The Pitt, Fallout 3’s second downloadable content pack, is vastly different from the first DLC, Operation Anchorage. The Pitt takes place is post-nuclear Pittsburgh, while not directly struck by a nuclear bomb, but the city has decayed over the years. The city has become a raider town that keeps slaves working in the steel mills. Your character is recruited by an escaped slave to help the slaves by finding a cure for a plague that has appeared in the Pitt. The Pitt has a very ire feel about it, I don’t know if it’s the lack of a radio station or the subject matter of the Pitt, but something seems off. Everyone you talk to is either super depressed, highly motivated, or just doesn’t care.  Bethesda has always said in interviews that the Pitt would be very morally ambiguous. This couldn’t be any more truthful, there is no karma reward for siding with ether side, slaves or slavers. You, the player, has to make a moral choice. It seems like a silly concept but the truth is you get the same material rewards regardless of what side you choice. As I write this I’m still trying to figure out if I did the right thing.

Story aside the Pitt adds a varying array of new raider armors, most of them are pretty basic, but look bad ass too. There’s also new weapons, including the Auto Axe, which is a wicked cutting saw that inflects a ton of damage. Another new weapon is the Infiltrator, which is the basic Assault Rife without a stock, plus a silencer and a scope. This combination makes for a very unique experience. There are also some new unique weapons, but you’ll need to find those yourself. Once you finish the main quest in the Pitt you can freely come and go as you please, which makes the content a bit more replayable, unlike Operation Anchorage.

Is it worth the $10? That’s the main thing to consider here, and the answer is a hard one. As of now, I would say no. Most Xbox 360 owners are experiencing vast issues with the content and while I was able to play it on my PC there still was a ton of issues that made me raise an eyebrow once or twice. Bethesda will release a fix for it, and when they do, the Pitt will be worth the $10 if not for the items but for the questions you’ll still ask yourself when your done playing the main quest of the Pitt.

I will update this review once the bugs have been sorted out. I’ll add pictures too.

So watch out the next time you’re driving through Alabama, or you might wind up with this cruiser behind you!

After being delayed for a month new details have emerged about Bethesda’s second pack of downloadable content for Fallout 3. This pack takes the player to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is now called “The Pitt”. The Pitt is controlled by Raiders and according to this month’s UK OXM, the player will be able to talk with Raiders, as opposed to just shoot them. Just like Operation Anchorage, The Pitt will add new weapons, armor, quests, and achievement’s to Fallout 3, it will not be available for the Playstation3, only the Xbox 360 and PC. Unlike O:A, The Pitt will be set in current Wasteland time and will have more of a traditional Fallout style quest, with ambiguity and moral dilemmas. It’s expected to be released in early March and cost about the same as Operation Anchorage, around $10 (800MSFT Points)

Escape From City 17 Part 1

Super Small Component

Surface mount components are really neat, they can help reduce the size of a project very easily. The problem with working with surface mount components is that most standard soldering irons have a very difficult time handling these super small components. Some surface mount components even have the pads on the bottom of the pieces, which makes regular soldering virtually impossible. There are many different methods to solder these components, one of them is to solder them like regular components, then use a de-soldering braid to eliminate the shorts. This method can work but it takes a lot of time and wastes a lot of solder. Another way to solder surface mount components is called the Hot Plate method, which uses a hot plate, a pulse width regulator, and a AC control unit.

Doctek, from Instructables.com, wrote up a fantastic guide to creating a hot plate soldering station, using it correctly, and properlly desiging circuts that incorperate surface mount components. Check it out here.

