Pip-Boy 3000

The Pip-Boy 3000 is a pre-war electronic Personal Information Processor (PIP) in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas manufactured by RobCo Industries, and acts as a database for the player character's personal information and inventory, as well as generating the heads-up display (HUD) in each respective game.

Background
The player character is equipped with the Pip-Boy 3000A; it is indicated that there are other models in the 3000 line, 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. Its screen doubles as a flashlight to help the user with visibility issues. 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, number of stimpaks, 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.

Items tab

 * Weapons - Lists all weapons that the user is carrying, and allows them to repair.
 * Apparel - Lists the clothing the user is carrying and, similar to weapons, gives the option to repair them.
 * Aid - Shows 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 over-encumberment 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 - The number of bottle caps carried by the user.

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 the map. The Explorer perk will automatically show all undiscovered locations on the map, but they may not be fast-traveled to until discovered. The world map also features a quest-linked map marker which appears on the Pip-Boy HUD as a large, solid arrow and guides the user to their 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 one's 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 have been discovered. The radio does not affect sneaking.

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 person's arm, and is usually facing away from them 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 the  key on PC, the circle button on PS3, and B on Xbox 360. The Pip-Boy light can be deactivated the same way.

Note that the Pip-Boy light increases visibility 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 Courier's reputation with different factions, if they have achieved one with them.
 * The weapons display now includes a weapon mod option along with the repair option. This is used to add any mods possessed to the weapon they are intended for.
 * The world map will display reputation with the faction associated with any location highlighted.
 * 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, the Courier must first inquire as to why the Omertas stopped buying arms from them. They can find the Omertas in the Gomorrah Casino on the New Vegas Strip. When the head boss of the Omertas is spoken to during the quest How Little We Know, he must be asked 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 the Omertas are killed, one can still get the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. Mick will comment about the death of the Omertas but still gives the option to tell him they will buy from him again. He will then give the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. One can switch back to the regular Pip-Boy by simply asking Mick to switch it back and vice versa.

Glove
The Pip-Boy glove is a separate item, with a weight of 0, a health of 100000, 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 normally. It fits over the left hand.

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 Valve Software's game Team Fortress 2, if a player had purchased Fallout: New Vegas before August 8, 2011 on Steam, they received a free Pip-Boy 3000 as a Store Promotional Item. It can be equipped for the Engineer class. For players who didn't purchase the game at that time, they can purchase the Pip-Boy from the in-game shop called the Mann Co. Store.

Bugs

 * When viewing in Third-Person mode, 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 of 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 the 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 that can be seen is a blurred vision and the character's fingers.
 * 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 and then equipping it again.
 * Sometimes when first receiving the Pimp-Boy 3 billion, the PC's 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 end up unequipped. If this happens and one wants the glove back, use the console command: “player.equipitem 25b83”.
 * In Fallout: New Vegas, sometimes removing the marker on the Pip-Boy map can make the map itself disappear, however the map markers will still be available. This can be fixed by simply exiting and re-opening the Pip-Boy.
 * If wishing to re-equip the Pip-Boy 3000 while using the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion, there are times it will not change back to the 3000 model. Loading a previous (auto)save fixes the issue.