Pip-Boy 3000

"That thing on your wrist - it's a convenience. It tells you where to go, what to do, dulls your brain."

- Elijah

The Pip-Boy 3000  appears in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. It's an electronic Personal Information Processor (PIP) manufactured by RobCo Industries in the mid-21st century and acts as the player's HUD (heads-up display) in the game.

Background
The player is equipped with the PipBoy 3000A, but it is indicated that there are other 3000 models, with A being one of the oldest. The Pip-Boy 3000A is worn on the character's left forearm. This multifunction device has been programmed by Pip-Boy developers to display the wearer's stats, area maps, inventory, and item properties. It also includes a Geiger counter and a radio, and its screen doubles as a flashlight. A user can set their color preference for the display. The four colors available are amber, blue, green, and white. The display color must be changed through the pause menu rather than the Pip-Boy itself.

Stats Tab

 * Status - Displays the user's condition, radiation levels and any effects that are currently active.
 * CND - Status of limbs, and enables directional application of stimpaks to crippled areas or to the body as a whole.
 * RAD - Precise reading of user's radiation level using internal Geiger Counter and options to administer Rad-X and RadAway as necessary.
 * EFF - Displays effects of currently equipped clothing, radiation level, chemicals the user has ingested, the well- rested function, any addictions the user may have as well as any crippled limbs.
 * S.P.E.C.I.A.L - Displays the user's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. information as well as indicating positive or negative effects on these levels.
 * Skills - Displays the user's skill levels as well as indicating positive or negative effects on them.
 * Perks - Displays a comprehensive list of the user's perks.
 * General - Gives a rough indication of the user's Karma level and gives various interesting pieces of information about the user and their actions. See General Stats.

Items Tab

 * Weapons - Lists all weapons that the user is carrying, and allows the user to repair them.
 * Apparel - Lists the clothing the user is carrying and, similar to weapons, gives the option to repair them.
 * Aid - Shows the any food or medical items the user is carrying.
 * Misc - Shows any items that do not fall into any of the above categories.
 * Ammo - Gives details on the types and amounts of ammunition that the user is carrying.

Extra Information

 * Weight - Shows how much weight the user is carrying/the maximum that the user can carry without becoming over-encumbered at any time.
 * HP - How many Hit Points the user has/the maximum Hit Points the user can have.
 * AP - How many Action Points the user has/the maximum Action Points the user has.
 * XP - How many Experience Points the user has to level up.
 * Bottle caps - How many bottle caps the user has.

Data Tab

 * Local Map - Shows a detailed map of the user's local area. Map will only show areas that the player has already explored.
 * World Map - Shows a map of the area. Locations already discovered are marked, and new locations are automatically added when discovered. Discovered areas can be fast-traveled to by clicking on them in your map. The Explorer perk will automatically show all undiscovered locations on the map, but you may not fast-travel to them until you discover them. The world map also features a quest-linked map marker which appears on the Pip-Boy HUD as a large, solid arrow and guides you to your current quest destination. There is a secondary, user-selectable marker that can be positioned anywhere on the map, which provides the same real-time guidance. This marker appears on the Pip-Boy HUD as a large, unfilled arrow. The world map can also show the location of your current companions. They will appear as small open triangles.
 * Quests - Shows any quests the user has been given as well as a record of those completed. Selecting a quest will make it active, and markers for the quest will now be found on the local and world maps.
 * Notes - The notes section keeps a record of all notes that the user has discovered. Paper notes can be read here, and holotapes can be played.
 * Radio - A built in radio receiver that can tune into local radio stations that the player has discovered. The radio does not affect your sneak ability.

Pip-Boy light
The display of the Pip-Boy 3000 can be set to an over-bright mode and used to illuminate an area immediately around the user, acting as a makeshift flashlight in darkened areas. The user's color preference will not affect the color of the light, and even though the display is located on the player's arm, and is usually facing away from the player while not in use, it still provides 360 degree, three-dimensional lighting.

To activate the Pip-Boy light, hold down the Pip-Boy access button. The default Pip-Boy access buttons are  for PC, O for PS3, and B for Xbox. The Pip-Boy light can be deactivated the same way.

Note that the Pip-Boy light makes you easier to detect while sneaking, even in broad daylight and with a Stealth Boy or Chinese stealth armor.

