Vault 11...do you think *spoilers*

[Forbidden]

In Fallout 1 and 2, the Vaults were much closer to NV than they were to FO3. FO1 and 2 had the experiments for the vaults more subtle, or at least they had finished. The original games had vaults where the doors opened early, where they were intended to stay closed for a much longer time, where they had to repopulate the wasteland, and so forth. There were some sillier ones mentioned in the bible, but they weren't in the game (at least as locations you could visit).

See, that's the thing. They were finished. It's like the Red vs. Blue vault. It's over. All the original inhabitants are gone, and the only thing left are some journal entries and the powder gangers that moved in. Boring. Or Vault 3, which they didn't even seem to bother creating an interesting story for. It opened, the Fiends gang killed everyone a long time ago, now they live there. They didn't even kill them in an interesting way. Yawn.

"Here's a Vault experiment.... EVERYONE IS ONE GUY AND THEY ALL SAY GARY! Spooooooooky!"

That's not what the vault experiment was, though. The vault experiment was about human cloning. The result was the experiment getting out of control. The player is coming into the aftermath.

I have a theory about the gary vault: People that didn't enter it until toward the end when they had high powered weapons and power armor have a very different experience than when I first entered it as comparatively low level. When you have the power armor and minigun, the Garies aren't a threat at all, so you can just run through and mow them down. While they still weren't exactly a challenge, at lower level, they could do significant damage when they'd jump out from different directions. If you rush through it guns blazing, it's not creepy at all.

But heres the thing: You got experience the vault. It wasn't just a bunch of corridors and some journal entries.

"Nice, bro! Here's another.... let's take the concept of the hallucinogenic vault from the Fallout Bible.... and make everyone inside an AWARD-WINNING MUSICIAN! It makes sense, right?

Those were two different vaults, though both were mind-control experiments. One was to use drugs, the other ultrasound. Mind-control with drugs is straight out of the 1950s MK Ultra. When the wanderer finds it, the drug fumes are still there, but the inhabitants are long dead.

The ultrasound one needed to have individuals or small groups isolating themselves in sound-proof chambers for prolonged periods in order to work. How do they get them to do that? Use musicians. Musicians do that all the time to practice. But I found that vault to be the least interesting of the F3 ones, again, because it was just like most of the FNV vaults: It was over and done with, except for some journal entries.

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

Vault 3, 19 and 21 were useless. They shouldn't have been in the game, three vaults in the area were enough.
Also what's the point of a vault in the middle of the city? If Las Vegas had been hit by nukes it would have been destroyed.

That's not what the vault experiment was, though. The vault experiment was about human cloning.

And I still don't understand what was supposed to be the point of it. Especially considering that apparently the experiment of the vault was to study conflict for leadership and power. The Vault Overseer was known to have a genetic predisposition for a rare form of cancer that was expected to kill him within 40 months of the experiment's inception, and positions of authority in the Vault went undesignated and discretion was given to the Overseer. The main power supply was also scheduled to malfunction after 240 months (20 years while the vault was planned to be sealed for 30), and the back-up power supply was intentionally insufficient to meet the Vault's needs. On top of all this, the Vault was given three times the normal armory stock and no entertainment recordings.
The whole gary thing really make no sense. It had no background or anything, it's like it was an experiment decided by the vault dwellers themselves.

The ultrasound one needed to have individuals or small groups isolating themselves in sound-proof chambers for prolonged periods in order to work.

Yes and no. After a while they broadcasted the white noise on the whole vault. The whole thing about musicians maybe was added just for the "Agatha's song" quest.

 

[cogar66]

Also the rusted and flooded state of the Vault makes it feel like it's been empty a long, long time.

The loading screens say it's been "Abandoned for decades" So anywhere from 20-90 years.

 

[Forbidden]

Also what's the point of a vault in the middle of the city? If Las Vegas had been hit by nukes it would have been destroyed.

I figured that was House's doing. He was powerful enough pre-war to convince Vault-tec to build a vault to his specs. Remember his plan was to rebuild Vegas in his image, and he expected Vegas to survive. He needed people to do that. So I could certainly see him pulling strings to get it built.

