Hoover Dam design document/1

This is part 1 of the Hoover Dam design document for Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios.

Overview & History
It is said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Joseph Dodge used to scoff at such pessimistic sayings, but lately such sayings have become mantras. During his time in the NCR, Dodge led a good, but ultimately unspectacular existence as a councilman. He had aspirations to be a senator at NCR, but he never schmoozed in the correct circles enough to get noticed. He always thought of himself as a man of action, not kiss-ass-action, and preferred not to get ahead by schmoozing. Unfortunately, his "man-of-action" plan was not working either, mostly because he never saw any action. Granted, one must volunteer for action, which he did not, but that was irrelevant – in Dodge's mind, anyways. So Dodge contentedly relegated himself to wallflower status for his tenure as councilman – that is, until volunteers were needed to forge a path eastward.

Since tensions were high with the Brotherhood of Steel, NCR did not want to send out their finest commanders in search of eastern lands to pioneer. So, more "expendable" commanders were chosen to lead caravans eastward to establish footholds and develop towns under the NCR banner. One of those "lucky" commanders chosen to volunteer for this dangerous mission was Councilman Joseph Dodge. At first, he tried to sidestep the "honor," but when he was told that refusing this mission would be considered an act of treason, he humbly accepted.

Luckily for Dodge, he was not sent out to blindly search for random towns to conquer, er, I mean, "unite" under NCR. He was given vague directions to Hoover Dam as his destination and à cause d' être. In the days before the war, Hoover Dam was a source of great power, literally, and NCR wanted to have control of that power. The technology used at Hoover Dam could rival, if not surpass, anything the Brotherhood of Steel had, and that was a temptation NCR did not want to refute, especially during the growing tensions between the two organizations.

Once Dodge's caravans and troops arrived at Hoover Dam, they found scattered packs of settlers barely eking out an existence on and around the great structure. Frequented by attacks from hostile raiders, it took little convincing on Dodge's part that it would be in the settlers' best interests that he and his NCR troops provide protection and an organized structure to the Hoover Dam region, with Hoover Dam itself being the central hub. With exuberant cooperation from the Hoover settlers, structures and fortifications were set up along the dam's rim. With each completed structure, the settlers of Hoover Dam felt more secure and safe, especially after Dodge's men made short work of attacking raiders in the early years. Everyone started to feel as if they had a purpose in the Hoover Dam community, and the Dam started to separate into a class system, with government and high-end business people occupying the area known as the Rim, and the working class, such as construction workers and farmers, occupying the area known as Downtown. Naturally, Dodge and his NCR troops stayed in the Rim, where Councilman Dodge became known as Governor Dodge by the people of Hoover Dam, and was regarded as a fair, honest leader who brought the settlers of Hoover Dam into a time of enlightenment and self worth. The only real trouble came when a group known as Caesar's Legion tried to invade Hoover Dam. The fighting was fierce, and Governor Dodge still to this day does not understand the motive for the attack, but suffice it to say that Dodge, the NCR troops, and the formidable wall with high powered gun turrets thwarted Caesar's invasion plans. However, the battles did take their toll and made the east side of the Rim wrecked and uninhabitable. In fact, there is so much debris at the center of the rim; it actually blocks passage to the east side. However, thanks to the big victory over Caesar's Legions, it was obvious that both the Rim and Downtown were well taken care of and protected, that is until the war between NCR and BOS began.

The first few attacks by the BOS were easily deflected thanks to the strong, iron gates along the rim and the accompanying high-powered turrets. However, over the course of several months, supply runs that used to come regularly from the NCR base in the West started to become less frequent. Several times it got to the point where Dodge thought his men would run out of ammunition for their guns and turrets, leaving them exposed and helpless to the BOS' superior firepower. Dodge knew that he needed to find an alternative source of weaponry if Hoover Dam was to survive against the BOS.

One of Hoover Dam's caravan groups rose to the occasion. The Crimson Caravan, a caravan group who originated out of NCR itself and helped to establish the great community of Hoover Dam along with Dodge, set out to find an alternative to NCR supply runs. Dodge was more than happy to let Ailis McLafferty, the Crimson Caravan's leader, take the reigns of acquiring a new source of weapons and supplies. However, this contract with the Crimson Caravan did not sit well with their rival, the 3-Some Caravan. But that did not concern Dodge. He never really trusted the 3-Some Caravan company, especially since it was run by former NCR prisoners (incarcerated at one time for petty theft), and therefore did not want them involved in finding a weapon and ammo source outside of the NCR home base supply runs.

It was almost six months later, and Dodge and his men were in dire straights, but the Crimson Caravan came through. Just as Dodge's men were about to fire off the last of their ammo, Ailis McLafferty came through the main gates with a truckload of finely crafted firearms and ammunition. Ailis told dodge she got a great trading deal with a far away tribal community dedicated to mechanical technologies, but would not elaborate as to where, exactly, the tribe was and would not go into detail on what they were like. This was fine with Dodge since with the new weapons and ammunition, he and his men could fend off future attacks by the BOS. This tickled Dodge even more since he got the impression that the BOS were starting to feel the pinch of extended battle and could not afford frequent attacks with depleted ammunition and supplies – a theory of Dodge's was that the BOS was starting to suffer the same fate as the NCR with few, if not all-together stopped, supply runs from BOS headquarters. Perhaps Dodge and his men would take the offensive one day and overtake the crippled BOS, he thought to himself.

