I know from Oblivion and Fallout 3, lots of containers respawn after 3 game days. So since I didn't know what was safe, even inside a house, I always put stuff on the floor. So for a trial, I put a few things in a container in a Trailer, and the rest on the floor.

So after 2 hours or so of playing, my stuff on the floor disapeared? I thought, cool, it got stolen . So when I checked the trunk, the stuff I put there was still there, so now I am confused, how the actual game mechanics of storage work in New Vegas. I tried the search and didn't see any help.

So my guess is, you can't leave stuff on the floor anymore. So how can we decorate a room, or random place if I so choose to do. I am worried I spend all that time to decorate a room, even if it's not my "home" I own, I would like to decorate like I did in Oblivion and Fallout 3.

So does anyone know if you put stuff on the ground what is suppose to happen? Does it disapear? Or did I encounter a bug? So can anyone say for certian placing items on the floor is safe. As I said, I spent a bit of time, laying things around and when I came back, most of the stuff dissapeared. Mostly clothing and armour I got from my enemies.

Are there containers I can use to safely store my loot and not worry about stuff disappearing?

+1

Also I forgot to say, I tried looking in the manual, and strategy guide and coudln't find anything there.

I use the motel room in Novac as my saferoom.
Nothing in that safe has disappeared as of yet.

this and the presidential at lucky 38 seem ok

I've had stuff on the floor in my room in Novac for a really long time, so I don't think it's as simple as "stuff on the floor goes away".

It doesn't really make sense for it to go away, if you ask me, because what about stuff that is there in the world already? Yes, you can just load it from the game data instead of saving it, but what if you bump into something and it moves? What if you TAKE it? The game definitely does not let you go back and grab all the same stuff again. The game has to save that, so I would expect it to save stuff you drop on the ground, too.

If you leave stuff on the floor outside, as in, not IN a building, then it has a high chance of disappearing. You need to pass through a loading screen, into a room, before it can be safe at all to leave thigns laying on floors or desks or whatever.

I will Keep this in mind. Since I was in the trailer, I believe the one close to the camp fire in the begining of the tuturial, since it's bascially out side, there is not loading screen to go to, so I will make shure I do not do this again. I know in Oblivion, in the outside world, i would put stuff on the ground, and I never seen it disapear. New Vegas seems to do things a bit different. That is why I asked about how storage works in New Vegas, since it doesn't seem to follow the same rules for Oblivion or Fallout 3.

Since I have never seen any container respawn, it's always empty after I pick it out, would these things be safe to put stuff in then?

Very few containers in Fallout 3 respawned, most of the fear comes from the days of Oblivion when every container in the game seemed to respawn. Stuff laying on floors is risky, depending on whether the cell is set to reset.

That being said - the (2) dumpsters by the General Store in Goodsprings are a good starting point. They're right by the Mohave Express mailbox and close enough to the repair bench and ammo press to be useful. Out in the field, I'll use and abuse the Mohave Express boxes to send things back to Goodsprings. There are also (2) metal boxes in the trailer N/NW of there with the mattress inside. The only downside at the start to basing out of Goodsprings is the campfire location is a ways south of town and not that convenient (but I may have overlooked a closer one).

You mean the presidential suite at the tops casino right?

Did you try using the drop boxes as storage? Store all my stuff with my companion and the drop boxes. Can you store stuff with ed-e and rex or just human companions?

Same here good spot too.

At the beginning of the game, basically until I got to Novac, I used containers in Doc Mitchell's house extensively without any problems.

So, just to clarify before I start a hoarding character - containers inside of loading screens should be safe?

-HD

Without installing GECK and looking at the flags on the containers - your mileage may vary.

I went into the GECK yesterday and looked at a bunch of containers and not a single one was set to respawn. So, unless I'm missing something, every container is safe to store stuff in.

Are the footlocker and the refrigerator also safe?

The footlocker seems safe (it's what I used until the Lucky 38). Didn't try to use the refrigerator.

I know that the containers inside the trailer behind the General Store in Goodsprings don't respawn and also there is a bed you can use in there. The best things about the location is that you don't need to go far to sell, go to the mail box, sleep, and you don't need to go into a building to use the storage.

In FO3, my character lived out of a dumpster behind the Super Duper Mart with no problems. I wasn't sure how this worked when I started playing New Vegas, so I experimented with it a bit. I setup several bases around Goodsprings - in the school house I've found that items (firearms, dynamite) placed in the safe were fine, however, items (firearms, dynamite) placed in the adjacent lockers were deleted when new items were spawned (wonderglue, lunch box, etc., etc.). Items on the floor were sometimes lost as well, but they may have fallen through the floor. I also setup an experiment in the gas station. Items on the floor disappeared randomly (maybe through the floor), things placed in the bags were deleted and replaced with food items or junk, while the items in the safe were fine. My hypothesis is that safes do not respawn loot, so the items inside aren't at risk for deletion.

I just dump all my crap on the ground between the saloon and the general store in Goodspring, next to the work benches. Haven't lost a single thing

that actually happened in Oblvion to, it was pretty awesome I would make a piece of armor that does fire damage, dupe it then put it on the ground, people would pick it up, so when I attacked them they would put it on and kill themselves

I tested out some things in Goodsprings (rested 4 days indoors elsewhere). The (2) dumpsters by the general store are fine for storage.

Goodsprings is a good place to base out of, except for the lack of a campfire. There's a bed in the trailer north of the general store, you've got a Mohave Express box at the store with (2) dumpsters right next to it. The repair bench and ammo press are right around the corner as well. For crafting supplies - mail everything to Goodsprings and use that location. Novac, while it has more varied storage, just isn't as convenient with the location of the repair bench, the ammo press, and the Mohave Express box.

If there was a campfire in front of or behind the general store in Goodsprings - I'd be perfectly set. At least for the early game. (Closest campfires in Goodspring are down at the water taps to the south.)

Thanks for all the replies, guys, so to make shure, putting things in containters (except for the report about the school where things respawn) is safe, and putting things on the ground if in an interior cell is safe, and putting things on the ground in an exterior cell (ex outside) is not safe. Someone mentioned that things fall in the ground. I just want to make shure, that I am my thinking here is correct now.

Thanks agian for all the replies guys.

Hmm, the school respawning seems to conflict with what Balok says in his small mod here - http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34771

I liked the idea of using the school as an initial/informal home, he adds a bed, radio, etc, but he says specifically that he didn't change the default containers because they don't respawn.

Guess I'll find out either way...

-HD

I did a quick and dirty test of the storage possibilities at Goodsprings, using the dumpsters and crates outside the General Store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4bdX81tUAg

After 25 hours of play, I have yet to have something vanish.