Ok, so I'm playing GotY edition (PC), and I'm nearing the end of the main quest for the first time. If I had been aware that retrieving the GECK was basically the point of no return for the main quest, I would have never entered Vault 87, and I'm a bit annoyed that the game didn't drop me any hints.

There's a few sidequest that I either haven't finished, or haven't even started yet. They include Head of State, Agatha's Song, Oasis, and Superhuman Gambit. I also haven't gone to Point Lookout yet, or done Mothership Zeta or The Pitt.

So here's my question.... I know I can keep playing after finishing the main quest, but are there any advantages or disadvantages to doing those sidequest afterwards?

I'm debating whether to go ahead and finish the main quest now, or load a save prior to entering Vault 87 and doing some of those other quests. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Completing Head of State or Agatha's Song before finishing the Main Quest could have a small effect on your ending movie but aside from that, there's no reason to rush and do them before completing the main quest.

You can go off and do whatever you like after you retrieve the Geck and escape. It makes more sense to go straight into the final quest but you don't have to if you don't want to.

Thanks. I realize I don't have to go straight to the Citadel after escaping Raven Rock, but it would pretty much kill the immersion for me if I didn't. I like to keep things as realistic as possible.

Another question - Is there a final ending after you finished the main quest for Broken Steel?

With the GOTY you have Broken steel which makes the game playable after the main quest. so you don't have to worry about points of no return.

No there's not.

Can you tell me at which point you enter Vault 87 and find yourself pretty much locked into the main quest?

I have the GOTY with Broken Stell, so I know the game isn't going to end. But what I don't want to do is end up locked into completing the main quest for hours on end. So can you tell me which quest kicks off that process so I can avoid it for a little bit?

Thanks.

actually is hard to which part you have to take a break when you are currently in the main quest, in my experience, the last quest in vanilla, the 'waters of life', that is the point where i temporarily stop the main quest and do some side quests, its like doing a few more things before the finale, then if im satisfied i will go back to the citadel and take the final battle against the enclave.

I will however share you my experience when i did goty. When doing the main quest, the first stop in megaton, i did Operation Anchorage first, gave me some decent weapons and upgrades, then MQ again, until i meet dad and guide him to Rivet city, then i do The Pitt. then after finishing the pitt i will do the MQ throughout the story until the 'waters of life' final quest and do alot of side quest, afte the water of life quest, i do the final battle, then broken steel happens, and as soon as i finished the MQ in broken steel, then mothership zeta, then broken steel's sidequests, then finally point lookout.

I usually take point lookout last because of the decent level of enemies there, and i preferably go there with sarah lyons in my squad. (mods, im on pc)

Thanks for that; an interesting way to do it.

So it's not so much that it locks you into it as such, it's just once you go back to the Citadel you're sort of given the next quest and it encourages you to follow on without much of a pause?

Without giving any spoilers, I'll just say that once you enter Vault 87 and retrieve the G.E.C.K, things move very quickly.

If there's any sidequest you want to have finished before the main quest, do them before Vault 87.

It's possible to do sidequests right before the final battle if you want, but It feels very unrealistic to do it that way, at least to me.

Too late, did it all today

See what you mean; once you've been to 87 the game really forces you along.

Still, I have GOTY with BS installed, so I can now carry on with the sidequests. But I can see how that might have been frustrating in the original game. You'd have to know that you died beforehand or start again.

Though I may also have a more immediate run through with a new character; I didn't quite like my first. Too many skill points to go around; I'm thinking idiot with a minigun...

Yep, it's way too easy to max out your character in FO3 without mods. I used a few mods to make the game a bit harder, including one that reduced my XP gain by more than 50%, and another one that removed the bonuses you received from finding the Bobbleheads.

I was thinking of keeping my Intelligence on 1 or 2 for as long as possible, as well as ignoring skill books. My very rough maths indicates that, even with Bobbleheads, that's around 480 skill points; instead of the 600+ or so you get with maximum Intelligence (excluding Bobbleheads). And of course you can miss out on 200 by not looking at the books and another 125 or so by not taking that perk that adds 4 more every level up.