Barton the Fink[1] is an unmarked quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Unmarked Quest: Barton the Fink | |||||
| Complete By a Campfire on the Trail for Sunny Smilies, then speak to Barton Thorn at the nearby campsite.; agree to check out the nearby cliffs for his girlfriend. | |||||
| Go to the gecko nest site past the old radio tower; eliminate the creatures and investigate the campsite at the incline peak. | |||||
| Kill Barton after his betrayal. | |||||
| Reward: Miscellaneous loot | |||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
The quest is normally started after completing the tutorial quest By a Campfire on the Trail and learning how to craft from Sunny Smiles, after which slightly to the north from her campfire, one will find Barton Thorn wandering around aimlessly close to the Goodsprings source. Speaking with him, he will immediately plead plead for the player character's help to save his girlfriend trapped on a nearby ridge by geckos. He points them in the direction of the nearby old radio tower, then turning right and climbing the incline to find the site.
As one goes further up from the tower, they will see a path forking off towards the right. At the incline peak, one will find a refrigerator, bed, footlocker and some loot. Be careful of three bear traps. It is also obvious that there is no one to be found, only a dead prospector that decidedly is not Thorn's girlfriend.
While heading down the hill, Thorn will run up and tell them he is "sorry," but he needed someone to clear out the geckos so he could get to the stash the former occupant was keeping. At this point, Thorn will become hostile and attempt to kill the player character, thus killing him ends the quest.
Notes[]
- If one takes the Animal Friend perk, killing the geckos is not necessary, as they will not be hostile towards the player character. Thorn will still remark on them clearing out the geckos as if they had done so when speaking with him. The geckos could potentially kill Thorn immediately after he says this.
- The player character can ask for 50 caps as payment for helping him. Barton will agree to this, however, he is lying and will never pay up.[verification needed]
- The prospector's camp can be reached without exiting the invisible boundary that finalizes character's attributes and skills by maneuvering southward along the clifftops from Victor's shack. This route is useful in reaching the camp while avoiding the geckos guarding the ridge as well.
- After killing Barton Thorn, his corpse will disappear from the game after leaving the cell for a while.
- Because of the geckos spawning in the area, Thorn can sometimes be found already dead before one can meet him.
Behind the scenes[]
- The quest name is a reference to the 1991 Coen Brothers movie Barton Fink.
 | The following is based on the Wild Wasteland trait. |
|---|
- If Wild Wasteland is an active trait, at the incline peak, the dead body will be named Johnny, wearing glasses, with a glass pitcher next to him, five aces on the table, and four balls in a line close by. This is a reference to the failed game project Zybourne Clock, more specifically to one of its characters, "Johnny Five-Aces," as well as a metaphorical explanation of time travel involving four balls placed on the edge of a cliff. Initially announced on the Something Awful forums, this project featured questionable artwork and somewhat convoluted plot material, and eventually became a forum inside joke.
| End of information based on the Wild Wasteland trait |
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Bugs[]
Sometimes, Barton Thorn will not come up the slope behind the Courier, but after waiting or sleeping, he completes the quest. [verified]
During some instances, Barton will appear to be facially randomized, along with his clothing. [verified]
References[]
- ↑ Quest name from Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide
