Reservation design document/1

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

Overview & History
The Reservation, formerly known as the Los Alamos Nuclear Testing Facility, was a top secret military & nuclear research facility before the bombs dropped. It was tasked with developing and building the nuclear missiles that went into the B.O.M.B. satellites. The Reservation was nestled deep in the rocky hills of northern New Mexico where the U.S. government felt that no enemy satellites or spies would ever think to look. But nuclear bombs and missiles don't usually discriminate. During the flurry of falling bombs and missiles from the holocaust, the area around and near the Reservation was annihilated – it would seem that someone had a hunch about the Reservation's whereabouts. However, even though the area around the Reservation was destroyed and rendered radioactive, the Reservation itself remained relatively intact thanks to most of the facility being underground. In fact, many people who worked at the Reservation survived the attacks, but over time many succumbed to radiation poisoning and died. Out of fifteen-hundred people who were at the underground facility when the bombs fell, only forty "survived," and eventually became ghouls. Due to fear, these "survivors" did not venture out of their impromptu bomb shelter for nearly ten years.



After about a decade of lollygagging about within the maze-like corridors of The Reservation's sub-levels, the surviving ghouls eventually ventured topside. It was then that about a dozen ghouls were tasked with braving the radioactive wasteland and seek out other "survivors." Among these brave ghouls was Dr. Willem Clark, a lead Reservation scientist and part time thrill seeker (in his smooth-skin days). Willem eagerly hit the wastes not only to seek out other survivors, but also to see what could be salvaged. Of the twelve ghouls who went into the wastes, Willem was the only one to return after almost a year. Willem was accompanied by fifty or so other ghouls that he found in his travels; ghouls who wanted a safe place to live, away from not only the hardships of the wasteland, but also away from the persecution ghouls experienced from smooth skin humans.

Willem's return was celebrated among the ghouls, but Willem himself was unable to celebrate. He witnessed first hand the prejudice and reprehensible treatment ghouls received in the wastes, and he vowed to make a difference. With near religious fervor, he proclaimed the Reservation a sanctuary for what he called the Children of the Wastelands ; the ghouls. He preached his version of the truth about ghouls and their rightful place as rulers of the Promised Earth. Willem became the unchallenged leader of the growing ghoul community and mandated that all the knowledge and research that was archived and stored in the Reservation's libraries and laboratories should further the ghouls' cause. Research once again blossomed in the Reservation, and over the course of nearly two centuries, weapons and war materials were hacked together to one day not only beat back what they thought would be an inevitable invasion by smooth-skins, but eventually to overtake and conquer the "chosen peoples'" lands.

The Reservation ghouls are not planning an immediate invasion, at least not yet, but are actually a very paranoid group that believes it is inevitable that either the smooth-skins or the mutants will invade their precious facility and try to wipe out the ghouls. This paranoia feeds the ghouls' desire to scavenge, create, and build new weapons with whatever they can find in the "gold-mine" of a research facility. In addition, the labyrinth of underground tunnels makes hiding the ghouls' accomplishments and numbers from prying eyes easy. In fact, the casual passer-by on the surface of the Reservation would only see one ruined one-story office buildings, two dilapidated aircraft hangers with decaying aircraft, and maybe two dozen ghouls meandering about. Surrounding this decaying mess is a large stretch of barbed wire and sheet metal (probably from destroyed planes in the hangers) that keeps trespassers away and the ghouls on the surface feeling a tad safer. No other organization or faction is aware that deep underground this ruined community there is a multitude of ghouls working, researching, creating, and living in paranoid harmony (and armed to their rotting teeth).

One of Willem Clark's immediate plans is to find a way to disable a potential threat to the Reservation. On the third level of the Reservation, there is a powerful gun called a Nuclear Nellie, capable of firing a nuclear shell some thirty miles away. However, Willem lacked sufficient uranium to make a complete nuclear weapon, so he used what was left to make a dirty bomb. He figures that a dirty bomb delivered in the heart of an enemy's town will be enough to devastate their growth. This type of bomb, Willem felt, would buy enough time for he and his ghouls to increase their combat prowess, and, more importantly, find a source of uranium so he can build actual nuclear weapons to complete the process of turning the Earth into his Promised Earth.



Since the area surrounding the Reservation is highly radioactive, the only safe way to approach the makeshift surface community by a human is with a lot of Rad-X, or a radiation suit. Since there is trade on the surface, the player would be able to come across traders who sell radiation suits, or the player could mug a group of traders for their suits – it's up to the player. When the makeshift gate guards are approached by someone wearing a radiation suit, the ghouls will be civil, but not warm (civil enough to find out what the hell you want). Mention that you're here for trade and they will let you into a holding area just big enough for perhaps two-dozen people. Here the player will find a couple of old husks of Army trucks posing as trade tents, an actual tent used for slave trading, and about a three ghouls to communicate with and trade. No sightseeing allowed.



The Area is composed of five maps

Reservation: Trading Post


Legend

Trading Post Locations
The trading post is pretty much the only local non-ghouls will ever see of the Reservation; that is, any free non-ghoul. The ten-foot outer wall is comprised of steel paneling from automobiles, tanks, helicopters, and whatever other metal siding the ghouls could find, and meshes into the surrounding jagged, rocky hills. It literally looks like a junkyard exploded to form this wall, but it is effective in keeping out undesirables, especially when the two gattling gun towers are taken into consideration.

