Many times, we've written about bugs in games, in space flight software, etc. Now we'd like to honor the tradition. This time, we'll take a look at the bugs that have crept into some of the biggest game projects out there.
Many gamers know that sometimes horses strangely behave in games. For example, in The Witcher 3, they noticed that Roach, Geralt's faithful companion, has an unpredictable character. Sometimes a switch flips in horse's head and it decides to gallop on its front hooves. This unusual behavior never fails to make players laugh:
This bug occurs every time when a gamer attacks Koopa Troopa (yep, that's its name) and gains a 1-UP (extra life). So, due to the fast and repeated looting, the game doesn't have time to process these events correctly, and the number of lives keeps increasing.
The bug became famous and went down in the gaming history. It sparked interest among players to look for similar anomalies in other projects:
After the No Man's Sky release, many players were disappointed because the developers significantly limited the promised features. This is how one of the most famous gaming memes was born:
After the Hitman 2 release, the gamers spot a fun bug: the main character could skillfully throw his briefcase, causing it to follow an enemy like a homing missile. The most hilarious thing about this bug is that it has become a real hit among players. As soon as devs eliminated the "target", they faced an unexpected twist.
Players liked the bug so much that after it was fixed, they widely began asking the developers en masse to bring back the homing briefcase. The amazing interaction between the game creators and the community has led to the "people's favorite" return to the game. This case is a perfect example of how fun accidents can unexpectedly lead to interactions between developers and the gaming community:
The Witcher has one of the creepiest bugs out there. It appears when a player simply minimizes and maximizes the game. So, at some point, the player may encounter such a sight:
In the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, there's a bug that has become truly iconic among players. You can activate the "crazy" bridge with this unique trick: use a knife or an axe. Just throw your weapon at a certain plank, and the bridge will launch your character into a space adventure. The players who learned of the bug would spend hours having fun on such a bridge:
Once developers promised to enhance the realism and reliability of goalkeepers in FIFA 21, players finally realized what the ideal goalkeeper should look like:
With the Cyberpunk 2077 release, many players have encountered unusual game situations. They immediately became the laughingstock and created a lot of memes in the gaming community. Indeed, the developers at CD Projekt RED released several patches to fix the issues. Although, the first impressions and memories of the unusual events stayed with the players. They went down in the history of Cyberpunk 2077.
At the beginning of Fallout: New Vegas, players are greeted by Doc Mitchell. He may feel a stiff neck from the harsh wasteland environment and decides to stretch it in a very unusual way:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has one of the most famous anomalies: it's the flying mammoth bug. Sometimes players may encounter mammoths floating in the air. Such bugs randomly occur because the developers haven't considered every possible scenario in the large game. Skyrim is well-known for its vast open world and gameplay freedom, but that freedom can sometimes lead to sudden and unusual bugs, like flying mammoths. However, many players have found these encounters to be a nice addition to the unique feel of the game.
In the Sims series, especially in the third game, players won't be surprised by some fun character animation bugs. In this case, a character who looks like a Ministry of Silly Walks employee decided to go for a morning run. This is what it looks like:
Maybe it's not a bug at all, and this is what we all look like when running in the morning.
The item duplication glitch occurs when a player copies one or more items, obtaining them in much larger quantities than a game technically allows. The bug is common for many games. I chose Minecraft to show the glitch because it has an interesting handmade construction for the item duplication. In my case, I duplicated TNT.
Here's one glaring bug that stood out in Assassin's Creed Unity and caught the players' attention: it's the distortion of the characters' faces. The glitch showed up in the following way: sometimes face textures wouldn't load properly, resulting in strange and unnatural visual effects. As a result, the characters' faces could appear distorted or even missing. This made players laugh and sometimes even startle. The peculiar bug has become the subject of many discussions in the gaming community:
Mount & Blade: Warband has a curious and slightly creepy bug that can turn the sky into a giant stretched out face. This usually happens when a player quickly rotates the camera while riding a horse:
Despite their initially negative nature, bugs in games occasionally turn into something amazing and even beneficial for devs. Some of them become an integral part of the gaming experience, bringing something new to the game:
However, we've noticed a significant increase in bugs in AAA projects. This leads to players' frustration. Sometimes it comes down to refunding games. I'd like to think that developers will be more responsible and conscientious when creating games and fixing bugs.
Thank you for reading the article! I hope it brought a smile to your face and made you feel a bit nostalgic!
I'd love to read about your favorite bugs in games, so share them in the comments!
If you'd like to learn more about different bugs, and what they look like in code, I invite you to read my colleagues' articles: