A minor New Vegas quest earned a unique ending slide due to its powerful final choice
The Art of Ending Slides in Obsidian Games
In a recent YouTube video, Josh Sawyer, the design director at Obsidian and the lead designer for Fallout: New Vegas, provided insight into the studio’s approach to determining which quests receive the iconic “where are they now” ending slides. These slides, which appear at the end of many RPGs, offer players a glimpse into the fates of characters and events that may have seemed minor but were ultimately significant.
Sawyer addressed a viewer's question about whether the decision to include a quest in the ending slides is made by the individual writer or designer, or if it's up to the creative director. According to him, the process is largely arbitrary. While the game’s director makes the final call, designers rarely push for their quests to be included.
"Usually, there's stuff we kind of take for granted and assume are going to go in," Sawyer explained. "For example: Major choices at the end of the game, faction alliances … companions usually have their own sets of endings."
He emphasized that the inclusion of a quest in the ending slides is not necessarily based on its importance or scale. Instead, it's about what the team thinks will be interesting and entertaining for the player.
A Case Study: Flags of Our Foul-Ups
One example that stood out was the Fallout: New Vegas quest called Flags of Our Foul-Ups, created by former Obsidian designer Travis Stout (now at Massive Entertainment). The quest revolves around a group of NCR soldiers who are clearly struggling with their duties. As Sawyer put it, "They're just huge screw-ups, and they're in trouble because they're doing so bad."
Players can use various skill checks to help these soldiers, such as using Speech to convince them to work together, Science to falsify records, or combat skills to train them. However, one particularly controversial option involves giving them a fictional combat stimulant known as "Psycho."
"It was the drug one where we were like, they'd probably become war criminals," Sawyer recalled. "They'd just go berserk and start killing all sorts of people that weren't even involved in the conflict. We decided, 'Let's do end slides for that.'"
The resulting ending slide for this choice reads: "Driven into a frenzy by their use of Psycho, The Misfits inflicted heavy casualties on the Legion during the defense of Camp Golf. At first they were commended for their valor, but eventually, desperate for more of the chem, they turned on travelers in Outer Vegas. For their dishonorable conduct, the NCR court-martialed and executed them by firing squad."
The Constraints of Time and Resources
While the team aims to include major story beats, such as main story arcs, factions, and companions, any additional content is considered discretionary. Sawyer noted that the process of creating ending slides is time-consuming.
"There are time limits," he said. "We have to illustrate all the ending slides. We have to write them. We have to record them. While that might not seem like a lot of work individually, it kinda adds up, all the different permutations. For example, some companions will have [up to seven] different ending states."
Upcoming Games and Recommendations
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