Another natural (depends how you look at it, really) safeguard against intruders is the high level of radiation in the area. During the big war, several nuclear bombs fell within five miles of the Reservation, but never actually hit it. Because of this, the region still glows with radioactivity even after two-hundred years. Also, since this region is still highly radioactive, all non-ghouls visiting the Trading Post must either wear a radiation suit or be stocked to the gills with Rad-X and Rad-Away. Failure to do so will result in high doses of radiation, sickness, and death within a week.

If the gate guards deem the player worthy of trading (and most likely they will since they always seem to be interested in new folks who might have something interesting to offer, especially services), they will allow the player entrance into the Trading Post, but nowhere else. Upon entering, the player will see two beat-to-hell husks of what used to be Army supply trucks. Mended with spit and gum (some places literally), the cargo beds and tarps now serve as makeshift stores. The store to the north is run by a ghoul named Hank. Hank is a friendly enough ghoul who seems to be in complete social contrast to the surly ghoul guards at the gates and looming inside the Trading Post. Hank's little shop specializes in weapons and ammo, and seems to have a very good supply of both. As it turns out, Hank is the master weapons smith of the Reservation and oversees all scavenging of materials, and manufacturing and forging. If Hank doesn't have the conventional weapon the player wants, it might not exist anywhere else in the wasteland.

Hank is also accompanied by a human female dressed in a radiation suit who seems to be doing the brunt of the physical work. As it turns out, this female is Jillian McKinley, one of the escaped prisoners and current slave for Hank. It seems that Jillian was an exceptional mechanic and had a gift when dealing with guns and ammo. The ghouls were impressed with her abilities in this capacity and gave her to Hank. Hank eagerly accepted the help and quickly grew fond of Jillian. Over the course of a few months, this fondness turned into a crush, though he never made any advances on Jillian knowing that a beautiful, smooth skin woman would never shack up with a drippy, smelly ghoul (and he'd be right, in this case). However, Jillian does not mind working for Hank, as slavery goes, especially since the alternative was too horrible to imagine. This horrible alternative is something the player can investigate further, if he so chooses.

The store to the south is run by Betty, a female ghoul who has a way with armor, if not congeniality. She does not like humans and likes even less that she must deal with them in order to trade. In addition, her surly attitude is coupled with the fact that she has a crush on Hank. She might actually act on the crush, but his affection towards Jillian is so obvious that she just does not see the worth in trying. Normally she would just kill the human, but Jillian is Hank's property and Betty would be kicked out of the Reservation if she did.

On the east side of the Trading Post is a large Army tent. This tent is used specifically for slave trading and is run by a very intimidating ghoul named Horatio. Before becoming a ghoul, it looks like Horatio must have been a very large athlete of some sort, something akin to a football middle lineman or professional wrestler. In either case, it looks like a lot of the size carried over to his present ghoul form. Horatio mainly stays inside the Army tent where he can watch over his newest slave acquisitions and bargain with the members of Caesar's Legions, the main suppliers of the slaves. A large bargaining table rests on the south side of the tent, and along the eastern wall are two cabinets filled with Rad-X and Rad-Away, which will be used on the purchased slaves before taking them into the Reservation proper. At different times during the day, the north end of the tent is occupied by sickly slaves suffering from radiation exposure. Also at different times in the day, the slaves are taken through the heavily guarded Town Gate in the north, never to be seen again.

Trading Stores (A)


On the east side of the Main Courtyard are two weather beaten husks that used to be Army transport trucks. The canvas and metal cargo covers look like they have been patched more times than anyone but an obsessive-compulsive would care to count. These two trucks now serve as makeshift stores where two ghouls stand as proprietors. Hank, a non-threatening ghoul with a somewhat doom-and-gloom outlook on life, sells guns and ammo in the northern store, and Betty, a female ghoul, who's serious to the point of being robotic, sells leather and metal armor in the southern store. Between the two, they share a human slave dressed in a radiation suit, named Jillian McKinley – one of the escaped prisoners.


 * Art requirements – Two army supply trucks that look like they've been sitting out in a radioactive wasteland for 200 years.

Slave Trading Tent (B)


On the east side of the Main Courtyard is a large Army tent, in relatively the same patchy condition as the Army trucks, which serves as the slave trading station. It is run by an unusually large ghoul, named Horatio. From the looks of Horatio, one could assume he was a large athlete of some kind in his smooth skin days. In addition to Horatio, there are several slaves tied up at any given hour of the day inside the tent. Accompanying the tied up slaves are usually two ghoul guards brandishing automatic rifles. The only furnishings are two cabinets stock full of Rad-X and Rad-Away. Outside traffic varies from different types of slave traders, but most, it would seem, come from Caesar's Legions. Evidently, Caesar's Legions enjoy trading human slaves for firearms, armor, and ammo. The player can learn that the ghouls only buy humans; ghoul and super mutant slaves are not wanted.


 * Art requirements – A big green tent, about 10' x 15', with plenty of patchwork.

Reservation Main Gate (C & G-1)


Coming from the World Map, the player will first come across the Reservation's Main Gate and wall. The Main Gate and wall are made up of welded car doors and sidings, combined with scrap metal sheets from what looks like aircraft (if the tiles set does not look exactly like this, no worries – this is more for "creative color" and "artistic expression"). The Main Gates are open inward during the daylight hours and closed at night. During the day, two well armed ghouls stand guard and question all incoming visitors to the Reservation Trading Post.


