"Comprehensive" patch for New Vegas

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 8 November, 2010

For all three platforms.

A "comprehensive" patch for all three versions of post-apocalyptic open world role-player Fallout: New Vegas is in the works.

It'll fix the Xbox 360 save issue so many have experienced, among other bugs.

It's due in the "coming weeks", according to Bethesda.

An "incremental" patch for the PC version should be available early this week – that'll fix save corruption and companion issues and improve performance for NVIDIA users.

Fallout: New Vegas is a superb entry in the popular series – Dan Whitehead awarded it 9/10 for Eurogamer – but gamers have reported a number of bugs since launch.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (38) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Tomnd #1 2 years ago

    Sweet!

    Mind you i have been playing for 35 hrs and had 2 crashes. Better than most.

  • Xieldos #2 2 years ago

    Absolutely ridiculous it was ever released in the state it is. After 50 or so hours crashes become a lot more regular

  • Shikasama #3 2 years ago

    I've not had a single problem with it in about 60 hours of play on the 360. No crashes, no corruptions. A couple of very minor bugs that didn't affect the game (such as the gun floating upwards sometimes) but aside form that nothing.

    Born lucky.

  • Paperghost #4 2 years ago

    about 70 hours in, the game is starting to collapse under its own weight a little now i think as certain bugs start to happen more and more. most common for me at this point:

    * reputation with a faction will simply vanish from the status screen, which may result in members of that faction randomly attacking me but only in specific map areas (i can travel through most of the strip but at one certain point NCR will attack).

    * companions either randomly stop following me, or refuse to go inside buildings.

    * The game seems to constantly lock up if trying to load up a quicksave now, it'll get stuck on the loading screen.

    * Bits of inventory will just vanish (lost about 30 jet earlier).

    * faction armour bug, where the game doesn't realise you took off NCR armour and then you walk into a legion camp and get shot to pieces.

    On the flip side - 70 hours in, i've had at least 3 moments where i thought "argh, this will end soon" only to breath easy as i see another 10 quests pop up. it took me an age to get through the 39 i've completed, and i've heard there are something like 163 in total (which may or may not include the unmarked ones), along with something like 130 odd locations found out of about 400 or so which suits me fine.

    also: awesome companion missions, companions in general that are similarly interesting, regular missions that weave in and out of said quests, tons of quests linked to general world exploration, looting, multiple ways to go about things throughout the game, a truly mindboggling array of options linked to the endgame, genuinely well thought out motivations for all factions, locations that are worth visiting over time as they actually change / add new characters & missions, tons of small details that make the world feel alive....i'm amazed the game works at all, to be honest. well worth putting up with the bugs - 70 hours in, i'd done everything there was to do in FO3. i've barely scratched the surface of this one - easily my GOTY.
    Edited by Paperghost at 08/11/10 @ 09:40

  • YobRenoops #5 2 years ago

    "Fallout: New Vegas is a superb entry in the popular series – Dan Whitehead awarded it 9/10 for Eurogamer – but everyone has reported a number of bugs since launch."

    Fixed that for you.

  • HermitArcader #6 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Shikasama #7 2 years ago

    Actually a caveat to my original psot:

    The load times in Freeside and on the strip got to be pretty ridiculous

  • DUFFMAN5 #8 2 years ago

    Great stuff
    No need to unwrap my 360 copy just yet.

  • Tomnd #9 2 years ago

    The save game file for the pc gets bigger the longer you play it, mine is 5 MB at 35 hrs so i imagine this has something to do with it.

  • darkmorgado #10 2 years ago

    Saying that New Vegas has a "number" of bugs is like saying Hitler was a "bit" naughty.

  • YobRenoops #11 2 years ago

    I think this is one of those games where the Quality of the Gameplay and the Quality of the Tech is at loggerheads. I reckon Edge got it right with their 6/10. There may be an 8-9/10 game in there but it's let down by 3-4/10 tech. I think people saying anything higher than a 7 are just making the review system look stupid.

  • ryandsimmons #12 2 years ago

    30 hours in I gave up and rushed to the end. Every hour after 20 seemed to double the load times and I just got frustrated. (PS3)

  • darkmorgado #13 2 years ago

    I gave up playing New Vegas when Fable came out due to the vast amount of bugs. Now I'm waiting for a patch for Fable because of the vast number of bugs.