The new Gauss Rifle

Downloadable content is a new device developers have implemented to get new content to consumers. The idea is pretty simple; create an add-on to an existing game, charge a small amount for it, and make it easy for the consumer to obtain. For most games downloadable content has consisted of new clothing for characters new cars for racing games, or new maps for multiplayer games, few games have actually added full stories that add to the main story as downloadable content. This new delivery device has grown rapidly with the Internet capabilities of next generation consoles. PC gamers have been used to being able to download user created content and patches for a while.
Operation Anchorage is the first of three downloadable content packs planned for Bethesda’s award winning Fallout 3. Once the content has been added, via Microsoft Xbox Live on the Xbox 360, or the Microsoft Games for Windows Market place on the PC,  it will be loaded into the game automatically. When the player loads their game save they will be alerted by a radio distress signal and a new quest is added to the players Pip-Boy 3000, the content can be accessed at any point during the game, regardless of level,. O:A allows the player to join with Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts and help them secure new technology by completing a simulation of the liberation of Anchorage Alaska. In the simulation the player is stripped of all items and given a generic character, they must help complete three objectives in order to complete the simulation. The character is also given the command of a squad. While a good concept, it is poorly executed. The player can only give orders to the second in command, who gives orders to everyone else. The team mates will die in battle and the player can request reinforcements but it is very hard to notice when someone dies and your second in command fails to notify you. This results in starting a mission with a full squad then ending the mission with only the  second in command alive. The simulation itself is very linear, especially when compared to the main quests in Fallout 3. There are a few speech challenges but nothing that will dramatically change the course of the simulation. A high level character will breeze through this with no problem; a lower level character will have some difficulty. Once the simulation is over there are very little changes in the Wasteland, aside from the new items.
The biggest change the player will notice is the new items that become available after the player completes the simulation. The new weapons include a Gauss Rifle, Trench Knife, and Jingwei’s Shock Sword. The Gauss Rifle is the most powerful sniper rifle in Fallout 3; it must be reloaded after every shot, which dramatically reduces the rate of fire. The Trench Knife is a standard Combat Knife on steroids; it has spiked brass knuckles on the handle and can be repaired with a regular Combat Knife. Finally Jingwei’s Shock Sword is a unique Chinese Officer Sword, which shocks the enemy, giving damage after the initial strike, much like the Flamer. Other new equipment includes the Chinese Stealth Suit and Winterized T-51b Power Armor, all of which can be obtained after the player finishes the simulation.

The new Stealth Suit

What is important is asking “Is Operation Anchorage worth my $10?” the answer is not as simple. If you are a die-hard Fallout fan, than you most likely have played it, beat it, then played it again with a different character, however casual gamers might want to hold off. The simulation, being very linear, offers nothing new the player hasn’t experienced in the main quest. In fact some would argue that they appreciate the Wasteland more after playing O:A. After plaything through the simulation it becomes very clear that Operation Anchorage is a simple disguise for just adding new items in the game. The simulation isn’t done very well, the developers made it too obvious to the player that is was a simulation. Bodies disappear after being killed, hologram like walls block the player from areas, health and ammunition dispensers litter the simulation to help the player along the way. While it is a simulation, having the player being reminded that it is a simulation kills the whole sense of accomplishment one would feel doing the quests. The downloadable content also has a few bugs in it, many users are reporting various game play issues and problems, such as  the new content not being recognized in game. One issue that has been noted is with the ending, by not giving too much away, the problem is best described as something is supposed to happen between non-playable characters, but it doesn’t and the player is left with a sense of confusion and no recognition for what they have done. Other bugs include texture issues, friendly characters turning evil on the player for no reason, and random crashes. Operation Anchorage isn’t all bad, the combat is good and there are scripted moments during game play which add to the war setting. The characters are mildly interesting, although a bit shallow in development, and most of the dialogue can be funny.
In summery Operation Anchorage is a add-on that seems a bit rushed, and while hardcore Fallout fans will appreciate reliving the history of Fallout, casual gamers should save their money for the other two planned content packs, The Pitt and Broken Steel which will be released in February and March, respectively. Operation Anchorage is available for Xbox 360 and PC, there are no plans for a Playstation 3 release as of now. The add on costs 800 Microsoft Points, which translates to about $10.