 * Art requirements – Junk wall tile set.

Gattling Gun Towers (F)


At the Main Gate, there are two Gattling Gun Towers. Each tower is stationed on the outside portion of the Main Gate, about twenty feet apart. Atop these twelve foot towers rests a hand crank gattling gun and a ghoul ready to shoot anyone who steps out of line. The gattling guns rotate a full 360 degrees, so no one is out of their range. Access to the towers is from ladders on the inside of the Main Gate wall. Should anyone be try to climb these ladders, they will find out first hand how devastating a gattling gun can be.

Also, there is an identical Gattling Gun Tower at the Reservation Town Gate, manned by a twitchy-fingered ghoul.


 * Art requirements – Will need special crank animations for the gattling gun operators.

Reservation Town Gate (D & G-2)
This gate and wall are almost identical to the Main Gate, except the Town Gate is a single steel door, some twenty feet across, that opens to the north. This gate is locked at all times and cannot be opened except by the direct authority of Willem Clark, the Reservation's leader, or one of his top appointees. It is heavily guarded by four well equipped ghouls and a Gattling Gun Tower.


 * Art requirements – Junk wall tile set.

Reservation: Town


Legend

Town Locations
Some things get better with time; the Reservation Town is not one of those things. Upon entering through the homemade steel gate, it becomes apparent that the Reservation, though it missed most of the Big War and the after affects, it did not miss all of it. The player is immediately walking through chunks of debris that looks every bit the two-hundred years it is. The asphalt road that goes north and west is cracked, bleached from sand and sun, and full of potholes, some of them as big as a car. On this road can be found several abandoned husks of what were once fine quality jeeps, cars (with 50' wings, no less), and a couple of tanks here and there. With a bit of close examination, the player can find that a lot of parts have been salvaged from these abandoned vehicles, but for what use, that's a mystery – for now.

Going west, the player will run into two helicopter hangers that are pretty much destroyed. There's not much to look at here, except the careful scavenger might find some useful parts from the helicopter wreckages there. There are some ghouls living in the less exposed sections of the hangers, but for the most part, these are just big ruins.

To the east, after entering the town proper is a dilapidated office building. Several sections have caved in from either an old bomb blast or time – or both. However, in the offices that have not collapsed, several ghouls have taken up residence. All the ghouls here are very standoffish, and will try to avoid conversation. All, that is, except for Florence, a very old ghoul who was old even when she was human before the bombs dropped. Florence was the disgruntled janitor for the office building, but the day the bombs fell she was in sub-level 1 cleaning a particularly stubborn commode. "Luckily" for her, she survived the war, but became even more cantankerous over the last couple of centuries. However, even though she is a fungus-grump, she is more than willing to chat the player's ear off (if she isn't tempted to eat it). If the player gained access to the town proper through sneaking, Florence is a good primary source for the player to discover how to get into Sub-level 1.

Down the dusty road and further into the Reservation Town, the player will come across a true shanty town, complete with holey, rank tents and holey, rank ghouls living in them. In the center of this shanty town is a large Army tent occupied by the commander of the Reservation guards, Colonel Green. The Colonel is another ghoul who was around when the bombs first dropped. He was assigned security duty at the Reservation and was in Sub-level 2 when the war started. He will not give away any information about the sub-levels, but he will speak to the player to find out his/her intent. However, if the player snuck into the town proper, he and his men will immediately try to capture the player to find out how he/she got in, and how the ghouls could make good use of the player. It's up to the player to decide if he/she wants to go along with being captured.

The last stop for the player is at the railroad cars, Main Access Elevator, and Equipment Lift. This area is heavily guarded by the ghouls and would represent quite the challenge for the sneaky player type. In fact, sneaking into the elevator and using it is pretty much impossible without the guards noticing. If the player gets captured, he will be brought before Measles and questioned, in which case, depending on how cooperative the player is being, Measles will contact Dr. Willem Clark, via direct comm. link, and consult. Negotiations can start from this point.

Based on either the negotiations or the player's actions within the Trading Post, there are several ways the player can get authorized access to the sub-levels - which will be explored in more detail in the Quests section. But as a primer, a couple of ways is to foil a scam being placed on Horatio by a Caesar's Legion slave trader. Another way is to turn in Hank for being a dissenter. And another way is to seek out and kill a caravaner who managed to steal some shotguns, ammo, and a couple of human slaves. Bringing back his head and the loot will make Measles very pleased, who will in turn contact Willem Clark about the deed. Willem Clark finds it interesting that a human would care so much as to help ghouls, so he decides to meet with the player. Measles will then escort the player to Sub-Level 1 and introduce the player to Willem Clark through the General Computer. Only a mouth appears in the computer monitor (obviously Willem's), and the owner of the chewed up mouth will ask some questions of the player. It is here that Willem will offer Measles as a companion and will give the player access to Sub-Level 2, the level where all the ammo and arms are manufactured.

Reservation Town Gate (O & E)
The Town Gate is a single steel door, some twenty feet across, that opens to the north. This gate is locked at all times and cannot be opened except by the direct authority of Willem Clark, the Reservation's leader, or one of his top appointees. It is heavily guarded by four well equipped ghouls and a Gattling Gun Tower.


