainment, Dead Money, has not yet been rated by the ESRB. It will be available for 800 Microsoft points.

 Fallout: New Vegas has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.  For more information on Fallout: New Vegas, including the game’s downloadable content, please visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

I'm not sure if this will interest too many people, but you can win a free copy of Fallout: New Vegas from Neoseeker. You tweet a message and you'll be in the running to win a copy of Fallout: New Vegas from Steam. The contest ends November 15th. Here are the rules:

Prize

Fallout: New Vegas (x3) for the PC via Steam

Rules

* One entry per person

* You must be following our Neoseeker twitter account

* Must include your neoseeker username in the tweet

 Users who do not adhere to the rules will be disqualified

How to Win

Tweet the following:

USERNAME didn't get to go to Vegas last time! @Neoseeker I want #Fallout, take me to #Vegas! (http://neo.ly/dk3kWM)

replace USERNAME with your neoseeker username

Draw Date

November 15th, 2010

* Prizes not claimed within 5 days of contact are void; a new winner will be picked

* Winners will be contacted via PM on Neoseeker

Seven editors at IGN provide their favourite moments from Fallout: New Vegas.  Spoilers obviously apply, so no quote.

From the Bethsoft forums:

The incremental update (v 1.2.0) we mentioned late last week should now be up on Steam.

These are the issues it covers.

- Companions now show up as waypoints on the map
- Companions will always fast travel with you, unless told to wait or sent away
- Crafting menu should filter valid (bright) recipes to the top of the list
- Fix: DLC error/save corruption
- Fix: Stuttering with water effects
- Fix: Severe performance issues with DirectX.
- Fix: Controls temporarily disabled after reloading Cowboy Repeater while crouched
- Fixed crash using the Euclid C-Finder while having the Heave Ho perk
- Fix: Entering the strip after Debt Collector causes crash and autosave corruption
- Fix: Using Mojave Express dropbox can cause DLC warnings
- Fixed crash when buying duplicate caravan cards from a vendor in a single transaction
- Fix: Sitting down while looking down a weapon's ironsights leaves player control locked
- Fix: If a companion is knocked uncon. with broken limbs they stay broken on respawn
- Fix for varmint night scope effect persisting in kill cam.
- Fix for giving companions armor that adds STR does not increase their carry weight
- Fix NPC Repair menu displays DAM as DPS
- Having NPC repair service rifle with forged receiver decreases CND.

As mentioned previously, we still have a comprehensive update coming for PC, 360, and PS3.

There's an additional post about potential problems:

After updating to v 1.2.0, if you're having issues opening New Vegas, try re-verify the files.

Quote

1) Open Steam
2) Right click on Fallout: New Vegas
3) Hit Properties
4) Click the "Local Files" tab
5) Click on "Verify Integrity of Game Cache"

If that doesn't work, delete your ini files and repeat steps 1-5

Bethsoft sent us the PR below announcing 5 million copies of Fallout: New Vegas have shipped.  Note that this is sell-in, not sell-through - but the PR does specify "despite the large launch quantities for this title, we have already received substantial re-orders from our retail partners".

Bethesda Softworks Announces Successful Launch of Fallout®: new vegas^TM

Five Million Launch Units to Meet Worldwide Demand

November 8, 2010 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that its highly anticipated title, Fallout®: New Vegas^TM, has enjoyed record sales at launch, reflecting the huge consumer demand for the game. Five million units of Fallout: New Vegas were shipped worldwide for the Xbox 360^®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows®, with a heavy volume of digital downloads, representing well over $300 million in retail sales. In addition, the Fallout: New Vegas strategy guide was one of Amazon’s best sellers among all books.

“We are delighted by the reception Fallout: New Vegas has received from fans around the world,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks.” Despite the large launch quantities for this title, we have already received substantial re-orders from our retail partners, underscoring the tremendous popularity of this highly entertaining game. We believe Fallout: New Vegas will be the “must buy” title for gamers throughout the holiday season.”

Reviews of Fallout: New Vegas have called the game as “an utterly essential purchase” (MSN UK) and as “addictively, rambunctiously fun” (Entertainment Weekly). The Associated Press awarded it a 4 out of 4 stars and said “Bottom Line: It’s a Blast”, while GameSpy gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and called Fallout: New Vegas “one of the best games of the year.”

Fallout: New Vegas, the follow-up to Fallout 3 – the 2008 Game of the Year – brings this beloved franchise to a location only Fallout could do justice: Vegas.  Fallout: New Vegas takes all the action, humor and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes. Fallout®: New Vegas, developed at Obsidian Entertainment, has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.  For more information on Fallout: New Vegas, visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

News from the Bethblog that a PC patch for Fallout: New Vegas will hit early next week and consoles "in the coming weeks":

We wanted to give you guys a heads-up regarding the latest progress on Fallout: New Vegas updates.

We’ve come up with solutions for the Xbox 360 save issue folks are reporting, along with a number of other issues being reported. We’re currently running final testing and certification on a comprehensive patch for all three platforms (PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), so we’ll have something available in the coming weeks. When we have more details, we’ll let you know.

In the meantime, an incremental update for PC should be going up by early next week that will fix the save corruption issues and problems with companions, as well as improve performance for NVIDIA users and resolve some issues reported with Havok. 

