* initial rant removed *

Today I wanted to launch up New Vegas and I got a message "this save relies on content that is no longer present"

Previously I had an "update.esp" available in the launcher. Now it's gone.

The integrity check says the game cache is flawless (so this "update.esp" should not be there).

But what's in that file? Is that some pre-order award as suggested by fellow posters or did it contain essential stuff that would be required for me to play?

I have never downloaded anything manually, relied entirely on the Steam client.

Currently, I have only these two files in the launcher (both checked, as always, except update.esp is no longer there):

FalloutNV.esm
FalloutNV_lang.esp

The update.esp is gone.

Do what? This hasnt happened to me. I dont understand...Has this happened to anyone else? Dude how do you know its not a STEAM problem?

That message pops up when you try to load a save without a previously used DLC/mod present.

It has nothing to do with the patch. Unless there is a mistranslation issue here.


Sounds like the Pre-order stuff has been deleted either by yourself, a system error or a Steam error.

The patch was never present in the launcher afaik.
Do you mean your pre-order bonus pack? This was present in the launcher and the error would make sense if this was missing.

Try: Right-click on the game in library, Properties, Local Files, Verify Integrity of Game Cache.

I don't understand what he's talking about either. I assume based on the error message though that one of the ESM files might be missing. Not sure how that could happen, but you could try going into the properties of New Vegas in Steam, click the Local Files tab, and run the "Verify Integrity of Game Cache.." option.

Could very well be a Steam problem, yes, but Steam's forum support link leads right here. So where else should I post this? They link here, man.

Also, I have not changed anything. At all. I would think the developer has some say as to what patches/updates should be available in the Steam versions, surely Steam folks won't remove stuff on a whim? The game checker says everything is as it should be, no files are missing. Which means it has been removed. Only problem is that now I can't load my saves.

I have already done that. There were three separate files indicated in the launcher. Now I only have two and the integrity check says that everything's fine. Also, once again: I'm here beacuse Steam links here.

There used to be an update.esp which is no longer present (and the Steam client believes it should no longer be there). Except my save relies on that update.esp.

What!?
Don't scare me like this guys - I'm just about to fire up the game for today.
Everything was fine at midnight...
Oblivion and FO3 always said the same thing if downloaded or mod items were no longer there, but present in the saved game.
So yes, if the pre-order reward was not present for whatever reason, that's the message you'd expect to get...

Ack! LoL, then my guy would be walking around naked.
I'll let ya know...

Kyanzes is this a non-english version of the game? I've never had that file in any version. Seems kinda odd that they would have multiple versions for other countries, especially one that relies on an esp to fix something. You'll probably need someone official to comment on this, and good luck with that unfortunately.

Okay. That's fine, the only trouble is that I have never ever downloaded any updates/mods/extensions/etc manually. I simply used the Steam client. Nothing else.

And now, suddenly, a file named "update.esp" is missing. Without any kind of warning. And the client says it's all right. If they perhaps called it "rewarditems.esp" then we wouldn't be having this topic.

It's the English version. Or should I say "an" English version, as I have no idea as to how many versions they have released.

It also has no other languages available.

Would be nice to know what was in that update.esp. Could be something irrelevant, could be something essential. Who's to know?

As far as I know there's been 2 patches. One was the huge one to fix quests and scripting bugs, and the second was to permanently disable steam cloud until they get it working. I'm not sure when update.esp would have been introduced, probably the first one. I'm not sure how to explain this, but evidently there's multiple english steam versions floating around, or was, since now that file is gone for you. :unsure:

so many ways to get this game, i bought mine at Direct 2 drive as it was alot cheaper there, without downloading it i took my new serial key and registered it with steam and downloaded and installed it there.
Was a good way

Patching and everything works good

Currently I only have these files in the launcher:

FalloutNV.esm
FalloutNV_lang.esp

(both checked)
I used to have an update.esp here as well which is now gone. Should I have any more files here? E.g., update1.esp, update2.esp etc. (these are just examples nothing more).

I do realise that it won't help me but: I paid 1.5x the price of the US version (as many Europeans) and I don't receive the patches (or updates) which is disheartening. That's not to say we should be served first, don't get me wrong, it means that we should be served at the same time IMHO.

Agreed. That svcks, bad enough how you guys get put over the barrel with pricing. Hopefully someone else here using the Euro English version can comment on this, obviously Euro is getting a different version with extra esps. Using an ESP to officially patch something to begin with seems like bad way to do things. Hopefully you get some help.

I suppose you have purchased an eastern european version. It was patched recently and there is only one esp file (lang) in the Data folder now. You may notice that the master file has been changed also.

FalloutNV_lang.esp? I have never seen that one, neither have I see any update.esp files.

I haven't seen any such files either, are you sure your not using mods or something? patches usually overwrite existing stuff, not add.

I might not be an expert on how FalloutNV works.. but I had a problem a bit similar to this when playing another game.
I had to use steam in offline mode since my net was messed up.

Anyway, The game could not load the DLC when I was not connected to the internet and therefore I was unable to load the saved games which required the DLC data.
I might be way off in this matter though!

Edit; I've noticed that the game connects to the net loading something for the DLCs, it happens too fast for me to notice what it's loading though so I cant be sure if it's loading the DLC itself or a list of DLCs

I'm positive.