Alex Trebek: “65,000.”
Contestant: “What is the approximate number of lines of spoken dialogue in Fallout: New Vegas?”
Trebek: “Correct.”
Words, words, words. You might say there are a lot of them in Obsidian Entertainment’s latest opinion divider. I might agree with you for saying as much. But so far I’m enjoying them, and I hope you can too.
As far as technical performance, the cat’s out of the bag: it’s a bug riddled journey, the various oddities depending on which platform you play the game, but it’s nothing anyone’s too surprised about; though if they’re not surprised, perhaps they’re disappointed that none of the engine glitches were fixed over a two-year development period.
We kind of knew it would happen, and if they were to be honest with themselves, Obsidian probably did too. The thing is this: I don’t think they care. How can they possibly? They’re responsible for some of the most beloved-but-broken games released in recent memory. Knights of the Old Republic II had an entire planet removed from the game because they couldn’t work out the kinks in time for release; add that on top of the already damning fact that a lot of people think the ending of the game was also left out and replaced with several “So and so went on to do this…” lines of dialogue. (This, however, is arguable and I disagree with the majority, but the stigma remains). Neverwinter Nights 2 was and still is commonly cited as a ridiculous technical system hog when it had no reason to be. And Alpha Protocol… the consensus was that somewhere hiding inside the broken shell of a product that shipped out on launch day was a well written story, and it’s really too bad a lot of people will never experience it.
Fallout: New Vegas, then. A chance to redeem themselves? “Fuck it. Let’s just stick to what we’re good at. Fire the technical project lead, tell Bethesda not to bother with the beta testers, and just send Avellone some more Twinkies. If we need any new texturing or engine work we’ll hire some street urchin.”
That’s not to say this strategy bothers me in any particular way. I’m just shocked, frankly, that Obsidian continues to operate under the guise of “game developer.” They don’t develop shit. They take someone else’s game and make it more appealing to an audience who want something … different. Am I complaining though? A little bit. Well, no to be honest, actually I can’t complain at all. I’m in my mid-twenties and already crusty and jaded. My heart is a deep shade of brown; my soul went to the corner store to get some macaroons but that was years ago, I think it’s gone for good. Obsidian fill that void by giving me exactly what I didn’t know I needed: an often ugly world, but one filled with compelling words and compelling people.
That somehow is a prerequisite to be able to feel and love in Obsidian’s bizarro-universe. I actually forgive them for putting New Vegas on shelves in its current state. I forgive them that in 21 hours spent in the wasteland so far my PlayStation 3 has locked up and said “tough shit” a total of five times. I forgive them that some woman in the Mojave Outpost was typing on an invisible typewriter (and not Chief Wiggum style, either). I forgive them that when I ventured into the Bison Steve casino to rescue a dimwitted deputy, I was met with a “Hello” from his captor, who sat on a bar stool and did nothing as I bludgeoned him to death with a shovel. I forgive them that nine times out of ten when I target a Nightkin in V.A.T.S. my percentage to hit is zero.
But why, you ask, do I forgive so easily? Well … I guess it’s love. Do you not forgive your lover when they scorn you?
There’s no reason to touch on the myriad technical retardations present within New Vegas. That information is easily obtainable elsewhere. What I can touch on is how I feel about it so far. Have the five system freezes bothered me? Yeah, they’re really annoying, but I’m not letting that affect my overall judgement of an otherwise enthralling adventure. The minor bugs that aren’t crashes? I couldn’t care less about those. They’re one-offs in a massive world that I can forget about in an instant. The whole V.A.T.S. thing with the Nightkin is pretty annoying to tell the truth, but if I had to guess that’s something that Obsidian might actually fix with patching.
For many of us we should have expected exactly this, and therefore should have had our minds set. Mine was set on a launch day purchase and I do not regret that decision. Would you? It’s largely a question of tolerance. That and what you felt about Fallout 3, and what exactly sequels (or non-sequels as I think this is) should be. If after completion of Fallout 3 you felt that you’d had enough and wouldn’t likely return then I can’t honestly recommend New Vegas. If you ate up all the downloadable content, however, and still wander the D.C. wastes today (or would at least consider it) then I absolutely would recommend New Vegas to you.
