Fallout 4: Angel's Pip-Boy Diary #3 · 10:04am Nov 16th, 2015
art by Vector-Brony
No real pre-diary news this week. Everyone is taking the week off to play Fallout 4, it seems. 
"Distractions"
part of a video explaining a lack of other activity by JarrodfengMLP
However, I must say how honored I was to see Equestria Daily's Fallout: Equestria banner in honor of the games release and the impact the series has had on the brony community. Thank you, EQD!
As always, Angel's Pip-Boy Diary starts after the break to protect from spoilers. (Although, at this point, I suspect most people are much farther in the game than what Angel's diary covers. I have friends who have five times the character level that I do.)
Stupid job, taking away precious gaming time. 
For those reading who are not playing the game, how can I describe Travis? Imagine a male Fluttershy being forced to perform a public broadcast. I feel so sorry for him.
Angel's Pip-Boy Diary
Days 3 - 4
Day 3 - Morning
October 26, 2287“Land, labor and love.”
The three L’s, according to Blake Abernathy, that are needed to create a farm. I was mostly being polite when I asked him about farming. I can’t imagine ever being a farmer. Being a homemaker was difficult enough for me, if entirely worth every moment. Still, I need more than just the basics. I’ve got a fairly safe place to sleep, water to drink, and I can hunt for food. Sooner or later, hunting will require moving farther and farther from Sanctuary Hills. But for now, the local wildlife is plentiful, and dangerous enough to call for killing. But I need to do more than just survive. I need, at least, to carve out a homestead.
That is a lot of work, and can be started later. I haven’t even made it down the road to Concord yet. Today’s detour was farming. On my way back from Wicked Shipping, I came across the Abernathy Farm. Lucy Abernathy offered three caps for my melons. (The innuendo is slightly awkward considering the runaway’s holotape.) I talked her up to five. Spent the morning working in her melon patch.
The Abernathy family has had trouble with raiders. The same sort of thugs who attacked me my first day out of the Vault, only these bastards killed their daughter Mary for daring to stand up to them. And then robbed her corpse to boot. The locket they took clearly has deep sentimental value to the family, and getting it back will help them find closure. I can shoot bandits. I’m not so good with a hoe.
Connie Abernathy also barters with locals and trades-people. Through her, I could acquire raw materials in bulk, which would be extremely helpful in founding a homestead. The question is, where?
Sanctuary Hills is the obvious choice. But at the same time, it is a little too close to home emotionally. And literally. I suspect it would be psychologically healthier to not build a new home on the graveyard of the old one. Vault 111 is a possibility, although it really doesn’t have the resources (besides water) and is even more painful a place. I’ll have to go back and scavenge the Vault more thoroughly.
Blake Abernathy mentioned wanting the Minutemen back. I gather they were a localized policing force. That answers my earlier pondering about localized law and order. Nice historical name. Sadly, these Minutemen stopped their work. Blake suspects they moved on, either to other things or just other places. I hope it wasn’t anything more unpleasant that removed their apparently very beneficial influence.
After founding a homestead, I will have to expand on it. Create something that sustains me, either individually or as part of the local community. Developing my homestead into a farm may be out of the question, but I’m finding serious appeal in turning it into a police station and helping provide local defense. Maybe start a new Minutemen? I’ll have to look into them and find out what happened.
The list of places I need to look into is growing. The General Atomics Factory and the Corvega Assembly Plant are vanity projects. Concord is a more pressing interest that I am at this point procrastinating on. Added to the list are the Olivia USAF station where Mary Abernathy’s murderers are supposedly held up, and Diamond City.
I overheard Connie and Lucy talking about Blake making trips to Diamond City. From their talk, it sounds like Diamond City is the local civilization hub. The radio station that I’ve been listening to is located there.
An interesting side note: on the radio, a business in Diamond City added to its advertisement that they reserve the right to refuse to do business “especially with synths.” What’s a synth? The name makes my think of synthesizers, which were a musical fad for a short time when I was a little girl. I remember being all fangirl over the Synthesized Barbershop Quartet. Then I grew up and started liking real music.
