Restoring Fallout Nevada Content

[Golbolco]

To date, Fallout Nevada remains the largest and most complete classic Fallout total conversion set within the Fallout universe. Unlike Fallout 1.5, the world map is full-size and contains a number of locations comparable to Fallout 2. Unlike Olympus 2207, the game's world is lore-friendly with Fallout. Unlike Last Hope, there are custom assets including talking heads (actually, silent heads). Unlike Fallout Sonora, the game can be played in English.

That all being said, there remains a number of cut or unresolved locations, quest lines, and bugs within the current release Nevada Extended 2.0.3.3. The previous release v0.99 and the design documents on Nevada Band's website also contain some significant differences with the finished product.

This OP is by no means extensive, but serves as a catalog of some of the most significant content that could be restored or enhanced within Fallout Nevada. There are documents in detail at http://fallout-nevada.ucoz.ru/ that give an overview of what the developers had to leave out. Here are some highlights:

Main Plot

• The Fallout Nevada 2.0 document gives a protracted overview of a polished main questline that would have been made at the cost of a lot of side content. Many people agree that the main quest of Fallout Nevada is the game's weakest part, and is at times incomprehensible. Polishing the quest without sacrificing the side content is probably feasible, but controversial.

Vault City

• The dream sequence prologue has been described as irrelevant to the game. The design doc provides two alternate prologue sequences.
• There was supposed to be a second cinematic when the player exits Vault 8 in the modern day. This probably can't be restored without getting the cinematic from BlackDesigner.
• Post-ending quests were to be available from Sgt. Graves.

Black Rock

• Based on the cut content design document, Black Rock was supposed to have two more zones. An NPC described as an agent of Vault City was present in one zone and gave out quests to the player. There was also a quarry inhabited by horned ghouls.

Lovelock

• Ogima Black Cloud was supposed to have a talking head.
• The radio station could be used to prank call Roger Maxson, harkening back to Fallout 2.
• The quests given out by Big Louis were to be rearranged so that Hawthorne came last.
• An idea was that when the player joins Big Louis they would be marked so that most NPCs would become hostile/aloof, but this was seen as infeasible and not fun.

Reno

• Reno is full of cut content, being the largest area in the game. There were a lot of alternate ideas for the crime families and how their content progressed, and some expository dialog/timelines on the city's history.

Wind of War

• A few quests were cut here, including raider bases that the player could go on quests to exterminate.
• The vault deathclaws in the translation are referred to as tarantulas; either they need new frames or this needs to be corrected.
• A quest to clear out the deathclaws is still in the game's files.

Beatty

• A village meant to be between Wind of War and New Vegas. Some zones are still in the game's files.
• In conflict with Wind of War; most of the settlers are refugees from the soldiers there. Potential to start a war with the soldiers.

New Vegas

• There were supposed to be a lot more merchants in the Clean City.
• A representative of Wind of War was meant to be in the Clean City; compared to Moore from F2.
• Some more quests in the casino, and a talking head at Hard Rock Cafe.
• A mechanical bull rodeo at Hard Rock Cafe.
• New zone controlled entirely by the Kings.
• Extra quests from Hoover Dam and the Nursery.

Area 51

• There was supposed to be another zone in Area 51 with bonus items.
• The origin for the wanamingos is technically lore-unfriendly unless it is taken that the writer of the log was incorrect.

Wendover

• Connected to the gecko-hunting in Gerlach and mentioned by a few NPCs. Large hunting village west of Salt Lake City. There's a dedicated design doc for it.

Salt Lake City

• There were additional quests featuring conflict between the Sheriff and the local Mormons.
• The train stations throughout Nevada and Utah were supposed to be maglevs and to be redrawn in 50s futurism style; this would need new graphics.
• Access to some private family shelters for the Mormons was a cut zone.
• On an island in the Salt Lake, there was to be a family estate/bunker where the descendant of Salt Lake City's pre-war mayor lived. This idea dated back to the Alpha. He gave out quests rivaling the Sheriff.
• There were a lot of cut quests expanding on the nuka-cola plant.

Mormon Temple

• Ogden, Utah was to be home to a Mormon temple serving as the remaining head of the religion in the post-war. There were conflicts over how to implement this and whether they should have been real Mormons or a separatist group.

