OK it finally worked. I just had to wait for several hours at a time, first to make her appear, then to get the dialogue option, then to get him to shoot her. Yeesh. But now I have my first companion!
I never really used Boone. Was trying to stay on good terms with all the factions for as long as possible, so I didn't want him around going apeshit on every Legion member we came across, as he shoots them on sight.
OK I finally got to the Strip and met Yes Man. At this point, the game froze twice in a row in the space of an hour. Thank god I save constantly!
i'm on my 9th character, Ive gotten all the endings, and I'm fairly familiar with the Mojave wastes, so I will soon be trying hardcore mode
I'm a bad boy... I'm a Level 30 now http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/falloutnewvegas/hints.html?tag=tabs;cheats
OK using the infinite experience glitch is actually a devil in disguise. Playing the rest of the game with no chance of advancement is pretty boring. All I have to look forward to is better weapons and armor. Don't do it! Or at least, only go up 5 levels!
And really, the game is super easy anyway. It's probably why they made the perks come once per two levels.
I just gave myself 10 in every stat and 100 in every skill right off the bat so I could do and experience everything in one playthrough and not have to worry about stuff like "oh no I have to go level up this skill more before I can pass this speech check!" I pity the non-PC foo' who doesn't have access to console commands.
BTW can someone please tell me why there isn't a single loading screen actually ON the Strip? If I want to warp to the NCR Embassy I have to warp to Freeside Strip entrance, then walk through three different Strip screens before I get to the damn office!
OK, it got worse. Now the Strip entrance is locked and the only way I can enter the Strip is by warping to Fort McClaren, walking ALLLLL the way to the building, loading screen, walk ALLLL the way up the stairs to the far corner, loading screen, get on the monorail, loading screen, and then I'm there. Why
I finished the game. I was playing on the NCR side, but I also installed Yes Man as the new head of Vegas. I was very disappointed that the Vegas/House/Yes Man story ended up having nothing to do with the finale at Hoover Dam. I assumed that the finale would be on the Strip since it's this huge location you take forever to get into with all those loading screens. But there was never any action there. It's like there were two completely separate main missions that never touched each other. I was hoping Yes Man's Securitrons would show up to help at Hoover Dam.
Don't all the stories end up at the Dam? Also, there's a glitch that locks the doors to Vegas for some reason. You can kill one of the securitrons and steal the gate key though. And they announced the first DLC pack today - comes out December 21st... just in time for the holidays?
Yeah, solving the monorail sabotage mission appeared to have locked the Strip entrance. BUT I went back later and it worked again. But the worst bug I had? I had two companions, and at some point, I dunno when, they disappeared. Got stuck on an object or something I guess. So I was without my backup for many many hours. And when I tried to recruit a new companion they said you already have a companion. Then, when I initiated the final mission, my companions finally respawned with me! I was so delighted! Naturally they got stuck on a flight of stairs five minutes later and never moved again and I had to finish the game without them.
there is also a glitch that turns companions permanantly into the "passive mode, they won't move or fight
^So far and especially after reading all of these posts, I'm not regretting my decision to wait for the bargain bin edition. Actually, given that Bethesda don't have a very good history of comprehensive patching, I may not even bother at all. I have to say I was a bit taken aback when I bought the GotY copy of Oblivion earlier this year to find some pretty obvious glitches had appararantly been left un-addressed since the original release.
The thing is that the game is good, but like all single player games - if you don't have a need to play it now, you might as well just wait.
I think the extent of the bugginess has been overstated. I've finished it with all four factions (2 characters, plus reverting to earlier saves), and the bugs have never stopped me cold. I once lost a companion and had to revert to a save that was an hour or two old. Really, just keep leapfrogging your saves every couple hours and you should be good.
Yeah I didn't notice too many bugs either aside from losing my companions for many hours towards the end. Aside from that the only thing that happened was getting stuck in the terrain a few times.