If you’re in the latter crowd then I’m betting you haven’t stuck around for the technical mastery or graphical wizardry of the Fallout world. You’ve stuck around because of the stories that world tells, the characters who inhabit it, and everything else related to the two. If you’re a “hardcore” Fallout 1 or 2 fan there’s no denying this either, and I can’t stress this enough. The passage of time can often afford a nice shell of safety to artifacts of the past which we hold in high regard. The early Fallouts being no exception. Many a rose-coloured glasses-wearer would tell you that Fallout 3 and now New Vegas (or maybe just Fallout 3) are bastardizations of a beloved role-playing classic, and blah, blah, blah. If there’s one thing that makes me wretch it’s blind nostalgia for stupid shit you liked when you were younger. I’m not calling Fallout 1 or 2 stupid shit, I’m just saying.
To the contrary, you could call me one of those “hardcore” fans of the original two titles, but I’ll call a spade a spade. Fallout is one of the most hilariously bug-riddled games I’ve ever played. Go on YouTube and one can seek out some entertaining variations of bugs that allowed players to beat the game in a matter of minutes. Fallout 2 was the same: bigger and better. That goes for the game world and the bugs. Anyone who holds those Fallouts in high regard yet tears down New Vegas for its technical failings is kidding themselves. Nobody loves Fallout 2 because of the sleek rendering of a Deathclaw or excellent character animations. They love it because it’s a brilliant, true role-playing adventure where you can destroy every single person you meet, or harm no one at all.
As for story, players seem to be torn between Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Some say that the former’s main quest line was more compelling, but the latter improves the overall quality of the ever-abundant side quests. Others are saying the exact opposite. I say they’re all fairly level to me. I think Fallout 3‘s narrative, while nothing Shakespearian, was fair and it suited the game’s purpose: exploration. The reason you spend a good chunk of time in Vault 101, which serves as the game’s tutorial, is so you build up a connection to a few of its inhabitants but mostly your father. His disappearance and the mystery surrounding it served as a metaphor for your entire journey: the exhilaration of exploration, of having goals but never knowing exactly where they will lead you next.
This is all unchanged, just executed differently in New Vegas. Instead of controlling your character from birth you pick up in a small town called Goodsprings (named for its clean water supply) where the local M.D. has just finished patching you up after a mysterious robot calling himself Victor exhumed your buried-alive carcass and delivered you to his doorstep.
After a brief orientation and a bit of legwork for the townspeople you’ll soon be off on your own, much like you were in Fallout 3, only this time you’re not searching for the man who seemingly abandoned you; you’re after the man who left you for dead. It’s hardly different from past objectives, and I offer this in a good way. “Open world” games or whatever we’re calling them now don’t need to rely on a tight narrative in the way that a game like, oh I don’t know, let’s say Max Payne does.
Do you remember what Fallout was about? Your vault’s water chip was broken, so they sent you out into the wastes to find a new one. If that’s not the most dry (no pun intended) setup for a role-playing feast then I’ve apparently missed the game where you have amnesia and go knocking from door to door to learn things and eventually kill some bad guy. Oh wait, that’s every game ever, including New Vegas! Well then, they’re all equally rubbish, aren’t they?! We need to enjoy F:NV for what it is, not for the hidden talents that we stupefyingly still believe Obsidian is harbouring.
This game is about the illusion of freedom, and dammit I intend to enjoy it. There are just too many beautiful subtleties in the writing team’s wit not to. First of all, if Fallout 2 in particular is your favourite of the bunch, I guarantee you are going to enjoy a lot of referencing that goes on here. Some personal highlights in my time with New Vegas so far are overhearing a Nightkin going mad, rambling to himself about how a bunch of Brahmin are responsible for the voices in his head; listening to a former NCR ranger, now settled into a life of protecting a small town, complain about his paranoia … from atop his sniper’s perch inside a dinosaur’s maw; a classic quip from a soused patron in a bar where she alludes to two of the Mojave’s largest factions swinging their dicks around via a pair of over-sized, self-congratulatory statues which greeted you on your way in; a plaque next to an empty gun case that surmises at length about the number of victims this 9mm sub-machine gun might have claimed, if only its infamous owner had ever fired a shot from it; though my absolute favourite touch includes just a handful of Obsidian’s words. It’s the withdrawal effect experienced each time I run out of beer or whiskey (I’ve become quite addicted, you see): the desert’s harsh tones all glow a beautiful glow, enhancing this place to a level of majesty it could never truly achieve … and then slowly fade with a rumbling din, signifying that maybe I’ve lost myself… perhaps gone too far, seen enough of this desert hell for one day. My television agrees: “You are experiencing withdrawal.” (From real life, I can only assume it means.)
