The wasted GECK

[gsmanners]

Let's assume for the moment that the GECK actually did work perfectly. What you're suggesting is that a scientist with a very limited understanding of a powerful device use it for the purpose of transforming the whole wasteland. I have to say that that would be incredibly dangerous, and if such a thing fell into the wrong hands, would become a weapon far more powerful than any weapon already in the game.

 

IMHO, James really makes the right call. Use the GECK to synthesize the needed filtration elements, and then maybe expand on it at some later date.

[Alehazar]

How is it Dad's fault the Overseer went psycho and decided to kill people? That's more...ya know...the Overseer's fault. Dad expected you to live peacefully in the vault since you were old enough now, he didn't expect that you'd be put in that situation, or that Jonas would be killed. Don't forget that without him you would be living in the wasteland anyways.

 

Did dad really think that him leaving Vault 101 wouldn't have somekind of consequences or repercussions? "We're born in the Vault, we die in the Vault". That phrase was drilled into every member of Vault 101. Moriarty sort of corroborates that. And if you checked dad's terminal in the clinic -prior to the G.O.A.T.- you could have read that the Overseer demanded he be present during Amata's examination. That should've told dad something about the general state of mind of the Overseer. Even some of dad's holotapes -the one behind the famed bible quotation in the clinic of Vault 101?- have an observation by dad concerning the Overseer. Dad's comments on Jonas joining him in his experiments (clinic terminal); he wonders whether Jonas truly knows what he got himself into having decided to aid dad in his experiments.

So it seems implied to me that dad knew that the Overseer -an overbearing, distrusting bully- would not take too kindly when he'd discover that dad left the Vault. It only stands to reason that even in a mild case scenario, the Overseer would have made your life hell if you'd been allowed to stay within the Vault.

Old lady Palmer comments during your tenth birthday party, how this Overseer is all rules and secrets. Surely dad must have picked up on that. I think that dad's decision to leave Vault 101 was more of an impulse than a carefully planned event. He saw his child grow into an adult and figuring his parenting days were done, his dream of the waters of life -that had always stayed with him, hence his continued experiments- could engulf him completely. With you all grown up, dad's goal of raising you in safety came to an end and with nothing else that could hold his interest, he gave in to his desire to see Project Purity -his lifelong obsession- reborn. So I think dad simply set his sights on his re-newed goal without much thought of what his actions would entail. Had he thought things through in a cold rational way -which was probably impossible in his fevered emotional state to resurrect his pet project- I think he'd have concluded that his decision to leave would have serious repercussions.

Then again, it is my opinion that if dad had truly loved his project so, he should have decided not have children in the first place. Had he given any thought to what it would be like to have and raise a child, he could have anticipated that he and his wife would not care very much to do that in the harshness of the Wasteland. Which would mean that he'd have to abandon the project sooner or later, to take proper care of his offspring. He and your mother even discussed -after she was pregnant- what they should do after the birth. And that was to get the child to a safe place. Ergo, abandoning the project was inevitable.

So I can only surmise that either the pregnancy was not planned, or that mom and dad had not really given much thought to what it would take to actually raise a child. Then things were compounded when mom died during childbirth, leaving a grief stricken dad with a motherless infant. I can only imagine that dad's consequent decisions were more emotionally based than rational. Or maybe dad conceded to having children out of love for his wife -maybe she had a child wish, whereas dad'd rather finish project purity. Who knows. That all belongs in the realm of pure -yes, pure- speculation.

But the fact that dad could've anticipated that his action of leaving the vault would have serious repercussions, is something that is supported -not proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, but still supported- by all I have written above.

[gsmanners]

All things considered, anyone capable of thinking that a vault would be a preferable alternative to being raised at Rivet City or Megaton would not likely make rational decisions based on the evidence. It's highly questionable whether James is actually a scientist. The only thing we know for sure is that he has a mysterious ability to dodge life-threatening situations on the one hand (going to GNR, then Rivet City, then Jefferson Memorial, then a garage in the middle of Yao Guai infested territory) and a mysterious ability to plunge head-first into dangerous situations (confronting Braun directly, suddenly being confronted by the Enclave). It's all very Hollywood-esque, and does not portray a consistent, convincing character.

 

In short, it's the crappy writing at Bethesda that's to blame for things making no sense in Vault 101.

