This page is about the settlement of New Vegas. For the game by Obsidian Entertainment, see Fallout: New Vegas. For the New Vegas Strip, see New Vegas Strip. |
New Vegas is a city rebuilt amidst the remains of pre-War Las Vegas, Nevada in 2281.[1][2] The city's main attraction, the New Vegas Strip is managed by Robert House, who utilizes his army of Securitron robots to maintain peace and order in the post-War city in the heart of the vast Mojave Desert.
Background[]
Unlike other major cities of the United States, Vegas emerged from the atomic fire of the Great War relatively unscathed, owed to the preemptive actions of Robert House. In 2065, House correctly predicted that a nuclear exchange between the United States and China would take place within the next 15 years, and began dedicating his resources to the protection of his home city. He used his considerable intelligence and vast wealth to ensure that when the war finally came, he would be prepared.[3][4][5]
House calculated that his defenses would see off the majority of missiles bound for Vegas, but at least some damage to outer Vegas and the surrounding towns was unavoidable. To this end, he had engineers in Sunnyvale develop the platinum chip, a sophisticated, high-density data storage device that would upgrade his defense systems and Securitrons to the Mark II OS, ensuring that Vegas and the surrounding area would be as safe as possible.[6] Since the war, House has created even more Securitrons, some to police the Strip, with an army of them hidden beneath Fortification Hill.
He has fitted his home, the Lucky 38 Casino, with radar-jamming systems, missile arrays, a laser defense network, and life-support systems[3] which only marks the beginning of his grand plans to revitalize the city and beyond.[7] Meanwhile, House oversees the growing tumultuous situation in the region.
Great War[]
The platinum chip was due for delivery by courier on October 23, 2077, the day of the Great War. The attack, however, came 20 hours earlier than House had predicted, and before the platinum chip could leave Sunnyvale, the city was reduced to rubble, with the chip buried beneath it.[3] House was forced to make do with his relatively primitive systems, but still managed to stop 68 of the 77 ICBMs aimed at the Vegas area.[8] Although most of Vegas was saved, he suffered numerous system crashes and was eventually forced into a coma. While many citizens were spared and even began celebrating, fallout from the warheads that did hit blew into the city, killing all of them.[Non-game 1] When House awoke from his coma, he only observed - did not interfere - as the city was settled by tribals and raiders.
Arrival of the NCR[]
In 2274, New California Republic scouts arrived at Hoover Dam, piquing House's interest. House ordered the Securitrons to emerge from the Lucky 38, offering an ultimatum to the raider tribes settled on the Strip: join House and be part of his New Vegas, leave the Strip, or die. Three tribes accepted his offer, eventually taking up the identities of the Chairmen, the Omertas, and the White Glove Society, henceforth known as the Three Families.[9] Only the Kings and the Great Khans refused, with the Kings settling in Freeside while the Great Khans were exiled to Bitter Springs. The Three Families, as well as the Securitrons, would be enough to protect the Strip for now, but if the NCR tried to take it by force, they would not be able to resist in any meaningful way.[10][11]
When the main NCR forces arrived to assume control of the dam, House sent a Securitron forward to call for parlay between the NCR's leaders and himself. They reached an agreement and signed the New Vegas Treaty, under which the NCR would receive 95% of the dam's power output, McCarran International Airport as a base of operations for the NCR Army, and permission to establish an embassy on the Strip.[12]
Meanwhile, the Strip would retain the remaining 5% power output. The treaty also disallowed the NCR from forbidding their citizens and soldiers to visit the Strip, leading to a boom in New Vegas' economy. Tourists from all corners of the NCR, as well as stationed troopers on leave, would flock to the Strip and spend their hard-earned salaries on Gambling, Alcohol, and prostitutes.[10][13][14][Non-game 2]
Early in the NCR's contact with New Vegas there was hope of it and rest of the Mojave Wasteland rapidly becoming part of the NCR, even possibly becoming the sixth state of the NCR union.[15] However, while these hopes remain, this was frustrated by Mr House, and the possibility of a military takeover was prevented by the arrival of Caeser's Legion in the eastern Mojave.
