Craig Boone is a broken man. If you’ve spent more than five minutes wandering the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas, you know the silhouette: a cynical sniper in a red beret perched inside a giant concrete dinosaur. He’s arguably the most popular companion in the game, mostly because he pops heads from three hundred yards away before you even see the enemy. But his personal story arc, specifically the new vegas boone quest officially titled "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," is one of the most mechanically opaque and emotionally heavy sequences Obsidian Entertainment ever designed.
Most players stumble through it. They kill some Legion, they talk to him, and eventually, the quest pops. Or it doesn't. That’s the thing about Boone; he doesn’t just hand you his life story because you bought him a Nuka-Cola. You have to earn his trust through a hidden point system that the game never explicitly explains.
It’s frustrating. It’s brilliant. It’s quintessential New Vegas.
The Hidden Math of Boone’s Respect
You can’t just "start" this quest. You have to trigger it. Honestly, this is where most people get stuck and assume their game is glitched. To unlock "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," you need to accrue at least 5 "History Points" with Boone. These points are invisible. There is no tracker in your Pip-Boy. There is no notification on screen. You just have to know which specific actions resonate with a traumatized NCR sharpshooter who watched his wife be sold into slavery.
Killing Caesar is the big one. That’s worth 2 points. Taking out the tactical leaders at Camp Forlorn Hope or Nelson? That counts too. But if you’ve already cleared out those areas before recruiting Boone, you might find yourself in a bit of a hole. You’ve basically "spent" your opportunities for points without him there to witness it.
Here is the weird part: some actions only count if you talk to him immediately afterward. If you wipe out the sirens at Cottonwood Cove and don’t trigger his specific dialogue reaction, you might miss the point entirely. It’s a fickle system that reflects Boone’s guarded personality. He isn't looking for a hero; he's looking for a partner who shares his specific brand of justice.
Why "One for My Baby" is Only the Beginning
Before you even get to the meat of his loyalty mission, you have to complete "One for My Baby." This is the introductory new vegas boone quest where you find out who sold his wife, Carla, to the Legion. Most players figure out it’s Jeannie May Crawford by looking in the floor safe in the Dino Dee-lite lobby.
But the tragedy of Boone isn't solved by putting a bullet in Jeannie May’s head. That’s just the prologue. The real depth of his character lies in Bitter Springs. If you haven't been there yet, it’s a refugee camp plagued by supply shortages and Great Khan snipers. For Boone, it’s the site of the greatest sin of his life—a tactical massacre where the NCR fired on non-combatants due to a communications breakdown.
✨ Don't miss: Ben 10 Ultimate Cosmic Destruction: Why This Game Still Hits Different
The quest "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" forces Boone to return to the scene of the crime. It’s a literal and metaphorical ghost hunt. You aren't just fighting Legionaries; you’re managing the PTSD of a man who has spent years trying to drown out the screams of the people he killed.
Navigating the Bitter Springs Confrontation
Once you finally trigger the quest by talking to Boone after hitting the 5-point threshold, he’ll ask you to go to Bitter Springs. He wants to spend the night at Coyote Tail Ridge, the exact spot where his 1st Recon sniper team set up their kill zone years prior.
This part of the quest is a gauntlet.
As the sun sets, the Legion attacks. They come in waves. It’s not a particularly difficult fight if you have decent gear, but the emotional weight is heavy. Boone is reliving his trauma in real-time. He’s trying to "fix" Bitter Springs by defending it this time, instead of attacking it.
What's fascinating is the branching ending. Depending on how you’ve spoken to Boone throughout the game—whether you’ve encouraged him to be a cold-blooded killer or helped him find a path toward forgiveness—his ending armor and perk will change.
- If you push him toward atonement, he gets the 1st Recon Survival Armor. This looks more like a weathered, civilian-scavenged version of his military gear.
- If you push him toward vengeance, he gets the 1st Recon Assault Armor, which is a sleek, black-painted version of the NCR combat suit.
There is no "correct" choice here. New Vegas doesn't do "correct." It does "consequences." One version of Boone finds a modicum of peace; the other becomes a more efficient instrument of death, eventually hunting down Legionaries until he’s basically a mythic bogeyman of the wastes.