 * Art requirements – Junk wall tile set.

Dilapidated Helicopter Hangers (A & B)


Here are two medium sized helicopter hangers. They are mostly caved in with sever char marks on the west side as a result of a nuclear explosion about a mile away during the big war. There is still a lot of concrete and rebar debris within the hangers, as well as scattered pieces of helicopters poking through. Some of the piles of debris look like they have been moved aside to reveal a helicopter or two, but the exposed choppers also look like they have been picked apart over a long period of time.


 * Art requirements – As described above, a meta-tile for these dilapidated hangers.

Decrepit Office Building (C)


This one story office building did not get the full brunt of the western nuke thanks to the two Helicopter Hangers. Still, a lot of the building has fallen, save for a handful of rooms and office spaces. In the rooms that did not collapse are ghouls eking out an existence. These ghouls are unwilling to talk to smooth skins since they came to the Reservation to avoid the smooth skins and their prejudices.


 * Art requirements – Ruined city tile-set, perhaps? Or Junk town tile set.

Central Street (D)
This asphalt road has seen better days. It is pock-marked, cracked, and uneven due to seismic activity over the years. During its heyday, it was used not only for automobiles, but also tanks and other heavy equipment. However, these days all it is used for is a graveyard for broken down and forgotten heavy equipment. Along the whole stretch of the street can be seen the burned out husks of tanks, jeeps, and armored personnel carriers (F).


 * Art requirements – Junk town tile set.

Shanty-Town Shacks (C & H)


At the north-east section of the town are a bunch of fallouty shanty-town shacks and tents. These are the living quarters of the rest of the top-side ghouls. Nothing fancy at all about these shacks; just cots, a few boxes used as furniture and maybe a chair for the privileged few.

At the center of this little shanty village is a very large tent, perhaps at one time an Army command tent. Inside, everything seems a bit nicer than anything that's in the other shanty shacks. There is a normal bed that actually looks livable (as long as the person sleeping in it does not have a strong sense of smell), a rectangular meeting table that is in decent condition, and a couple of cabinets storing who-knows-what (or who). This is the residence of Colonel Green; a ghoul who used to be a ranking colonel at the Reservation when the bombs hit. Even after 200 years, Colonel Green still commands respect and authority among the other ghouls, and it looks like he has a small contingency of soldiers under his command. The player will come to discover that Colonel Green is indeed in command of all the surface guards, including the five who hover around him during the day.


 * Art requirements – Junk town tile-set.

Railroad and Railcars (R, S, & T)


During the time before the big war, a railway went through the northern most side of the Reservation. The railway was never on any public maps, and no one except the people who worked at the Reservation and top military brass knew about the railway. At the time, this railway was the best way to deliver and pick up large pieces of equipment and vast quantities of supplies. However, the railways went dead after the big war, and the two supply cars waiting on the tracks to be taken to another secret location would never move again.

That is, until Willem Clark got creative and decided to build his own train engine. Using different components from the tank wreckages all over the surface of the Reservation, he and his fellow ghouls built an engine into one of the supply cars. Looking every bit like a Junkyard Wars concoction, the new train engine is functional. The only thing is, it has nowhere to go. But the plan is to eventually find someplace to go; a place that is a perceived threat to the Reservation. Upon the other supply car, Willem will mount his Nuclear Nellie howitzer gun and take it within thirty miles of its intended target. From there, it is his goal to fire a dirty bomb into his enemy's base/town, which will hopefully cause enough havoc as to collapse any organization that might have existed. But again, Willem still needs a destination. The railcars, the tracks, and the access gates are all kept in much better condition than the rest of the surface area of the Reservation.


 * Art requirements – As described above, a flatbed railcar with a huge tank engine strapped at one end, with cranks and shafts directly connecting the wheels of the railcar to the engine. Should be a dynamic object that has two states; on and off. On has the flywheel turning and black smoke bellowing out from an exhaust, off has it not doing a thing.

Equipment Lift & Main Access Elevator (K & L)
Near the seemingly abandoned railcars is the Equipment Lift and the Main Access Elevator. The Main Access Elevator is very similar to all the other vault elevators in the other Fallouts. It will take the PC to sub-levels 1 and 2, but not 3 (that one has a separate elevator which can be accessed on sub-level 2).

The Equipment Lift is a large, steel platform elevator that goes directly to Sub_level3 and can only be operated from the 3rd sub-level. Both elevators are working and well maintained, however, the equipment lift needs a new cable in order to function – the engine works, just no cable for the actual lift.


 * Art requirements – The lift itself should look like the one in Half-life; a 10 x 10 steel grid that goes into the ground, elevator style.

Reservation: Sub-Level 1


Legend

Sub-Level 1 Locations
If the player gains access to the sub-levels, this is more than likely his first stop. Built pretty much like a typical vault, this level is the main sleeping area for the sub-level ghouls. This level is clean, crisp, and very well taken care of, unlike the Reservation Town. The contrast between the two should be somewhat shocking. The floors of the level are sparkling, the walls show no sign of wear, and the sleeping quarters are very well maintained, with two beds each and toilets that look like they've never been used (and with ghouls, they probably haven't... do ghouls even poop?). Depending on the time of day, half the beds and/or rooms will be occupied by ghouls in clean white lab coats, and the other half of the rooms will not. In addition, each room will have two chests for the ghouls to store stuff.