I’m going to assume for the moment that the Diamond City Synths isn’t a barbershop quartet.
Oh, and as a side note, add two-headed, mutant cows to the list next to two-headed, mutant deer. I’m half expecting to see two-headed, mutant people next. Especially after Wicked-the-Zombie-Hut.
Next stop: Olivia USAF Station. With a slight layover in Sanctuary Hills.
Day 3 - Afternoon
October 26, 2287Well, I’m not alone in my travels anymore. At least for the moment, I’m accompanied by a dog. Found him at the Red Rocket station. He’s too healthy and groomed to have been a stray for long. It appears he has lost his owner. There are far too many ways for that to happen out here. The dog seems friendly enough, and I do love dogs. So I’m going to take care of him for as long as he cares to stick with me.
The dog is a real scrapper too. We were mobbed by those digging little beasts that I’ve learned are called molerats. Alone, I would have been torn apart. Between the dog and VATS, we got through the fight virtually unscathed. And with a whole lot of meat for cooking.
There was an old cooking station at the Red Rocket. In fact, the Red Rocket had all the tools that I’d want in a workshop all in one convenient location. Adding that place to the list of potential homesteads.
Still, I returned to Sanctuary Hills to cook. In part, because I wanted to finish the last of the scavenging there, and in part because all my scrap parts were stored there. Took some time to turn the pipe rifle that I picked up into a poor woman’s sniper rifle. It’s crap, but it is blessedly long-range crap.
On the way to Olivia, I stumbled across some sort of… something. I’m not entirely sure. I was skirting the area around one of those two-headed mutant deer when I found a skeleton propped against a device of some sort that was siphoning water from the lake. My best guess is that he was prospecting, and the machine filtered the water for goods. At least, when I turned it off for a closer look, the machine dumped a pile of bottlecaps. Sadly, turning it off seems to have broken it, as I can’t get it to start up again. Also found a .44 revolver next to the skeleton. Unfortunately, it has a snub nose. But I could fix it up into my first really decent gun back at Sanctuary Hills. I may want to do that before trying to take on Olivia station.
Almost immediately after, we encountered group of raiders. I’m guessing they were on the way down from Olivia station. The dog again proved himself in battle, and my makeshift sniper rifle didn’t do too badly either. I’m alarmed by the way the dog raced into the fight as soon as it was started, but I suppose stealth and sniping really aren’t the canine way.
Currently, I’m at the Robotics Disposal Ground (at least, that’s what my Pip-Boy named it)… and this place looks like it calls for serious scavenging. And may call for serious firepower. I’m fairly certain that nothing that I’m packing will take down a robot. So I’m leaving this place for later. I’ll come back to it, but for now, I’m headed back to Sanctuary Hills. I’m going to upgrade this gun into something I can really fight with. I just wish I had more than three rounds for it.
Day 3 - Evening
October 26, 2287Attempt at Olivia Station number one.
Well, that didn’t quite work. Got to move fast if I’m going to make a second strike at the place before everyone down below finds the bodies up above.
Okay, let me back up.
First, I went to the Robotics Disposal Ground. Turns out, there weren’t any hostiles, mechanical or otherwise. There was a sentry robot there that I may be able to activate. But currently I have no reason to take that risk. Although I do have the means to take it down if it tries to kill me the moment it is activated.
The dog found a freaking Fat Man while poking around the site! And I have a single mini-nuke to go with it, thanks to a locked room in Olivia Station.
And I have (most of) a suit of power armor! Between RDG and Olivia, I came across a downed vertibird. The area is grazing ground for a number of those two-headed deer, but they don’t seem aggressive. There is a suit of power armor standing near the crash site. From the looks of it, the owner perished while trying to service one of the legs (which is currently without armor). And while I can’t boast the impressive scavenging skills of my dog (I still can’t believe it! A freaking Fat Man!), I did find a power core that will let me use the armor. I’ve never been trained in using one of those things, but really, how hard could it be?