[Andaius]

Wow, you guys are talking like the GECK is some kind of planetary terraforming device. You do realize it's been used like 2-3 times before right? Vault 8 used it's GECK to make Vault City http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Vault_City Also at the End of FO2 Arroyo used the GECK to make a new city with the Vault 13 survivors. Also NCR might have used a GECK aswell. http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/NCR.

 

It's not a magical terraforming device, thats just Bethsofts "magical plot device" lameness rearing it's head.

[theLeeHarvey]

I think the whole premise of "Project Purity" is totally rediculous. Lets forget for a minute that Fallout 3 (and the previous games) take place in a divergent universe from our own, where radiation poisoning doesn't always kill, sometimes it just creates undead people or abnormally large creatures (ala, 1950's Hollywood sci-fi).

 

Radiation is not nearly as pervasive as put forth by the game. Radioactive fallout would be well gone after 200 years. Evidence and testing have proven that a "Nuclear Winter" would not result from a world wide nuclear exchange. Even if every Bomb/ICBM used were surface burst or near surface burst, the fallout from them would fall to the earth within a few years at most. Irradiated water would not be prevalent either and you sure would not need some gigantic, hopelessly complex device to purify the water that was irradiated anyway. Radiation contaminated water can be filtered through plain ordinary earth and have the vast majority of it's radioactive fallout particles removed.

Nuclear War Survival Skills: Water

 

"Project Purity" is purely a plot device with no basis in fact.

[Alehazar]

All things considered, anyone capable of thinking that a vault would be a preferable alternative to being raised at Rivet City or Megaton would not likely make rational decisions based on the evidence. It's highly questionable whether James is actually a scientist. The only thing we know for sure is that he has a mysterious ability to dodge life-threatening situations on the one hand (going to GNR, then Rivet City, then Jefferson Memorial, then a garage in the middle of Yao Guai infested territory) and a mysterious ability to plunge head-first into dangerous situations (confronting Braun directly, suddenly being confronted by the Enclave). It's all very Hollywood-esque, and does not portray a consistent, convincing character.

 

In short, it's the crappy writing at Bethesda that's to blame for things making no sense in Vault 101.

 

Why would a Vault be more preferable?

 

The only things that would make a Vault first preference, are the water purification plant that is able to sustain the vault populace and the protection from most Wasteland critters -including raiders, Super Mutants, feral ghouls as well as Slavers- and they are extremely self-sufficient with their food supplies and other materials that are a required necessity to ensure survival. The Vaul-Tec technology has equipped the Vaults with devices that keep the air clean, the water pure and can provide heat and comfort. Also the door to a Vault seems pretty impervious to pretty much anything that people can throw at it. It was designed to withstand a direct hit by an atomic bomb, with a very low percentile failure probability.

 

Rivet City offers the same kind of protection -with its retractable swing bridge that either allows or denies access- but Dr. Li is not making a lot of headway in her hydroponics and purification experiments. It's also a large rusting hulk, that isn't considered to be very seaworthy. So basically it'd be a sitting duck if anyone would have the means to lay down a barrage of mortar fire.

That really does not make it an appealing place to raise an infant.

 

Megaton has its own purification plant. And both Walter in Megaton and Stanley in Vault 101 have to really outdo themselves to keep those things running. But Megaton relies heavily on the traders from Canterbury Commons and other scavengers. And while the walls offer quite some protection, they still have to be ever vigilant that their perimeter does not get breached. But it also has an undetonated bomb in its center. So I'm guessing that would be the number one reason against raising your child in Megaton.

 

 

Also the food that is served in the Vault is not contaminated with radiation, contrary to the diet of Wasteland settlements.

 

- - - -

 

And it has been mentioned before that while dad shows to be in possession of extreme survival skills, he is unable to win back the Project Purity facility from some Super Mutants? Anyone who can survive the repeated devastating blows of a Yao Guai with such ease, can easily stand up to those green muscular mothers. But that's another forum thread.

[Nagaoka]

Wow, you guys are talking like the GECK is some kind of planetary terraforming device. You do realize it's been used like 2-3 times before right? Vault 8 used it's GECK to make Vault City http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Vault_City Also at the End of FO2 Arroyo used the GECK to make a new city with the Vault 13 survivors. Also NCR might have used a GECK aswell. http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/NCR.