Sigma Base

• North of Salt Lake, the source of all the robot encounters on the road from Salt Lake City to Battle Mountain. Another dungeon similar to Area 51 and Hawthorne; T51-B and Fallout 2's implants were here.

Desert Rangers

• A desert ranger outpost featuring Tycho is discussed in one of the docs. In general, there are some connections to the plot of Fallout 1 that go neglected (the Hub merchant wars, Lewis Birch and Hardy, Harold.) Would be great to see these tightened and integrated into the main plot.

General

• The cut content design doc gives some ideas for UI changes and new perks.
• There are no companions in the final game, but a Canadian fugitive is one possible companion described in the design docs.
• The talking heads are unvoiced, but would it be possible to voice them and add lip files? It's been done for F2RP.
• The design doc has a lot of cut graphics; if they're not in the game files, one would need to reach out to BlackDesigner to restore them.

This doesn't even begin to scratch the ideas presented in the "director's cut" design doc, but is meant to spark a discussion. Is Fallout Nevada complete as is, or is it worth revisiting some of the removed ideas?

 

[Golbolco]

Now I want to go through the cut content document in detail, focusing first on the game's locations and quests and then moving into character/inventory changes. I'll be giving each element of cut content a feasibility rating for restoration, which is entirely subjective and based on my opinion. Also, I'm working with a machine translation of the document, so I'm making some interpretations that a Russian speaker might be able to correct me on. Today I'm going to start with cut Vault 8 content.

Prologue

• As it stands, criticisms of the prologue center on it mostly having little to do with the game's main quest and seems to exist solely for a cameo from The Master. At the very least, some additional dialog somewhere in the game connecting the player to the dream sequence (possibly through the cloning subplot) ought to be easy enough to add. Rating: cursory addition
• The first alternate sequence in the design doc features a dialog sequence where Richard Grey delivers clones to the Grim Reaper; a fight breaks out, and much like the final game Grey disappears and the player is escorted inside. Would require some additional scripting, but would be a good introduction to the antagonist and give a more organic connection to The Master. Rating: probable with scripting
• The second alternate prologue is a full-on tutorial scenario with a fully mapped Vault 8; it is not presented as a dream sequence like the final game. Basic training details like using repair on a broken vent and a simulation where you fight mutants would be available. Overall this seems superfluous to me, because anyone playing F:Nevada doesn't need to be taught how to play Fallout 2, but it would make the game feel more authentic, like an official BIS product. Rating: significant content edition

Vault City

• As mentioned before, the missing cinematic upon exiting Vault 8 is mentioned in the design doc. If this isn't in the game files, someone would need to contact BlackDesigner and hope he held onto that cinematic. Rating: improbable; missing asset
• In the design doc, the player would be assigned the standard blue-jumpsuit frames and have to equip a biker jacket to appear with the black-jumpsuit frames in the final game. Seems superfluous to me, but entirely doable. Rating: cursory addition
• For the first quest, Sgt. Graves could actually refer the player to the Vault 8 agent living at Black Rock instead of just sending them to Black Rock to find a lead on Jay. This seems wrong to me; couldn't the Vault 8 agent just inform Sgt. Graves whatever he/she knows and then Graves directs the player on what to do? Rating: cursory addition
• Some extra text during the finale about freeing the clones. Rating: cursory addition
• After the finale, if Sgt. Graves is still alive then he could give out some additional quests. All of these are probable with scripting:
  • Kill a defector in New Reno
  • Hunt down Enclave agents in the major settlements
  • Dismantle Enclave radio stations in other parts

The director's cut document has even more content for how to improve Vault 8, but it will have to be addressed at a later date.

 

[Goat_Boy]

Is this a mod you intend to make? Sounds awesome, like a Restoration Project for Nevada!

 

[Golbolco]

Is this a mod you intend to make? Sounds awesome, like a Restoration Project for Nevada!