I had to chose whether to storm Olivia in the power armor, or try a stealth approach. I’m fairly certain power armor and stealth are mutually exclusive. It was the toughest decision I had to make in my attempt on Olivia Station, and I chose the stealth route. That turned out to be the best choice for dealing with roughly 80% of the facility.
The other (and considerably lesser) choice I had to make was which station to listen to during the infiltration.
On the way up to RDG, I passed a billboard for Galaxy News Network. I miss that station. It was all that I listened to for the last year of my life. They really did have the best programming.
I have only been listening to Diamond City Radio for a little over a day now and I’m already sick of those same few songs repeated over and over. And Travis… poor Travis will never be the right boy for the job of DJ.
Mercifully, there is a second station that plays classical music. And frankly, the choice of music that they play is inspired! For my first attempt, I went in without music, wanting to make sure I heard everything. But next time, I’m going to go into battle to a gorgeous classical soundtrack.
First, however, I have to go back to the crash site and get that power armor. Turns out, there are a lot of raiders in the basement of Olivia. And one has a minigun. I am not facing a minigun in a Vault Suit with some strapped on bits of leather.
New Perk: Hacker Rank 1
Day 4
October 27, 2287Attempt at Olivia Station number two.
Well, that went much better.
Scrapped one raider nest. Found Mary’s locket. Spent the rest of the day scavenging everything not nailed down. Now I have a minigun.
The raiders appear to have had a sense of humor. And I’m not just speaking about their leader being a woman named Ack-Ack. I found a lunchbox that exploded with confetti when I opened it. And it looks like Mr. Teddy grew up and joined the army while we were away.
I’ll return the locket to the Abernathy family in the morning. For now, I need to reapply these bandages and take a long, long nap.
New Perk: Scrapper Rank 1
art by Ethaes
Lucky you! I don't even have Fallout 4 yet. *intensely jealous* The price Steam charges for the game in Russia is one fifth of my monthly salary.
Excellent story writing Kkat. I'm glad you noticed EQD's banner. A freaking Fat Man at the Disposal center is so overkill, if you find multiple mini-nukes to fire it once..
Nevertheless I'm digging these diary entry blogs, if it enriches your experience with the game by all means.
I must say Survival difficulty is like a cup of tea, not my cup of tea at all. I was over my head thinking it was passable for me. I should give New Vegas's hardcore mode a go before it. For a stealth based melee character build sure, but I just want to experience the game the first play through. Heaven forbid otherwise. When a large amount of enemies are in the same place it makes it a hell of a fight to gain ground.
Whatever difficulty everyone plays on, it's trivial and pointless to judge. Playing the game how you want is satisfying. So far the experience has been incredible for me.
I took on Olivia, but never found that farm. I've been walking around all this time with that locket wondering when I'll find whatever quest it's for. Ah, the joys of sequence-breaking.
Wait until you get a combat suit up and running. Keep a steady supply of fusion cores handy if you go walking tank mode. Explore large buildings for their fusion cores in their generator rooms. Work on the perks that let you modify guns and armor. There is so much to do!
I'm currently at level 22 and haven't touched the main quest line past Diamond City. There is so much to do!!!
I'll get fallout 4 when it will land in the markets here in Poland. But propably it won't run. I'll stick to my Witcher 2 then and wait for XCOM2 to come out.
I haven't even bought the game D:
Here's a couple notes: 1:Once you leave Fort Hagen LOOK UP!!!!!!! 2: Your gonna love Valentine. He's one of those companions that I wish were in your story. 3: Go to the Giddyup Buttercup and look at EVERY terminal (I forgot which one), just do it if you haven't heard of what's there already.
Actually your further than I am, been inundated with work since I got my copy.
I'm actually starting to look forward to these. Gotta love open world games and how no one ever has the same story.
I'm also chuckling a bit when I read things that relate to future missions. Don't worry, I won't spoil.