Conversation is pretty limited here to just floats and such, except for Marty. Marty is a disillusioned ghoul who has the same type of thinking that Hank has; all is not right in paradise. If Marty feels like he can trust the player, he will divulge some of the things he's working on. One of those things is the assembly of dirty bombs on sub-level 3. The player will get the opportunity to eventually help or hinder Willem Clark and his diabolical plans based on info from Hank and Marty. Of course, one of the best ways to earn trust from Measles is to snitch on Marty about his rebellious thoughts, but I'll get into more detail in the quests section.

In addition to speaking to Marty, the player can hack into the General Computer on this level and find out little tidbits about the Nuclear Nellie, the dirty bombs, and just the very slightest hint at the ghoul procreation experimentation.


 * Art requirements – All standard vault stuff.

Main Elevator (A)


This is the Main Access Elevator that goes back to the surface and to the 2nd sub-level.

Sleeping Quarters (B)
The rooms in Sub-level 1 are pretty ordinary when it comes to vault sleeping quarters. Each room is very clean and well kept. Each room also has two twin size beds and a footlocker at each bed. The bathrooms are spotless, not so much because they are constantly cleaned, but because ghouls really have no use for a toilet... I think.

Locker Room (C)
This is a pretty typical vault locker room, with two rows of lockers running down the center of the room, separated by a wall going down the center of the room. Each locker will be filled with an assortment of goodies the player can loot. What those goodies are remains TBD.

General Computer (D)


At the end of the outside of the Locker room is Sub-Level 1's General Computer. From here the player can access very generic stuff, like the work schedule of the lab techs, the guards, how many slaves were brought into the Sub-Levels, and how many had to be put into the incinerators after the failed procreation experiments... huh? Yes, the player can get a bit of information about the ghoul procreation process and see that the human slaves have something to do with it. A bit of good hacking will reveal the name of the chief doctor in charge of the experiments, Dr. Sebastian.

Also, the computer will give a brief history rundown of the Reservation's great leader and founder, Dr. Willem Clark. The history will practically deify the doctor, basically proclaiming him the savior of the ghouls; their very own Christ, as it were. However, from conversations and reading the computer history, it seems that no one, except a very select few, have seen Dr. Willem Clark in a very long time –perhaps in over fifty years. There is no doubt he is still on the Reservation, but it would seem he has secluded himself to Sub-Level 3. Evidently, he wants to be closer to his "children" and the daily conceptions (don't try to picture it, it will rot your brain and make you start thinking David Hasselhoff is a sexy man).

Reservation: Sub-Level 2


Legend

Sub-Level 2 Locations
Once the player has access to Sub-Level 2, he will have access to mechanics labs engineered for weapon, armor, and ammo smithing. However, the player may be in for a bit of shell shock once he enters Sub-Level 2. This level is very dirty, akin to an early 19th century English machine factory. The floors and walls are covered with soot and the air is a thick fog of mixed fumes generated by large boilers and burners. Evidently there is not a good air filtration system on Sub-Level 2, not that the ghouls would really need one. The player would be wise to use a gas mask down here (radiation is not as big a factor as on the surface. The sub-levels were well enough insulated during the Big War to keep out most of the radiation from above, but obviously not all).

However, the people who do need protection from the fumes are the human slaves working in the large, but smog congested smithing rooms. All of them have scarf-like materials wrapped around their faces as a weak form of protection, though every one of them frequently coughs. Though one might expect to see a few large slaves handling the brunt of the shoveling, the opposite is true. All the slaves lurking about are quite frail. At first assumption, one might think that their frailness is a result of long term exposure to the level's fumes and poor treatment of the slaves. However, a bit of investigation will reveal that all the working slaves are usually the weakest of the crop purchased. Evidently, the strongest human slaves are carted off to a room that emits a strange green glow through the door cracks on Sub-Level 3A slave or two may mention that at night, when they are resting in their holding cell, that they can hear screams coming down the hall where the "Green Room" is.

The first room the player will run into is the firing range directly north. It looks like a standard indoor firing range, except for the filth, comes complete with three ranges and, at any given time, a couple of ghoul guards trying out a new conventional firearm. Since the guards have a bit of an ego, they are anxious to challenge the player to a contest of skills. Best of ten shots at the maximum distance in the range wins the contest (prize is TBD).

To the northeast of the level is a large room used for armor manufacturing. Inside, there are two large furnaces next to makeshift anvils and tables. A couple of ghouls bang away at stretching leather and forming metal to make suits of armor. Several slaves toil away at moving around the scrap materials and shoveling coal into the furnaces from large piles of coal along the northern wall.

Just south of the armor smithing room is the weapon and ammo smithing room. It looks very similar to the armor smithing room, except that there a lot of medium sized crates filled with ammo and guns (a lot for the FO3 world, anyways). One side is filled with crates of non-functioning weapons, and another, guarded by four ghoul guards, is filled with functioning guns and ammo, though this side is much smaller than the non-functioning side. The two weapon smith ghouls toil away at dismantling the non-working guns to either piece together the different parts into a functioning weapon, or melt down the metal to forge new components. The slaves cart coal from the stockpile in the armor smith and shovel it into the furnaces in the weapon smith facility. Again, these slaves are frail and look like they are going to keel over at any moment. Even though the slaves are frail, the floating toxins do not help their health conditions. The slaves rarely live longer than a couple of years before the toxins kill them. The player will have the opportunity to either find proper gas masks or devise a makeshift air filtration system.

