It'll just be the pre-game character creation bit, similar to both FO3 and FONV. No experience gained, you may find a few items, and you'll get to pick your stats.

If you watch very carefully during the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2BkLqMef4&feature=youtu.be&t=1m34s, you can see the door control panel to your right as the door opens from the inside. This is exactly the same area that the dead scientist is seen during the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5esyZPt5Jo&feature=youtu.be&t=15m22s, which means he is inside the main door area of the vault itself. And from what we have seen so far, there would not have been an overseer in the vault. I think that the dead scientist was supposed to run the experiment.

This is what I've been suggesting all along. The Pip-Boy even comes with what appear to be 'training modules'. These are: Groundskeeper's Log, Technician's Personal Log, We Are Done, and Your New Assignment. It looks as though they're meant to be used as an addition to the tutorial, or perhaps even to open the main quest.

...How do you intend to do that without a pipboy to act as your inventory?

This could be the case. I am leaning towards this but it's possible that in fallout 4 that in the opening scenes they let us explore the non combat elements of the game possibly.

I wouldn't go by the footage we saw at E3. Todd Howard even noted that some of the footage was cut out to avoid spoilers. We have no idea how long we'll be in the vault and to what capacity. Promotional demos are never an accurate indicator of what the actual experience will be at launch.

You could still pick things up in Memory Lane, without a pip-boy. It just didn't let you try to really select anything. It's also possible that there was supposed to be rotating 'observers', so that the no one in the Vault aged more than a few years after possibly half a century.

Additionally, if you watch the Microsoft video, you'll notice that the PC doesn't level up to 2 until he gets to the room with the Mural of the historic battles.

The PC used in the xbox demo, also had pretty low intelligence... meaning, they wouldn't level very fast. So someone with a 7-10 intelligence could be level 3 or 4 by the time they reach that point in the game.

Actually, that's kind of interesting. During the Beth demo, the 7 Int Howard is a fifth of way to level 2 just killing 4-6 Molerats and getting 7 exp/kill, where as the the 3 Int Phil has possibly already killed the molerats and is now fighting Raiders and only getting 5 exp/kill and as noted doesn't become level 2 until potentially midway up the museum. I actually wouldn't be surprised if the first level takes between 140 and 175 exp to achieve (I feel it's the former).

So if a person didn't want to level endlessly, all they would need to do is limit their intelligence to a lower level.... and presto, the higher you go... the harder it becomes to level.... I imagine, if you're correct in the amount of exp needed just for the first level, it would... in fact, be quite hard to level beyond say 50 even with a stat of 7 intelligence. To level comfortably, you'd probably need 10 intelligence, plus what ever stat boosting clothing/perks.

This is one reason I am thinking that when you put on that pip boy you might level up after you exit the vault. I am thinking that there will also not be heavy combat scenes based on what we have seen so far being escorted from our home to the vault.

Once inside the Vault, we'll probably be ushered to whatever they choose to make us live for 200+ years without aging, which I assume to be either a cryogenic or possibly a stasis pod. After we exit our pod, we'll probably concentrate on getting out as soon as possible... though I hope that there are holotapes and computer entries that will give us insight into how the Vault ended up this way.

All Vaults are pressurized... in FO3 when Vault 101 was opened, you hear the sound of depressurization. So all vaults are pressurized.

Also, there are dozens and dozens of ways for cryogenics to work. Very few of them ever involve putting people in some kind of liquid... mostly because liquids have a tendency to expand when frozen, and if there was some kind of accident, such as the pressure not being high enough, you won't just lose the person in the pod, you'd lose the entire pod. So I doubt very seriously they'll use any form of liquid if cryogenics is involved. But, if you come back with the "I've done the research" thing again, provide actual proof that can be verified in game without the need for it to be interpreted in a specific way.