I wish I could say that this is something I'm actively working on, but right now I have neither the time nor the skill necessary right now. I am a graphic artist and so I could come out with an add-on with some of the simpler items and graphics detailed in Nevada Band's documents, but nothing is in active development. Rather, I am here to raise awareness: as it stands, Fallout: Nevada is the closest thing to a complete and brand-new Fallout experience. Yet it is not a product that Nevada Band is particularly proud of; one could say it is something of an abandoned project. This is, right now, an exploration of what Fallout: Nevada could be in the future, and a partial record of what Nevada Band has outlined.

 

[gustarballs1983]

Heh.. About Fo:Nevada beeing lore friendly...

For me.. everything collapsed the moment i saw Harold in Vault City's prison cell... I mean come on.. When Harold left Mariposa he was seriously infected with FEV.. in fact he felt so badly he couldn't move by himself much.. when traders found him couple of days later, they escorted him straight back to Hub where he was sitting until Hub's destruction by supermutans.. The part, the traders took him to hub where he has been "ever since" Harols says himself in a voiced talking head style, when you give him money and ask what's his story, and don't interrupt him talking ( that needs to be done b4 asking about the "deathclaw qust" however)..

This moment alone made me think Fo:Nevada is more of a "cool Game" rather than full-lore-friendly-prequel.
Despite this fact, I still play & enjoy it from time to time, as I still think FO:Nevada is a damn good piece of work..

on the other hand if somebody would bring back cut content a'la Restoration Project style.. things would've been even better...

 

[Golbolco]

In my current playthrough of F:Nevada I am at Salt Lake City doing the quests in the surrounding region, but as for cut content I would like to examine Gerlach and Black Rock.

Gerlach

• Actually, there isn't a lot in the cut content archive regarding Gerlach; it seems that it was implemented as envisioned. The Fallout Nevada 2.0 document might disagree.
• There was only one cut quest, part of the gecko hunting series: Evan would have taken you on a hunt to extract gecko acid, and then upon completion he would have given you a perk that allows you to extract it yourself. This was connected to the cut Wendover location. Rating: probable with scripting
• There was to be a rancher who needed antidote, which would reward some experience and reputation. These sorts of NPCs exist everywhere in F:Nevada. Rating: cursory addition

Black Rock

• Unlike Gerlach, Black Rock had a lot more cut content. The document also comes complete with concept art for the layouts of the maps (in Russian, so they are illegible to me.) I have compiled them into an Imgur album here:
  
• The main area of Black Rock was to have a wall of sheet metal and junk around it. Rating: cursory addition
• Justin was able to sell the PC water. Rating: cursory addition
• The windmill owned by Justin was accessible, and had some loot. A lot of additional loot caches exist in the cut content, but taking from them was to lower your karma. Rating: cursory addition
• After completing the quest with the raiders sieging the caravan, there was some additional loot that needed to be returned to William. Rating: cursory addition

Vault City Agent

• A second zone in Black Rock existed, home to a secret agent from Vault City. The design doc says that his name is Guinain for one of the agents that tracked down Baby Face Nelson, but I don't know who that's referring to because none of the FBI agents in that case were named Guinain. Moving on...
• The quest that Sgt. Graves gives changes slightly: instead of being told to find information on Jay Kukish in Black Rock, the player is sent to make contact with Guinain, who knows about Jay but has gone MIA. The player can meet a beggar in William's shop who is in fact the agent. Once reputation is high enough, the agent sends the player on a quest for him. Rating: probable with scripting
• The player then arrives at the second Black Rock zone. There ought to be a green exit area on the first Black Rock zone, because too many of the maps in the early game become inaccessible after completing a quest. Also, a town screen should be added to the world map for Black Rock. Rating: significant content addition
• The agent's house dominates the center of the second zone; it could be in the white adobe style of Vault City houses. He is being assailed by robbers (possibly the Molerats, mentioned in-game as the local gang that harasses Black Rock.) The player's job is to recover the agent's pipboy. In classic Fallout style, one may solve the quest through violence, negotiation, or theft. Rating: probable with scripting
• The agent then reveals Jay's whereabouts in Hawthorne. This seems like a very early point in the game to learn about Hawthorne; would it make more sense that the agent sends the player to New Reno first? It might also make sense for the agent to become a companion of the player, given that the base game contains no companions and this seems to be a natural addition to the party, like how Vic can be picked up in the Den. Rating: conflicts with game progression