Running the whole show on Sub-Level 2 is Milt the Foreman. He can be found walking from room to room, making sure things are running smoothly. He's a no-nonsense ghoul who tells it like it is, and he'll waste no time telling the player what he thinks of human scum. In any event, Milt will serve as a focus point to augment current weapons and armor for the player to make them more deadly, provided the player has the blessing of Dr. Willem Clark. If not, he'll call the guards and they will lay the smack down!

There's also a Chem Lab on this level where the player can use the chem.-mechanic's table to concoct stim packs, Rad-Away, and other such things. There is a science techy in here every once in a while, but he only comes in to get supplies and such – nothing to buy here. But if the player follow said techy, he will see that he takes a different elevator than the one the player came. This elevator is the only way to Sub-Level 3 and its big mysteries.

There's also the requisite sleeping chambers for the ghoul workers, as well as a bathroom/locker-room complete with lockers for the player to pick.

The last place of note on this level is the Incinerator Room. Periodically during a given day, a techy will come up from Sub-Level 3 with a large, covered trash can. He will head into the Incinerator room and dump the contents into the very large incinerator. The player may try to investigate the ashes and such around the incinerator to determine what was thrown in there. A good Perception will uncover human bone in the ash.


 * Art requirements – Need dirty, sooty looking vault tiles, as described above. 

Main Access Elevator (A)


This is the Main Access Elevator that goes back to the surface and to the 1st sub-level.

Shooting Range (D)


A standard, three lane firing range except with overly used targets at the far end of the room and a lot of soot and dirt on the walls. There are no working pulley systems to bring a target back and forth to the shooter. Every once in a while, the player may run into a ghoul guard or two who are practicing. These ghouls will challenge the player, provided the player is there with the permission of Willem Clark, to a shoot off. The winner gets an epithet or something like that. However, once the player does this challenge, he will not be challenged again. Hey, ammo's valuable, even if the ghouls make most of their own.


 * Art requirements – Need bullet riddled targets and a meta-tile of a three lane shooting range.

Armor Smithing Facility (E)
This room looks like a cross between a medieval forge and a turn-of-the-century machine sweatshop. Two large furnaces roar with fire and crackle whenever metal is placed close enough to melt. Two ghouls labor away making leather and metal armor, and four to six slaves toil with cleaning up the scraps and shoveling coal into the furnaces. There are a couple of large tables holding various tools, remnants, etc. Also, there are two makeshift anvils the ghouls use to forge steel, and two large tubs of murky, black water to cool the steel. No talking here, too much work to do.


 * Art requirements – Need big, red boilers with dynamic flames shooting out its oven doors. Also need piles of coal to place willy-nilly along the far walls. Lastly, need a hammer swing animation for the ghoul smiths.

Weapon Smithing Facility (E)


This room also looks like a cross between a medieval forge and a turn-of-the-century machine sweatshop. Two large furnaces roar with fire and crackle whenever metal is placed close enough to melt. Two ghouls labor away making gun barrels and components, then assemble them, and four to six slaves toil with cleaning up the scraps and shoveling coal into the furnaces. There are a couple of large tables holding various tools, remnants, etc. Also, there are two makeshift anvils the ghouls use to forge steel, and two large tubs of murky, black water to cool the steel. No talking here, too much work to do.


 * Art requirements – Need big, red boilers with dynamic flames shooting out its oven doors. Also need piles of coal to place willy-nilly along the far walls. Lastly, need a hammer swing animation for the ghoul smiths.

Chemical Laboratory (G)


A large table and four big tubs of green goo are all that occupy this room. On the table is an assortment of beakers, tubes, measuring devices, and other assorted lab stuff. The player may use this facility to make stim packs, Rad-X, and any other chem in the game. If the player is allowed to be on Sub-Level 2, then the techy who comes into the facility every once in a while will not raise an eyebrow. However, if the player is not allowed to be there, then the techy will flip out and call the guards.


 * Art requirements – Like a series of dynamic, connecting tubes and beakers with green and red ooze flowing through the tubes.

The Incinerator (H)


This lovely room has a very large, rusty, burnt looking incinerator smack in the middle. The iron doors are kept closed and locked when not in use, but the heat and sound of the searing flames within can be heard and felt from out in the halls. At the foot of the incinerator's big iron door is scattered pile of ash and burned debris. A perceptive PC can sift through the ash and discover that these are the remains of humans. A couple of time per day, a techy from Sub-Level 3 comes to the incinerator with a large trash can and dumps its contents into the incinerator.


 * Art requirements- Need small dynamic piles of ash with a smattering of bone in them. Also need a large, square incinerator with a dynamic door that when opened, flames shoot out.

Foreman Sleeping Quarters (J)
This is the one room on Sub-Level 2 that is not nearly as dirty and sooty as the rest of the level. It's far from clean, but compared to the rest of the level, it's worthy of a king. There are four beds along the walls of the room, a footlocker at the base of each bed, and a cabinet along one of the walls. Inside the cabinet are old books and magazines of varying interests. During the night time hours, these beds are occupied by the foreman, during the day, they are not. It is not wise to wake a sleeping foreman, even if you are there by permission of Willem Clark. These guys are very grumpy and need their ugly-sleep.