Unfortunately for Dodge, the BOS seemed to have a new lease on the war, and resumed assaults on Hoover Dam's gates. It was if as soon as the Crimson Caravan returned with weapons and ammo for his troops, the BOS got re-supplied as well. Perhaps the war was going better for the BOS than Dodge had thought? He did not know. What he did know, however, was that the battle between the two organizations was going to turn into a war of attrition, with no clear winner and no advancement on either side. He may have been a mere councilman when he was at NCR, but he was smart enough to recognize futility.

Over the course of several years, contact with the NCR disappeared completely. The supply train that would make infrequent visits to fund the war effort ceased. Dodge began to rely more and more on what the two internal caravan companies could bring in, and realized even more that in order to maintain good trading relations with the outlaying communities, internal resources must be found and mined. For a few years after NCR stopped their shipments, Dodge used a construction site that was along the center of the Rim to gather building materials not only to build structures in Hoover Dam, but also use as trade materials. The construction site offered plenty of rebar, stone, hardened wood, and steel beams. The demand for such materials was high, so trading these resources became profitable for both the Crimson Caravan and the 3-Some Caravan companies. However, over time it became apparent that the area around the construction site was becoming weak and unstable, and any further cannibalizing of the materials there might lead to the destruction of the dam itself. Dodge ordered all access to the construction site off-limits under penalty of death.

Dodge and his community once again were in dire straights. The Crimson Caravan's mysterious trading source would not deal with them if they had nothing of value to trade. Dodge needed to think of something, and quickly. Luck was on Dodge's side one day when a resident ghoul, named Otto Steed, came to him and revealed something very interesting. Otto Steed, as it turned out, was in charge of the water purification system in the Downtown area. The water that got purified was not quite drinkable, but was suitable for agriculture. The interesting part is that the byproducts of the filtration process turned out to be potassium nitrate and sulfur – two of the primary components of black powder. Another byproduct is nitric acid, one of the ingredients to gunpowder, though not quite in the quantities of the other two. These chemicals would be very valuable to a community that had access to coal, and as luck would have it, the community that the Crimson Caravan dealt with for ammo and weapons had its own coal source, but not a reliable potassium nitrate and sulfur source. Trade with the ammo and weapons supplier once again resumed, and the Crimson Caravan was flying high as top-dog with Governor Dodge.

With the weapons and ammo problem pretty much solved, Governor Dodge had another, possibly even bigger problem to contend with – battle fatigue. Even though attacks from the BOS were not as frequent as they were during the onset, the constant state of alert was wearing thin on the troops and the citizenry. Several soldiers and some of the citizens abandoned Hoover Dam in the hopes of finding a community not buried in the throws of an attritional war. Among those who stayed, there was a longing for escape either through natural or chemical means. Apathy almost become the watchword, and resulted in many key systems starting to malfunction or shut down altogether. Otto, who has a knack for those things mechanical, tried to keep up with everything, but the breakdowns were becoming too much for Otto to handle alone. Governor Dodge knew he must find a way to stop the war once and for all, or Hoover Dam was doomed – if not by being overrun by the BOS, then by entropy and abandonment.

All the while, the Crimson Caravan Company flourished and seemed very happy the way things were.

The Area is composed of five maps

The Rim


The Rim. The brains of Hoover Dam. This is the area reserved for the governing power, the wealthy elite, the finest shops and eateries, the bastion of knowledge and education courtesy of the Followers of the Apocalypse, and the headache that is the war with the Brotherhood of Steel.

For the most part, the Rim is in pretty good shape. The main road only has a few blemishes here and there, the original buildings have cracks in the walls, and the recently built buildings are well intact. The only signs of conflict are along the main front gate, where scorch marks litter the outside of the wall and impact craters pock-mark the steel reinforced front gate and wall. The main damage within the Rim is not immediately evident among the buildings and other structures. The main damage is within the soldiers and citizens of Hoover Dam. Morale is at an all-time low. What used to be a bustling community of people eager to learn, grow and share has turned into a battle fatigued wasteland where hope is fleeting and sorrow is rampant. The Rim is in a constant state of battle alert, so tensions are high and patience are thin. In addition, there is an evening curfew which stays in effect until sun-up.

Guarded Front Gate & Turrets


The player will enter the Rim via its Main Front Gate. The gate is heavily guarded by four turrets and heavily armed NCR soldiers along the wall's rim. Unless the player walks up in a full suit of power armor (which is highly unlikely at this point), the guards will simply question the player's intent, ask that he holster his weapon, and then he may proceed in. If the player arrives during the night, then the player will be turned away until daybreak – no exceptions (unless the player is well known and liked, but again, that will come later).

NCR Military HQ


The largest structure of the Rim, the NCR Military HQ, is home to Governor Joseph Dodge and the barracks and training facility for the remaining NCR troops. The building itself is the larger of the two oval buildings that rests along the very beginning of the dam's rim (see above picture). Surrounding this and the conjoined, smaller oval building (City Hall), is a chain link fence with barb wire along its top. There is only one entrance onto the Military HQ compound, and that entrance has two armed guards stationed round the clock on either side of the entrance.