A short interview with Jason Fader, technical producer for the game, can be found at Delta Attack. He talks about what does every day, what games he loves, how it was working on the game and much much more. Here's a little snip from the interview:

In games that give you the freedom to be good or bad, which role do you enjoy more?
I’m always the good guy. I tried playing the bad guy once in KOTOR2 and I felt REALLY uncomfortable choosing the “bad” dialogue options. It just really doesn’t fit my personality and I didn’t have fun, so now I only play the good guy. That being said, I occasionally enjoy going on a rampaging massacre… provided I have saved beforehand, of course.

GameBanshee writes they have an art interview for Fallout: New Vegas that was writen prior to release.   Art director Joe Sanabria and lead concept artist Brian Menze answer their questions:

GB: New Vegas seems to come across a bit brighter than Fallout 3, thanks to such elements as the lights on The Strip and the lighter color of the sky.  From an art design standpoint, why did you feel it was necessary to introduce some additional color to the post-nuclear world?

Brian: Some of us, myself included, have worked on previous Fallout titles and have always wanted to introduce a bit more color to the world of Fallout. As an artist, brown sometimes gets very challenging to use over and over again without getting really repetitive, so the artists were thankful that we had an opportunity to add some color to FNV. Though, we tried to keep those splashes of color where it looked natural, as we didn't want to make Fallout into something else. Fallout has a very distinct look and we, of course, wanted to maintain that.

Joe: I work with the project director, associate producers, level designers, programmers and on occasion the sound designers on a daily bases.

To bring an idea from a concept to in-game, can range from simple to pretty complicated. A complex concept like say the Strip, will require a team to coordinate on a bunch of tasks, over a few months.

To keep it manageable we break up the work into a series of small goals. In the case with the Strip, at first we just focus on the scale of the structures and the layout, afterwards we then focus on getting the textures and materials dialed in, and then work on setting up the lights and adding AI and scripted events etc. During which we are making optimizations to the art and design to make sure it's running without any issues.

...and Duck and Cover let us know about their short story contest.  We might be bit late now but timezones do that sometimes:

Today is the last day to enter DAC's short story competition for a chance to win a copy of Fallout: New Vegas for the PS3 or Xbox. Go here to see the details of the contest and submit it before midnight GMT tonight!

You still have 2 more days to answer the trivia questions, so get cracking! 

The Bethblog has a Tips, Mods and More post that rounds up some of the "best of..." mod articles and so on around the web.  We've posted most of them previously but if you missed them or need some tips, head over.

PCGamer offered up their picks for the 25 best mods for Fallout: New Vegas. I did not expect to see these kinds of lists for at least another month or so, but it seems like we have some busy bees out there.

#25 Looks to me as the best out of the bunch next to Fellout. I'll be using this one on my next playthrough if it's compatible with Arwen's mod.

25. Wasteland Unlocked

This is an esp file packaged with Black Company's Harder Hardcore pack. It's a giant set of modular esp files that tweak enormous amounts of entities, so I won't recommend you just use them all if you're using some of the mods I've recommended so far, for fear of conflicts.

Just use WastelandUnlocked.esp, and if you don't mind a smarter AI, use SettingsTweaks.esp too. It'll open up the wasteland like never before, adding monsters and wild animals that you'd normally only find at really high levels, spawning rare high level items (or just trash) in dumpsters, and lowering the level requirements for many recipes that'll help you cope with the newfound threat. It also removes lots of stimpaks from the world and replaces them with the bits to make new ones.

IGN has a piece titled Eight Things About Fallout: New Vegas That Would Make Black Isle Proud.  Here's a sample - spoilers apply:

Black Mountain Radio Station

Fallout juxtaposes bleakness with a sense of humour – Vault Boy, the grinning face of post-nuclear disaster, is the symbol of this attitude. Deep in the mountains, up a trail miles away from anywhere else and in a well-protected enclosure, is the lair of an insane super-mutant called Tabitha who likes to wear wigs and 50s-style glasses, and is engaged in a romantic relationship with her service robot. There's a ghoul mechanic kept prisoner up there whose notes detail another super-mutant's rage at his inability to fix his tiny toy car. And yet, behind the humour, there's a touch of pathos in the entries on the employee terminals, which preserve the moments before and during the nuclear holocaust.  

NMA gives their impression of Fallout: New Vegas. Worstusername, The Dutch Ghost, 13pm,  Tagaziel and Brother None post their opinions on varying aspects of the game.

Overall, a positive impression of this latest edition to the Fallout Universe:

Story - The Dutch Ghost

Fallout: New Vegas recycles a lot of elements from Black Isle Studios' Van Buren project, but it is not Van Buren in a different form, telling that game's storyline. It does, however, follow up on the Fallout 1 and 2 storylines to an extent, and narratively is more of a sequel to those games than Fallout 3 was.

The basic premise of playing a courier trying to find out who shot you in the head and why might not sound that thrilling, but it's interesting that where Fallout 1 and 2 were all about saving a community, New Vegas feels a lot more personal. The player doesn't start out with a larger than life goal but rather on a personal one.

.................

Combat and gameplay - WorstUsernameEver

While I personally would have liked to see stats and skills matter more in the gameplay, I was pleasantly surprised by seeing the game favoring different builds - if only to a certain degree - as well as by how difficult it is for me to find a skill that I could call useless. The game's crafting system and the possibility of modifying your weapons are designed in such a way that they never really feel necessary but can be extremely satisfying if you decide to delve into them.

