How do I give (not barter) an item to another person?  The manual says nothing.  Maybe I just haven't gotten far enough in to be able to do this.

6PM lesson:  Just because I can take an item, that doesn't mean I should.  I ended up with a gob of uniforms, and found I couldn't run.  Small and/or useful and/or damaging and/or healthful...these I will always take.  I could probably have outfitted a whole battalion with those uniforms, but to what end?

Yapette:  are you freezing and shoveling yet?  This weather is unusual for you at this time of year, is it not?  Stay warm and well-lubricated.

And I SO hate fire!  I'll keep that in mind Steerpike.

I haven't left the vault yet.  Had to stop for dinner.  I killed the overseer and decided that it might be better to let him live, so after I eat I'll play from a save.  I'm ready to loot his office and hack his computer. 

I will be dropping uniforms, but I hope the roach meat will be good for something later.  There are people still starving in Biafra, aren't there?  "Children starving in Biafra" was what parents in the early 60's used on kids to get them to eat.  Now that I think about it, maybe I should be eating the roach meat to increase my health.  I sure haven't found any water yet, and my stipak supply is dwindling.  And this ain't the time to lie down on one of those awful looking cots and take a snooze.

I solved my sound/voice problem.  I hooked up my external computer speakers, and that did the trick.

My heart rate is better today.  [Image Can Not Be Found]  Of course I only had to kill a couple of people today, and had more weapons with which to do so.  I'm enjoying this game.  I'm sure I'll enjoy it more as I get better at the mechanics of RPG.

And yet, Steerpike, it sounds as if Scout finished the game and you did not.  [Image Can Not Be Found]  So who's to say who's right?  Seems to me that we each take some of ourselves into a game like this no matter what sort of character we choose to be.  Personality, values, habits.  I, myself, tend to keep stuff just in case I need it in the future (I just know I'll need those 10" strap ties for something.)  But I also keep stuff neat and organized.  It seems that that's what I'm trying to do in F3.  I need to find someplace to store all the goodies (and crap, as some will turn out to be) I'm lugging around.

I wandered around Springvale last night.  In one direction I got attacked by dogs.  Who knew that a police baton would be more effective than a gun.  I think I took dog meat with me.  Decided to climb a hill to get a birds-eye-view of the place and immediately got killed by 2 teenaged-looking thugs.  When I saw them I Pip-Boy'd to put on some armor.  Forgot I already had it on, so I actually removed it instead of donning it.  They beat me to a pulp.  Reload earlier save!

I looted a mailbox (didn't see a postal inspector anywhere, so my illegality won't get me arrested).  Picked my first safe.  Got lots of good stuff from both.  I am now picking through the ruins of the houses but haven't met anyone except the thugs. 

I so rarely play games during the day, but I'm getting to like this game enough to spend a good bit of the weekend at it.  As I've said before, I'm a graphics junkie (and these are terrific graphics to my untrained RPG eye), and I love real places.  My daughter lives in Arlington, so I've got the lay of the land, so to speak.  It will be fun to compare the game world to the real world.  I wonder if my daughter's highrise withstood armageddon!  I kinda hope not. [Image Can Not Be Found]

One question:  do I have to find a real bed to sleep?  Sleeping seems like a good way to restore health without using hard to come by items.

Off to do some chores so I can justify "wasting" lots of hours later.

Thanks for the bed info Pokey.  A bed and some water will be what I am next looking for.  I used VATS against a couple of cops in the Vault.  So far in Springvale I haven't needed it since the thug-mugging on the hill.  All the interfaces will take some time to get used to, but time I've got.

Since I am using this game as my RPG tutorial (which is a fancy way of sayin' I can cheat [Image Can Not Be Found]), I looked at a Fallout wiki.  I noticed that there are tons of optional quests that the wiki says won't be listed on PipBoy.  Since I love to wander in games, looking at every little thing, I can see that I will have LOTS of places to wander, and stuff to look at.  In general, taking into account that everyone plays a game differently, and has different goals in mind, is F3 the kind of game that could be played for months if one just wanted to do and see all that there is to do and see?  It certainly looks like the devs put an awful lot of energy into making this a big, wide open, game with much going on.

Last 2 questions of the day:

1.  I know that a container would be mine if I received it through barter, purchase or gift.  But I found an empty container in a house in Springvale that I want to use.  The house is derelict and has no signs of occupation.  Would this be considered an abandoned/nobody-owns-it container?

2.  I made friends (if you could call it that) with Silver.  Could I take a nap in her bed?  I have no way of asking, and it hasn't been offered, but it looks like a fairly safe place.  I thought I'd take a nap in the school, but after killing several of the inhabitants there, one got away from me, so it doesn't seem safe.

I'm much more confortable in the game today.  Killing left and right – with the exception of the 2-headed bulls.  Couldn't kill them, so I ran away.  Made a deal with a peddler.  Only complaint is that my health decreases quickly, and I find myself leaving weapons, armor, and other maybe useful things behind to gather up all the health stuff I can.  Hence the need for a container of mine own.  I'm gathering, but so far avoiding using, all the addictive things.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to trade them later for items I'd prefer.

'Night, all, and thanks.

I predict that soon your dreams & half-asleep thoughts will be about Fallout. [Image Can Not Be Found]

It's already happened.  I've played for about 3 and a half hours today (in intervals), with about another 30-60 before I go crawl under warm down with a good book.  But I've been thinking about what I could have done, or could do next.  That happens with really good games.

I had to drop a bunch of heavy armor and other good stuff in the school because I was overweight.  I was going to schlep it back to an empty container that I've already put some stuff in.  Maybe I'll put the stuff dropped at the school in one of the lockers, and see what happens to the items in both places.  Since stuff, with the exception of aids, seems easy to come by so far, I won't feel too bad if anything disappears.

Yapette said:

I predict that soon your dreams & half-asleep thoughts will be about Fallout. [Image Can Not Be Found]

No kidding.  After accidentally stumbling on Grayditch (wasn't ready for that) I headed over to the Walmart, um, I mean Super-Duper Mart, to sneak into the pharmacy.  Good stuff!  Went back to Springvale to check on my stuff stored in a box (it's still there).  I revisited Silver.  On my first visit I was nice.  Didn't steal anything.  Went back to take food and ammo.  She berated me after the first object, took the second from me, then started shooting after I took a third item.  I ran out the door, not wanting to hurt her.  Never know.  I might need her later.  I ran until the red danger message disappeared.  Got a block or so away and felt safe, and damned if she didn't come after me shooting.  I couldn't run away.  I shot her.  Felt bad about it all night, so I will replay a save and not loot her house.  It is time for me to stop sightseeing and enter Megaton.  I actually came upon it in my wanderings and talked to the sentry.  It was dark, and I decided to walk around the wall looking for an entrance.  Giant moles attacked me, and after managing to kill one of them, the others tore me limb from limb.  Tough town.  Today I'll enter Megaton the right way - in the daylight.