Inside the NCR Military HQ, the player will first run into the reception area, complete with a desk, NCR flags against the wall behind the desk, and a lovely receptionist behind the desk eager to greet the player in a foul-mouthed, military manner. To the right is a locked door that leads to Governor Dodge's office and can only be accessed with the receptionist buzzing the player in. Or, the player may blow the receptionist's head off and subsequently blast the door open with some sort of explosive, but the NCR soldiers would probably frown on that kind of behavior. The player will not be able to see Governor Dodge until the player has developed a bit of a positive reputation within the Hoover Dam community. This can be done by taking employment with either of the caravans, or helping any of the hapless locals with whatever menial task they could never hope to accomplish without the player's help/meddling.

Other rooms included inside this building are the soldier's barracks, complete with the requisite bunk beds, footlockers, bathroom, showers, soap-on-a-rope (just seeing if you're paying attention), etc. There is also a weapons closet with an armed guard outside its locked door. Kill him, pick the lock, and WOOHOO, look at that bounty of weapons! Good luck getting out with your innards intact.

Once the player gets in good with Governor Dodge, he will inform the player about his woes. His woes consist of a battle weary community, things breaking down, people going AWOL, and the very real threat of him losing Hoover Dam. There is a myriad of ways the player may help dodge, or undermine him, which will be covered in the Quests section.


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City Hall
This smaller building next to the NCR Military HQ is where the community leaders, also known as the City Council, meet to discuss varying subjects about and within Hoover Dam. It is filled with rows of chairs all facing a row of desks. More NCR flags are present near the row of Desks.

Attendance to the city council meetings have been poor lately, to the point of only Governor Dodge attending. Most, if not all, the people of Hoover Dam have given up hope and are just waiting for the final demise of the NCR and Hoover Dam government. No one is rebelling, but apathy has taken hold, which is almost worse. One of Governor Doge's tasks for the player is to drum up new enthusiasm for the city council meetings - that is if the player has the speaking skillz! If the playah gots da skillz, then he will be able to get the councilors to attend long before things are repaired and a truce is lurking in the near future. Otherwise, the player will have to do quite a few good deeds in the Hoover Dam community before the city leaders have enough restored hope to attend the meetings.


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3-Some Caravan
Known in the "joint" as the Fearsome Threesome, Carlo, Enzo, and Vinnie Giordano are the proprietors of the 3-Some Caravan Company. The triplets started their business while being incarcerated at NCR for petty theft. While in prison, they became known to the other prisoners as the guys who could get things. Business savvy and fair, the triplets ran a clean (well, as clean as can be in the pokey) operation as long as folks paid for their wares in a timely fashion. If folks did not, then their second, more notorious namesake would emerge – the Fearsome Threesome – and the bilking person(s) would mysteriously find themselves broken in several places.

Once Carlo, Enzo, and Vinnie served their time, the triplets started their own caravan company, 3-Some Caravan. Business was less than stellar in NCR since no one really wanted to deal with former criminals, but the triplets made enough to slightly expand and make a small name for themselves. Their big break came when they were recruited by the NCR government to accompany Dodge and his ragtag fleet to Hoover Dam. The Giordano triplets saw this as an opportunity for a fresh start and eagerly packed up and headed out. Once at Hoover Dam, they quickly established a friendly rapport with the seedier denizens of Hoover Dam and business flourished. Their only competition was the Crimson Caravan, but they always seemed to lag behind 3-Some since the Crimson Caravan wanted to deal with a "higher" class of people. Once the war with the BOS started, things slowed down considerably for 3-Some, but remarkably, business boomed for Crimson Caravan. This laid the groundwork for a "cold-war" of sorts between the two companies, and 3-Some has tried almost everything just shy of murder and extortion to find out how Crimson Caravan was making so much money and who their supplier of weapons and ammo was.

The 3-Some buildings consist of a main office building with about five rooms inside for both work and sleeping. Adjacent to the office building is a warehouse filled with boxes and supplies. Most of the boxes are empty thanks to the poor trading since the war with the BOS, but there is some loot to be stolen by a good, sneaky thief – provided they don't get caught by a guard. Just outside of the office is a enclosed field to keep the half-dozen or so Brahmin, which are used for trade with other tribes for drinking water – drinking water is 3-Some's main trade contribution to Hoover Dam, though Crimson seems to be hoarding in on that margin as well.

If the player decides to work with 3-Some Caravan, they will not be able to work for Crimson Caravan, their rivalry runs that deep. While working for 3-Some, the player can go on a couple of caravan runs, and may even delve into some espionage for 3-Some against Crimson. If the player agrees, 3-Some will stage a major falling out with themselves so the player looks like he gave the shaft to 3-Some Caravan. This will get Crimson interested in the player and open up the opportunity to work for Crimson. With a mediocre Deception skill, the player can pull off espionage and discover where Crimson is getting the weapons and ammo. With really good deception, the player can discover that Crimson is playing both sides of the war – supplying guns and ammo to both Hoover Dam and Maxson's Bunker. It's up to the player if they want to go along with the playing, or blow the whistle and get Crimson whacked.


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Crimson Caravan
The Crimson Caravan has always been the darling of the NCR, and especially with Dodge and Hoover Dam since the war with the BOS started. Owned and operated by Ailis McLafferty, a pleasant but hard woman in her mid forties, the Crimson Caravan Company always tried to convey an outward appearance of honesty and hard, fair work ethics. And to the average person in the wasteland who might have dealt with the Crimson Caravan, this image shown through. However, what is not apparent is that Ailis is mostly interested in accumulating power and wealth by any means necessary. Covert contracted murder, extortion, thievery, and political undermining are not taboo as far as Ailis is concerned. She will kiss you on both cheeks and profess an undying friendship while sticking a poisoned blade in your back.