And I still don't understand what was supposed to be the point of it. Especially considering that apparently the experiment of the vault was to study conflict for leadership and power. The Vault Overseer was known to have a genetic predisposition for a rare form of cancer that was expected to kill him within 40 months of the experiment's inception, and positions of authority in the Vault went undesignated and discretion was given to the Overseer. The main power supply was also scheduled to malfunction after 240 months (20 years while the vault was planned to be sealed for 30), and the back-up power supply was intentionally insufficient to meet the Vault's needs. On top of all this, the Vault was given three times the normal armory stock and no entertainment recordings.

I thought that one was the boomer vault.

The whole gary thing really make no sense. It had no background or anything, it's like it was an experiment decided by the vault dwellers themselves.

Nothing inside the vault suggests it was heavily armed. (At least not that I recall) I remember an awful lot of medical bays, though. The "Gary" bit was just to create the creep factor.

After a while they broadcasted the white noise on the whole vault. The whole thing about musicians maybe was added just for the "Agatha's song" quest.

After the initial experiments, yes. But they couldn't reach that point until they had done the individual experiments first, testing out different methods and refining the technique. And the Overseer was the only one that knew about the full broadcast. The whole science team was still working on an individual level.

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

I thought that one was the boomer vault.

Nothing inside the vault suggests it was heavily armed. (At least not that I recall) I remember an awful lot of medical bays, though.

That's what in-game info said. Blame Bethesda.

Vault 108 Personnel Assignments
*************************
Researcher note: All standard positions have been intentionally left unfilled and will be assigned by the Overseer according to the Vault 108 protocols. According to the pre-assignment medical tests, Mr. Jones has a genetic disposition for a rare terminal strain of cancer which should ideally cause him to expire within 40 months of the project's inception. These two events should combine to allow a proper catalyst that allows this project to continue as planned.

Primary Power Supply...
General Atomics Nuclear Power
(Note: main supply designed to fail after 240 months)
Secondary Power Supply...
Steam Whistle Mini Geo-Thermal
Note from admin: We are aware that the Steam Whistle
is only sufficient to power this project partially. Please
do not file any further reports on this issue.
Non Standard Equipment...
Defensive weaponry (triple normal issue)
(Note: Do not stock with standard entertainment)

 

[Forbidden]

I thought that one was the boomer vault.

Nothing inside the vault suggests it was heavily armed. (At least not that I recall) I remember an awful lot of medical bays, though.

That's what in-game info said. Blame Bethesda.

Sounds like someone at Bethesda got their wires crossed. Probably the guy writing up the descriptions for the the vault-tec database got confused.

Vault 108 Personnel Assignments
*************************
Researcher note: All standard positions have been intentionally left unfilled and will be assigned by the Overseer according to the Vault 108 protocols. According to the pre-assignment medical tests, Mr. Jones has a genetic disposition for a rare terminal strain of cancer which should ideally cause him to expire within 40 months of the project's inception. These two events should combine to allow a proper catalyst that allows this project to continue as planned.

Primary Power Supply...
General Atomics Nuclear Power
(Note: main supply designed to fail after 240 months)
Secondary Power Supply...
Steam Whistle Mini Geo-Thermal
Note from admin: We are aware that the Steam Whistle
is only sufficient to power this project partially. Please
do not file any further reports on this issue.
Non Standard Equipment...
Defensive weaponry (triple normal issue)
(Note: Do not stock with standard entertainment)

That certainly sounds alot like the boomer vault, doesn't it? Lack of power would certainly be a cause to suggest population control.

 

[Ausir]

The Boomer vault (Vault 34) was overstocked with weapons as part of the experiment, as mentioned in the Fallout Bible.

 

[Killzig]

Also what's the point of a vault in the middle of the city? If Las Vegas had been hit by nukes it would have been destroyed.

As long as the people populating the vault paid for their spots I don't see why Vault-Tec would care. They're already using the vaults for social experiments, what's one more vault?

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

Also what's the point of a vault in the middle of the city? If Las Vegas had been hit by nukes it would have been destroyed.

As long as the people populating the vault paid for their spots I don't see why Vault-Tec would care. They're already using the vaults for social experiments, what's one more vault?

Er...what? The cost of the vaults was obscenely high (vault 13 starting budget was $400 billions) so it's not like they could cover the expenses with the money payed by the people entering the vault.
Also since they are making the vaults for experiments it's in their interest that the experiment actually takes place.

But Forbidden's explanation makes sense. House pulled some strings to have the Vault in Las Vegas because he was able to protect it and the equipment and population of the vault would be useful to him.