PAX 2008: The Entire Fallout 3 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Sep 2nd 2008 at 6:00PM }
In the gallery below you can check out the entire guide that they were handing out at the show, and it may very well be the actual game manual. You get 50 pages chock full of tips for surviving in the wastelands, info on the different weapons, details about the creatures you'll encounter, and tips from Vault Boy himself. It even has a map and notes section in the back for your own enjoyment and doodling.
Of course, the best advice can be found on Page 39: "Are you in immediate danger? You are beyond help. Drop this book and run." Update: Download it as a PDF!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OMGOMG @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:08PM
I wonder if they'll make a survival guide on how to deal with the game's terrible dialogue and unintelligent AI.
Mike M. @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:12PM
Please tell us more. I'm very interested to hear about your experience playing this game.
License to ill @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:25PM
I agree the game play Ive seen so far has not impressed me AI acts pretty stupid...
OMGOMG @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:10PM
Mike M, you somehow managed to out-smarm me.
+1 to you my good man.
Jakka(Naked Peach Brigade) @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:08PM
It feels like they're trying to hard.
I don't trust this game because all they ever do is compare it to Oblivion and Oblivion sucked.
Jake11 @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:51PM
screw you. i loved oblivion, jesus i logged a good 200 hours into that game
Geist @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:43PM
I logged 60 hours into it myself. Doesn't mean it didn't feel repetitive and lifeless. I was just dumb.
Mr.ESC @ Sep 3rd 2008 1:34AM
Is just me or the people who say Oblivion suck are the same guys that take Yahtzee words way too seriously and haven't played the game?
Oblivion was awesome and yes Fast Travel basically made things easier but there was a lot of stuff to do and for an RPG that's remarkable and the best I didn’t have to kill boars or something in repetition like every RPG and Jrpg in order to be strong enough to beat the game.
Oblivion was great and this game looks very good although the story is very bizarre.
jangaboo @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:30PM
how dark in setting and mood was Fallout 1 and 2
from watching preview videos of Fallout 3 the game doesn't seem that dark or bleak as I thought it might be, especially during the Xplay show where the leader designer guy shows up and goes into this zoom gun mode and blows off limbs and ugh that whole thing really made it seem sort of joke ...especially with the audience laughing and clapping and the leader designer goes along with it and keeps doing it
Mike M. @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:17PM
I'm guessing you never played Fallout or Fallout 2. They both had a character trait you could give yourself called Bloody Mess that made it so that anyone you killed would practically explode.
This isn't really that much different in tone from the older games. It's meant to be humorous, but its a dark humor like Dr. Strangelove.
Titanium_Orchid @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:22PM
This link has five videos that should give you a good idea of how the game will feel.
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/29/pax-2008-fallout-3-video-explosion-subsequent-fallout/
Eastman @ Apr 6th 2009 4:40PM
Thank you joystiq! I would still rather have the actual guide, but at least I can read to my irradiated hearts content.
Jarret @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:34PM
This seems like a really cool piece of marketing/artwork. I don't understand the above arguments.
Eastman @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:36PM
Same with me, I don't quite understand where the hate is coming from.
Titanium_Orchid @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:29PM
I think I understand where a lot of the Fallout 3 negativity is coming from.
As a person who played Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics, I have very fond memories of the game. I also played Oblivion. After watching a lot game play videos, it is very obvious that the Fallout 3 is a huge departure from the originals and think the experience people will have playing this game will be much different from Fallout 1 and 2.
The game also seems very "oblivion" like because of the engine. The characters seem to move and react in a somewhat "stiff" fashion. I think that kills the level of immersion a bit. Because the originals were text based, I always imagined that the NPC's were speaking and moving fluidly.
Maybe a good analogy is reading a book vs. watching a movie.
That being said, I am super excited to be able to freely explore the wasteland. This game is a definite buy for me.
syrik zero @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:04PM
I agree with you guys. This game is up there this year with games that I want to buy. The game looks fun. The graphics are really pretty also. But I'm still a bit more excited about Dead Space. But Left4Dead already has a strong place in my heart because I have a strong love for Zombies =)
Joe @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:50PM
I played the first two Fallout games and they were fun. I was worried when I heard Bethesda was heading up the dev, but the gameplay vids look great! As for those who say there's bad AI and it being compared to Oblivion, wait until it comes out so that they have had time to work the bugs out and to judge for yourself.