The Crimson building is pretty much identical to the 3-Some building, except the internal decorations are nicer. The office and the warehouse are laid out similarly, and there is a Brahmin pen out front.

Ailis is currently secretly in cahoots with Devon Hill at Maxson's Bunker. While she supplies weapons and ammo to Dodge and the troops of Hoover Dam, she is also supplying the very same weapons and ammo to Devon Hill and his troops at Maxson. Neither side is aware of this, and that is how Ailis wants to keep it, at least until she has accumulated enough power, wealth and influence to take over Hoover Dam.

There are a couple of things that could be done with the Crimson Caravan. The most obvious is to take up employment and go on a few caravan runs. The Reservation run is "special" and secret, so the player would not go on that run for the first couple of times. Instead, the caravan run would probably go to Jericho for water, or something like that. Only after the player has earned the trust of Ailis by protecting the caravan well during runs will she consider sending the player to the "special" run. More on what can happen is in the Quests section.


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Police
In between the cold war that is the Crimson Caravan and 3-Some Caravan buildings, is the police station. This is a basic, rectangular building filled with an office and a row of jail cells. And the most astonishing this is... IT'S NOT A CORRUPT POLICE STATION!!! OMG!!! LOL!!! WTF!!!

Police chief Ralph Peoples runs a tight, honest ship and does his best to uphold the law in Hoover Dam, despite low morale. He has four officers who serve under him in the Rim precinct, and a Deputy Chief and four more officers who serve in the Downtown precinct. All the police officers, including the chief and deputy chief were original settlers when Dodge and crew first arrived. Ralph was a mercenary type, a tough guy who was very good with a gun (and had one, no less), but had an honest streak that Dodge immediately picked up on. When Dodge was getting settled and was trying to set up a government, he appointed Ralph as chief of police, feeling it was important to have the locals have an integral part in their own law and order. Ralph snatched up the position and never looked back. He felt that being police chief was his calling, and reveled in maintaining the peace and order.

Ralph will not have many policing missions for the player, but will appreciate a player who is a snitch (read: informant). A couple of policing scenarios might seem a bit more than Ralph can chew and he may solicit the player for assistance, with the player choosing a violent or diplomatic solution.

Another thing is that Ralph has his eye on the 3-Some Caravan, not trusting ex-cons (with the irony being Ralph was once a mercenary; not exactly a big cut above). He is always looking for a way to "expose" the Giordano triplets for the crooks he thinks they are, and the player can scheme to frame the 3-Some Caravan company to get them shut down (which will tickle Crimson Caravan to no ends). This is a big way to earn the trust of Crimson and find out about their little operation. Of course, the player has a chance to score even more brownie points with Ralph by exposing Crimson' plans (through evidence from their ledgers), but that would end with Hoover Dam having no caravan companies left over, which could be a problem in the long run (if the player framed 3-Some, that is).

Lastly, the player could just focus on exposing Crimson and getting Ralph to like 3-Some.


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School/Library (FOA)
This building is one of three adjacent buildings. It is filled with shelves covered with books and arranged in such a way as to leave enough open floor space for some chairs and a couple of desks. At one time the chairs were full of adults and children eager to learn from the Children of the Apocalypse teachers, but not anymore. Since the war with the BOS, attendance has dropped to zero. Now the teachers merely conduct their own research and hope that one day the silly war will end and the good people of Hoover Dam will return to school.

Since the teachers are so eager to teach, they are a plethora of knowledge. They will give the known history of Hoover Dam, the history of Dodge and the NCR, and of course the war. New knowledge that the player can bring to the Followers will be rewarded monetarily as well as with XP; new knowledge such as discovering the BOMB program, the Hermes rocket missions, the covert Chinese attack on Hoover just before the war, the virus and its original purpose, etc. Any knowledge the Followers learn from the player that pertains to the Apocalypse history tickles their yo-yos to no ends.


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Engineering Facility and Workstation (FOA)
Right next to the school is the Engineering Facility with a working mechanic's station for the player to play with. The inside is fairly open with just two medium sized offices for desktop work. In the main room, where the player will first enter, are the mechanic's station, two tool chests, and a couple desks with engineering crap around it. Shuffling between the workstation and the desks are two elderly, and a couple younger, fellows who look like they've seen their fair share of hardships and combat. When asked what they are working on, they will say they are working on an improved water filtration process to make the toxic Hoover Dam water drinkable and also a process for creating hardier wheat that can grow rapidly in just about any soil and has minimal water requirements for growth. They will also divulge all this research is funded by the FOA, and that they work for them.

The player can offer to help and will receive a series of quests to make the old farts happy. Making them happy will grant the player access to the mechanic's workstation. Also, making them happy earns their trust and they (the older fellows) will divulge that they are former BOS scribes from a secret vault known as Maxson's Bunker. They will tell why the left the bunker and came to Hoover Dam, and will even give the player instructions on how to get there, if they want.