On the matter of the much advertised Hardcore Mode, two things must be said: first, it doesn't really feel 'hardcore', its survival elements are more akin to flavor than something challenging; second, the fact that - in Hardcore - stimpaks take time to heal you forces you to play a little bit more tactically, avoiding the typical 'rush to the enemy and then open Pip-boy and heal yourself' tactic.

New Vegas' primary gameplay element is combat. There's a certain basic degree of tactics to it, with enemies using different strategies, weapons (and weapon categories and ammo types) serving different tactical purposes (the main difference being that between high DPS and high DAM weapons), the control feel decently responsive and the enemies AI routines varied. Unfortunately, it's not always enough, the AI still feels rough around the edges and even with a maxed weapon skill and meeting the strength requirements, the 'feel' of the combat is somewhat off. Overall, provided that you can accept the departure from the original Fallout's design philosophy, Fallout: New Vegas' gameplay is fun.

..................

And Fallout 3 - Brother None

As a Fallout fan, you'll mostly notice New Vegas combines a less nonsensical take on Fallout lore with a kind of light-hearted post-post-apocalypse similar to Fallout 2. The writing is miles beyond Fallout 3 and that's a saving grace for many fans, as is its increased dedication to RPG mechanics. I feel the mechanics and engine's shortcomings keep it from being "the Fallout 3 that was supposed to be", but it's certainly a lot better than Fallout 3, and quite probably the best thing that could happen to the franchise after Bethesda purchased it.

Eurogamer has one of their Face-Off articles comparing and testing the different versions of Fallout: New Vegas.  On the whole, the X360 seems to have the goods on the PS3 version and the PC version is best, although they think it needs a lot of tweaking to get it to run well (not my personal experience).  A snip on the PC version:

As the technology that powers the game is basically so ancient, you won't need a particularly powerful PC to run it. A dual-core CPU along with something along the lines of a 9800GT should serve you well. However, if you do buy the PC game, you should expect to find yourself consulting enthusiast sites to get the game running decently on your setup.

Two years ago, we played Fallout 3 on a 2.4GHz Q6600 quad-core system with 2GB RAM and a 512MB NVIDIA 8800GT. Our New Vegas rig was a 3.33GHz overclocked i7 working in combination with the awesome might of an NVIDIA GTX480 and utilising 3GB RAM. And performance wasn't much better. It seems that the Gamebryo tech that powers both Oblivion and Fallout 3/New Vegas hasn't really evolved much over the years, and manually fiddling about with the game's .ini files is the only way to iron out performance kinks and get a smooth gameplay experience.

Neoseeker writes in with this article on notable mods for Fallout: New Vegas.  The D3D9 performance fix, DARNified UI, FOOK and others are listed.

GameBanshee writes they have their Fallout: New Vegas Equipment Database online.

VGChartz estimates Fallout: New Vegas has 1.4M units in the first week, which puts it 30% higher than Bethsoft's Fallout 3 release at the same time.  I'm told VGChartz isn't particularly accurate and it obviously doesn't include PC download versions from Steam and the like but it looks like a great start for F:NV.  Official figures will be interesting, if they come.

In other F:NV news, Obsidian Area Designer Jorge Salgado gets the Inside the Vault treatment at the Bethblog.

Here's a short review flood to catch up a little on Fallout: New Vegas.  This is cetainly a mixed batch and I'm going to start with some serious outliers.  For those that put stock in such things, the current Metacritic ratings are 86, 84 and 81 for the PC, X360 and PS3 respectively.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Quinton Smith goes straight for a personal attack on Obsidian:

There’s a distant sound that can be heard throughout your time with New Vegas. Quieter than the cheery 1930s pop hits that warble from your radio, quieter even than the chirps of night-time insects, or the long gasps of wind blowing across the wasteland. It is the sound of Obsidian phoning this game in. I’m talking long distance, reversed charges, not-giving-a-fuck.

Tom Chick writes for a new site called Gameroni and gives the game an 'F' for apparently being unplayable on his X360:

Furthermore, if New Vegas worked, I would also talk about how well the story unfolded, the new faction system, the generous range of activities and quests, and how well new elements of Fallout lore are explored. I would hope to have ultimately talked about whether there were any spectacular set pieces like the giant robot in Fallout 3, and whether it ended with something less contrived than Fallout 3's disappointing conclusion.

But I can't talk about those things, because Fallout New Vegas simply doesn't work. I'd estimate my Xbox 360 locked up maybe once every two hours. The problems started to progress from occasional freezes to recurring freezes in the same place. My last ten hours with New Vegas have been spent troubleshooting, or going back to replay from earlier saves in the hopes that I can somehow work around a crash. But my last problem has effectively brought the game to a screeching, inglorious halt. After investing forty hours in Fallout New Vegas, I've come to a point where there is no possible way to finish the game. Let me repeat that: There is no possible way for me to finish the game. The latest technical error locks up the game whenever I try to enter the Strip, which is not only where my companions are kept, but also where the story quest leads. This happens from more than ten separate saved games. Fallout New Vegas is dead.