The Quarry

• Apparently, this is all a big Kurosawa reference. A quest in Black Rock would be given to find a missing woman. The quarry is meant to be its own location on the world map one square east of Black Rock. There is a mockup of the quarry's layout in the imgur album. Rating: significant content addition
• The area is radioactive, and there is a pool of drinking water in the center of the map. There is a house with some gruesome scenery. The population are all ghouls (described as having horns). Rating: probable with scripting
• There is a ghoul named Onan who gives the quest to end the suffering of the locals, which can be done either through violence or by delivering them painkillers. The woman from Black Rock (unnamed in the doc) refuses to leave the quarry until the ghouls are helped or killed. Rating: probable with scripting

 

[Alphons]

One minor thing I wanted to add to

Gerlach

Shell of Legendary Radscorpion that you can meet on your way to Battle Mountain that Evan will mention after getting the gecko eggs was supposed to be used to make an armour.
If you didn't meet the requirements to craft it yourself, Steve could help if you've saved him.

Shell currently is completely useless.

 

[Golbolco]

One minor thing I wanted to add to


Shell of Legendary Radscorpion that you can meet on your way to Battle Mountain that Evan will mention after getting the gecko eggs was supposed to be used to make an armour.
If you didn't meet the requirements to craft it yourself, Steve could help if you've saved him.

Shell currently is completely useless.

Are you sure? I made it into armor in my latest playthrough. I wore it basically all the way until I could get the grizzly armor assembled. Does Nevada Extended 2.0.3.3 restore this bit of cut content or something?

 

[Alphons]

Are you sure? I made it into armor in my latest playthrough. I wore it basically all the way until I could get the grizzly armor assembled. Does Nevada Extended 2.0.3.3 restore this bit of cut content or something?

Extended restores some cut content, but I didn't know about the armour. That's so cool!

 

[Golbolco]

Before we get into New Reno, let's examine the four satellite locations attached to New Reno.

Lovelock

• Ogima Black Cloud was meant to have a talking head, based on this image here. The full description for his appearance is given here: Add a necklace of nuts to the neck, leave a bald spot in the front and long dreadlocks in the back, white small eyes, redskin [sic]. I know people can make custom talking heads, but I have no familiarity with the process. Rating: missing asset
• At the radio station, the player could contact both the Brotherhood of Steel and the Mariposa Military Base. The doc doesn't go into detail with why one would contact the Brotherhood, though it could connect to some of the other Fallout 1 connections that I'll address at a later date. When the player contacts Mariposa, all they get is a looping SOS from Roger Maxson recorded after the bombs had dropped, announcing his desertion. Apparently, the Lieutenant never thought to turn off the SOS--perhaps in an effort to lure military assets to the base. Rating: cursory addition
• In the post-game, if you got the ending where the Cheyenne leave Lovelock, then you were able to return to Lovelock and see that it had been abandoned. The design doc notes that a lot of scripting would be necessary to keep this place from being exploitable for infinite resources (regenerating containers), and there would be a note left behind by Ogima thanking the PC for all they did for the tribe. Rating: probable with scripting

Big Louis

• You couldn't just walk into the raider base and ask to join; originally, you had a few different ways you could join, though not all were deemed good options. Basically, if you asked to join Louis would dump you in the fighting ring, and if you won then you could join. Rating: probable with scripting
• The order of Big Louis' quests were to be changed so that the quest to raid Hawthorne occurred last. This presumably means that the quest to threaten Stryker comes first. This makes sense to me, though it might require a slight dialog rewrite for Big Louis. Rating: cursory addition
• The title of being Louis' right hand was going to come with far more repercussions throughout the game, but this was deemed to be a lot of work and might not make the game fun. Rating: detrimental to experience

Uranium City

• BlackDesigner wanted to implement a real-time arm wrestle with Juan, but the engine makes it impossible. Rating: impossible
• When the player wins an arm wrestle, they could then unlock information about the settlement and its history, secrets, where caches are. This is repetitive of other options in the town, which aren't locked behind skill checks. Rating: redundant

