Modern game that is bug free

[CaffeineAddict]

It's year 2025; by "modern" I mean game that is not older than 10 years.

This matters because the older a game is the easier it was to develop a bug free game due to simplicity, game engines were much simpler than today too.
e.g. games made in 90's or before were much more simpler and lightweight and consequently easier to be made free of bugs.

Factorio was released in 2020 however it is still being developed/improved and bug fixing still takes place:

Factorio on Steam

Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really...

store.steampowered.com

No modern game is bug free but factorio has the least of them and most importantly bugs get fixed relatively quickly upon being reported, source
it's not abandoned game, new version are constantly released which is major factor why it has so little bugs.

How do I know it's the best in terms of bugs?
According to my googling for modern bug free game it is basically the only one being mentioned, ignoring old games.

Major factor that matters is continued development, stellaris is another game known for continued development that likewise lasts for years, however bug fixing is not taken as seriously unfortunately, if you look at their forums you'll see thousands of reports.

Let me know if you know of other modern bug free games.

 

[KGIII]

were much more simpler

Hmm... I'm not sure that I want to argue, but I think there's something to be added...

Those early game developers had a different set of hardships and needed a great deal of skill (and creativity) to write their games. They were very hindered by size constraints, CPU power, very limited graphics options, among other things.

They were doing things like working with nibbles, parts of a byte. The code they wrote was often in assembly, or even in machine language.

This was true in the days of cartridges. For example, every single NES game is less than 500 MB combined. That's uncompressed and includes every known NES cartridge. It'd all fit on a CD with space to spare.

The Atari 2600 had 661 games and they're a combined 4.2 MB. All of 'em, combined.

With the smaller code, it was easier to double-check and find bugs. Bugs did slip through.

But, yes, they had it 'easier' with regard to finding bugs. Their code wasn't all that long, so it'd take less time. But, it they were created under difficult situations and game developers seemed to take more pride in their work. They also didn't have the liberty of fixing bugs at a later date. They had to get it right because there was no way to ship out bug fixes.

I'd say there was a shift in attitudes when it became normal to ship the games and then fix the bugs with patches.

I would say that programming is easier today than it was back then. You have entire engines and libraries that are all made for you. I'd say that programming got easier as I was doing so and that it has become even more easy. The old game developers had a ton of things to work through. Heck, even sprites weren't a thing for the longest time. For a long time, graphics didn't move - they were redrawn, all of which was written manually by the developer.

Today's games are very complex in their own way. They're also huge. That means more work to do quality control.

I'm not sure what my point is - and this isn't to argue - but I don't want to discredit the early game developers.

After all, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

@KGIII
You made good points and I agree with about all you said, my judgement about old games is solely based on comments found on net (without looking for details), which seem to be supported by the fact that older games don't have as much bugs as modern games.

Sure they where likely using assembly or what not, but they were also skilled coders with those languages, I think a language is not that hard if you're skilled with it.
I'm pretty sure they had a bunch of macro like code, or tiny own libraries that are known to work good, so didn't have to repeat everything.

They had to get it right because there was no way to ship out bug fixes.

That's an interesting fact! curious how they tested their game to get it right.
Modern devs get feedback from gamers and fix issues, but what feedback did they get or how they addressed issues IDK.

I would say that programming is easier today than it was back then. You have entire engines and libraries that are all made for you.

That's true but what's interesting is that very few game studios use them, most game studios make their own engine.

For instance Unreal Engine is one massive game engine that supports literary everything and comes with almost all the tools one would need, however games made with it require powerful computers, also making game with UE requires even more powerful computer.

UE while being cutting edge also suffers from that it's primarily designed for FPS games, making a strategy game for instance would require a lot of work to add specific features.
Also UE is not 100% free, those which are free like godot aren't suitable to make games just yet.

Those and few other reasons is most likely why studios go for their own engine, also probably because of NIH syndrome.
And going for custom engine ofc. means a lot of room for errors and bugs before a game is even made.

What this has to do with old games? I suspect modern hardware exposes far more features than old hardware making custom engine leading to more bugs overall.