• Edge, 6/10: "Creatively, New Vegas gets almost everything right. Mechanically and technically, it’s a tragedy. So, it’s a simultaneously rewarding and frustrating game, the gulf between what it is and what it could be a sizeable stretch indeed. Few games have built up a world like New Vegas, and even fewer have squandered such opportunities like this"
• IGN UK, 9/10, "Fallout: New Vegas has strong, clever dialogue as well as good writing and quest design. Characters are duplicitous, foul-mouthed, desperate, broken, suave, or all of the above. The voice acting is much better, too, which really helps carry the game's hundreds of interlocking stories"
• Hooked Gamers, 9/10, "No reservations"..."I think the best way to describe Fallout: New Vegas is to say it's Fallout 3 with a bit of Alpha Protocol, which makes sense"
• Filefront, 91/100, "All in all, Fallout: New Vegas is a triumph for Obsidian"
• Strategy Informer, 8.5/10, "Despite minor disappointments however, this is a very engaging title. Those who missed some of the more trademark Fallout elements in Fallout 3 should be somewhat satiated in this game, as Obsidian really bring that flair to the franchise once again"
• 1Up, B, "However, if you have the patience to make your way through New Vegas in its current state, you'll find a diamond in the buggy rough"
• RealGamer, 9.5/10, "Fallout: New Vegas, looks and plays exactly the same as Fallout 3. But the additions that Obsidian have made push the survival angle even further to provide a much more immersive and authentic experience, and just like its predecessor New Vegas proves to be a role-playing masterpiece."

For those living in the UK, Duck and Cover has two contests in which one of 4 Fallout: New Vegas games can be won (PS3 or Xbox360). You can participate in either a trivia contest or a short story contest.

The Bethblog has news the X360 version of F:NV has been patched, as has the PS3 version in Europe (presumably NA isn't far behind).

Bill Portus from Dark Horse Comics sent in this blog entry of theirs that touches on the All Roads comic and the game itself:

I'm old enough to have enjoyed playing all the games in the Fallout series, and the promise of some of the original crew members who worked on Fallout 1 & 2 bringing the game back to its superior, quality story telling roots brings out a lust in my heart that is matched only by my covetousness for power army and energy weapons. I'm also old enough to be somewhat leery of diving headlong into such an all-consuming game world. Haven't I sworn off this kind of all-engrossing and addictive game play experience? Wasn't Dragon Age to be the last of the marathon gaming? Since then I've limited myself to the occasional relatively short strategy gaming session. I'm far too mature and responsible at this point to lock myself away for day upon day in a virtual world. Right? I mean, it is an open ended game full of colorful characters, mysterious factional intrigue, an amazing array of weapons, and voice acting by my crush object Felicia Day, creator of The Guild.... Time will tell.

Fallout: New Vegas Senior Producer Jason Bergman has posted an open letter on the Bethsoft forums, explaining the recent updates. more to come, console fixes and some bug myths:

As you may have seen, we released a patch over Steam for PC users last night. While we didn’t release a full changelist, the patch contains quest and scripting fixes. It’s not a minor hotfix, it contains over 200 fixes in all. We are in the final stages of testing this update on both 360 and PS3 and we hope to have them out to users very soon.

We are also pleased to say that we have just released a second fix for PC users to address the autosave and quicksave issues that some people were encountering. That particular issue was never seen prior to release and it was extremely difficult to reproduce reliably, even after the game had launched. In order to fix this problem we have had to disable Steam Cloud functionality. It has been turned off, and we won't turn it back on until we're absolutely sure it will not cause any more problems. Please restart your Steam client to make sure you get the update.

We are also working directly with hardware manufacturers to improve performance for certain video cards. This is a driver issue, and not directly related to the game.

On consoles, we are aware that a small group of 360 users are seeing a DLC warning which is preventing you from loading save games. We are absolutely looking into this bug now, along with other reports of save game corruption. It is our highest priority right now that we find out what is causing it. In the meantime, we recommend you save often, and revert to an older save if this occurs.

As far as general memory and instability, you should see an improvement once the patch goes live, but we are continuing to work on this based on user feedback.

We want everyone to know that we are monitoring the forums and cataloging every single issue we see reported. We’re reading forum posts, we’re checking Twitter, and we’re reading Facebook comments. We aren’t able to reply to most threads, but we’re listening. If we see an issue, we have people here trying to reproduce it so we can fix it.

While there are definitely legitimate issues out there, we wanted to take a moment to address a couple of things that have been reported as “bugs.”

The now infamous Doc Mitchell video, while very funny (and horrifying) was not a bug. Unfortunately during our launch day, there was a brief window where Steam was pushing out corrupt or incorrect files. In the event that a user wound up with a corrupt meshes.bsa file, they would get that error. It was easily (and instantly) corrected by simply re-validating your files with Steam. At most, a handful of people ever saw that issue, and even then, only for a moment before fixing it.

We have seen forum posts where people are claiming they are not getting all of their perks. Again, this is not a bug. In Fallout: New Vegas, you receive perks every other level, not every level as you do in Fallout 3.

And finally, a quick tip: Be aware of your faction status before assuming the game is broken. Factions will react very strongly to you based on your current armor. If you’re wearing Powder Ganger or Caesar’s Legion armor, you will be shot on sight by the NCR (and vice versa). Also note that there are groups of renegade Powder Gangers (known simply as “Escaped Convicts”) who will shoot you regardless of your faction status.

Please post any issues you are having to our forums and we’ll do our best to fix them as quickly as possible.

Thanks,

The Fallout: New Vegas Teams at Obsidian and Bethesda

NMA points to some comments by Josh Sawyer on the Something Awful forums about the bugs in F:NV.

Someone earlier asked if we (Obsidian/Bethesda) knew about the PC bugs that people are currently experiencing. I can't comment on every bug, but I can comment on the higher profile ones:

* Auto/quicksaving bug - I can honestly say that we never saw that bug or heard it reported prior to release. I played the game primarily (and extensively) on the Xbox 360 and PC (I also played on the PS3, but not as much) and never saw anything like that. We are looking into it right now because obviously it's (very) bad.

