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Bethesda offices are two ruined towers found at Bethesda ruins in Fallout 3.
Background[]
The offices are two office towers connected by a skybridge, sitting at the heart of Bethesda's vast office district. Time and raider habitation have erased all traces of the corporations that once used these buildings.
Layout[]
The offices sit at the heart of the district, surrounded by derelict commercial mid-rises. Most of them are inaccessible, except for a large, exploded shell of a building on the opposite side of the road passing through the district. The office towers can be easily identified by the crude fortifications surrounding them, constructed out of scrap, playground installations, and derelict vehicles pulled onto roads to provide cover for raiders. There's also a small minefield by the eastern tower, placed under cover of a grass field.
The other distinguishing feature is an overpass that connects the towers together, used by a raider marksman as a sniper's nest. It contains two ammunition boxes and a seat, giving a good view over northern and southern approaches.
The office district is bounded by two other landmarks: A Red Rocket gas station to the west, which is a random encounter spawn point, and the metro entrance to Bethesda Underworks.
The raiders are decently armed and present in force, while the short engagement distances due to the densely packed district and claustrophobic interiors render many long-range hard-hitters ineffective. The Chinese assault rifle, 10mm SMG, and scoped .44 Magnum are excellent choices for this brand of post-nuclear urban combat.
Bethesda offices west[]
The western office tower is a ruin, with much of the building blocked off by collapses. The ground floor contains the reception desk, now used as a choke point by the raiders. Walls have been torn down, giving their automated turret an excellent field of fire, with additional mines placed at outcroppings to surprise the attackers. Two raiders remain here on guard, with a bed for sleeping placed at the far wall. The Big Book of Science, used in setting up the turret, was left behind on the reception counter alongside the turret control terminal.
The staircase with two grenade bouquets placed as a deterrent connects what remains of the upper floors together. The upper room is a small office converted into makeshift housing. The uppermost floor contains the slaughterhouse, where the raiders turn captured wastelanders who aren't pressed into their ranks into long pig. The room is protected by three shotgun traps connected to a single pressure plate. A door on the eastern face leads to the walkway connecting the offices.
Bethesda offices east[]
The eastern tower is in even worse shape, with most of the building caved-in on itself. Parts of the ground and first floor survived, turned into dormitories and a makeshift court by the raiders. The latter is used by the raider leader, and contains a desk, personal bed, defensive turret, and a tube with a hapless mercenary tortured to death. The leader, armed with a flamethrower, carries a copy of the phenomenal U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes skill book, while Bobblehead - Lockpick adorns their desk. Notably, the raider respawns after 73 game-hours, allowing for farming the Big Guns skill book.[1]
Notable loot[]
Bethesda offices west[]
- Big Book of Science: Ground floor, on the reception desk, next to the terminal.
- Two Stealth Boys: Ground floor, a crate near the drinking fountain. Another is found in the slaughterhouse, on the shelf next to the door by the fridge.
- Two pre-War books: On the filing cabinet in the second floor office.
- Dean's Electronics: On the top floor, in the slaughterhouse. Found in a wooden crate sitting on a desk, hidden under a steam gauge assembly and other miscellaneous items.
- Mini nuke: Again in the slaughterhouse, hidden under crates by the long pig freezer.
Bethesda offices east[]
- Bobblehead - Lockpick: On the desk in the chieftain's court on the second floor, next to the turret control terminal and the wall safe.
- Chinese Army: Special Op Training Manual: First cubicle to the left on the second floor, on a desk next to two missiles and a typewriter.
- Mini nuke: Near the exit to the connecting bridge, on a filing cabinet in a pile of rubble from a collapsed ceiling.
- U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes: Carried by the chieftain.
Behind the scenes[]
- Bethesda Softworks was founded in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1986. The offices were moved to Rockville, Maryland in 1990.
Bugs[]
All the ghouls in the Underworks may spawn right outside of the tunnel entrance, remaining inactive unless the player engages them.- It's possible to get stuck on scenery by entering the ruins from the south and then heading east towards the rubble, with the placement of the scenery trapping the player in the wall. The end result is that the raiders can still hit the player, while they can only reply with grenades and mines. The only solution is killing the raiders somehow, then using fast travel, using tcl to no-clip through the rubble, or reloading.
Gallery[]
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The East and West offices
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Interior West office
Appearances[]
Bethesda ruins appear only in Fallout 3.