Legion threat[]
Around the same time, on the other side of the Colorado River, a new threat loomed over the town, an army known as Caesar's Legion. Their leader Caesar had set his eyes on New Vegas to establish as the true capital - his Rome. He mobilized the Legion in the hopes of forcing the NCR out of the Mojave Wasteland and taking the city for himself. In 2277, this culminated with the First Battle of Hoover Dam, which was a decisive loss for the Legion. Caesar did not retreat or abandon his plans of taking control of Vegas, instead rebuilding his depleted armies while he waited patiently in his headquarters on Fortification Hill for an opportunity to strike again.
The continuous presence of the Legion has created a delicate power balance in the region. The NCR would have annexed the Strip long ago, but the presence of the Legion means that if they attacked the Strip, Hoover Dam would be vulnerable, and likewise, the Legion can not take New Vegas as their new capital due to the NCR presence in the region. Meanwhile, Mr. House watches and plans, vigilantly and silently, from his tower far above the Strip.
Layout[]
New Vegas is situated in the Mojave Desert, surrounded by several mountain ranges. New Vegas features a wide variety of socioeconomic situations, ranging from the affluent New Vegas Strip, through the impoverished Freeside and North Vegas square, the fields of the NCR sharecropper farms, the resourceful Westside, to the derelict South Vegas ruins, and northeast hub of commerce, consisting of the Crimson Caravan Company, Gun Runners, and the 188 Trading Post.
Most districts of the city have had walls of varying degrees of quality, ranging from concrete topped with barbed wire to train cars and neon signs, erected around them to keep out wasteland creatures and raiders, from the South Vegas ruins to North Vegas Square. A vast network of sewers, some of which are inhabited by humans and other creatures, exist underneath the city.[16] The areas outside of the Strip and Freeside are collectively referred to as "Outer Vegas".[17][18][19]
The Strip[]
Glittering and awe-inspiring both before and after the Great War, the Strip is the heart of New Vegas.[20] The hotels, casinos, restaurants, and iconic skyline establish the Strip as a premier tourist destination and serve as the driving force behind New Vegas' economy.[21] Several pre-War establishments have come back alive with the Strip's signature lights and a vast variety of entertainment offerings, powered by electricity from the Hoover Dam.[22][23][24]
Vendors are allowed to work on the Strip selling non-alcoholic drinks and snack foods, signing a franchise agreement to forfeit 50% of their profits to Mr. House at the end of each working day.[25] Radio New Vegas can be heard here and throughout the region.[26]
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Freeside[]
Freeside is the main slum of New Vegas. Controlled by the Kings and the Van Graffs, the streets are dangerous and lack the luster of the New Vegas Strip. Many gamblers and tourists find themselves under attack by thugs looking for a quick source of caps. Recent tensions between the NCR and the Kings have worsened the situation. Similar to the rest of outer Vegas, Freeside shows resentment towards the NCR, who are seen as unwelcome oppressors.
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Westside and North Vegas[]
Westside is one of the better-off residential areas of the city. The settlement supports its own militia and has become self-reliant, growing its own food and maintaining its own water supply. The residents often complain of problems with the Fiends and a smaller gang, the Scorpions, who remain a threat to the citizens. Likewise, in North Vegas Square, the citizens battle the same threats and similarly pride themselves on their independence and watching outsiders suspiciously.
Inhabitants |
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East Vegas[]
Under the control of the NCR, east Vegas is one of the safer areas of the city. Protected from Fiends by Camp McCarran, east Vegas is home to several businesses with roots in New California, including the Crimson Caravan New Vegas branch, a Gun Runners factory, and a clinic run by the Followers of the Apocalypse. Aside from businesses, the area is also home to sharecropper farms settled by NCR citizens encouraged to move west by the Thaler Act, and a refugee camp run by the NCR Army in Aerotech Office Park.
South Vegas[]
The southwestern region around Vegas is firmly in the hands of the Fiends, who rule from the fortified ruins around Vault 3. Several of their raider compounds can be found outside of their main territory.
Notes[]
- Las Vegas is the only city in the USA known to have had two vaults constructed within its boundaries, Vault 3 and Vault 21.
- Due to the city's bright lights and the height of the Lucky 38, the city can be seen from almost all areas of the map.