* NVIDIA + water = lol - This is a known issue that was introduced with NVIDIA's drivers as of (I think) two revs ago. It can affect Fallout 3 as well. We are still discussing it with NVIDIA.

* NPC faces = slow framerate - I hadn't heard of this prior to launch, but I'm going to talk to Frank (our lead programmer) about it.

* CTD Apocalypse - CTDs are often very hard to diagnose, so honestly maybe we have seen "your" issue before, maybe we haven't. These are the hardest to figure out. My apologies. We have to take them on a case by case basis.

* Video Card N + Sound Card Y + This Driver = Death/Bad Framerate - Chances are high that we didn't know that a certain combination of hardware/drivers/some other software would result in something bad happening because, quite frankly, PC compatibility testing is logistically really, really, really hard. That's not an excuse, but I hope it serves as an explanation. Anything that seems to affect a significant number of users and is systemic is something we can hopefully look into.

Please don't take my lack of commentary on bugs to mean that I don't care about them. I just want to avoid hazarding guesses and doing remote amateur troubleshooting. Bethesda's support/testing teams are coordinating known bugs and new reported bugs through to us. I know it's frustrating. I hate seeing people experiencing bugs. We are addressing them as we learn more information about them.

Duck and Cover let us know they have a video interview from Comic Con on the All Roads graphic novel for Fallout: New Vegas.

The first patch for the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas has been released, with console versions to follow soon.  The details are vague ("quest and scripting issues")  but here's part of the post on the Bethblog:

Unless you’ve been stuck in a Vault, you probably know that Fallout: New Vegas was released yesterday. We’re thrilled that so many people are enjoying the game, but we also realize there are a few issues that you guys have been reporting.

We have just released an automatic update for the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas that resolves quest and scripting issues. Be sure to restart Steam to ensure the update is downloaded on your next launch of the game. We’re also working hard to make this update available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game as soon as possible, and will let you know as soon as we have the dates they’ll be up.

Also covered by following the link is preorder bonus issues with the PS3 and for Aussies.

Pete Hines has told Kotaku that patches for all versions of Fallout 3 will come out "as quickly as possible", in an response to an article they posted on bugs:

Patches are coming. Pete Hines, marketing man at Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks, tells Kotaku that "We are currently working on releasing patches/updates as quickly as possible for Fallout: New Vegas, for all platforms. Announcements regarding the patches are forthcoming." He advises anyone seeing this head-turning bug to re-verify their files on Steam, as the issue is due to a "corrupt mesh file." Also notable: The head-turning bug here was highlighted two days ago in a blog post by one of the game's producers, who identified it as a known bug that was "eradicated" prior to the game's official release.

There are also a couple of posts on the official forums:

Just wanted to let everyone know, we are currently working on releasing patches/updates as quickly as possible for Fallout: New Vegas, for all platforms. Announcements regarding the patches are forthcoming.

...and on Steamcloud problems:

Spoke with some folks at our office and if you were experiencing issues with Steam Cloud that affected your save games or game settings, these should now be resolved.

To check to see if you're still having an issue, open the Fallout: New Vegas launcher. Make a change to any setting and quit out of your game. If your setting changes haven't saved, quit out of Steam and restart the application. This should then solve the issue.

In the event that you're unable to to load the launcher at all (and it's crashing), delete all of your .INI files for New Vegas and then relaunch the game.

In other news, CVG has a video of the first 20 minutes if you don't have the game yet and want to spoil yourself.

Bethsoft has released the GECK game editor for Fallout: New Vegas (5.9Mb).

In other F:NV news, J.E. Sawyer has penned a dev diary about working on the game, there's a new Strategy Guide blog on collectibles, IGN has a montage video of VATS kills and Voodoo Extreme has a bunch of in-house screens if you're still looking at the game.

Here's Round #2.  Again, the content is highly praised and most of the scores are very good but bugs are a consistent theme - albeit not enough to blight most scores.

PC Gamer sent in their review (84%), which mostly praises the game but chides not developing the technology further and says "I had a lot of fun, but I never uncovered anything as wonderful as Fallout 3’s Oasis or Little Lamplight".

FileFront, 91/100, "All in all, Fallout: New Vegas is a triumph for Obsidian. Once again, they’ve taken on a beloved franchise and managed to do it justice in the sequel. From a purely technical standpoint, New Vegas does have some issues, but a game isn’t all about the technical side of things. It’s about the experience of playing the game, and on that front, New Vegas delivers in spades. It’s easily one of my favorite games of the year to date, despite all of the technical glitches. If you liked Fallout 3, you owe it to yourself to play this one all the way through. It’s a most worthy successor."

We The Gamerz, - Buy - The author hated the original and thought this game would be the same old thing as the last one. He found out how wrong he was. He goes into the setting, hardcore mode (he played it this way), improved Vats sytem, graphics, sound, quests and more. It's a positive review from someone who didn't care for the original Fallout 3.

Charleston Gazette, 9.5/10 - "There are other noteworthy additions, like the ability to start campfires and cook your own food, new magazines that grant temporary stat bonuses, a number of different gambling minigames, the Companion Wheel that lets you issue commands to anyone who may join you on your journey, and plenty of new perks and skills (I highly recommend selecting the Wild Wasteland perk.)"