    In face, I genuinely cant remember the last game I got that wasn't really buggy.

  • kangarootoo #14 2 years ago

    Coming weeks?

    I have about 1 hour of progress so far, so I guess I'll just stop playing it before I get started, and wait for fixes :(

  • kinky_mong #15 2 years ago

    Ahh just in time for me finishing the game last night!

    That means nothing though, I'll still be playing it to see what happens for following the different factions. Fantastic game that's easily worth overlooking the occasional annoying bug.

  • mkreku #16 2 years ago

    I bought Fallout: New Vegas for the PC, and I must say that the reports of bugs are starting to take on ridiculous proportions. Yes, there are bugs. Yes, there are more bugs than in your average game. But people comparing Fallout: New Vegas bugs to the evilness of Hitler? Uh..

    The game is perfectly playable. In fact, even though it has crashed for me a multitude of times, I've finished it once and am replaying it with a new character build now. This game is that good.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #17 2 years ago

    In my experience it's probably equivalently buggy to Oblivion and Fallout 3. But the way the story hangs together is enormously complex. The permutations of all the things you can possibly to to get to the end, as you tie in any of several combinations of factions and side-groups is simply incredible.

    It's the most open, flexible story based game I have ever seen - puts anything Bioware or Warren Spector have ever done to shame in that regard. Like PaperGhost says, it's amazing it works at all.

    But mostly it's just amazing.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #18 2 years ago

    I'd definitely recommend the PC version, though. I've done one ending, 32 hours in, had one crash the second time I ran it, but after I upgraded my graphics drivers, none thereafter. On all the Bethesda RPGs it's worth it simply for the load times, even if your PC won't handle the graphics as well as your console.

    Also, the likes of http://fallout.wikia.com have debug console commands you can use to fix quest bugs if they happen (not that I've needed these in New Vegas, but I did need one in Oblivion).

  • Sunyavadin #19 2 years ago

    So glad none of these bugs have ever affected me.

  • lord_jamie #20 2 years ago

    I must be one of the lucky ones. I've completed it on two playthroughs (one hardcore and one normal) and seen all 4 endings totalling just over 100 hours and seen no crashes and two graphical glitches (Radscorpian walking vertical and a dog with it's eyeballs floating alongside it's head).

  • d00dl #21 2 years ago

    It's kind of ironic that before widespread Live and PSN adoption that games didn't tend to have so many bugs when they shipped. This launch now, patch later mentality should really not be accepted.

    I wonder if we can return games under the sales of goods act when they are not fit for the purpose they were intended because of operational bugs. That would make devs think twice when people start returning their games to the shops. The trouble is, how many of us would do that if we could?

  • Markitron #22 2 years ago

    Iv been playing on PS3 for about 12 hours and it only crashed once during a load screen

  • fiery_jackass #23 2 years ago

    I've seen plenty of freezing and glitching and so forth, one or two quests not being completable for no reason etc... but on the whole it's been fantastic.

    thing is, now I'm on a hair trigger for blaming the game... like a problem I hit on The Strip the other night when Rex suddenly went mad attacking the NCR. I appeared to lose all of my hard-earned rep with them AND the ability to start the final set of quests. Spent about an hour furiously trudging about on old saves trying different ways to stop my companions fucking everything up and cursing the game for being a broken piece of shit.

    Turns out I'd been strolling around in BoS armour the whole time and the NCR weren't keen on it. My fault, not a bug, sorry Obsidian, sorry Rex.

  • levitate #24 2 years ago

    I haven't encountered a single bug yet, only those pesky raiders with flamethrowers.

  • Skire #25 2 years ago

    I knew they would totally screw up and deliver an unfinished product. That's why I'll be waiting for the patched up GOTY version with all the DLC. I have no problem waiting since I've recently purchased Fallout 3 for the PS3.

  • Paperghost #26 2 years ago

    @fiery_jackass

    I had a similar problem - before leaving a legion base, I put on some of their armour then used it to repair an item of clothing. because I hadn't physically removed the armour as such (just opened up repair and combined it with something else) the game didn't register that I'd taken the thing off (in a roundabout fashion).

    if that happens to anyone else, just grab the "missing" armour from the faction in question, put it on and take it off again. you won't be randomly attacked anymore.
    Edited by Paperghost at 08/11/10 @ 12:29

  • TheTrueSpin #27 2 years ago

    To late, I took this game back after the 5th crash.