 

It's not a magical terraforming device, thats just Bethsofts "magical plot device" lameness rearing it's head.

 

They address all that in the game. The GECK you find in the game is indeed a magical plot terraforming device because Braun was experimenting and made one (albeit a highly unstable one). The ones found in Fallout 1 and 2 were regular GECKs.

 

 

I think the whole premise of "Project Purity" is totally rediculous. Lets forget for a minute that Fallout 3 (and the previous games) take place in a divergent universe from our own, where radiation poisoning doesn't always kill, sometimes it just creates undead people or abnormally large creatures (ala, 1950's Hollywood sci-fi).

 

Radiation is not nearly as pervasive as put forth by the game. Radioactive fallout would be well gone after 200 years. Evidence and testing have proven that a "Nuclear Winter" would not result from a world wide nuclear exchange. Even if every Bomb/ICBM used were surface burst or near surface burst, the fallout from them would fall to the earth within a few years at most. Irradiated water would not be prevalent either and you sure would not need some gigantic, hopelessly complex device to purify the water that was irradiated anyway. Radiation contaminated water can be filtered through plain ordinary earth and have the vast majority of it's radioactive fallout particles removed.

Nuclear War Survival Skills: Water

 

"Project Purity" is purely a plot device with no basis in fact.

 

 

I'm not really buying this. It's a divergent universe as you say, if the radiation is still having this much of an effect 200 years later, then I'd say it's a little bit different than radiation from our world. This is also as you say, it doesn't always kill, it can mutate. Basically, it's based on the old perceptions of what the aftermath of a nuclear war would be like. It's realistic because it makes sense in the universe it takes place in.

 

So project purity is a way of making a large amount of radiation free water that can be freely distributed. Of course it's a plot device. That's what plots need.

[theLeeHarvey]

As I said in the first paragraph, "Lets forget for a minute..."

 

I understand that the game takes place in a universe divergent from our own and I completely understand that the divergence is based upon the "1950's World of Tomorrow" aesthetic. I most definitely would not change it either. I am just saying that if it were a real life situation, things would not nearly be as bad 200 years after a global atomic war than the game (and it's divergent themes) says it would be. I just think Bethesda could have come up with something better for a main plot than creating pure water for everyone in the least practical way possible. It makes the hint that people in this divergent world are morons who would think something like that is necessary.

 

I like the divergence in the Fallout world, I find it engrossing and the possibilities infinitely interesting. In a way, I don't think they actually made the best use of those possibilities. I just think that Bethesda may have taken it a bit too far in reaching so hard for a riveting, entertaining plot device. They could have made it much easier on themselves, while remaining true to the original Fallout canon, if they had done something more practical. They tried too hard and overshot the mark, short-changing themselves and us in the process.

 

I know this sounds like I'm bagging on the game or Bethesda, but don't take it that way. I love this game, it has become my favorite game ever. The more I play it, the more I love it. I just think the whole premise of the main quest is somewhat retarded and every playthrough I spend as little time as possible on the main quest, I don't even listen to the Project Purity journal holotapes anymore and skip through the dialog as fast as possible. The main quest is for me, the only lacking part of the game. It does get better after "Take it back!" though if you have Broken Steel. Much better.

[Yushatak]

I just recently found a way to skip a good chunk of the main quest. If you go straight to Smith Casey's garage (Vault 112) and do the Tranquility Lane stuff, you can skip all previous parts. This shortens the boring part considerably, going to megaton, finding GNR, getting the dish, going back, etc..

[gsmanners]

I just recently found a way to skip a good chunk of the main quest. If you go straight to Smith Casey's garage (Vault 112) and do the Tranquility Lane stuff, you can skip all previous parts. This shortens the boring part considerably, going to megaton, finding GNR, getting the dish, going back, etc..

 

Yeah, that was "discovered" about a year ago. So, you skip all the good parts and go straight to the lame, idiotic parts of the main quest. Good move.

 

Is anyone else actually reading the posts in this thread?

 

@Alehazar: Yes, which was my point.

 

@Andaius: As stated in game, "The G.E.C.K. will collapse all matter within its given radius and recombine it to form a living, breathing, fertile virgin landscape and allow life to begin anew." It helps if you bother to read what you're complaining about.