Hooked Gamers, 9.5/10 - "Unfortunately, the PC version of New Vegas I played wasn't as stable as Fallout 3. It inexplicably crashed a few times, which I thought would prove annoying at first, but it never really bothered me. Frequent quick saves and auto saves ensured I always got back in with minimal repetition."

TQCast, 4.5/5 - "Game-play: At it’s core, Fallout: New Vegas is a HIGHLY polished Fallout 3, but there’s so much more surrounding that core. Yes, the Karma system is still in tact, and it has some implications – but more than that is the faction reputation system they now have. Before you even leave your first town you have a choice to make: save one man from a gang, or help the gang kill him. Help him and you get discounts in the town, and everyone there is hunky-dory with you, but the gang and all it’s friends really don’t like you; help the gang, and it’s the opposite."

G4 TV, 4/5 - "As with any Fallout game, the single-player storyline is secondary to the myriad of sub-quests that you’ll discover as you explore the wastelands. The various gangs and groups will open and close possible missions depending upon your standing, but either way, there’s a huge amount to see and do in the Mojave. That said, the quality of the writing in New Vegas – which is to say, the degree to which these stories will compel you as you play through them – is only a scant shadow of what players have come to expect from Fallout 3."

Game Informer, 8.5/10 - "But even with bugs, glitches, and mundane moments, Fallout: New Vegas is great fun. The gunplay (even with a new iron sight targeting system) is as flawed and inaccurate as before, but combat through V.A.T.S. remains one of my favorite things to do in a game. I love the strategy tied to it, and the payoff (usually in the form of a head exploding in slow motion) always feels great. When it comes down to combat encounters, Obsidian delivered in a big way."

Just Push Start, 4.5/5 - "While Fallout: New Vegas may feel like an expansion to Fallout 3, it offers something that fans of Fallout cannot resist. The lengthy adventure, epic story, and the plethora of quests give gamers more reasons to spend time on the game. It may not win a Game of the Year award but it’s one of those games that we are considering. Fallout fans that played Fallout 3 might feel like they’re just playing an expansion, but it’s still worth the purchase!"

Gamepro, 4.5 stars - "Fallout 3 introduced us to a bold new vision of a post-apocalyptic America and provided one of the most satisfying RPG experiences in years. Obsidian’s worthy follow-up brings the action west to the bright lights of New Vegas, and while it doesn’t perfect the franchise formula, it adds an intriguing new chapter to the series lore."

Gaming Nexus, 4.5/5 stars - "Fallout: New Vegas does seem more like Fallout 3.5, but that’s not a bad thing. Obsidian Entertainment has added some nice features to game and the story isn’t too bad. There’s more than enough content here though to justify the full price tag in my opinion. For fans of Fallout 3, this is a nice purchase as I enjoyed myself back in the world of Fallout again. Considering that each DLC of Fallout 3 costed $10 and averaged around 6 hours of gameplay, Fallout: New Vegas adds 100+ hours for $60 with some improvements making it worth it even if you consider it to be a minor improvement over Fallout 3 in terms of technology."

Straight, Enjoyed it - "In truth, most of the added gameplay features will be appealing only to hard-core RPG fans. Which may be why the game includes a Hardcore Mode. When playing with this setting activated, your character requires food, water, and rest on a regular basis. Ammunition has weight, so it factors into your inventory choices. Playing Hardcore means that you’ll have to carefully manage resources and be more strategic about moving from place to place. It’s not for everyone—it certainly isn’t for me—but there will be those who are up for the challenge"

Feed Your Console, 10/10 - "The game will no doubt get criticism from people who say the graphics engine needs to be upgraded – It still looks great - or ”it’s too much like Fallout 3″… Who cares? Isn’t everything that we loved about Fallout 3 the reason we’re here in the first place? More of everything that worked is always a good thing.

It’s easy to see there was influence in the development cycle from a few key pieces of the original development team from the beginning of the series. They lovingly came back to the wastelands and brought us a masterpiece of gaming. All has been forgiven Obsidian. We’ll pretend that Alpha Protocol didn’t happen."

RPGfan, 85% - "There's lots to like in Fallout: New Vegas. There's a boatload of new content, with players looking at a minimum of 15 hours of gameplay, even if they just try to burn through the base story content. In doing so, they'd be missing out on some great content, though. I'm not a completionist by any means, but Fallout: New Vegas' sidequests and stories are absolutely worth playing through. There's no doubt that I was frustrated by the game's numerous bugs – especially when it barred my progress in the game – but, honestly, that seems to be par for the course for Obsidian. And for my part, I would choose to play a game that is an unpolished gem rather than a polished turd any day of the week. There's not a part of Fallout: New Vegas that could be called a turd, and if you're a fan at all of western-styled RPGs, there is no doubt that this game is worth picking up."

Planet Xbox 360, 8.5/10 - "Trying to play this game without V.A.T.S. is an exercise in reloading your last save. However V.A.T.S. is what sets Fallout apart from other games and is it's unique hook and works so well and is so fun, and that's really the key here. Only when you run out of action points, which isn't often, will you be faced with trying to survive with the clunky unmanageable FPS controls. If this critique is coming off as harsh and negative, I'm sorry, it shouldn't. I actually had a really good time playing through Fallout: New Vegas. During my time I couldn't set the controller down. It's fun and that is ultimately what a game should be about and New Vegas hits it on the head. It's eloquently and elaborately woven mission structure is something that should never be changed, and in fact I would like to see it in other games as well. The Mojave wasteland is packed with memorable locations and characters and is a worthy followup to Fallout 3. I just expected more from New Vegas but in the end it all feels like a giant expansion upon the premise laid out two years ago. Again, not a bad thing if that's what you're looking for, more of the same isn't bad with this formula"

There are more but I'm out of time.  A huge thanks to Skavenhorde for preparing most of these and NMA and the Bethblog for some links.