One of the younger engineers will go into his adventure in Burham Springs and the he was a member of the NCR 5th Engineering division. However, he would prefer not to get into details about what actually happened in Burham Springs


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Medical Facility (FOA)
No Follower of the Apocalypse regime would be complete without a medical practitioner and researcher. Dr. Yuri Polivich is Hoover Dam's medical doctor. He, along with his trusty, shiny auto-doc, can mend just about any wound, cure almost any affliction, and stave away the harmful effects of radiation. In addition, Dr. Polivich can insert implants for a nominal fee... well, a pretty hefty fee, at first. Yuri's prices will go down a lot depending on how many good things the player does for Hoover Dam. On that same token, his prices will go through the ceiling if the player begins to traffic smooch into Hoover Dam and Yuri figures it out. It's not because Yuri is opposed to recreational drugs, it's because he doesn't want the competition. Dr. Yuri, as he is known among his "friends," is also the drug (or CHEM) trafficker in Hoover Dam. Need a quick fix of Mentats? Dr. Yuri can hook you up. Heard about a drug called Jet? Dr. Yuri might have a sample for you to try. Yep, Dr. Yuri Polivich is the post apocalyptic Candy-man.

Now, there is a way to make nice-nice all around if drug trafficking is your thing. Dr. Yuri can be the person the player hits up to distribute smooch. He may be a bit reluctant at first, but if the player gives the good doctor a sample of smooch to try, Dr. Yuri will enthusiastically agree to be the official distributor. Now all the player has to do is do supply runs once in a while to keep Dr. Yuri well stocked. Dr. Yuri will give the player a definite weight of smooch needed to carry him through the year, so it is up to the player to decide how much of that weight he wants to actually schlep from the Reservation.

* A little "fun" note – if the player sets up Yuri to be the distributor for smooch, eventually, even if the player negotiates a peace between the BOS and Hoover, Hoover's generators, filtration processes, law enforcement, etc. will crumble. Hoover Dam will fall into an apathetic anarchy town filled with smooch junkies. This process should take about a year or so of game time. The effects of smooch in the community are gradual, even if the player has fixed some of the more important machines. These machines will break down more often, the people in charge will show more apathy towards maintaining the machines, and eventually they will either leave Hoover, or hang out near a fire pit in the fetal position getting high on smooch, or snorting toxic waste if no more smooch is available. Even Governor Dodge and his troops will succumb to smooch. Why? Because they lose all hope after seeing Hoover fail even after the war is over. And, if the player introduces smooch before ending the war, Hoover Dam will eventually fall to the BOS/COS (if they're still around). DON'T DO DRUGS! The only way to turn things around before Hoover crumbles completely is for the player to create a smooch anti-toxin to counter the addiction and withdrawals. A high Medic skill is needed to create the anti-toxin.


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Look Out Below - Café & Bar
Pablo Riviera is the owner of a swanky, big shack that serves great spirits and good fun... well, it used to before the BOS war. One of the things 3-Some Caravan was good at supplying was a plethora of different kinds of booze. Since the war started and 3-Some caravans have been attacked with increasing frequency over the years, the booze supply has diminished greatly, driving the cost of booze up through the roof, and thus killing business. However, his biggest competition, Dusty's Desires Bar & Entertainment, has been doing pretty well and has remained stocked with plenty of booze. This pisses Pablo off to no limits, especially since Crimson Caravan is Dusty's supplier and Crimson refuses to do business with Pablo as long as he patronizes 3-Some. Since he is a proud man, he refuses to give into pressure and strong-arming, so he sticks with 3-Some, who always gave Pablo a fair price and respect. Thus, Pablo the barkeep is about as destitute as can be. He'd drink himself into a drunken stupor if he had enough liquor, but he does not. The player may bring Pablo liquor and sell it to him for a good price, or the player can help 3-Some caravan with liquor runs and try to restock poor Pablo's bar. Of course ending the war would be the optimal path since that frees up a lot of things, including 3-Some's caravan routes.

Pablo also offers some rooms to rent for safe rest, and some hot meals for hungry bellies. Also, when Pablo is not serving up overly expensive drinks or questionable food stuffs, he is the person to see for real-estate transactions. At first the price of a fancy PC pad is ridiculously high (not impossibly high, just ridiculous). Should the player solve Pablo's liquor shortage problem, the price for the Fancy PC pad will drop dramatically.


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Fancy PC Pad
This is a very nice, two bedroom shack the PC can buy from Pablo, the barkeep and proprietor of the Look Out Below Bar & Grill. It comes completely furnished with the latest wasteland furniture and has a fine view of the toxic lake. On special evenings, one can look out on the lake and see horrible lake monsters fighting to the death. Romance doesn't get hotter than this.


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Frieda's Firearms
A nice shack like structure that houses a lot of shelves filled with a lot of firearms and ammo. Frieda, a fifty-something black woman who seems too elegant and proper to be a firearm retailer, is the proprietor. Her wares will vary from time to time, with better firearms and ammo coming later in the game. This could change, of course, if the player has done dickish things in Hoover and lets things flounder and collapse. Then Frieda will pack up and seek out greener pastures.

Frieda has no quests attached to her.


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General's Store
Another nice shack with shelves filled with more mundane supplies with a neat thing mixed in once in a while. The owner is a midget named Milko who does not realize he is small. In fact, he thinks he's about 6'7" and weighs in at a muscular 360 lbs. Come to find out from the locals that Milko drank too much of Hoover Dam's filtered and processed irrigation water before anyone could tell him it was not for human consumption. It's best if the player just plays along with Milko's delusions.

There are no quests associated with Milko (subject to change depending on how much I like writing Milko's dialogue).


