“Freeside was built up around the intersection of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard. The influx of destitute travelers in recent months has created problems for its local residents.”— Fallout: New Vegas loading screen
Freeside is a district of New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background[]
While the city of Las Vegas was not heavily damaged during the course of the Great War, survivors did not immediately settle into the remnants of the old city, leaving the ruins to be picked over and fought over by various tribals and raiders. It was not until the "return" of Mr. House and his Securitron enforcers in 2274 that the city began to achieve a measure of relative peace. After issuing his ultimatum to join his city of "New Vegas", leave, or die, once the Three Families were recruited from the tribals and the rest dispersed, including the Great Khans and the Kings, Mr. House issued orders through his Securitrons to use the sizable quantities of pre-War construction materials to build the crude (but effective) outer walls that separate the Strip and Freeside from the rest of the surrounding ruins.[Non-game 1]
While House valued the area around the intersection of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard,[1] he ultimately viewed it as secondary in importance to the Strip itself and had a second, inner wall built that further separated the two areas. When NCR prospectors arrived in the region, followed soon after by the New California Republic Army, many people typically were heading straight for the Strip and its casinos, leaving "Freeside" (as it had become known by locals) as an informal stopping point. Eventually, Mr. House recognized that he could use Freeside as a filter for undesirables and pulled all his resources out of the area, save for a token Securitron force to guard the sole entryway into the Strip while leaving Freeside to fend for itself.[Non-game 1]
Over the course of the following two years, the slums of Freeside slowly degenerated into a seedy den of criminals, crooks, and ne'er-do-wells, unburdened by the rule of law. For a while, the area was completely without order, but over time, two groups with a substantial power base (though incomparable to the Strip) managed to build a shaky, but effective foundation of order through goodwill and strength: the Kings prevent all-out-chaos from erupting but do little to deal with the day-to-day nastiness that Freesiders inflict on each other, and the Followers of the Apocalypse, after their own separation from the NCR, work through a regional chapter with a headquarters in the defensible Old Mormon Fort, receiving some protection from the Kings in exchange for help with the community's basic needs (food, water, health services, and some education). Despite the oversight from the Kings and humanitarian aid from the Followers, the people in Freeside live in daily peril as much from each other as from outside forces seeking to topple the balance of power.[Non-game 1]
By 2281, the area is embroiled in a conflict between the locals and squatters lured by the promises of the NCR's occupation in the Mojave.[Non-game 2]
Layout[]
Situated in the North Vegas area, on the northern side of the Strip, the area is divided into a north and south side via a ramshackle "gate" consisting of the doors of a wrecked bus. The first section is C-shaped and comprised of the western, northern, and eastern parts of the district. This section is the first that can be entered from the Mojave as both of Freeside's gateways lead into it. Several rough bodyguards, among them several of the Kings gang, stand near the gates, offering their "protection" on the mean streets for a paltry sum of caps. A standout fixture of the area is a makeshift structure with neon lights declaring the name of Freeside for a fair distance around.
There are several points of interest in the north section of Freeside, including the Old Mormon Fort, just inside Freeside's north gate. A general store in the area is Mick & Ralph's, which is located just inside Freeside's east gate. Outside the store, a pair of children can sometimes be seen running around the streets, a boy and a girl, named Max and Stacey respectively. A derelict building called Cerulean Robotics can be found in the western part of this section as well as a ruined store. Across from the store is the train station.
The south section covers the central and southern parts of the district. It has more areas of interest compared to the north, the most prominent including the King's School of Impersonation, home of the Kings gang; the Atomic Wrangler Casino, run by the twins James and Francine Garret; and the Silver Rush, the base of operations for the Van Graff family in the Mojave that also serves as a weapons store for their energy weapons gunrunning. Campfires can be found up by the Strip's north gate. When facing the gate, the fenced off area guarded by Securitrons is flanked by empty lots.