After having a look around, there are a good number of Fallout: New Vegas reviews out so here's our first collection.  In general, most of the articles highly praise the content but note technical issues (note: most of these are X360 reviews).  The impact varies, and most seem to suggest these are legacy issues similar to Oblivion and FO3, although some seem to have had more trouble.  One outlier see this is little more than an outdated mod but they are definitely the minority.

Joystiq has a positive review but they do take a hard stance on the technical issues and describe the changes made by Obsidian as "cosmetic".  Still, they say the experience is worth it.  3.5/5.

Giant Bomb says "if you can accept a partially broken game, Fallout: New Vegas is well-worth the trip".  4/5.

The Adrenaline Vault says "oustanding" and "excels on all levels, and you’ll want to keep playing just to see how the story unfolds".  They note only two technical issues.  5/5

Atomic Gamer thinks this is Obsidian's best yet and note the "hugely expanded perk system" and the factions. 9/10.

Ars Technica seems to have been hardest hit by technical problems but they still say "Buy".  The pros include 'epic story with excellent writing and acting'.

Gamer's Hell can't get over the dated graphics and the "all too familiar experience.  While most of the reviews note the underlying similarities, Gamer's Hell is alone in not appreciating the content. 7/10.

The first full Fallout: New Vegas review is out and it's a highly positive one from Eurogamer.  Some carry-over issues are noted with the aging tech but, overall, the score of 9/10 speaks for itself.  An early general snip:

New Vegas may jump across America for its setting, and forward several years in the timeline, but it's a seamless continuation of what Bethesda set in motion in 2008 with Fallout 3. And you can put aside any concerns regarding the decision to hand over to Obsidian for development duties on this spin-off; while the studio stumbled with its fun-but-flawed espionage RPG, Alpha Protocol, there are enough former Black Isle people still roaming its halls to make New Vegas feel authentic, right down to the last detail. In fact, those who felt Fallout 3 deviated too far from the series' role-playing roots may even find they nod appreciatively at some of the deeper elements New Vegas reintroduces.

Obsidian could have restricted its ambition to inheriting Bethesda's game engine and turning out more of the same, and most of Fallout 3's sizeable fanbase would have been quite happy. That it's gone to the trouble of developing both the series' narrative and it gameplay mechanics speaks highly of the studio's attention to detail.

Bethsoft has announced the first DLC for Fallout: New Vegas will be available "this holiday season", exclusive to the X360.  I'm going to assume this is a console exclusive, meaning it will be available for PC but not for the PS3, although the PR doesn't specify:

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR

FALLOUT®: NEW VEGAS™ ADD-ON GAME CONTENT

First Fallout: New Vegas Downloadable Content
Exclusive to Xbox LIVE

October 18, 2010 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced plans to develop add-on content for Fallout®: New Vegas™, the follow-up to the 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout® 3. The first downloadable content for Fallout: New Vegas will be available this holiday season through Xbox LIVE® for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

“We’re excited to continue the partnership between Bethesda and Microsoft, and build on the success of the game add-ons released for Fallout 3 on Xbox LIVE,” said Pete Hines, VP of Marketing and PR of Bethesda Softworks. “Fans will once again be able to continue their experience in the Fallout universe with the add-on packs planned for after the launch of the game.”

Fallout: New Vegas brings this beloved franchise to a location only Fallout could do justice: Vegas. Fallout: New Vegas takes all the action, humor and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes. 

“Bethesda set a high bar with the quality of the Fallout game add-ons,” said Matt Barlow, General Manager, IEB Product Marketing for Microsoft. “We have no doubt that gamers will be thrilled with seeing a new add-on pack extend their adventures with Fallout: New Vegas on Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE.”

Published by Bethesda Softworks, Fallout: New Vegas is set for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows on October 19^th in North America, October 21^st in Australia and on October 22^nd in Europe.

More details about plans for additional content will be released in the coming weeks.

Fallout®: New Vegas, developed at Obsidian Entertainment, has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB.  For more information on Fallout: New Vegas, visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

The Bethblog has info on NA stores that will be opening at midnight for F:NV and global digital unlock times:

If you’re looking for a physical copy, Best Buy and GameStop are both opening stores early to accommodate midnight playtime. For a list of all Best Buy midnight openings, check the handy pop-up on this page. If you’re looking to hit up a GameStop when the clock strikes, call your local store to make sure they’re participating.

As for the digital realm, all copies of New Vegas purchased through stores like Steam, GameStop Digital and Direct2Drive will unlock for players in North/Central/South America at 12:01am PST/3:01am EST tomorrow morning. All other territories will see their copies unlock at 12:01 GMT on October 22nd.

Another day, another Fallout: New Vegas collection.

The Bethblog has a new Strategy Guide blog entry titled Cleaving Las Vegas: Enemies New and Old.

Although it is possible to complete your New Vegas experience without personally slaying anyone yourself, much of your time exploring all the backwater settlements, chem-dens, and abandoned ghost towns involve tense interactions with entities that could best be described as “bloody entertaining.” The Mojave Wasteland is filled with a multitude of enemies ranging from the savage to the refined, and by the time you’ve pissed off a major faction or two, you’ll be craving a complete list of every single monstrosity, or faction enemy — along with their Level, Perception, combat skill abilities, favored weapons, and even the likely loot their corpses contain. The guide is an amazing place to find accurate information on those foes you’ll be cleaving, culling, or cutting. But who’s out there in the badlands, waiting to pounce?