Bridgeport

• At one point, BlackDesigner thought to remove Battle Mountain entirely and to upgrade Bridgeport to a full location. This would mean that Phil and Anna would be relocated here. Personally, I prefer Battle Mountain to Bridgeport as it's outside of the Reno sphere of influence and spaces out the locations the player has to visit. Rating: significant content addition
• The doc contains names for all of the bikers and locals, some of which are referenced in game but not assigned to NPCs. Rating: cursory addition
• A mini-quest to boost one's reputation with the bikers by delivering them psycho or buffout. Rating: cursory addition
• The outdoorsman skill could be used in a check with an NPC to gain access to a new recipe. Rating: cursory addition
• There would be a few more paths to resolve the conflict between the locals and the bikers, including provoking a war or simply wiping out the bikers yourself. Rating: probable with scripting
• A quest to find a missing local could be given. Jacob would send the PC to a second zone. In the other zone it turns out that the local was dragged into an abandoned house and eaten by a deathclaw. The player could use this quest to resolve the local conflict, either peacefully or by turning the two factions on each other. One option includes getting the bikers to go kill the deathclaw, resulting in a reconciliation between them and the locals. Rating: significant content addition
• Bruce, the leader of the bikers, could be impressed by the player's unarmed skill if it's 75 or higher, increasing reputation. Also, his backstory as a Reno refugee was to be given more thoroughly to the PC. Rating: cursory addition
• If Battle Mountain is merged with Bridgeport, then Bruce would give out the broken stagecoach quest. He would also have input on resolving the conflict between bikers and locals; he has sympathy with the locals, but the other bikers don't. Rating: cursory addition
• In the post-game, if the locals are wiped out by the bikers, then upon returning to Bridgeport the player finds a gravedigger who swears vengeance against the bikers. Rating: probable with scripting

Hawthorne

• A vending machine with basic supplies existed at the barracks. Rating: cursory addition
• A friendly robot in the Dead City warns the PC that there is a curfew. Rating: cursory addition
• A Winchester plasma pistol was to exist in the garrison office, accompanied by a holodisk with three entries. This was to be the only Winchester plasma pistol in the game. Rating: cursory addition
• A shock glove was available on the second floor of the barracks to players with a high unarmed skill. Rating: cursory addition
• If the player managed to raid all of Hawthorne's loot near the hangar, they would get a new title "Marauder" that came with -50 karma and +5 to carry weight. BlackDesigner notes that he wasn't sure how to make the game check for this; maybe through completing Wright's quest or the missing prospectors quest would make more sense. Rating: probable with scripting

 

[Alphons]

You couldn't just walk into the raider base and ask to join; originally, you had a few different ways you could join, though not all were deemed good options. Basically, if you asked to join Louis would dump you in the fighting ring, and if you won then you could join. Rating: probable with scripting

This one is pretty interesting, as you're sent to the ring if you annoy Louis during your first conversation (like having too high Karma). But after the fights with ordinary bandits, Louis himself enters and you're forced to kill him, turning other bandits hostile.

 

[gustarballs1983]

This one is pretty interesting, as you're sent to the ring if you annoy Louis during your first conversation (like having too high Karma). But after the fights with ordinary bandits, Louis himself enters and you're forced to kill him, turning other bandits hostile.

There is a way around this but 10 CHA is required and you need to sacrifice a perk for "Cult of Personality". This crappy perk actually works in Fo:Nevada, and allows You to join Big Louie's Gang if Your char is above 250 karma too..

 

[Golbolco]

Reno is the biggest location in the game, and has a fair bit of cut content that would have made it even bigger.

