Junktown Hostile at arrival?!

[Mysticbran]

Mkay.. so, I started up a new FO game with intent to play through solely along an evil path.

I get to Junktown, as soon as I arrive they initiate combat with me! Lars runs to attack, while the guard in front of the tunnel-gate doesn't and a taunt saying "Hey! You better turn around and get out of here." or something extremely similar floats above him in red (sometimes split second before combat starts, at the beginning, even after fighting Lars), though he does attack when combat ends with Lars. (Every guard in Junktown attacks on sight after that.)

I've tried getting to Junktown with the same character, before joining the Khans (0 rep), same effect.
Tried upping Charisma with Mentats stolen from Raiders; null difference.
No, I do not have any weapon in active item slot.
Tried coming during day, during night; no difference.
If I leave through the exit grid and come back (without firing at them at all) they maintain their hostile status.

I've had this happen to me before, also with an "evil character".
I test-started a new game right now and ran straight to Junktown from the V13 cave; everything was normal, though?!

Any insight on this situation? Any way to make them be more.. welcoming?

Thanks, up front.

Edit: Fiddling around with the save slots I had used, I came to realise that the hostility in Junktown could be triggered by the following and only these: something in V15? Wouldn't think so.
Killing all the Brahmin in Shady Sands. Quite possible. Have to further test this theory out; a bit too tired today.

See, in Shady Sands killing the Brahmin, can trigger two things:
a.) Nothing at all, except XP. (The path I went with, to Junktown)
b.) Townspeople notice and everyone turns hostile in Shady Sands, netting XP and -5 Karma.

It might be true that turning SS hostile this way, has no further effect on JT. But avoiding getting "noticed" slaughtering the Brahmin might actually trigger some scripting glitch, bug, whatever. Or you might as well turn JT hostile in any event of killing SS Brahmin. Or I may be absolutely clueless.

 

[Sander]

What else did you do in Shady Sands? What's your Karma? Did you do anything in random encounters?
It's probable that killing Brahmin triggered the event, especially if it turned Shady Sands hostile, but could you give us a bit more information about what else you did?

 

[Mysticbran]

...

Different Reputation (-/0/+) did not change Junktown status.

Well, I came to an answer to my own question; after testing the possibilities.

Yes, it is the Brahmin.
If you kill ANY of the Brahmin in Shady Sands, no matter if you manage to turn townspeople hostile or not, you will be attacked upon arrival at Junktown.

What a coincidence, that one of my saves up until Junktown was right before killing Brahmin in Shady Sands
Kill none, everything as normal.

The Karmic retribution for killing Brahmin is bizarre, you always get -5, if you do. You could kill only 3 Brahmin and get the negative karma, or kill all five in the pen and get no negative karma. Maybe it's something along the lines of townspeople "noticing..."

Believe me, that last time I played through the game, Junktown was A PAIN. People randomly engaging combat and running away.
Had to sneak through the bar (Bartender and Tycho would attack, some woman in the bar would run outside. Every time combat ended, she kept coming back in! I just didn't want to slaughter everyone... yet.) That wasn't really neat.

Maybe Per would like to mention this in his Walk-through? Of course, after testing the "reproducibility" of this.
New game, run to Shady Sands; Brahmin Pen. Kill cow. Run to Junktown. That's it.