And then I take another drink.
Email the author of this post at xtal@tap-repeatedly.com.
What a great piece, xtal. Nice work!
Like you I find myself really enjoying New Vegas, despite the odd complaint here and there. You have to weigh experiences like this in units we’ll call “Jollies,” because I’m unaware of an actual measurement system.
To establish some constants so everyone can use this system, here’s guidelines:
Portal was around 378 Jollies, or 378J
Hellgate London was around, oh, 16J
X-Com was 381J
Grand Theft Auto 4 was 54J
Dead Rising 2 was 120J
Right now I rank New Vegas at around 155J, which is a very respectable amount. There’s no conversion rate for Jollies to time or money, but knowing that a game brings enough Jollies is a compelling reason to buy. Of course, we all have to set our own Jolly Threshold, below which we’re likely unimpressed.
Great article.
“…my soul went to the corner store to get some macaroons but that was years ago, I think it’s gone for good.”
I laughed real hard at that line. Laughed a second time after I put it in the reply box. Classic!
Man, I’m sorry for all the bugs you experienced on the PS3 version. I would be very upset if that happened to me. My game on the PC has been running smoother than FO3 did since the patch, and my problems before the patch don’t compare to what you’ve experienced. Not to say everyone was so fortunate with the PC version either, I’ve read my share of complaints.
The thing is though, I don’t think Obsidian is to blame so much as Bethesda, and this is coming from a guy who adores Beth and their games. The game engine (or how they developed it for these games,) though great for a long list of reasons, has a lot of bugs. It’s had bugs through Oblivion, and through FO3, and I’m not at all surprised it still has them here. I think they’ve improved on each of these titles as they’ve moved forward, but some things seem almost inherent about these incarnations of Gamebryo.
Finally, I’m really loving the writing in this game. I think it sort of reflects badly on Bethesda because it makes their writing pale by comparison. Many of the bits you wrote about stuck out to me as well, and I’ve been really pleased with it.
The main story line actually feels more compelling as well, primarily because I REALLY like the villains in this game. FO3 had the Enclave, President Edin, and Colonel Autumn. They filled in their rolls well enough, but compare them to Caesar’s Legion and specifically Caesar himself and they seem like minor league bad-guys. Every interaction with the Legion has been memorable for me. They make excellent villains who I just love to hate!
Great article dude!
Thanks for the piece xtal. Great stuff.
I too am not caring so much anymore about bugs as every game seems to have its share, at least the ones I play. (Nehrim, a real crash fest, and technically not a game, is running about 78J right now.) Vegas is definitely my next game.
I too like Bethesda’s games but I don’t keep coming back for the writing.
Awesome piece, Xtal. Keep ’em coming. And a lot of good points too.
As for bugs, how’s this one for size: on last Saturday, I come home with a nice copy of Civilization V Collector’s Edition and a copy of Fallout: New Vegas for PS3. I decide to stick the Fallout disc into my PS3 immediatelay because I know there will be a massive patch coming down the tubes first (turned out to be only 19 MB but it still took some 20 minutes to download, guess the servers were beign hit hard) and then the massive installation too… So, I piss around the apartment for more than half an hour. The game finally starts. I go through the opening cinematic once again (I already saw it on Xbox 360 and PC) because I want this playthrough to be the proper one with all the good memories linked to it. I come to the character designing section. I spend 15 minutes crafting a perfect African American ninja lady. I click “end” to go back to the dialogue with the doctor. He says “Well, I got most of it right anyway” and then the fucking console YLODs. For the second time in four weeks. Yes, you read it right: New Vegas is so hardcore about being glitchy it managed to kill my console without even letting me play the damn game.
