It’s a 3d maze basically. You have to figure our how to go up some floors, then drop down into others that allow access to stairs you can’t otherwise get too, which in turn lets you drop though other holes that let you get to a switch box that you use to open the door that you can’t get in. After that it’s a piece of cake. 
-XT
Do not go here until you’re a much higher level. Them some bad mofos.
If you can make the dart gun (or if you have the Gauss Rifle) then it’s fairly safe. I found that using the dart gun when you have some room to move in makes Death Claws much easier to handle.
If you are wanting to really power up your guy quickly I recommend doing the main quest line until you get to the point where you get the power armor training. Once you have that then it becomes MUCH easier to explore around. There are a couple of unique sets of power armor in the game, but if you do Operations Anchorage you will get the T-51b Winterized set which is pretty good (there is another T-51B set in, I think, Fort Constantine as well). There is also an experimental medical set in the tunnels under Old Olney which is worth getting just to collect (if you could mod there are some really good mods that perk up both the T-51B and Medic Armor sets). I actually use the Tesla armor, but that’s because I have a mod that beefs it up and also adds the self medicating options from the med set to it.
-XT
The book perk is vastly overrated if you max out your INT early. I found that I had more then enough skill points to allocate before level 20, and even started dumping points into skills I didn’t use, just because I had nothing better to do with them. I started with 8 or 9 int and then grabbed the bobblehead.
You can get the INT bobblehead before hitting level 3. And you can finish a Survival guide quest to boot. Get the quest that involves radioactive poisoning, and swim the Potomac south to Rivet City. Staying in the water gives you 1 rad/sec and you only have one area that you run into enemies. (Super mutants on one side of the river and Raiders on the other.) At this point you probably want to dive under the water to swim past them. When you get to Rivet city, pretty much avoid talking to anyone and get into the Lab, where the bobblehead will be. (The reason you don’t want to talk is you don’t want to accidentally advance the plot by talking to the scientists.)
Then take the Potomac back to the area you entered from and get Moira to cure your radiation poisoning.
Now, one thing if you’re into achievements. Do not go to the Jefferson Memorial before meeting your father. If you do, the game won’t give you the achievement for completing the quest where you meet him. Some other storyline quests have similar achievement issues. The quest is completed, but the achievement doesn’t trigger. It’s a glaring bug in a game that is designed to be an open world when visiting certain areas ahead of time will actually update the internal state machine of the main quest.
I somehow never met Dogmeat. I wandered around exploring every nook and cranny in the game, then months later I started playing the game again and did the main quest. It was over way too soon.
So, I’ve got a walkthrough and I’m practically done. I’m in the Enclave base, weighing myself down with every little thing I can find because I can.
I almost don’t want to finish the game. I’m mildly upset at how “short” the game is compared to all the stuff that’s out there to do.
That’s because you did it wrong. Everyone told you that you were doing it wrong, and you went ahead and did it that way anyways, so don’t expect a lot of sympathy!
Throw out the walkthrough, restart the game, and just explore.
Don’t need to explore. Game’s over. I might play with the DLC a little bit now.
A themepPark’s exit is near its entrance. Playing FO3’s storyline and nothing else would be like walking into the theme park, using one ride, and walking out again.
To complete the metaphor, that one ride you took was the train that goes around the park.
I saw the park. I was there. I saw what there was to see.
I’m marginally pulling your collective legs. I’m going to putz around the other vaults and do a few more things.
You guys almost sound like me, trying to argue to people that they should play the multiplayer component of their games.
Ugh. This blows. I just escaped from Raven Rock, weighed down by an obscene amount of loot. I’m hoofing it south, looking for somewhere to unload goods. I think it’s been roughly an hour and I got to SatCom Array NW-07c.
Pleh.
If you’re curious, I’m lugging around 2204 pounds. Fawkes is full up. I can carry 290 pounds.
What happened to the Paladin woman that was following me and all the gear she was holding for me?
Also, what’s the closest place to where I am that I can find someone with which to trade?
That’s because 90% of Fallout 3’s content lies outside the main quest. Literally. I spent 105 hours playing the vanilla game with no DLCs or mods, and only about 10 of those hours was spent on the main storyline.
Since it seems like you don’t plan on doing most of the things in the game (which is not a terrible idea, given how repetitive certain sections are, esp. the metro), here are some of the more interesting places to visit:
As for DLCs, Broken Steel extends the main quest, so is a no-brainer. Point Lookout is the best overall, IMO, as it provides a nice new mini-world to explore, has interesting quests (main and Chinese agent one), tough-as-nails opponents, and by far the best scripted sequence in the entire game (in main).
The other three DLCs are not nearly as good, though if you already own them, they’re OK.
You have two options: drop most of it at a landmark and fast travel back and forth somewhere you can store or sell stuff (I always went back to Megaton), taking as much as you and Fawkes can carry.
Or, you can continue trudging back to civilization at a snail’s pace.
I’ve done both before, at different times. Fast travelling repeatedly will almost certainly be faster.
She’s still carrying it. IIRC, you should be able to find her back where you recruited her the first time.
Oh, I figured. Once I saw “Game’s over” I was awaiting those who might be unfamiliar with your disdain for all things “old” or “completed” to come and raise an uproar.
I suggest you don’t drop the stuff off. Keep on trudging. The whole concept of carrying over a ton of loot across the radioactive wastelands of DC so you can put it in a few bins and lockers in a hellhole like Megaton kind of cracks me up.
Well, the game’s practically over. I just have to go to the Citadel and start the last few things. Can I walk about after the Citadel? (I assume yes). Can I have two followers with me?
Also, I agree. There’s something almost poetic about carrying 500 pounds of dinnerware across a radioactive wasteland that’s almost penance for zipping through the game as fast as possible.
…But no, really, where is the closest place I can unload this stuff? The city with the kids?
I think you’re going to need to take it to Rivet City…
Actually, you’ll probably have to zigzag around, as I’m sure you’ll bleed every vendor dry with that amount of stuff.
I assumed this to be the answer as well. Paradise City isn’t an option. You see, everyone there is dead already.
I’d probably head to Northwest Seneca Station. It’s on the way to Megaton instead of being way off on its own, and lets you sell stuff for drugs (which don’t have any significant weight) instead of random stuff.