Locker-room and Bathrooms(I)
Understand the needs humans have to expel their internal wastes, the ghouls have tried to maintain the bathrooms on Sub-Level 2. The commodes are functional enough to get rid of most waste, but some waste does back up, providing an even more noxious odor than the soot smells. Since the ghouls do not mind really bad smells (hell, they smell bad enough), they have little sympathy for their slaves' complaints of fouled toilets. The player may remedy this problem by fixing the clogs in the lines, or sending a cherry bomb down one of the commodes to blast the clog away. I'll need a scripted cut scene for this event of water and waste blowing out of the toilet. The bathroom might be really messy after this, but hey, these pipes are clean (HA! A "Cabin Boy" reference – which is in this doc for my amusement only and will not be in FO3)!

Elevator to Sub-Level 3 (C)
This is the Elevator that goes only to and from Sub-Level 3.

Reservation: Sub-Level 3


Legend

Sub-Level 3 Locations
Sub-Level 3 used to be the meat and potatoes of the Reservation back in the day. Little has changed in that regard. While Sub-Level 2 maintains manufacturing of armor and arms for trade on the surface, the true research and development, and the means by which Willem Clark fulfills his dream, occurs on Sub-Level 3.

The only way for the player to access this level is through the southern elevator on Sub-Level 2. The use of this elevator requires the visual approval of Willem Clark himself. The player's options to gain entry are to earn the trust of Willem Clark through completing quests, going Rambo and killing everyone topside and the first two sub-levels – this brings Willem and his cronies to the player for a final showdown, and by doing this Willem forgets to reset the security on the elevator -, or the final way is to sneak down the elevator using deception. However, since Willem visually checks everyone in and out of the elevator through a heavily protected camera over the elevator, and he is personally familiar with all who works for him, the player would need a very high Deceive skill to pull off the scam.

As Sub-Level 1 is sharply contrasted in appearance and feel to Sub-Level 2, so is Sub-Level 3 to both previous levels. Not only is Sub-Level 3 very clean and tidy, but it is also eerily dark and cold, both figuratively and literally. The halls are permanently lit by red power back-up lights, and the purple glow of the force field at the end of the hall accentuates the dark mood. During the daylight hours, the entire level is deathly silent, save for the hum of the force fields. During the night, inconsistent screams of terror and pain can be heard coming from within a room; a room known to the slaves only as the "Green Room."

The first room to the right from the elevator in Sub-Level 3 is a long room consisting of three smaller rooms. The rooms are regular, square rooms each with a single bed and a cabinet against the wall. If the player has entered this area during the day, the rooms will be empty. However, at night the rooms will be occupied by their respective owners getting ready for a good night's rest. These rooms, as it turns out, belong to the successful results of the ghoul procreation experiments. Like Measles, these three ghouls are Born Ghouls. However, only Belle will give the player the time of day, the other two will brush the player off.


 * Art requirements- Mostly standard vault stuff.

Elevator to Sub-Level -2 (A)


This is the Elevator that goes to and from Sub-Level 2, exclusively.

Born Ghouls Quarters (D)
At the southeast section of Sub-Level 3 is an entrance to a medium sized corridor. Along the north side of the corridor are three sterile looking, square rooms, each with a nice size bed and cabinet. Other than the slightest hint of blood drops here and there, and the occasional bone fragment, there is nothing extraordinary about these rooms, save for their owners. These three rooms belong to Born Ghouls; ghouls, like Measles, who were not created through exposure to the FEV virus, but ghouls who were actually born into ghoul-dom. Through cruel experimentation on humans by Dr. Sebastian, these ghouls gestated and were birthed. Reveling in their infrequent success (the ghoul procreation experiments have a 2% success rate), Dr. Sebastian and Dr. Willem Clark keep their Born Ghoul progeny close at hand and comfortable. To them, the Born Ghouls represent the future of the ghoul "species," and they will do everything in their power to make sure their "children" are well taken care of.

Measles' Room and Dr. Willem Clark's Room (C & B)
To the southwest is a large room. Upon passing through the steel door, there is a purple force field due west and a small room to the north. The room to the north is exactly the same size and style as the Born Ghoul rooms to the east. This room belongs to Measles', Willem Clark's right hand ghoul and sometimes personal bodyguard. However, since Willem never really leaves his chambers, Measles has been assigned additional tasks. In fact, the only time Measles is in this room is when Willem calls for him or it is nighttime – time to sleep. During the day, Measles is usually topside at the Trading Post making certain all is running smoothly.

To get into Dr. Willem Clark's room, the player either needs to be invited, kill everyone on the previous levels which draws Willem and some of his cronies to deal with the player, thus leaving the force field down, or use his super mechanics skill on the purple force field. Otherwise, the player may only dream about what is inside. However, once inside (and as long as Willem is not dead), the player will be greeted with almost sheer darkness, except for a soft glowing light resting next to a shadowy form. There is a bed, a cabinet filled with books, and a computer in this room, but they are hard to see in the darkness. As it turns out, the shadowy form is Dr. Willem Clark. He will say he prefers the dark because it allows him to be alone with his thoughts – and he has many, many thoughts. If the player feels brave, Willem will be happy to convey these thoughts.

