I'm Mark, and I have a problem with... well, all the drugs. Fallout is notorious for having at least a dozen different drugs the character can take to alter their stats, get addicted to, and get a lot of money from selling (like any other item- Fallout doesn't put the player in the position of being a dedicated drug dealer). I downloaded a mod which would give each drug its own visual effect. Alcohol makes things grainy, blurry, and double. Jet makes a shaky circle, which grows in size the more you take. The best healing item (The Super Stimpack) makes your vision go purple, skew sideways, and shake rapidly until it wears off.
Good times! I can't wait to get my character hooked on everything under the sun!
Fallout is a "realistic" game, with lots of grays and browns in its palette. See the pic:
It gets a little boring after a while. The pic above was chosen from a series of many, and while not the most accurate, gives a general idea of what most people mean by the "gritty and realistic" art style of most games.
Anyhow. After about five minutes of tripping balls in the post-apocalyptic future (if you haven't, I highly suggest it) I found one drug in particular. Mentats are basically the Fallout version of ecstasy, so they don't get "Drug Use" on the ESRB rating. They'll little chalky pills that boost your intelligence and charisma by an absurd amount, much to the delight of very stupid characters.
I'd used them many times before, but not without the mod. This time I was in for a surprise. The colors suddenly became richer, and more vibrant. There was color! The reds were bold, the greens were earthy without being depressing, and the yellows nearly gave me epilepsy. It was wonderful!
I only realized just how wonderful after the effect faded. It was like any scene from Avatar was filmed in sepia. It felt lonely, dark, and eerily empty. Then it hit me: this is what the withdraws of actual drugs is probably like.
Disclaimer: I have zero drug use. This is mostly speculation, as well as bits from a few conversations I've had with stoners. Don't do drugs.
A gameplay element, meant as a humorous visual addition, simulated an actual aftermath from a trip. This gave me more insight into the appeal of actually using.
Note: This character was optimized to be a drug-guzzling machine. Lots of endurance in his stats to avoid getting the in-game "addiction" (penalties while you're not on something). I never actually got addicted from the game's perspective, despite ingesting no less than 5 pounds on a daily basis.
I've played New Vegas a lot of times. I know the sights. But, seeing them again in technicolor had appeal. It was like something totally new, and all I had to do was crunch a few pills in-game. I had happiness, or something similar, equipped in my inventory.
Of course it sucked to run out. Same brown wasteland, same gray dirt. I spent lots of money- even traded food (not totally important in the game, but still)- for more drugs. I was desperate to get a fix for a digital character I had heavy ties with. To an outside observer, this character was an addict. So, by extension, I was an addict. I needed my color fix, or else life (AKA the game) wasn't as fun as I wanted it to be. Just like how some people describe real life.
Even if it's just digital, video games still contain many parallels to real life. I'm not a druggie, stoner, or what have you. But in that place, with a little packet I got off the internet, I got to see the world through their eyes.
Now, if only I could download a support group.
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