- If the player character has a reputation low enough with the NCR that they attack on sight, the drunk military police on the Strip will not attack. However, four NCR troopers with cattle prods may spawn outside of Michael Angelo's workshop and attack the player character. If killed, the Courier will gain infamy from both the NCR and the Strip, despite the fight starting unprovoked. The Securitrons in the area will become hostile, forcing the player character to destroy them as well, resulting in additional infamy. The Securitrons in the other sections of the Strip will not be hostile, however.
- The in-game iteration of the Fabulous New Vegas sign appears in the Atomic Command game in Fallout 4.[27]
- Before the war, a shootout involving a supposed Chinese spy named "Shanghai Sally" occurred on the Las Vegas Strip.[28]
Appearances[]
New Vegas appears in Fallout: New Vegas, and is mentioned in its add-ons Dead Money and Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76.
Behind the scenes[]
New Vegas is based on the real world location of Las Vegas, located in Clark County, Nevada. Many locations in the game have real world equivalents in and around the city, such as the casinos, neighborhoods, landmarks, and businesses.
Gallery[]
Las Vegas
References[]
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Non-game
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition pp. 462-463: "House Arrest
When blaring civil defense sirens heralded mankind's doom on October 23rd, 2077, the citizens of Las Vegas bore witness to an astonishing spectacle. Huge laser cannons unfurled from secret housings in the roof of the Lucky 38 casino and Hoover Dam's intake towers and began spitting blasts of green fire into the sky, destroying warhead after warhead and sparing Las Vegas's urban center and the dam from direct hits. Citizens filled the streets and cheered. And then they died horribly from the lethal fallout that blew in from the dozens of warheads that detonated around Las Vegas.
Though Mr. House's missile defense grid performed admirably, the Great War was in actuality the day of his greatest setback. Having spent decades preparing for the statistical inevitability of atomic war, house found himself forced to protect Las Vegas with buggy software. Had the Great War occurred even 24 hours later, House would have received and installed Mark II of his defensive systems' operating software. Instead, the disc containing the upgrade-which had just passed quality assurance-was buried in the irradiated ruins of the Sunnyvale, California lab where it was developed.
Defending Las Vegas from atomic destruction set off a cascade of system crashes that plunged the Lucky 38 into darkness and nearly killed Mr. House. Running on a trickle of emergency power, the electrode-studded command helmet by which he controlled the Lucky 38 shorting out with maddening frequency, the replenishing salve bath and pharmaceuticals he'd spent billions to develop going rancid, his ensconced body aging, House battled to reboot his data core with an older version of the operating system. It was a daily struggle that would grind on for nearly five years, inflicting a physical and mental strain so severe that House lapsed into a coma when the reboot was finally achieved.
When House finally came to, decades had passed. Immediately he began using his Securitron robots to search out human settlements, and eventually he was able to hire salvage teams in the distant west to search for the priceless upgrade disc in the ruins of the Sunnyvale. The disc was not to be found for many years, during which time House was forced to improvise an ad hoc defense of the Vegas region against the encroachment of NCR forces, namely the recruitment and employment of the Three Families to augment his downgraded Mark I Securitron robot defenses." - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.463: "A Vision for New Vegas: Mr. House proposes an automatic future for New Vegas: undisputed authority of a technocratic visionary. His long-term goal is to use the attractions of New Vegas as an economic engine to reignite mankind's technological progress. While he has no desire to control every aspect of the lives of those would inhabit the region, neither would the ways and means by which he achieves economic and technological progress be up for discussion. As the ruins of the former world mutely attest, democracy is a failed experiment. The time has come for Mr. House to heroically save Vegas for the second time, forging an independent, dynamic, high-technology enterprise zone. So long as Mr. House's basic rules are followed, his intentions are to take a "hands off" approach towards the subjects of his kingdom; he is effectively a libertarian dictator creating his own version of paradise rooted in the old world. If the player supports Mr. House, she is supporting the New Vegas libertopia, a place where the strong rule unfettered for as long as they stay strong and where the weak are continually trampled underfoot. But it's a place where Mr. House wants you to dream, that someday, you could be one of the strong."
(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Behind the Bright Lights & Big City)
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