Duck and Cover

We all remember the end slideshow of Fallout 1 that said in no uncertain terms that the Hub had been razed to the ground by the rampaging mutant army on the run to the east (running from one jerkoff with a plasma rifle... Wussy mutants). The Hub as we know it is finished. No more Water Merchants, no more caravans, no more skags, and the Union of Atomic Workers has now been fully and completely wiped out.

But what about Fallout 3? I think it's fair to say that a large portion of us here would like to see FO3 span both North and South California and revisit all the locations from the two existing games (with certain towns slightly... modified, of course). So what should the Hub be like?

On the one hand, one would figure that the ruins of the Hub might be a location you could visit. Maybe some skags have taken refuge in the twice-destroyed buildings and set up some tents here and there, creating an impromptu squat. But regardless, the past glory of the Hub is gone.

Or is it? The NCR information holodisk from Fallout 2 mentions Hub as one of the states of the New California Rebublic. This could lead us to believe that after the whole of southern California was united by Aradesh and Tandi, the Hub was rebuilt and once again made into the economic center of the land and a major metropolis (the term being used in a relative manner, obviously). Whole new power structures and architectures could be elaborated, which effectively gives the designers a clean slate to make the location however they want to.

So which should it be?

Well, before you mentioned the NCR disk, I was think a sort of Mutocracy that fallowed a group of religious texsts based on the teachings of the Master. Perhaps there could even be some glorious final battle between the NCR and the Remnatns?

There was also another ending that they didn't have time to put in. You can probaly find it if you are the type to dig through files. The other ending wasbasically the "happy" ending which I think is supposed to of really happened in Fallout 2. It's like that because everyody talks of the vault dweller being a good guy and saving everyone, not someone to let an entire town die if it can be stopped. If it was destroyed, then I think they were just talking about the people. It is quite hard and pointless to destroy a bunch of ruins even though there are even more all over the place. (That you don't see)

Spazmo wrote: Or is it? The NCR information holodisk from Fallout 2 mentions Hub as one of the states of the New California Rebublic. This could lead us to believe that after the whole of southern California was united by Aradesh and Tandi, the Hub was rebuilt and once again made into the economic center of the land and a major metropolis (the term being used in a relative manner, obviously). Whole new power structures and architectures could be elaborated, which effectively gives the designers a clean slate to make the location however they want to.

Although I liked the idea of the Hub being revived, I wouldn't want to see southern California united.
The idea of such a big power base in the wasteland just doesn't seem right.

I think seeing the republic itself split up and destroyed is a better idea. Maybe the Hub could be restored as the NCR capital, and the republic itself destroyed. Leaving only the Hub as the biggest trade junction in south California.

Dan wrote:The idea of such a big power base in the wasteland just doesn't seem right.

I think seeing the republic itself split up and destroyed is a better idea. Maybe the Hub could be restored as the NCR capital, and the republic itself destroyed. Leaving only the Hub as the biggest trade junction in south California.

NCR must split up or be wiped out by some outside forces as a well-prospering, democratic country on the wasteland is just too much. If it don't Fo will be no longer "post-nuclear role playing game"

I think I like Dan's idea the most.

The NCR should rebuild and restore Hub into its former glory(well, almost). The Hub would become a center for trade, water merchants and caravans once again. Perhaps even more commercialized this time. More shops and housing etc. with a slight NCR influence, but still recognizable as the old Hub.

When the NCR has fallen(NCR must fall!), the Hub would become independent and strong, but non-expansionistic center for trade in Southern California. Enough military/police forces to protect the caravans and the city from raiders.

Which basically puts it right back where it started.

An interesting idea.
However, am I the only one who thinks that some sort of Mutocracy would be interesting somewhere? One that, ironicly, creates a bible esque version of the teachings of the Master?
Perhaps LA?

Maybe Junktown. Killian, in his infinite wisdom, befriends a wounded mutant. The mutant tells him about the Master's ideals and Junktown eventually turns into a Mutocracy.

No.
LA makes sense because it is, literally, the grave of the Master.

Wouldn't LA have been wiped out by the nuke at the Cathedral?

The majority of damage done by a nuclear bomb is due to radiation, and mutants inherintly have a resistance to it.

I thought most of the damage a nuclear bomb did was due to the massive amounts of light and heat that are released...

Remember, hundreds of nuclear bombs were set off during the Great War. Or rained down the sky, as the narrator in FO2 says.
The blast/s killed most of the life on earth, cept for some scorpions, ants etc.. Radiation made it impossible for humans to live on the surface for many years after.

While no one will doubt the insanely destructive short term nature of an atom bomb, most will argue that, in the long term, the radiation is still much more destructive. The most horrifiying thing I have ever seen is my father's pictures of people in Hiroshima. Such a large amount of the population is deformed that it seems more like a William Blake painting than anything.

Just keep in mind that the nuke in LA detonated underground in a Vault, and not out in the open.

That's true, but if you ever go to the Cathedral after you destroy the Master, the entire area is in ruins. LA/Adytum isn't really harmed.

Yep pretty much like the glow , a big hole in the ground and lots of radiation .

what if FO3 was set in the original bunker mentioned in the ncr holodisk...

ie: you start off as one US military dudes, then go explore the wastes and eventually start up the BOS, ...i dunno, does this just sound appealing to me?

That would be dull since we already know the outcome: you lead the soldiers and their families to Lost Hills and you start the Brotherhood.