Basically: a messy engine, rushed development that costed Obsidian some financial stability, bugged quests (especially on launch), etc.
Well, yes, those are all
kinda correct, and there are many who think so, but there's some interesting trivia behind it all.
- Rushed developement: Bethesda gave Obsidian 18 months to make the game.
- Messy engine: Bethesda's Gamebryo (due to there not being time to use Obsidians own Onyx engine to create a game to match the scope of Fallout 3).
- Financial losses leading to layoffs: Bethesda's infamous deal to tie the revenues to the Metacritic score which Obsidian missed by one point.
((
Obsidian:
[metacritic 84/85] So, am I eligible for any revenues?
Bethesda:
No, I don't think so champ. Bugger off.
Obsidian:
[End dialog]
))
- Bugginess for a lot of people (not me though... for some reason): Well, Obsidian had been infamous for buggy releases, but Bethesda's engine and a short dev time didn't help the matter.
It's a miracle of sorts that with all the caveats the game turned out as well as it did (and gathered a cult following, no less).