  • PixelPirate #28 2 years ago

    The fact that a game can be released in this state and still get a 9/10 doesn't sit well with me at all.


    @Skire Good luck with the original PS3 fallout its still buggy as hell and never got patched :'(
    Edited by PixelPirate at 08/11/10 @ 13:22

  • makeamazing #29 2 years ago

    Had 1 crash so far, about 6 hours in i guess. Was really enjoying it and need to get back on it really. But might just wait for the patch, though not sure it will fix some of the major performance issues on the PS3. Was really liking it though.

    I do hope they get rid of this tech for the next Oblivion and Fallout 4 games.

  • Stratix #30 2 years ago

    I haven't had many problems with the game, but the main one that ticked me off was that one of my companions when recruited didn't don his awesome armour, and never will, so I loaded a save before I picked him up and refused to do so until he is fixed.

  • PixelPirate #31 2 years ago

    @makeamazing

    i believe they are using id's tech for future games (they bought id recently), so it should be a thing of the past *hopes*

  • magicpocket #32 2 years ago

    @PixelPirate

    PS3 has been patched now. As have 360 and PC.

  • ricpamiwor #33 2 years ago

    I have to agree with the comments that say a game shouldn't be given a 9/10 with this many bugs in it at launch. I understand that a reviewer might turn a blind eye to this if they're promised a patch not long after the release but I really think they should start marking them down for it.

    I bought this game at launch mainly because of the review on this site, which neglected to mention the sheer number of bugs included. I played it twice (PS3 version) and I've just shelved it because I might as well wait for the patch before I can enjoy the game to its full potential.
    Edited by ricpamiwor at 08/11/10 @ 14:26

  • metalangel #34 2 years ago

    Not buying until the patch. I had enough fun with massive bugs in the first two Fallout games, thanks.

  • neems #35 2 years ago

    @d00dl - personally, if I have serious issues with a game then I will take it back, regardless of 'company policy'. As a pc gamer I will allow them a certain amount of leeway, as a lot of problems in pc gaming are hardware releated. That clearly isn't the case for F:NV - I'm lucky enough that I haven't had an awful lot of bugs (a couple of crashes, a few graphical errors) but if the game became unplayable I would take it back.

    I did this recently with the PS3 version of Blur - multiplayer was hardlocking the console. The guy in PC World said they didn't take games back, but he had to admit that if it was affecting the actual hardware then it was a definite fault. Best thing to do is wait until the shop is really busy, and hold up the entire queue until they sort you out. Always ask to speak to the manager if necessary, as they will often do refunds for goodwill if appropriate.

  • uknortherner2000 #36 2 years ago

    I have the PC version and gave up on it after a couple of days. I haven't managed to progress any further than a couple of hours before my saves become corrupted, and the less said about the stuttering (rendering combat useless without VATS) and crash-inducing background loading (the same crash-inducing background loading that Bethesda specifically disabled in Oblivion because of stability issues), the better.

    Why have we become so tolerant of half-arsed, bug-ridden games being sold at full price (and review "embargoes" to boot - got something to hide, publishers?), and why are the reviewers glossing over these issues?

  • Darren #37 2 years ago

    20 odd hours into the PC version of New Vegas and the only minor issue I've had is the launcher crashing a few times before I'd even got chance to click on Play (some issue with Steam's GameOverlayUI.dll file according to the Event log: setting Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode seems to have got rid of it). Oh and I've seen a dog with its eyes hanging out! Otherwise I've had zero problems while playing the game and it hasn't crashed once, something I couldn't say about Fallout 3!!! Even the Pip-boy radio music plays correctly in this game. I'm not using any tweaks either.

    A good game for sure but one that I'm not enjoying quite as much as its predecessor, simply because I'm finding it far too similar and two years on the engine and visuals, especially the animation, does date the game badly. That's not to say I'm not having fun playing it, just that unlike Fallout 3 or Oblivion this one isn't so addictive that it's keeping me up all night.

  • MrE26 #38 2 years ago

    Not sure of my playtime, but i've hit level 30 so i must have racked up a fair few hours & i've had a few lockups & my gun jumping around the screen a bit, but that's it. If my save gets corrupted now i'll be fucking ill though.