By the way, how can I get one of those survival guides? I know that they had them as swag at PAX, but I live on the east coast and didn't have vacation time (any chance that a Joystiq staffer has a spare?).
BigD145 @ Sep 2nd 2008 7:24PM
The humor is good.
born2expire @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:12PM
Wow, they better overmarket this game now, cuz this game will SUCK!!
Those videos make combat look like a complete afterthough, not to mention Bethesda's terrible character animations, same 3 voice actors, and Oblivion's rejected textures.
Gbogdan @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:28PM
If you think it is going to suck so bad and have already made up your mind that you are going to hate this game then why bother wasting your time and others talking shit about it? I'm so tired of people on the internet constantly hating EVERYTHING. It's fine if you don't like it but jesus grow the fuck up.
Bigboss @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:35PM
^^^ that my friends was the burn of the day
Sesur @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:51PM
Yeah, well they'll still sell a lot of copies; can you do better asshole?
JC @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:41PM
I had a chance to see the Fallout 3 demo at PAX and I was very pleasantly surprised. Prior to PAX I was more excited about Fable 2 coming out - but the demo changed my mind. It's not just about shooting things in a wasteland - it also has a really great aesthetic, a sense of humor, a neat use of objects (the gun with the spikes that pins people to walls was actually built using in-game objects like rail spikes and a steam compressor, for example) and a very cool plot that lets you take totally different directions.
The example in the demo at PAX was basically a choice between two courses of action -- taking a job that would have huge negative consequences for one community, or spurning the job and earning the ire of the faction who wanted to hire you. Either course would affect the quests available and the storyline as a whole. It looks much more cohesive thematically and storywise than Oblivion did. Can't wait for it.
Mr.ESC @ Sep 3rd 2008 1:57AM
This pretty cool I hope it is included with the game.
Reminds me of the Sentry ad in TF2 manual.
NeoK-182 @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:34AM
really hope this is included with the game. if not, looks like i'll just pick up one of the many copies on ebay.
danowat @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:24AM
Love these little promo items, really flesh the game out, and take it a step above it being "just a game".
FTR, I played the previous fallouts, and loved em, I also played Oblivion (and Morrowind) and loved em both, to my mind the combination of Fallout and Oblivion sounds almost too good to be true, sure they are both RPG's, but are very different games, I am not convinced yet quite how the turn based combat system of FO3 will combine with the FPS based combat system of Oblivion, and what advatages / disadvantages one will have over the other.
Other than that, I am well excited about it, sad for a 35 year old ain't it!!!!
8ptstars @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:14PM
The Fallout 3 booth was by far the best, and I'm going to take this opportunity to brag about how I got one of four "Agility" cards during the main theater demo. Most of the cards were good for a poster or a puppet, the agility card got me a full hour of playtime INSIDE the airstream, and a bunch of sweet promo items.
Hats off to Bethesda for being great folks at PAX and giving out such great prizes. I got a private hour of playtime in the airstream, a poster autographed by Gabe and Tycho, a pip-boy puppet, a t-shirt, a bottle of nuka cola, and a sim-tech 1000 (an all black viewmaster with a disk of 3D promo images of the game). Thanks Bethesda!
Gameplay was fantastic. I hated oblivion after playing it for about 10 hours, so I was very worried. The addition of firearms with both the VATS and shooter-style gameplay is excellent and wipes out any concern I had over what I thought was the biggest downfall of oblivion. Taking on wandering mutant enemies and bands of raiders was a whole lot of fun, and the style of humor in the game is very appealing. All of my hesitation about the game has been wiped away, and I'm looking forward to it more than ever.
otterpop78 @ Sep 8th 2008 2:59PM
Wow i have sen a good deal of hate about oblivion and this game. funny since its not released yet alot of ppl are just hatemongering. I just want to go on record as saying Oblivion was the single most immersive game I have ever played. Furthermore it ruined mmorpgs for me. After Oblivion, all he rest was just playing with dolls, if that makes any sense to you. As far as recycled voices, oh well. its not that big of a deal. And even If it was Oblivion with guns(which it most certainly is not) I could not be happier. Call me a fanboi or whatever, but those who are hating, dont have to play it. thats all.
Farfromout @ Oct 14th 2008 5:36AM
Oblivion > Fallout 3 in 1 way: No Sean Bean in Fallout.
Other than that, its fantastic, I have been playing it the last few days. Gotta say, its great.