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Mechanical Lift to Downtown
On the dam's face is an open air, mechanical elevator that takes the player down to Downtown and back up to the Rim. It works and is in no danger of not working.


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Heavy Equipment Debris (Ancient Construction Site)
When Joseph Dodge decided to use this debris for resource gathering and construction, he deemed himself brilliant because he now had a resource to trade with other communities. Unfortunately, a few years of cannibalizing this construction debris site has left this area of the dam a tad unstable. Anymore tampering could send the debris crashing below, which in turn would crack the dam face and send billions of gallons of toxic water pouring into the valley, wiping out everything in its path and taking all of Hoover Dam with it. Since this discovery, the site has been deemed off-limits. Anyone caught approaching the site would be shot on sight. Two well armed guards are always guarding the debris.

If the player is a true shit, he can figure out that four C4 bombs or four bundles of dynamite would bring the whole mess down, thus destroying Hoover Dam, but that would kill the player as well. The timer for detonation can be no longer than 10 seconds or the guards will see/hear the timer and disarm it. If the player sets the timer to ten seconds or less, it's not enough time to escape the devastation that would follow. This is just so the player can say, "HEY LOK HOW COL I M!11!!!!1 OMG I BROGHT DOWN TEH WHOLE DM!1!11 OMG WTF" Granted, they would have to reload (and there would be plenty of warnings elsewhere in the game so they know they will die trying), but they could do it! It's an Easter egg thing I hope we have time to do. If not, then the player can never muster up enough to blow it up and that will be that.


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Dusty's Desires Bar & Entertainment
No town would be complete without a dive bar serving up cheap drinks and even cheaper women. Dusty Heart is the owner and proprietor of this lovely establishment, and despite being "big boned," she is quite attractive. She'll serve up the finest hooch in the wasteland with a gleam in her eye and a mysterious brown stain in your glass. She loves a good time, but will whip out the ol' Dusty Trail should folks get out of line (Dusty Trail is a pump action shotgun that Dusty always keeps within arm's reach).

The bar itself is made from a large, shack-like material (the shack tiles set) and sits at the central base of the Hoover Dam face. It looks like a typical Western saloon on the inside, complete with round tables, crappy chairs, a large bar at the back, and an even larger, super mutant bouncer, named Beatrice, covering the front door. There are rooms for rent on either side of the building.

As stated above on the Rim, Dusty gets plenty of hooch from the Crimson Caravan. Because of this, business has been very good. War makes people want to forget, and Dusty has plenty of booze and women to help the troops, and whoever else, forget about the hardships of war. Aside from buying booze and women, the player can rent out his services collecting unpaid tabs from some of the townsfolk. This won't win the player any popularity contests with the Downtown crowd, but it will get the player in good with Dusty and, more importantly, give the player a very good recommendation from Dusty to the Crimson caravan. Plus, if the player is a bit of a tough-guy, there will be the occasion when a bar fight breaks out and the player can get the opportunity to help Beatrice settle things down, either physically or diplomatically, or until the police arrive.

Lastly, Dusty is another potential distributor for smooch. Running smooch through Dusty is less dramatic than through Dr. Yuri, mostly because the junkies will be confined to the Downtown folks. If things go to shit down here because of smooch junkies, then Dodge and his men will declare martial law and overtake all operations in Downtown, including the maintenance of the machines. In addition, should the player use Dusty as a distributor, then the player may not use Dr. Yuri as one – and visa-versa. Word gets around quick and the folks at Hoover don't take too kindly to individuals playing both sides, even if it is illegal, or questionable, transactions.


 * Art requirements – .

Downtown Engineering
This engineering facility is not nearly as nice as the one on the Rim, but it is efficient. Otto Steed is the ghoul in charge of this facility, and he is also in charge of the water purification process and chemical extraction. Inside the basic structure are two strange looking machines. One contraption is a water purifier that empties into a large pipe that goes into the ground and the fills up an outside water tub, and the other machine right next to the purifier is a chemical collector that collects sulfur and potassium nitrate.

Otto has been working closely with the former scribes on trying to come up with a way to make the filtered water drinkable – it can only currently be used for irrigation, and that's borderline. The player can help Otto with this problem by working with Jericho and their filtration processes. The player does not need to be a mechanic or science wiz to do this, but he will get more XP if he is either and upgrades the purification machine himself using the Jericho technology.

Otto is also in charge of the two working power generators that are in Baseline. Otto and Dodge are the only ones with keys for Baseline, so the player either has to kill Otto or Dodge to get the key, or agree to help them with a few problems within Baseline and the Scum Pits. This is covered more in Quests.

Otto has an assistant, named Dianne, who is highly organized and eager to take charge. She would never do anything to overthrow Otto, but she is eager to take on more responsibilities. Since Otto is a potential CNPC, should he go with the player, Dianne will take over the engineering facility.


 * Art requirements – .