It killed your console dead?? Dude, that’s awful. That’ll ruin memories of even a great game. Dead Rising was a great game but I only think of it with hatred because I went through five 360s while playing it.
Hopefully Civ V can keep you occupied until you get your PS3 fixed…
I just reread this piece and have to agree with Armand – that clump of text is a piece of brilliance mixed inside real excellence. You write as if you care, and it shows.
I can take Obsidian’s technical quirks, so long as the game is playable. As a STALKER aficionado I have no right to complain about overly buggy games… but the STALKER games were all playable. Alpha Protocol was not. Other than that, though, you’re right, you’re exactly right: others give us games, Obsidian gives us worlds. I’m spending a good 3-5 hours a night on New Vegas and I have no complaints.
Thanks xtal.
I love the measurement system, Steerpike. I think that’s going to be a future staple here. I’m intrigued, if Portal is about 378J and UFO Defense is 381J, how many Jollies would a game like Thief have?
And thanks for reading, everyone. Meho, that’s just awful about your Yellow light of death … did you have an “old,” fat PS3 or a newer slim model? I’m really hoping my slim model, purchased in January 2010, and resold to me in March, isn’t prone to the YLOD.
And Steerpike, you’re kidding right? Five 360s? FIVE?! Please tell me that’s embellishment. In three years now I’ve suffered only one RROD (as if such a low amount is something to be proud of).
As a side note, I failed to mention one thing about my system freezes in New Vegas. Each of them occurred only after I had been playing the game for an obscene amount of time in one sitting (say, 5+ hours). When I mentioned this to a friend he brought up a good point that it sounds like some kind of memory leak issue. But then again, would that persist after a quick reboot of the PS3? I don’t really know. Just putting it out there.
Hopefully, that indeed is a memory leak issue, not an overheating issue. Cause if it is, you might be experiencing your very own first YLOD some time soon. I hope not, though!!
Yeah, my PS3 was a “phat” model, a launch 60GB backwards compatible model. I just had it repaired from a simultaneous YLOD and BluRay laser failure. I haven’t switched it on for a week. It was on less than an hour and it died. Damn things are made of straw…
I do not exaggerate, xtal. FIVE. Kind of turned me off the platform. As for your problem, Meho, I sure hope they can get it fixed quickly and easily. It’s a hassle to deal with it once, but twice nearly in a row…
I’d say Thief is about 380J as well, in terms of pure experiential joy. Jollies aren’t calculated just during playtime; a game’s Jolly amount accumulates based on ongoing love and thought.
Great piece Xtal, but am I missing something? We’re rightfully pointing out the abundance of ludicrous faults and bugs with FO:V, yet completely overlooking them at the same time?
Why is this forgiveable from Obsidian but no other (or barely other) developers?
It’s ridiculous.
I dunno, Lewis. I don’t feel ashamed to say that I give some developers more leeway than others. After all, we can’t just apply it to the bad. I’ll buy anything that Valve makes, even if they actually stumble at some point in the future. Can’t say the same about other developers who’ve made games I love.
Besides, I think it’s reaching to say that New Vegas has an abundance of ludicrous faults and bugs. Quintin Smith’s article was… a little harsh, in my opinion. Of course he has the right to his view, and I don’t disagree with some of his complaints, but New Vegas isn’t a broken game and the bugs and glitches I’ve encountered are comparatively minor. A crash here, a bit of scenery clipping there…
One thing that surprises me is how much more it’s held my interest than the original Fallout 3.
In no other industry would a company legally be permitted to sell such a broken product. I’m wondering when/if ever the law is going to catch up to the gaming industry.
In a nutshell, Obsidian committed fraud and released a product that was not merchantable.
Whenever the law catches up to the gaming industry, words like “censorship” take the fore, not words like “fraud.”
Ernest, what sorts of issues have you had with New Vegas?
I think that’s arguable, Ernest. Many a company in various industries can put out products that are “broken,” sub-standard, or what have you; it’s your right as a consumer to exercise the option of purchasing or abstaining.