Functions (Fallout: New Vegas)
The Pip-Boy 3000A that the Courier is given by Doc Mitchell operates in the same manner as its Fallout 3 counterpart. There are a few differences in the display:
 * The default interface color is set to amber instead of green.
 * The stats menu includes a page showing the player's reputation with different factions, if you have achieved a reputation with them.
 * The weapons display now includes a weapon mod option along with the repair option. This is used to add any mods you possess to the weapon they are intended for.
 * The world map will display your reputation with the faction associated with any location you highlight.
 * In Hardcore mode, the "stats" page also has tabs for dehydration, starvation, and sleep deprivation, which are only enabled in hardcore mode. The Hardcore mode factors are as follows:
 * H2O - Shows a number between 0-1000 representing how dehydrated the user is, and any stat reductions due to dehydration.
 * FOD - Shows a number between 0-1000 that represents how much food the user has eaten lately, and any effects caused by hunger.
 * SLP - Shows a number between 0-1000 that tells the user how much rest their body needs to function well, along with any effects caused by sleep deprivation.

Pimp-Boy 3 Billion
The Pimp-Boy 3 Billion can be obtained from Mick, the arms dealer located in Freeside at Mick & Ralph's. In order to get this item you must first inquire as to why the Omertas stopped buying arms from them. You can find the Omertas in the Gomorrah Casino in New Vegas. When you speak to the Omertas during the quest How Little We Know, be sure to ask about why they no longer buy arms from Mick & Ralph's. Get them to continue to buy arms from them and return to their shop. Even if you kill the Omertas you can still get the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. Mick will comment about the death of the Omertas but you will still have the option to tell him they will buy from him again. You will then obtain the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. You can switch back to the regular Pip-Boy by simply asking Mick to switch it back and you can switch back to the Pimp-Boy again the same way.

Glove
The Pip-Boy glove is a separate item, with a weight of 0, a health of 10000, an armor rating of 0, and curiously, a value of 30. However the item is marked as unplayable and therefore cannot be removed and sold. It fits over the left hand, and has a dial on the back of the hand, presumably to represent control of volume for the Pip-Boy. it is mostly a cosmetic feature and best removed via console to gain the glove of the armor instead of the Pip-boy glove.

Bugs

 * Fallout: New Vegas: Changing ammunition type through Pip-Poy does not work.
 * When viewing the player in Third Person, the Pip-Boy 3000 glows green. It has been known to stay glowing as you bring it up to your face, rendering it almost impossible to read it. Usually, you can just exit the menu and turn it off for it to work, if not restarting the game. The easiest way of removing the green light is to turn on your Pip-Boy light which usually gets rid off the green light if not enter a house and load the autosave, at which point the green light should be gone.
 * There is a bug where the top of the Pip-Boy screen is cut off, it usually happens when viewing the Pip-boy while getting shot at. This may be due to using the Chinese stealth armor.
 * When viewing the maps section of the Pip-Boy and then pausing for a period of time the background will disappear. Easily fixed by lowering and raising it again.
 * Occasionally, if one steps out of a building and directly views the Pip-Boy, the screen will be extremely bright causing the screen to be almost unreadable. To fix this, load a previous (auto)save or turn on the light of the Pip-Boy itself.
 * Usually when you zoom all the way in on a location and try to place marker it will not mark, this can be solved by zooming out a little bit and placing.
 * In Fallout: New Vegas the Pip-Boy glove can sometimes disappear and not enable to take it back often due to the use of the space suit
 * Sometimes when set on fire the Pip-Boy will stay on fire until you restart the game, loading doesn't fix the bug and can be seen in third person.
 * In Fallout: New Vegas the Pip-Boy will sometimes randomly move up the screen and be cut off from the player's view. It will continue to slowly move up the screen (regardless of reloading or sleeping) until you unequip all items.
 * Sometimes the Pip-Boy glove disappears and is replaced with the right hand or just the left hand without glove.
 * Having a lot of items in your inventory can slow down load times, causing a delay when opening the Pip-Boy.
 * Rarely when opening the pip-boy, it will fly right and all you can see is a blurred vision and your fingers.
 * If you are in slow motion (Usually after you kill an enemy in V.A.T.S.) switching to the Pip-Boy will result in everything being in slow motion.
 * In Fallout 3, sometimes when using the auto axe then opening the Pip-Boy menu, only the screen will appear. The frame will be invisible. This can be fixed by unequipping the auto axe then equipping it again.
 * Sometimes when you first receive the Pimp-boy 3 billion, your arm will turn sideways. There is no known way to fix this.
 * There have been reports of some bugs which cause the Pip-Boy glove to become unequipped from the player. If this has happened to you and want the glove back, use the console command: “player.equipitem 25b83”.

Behind the scenes

 * It would appear that at one time or another, the Pip-Boy 3000 was going to have a tunable radio, (possibly for hidden radio stations in certain locations), a far more GPS-like map feature and a more digital font, judging by concept art found in the textures archive under interfaces/shared. (Shown below)
 * In the Game Team Fortress 2 made by Valve if one pre-ordered Fallout New Vegas they recieved a Pip-Boy 3000 as a Store Promotional Item.

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