Farming Crops (B)
Of all the strange places to grow wheat and corn, the top of a dam generator building has to be one of the strangest. But, thanks to the hard work of the former BOS scribes and the tender agricultural work of farmer Dave, wheat and corn do grow very nicely. With minimal dirt and scorching sun, Dave and the scribes have managed to not only grow the wheat and corn, but grow enough of it to feed the citizens of Hoover Dam and export some for trade. While this is all well and good, Joseph Dodge has asked if more wheat and corn could be grown to further raise their value in trade. Unfortunately, Dave would need a fairly large hydroponics farm to fulfill the proposed quantities Governor Dodge would like. And the only unused facility large enough to handle the proposed amount is the Scum Pits. The Scum Pits would first need a lot of reconstructing to sustain a working hydroponics lab, not to mention that the creatures living in the Scum Pits would need to be removed. No one in town is capable of doing either, it would seem. Even if the creatures in the Scum Pits were eradicated, there is the real problem of the open holes filled with toxic goo. It is said that power generators were once housed in those holes, but some catastrophe created the necessity to remove the generators and move them into the area known as Baseline. If the toxic goo could be cleaned up, the creatures eliminated, and the materials needed to build the hydroponics farm could be found, then, and only then, could Governor Dodge's request of more wheat and corn be fulfilled.


 * Art requirements – .

Downtown Police
Not much to say here except that this police station is half the size of the one in the Rim and is run by four other police officers under the watchful, though far away, eye of Ralph Peoples. These police don't give a hoot about drug use or the prostitution at Dusty's, just so long as no one hurts anyone else. Their job is to make sure violence does not break out and everyone keeps their weapons holstered. They also frown upon stealing, but usually the locals lynch the thief before the police can get to the suspect.


 * Art requirements – .

Hock-it to Bob
When other people get sick of their crap, or they need money to pay off one of Dusty;s tabs, most folks at Hoover come to see Bob of Hock-it to Bob. In modern terms, Bob would be a pawn dealer. Every month Bob has something new to sell, so the player can check out Bob's wares just to see if there is something they have to have.

Bob also runs a bounty hunting business. If he feels the player can handle himself, and the player inquires about work around town, Bob will give the player bounties. Unlike modern bounties, these bounties are for dead, only. There's no where to house a felon for extended periods of time, so the mark needs to be whacked. Good characters should not feel too bad about this because the bounties are for some true low-life scum. Some of the bounties can be found lurking around Hoover, some have been seen at other F3 locations. THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN COME IN! I'd like there to be a bounty in each feasible area like Denver, Jericho, Reservation, maybe Blackfooot, etc. Places where a stranger might be welcomed, or at least seen as a potential asset to the community.

Bounties:


 * Blackfoot: Craig, the main raid-leader of the Blackfoots. To the Blackfoots he's a skilled warrior and raider, but to anyone outside the Blackfoots he's an evil raider who should die, die, die.


 * Art requirements – .

Filtered and Processed Irrigation Water (C)
This large container is what's used to hold all the water Otto successfully purified for irrigation. It usually runs at half-full. Nothing much else happens here.


 * Art requirements – .

Farmer's Abode (B)
This shack is much nicer than the others and belongs to farmer Dave. He'll be here at night, and not during the day.


 * Art requirements – .

Doors to Scum Pits
Climbing down some narrow ladders near the north-center of Downtown will bring the player to a catwalk. This catwalk then leads to doors on either side. These are the doors to the Scum Pits – a place of toxic death and vileness. It is advisable to the player to use an environment suit before venturing into the Scum Pits.


 * Art requirements – .

Baseline Locations
Baseline is the home of the only two working power generators in Hoover Dam and the workplace/home of some anti-social humans the citizens of Hoover call the trogs (short for troglodytes). These folks are very burly, yet have very pale, almost albino skin. They mostly keep to themselves and prefer the dark solitude of the damp, musty corridors of Baseline.

The array of offices and storage rooms serve as living quarters for the trogs. When they are not in their respective living quarters, the trogs are performing maintenance on the two working generators and the main control room. All the trogs answer to Otto, but there is a clear leader among the trogs, a very large, polar bear of a man named Billy-Bob. Billy-Bob is very easy going once he knows someone and likes them, and he rules his kin fairly.

However, as with most folks trapped in an RPG, he has a problem. His youngest daughter, Mary-Joe, has taken a job with Dusty as an "escort." It's bad enough that Mary-Joe stays away from the safety of the earth's belly (what the trogs call caves and such), but she is also mixing with waste-walkers (what they call folks who live on the surface). Billy-Bob doesn't know Mary-Joe is actually fornicating with waste-walkers. If he did, then Hoover Dam would have another war on their hands. It will take more than just words to convince Billy-Bob that Mary-Joe is a prostitute; the player would have to tell Billy-Bob about a strange birthmark on Mary-Joe located on her inner thigh. And to keep Billy-bob from putting the player on a spit and slapping an apple in his mouth, the player can give the name of one of the male bar patrons so Billy-Bob can go interrogate him, personally. If that happens, then Hoover has two fronts to fight, not to mention the trogs will turn off all the power.

Of course the player doesn't have to be an instigator and can instead try to get Mary-Joe to stop turning tricks. If the player can convince her to stop and have her return to the trogs, then Billy Bob will grant the player access to the Scum Pits.

Lastly, if the player buys some time with Mary-Joe, he will knock her up. This sets a ball in motion where after about three game months, the player will have some random encounters with bounty hunters from Hoover. If the player just ignores these encounters and presses on without investigating them, then the player will have random encounters with trogs. If the player still ignores the encounters (i.e. runs away or kills the bastards), then in the ninth month since fornicating with Mary-Joe, the player will get a random encounter with Billy-Bob and a mess o' his kin (insert "Deliverance" soundtrack here). He will "kindly" ask the player to do the right thing and marry Mary-Joe. If the player is speaky-guy, he can convince Billy-Bob that Mary-Joe and the baby are better off being brought up by their own kin. If the player cannot convince Billy-Bob, then he can go back and marry Mary-Joe (and then leave again – she'll stay behind with the baby). If the player is just a dick and refuses to cooperate in any way, blood can be spilled. This worse case scenario will also impact Baseline's efficiency since there will be no more trogs, or at least not enough kinsfolk to maintain Baseline. Oh, and Mary-Joe will still be turning tricks, but now to support her baby.

