let me be the first to say THANK YOU for not skimping out on your instruction manuals i mean god almost all manuals now a days and especially cougheacough are less then 10 pages and half of those pages are the same thing just reprinted in spanish and are in black and white...

but you guys create manuals which are 35+ pages long that provide info on every perk,gameplay mechanic, story, etc and not only have actual color to them but have screen shot examples explaining stuff..

I mean to alot of people these might be minor things but seeing something so small having details and hell even jokes in them such as what to do in the wasteland pamphlets brighten my day and see that you guys are producing a quality product keep up the good work!

(note i have not seen the FONV manual but going on there past ones i dont see why this one should be any different)

I totally agree with ya man I love a good manual great read while you're installing the game.

How do you know? Is the manual already up? All I know is there Strategy Guide is huuuuge!

I like a nice manual. Fallout 3's was decent. The retail versions of the FO3 DLC packs came with what you usually get standard these days on the main AAA titles. Installation instructions, customer support numbers, and about three pages worth of copywrite and trademark legal jargon, making the whole (the whole being small) thing a flimsy little waste of paper that doesn't really offer anything you don't know already.

They pretty much always have Grade-A manuals.

Okay? This is Obsidian.

I appreciate quality manuals too. I like to keep the game case crisp and clean and it doesn't feel complete without a good manual in it.

i know its just since there producing it i would think they would produce the manual

I second this notion, OP. I always love the instruction manuals. They provide in-depth information that is imperative, humorous, and helps provide a background for the game. Also, they help pass the time when I'm not able to play the game, but want to learn more about it still.

No. I believe thats up to Obsidian, it's their game.
Edit: typo

Heh, still a far cry from the 100+ page game manuals we used to get in the 90s But yeah, it's nice they don't go the pamplet route

Although there is one thing I always disliked with gamesass Morrowind and Oblivion manuals, and that is that they don't spend any page explaining the game world. Like a map of Tamriel with noticeably locations of interest. So a first time player can get some basic information about the game lore that way. Instead they are all about the game skills and whatnot.

Nah, it's the Zenimax marketing that do the manual. Not the game team, although I reckon the lead designer might write some introduction and others have some suggestions or whatever. But Zenimax as a publisher will do the main work on the manual.

i prefer going into a game not knowing what to expect.

i third it! i suppose your right really and everyone looks past these small details but bethesda do make quality games, and hope they keep up the good work.

I think you kids are too easily won over... Whilst Bethesda have some of the best manuals currently available, they don't meet my standard... This: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Vault_Dweller%27s_Survival_Guide is my minimum standard. A good manual to me is at Infocom's standard - their basic manuals would meet "Collectors Edition" definition today

meh...

i mean that was during the golden age of gaming pre war but after the bombs dropped finding a 30 page manual is a oasis

Doesnt mean I should accept a standards slip.

I love manuals and always read one before playing a new game. It is a good way of making me want to play the game all the more, not to mention have some interesting tips and being able plan ahead a bit on character creation. And yes it is nice that both Obsidian and Bethesada (who is only publishing FONV) doesn't skip out on the manuals, something that many companys neglect on.

I do miss manuals like Infocom's. Some of their copy protection schemes were priceless. Feelies FTW.

Sitting on the crapper, going through a good manual while the game is installing...
Kinda miss that

I definately agree, manuals these days just dont cut it. I used to grab the book and read it before going to bed, but with a lot i cant do that anymore. Also.. i love the smell of them fresh from the case. altho the size doesnt affect that.

Yeah, that's what I was just thinking. I still remember the Homeworld 1 manual. Chock full of background story and informative on game mechanics.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Vault_Dweller%27s_Survival_Guide

"Total number of occupants .......1,000 (at capacity)"
Total duration ...........................10 years (at capacity)
Number of living quarters .........100 (hot bunking required if at maximum capacity)

No way could the vaults in Fallout 1&2 hold 1,000 people, maybe if they were all standing up or stacked up like corpses in the quarters and out into the hallway...anyway enough geeking, yep, the manuals you got with older games were *far* more detailed and creative. :fallout:

I miss my big cardboard boxed games

I miss manuals, like one game on the Mega Drive/Genesis called Star Control which had a big manual, aobut 50 or more pages at least, which even had a mini guide to beginning the game in it. Loved to read a manual in the bus stop whenever I bought a new game at any of the few shops which sold games in my local town - somewhat rare now though.

Now it's barely a couple of pages with more legal stuff than anything else. In game tutorials which for many games tend to last all the way through have replaced a good manual now.

I just came back from a used book store and at the store there was a manual for some Interplay DnD game from the mid-nineties. It was seriously as thick as a novel. It was awesome. I still wish we had manuals like that now, but Bethesda and Obsidian are pretty good at manuals compared to other modern companies. I love manuals...