 

[lizardfromoz]

Those early game developers had a different set of hardships and needed a great deal of skill (and creativity) to write their games. They were very hindered by size constraints, CPU power, very limited graphics options, among other things.

Pushing audio to the max on NES:

 

[KGIII]

most game studios make their own engine

At this point, they might as well. I'm sure they're still pulling code in from other places but these days you have giant dev houses working on games that are many GBs in size, frequently much larger than even the OS that runs them.

Pushing audio to the max on NES:

Absolutely. They pushed things to the limit back then. These days, sound is easy. A computer can actually play high definition audio without batting an eye. You can even get realistic instrument sounds generated by the most lowliest of audio-processing chips these days. You don't even need a dedicated sound card.

I recall 8 bit sounds fondly, especially those that pushed the envelope. There's really no need to do that these days.

 

[The Duck]

100% bug free.
Never locks up.
Never fails to start.
Never gets compromised.
Never needs to be updated.

 

[davismaria]

It's year 2025; by "modern" I mean game that is not older than 10 years.

This matters because the older a game is the easier it was to develop a bug free game due to simplicity, game engines were much simpler than today too.
e.g. games made in 90's or before were much more simpler and lightweight and consequently easier to be made free of bugs.

Factorio was released in 2020 however it is still being developed/improved and bug fixing still takes place:

Factorio on Steam

Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really...

store.steampowered.com

No modern game is bug free but factorio has the least of them and most importantly bugs get fixed relatively quickly upon being reported, source
it's not abandoned game, new version are constantly released which is major factor why it has so little bugs.

How do I know it's the best in terms of bugs?
According to my googling for modern bug free game it is basically the only one being mentioned, ignoring old games.

Major factor that matters is continued development, stellaris is another game known for continued development that likewise lasts for years, however bug fixing is not taken as seriously unfortunately, if you look at their forums you'll see thousands of reports.
Drive Mad
Let me know if you know of other modern bug free games.

I totally get your point about modern games and their complexities! Factorio is indeed a standout for its active development and quick bug fixes. Another game worth mentioning is Stardew Valley—it’s been consistently updated, and the developer is really responsive to community feedback. While no game is completely bug-free, these titles show a commitment to quality and player experience. Have you tried any other indie games that have similar support?

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Have you tried any other indie games that have similar support?

Not sure, big majority of games I've played stopped with development soon after release (or not long after), so bugs never got fixed.

The trend with continued development after release is to my XP relatively new thing, only very few game studios do it.
good portion also does it as collateral while releasing new DLC's, that is, as long as there is profit.

my genres are strategies, resource management, tower defense and similar, didn't play other genres for decades or never.

I see stardew valley has overwhelmingly positive feedback, that's another factor that determines good game.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Another game worth mentioning is Stardew Valley

I'm currently playing this game and I'm truly amazed how good and addictive it is, it's a true gem.
Immense play depth can steal you days and nights.

It's one of those games that focus more on mechanics and less on graphics, these are hard to find.

Didn't notice any bugs except 1 GFX glitch.
Thank you for recommendation.

 

[beanburrito]

The Atari 2600 had 661 games and they're a combined 4.2 MB. All of 'em, combined.

I know you played it, admit it:

How I miss some of those simple games when played with those old joysticks. (but not ET!)

Atari video game burial​

 

[wendy-lebaron]

the chess pieces could be lost. scattered by the wind. or the whole board just thrown aside.

The ruler of Jin had hardly finished reading Du Yu's memorial when Zhang Hua sprang to his feet, pushed aside the chessboard, and said, hands clenched, "Your Majesty is wise in military affairs, our kingdom is wealthy, and our people are strong. The Southland ruler's depraved cruelty has weakened his kingdom and made the people anxious. If we move to smite them now, rest assured that we will establish a new order with little effort."

chapter 120 of 120
The 3 Kingdoms.pdf
LUO GUANZHONG BEN (HUHAI SANREN)
CHARLES HENRY BREWITT-TAYLOR

find it and download from "archive-dot-org".