As for the scientist, it makes zero sense that they would set up a timer that would start pressurizing the Vault to the point where a person would die from it the moment the first group enters the Vault. He most likely died from other reasons... like a Vault malfunction that killed off most of the other Vault residents and severely injured the scientist; a mutiny among those who didn't want to be frozen/military coup; or maybe their food/water somehow became contaminated and he died from starvation/dehydration. Until the game comes out, we won't know.

As for the conversation with Codsworth, he seems to think he's the only human left... which isn't unusual as many 1950 sci-fi stories involve things like the protagonist being the "last human alive".

I hope they really nail down the feeling of loneliness and isolation as you make your way through the "dead" vault.

You're right actually, it's on the inside. I didn't notice is at first but the door mechanism (that giant piston that pulls back to let the door slide out) is to the left of the protag when he interacts with the pip boy.

As far as that main scientist being the head honcho...that's a stretch, big time. There's nothing that points to him as being the guy running the experiment and I'm fairly confident that there would be more than one vault-tec scientist in the vault. There can also be an overseer, we haven't seen any of the parts that occur between entering and exiting the vault. There has to be segments that detail what the protag does before entering the cryopods to begin with (Bethesda doesn't like to use cut scenes to move the plot along. These segments would more or less have room to introduce the other various inhabitants of the vault.

Actually, liquid cryostasis is likely the best way to keep from damaging the tissue, as it doesn't expand at around 30-34 degrees if it's the right liquid. Thus it won't cause tissue to form ice crystals and break the tissue apart. It's the reason a steak that was frozen isn't likely to be quite as good as one that was fresh from the market, the tissue has been pulled apart a bit and that affects how it cooks.

Makes sense to me, honestly. Considering what experience IS, I doubt your Pre-War and cryogenics experience is relevant to your wasteland one. Gotta learn all THAT for scratch.

Made me think of http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Salisbury_Steak_(Fallout_3)

This is also the reason why my submarine theory will be resurfacing in the very near future...

@OP: Although previous games from BGS have included experience gains right from the very start (Skyrim being the most recent example), in this case it would not make sense to do so, purely based on the acquisition of the Pip-Boy. Once we find the Pip-Boy as we leave the vault, we have access to the full menu system, and so this would be the most sensible time to introduce XP gains. Also, with regards to whoever else might have made it inside and what exactly happened, the fact that there are a number of audio logs on the Pip-Boy itself when we find it suggests that there was in fact an 'emergency scenario' upon entering, and so this would not include any form of tutorial, unless you count accessing cryo pods to save the lives of you and your family. The audio logs would provide any additional 'training' needed once we leave, in much the same way as the 40's style video clips we have heard about explain each stat.

Also, it would not make sense to go from almost getting ripped apart by a nuclear blast to a nice cosy setup where we are being told about the dos and don'ts of life inside the vault. Because of how, where, and why the vault was constructed, and also the nature of the experiment involved, I can safely say that nobody was inside prior to the group that included our protagonist. This was a military vault, designed for a select number of trained military personnel. Note that the existence of a 'http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/groundskeeper' strongly suggests that the site does in fact include Sanctuary Hills itself. And this, as we know, is the home of at least one family with a very definite military background.

Edited for clarity.

My point about leveling, which I don't think people took the time to look at the video, is that the experience bar is at zero. So, I'm wast implying that you couldn't get to level 2 inside the vault... I was instead saying, you haven't even begun the leveling process while inside the vault (or during pre-bombs). Now, it is very possible that you could get 'x' number of experience for 'leaving the vault', similar to Fallout 3... but that isn't what I am talking about. That is why I believe it will be more like an interactive cutscene than something that allows you to gain experience by doing different mini-quests.

One side thought which has been brought up under this topic concerns the cryo-sleep. My theory is as follows... take it or leave it. Pure speculation.

Looking at the E3 trailer... https://youtu.be/D5esyZPt5Jo?t=846

There is a brief clip showing what appears to be the inside of a vault along with some raiders(?). The large window is very, very reminiscent of the overseer windows in past Fallout games.