If you're near Irvine, California, J.E. Sawyer and other devs will be at a launch event to sign copies.

If you missed the Best Buy Live Stream with J.E. Sawyer yesterday, check it out now.

Yahoo! has the next Video Blog, which looks at the characters.

...and GameBanshee has kicked off their F:NV subsite.

Fallout: New Vegas items are coming thick and fast with only a few days left before release.

Podcast with Chris Avellone at Adrenaline Vault

Senior Producer Jason Bergman answers fan questions on the the Playstation Blog:

Will there be any Vaults to explore in New Vegas? (thanks @LewJ1196)

Yes there are! We have five different Vaults in the game. They serve as unique dungeons, and depending on what path you follow through the main storyline, you may have to venture into one of them to retrieve something.

Audio Director Scott Lawler writes for Gamasutra about The Music of the Mojave Wasteland:

Atmosphere is the key ingredient in the Fallout: New Vegas soundscape. From the long-decayed, echoing gunshots to the dense, layered ambiences, these are the sounds that pull the player further into the post-apocalyptic world of the Mojave Wasteland.

My goal for Fallout: New Vegas was to make sure the music fit in seamlessly with this soundscape and would help to subconsciously guide the player through their 100+ hour experience. In order to do this, the music had to match the atmosphere of the world to a T.

We wanted to pay homage to the history of the series and draw a line between Mark Morgan's musical style from Fallout 1 and 2 and Inon Zur's musical direction from Fallout 3. To this end, Inon brought everything full circle in Fallout: New Vegas with a masterful score that perfectly fit the environment.

Apparently some re-mastered Mark Morgan pieces are in the game, which is pretty cool:

I contacted Bethesda and Mark Morgan about including a selection of remastered Fallout 1 and 2 pieces in New Vegas, and all parties were fully on board. I also felt that some of the Fallout 3 tracks should make a return to help forge a synergy between all of the games in the series.

Via the Bethblog and other sources, here's a handful of new Fallout: New Vegas items with under a week to go until release.

Planet Fallout has an interview with J.E. Sawyer:

What's the expected playtime of New Vegas - with and without sidequests?
I generally only give my own experiences as a reference point since I don't want people to be disappointed by a generic game length number. On my last playthrough I spent seventy hours doing the main quest and a large number (maybe thirty five) of the side quests. It's a big game.

Obsidian gameplay programmer Justin Reynolds gets the Inside the Vault profile treatment.

The 5th video dev diary is up at MSN and looks at the Vegas strip, Fallout-style, and includes comments from J.E. Sawyer through to Wayne Newton.

...and a bunch more stuff in at the Bethblog, including an upcoming Q&A with JE Sawyer for Best Buy that we'll no doubt report on after it has finished.

Gamespot has posted some of the new perks that will be in New Vegas. The new perks are Cowboy, Jury Rigging, Rad Child, Laser Commander, Shotgun Surgeon, Long Haul, Math Wrath, Pack Rat, The Professional and Purifier. Pack Rat makes everything that weighs 2 or less weigh half as much. That sounds good if you plan on carrying a ton of ammo while playing Hardcore Mode.

Plus, Big Download interviewed associate producer Tess Treadwell. If you haven't read the dozens of interviews before or seen the videos from X-Play then this might be of interest. I didn't find out anything new other than they took a few "research" trips to Las Vegas while Josh Sawyer hopped on a motorcyle and drove off into the desert for a few weeks to take pictures of the desert. Here is a snippet from the interview:

In terms of chatting with characters has there been any changes made for Fallout New Vegas?

Dialogue in Fallout: New Vegas is more complex. -- There are a lot more twists and turns you can take in conversations, and there are also a lot of times when certain Skills will open up new dialogue options (for example, you might get an option for your Explosives skill when talking to someone about blowing things up). Even if you won't pass the skill check you'll still see an option, although it'll be obvious using that line will fail. However, failing a skill check line won't bar you from trying again in the future. Faction reputation can also open up new dialogue.

Lastly, I'd say that we have a lot more reactivity from NPCs based on things you've done (or haven't done). Not just as conversation topics, but NPCs will greet you based on your reputation and comment on recent events just as you're walking around.

Bethesda Blog has put up all six clips from X-Play's special report on Fallout: New Vegas. Chris Avellone, Larry Liberty, Josh Sawyer and Joe Sanabria are all interviewed. They talk about the history of Fallout, New Vegas' story, setting, features, art, weapons and characters.

Over at NMA is a video from G4TV with a Fallout: New Vegas quest walkthrough.  One solution for Beyond the Beef is stepped through, so beware, this is total spoiler territory.

While we're at it, The Vault has a nice collection of F:NV forum highlights with answers from the likes of J.E. Sawyer.

A site called Gamer's Guide To Life has a community interview for Fallout: New Vegas:

Is there a new side-quest system, or ambient events like Red Dead Redemption, or are set quests only given to set people?

There isn't a new 'system,' but there are a number of side quests. There are also ambient events that you'll see occurring in the world around you, triggered by various things you've done. We're committed to making quests feel unique and "make sense" in the world, so we always associate quests with specific NPCs.

Thanks to Daniel, who spotted this at NMA.