Buildings[]
Inhabitants[]
- April Martimer
- Arcade Gannon
- Atomic Wrangler cashier
- Atomic Wrangler crier
- Atomic Wrangler guards
- Beatrix Russell
- Bill Ronte
- Caleb McCaffery
- Dixon
- Drunks
- Elizabeth Kieran
- Farris
- Fisto
- Followers doctors
- Followers guards
- Francine Garret
- Freeside thugs
- Genaro
- Gloria Van Graff
- Grecks
- Hadrian
- Henry Jamison
- Jacob Hoff
- James Garret
- Jean-Baptiste Cutting
- Julie Farkas
- The King
- Kings gang members
- Lady Jane
- Locals
- Max
- Mick
- Mick & Ralph's crier
- Mr. Soren
- Old Ben
- Orris
- Pacer
- Ralph
- Rex
- Rotface
- Roy
- Santiago
- Sergio
- Silver Rush crier
- Simon
- Squatters
- Stacey
- Tapper
- Vagrant
- Van Graff thugs
- Wayne
Related quests[]
- Birds of a Feather
- Cry Me a River
- Debt Collector
- G.I. Blues
- Heartache by the Number
- High Times
- Kings' Gambit
- Nothin' But a Hound Dog
- I Could Make You Care
- Talent Pool
- Tend to Your Business
- Wang Dang Atomic Tango
- Big Winner, Atomic Wrangler
- Flogging a Dead Corpse
- Friend of the Followers
- Long-Term Care
- Reach for the Sky, Mister!
- Rotface's Loose Lips
- Short-Term Treatment
- Smooth-Talking Criminal
Notes[]
- The background music when in Freeside is "Metallic Monks," which has been originally used for Lost Hills.
- The drunks in Freeside have a unique animation where they lean against the wall and vomit. An NCR trooper will use this animation when first entering the New Vegas Strip.
- With an Accepted or higher reputation with Freeside, an unnamed King will often approach upon entering either gate and give a random reward of either a few bottle caps or an aid item.
- Conversely, with an Unpredictable reputation, a local will approach and say that Mick & Ralph would like to offer a discount, so long as they "keep making waves."
- If the giant rat that the group of kids are chasing is killed, they will stop to eat it, using the Cannibal perk animation. This happens even if the rat has been disintegrated with an energy weapon.
- An Accepted or higher reputation will also cause nearby Kings to support the player character when they come under attack by thugs.
- In the ruins of the destroyed building across Mick & Ralph's is a uniquely named corpse "man" wearing a destroyed collar; it is relevant to one part of I Could Make You Care
- The eastern-most gate in the first section of Freeside will have one or several thugs spawn at the end of the street every four days.
- After completing Three-Card Bounty for Major Dhatri at Camp McCarran, Little Buster's dead body will spawn in Freeside after a few days to an in-game week, on the train tracks near the north face of the Old Mormon Fort.
- The speakers on the gate to the Strip will occasionally tone and play garbled audio.
Appearances[]
Freeside appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes[]
- The in-game Freeside is located in the same geographical area as the real-world Fremont Street and the surrounding area, north of the Las Vegas Strip.
- The telephone poles in Freeside all have metal plates with "TES-04" stamped on them. This is a reference to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a game by Bethesda.
