I went from meh, to wow, to yawn, and now I'm at level 10. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing, but the combat... I just don't know what to think about it anymore. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

I'm a long time fallout player so I tried the VATS thing, with limited effect. Then I went into counterstrike mode and headshot everything manually. But the weapons are so incredibly inaccurate... I'm at 100 small guns, and I can't hit the broad side of a barn with my hunting rifle. Is it because of my lowish perception (7)? In the old games, if you wanted to be a sniper, you went all out in perception, but from reading the in-game SPECIAL descriptions, agility is the stat for small guns.

Also, I have a chronic overburdened problem. Because ammo is scarce, I always carry a bunch of different weapons with me and parts to repair them in case I run out of a certain ammo. This weight adds up fast. I am always hitting my weight allowance and it pisses me off because I hate to leave stuff behind, but I hate even more having to make frequent trips back to town to unload all this crap. I even took that perk that greatly increases the weight allowance.

So now I'm in the yawn phase. I've been headshooting (or trying to) the same small group of mob types over and over and over again, picking up the same junk since the start of the game, making countless trips back to megaton, and generally just not having a very good time. Also, a quest bugged and I can't complete it (Those!).

What am I doing wrong? How can I make the game fun again?

You could always do quests.

Or go to the vault and just look stuff up then find it.

You probally shouldn't have just raised guns to 100 to begin with. And now you have other low skills. As a new player you probally look over a lot of stuff. Such as quests, special weapons, locations, and enemies.

The later weapons are truly accurate. Might not mean much to you now, but a unique version of the Hunting Rifle, the Ol' Painless, is one of the most popular guns out there as it's fast and accurate.

Well the sniper rifle has supposedly 0 sway and often times I will scope in on someone's head, squeeze the trigger, and nothing happens. Do weapons have a max range in this game?

Anyway, came across another bug, this one a showstopper. I'm escorting Dr. Li through the tunnels that lead to the citadel. Well, she stopped halfway through and won't go any further, so I can't continue the game's main quest.

Also, how viable are melee characters? Would be interesting playing a drug-boosted stealthy slasher lurking in the shadows.

SPECIALs have no direct impact on guns or EW use. A high SPECIAL increases the related skill, but that is the extent of it with the exception of Strength, which has a direct impact on the amount of damage that a melee attack does.

VATS is your friend. Unless you are using a sniper rifle or a shotgun, most of your attacks will be a lot more effective using it, and as an added bonus it also increases you chance to perform a critical hit with any weapon. The hunting rifle's spread (the amount that bullets vary from the cross hairs regardless of your skill) is actually pretty good, with two uniques (Ol' Painless and Lincolns Repeater), the dart gun, and the sniper rifles (including unique versions) being the only small guns with better. All of those have 0 spread, so with a guns skill of 100 every shot should go where you aim. If accuracy is more important to you than damage then perhaps energy weapons is the way to go for you, except that EW ammo is harder to come by in the early game.

As far as ammo goes, I know that you have a high guns skill, but how is your repair? What kind of condition are your weapons in? You want to maximize the damage you do with every shot, and that means keeping your gear in top condition. It also means making sure that you are making good use of the gear you've found, relying on the most effective of your weapons. I tend to abandon the hunting rifle pretty early in favor of other, more effective weapons, but I know that some players like it so much they stick with it (or Ol' Painless) for a long time.

Exploration can be fun, but most locations have enemies from a limited set (ie. super mutants and Raiders). You're better off alternating between exploration and doing quests, which are the driving force of the game. How far along the main quest line are you at level 10?

What exactly is wrong with the Those! quest? I'm not aware of any bugs related to this quest, it is one of the few that seems not to have known issues.

Melee characters are a blast to play, and never have to worry about ammo, but are also more difficult. If you have add-ons, then you can become a true beast in melee (or with silenced weapons) with some of the stuff you get from Operation Anchorage.

The thing with Dr. Li is a known bug. From the wiki:
"If the player tells Doctor Li to lead the way, she may get stuck at a certain point and not move. This can be fixed my killing Doctor Li and entering the sub-basemant while she is dead. Wait 1 game hour the go back to the gift shop and Doctor Li will have entered the secret tunnel"

Phyrian, other than my maxed small guns skill, I have repair, lockpick and sneak at 70-75. Other skills are very low. I stopped using VATS because it was useless with the hunting rifle (low hit chance at long range, too weak at close range), and because at close range the combat shotgun wrecks just about anything in FPS mode. Maybe I'll give it another try now that my small gun skill is maxed.

Those! is bugged in that I spoke with the kid's relative in rivet city, and she agreed to take him in, but the quest did not update, and now the kid is nowhere to be found (not in the safety shelter and not in rivet city).

I'll try that with Dr. Li, thanks. And I have the steam GOTY edition which I believe contains that addon you mentioned. Maybe I will start over with another char as this is too tedious.

Brian moves to inside his old house when you run off to find him a new home, try looking for him there.

VATS is pretty useless at long range, and that is where you will see spread having its greatest impact. At long ranges you really have to stick with the small list of guns that have 0 spread if you want any degree of accuracy. Unfortunately .308 ammo is a little bit more on the scarce side than a lot of other types, so it can be difficult at lower levels to keep a supply sufficient for sniping. My recommendation would be to get your hands on Ol' Painless.

If you want to know where to get it, then click here:

There are some perks that allow you to use VATS better. Try commando for rifles. For the Sniper sometimes you need to shoot 2 or 3 shots.

VATS range is so short that I don't bother with it on my sniper. I just svck it up and suffer missing a bunch of times before hitting a long range headshot.

I agree with the VATS is for close range thing. I always play a Sniper character. The scopes in FO3 are off. To pull off a head shot, you need to place the reticle just to the left ( about the ear ) and down ( about the ribs ). This is pending the distance, but you get the idea. With other weapons, there is a sway. Your gun will move left to right, pausing for a second. Pause L = shoot L. Pause R = shoot R. Pause C = Death. Looking through a scope doesn't have this sway / pause effect.

EDIT : The Scoped 44 is a sweet long range weapon. A unique version is The Blackhawk. These things will reach out there, with no recoil. A great alt to the Sniper Rifle, when 308 is low. The unique versions surpass the Sniper in damage.

EDIT 2 : http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091025201539/fallout/images/4/4a/Sniper_Guide.jpg is a pic of the adjusted long shot. At this distance, you are actually aiming at the leg.

Well that certainly explains a lot. Thanks for posting it.