Common Pitfalls and the "Point Depletion" Problem
Let’s talk about why your quest might be broken.
🔗 Read more: Why Batman Arkham City Still Matters More Than Any Other Superhero Game
The most common issue is the "Legion problem." If you are playing a Pro-Legion character, you are never getting this quest. Boone will leave you. He might even try to kill you. But even for neutral players, the point system is incredibly rigid.
If you do "The Legend of the Star" and kill Malcolm Holmes, Boone doesn't care. If you save the President, he cares a lot. But if you’ve already done "Volare!" for the Boomers and "You'll Know It When It Happens" before recruiting him, you’ve exhausted the high-value point triggers.
Specific triggers that almost always work:
- Killing the leaders at Camp Nelson (Dead Sea).
- Killing the leaders at Cottonwood Cove (Aurelius of Phoenix).
- Rescuing the captive NCR soldiers at Nelson (you must either untie them or kill them to "end" their suffering; both provide points if Boone is present).
- The "Silus Treatment" quest in Camp Mccarran (beating the information out of the Legion prisoner).
If you’ve done all of these and the quest hasn't started, try traveling to a different cell—like going into a building and coming back out—and then initiate conversation. Sometimes the script just needs a nudge to realize the counter has hit 5.
The Philosophical Weight of the New Vegas Boone Quest
Why does this quest resonate more than, say, Rex’s brain transplant or Raul’s mid-life crisis?
It’s because Boone represents the moral ambiguity of the NCR. In many RPGs, the "good" faction is purely heroic. In Fallout: New Vegas, the NCR is a bloated, bureaucratic mess that occasionally commits atrocities like Bitter Springs. Boone is the personification of that guilt.
When you play through the new vegas boone quest, you aren't just checking boxes in a log. You are acting as a therapist with a gun. You are deciding if a soldier should be defined by his worst day or if he's allowed to have a second act.
💡 You might also like: Will My Computer Play It? What People Get Wrong About System Requirements
Obsidian’s lead writer, John Gonzalez, and the rest of the team didn't make Boone likable. He’s prickly. He’s occasionally rude. He’s depressed. But he’s real. The quest doesn't end with a "thanks, I'm cured" dialogue tree. It ends with him either accepting what he did or deciding that the only way to live with it is to keep pulling the trigger.
Practical Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you’re planning to tackle this quest soon, keep a few things in mind to ensure it actually triggers and you get the outcome you want.
First, do not go to Bitter Springs alone. Avoid that area entirely until the quest is active. If you clear out the nearby locations early, you might mess with the spawn triggers for the final Legion assault.
Second, watch your dialogue. If you want the "peaceful" Survival Armor, always pick the dialogue options that emphasize that Bitter Springs was a tragic mistake and that he needs to move on. If you want him to remain a cold-blooded sniper, tell him he did his duty and that the Khans deserved it.
Third, save your Legion "hits." Don’t kill Vulpes Inculta in Nipton right away. Don’t clear out Nelson until Boone is following you. Think of every high-ranking Legionary as a currency you need to spend to buy Boone’s trust.
Finally, check your reputation. If your NCR reputation is too low, or your Legion reputation is too high, Boone will refuse to travel with you. You need to be at least "Neutral" or better with the NCR.
The new vegas boone quest is a masterclass in narrative design because it demands more than just combat prowess; it demands that you pay attention to the world and the people in it. It’s a reminder that in the Mojave, the hardest things to kill aren't the Deathclaws or the Cazadores. It’s the memories.
Next Steps for Players:
- Check your current "History Points": If you are on PC, you can use the console command
sqv 000e61a4to see your current point total with Boone. Look for the variablenHistoryPoints. - Visit the Sniper's Nest: Even before the quest starts, taking Boone to the Sniper’s Nest overlooking Cottonwood Cove can trigger unique dialogue that helps build his character profile.
- Stock up on .308 ammo: The final stand at Bitter Springs involves long-range engagements. Make sure both you and Boone have the range to handle the Legion scouts before they get into machete distance.