What actually happens when you hit the time limit? Dose a prompt show up with a message and an exit button or is there a death scene or what?

Probably the same cutscene you get when you attack any of the tribals.

And that cutscene is.... ?

Oh, I've seen that one...

...

Dammit! It was too long ago. Can't remember

Nothing official happens at the 13-year mark, or at least, that's what I've gathered over the years. I don't know from personal experience, because the longest I've played is 2.5 game years total, which was long enough for me to complete every available quest, reach level 45, and amass hundreds of thousands of dollars cash (plus untold millions in accumulated gear, ammo and supplies).

However, I believe a number of ominous, game-breaking things happen once thirteen years have passed, much like the (fictional) Y2K bug people were going on about in 1999. Quests and scripts break, shops fail to restock, you may get CTDs and corrupted saves, and so on and so forth.

You can keep playing past the 13-year mark, in other words, but it all falls apart after that point. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone playing the game longer than 10 years without becoming incredibly bored.

The shop's don't respawn and the caravans become even more buggy (if that's possible). That's basically it.

I just finished up a game, had Cassidy, Sulik, Vic, and Lenny decked in Power Armor, Laser rifles, Turba Plasmas (with 4 ap mod) and Gauss equipment, with Marcus bringing up the rear with a Gatling Laser. I mod the weapons a bit, so energy weapons are about as powerful as the Gauss, and the Gatling Laser is just as deadly as its FO3 Vengeance counterpart. Keeping all these guys stocked with ammo, even with high barter and CH, was expensive, so caravans and San Fran/NCR shop runs were common, as was scowering the SW region between Redding and Navarro for loot/ammo/experience. This takes time, so I regularly hit the 13 year limit, but by then I just do the final mission, or use my save game editor and set the time back... I"m a cheater.

It should only take you 1-2 years to finish the game anyway; maybe 3 if you want to do most of the side quests.

I got at most to year 11-12. that's why I asked. So it just shuts down? Heh. Was expecting some Le Gran Final?. And it just shuts down.

I read that you get a message that says...


*drumroll*


The End.

That's it. Maybe one day you'll be lucky enough to have the Lone Wanderer bumble into you for some reason in your elder years.

Never had a chance to making it to the 13 year limit. It's strange that Black Isle did that, one could wonder if it was intentional or not.

I think it was a coding limitation.

Sounds like one since the game starts to break down after that point...

Well... I think it's intentional. I mean the number 13 pops up everywhere in the game.