VG Thought

Post here when you make it to Shady Sands.

It's basically the tutorial town where you get a taste of how the rest of the game will play out. What was your impression on coming and leaving? Something I've noticed folks tend to overlook is that there's a second section to this town. There's not too much over there aside from a possible experience bump, but it's missable!

Having now played and watched two other people play through Shady Sands, the "tutorial town" assessment rings true. All three of us had essentially the exact same experiences in a slightly different sequence: do the Radscorps, do Vault 15, find out Tanders went missing.

I went with Radscorps first because I figured Vault 15 sounded story-related and therefore would be harder, though Wariofan and Golem succumbed to the temptations of the water chip and headed there straight away. Of course, it turned out they were right: Vault 15 is full of garbage rats that were very boring to clear (but tough to avoid!) after leveling up a couple times in the Radscorp Cave. Still, I didn't have much trouble jumping around in difficulty. I also didn't get Ian in my party because I took his offer of experience a bit too literally: I thought he was offering EXP (training) for cash! Glad I stuck it out alone anyway: I found a better partner down the line.

As far as I could tell the dialogue trees are pretty fixed, at least in terms of material outputs: Seth always offers a taxi to the RadsCave, Ian always offers to join (although payment is optional), Doc Bronson always offers to convert scorpion tails to antivenom. Actually, waiting around for the antivenom concoction also introduced me to the passage of time, the day/night system, and Waiting; moreover, that some functions aren't available at night! The populace is mighty friendly too - you won't even learn you can quarrel with NPCs til Bartertown, where the locals are less likely to roll with the punches and more likely to draw their weapons.

I never did find the Tandi-is-missing quest.

It's interesting that you cross Shady Sands to get to Vault 15. If you want, you can choose to continue to the vault or you can stop at the town.

I didn't know you were supposed to go to Vault 15 until the Shady Sanders recommended it. Did I miss something the Overseer said? My character doesn't listen to boring people.

He mentions it to you in the opening cutscene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjR2w8EF1hI&t=4m40s

LOOK I DIDN'T LISTEN THE FIRST TIME I'M NOT ABOUT TO NOW

but yeah you're right it is on your map to start with