What would the Fallout-world be like if all the Vaults has been control vaults?

[ElloinmorninJ]

So, let’s say hypothetically that the Enclave were a bunch of morally upstanding gentlemen, and instead of experimenting on the Vaults inhabitants they made all the Vaults similar to Vault 8, where they could build high-tech settlements with their GECKS. Would the post-apoc United States be completely rebuilt because of that. What do you guys think?

 

[Mr Fish]

People survived outside of the vaults and they would have gotten a headstart to make their mark upon the wasteland. If we're not going with the lore that all the ghouls came out of a vault then those would be around as well. Not to mention all the mutated wildlife and stuff. I think we would have far more Vault Cities but I don't expect them all to hold hand and sing kumbaya. The isolation from one another, the regional problems, the resource issues. Conflict would be inevitable. Even if the Enclave were to try to get control of all of them they would be spreading themselves so thin that it would not work. They'd have to pick a few choice vault cities and the rest would basically be ticking time bombs until they figure out that "hey, what the hell do we need the Enclave for? What do they ever do for us?" Also keep in mind that NCR was founded with a GECK (which is not a magical plot device that perform literal miracles from god) and back when it was Shady Sands it wasn't exactly doing too well. So chances are there are far more control vaults out there that never managed to survive the harshness of the wasteland.

It would certainly be a different setting.

 

[JustAShcookius]

The exact same thing that we see in the games would happen because war never changes

 

[TomJ]

It would depend on geography frankly. Somewhere like DC and Boston might have recovered a bit quicker since they have a relatively high concentration of Vaults, DC having 7 and Boston having 5. Even if the Vaults opened at different times, them not having an associated experiment would likely give them a similar cultural outlook, which would likely be some bland take on 1950s suburbia. This could make for a good story or a boring one, it would just depend on the setting. Like in DC, I could imagine the Vaults uniting and creating a replacement faction for the Brotherhood and having them get into a conflict with the Enclave instead. I would assume the Enclave would still have a massive superiority complex and be reclusive even if they weren't genocidal which would make for some sort of conflict.

In Boston, it would mean the Minutemen either not existing since the Vaults could just fill the vacuum with more resources or they'd be a real force due to having access to large, well equipped settlements.

New Vegas to me would be the more interesting proposition since a bunch of Vaults around the Strip would be an extra hand of cards at the table. Would they side with Mr. House and form a buffer around the Mojave for him? Would they be a thorn in his side? Would they support the NCR? The Brotherhood? Be Enclave sleeper cells? The story there would be far more interesting.

 

[ElloinmorninJ]

It would depend on geography frankly. Somewhere like DC and Boston might have recovered a bit quicker since they have a relatively high concentration of Vaults, DC having 7 and Boston having 5. Even if the Vaults opened at different times, them not having an associated experiment would likely give them a similar cultural outlook, which would likely be some bland take on 1950s suburbia. This could make for a good story or a boring one, it would just depend on the setting. Like in DC, I could imagine the Vaults uniting and creating a replacement faction for the Brotherhood and having them get into a conflict with the Enclave instead. I would assume the Enclave would still have a massive superiority complex and be reclusive even if they weren't genocidal which would make for some sort of conflict.

In Boston, it would mean the Minutemen either not existing since the Vaults could just fill the vacuum with more resources or they'd be a real force due to having access to large, well equipped settlements.

New Vegas to me would be the more interesting proposition since a bunch of Vaults around the Strip would be an extra hand of cards at the table. Would they side with Mr. House and form a buffer around the Mojave for him? Would they be a thorn in his side? Would they support the NCR? The Brotherhood? Be Enclave sleeper cells? The story there would be far more interesting.

Oh, what about New California

 

[TomJ]

Oh, what about New California

I don't think there would be much change in California except maybe Bakersfield being a bigger deal in Fallout 1 since it would have had the resources to restart. I wouldn't expect it to be more than a foot note given how the story went in that game. I would have expected it to get overrun with Super Mutants like Lily's Vault was.

 

[Slaughter Manslaught]

A more civilized wasteland on the whole, especially on the West Coast. No Experiments might actually be rather bad for the West Coast, because it means more living vault dwellers for the Master to use.

DC would definitively win out. No Vault 89 experiments means no DC Super Mutants. They were a big reason DC is such a shit hole. DC might have a development level closer to that of the West Coast, perhaps more akin to a big Hub or New Reno than the utterly destroyed mess it was.

East Coast Super Mutants will still exist, but they will come from the Commonwealth and Appalachia.

What defines as experiment rather than simple effort to save people? Would say, Vault 111 still have their cryo experiment?

I wouldn't expect it to be more than a foot note given how the story went in that game. I would have expected it to get overrun with Super Mutants like Lily's Vault was.

Agreed. Vault 12 is doomed. Perhaps some notables from there end up becoming Super Mutants instead? Imagine Super Mutant Set. Then again, by the time the Master rolls up, Set might be long dead from natural age. I would have to look it up.

Rather than a city of the dead, Necropolis might be purely a ruined city the Super Mutants and their allies pick and salvage from. Or maybe its abandoned and some scavs move in.