My theory is that you are brought down into the vault and put into cryo-sleep by the scientists. Then, during the vaults operation, some raiders gain access to the vault and take it over, killing the scientists in the process (hence dead scientist at the entrance to the vault, either trying to escape or defend). These raiders then gradually gain more and more access to locked rooms in the vault which allow them to start to open the cryo-sleep chambers. This allows for the original vault dwellers including your spouse and child (who were in cryo-sleep) to leave the vault but doesn't give them a chance to free others. You are the last original vault dweller who's cryo-sleep chamber is opened and then escorted out of the vault (which is where I believe the E3 clip is taken from). This leads you to believe that others might still be alive, but doesn't give you the opportunity to explore the vault (and gain experience). Your then driving goal is to try and find your spouse and child.

Another really great theory that I've heard somewhere, sorry, can't remember where, is that you find out your child is involved in a major plot of the game (obviously they were released earlier and have grown up).

Oh, but that might make the player feel lonely and depressed.

That 'to-do' could be, "Here is your injection, now... walk over to the pod and climb in; that's a good. You should start to feel sleepy in a moment. Hold still while I turn on the cryo-pod." If they had scientist running the experiment... it would probably be mostly automated, and one or other of them would wake up on a schedule to do a routine check of the equipment. Or... Perhaps one is actually supposed to run the experiment full time, and eventually retire; waking up their replacement; (not sensible IMO). Death of the scientist could mean that they never woke their replacement; [though that should have been automated].

There is actually a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mpIzO30SSE episode where four guys build their own cryo-pod 'vault' [just a cave], with the intention to bypass the present and emerge into the future. During the wait (in cryo-stasis) one of them gets killed by falling debris that cracks open their cryo-pod. I think we can expect the same thing to appear in FO4.

It's possible they had a sort of Dr. Braun-esque figurehead in the vault. He could have been monitoring the pods from within his own lounger, which at least preserved his body but allowed him to switch in and out of two states of mind. That would be quite interesting indeed.

Im not surprised, most likely the town will act as the tutorial spot, rather then the vault.

There are two major flaws in this.

1. The idea of liquid cryostasis is a relatively new concept. Granted you do have movies and books about a living being frozen in water, this is not the kind of liquid cryostasis you and gk are talking about. Bethesda is most likely to choose something that fits into the 1950's idea of cryogenic stasis... at least in my opinion they should.

And 2. This type would require to drown the subjects to work. The person would have to inhale the liquid, and unless it is something akin to liquid breathing... which is not something I've heard of being used in any 1950's sci-fi, you would need a full medical staff to successfully revive a subject.

I think the whole cryostasis will be more likeyou see in the books and movies from the 1950's, you enter the pod, the scientist hits some buttons and boom, you're frozen.

Having the extended tutorial in Sanctuary Hills would make perfect sense, and would also give us further reason to interact with Codsworth. If he knows anything about the cryo tech (my theory is that he was provided by Vault-Tec when the family moved in shortly before the Great War), he may even be able to explain to our protagonist why the fluid didn't kill him when he breathed it in. Ironically, he even says "as I live and breathe" as soon as he sees us.

EDIT: the Groundsman may have been a Mr Handy, possibly even Codsworth himself. This would explain why he's still there after all this time.

Question: do you consider everything in the Fallout 3 beginning, before they hand you the BB gun and a roach shows up, to be "an interactive cutscene"? Ditto with New Vegas for everything before you exit Doc Mitchell's house.

Pieces of character creation (picking stats, appearance, etc), learning non-combat movement & item interaction, conversing with characters..... not everything meaningful in an RPG automatically gives XP.

XP is short for "[life] experience", and should not come of enacting the mundane. IE. One shouldn't level up for going to buy milk...

(Not unless the store gets robbed and the PC thwarts the robbery.)

Personally, I think he died of a broken heart