- James Garcia created the 3D model of the neon sign letters found near the in-between gate and on the structure near the north gate.[Non-game 3]
Bugs[]
The two kids that can be spoken to have regular voice actors. After killing the rat, the girl or the boy (whichever is closest) will eat the rat. When talked to, they share a voice actor making the boy sound like a girl, or vice versa.[verified]- Sometimes after killing the giant rat, the first boy chasing the rat will fall to his knees to take a bite but will continue to move forward at running speed despite being in a crouched position and going through the rat-eating animation.[verified]
- Being outside of the Vegas Strip when updating the game, but having gained access to it at another point, it is possible to be permanently locked out.[verified]
- Sometimes outside the Old Mormon Fort the super mutant Tabitha can spawn and go hostile; killing her results in the completion of the quest "Crazy, Crazy, Crazy" (if not having started the quest it will add the quest to the Pip-Boy and just say the final bullet point).[verified]
- Achieving a certain level of reputation in Freeside makes a Kings gang member encourage the Courier to keep up the good work and give a little present. However, sometimes those messengers keep coming in quick succession: as soon as one leaves the location, another one appears. This doesn't seem to fix over time.[verified]
- There is a bug where you can buy the Euclid's C-Finder gun from Max multiple times.[verified]
- The building by Mick & Ralph's sometimes glitches by standing by one of the corners and walking forward and hitting the Pip-Boy at the same time to fly all the way up the corner of the building and be above and sometimes it will summon one on top of the Lucky 38.[verified]
- Sometimes the two kids will be going through the rodent chase animations but the rodent will be nowhere in sight.[verified]
- After killing the giant rat for the first time, it will re-spawn a few days later, but the kids will no longer chase it. If the rat is killed, the kids will run and eat it again.[verified]
- Sometimes when fast-traveling to an area in the wasteland, the background effects of Freeside, such as dogs barking and glass bottles breaking, will be heard.[verified]
- There is a bug noted elsewhere where save games do not load and the game simply hangs up. This can be triggered by spending more than a certain amount of time in Freeside. Going through transitions using autosave can often trigger this. A simple remedy is to fast travel to anywhere outside of Freeside then fast travel back to one of the Freeside gates. This is a memory leak issue that was supposedly addressed in an update, as the above Freeside sounds being heard, but still exists in the latest update. [verified]
Gallery[]
Fallout: New Vegas[]
A pre-release shot of Freeside
The entrance to the Strip
Freeside lights at night
Ruined store
Train station
The (former) Silver Rush casino
Atomic Wrangler sign with Silver Rush in background
Freeside east gate
Freeside north gate
Mick & Ralph's
Mojave Express dropbox next to the Old Mormon Fort
Mention of pre-War Fremont Street
Reputation image from Fallout: New Vegas
Magic: The Gathering[]
Fervent Charge
.png "Fallout Magic Fervent Charge (Extended Art).png (280 KB)")
Fervent Charge Extended Art
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Fallout: New Vegas loading screen: "Freeside was built up around the intersection of Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard. The influx of destitute travelers in recent months has created problems for its local residents."
Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.42: "Freeside"
"Las Vegas wasn't heavily damaged during the Great War, but people didn't immediately "settle" into the remnants of the old city. The various Vault tribes that emerged years later, hunted and fought among the ruins, but it was not until the "return" of Mr. House that they ceased (most) of their hostilities. Mr House directed the tribes to use his sizable quantities of pre-war construction materials to build the crude (but effective) outer walls that separate The Strip and Freeside from the rest of New Vegas. While Mr. House valued the area around Fremont Street, he ultimately viewed it as secondary in importance to the Strip itself and he had a second, inner wall that separated the two areas. When NCR prospectors (and eventually the army) arrived in the region, people typically went straight for The Strip, leaving Freeside (as it had become known by locals) as an informal stopping point. Eventually Mr. House recognized that he could use Freeside as a filter for undesirables, and pulled his favored tribes and all Securitrons into the Strip, leaving Freeside to fend for itself."
"In the two years that followed, Freeside has slowly degenerated into a hostile, lawless den of ne'er-do-wells. For a while, it was completely without order, but two power groups managed to come to an understanding about how the area needed to be maintained. The Kings, formed from the dispossessed remnants of unfortunate tribes, prevent all-out chaos from erupting, but do little to deal with the day-to-day nastiness that Freesiders inflict on each other. The Followers of the Apocalypse, no longer associated with the NCR, settled in the Old Mormon Fort. They receive some protection from the Kings in exchange for help with the community's basic needs (food, water, health services, and some education). Despite the oversight from the Kings and help from the Followers, the people in Freeside live in daily peril... from each other as well as outside forces."
(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide faction profiles) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition Tour of the Mojave Wasteland; ZONE 2C: FREESIDE
- ↑ James Garcia's portfolio
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