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| The NCR Misfits from the Flags of Our Foul Ups side quest in Fallout New Vegas |
"It’s largely just based on stuff that we think is gonna be interesting and entertaining to the player."
Fifteen years after the release of Fallout: New Vegas, fans are still debating the fate of the Mojave Wasteland. Who rules the Strip? What happened to the Kings? Did that one group of incompetent NCR soldiers actually survive the Second Battle of Hoover Dam?
But one question has lingered among hardcore RPG fans for years: how did Obsidian Entertainment decide which side quests got those memorable, gut-punching "where are they now" ending slides? The answer, according to Game Director Josh Sawyer, is surprisingly simple. It came down to vibes.
In a candid new YouTube video, Sawyer took a trip down memory lane and pulled back the curtain on the development process behind the 2010 cult classic. He revealed that the team didn’t rely on complex spreadsheets or corporate mandates. Instead, they cherry-picked side quests for ending slides based on one simple metric: whether the developers felt passionately about the outcome.
The Arbitrary Art of the Ending Slide
In his video titled “Ending Slides in RPGs,” Sawyer responded to a viewer named Lorena, who asked whether individual writers or the creative director decided which quests made the final cut. His answer might shock younger developers used to data-driven design.
"It’s mostly arbitrary," Sawyer admitted. He explained that designers rarely micromanaged every single quest's conclusion. While some things were non-negotiable—like major faction alliances, the fate of Caesar’s Legion, or companion endings—the rest of the slides were chosen on a case-by-case basis.
"Usually, there’s stuff we kind of take for granted and assume is going to go in," Sawyer said. "For example: major choices at the end of the game, faction alliances… companions usually have their own sets of endings."
But beyond those main beats? The gloves came off. "It’s largely just based on stuff that we think is gonna be interesting and entertaining to the player. It’s not necessarily about how big or important the quest is."
This "vibes-based" approach is likely why New Vegas feels so much more reactive than its contemporaries. A random favor for a broken robot or a lesson taught to a group of misfits could drastically alter the slides you see during the epilogue.
The Misfits of Camp Golf: A Case Study
To illustrate his point, Sawyer pointed to a fan-favorite (and deeply tragic) example: the NCR side quest “Flags of Our Foul-Ups.”
For the uninitiated, this quest sends the Courier to Camp Golf to deal with a squad known as the "NCR Misfits." These guys are hopeless—a collection of screw-ups, cowards, and junkies who can’t shoot straight. Written by former Obsidian designer Travis Stout, the quest allows the player to whip them into shape, falsify their records, or… make things catastrophically worse.
"The gist of the quest is that the NCR soldiers suck," Sawyer said bluntly. "They’re just huge screw-ups, and they’re in trouble because they’re doing so badly."
The developers had no initial plan to give this side quest an ending slide. It was a small, optional diversion. However, one specific player choice caught their morbid curiosity: giving the Misfits a powerful combat drug called Psycho.
Sawyer recalled the moment the team decided to break their own rules. "I think it was that choice specifically that made us wonder: during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, what would actually happen to these guys? It was the drug one where we were like, ‘They’d probably turn into war criminals.’ They’d just go berserk and start killing all sorts of people who weren’t even involved in the conflict. We decided, ‘Let’s do ending slides for that.’”
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One of the Darkest Endings in Gaming History
That spur-of-the-moment decision led to one of the most haunting slides in Fallout: New Vegas history. It serves as a brutal warning about the cost of chems and desperation.
The final slide 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."
It’s a grim ending. The soldiers you tried to "help" by giving them drugs become heroes for about five minutes before descending into psychosis and banditry. They go from defending the dam to being shot by their own commanding officers.
Sawyer noted that this slide wasn't designed to punish the player, but rather to reward the player’s curiosity about cause and effect. "We felt like the story was interesting enough to warrant a conclusion," he said.
Why This Matters 15 Years Later
The revelation has reignited discussions among RPG fans about modern game design. In an era where many AAA studios use algorithms or engagement metrics to determine content, Sawyer’s admission feels refreshingly human.
Fallout: New Vegas was famously developed in only 18 months, a crunch period that should have resulted in disaster. Instead, the tight timeline forced developers to focus on what actually mattered: character, reactivity, and weird, interesting player choices.
By allowing room for "arbitrary" creative decisions—like adding a dark slide for a drug-fueled squad of losers—Obsidian created a world that feels alive. It remembers what you did, even if what you did was seemingly insignificant.
You can watch Josh Sawyer break down the full philosophy of RPG endings in his original video below.
Watch Josh Sawyer’s "Ending Slides in RPGs" on YouTube
The Takeaway
So, the next time you boot up Fallout: New Vegas (or the upcoming Avowed), remember that the game’s magic isn't just in the programming. It’s in the "vibes."
It’s a director looking at a minor quest about terrible soldiers and thinking, “You know what would be hilarious and horrible? If they ate Psycho and became serial killers.”
That human touch—the willingness to be dark, weird, and a little arbitrary—is why Fallout: New Vegas remains the gold standard for role-playing games. Long live the Misfits. Rest in pieces.
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