Executive Office and Vice Executive Office
These are shared rooms for the trogs to sleep, eat, and live. However, these rooms are mainly occupied by the kinfolk's leader, Billy-Bob, and his immediate family.

Bathrooms and Showers
While the showers and toilets work, they use the same toxic water that Otto and the scribes have been trying to filter. The trogs are smart enough not to use the showers and toilets for their water supply. Needless to say, they are a bit "ripe."

One thing the trogs have been doing is hooking up a still to the shower using bits and pieces from the scribe's filtration rejects. So far no one has died or showed ill side effects from drinking the trog hooch, but then again, the still has only been in service for a short time. Maybe the player can upgrade the filter, or improve the brew? YEEEHAW!

Auxiliary Offices and Janitor's Closet
Living quarters for the rest of the trog kin..

Scum Pits Locations

 * Art requirements – 

Former Generator Rooms
These two areas are not only a mess with concrete debris and metal rods shooting out from the ground, but also from the living and dead carcasses from albino pig rats and giant leeches. It seems there's a sick, symbiotic relationship between the two creatures, where the leeches feed off the blood of the albino pig rats, and the albino pig rats will hunt and kill the leeches that don't escape after gorging. Since the pig rats are fairly prolific, there is another critter that helps keep the rats in check; giant, albino ants. While the albino pig rats are creepy looking enough with their red eyes against milk white fur, the giant albino ants are truly something out of a nightmare. The exoskeleton is a very pale yellow that almost looks white, their eyes glow red like the rats, and their mandibles glow green and drip a green, acidic fluid. These ants live in a nest back in the office area and, luckily, are not prolific. But they are hungry, and they do come out fairly often to catch and drag a rat or leech back into its dark lair.

Office Area – Ant Hive
Back in the small catacomb area that used to be the office area, the giant albino ants made a home. No one knows for certain how these creatures got into this area, but some have speculated it had something to do with the toxic sludge from the generator rooms. Whatever the case, the ants were here and deadly. Every expedition that Dodge sent down into the Scum Pits to eradicate the critters met with disaster because of the ants. It was like the were tactically organized, waiting for Dodge's troops to start attacking the rats and leeches, and then the ants would ambush the entire lot, taking everyone, and everything, by surprise. Dodge has since stopped sending down troops.

The hive consists of about a dozen giant albino ants and one queen. There are three rooms that make up the hive; ant refuse, the ant food storage room, and the queen's lair. In the queen's lair is a sealed access port that leads to "something" below the Scum Pits. It looks like there is a complicated mechanical lock that keeps anyone from getting in – or out!

Sub-Level 1C (Classified)
This was a top secret research laboratory in the pre-war days. Its main purpose was genetic experimentations for military exploitation; i.e. making horrible abominations to not only terrorize the enemy, but also completely wreck ecosystems. The genetic mutations that would be created were specially designed to adapt to just about any ecology and take over, utterly wiping out anything else in its path. The reason why Hoover Dam was chosen was because there were several creatures in the area that seemed to be results of genetic mutations. Certain areas of the Hoover Dam Lake seemed higher in radioactive isotopes than other areas, which might have been the reason for the mutations. However, no matter the reason, it was considered a good place to start and further the process with a secret lab.

Using similar technology that the Master from FO1 eventually used for his twisted purposes (he stumbled across the research in top secret computer archives), scientists made several specimens that grew to full size. However, shortly before the big war started, a Chinese infiltration and sabotage team discovered the secret laboratory and tried to destroy Hoover Dam so the genetic work could never be used against them. Some of the Chinese stealth soldiers made it into S1C while others were planting bombs in the main generator rooms (now called the Scum Pits). One of the bombs went off prematurely and alerted all of Hoover Dam, including the guards in S1C. Things become cloudy in the reports due to the chaos that ensued, but suffice it to say that the Chinese were defeated, the generators were heavily damaged, and S1C was compromised. During the heated battle in S1C, several genetically altered creatures escaped into the halls. The guard in the guard post was ordered to leave and seal the exit hatch if ever such an emergency happened, and the guard followed orders well. A couple of Chinese stealth solders and four scientists were trapped in S1C after the hatch was sealed, doomed to either die at the hands, or weapons, of the enemy, be consumed by the escaped genetic creatures, or just die of starvation (let's face it, eating a genetic mutation is just gross – the meat is far too stringy).

If the player ever makes it down here, he will find that the floor's integrity has been compromised. There is murky, green water that is about waist high all over the floor. The water comes from a broken wall and a hole in the floor. From that hole emerged mutated leeches and perhaps fish. Either way, these creatures turned out to be the food that has sustained the centaurs and floaters in SC1.

Once the player kills all the beasties, the player will have access to a great science lab and a top secret central computer that has some info on hydroponics, history, etc. Lastly, the player can find the dead Chinese stealth soldiers and use the materials from their stealth armor to make his own stealth armor, if he's gots da skillz!


 * Art requirements- Mostly standard vault stuff. Will require waist high, green murky water to cover the floor.