I have just finished playing through FO:NV for the second time. Last month I played through FO3 a couple of times as well. And while New Vegas did make some interesting changes and improvements, there were still a few issues that remained. So far, I haven't seen much (if any) discussion on those features and if the majority would agree that changes do in fact need to be made.

Bear in mind that these suggestions could apply to a game update (or new DLC) as well as another complete version (FO4 for example), so there really is not specific location for this. I'm posting it into the New Vegas general discussion section because it was the latest live content released so far where these issues were observed.


1) Map objective markers look alike - I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed this problem, but when certain quests/missions have multiple objectives, the markers used on both the map and on-screen compass look identical. There is nothing to identify which marker is leading to the primary objective, secondary objective, etc. And there have been several times where I had to reload from previous saves because I headed to the incorrect objective marker.

Do you think it would be possible in future updates/releases that each marker is numbered, to match up with a numbered objective task? Or at least allow us to select a specific objective within a quest to be highlighted/blinking/etc.


2) Companion behaviors are FUBAR - It doesn't matter if my companions are set to Passive or Aggressive, those morons like to engage the enemy even when it's impossible. It's worse when in a structure, where your companions will turn aggressive against an enemy on another floor or behind a wall and can't even see them. It's not just companions, all AI NPC's seem to share this problem with their "target detection" coding or something. But when I tell my companions to be Passive, I expect them not to run off alone and chase a mutant two floors down. Most of the time, I end up telling my companions to wait near the entry just so I don't have to babysit their every breath.

Any way to modify detection/engagement ranges, or at least modify companion "engagement rules"? If I tell my companion to be passive, that should mean they don't attack unless I can see the enemy myself and I'm dropping brass on the floor or tenderizing some mutant steaks with my machete. If they aren't actually struck with a melee weapon or shot with a ranged weapon, that should not initiate combat for them.


3) Recipes no longer viewable away from crafting location - In Fallout 3 I could look at my known recipes and see which items I needed to haul off to a crafting table, instead of having to pack all that junk with me in hopes that I brought what was needed without hauling 500 pounds of trash. But with New Vegas, I noticed that I could only view recipes once I activated the specific crafting device (workbench, reloading table, etc). That means that currently, I have to quicksave, run to a crafting bench, look at what ingredients are needed, quickload, pack up all of those ingredients, then go back to the crafting bench and do the job.

It would be nice if we could still view our known recipes away from a crafting location just like we could in FO3.

I solved that problem by printing out the Wikia page for "Crafting"

What....How....:wallbang:

I am such an idiot. My characters have always depended on crafting, whether it's just Slasher or whether it's all sorts of stuff.

I am humbled, Golem. Accept my sword, as one who is defeated to you now and forever.

-Nukeknockout

1 ) Fix the GLitch
2 ) Better / Interesting Location
3 ) Better Art Design Gears
4 ) Wheather Dynamic
5 ) Random Accounters.
6 ) Where is my AK-47 ?

There is also one more thing that I forgot to mention, one that really annoyed me but overall didn't upset gameplay too much:


Why is it that "stealing" items from an enemy location results in negative karma? For example, if I'm Idolized by the NCR and have been watering the region with Legion blood, why would it be considered "bad" to steal/recover items from a Legion camp?

Or it's perfectly acceptable and OK for me to run into the Powder Ganger prison facility, shoot all of the gangers in the face with a riot shotgun, with no loss of karma. Yet it's a bad thing for me to take a bottle of whiskey off a table in the prison?

I'm guessing it's because Stealing is Stealing, no matter who from. To you they may be bad, but to them you could be bad, ya know?

For the map markers you could always set your own marker over the marker you want to follow. If you set it right it'll outline it and it actually looks pretty cool.

That's what I was about to say, it only took one time with me running off in the wrong direction and wasting who knows how much time before I figured out that little trick.

I printed out the recipes and the shopping list .This way when I had an item I knew what it was used for and if I needed it or I could sell it.

The developers have stated that the karma system is busted but nice rationalization for an in game reason. There are times when items aren't even flagged properly as owned and you can take it without a penalty hit. Not to mention things that are marked as owned when there is no NPC in the area or even in game. I love NV but you just have to take the good with the bad or play something else. I just can't get that angry about a semi-broken game that I still love to play.

And honestly who cares if I am rummaging through trash in a post apocalyptic world for stuff?

This may work when your quest only has two objectives, with one or both being marked at an obvious location. But what happens when you have 2-6 markers, all at locations previously unvisited? How do you know which marker refers to which task/objective in the mission?

As an example, the final quest at the dam for the NCR gives you two objectives within the quest, one being an optional. But you can't just look at the map and instantly know off-hand which marker is the optional and which is the primary. So you basically have to save the game at that point, run through the mission towards one of the objective markers, and hope it's the correct one. If it's not, you end up reloading from your save point and heading to the other (correct) marker instead.

I'm a "save freak", meaning I tend to save the game after any important action such as critical dialogue or entering a new sector. So for me, reloading a previous save when you find out the last 20 minutes were spent heading in the wrong direction is not a serious problem. But I know plenty of people who might use the save feature only when they remember, maybe only when closing the game client down for dinner or something. It's those people who are going to be hating life, as they might end up having to repeat an hour or more of tasks just to get caught back up again. And either way, nobody wants to spend 20+ minutes running through the game just to see if they went the right way.

The simplest answer is to number each tasked objective within a quest. And then number each objective marker on the map to match up with those tasks. When you start seeing 3 or 4 individual tasks within a specific mission, you'll greatly appreciate being able to differentiate which way is the right way.




As for the stealing aspect, it's not really that big of a deal right now. Be it that Karma is FUBAR or what ever, I haven't seen any negative impact in faction reputation directly from stealing enemy materials. I lose karma stealing from fiends or the Legion, even though I'm already Idolized by the NCR, BOS, etc. In "my world", the fiends and Legion are the bad guys, regardless of which side I go with. And so far, I can rob the fiends blind all day long and the NCR pays no attention even though I'm spammed with the karma loss messages. I'm just concerned that it will cause problems in future releases, and would like to see the issue addressed by then. I'm guessing it would have had a much more serious effect in FO3 than it does in New Vegas, due to how Karma is used.