The scuttlebutt on New Vegas in various circles was that Obsidian, and ultimately Bethesda, put a highly defective product on shelves– when compared to Fallout 3.
I wanted to bring to light that I felt the above was disingenuous, among other things. Fallout: New Vegas is indeed a game with its share of bugs, but to say it egregiously outdoes its predecessor in that regard is false, once again, in my opinion of course. I believe a great portion of the negativity stems from part expectation (or hype, if you will) and part frustration (at the lack of discernible progress made with the Gamebryo engine).
My goal, then, was simply to say to those who loved Fallout 3, but were weary of its “sequel” not offering similar quality: you have nothing to fear.
Auto industry. They always have recalls for defective products that cost plenty more and can put lives at stake.
I agree with xtal that this game is no worse than FO3 as far as bugs go, and it took that one something like 4-6 patches to get running smoothly. 1 patch has fixed any real problems I had with this one.
I also agree. The game has issues, sure, but the first patch fixed a number of them. Since then there’ve been more. And I bought New Vegas when? Seven days ago? I’ve spent 19 hours with it since then, and right now my time is pretty darn limited. That’s got to say something.
We are always willing to make allowances for those we love. I’m with Steerpike and xtal on that. (xtal…shall I send you some macaroons to enjoy until your soul returns?) I came to F3 late, so patch 1.7 was available. I installed it at the same time I installed the game for the first time, so my experience was great from the beginning. If I were to buy NV today I would not worry too much about bugs. I’d patch when possible, but play on knowing that this game will give me many hours of fun. Like F3, I’m imagining that NV might reach 500 on Steerpike’s Jollies scale. (I agree with him on Portal.)
Here’s how far I will go to play a game I love: I DL’d an F3 mod last weekend – “A Quest For Heaven”. It’s a quest mod that has nothing to do with religion, or heaven in the way we usually use the term. Think government/politics. Anyway, this mod had many, many positive endorsements, but some users had problems with the mod. It has a great BIG BUG that makes the last 3rd of the game very difficult because some players, me included, lost the ability to save. The game will crash on a quick save, auto save or even regular save. Think about that. Even if I were able to get through what is a very long mod in one go, I couldn’t save to quit for the night. No saving of any kind when I finally emerge back out into the Wasteland. In essence, the mod would be unfinishable. A user found a solution: allow yourself to be killed, or kill yourself with a grenade. After the game takes you back to your most recent save you will have about 15 minutes when you can save with abandon, but after that you need to go the kill/reload route yet again. That is a slow and annoying way to play a game. So why am I doing this? Simply, this mod is wonderful. Great story. Large world. Well made. Not counting crashes and other problems, I’ve probably got 8-9 hours into the mod, and I’m at least an hour from completing it. That playing time rivals many complete games out there, and this one is free. This mod, with the exception of the save bug, is at least as long, and at least as good, as F3’s DLCs. That is saying something. So I’ve jumped through hoops to play this, but the experience has been worth it. The mod creator has a sequel: “A Quest For Heaven 2” that I will download and play – even if it too has problems because an interesting story and an interesting location trumps the negative. I loved it. I’m making allowances.
Good reading xtal! I need to get this game…
Also, I feel that we should bring some sort of scientific standardisation to the Jolly measurement system, if for no other reason than that I am a metric as opposed to imperical man.
What is our baseline for Jolly measurement? A game of 0 Jollies does not elicit any fun? Is there a standard game for 100/200/300/400/500 Jollies with which we will base our comparisons on (like 0 Celcius for water freezing and 100 Celcius for water boiling)?
Well, for what it’s worth, I’m around level 20 and well into the game, and am experiencing constant crashes to the point where it has become unplayable. Didn’t really have any problems until recently, so I don’t know what changed aside from making progress in game. FO3 would sometimes suffer from this issue as well. Waiting to see if a new patch is coming, but it’s pretty disappointing right now.
Hmmm, that’s very disappointing, Armand. I haven’t had further crashes since my initial bout of those 4 all in one session within a span of twenty minutes. Are you playing on PC or console? It took the PS3 folks a few days extra to get a patch out, but it fixed apparently in the neighborhood of 200 bugs and oddities. If you’re on PC I’d assume the patches are going there first, so keep your eyes peeled.