So where did you find that cave that Angel camped out in last chapter? I've been looking around Sanctuary Hills for a while and can't find it or any records left by the previous inhabitants.
I was lucky and took out Ack-Ack with a single grenade, while backpedaling frantically. I guess offense *isn't* the best defense, not even when it's a minigun.
And arrrrrgh, how did I miss that basement?
3545521 Do you mean the cellar? The entrance is directly behind one of the blue houses. The one that has a tree fallen against it and a stash of goods on the roof.
Shouldn't that be:
Years of gaming have not made me wise. I'd face it head on.
Ask Tony Stark.
3545628 Thanks. Fixed!
I will now be on the lookout for this robotics disposal yard and this cap dispenser by the lake. Reading these journals is helping me explore my own game :D
3545619 Man that sounds obvious. Wonder how I keep missing it?
I'll give another look around. Thanks!
No news you say? What about Somber's sequel to his project horizons?
Fat Man are not really that hard to come by, mini nukes on the other hand are about as common as a vegetarian super mutant. Used the Fat Man once after I died and I found out the game hadn't auto saved the last 4 hours, the first enemy I encountered had a shitty day as his body was scattered over a considerate area.
And finding about the Fallout 4 vaults once again confirms that Vault-Tec is one if not the most evil corporation in all of video games.
Everyone else is enjoying fallout 4 while I get the game for PC and it doesn't work.
Man, these are great! I love this type of thing, as while running around and exploring in a game like this is intensely fun, it sometimes feels really flat without the human reactions and motivations. Tacking them on yourself in realtime is a bit iffy when you're dodging missiles or exchanging bursts of automatic fire with people that consider your bones a fashion accessory.
Not so hard when you're hauling 200 pounds of scrap over your weight limit to the nearest settlement, but the inner monologue mostly consists of 'why is everything so far? Why can I not carry all the things? Why must all the things be so shiny?'
I'm at level 33 in my playthrough, and have yet to step foot in Diamond City.
I tend to run around avoiding plot like the plague for as long as possible, heh. Plus, 26+ fusion cores. I figure a nice stockpile will do me good later in the game.
Thankfully they don't weigh anything.
dunno why, but those party-in-a-lunchbox always makes me smile a bit
The building in the screencap is a Red Rocket. Red Racer is from the crossover world, isn't it?
3545369 Don't wait for the markets, buying it online is waaaay cheaper :P
3547032
Fixed.
I subscribe to that... I have barely 38 hours on this game, and I bough it the very day it came out, and the next day was a holiday free from work...
3547696 *Steam edition
Also - I'm not risking allegro. Too much people get cheaten there.
3548608 I was talking about online shops with Steam keys, for example on Muve the standard PC version is for 180 zlotys :P (Certainly much better that 255 on Steam)
3545846 Does your PC have the specs to run fallout 4? Its a pretty beefy game... if you do, might wanna check the resolution in the config ini, that causes a lot of instant crashes in my experience. (it might be able to be changed in the launcher, but people have had problems with that.) Let me know if you need any help getting it to run (if you have the minimum specs or higher)
3545369 According to bethesda, it already is out in poland. Do the game retailers not have it in stock or something? Also, unless you're playing on a PC, it will run fine, this has been one of the least buggy bethesda game studios launches in ages.
3550105
I got to work by switching to windows 10 but the game suffers from HUGE lag, it basically unplayable.
3550070 memecreator.cz/media/created/9sookv.png
I was thinking abaut a hard copy that adds the game to steam.
3550160 like with a box? (btw, if we are to continue this, we should probably switch to PM)
3550730 Not rly. We just extunighed the whole topic. And butchered english by the way, so the whole job is done.
3550847 Eeyup.
3545759 Thanks.
(And typo fixed.)
It has nothing to do with the story but in the game when December 25 is coming close you can see Christmas decorations around Diamond City I really liked that little detail
3552219 something that I noticed, when I got my game, there were Halloween decorations.