Bottom line, though, is that the computer in Willem Clark's room holds the launch codes for the Hermes-XIII space rocket. There are several ways to get these codes, which I will go into greater detail later in this doc.

Scientists' Sleeping Quarters (F)
Similar in style to the sleeping quarters on Sub-Level 1, but a bit wider, this room is for the exclusive use of the techies and scientists of Sub-Level 3. There are four beds, a few cabinets, and foot lockers at the foot of each bed. Other than that, there's not much to look at.

The Green Room (Ghoul Procreation Laboratory) (E)
Like something straight out of a 1950's horror move (in living Techno-color!), this is the laboratory where the madness of ghoul procreation takes place. There are two tables filled to the brim with tubes, bottles, beakers, a Tesla coil, and anything else that emotes a mad scientist feel. At the far end of the room are two big glass tubes filled with a viscous, green liquid. Inside this bubbling goo are two floating humanoid forms attached to tubes and wires. Closer examination reveals that the occupants of these tubes are human. Even closer examination will reveal that there is a large hose burrowed into the distended abdomen of each floating human, and from the wild, terrified eyes of the occupants, it becomes clear that the humans are terrified and in a great deal of pain.

The individual running this show is a ghoul named Dr. Sebastian. He relishes in his work and is eager to talk about it, provided the player has permission to be in Sub-Level 3 (Willem let's everyone know if the player is allowed to be there – after all, how many healthy humans are actually allowed to roam the dark halls of Sub-Level 3?). While all the sordid details of the ghoul procreation process will not be revealed, the player will get enough disturbing imagery to convince them that the process is not fun in the least – for the humans, anyway.


 * Art requirements- Need two glass vats filled with green goo and each having a near naked human dangling from tubes within them. The vats need to be dynamic so the player can shoot them and watch them explode with bodies and humans pouring out onto the floor.

Force Fields and the Main Generator (G & O)
To the north are a series of force fields that lead to the main power generator. The first force field is only accessible with the proper security pass (yep, search for a keycard. There are several on the persons of the lab techs and Sub-Level 3 guards, plus the player may finagle one from an amorous ghoul.) Of course, the force field can be circumvented by a talented mechanic. Once passed the force fields, the player has access to the Main Power Generator. If the player has aspirations to blow the generator up, he may. However, this will only knock out main power and the backup generators will kick in. And, even though the Main Generator is a sub-reactor, the heavy insulation in this room will keep the explosion confined to this room, thus not endangering the other rooms. The design thinking was that if anything would go wrong with the generator and is melted down, the resulting explosion would not "domino effect" with the nuclear warheads for the B.O.M.B. missiles.

Nuclear Weapons R&D and Reservation's Main Computer (H, I, J, K, & M)


This massive room was once used to research and then develop the missiles and warheads that would eventually be used on the B.O.M.B. satellites.

The first thing the player will run into is the Reservation's Main Computer core. This machine holds all the information about the B.O.M.B. and Hermes programs, and it also includes the launch codes for the Hermes-XIII space rocket. However, the launch codes are encrypted and require a heavy science skill to extract. This is just an alternative to meeting, face to face, Willem Clark, and gives the science/stealth boy another opportunity to advance.

At the center of the room is a very large, Howitzer looking cannon. Named "Nuclear Nellie," this gun was originally designed to fire a ten megaton nuclear warhead shell, cannon style, to a target some thirty miles away. In it's current state, Willem Clark changed Nuclear Nellie's design a bit to fire a dirty shell thirty miles away. The dirty shell uses the few, but remaining remnants of uranium and other radioactive material to distribute over a two city block area. The resulting contamination, Willem hopes, will cause the occupants of the newly radioactive zone to disperse and flee. Willem intends to one day use this device against an enemy, once he finds one that is a suitable threat. Until then, Nuclear Nellie waits.



Another road block for Nuclear Nellie is the broken equipment lift. Some time after the Big War, no one knows exactly when, the heavy cable for the lift snapped, rendering the lift useless. If the player ever finds a replacement cable, the lift will once again function and Willem will be one step closer to fulfilling his dream.

Finally, at the northwest section of the room, the player will find the hallowed husks of four nuclear missiles with the acronym B.O.M.B.-001 painted on their sides. These missiles look like they have been rummaged over more than a hundred times and truly have nothing left of value attached to them, except maybe the metal shells.


 * Art requirements – Need Nuclear Nellie as described above. Also need emptied out nuclear missile shells.

Slave's Quarters (L)
A filthy den of hopelessness, this large room is used to house the two-dozen or so slaves used in the Sub-Levels. The floor is filthy with dirt, blood, urine, and excrement, and there is a dead body or two protruding from the cave-in dirt and boulder piles. There is nothing pleasant about these quarters, and the ghouls make sure that there is nothing pleasant about them. Since the ghouls of the Reservation hold most humans in utter contempt (yes, the player would have his work cut out for him to woo Willem and his followers), they figure that treating the slaves as badly as the humans treat ghouls on the outside is justice served. Granted, much of the ghouls' hatred towards humanity has been fueled and exaggerated by Willem Clark, but that does not make it less real for the Reservation ghouls. Besides, the ghouls figure humans are easy to replace at this time thanks to Caesar's Legions and the Blackfoot slave trade.