Is there anything there? I've never found any way to get past the gate at Mohave Outpost, or any way over the mountain range. If there is nothing there, why doesn't the map just end at Mohave outpost?

nothing.

I think they are "unfinished" locations, as they always say "games are shipped, not finished"

Also means DLC, I hope.

I bet the canyon wrekage and northern passage are places where future DLCs start.

I can't imagine this game's DLC will be complete without the entire map being filled.

I can't answer your question but given the situation with the DLC in FO3 and the same engine, I highly doubt they will expand the map. They'll most likely, in your case, put the DLC entrance right on the available edge of the map and use that as an entrance to a newer bigger instance of whatever the DLC is.

Reno

The world of New Vegas is simply not an rectangle...that are no 'unfinished' locations...the mountains are simply the edge of the world...

... a not-so-wide world...

sometimes I think they put that blank space there so they could say "look, we're the same size as fallout 3." Very frustrating in an open world game. If you can't access it, why is it there?

Anybody notice that Northern Pass is actually a door? Go by it and check you local map. Its an entrance to somthing. DLC perhaps?

Exactly the same thing with the west-pass to the west of Primm. An entrance that's currently blocked by a bus wreck and various debris,

95% sure those 2 are placeholders for DLC. And as i recall, obsedian mentioned allready having DLC plans when making F:NV, so it's not at all an implausable idea.

This.

Actually the available area to explore is comparable to FO3 according to devs. The PIPBOY map is not the same scale as FO3. I'm not real sure why everyone is getting hung up on it not being square. FO3 is the only open world game I can think of with straight edges to an invisible wall. Oblivion was not square, RDR: not square, GTA4: not square, Infamous: not square. To me it makes far more sense to hem the world in with natural barriers where possible instead of a bumping up against a giant invisible box.

I would agree with you if it didn't seem that 25% of the map is hemmed with those barriers.

There are very large sections of land that you cannot reach, making the game world MUCH smaller than it appears to be on the map.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fallout_New_Vegas_Map.png

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fallout_New_Vegas_Map_01.jpg

They are not exactly the same scale, but it should be fairly obvious that a lot of the map space is completely empty and not accessible. The FO3 map felt ENORMOUS, the FO:NV map feels a bit tiny.

Nice link to those maps. Really shows that western area being completely empty.

and with FO3 Having metros made it maybe 35% bigger and the dev said more locations some are unable to access and some are so stupid or useless that it should not even be in the game

Personally, I'd rather have actual mountains blocking my path into nothingness than an invisible wall and a message that says, "You can't go that way, turn back."

That's because the map is square. Look at the maps of every game I mentioned above. The maps were square (I mean it's on a screen) but the area you could actually navigate in wasn't. You could call the rest "empty space" but what's the point? I'm talking actual usable area here. And I certainly don't think it feels tiny at all personally. It takes much longer to walk from Mojave Outpost to the top of the map than it does to walk across the map in FO3.

have you timed it?

I havent been to the Northern Pass yet, but I instantly thought "DLC" when I stumbled upon the Canyon Wreckage place. I mean the whole "Courier six? Turn Back, there is nothing for you here" stuff painted all over reminds me of the Wizard of Oz. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain".

We'll have to agree to disagree.

FO3 has a larger area than NV does

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090807131055/fallout/images/thumb/0/03/Wasteland_Map_1.0.png/650px-Wasteland_Map_1.0.png

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fallout_New_Vegas_Map_v0.01.png

You'll notice 2 things here:
1: The NV map isn't finished being filled in, so see my other link showing locations
2: The FO3 map is 17x17, while the NV map is 19x19, both are using the same scale.

So the NV "MAP" is larger, but once you remove all the space where you cannot actually go, it becomes smaller. For example, spaces 18 and 19 horizontal might as well not exist, there are no locations you can visit in 19, and only 1 you can visit in 18, and you have to take a raft to even get there.
On the other side, spaces 1-5 horizontal are 90% empty. The first location to the West is Jacobstown and that doesn't appear until column 4, thats 3 rows of space that are 100% empty and inaccessible.
There is also no locations within rows 1 and 19

So this 19x19 map is really a 17x14 map.

The NV map does a good job of using space vertically, but a terrible job of filling space horizontally.

Your claim of walking from the south to the north is fairly correct, although they are VERY close. However, West to East, FO3 is larger, add the fact that FO3 IS square and you actually end up with a LOT more space in FO3 than in FO:NV.

And there is someplace to go in virtually every square in the FO3 map - not so in the FO:NV map.

It's obvious the unused space is reserved for keeping most of the DLCs inside the Mojave and not resorting to teleporting in PC to far off lands.

I truly hope that is indeed the case.

new vegas is a larger area than FO3 was, even though its a square when you look on the world map its a larger area total , much larger the map area is a lot larger, so the area we can travel area is more square miles or however you want to measure it. don't assume the square area is the exact same size as FO3, its much bigger.