As I said, I’ve had no crashes in a while, and strangely the only place I’ve been to where the framerate becomes near-crippled is in the Fort McCarran airport concourse.
Please keep us updated, Armand. I myself am about 37 hours and 13 levels in.
That is disappointing, Armand, I hope it gets better for you.
I’m at that irritating point in RPGs where I’m kind of spinning my wheels – I know what I need to do to make progress, but can’t quite do it due to funding. Buying bullets and paying for repairs have kept me in a rut. I’m hoping Vault 3 has the riches I need. Vault 22 sure didn’t.
I see Jollies as more a Kelvin scale. It doesn’t go into negatives. 0 Jollies is a complete absence of fun, but not necessarily a presence of suffering. There is no torment on the Jolly scale.
We will need to standardize the scale for accuracy.
Playing on PC. From what I can tell (and after extensive hardware testing,) it seems to be raising my CPU heat to about 65C! It’s supposed to be running at about 32C. I ordered a much heavier duty fan off of TigerDirect today, plus some quality thermal gel, so I’m hoping that will fix the problem.
The strange thing is, the problem has now expanded to games that ran fine before, which makes me wonder, did my computer just tire out or did New Vegas do this to it. I’m edging on it’s the computer, but the timing of it has left a sour taste…
The worst part is, I still just want to play the game, as it felt like it only got better and better.
Very weird, Armand. Hopefully it was coincidental timing with your computer’s cooling on its last legs, but I suppose you’ll never know. Let us know how it goes!
I’m no expert, but I doubt New Vegas did it Armand. It sounds to me like your HSF is loose or coming to the end of its life. Hopefully the new stuff will fix your problem!
The thing is, it’s basically the Oblivion engine surely? Considering the age of the game engine. that it’s still randomly crashing is a pretty poor show, But by far the most annoying bug I’ve hit so far is the frikkin’ nightkin VATS problem, those things can eat up your health pretty quick, Especially when you meet one that’s carrying a ranged weapon and you’re trying to manually target a blur at distance. it’s even more annoying when it’s in the first time you meet the things and the checkpoint it kicks you back to on death is stupidly early.
The writing and acting is better and the quests and wildlife are more varied than FO3, The overall immersion of the world remains a great achievement, heck, I’d recommend it to anyone regardless of the bugs, but the bugs do grate nonetheless.
Hi Courier 6, welcome.
It is basically the Oblivion engine in the sense that the Oblivion Engine itself is the third-party GameBryo Engine from Emergent Technologies. GameBryo has been through its fair share of improvements since Oblivion; the real complaint most people have is that it appears Bethesda and Obsidian didn’t really take advantage of them.
While it crashes maybe a little more often than other games, it’s far from the worst offender I’ve ever seen. And as you say, because of the immersion and style of writing, I’d recommend it bugs or no.
What’s this Nightkin bug you speak of? I only encountered them (so far) in the basement of the rocket factory. They kicked my ass, but I don’t recall experiencing a problem in VATS. I’m not really looking forward to meeting them again, though.
So here’s the skinny, Pike-meister: when targeting Nightkin in VATS your percentage to hit any and all body parts can be zero. The bug seems random, sometimes it occurrs, other times not.
Thanks for your comments, Courier 6. Yours seems to be the general consensus from those of us at Tap playing F:NV: we’re wishing the quirks were fewer but on a whole very much enjoying the quality of the game itself.
I installed this today and played a couple of hours. Had a single in-game freeze up. I had the issue on and off in Oblivion and its mega-mod Nehrim as well as in Fallout 3. I’m so used to going to the task bar and re-launching the game I starting to think it’s part of this engine’s gameplay. The game is very fun already though.
Later…hey I like this front end editor.
For PC players a large patch has been released, v 1.2.0. A list of fixes included can be found here:
http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1123616-game-updates/page__view__findpost__p__16656386
Okay. About 16-18 hours in and not another hiccup since that one freeze. Not that I’m not saving like a big fat baby save whore but so far so good. VATS seems to be slow on the uptake when I let something run up into close range but otherwise, on PC, it’s running just fine.
Armand, did you ever straighten out your CPU overheating problem?