General Ideas

• BlackDesigner wanted to insert a reference to the 1961 Marilyn Monroe film The Misfits, but it seems he didn't figure out how to do it best. Rating: insufficient information
• A representative of the Wind of War was to be present in one either Thompson or Stryker's bunker (the doc doesn't specify which.) A quest would have been available to convince the Wind of War, for the right price, to align with one or the other. Rating: probable with scripting
  • Mordino could be blackmailed for negotiating with the Wind of War as well.
• Harold would have been removed from Vault City and appear in the Reno caravan lot. He would have given the coordinates to Lovelock, but if you're in Reno you probably have Lovelock's coordinates already. We'll touch more on the Fallout 1 connection again later on. Rating: cursory addition
• With a skill check, caravaneer would be willing to sell you mid-level weapons, but only for cash and no barter. Rating: probable with scripting
• In the caravan parking lot, the player could hire a bodyguard (metal armor sprite.) The guard follows the player around Reno for $500 every 24 hours; if that time goes up, dialog is initiated to keep paying or to send him back to the parking lot. This might be another opportunity to give the player a more permanent companion. Rating: significant content addition
• If the player had already killed Thompson and/or Stryker before joining up with one of the mob bosses in town, there would be slightly different dialog. Rating: cursory addition
• One of the cut quests would have been a traveler from Redding come to visit his family in Reno, but the people living in his old home say that his family his dead and turn him away. The player could learn that the traveler's relatives were in fact alive and had turned away their son because they didn't want to share their scarce supplies with him. The quest could be resolved by killing the son, lying to him about where his family is buried, or telling him the truth. Rating: probable with scripting
• Depending on whether Stryker, Thompson, or both had died, then there would be graffiti on one of the building declaring the victor of Reno (or the death of the city.) Rating: missing assets
• Some more car paintjobs would be available. Rating: missing assets
• A dedicated gun store would have existed somewhere in the city. Rating: cursory addition

The Nightclub

• As a reference to Total Recall, one of the prostitutes has three breasts. Rating: cursory addition
• After paying for their services, the player could be robbed of $100. Rating: cursory addition
• After paying for their services, the player could ask about the local area. Rating: cursory addition
• There was to be a pimp by the name of Explosive Garrison (wow!) It doesn't seem he gave any quests, but he had a safehouse in Patrick's apartment. Rating: cursory addition
• Ricky the Driver would have given a quest to reconcile him and Mom from the nightclub. Rating: probable with scripting

Mob Bosses

• If the player had already killed Thompson and/or Stryker before joining up with one of the mob bosses in town, there would be slightly different dialog. Rating: cursory addition
• Bertolini would have given an additional quest to free Oliver Luciano's slaves. BlackDesigner couldn't think of a way to make this happen "quietly and peacefully." Rating: significant content addition
• El Dorado was to have an accessible third floor. One part of the floor would be a cluttered attic space, and if the player became Bertolini's consigliere then you would get your own suite. You would also be able to use a rope and rappel into Bertolini's suite. Since this requires a new map, this is a significant content addition
• Machete's quest to find and fix his machete would have been a marked quest. Also, Machete would hit on the player regardless of sex. Rating: cursory addition
• One of Luciano's guards would play cards with the player. The player could gain +5% gambling from the guard. Rating: cursory addition

Bowling Alley

• That's right, Reno was supposed to have a whole bowling alley zone! The bowling balls would require the throwing skill similar to the dart minigame in Vault City. This is missing a lot of assets, of course, and both Reno and Vegas already have fighting rings. Would it be more reasonable to port the bowling alley concept to one of the other major cities, like Salt Lake City which lacks a sport arena? Rating: significant content addition; avoid bloat

 

[fuzzi]

Hi @Golbolco, I'm currently playing Nevada Extended 2.0.3.4 (assembly build by @_Pyran_ ) and I’m really enjoying the game. I agree with @gustarballs1983 that Harold being in Vault City's prison cell is quite strange. Anyway, it would be great to see some kind of analogy with the Fallout 2 Restoration Project in the future, so I’ll also try to raise awareness following your lead.

 

[gustarballs1983]

"Dayum..."
I loged in solely for the purpose of giving this like...

 

[Golbolco]

Hi @Golbolco, I'm currently playing Nevada Extended 2.0.3.4 (assembly build by @_Pyran_ ) and I’m really enjoying the game. I agree with @gustarballs1983 that Harold being in Vault City's prison cell is quite strange. Anyway, it would be great to see some kind of analogy with the Fallout 2 Restoration Project in the future, so I’ll also try to raise awareness following your lead.

Hey Fuzzi,

Wow, it's been a long time since I checked out this thread, and in that time I've become even more of an expert on cut Nevada material. I wish I spoke Russian, would make it a lot easier to work out what is and isn't in the final version.