For the location in the canceled project Van Buren, see Hoover Dam (Van Buren). |
Hoover Dam, also called the Old World Wall,[3] is a hydroelectric dam located in the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas that serves a pivotal role as the site of two major clashes in the course of the conflict between the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion.
Background[]
One of the wonders of the pre-War Old World, the Hoover Dam crosses the Colorado River, impounding Lake Mead to the north.[4][5] The structure served as one of the most substantial sources of electrical power in the region before and after the Great War, protected with anti-aircraft weapons.[6][7]
When the Great War first broke out, some of Mr. House's networked mainframes and laser systems kept the Hoover Dam in almost untouched condition by disabling and/or destroying the incoming nuclear missiles, along with a majority of Las Vegas.[8] When House was put into a coma afterward, the plant was abandoned and left to the elements for nearly two centuries.
Post-War Revival[]
The Followers of the Apocalypse mentioned the continued existence of Hoover Dam as early as 2170.[Non-game 1] The Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel initially had plans to claim the dam themselves but became sidetracked by Father Elijah's experimenting with the power plant at HELIOS One.[9] In the meantime, scouts of the New California Republic arrived at Hoover Dam, causing Mr. House to spur into action at the sign of civilization.[10] House worried about the independence of his new city's power source, but the arrival of Caesar's Legion in the region meant that the NCR could not take the dam and the Strip without leaving them vulnerable to the Legion.[11] When the NCR arrived in the Mojave to the dam en masse in 2274, Mr. House was waiting with a force of his Securitrons and members of the Three Families, but not to fight, rather to negotiate. Through diplomacy, House and the NCR drew up the Treaty of New Vegas, legislating that 95% of the dam's power output would be sent to the inner territories of the NCR, the other 5% continuing to power New Vegas, and in return House would retain his sovereignty over the Strip along with providing unrestricted access to the casinos for NCR citizens.[12] Within a year of the treaty, the NCR had managed to get the dam running at 50% capacity.[13][14][Non-game 1]
First Battle of Hoover Dam[]
Around three years after the NCR occupied Hoover Dam, in 2277, the Legion, then led by the Malpais Legate, made their first substantial attempt to take the dam, but were defeated shortly after by Chief Hanlon, alongside NCR Rangers and First Recon sharpshooters, who performed a tactical retreat, placing explosives ahead of time to lead and trap the Legion's elite forces in Boulder City, then springing the trap and detonating the town, killing everyone in it, legionnaire and Ranger alike.[15] The result was General Lee Oliver being able to both successfully hold the dam and push back the Legion's main force, significantly enhancing his political clout.[Non-game 2][15][16]
Second Battle of Hoover Dam[]
By 2281, in order to weigh the outcome of the impending Second Battle of Hoover Dam in favor of the NCR, Colonel Cassandra Moore and General Oliver have fortified the dam and stationed a significant military presence to once again face the Legion.[17][Non-game 2] While troopers are active here, there are also a large number of civilian contractors and engineers who are trying to keep the dam running as smoothly as possible.[Non-game 2]
Layout[]
Situated on the border between the former U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, threading the Colorado River, Hoover Dam covers a large area with extensive exterior and interior sections, despite there only being one map marker for the entire location. Following the Colorado River downstream (or coming upstream from Cottonwood Cove), the player character will encounter a pontoon barrier.
Name | Description |
---|---|
Western exterior | The west side of the dam is controlled by the NCR and features the anti-aircraft gun seen on billboards. The fast-travel map marker puts the player character just outside of the entrance to the Hoover Dam visitor center along former Highway 93, south of the Nevada Spillway. Just north of the visitor center building are a stage and viewing area. To the west of the stage is a large anti-aircraft cannon. Across from the visitor center stands the Hoover Dam dedication monument. |
Atop the dam | Continuing north along the barricaded road leads to the top of the dam itself. Two towers are along the south edge of the road. Access to Hoover Dam Intake Tower 01 and 02 is via a bridge connected to the north side of the road. The road ends at a checkpoint door which is inaccessible until any of the final quests, such as Eureka!. The checkpoint contains a Very Hard locked terminal and a few lockers with minor loot. It also houses a small sniper nest on the roof, accessible via a ladder. |
Base of the dam | Access to the north and south bases of the dam is blocked off by a pontoon barrier constructed with toxic waste barrels, which holds sections of the chain-link fence in place along the top of the water. Weights keep the submerged ends in place and the whole structure taut. The south base of the dam is accessible by descending through interior sections of the dam and exiting from the second tier of either Hoover Dam Power Plant 02 or 04. There are spectacular gushes of water from outflow pipes high up on the east and west walls of the river canyon. It is possible to swim from the west to the east side and climb up on the concrete area by swimming all the way to the south end and walking up the sandbar to the southeast corner. |
Eastern side |
The east side of the dam is controlled by the Legion. Going west along the barricaded road leads to the top of the dam itself. Access to Hoover Dam Intake Tower 03 and 04 is via a bridge connected to the north side of the road. There are two towers along the south edge of the road; one is ruined. The Arizona Spillway is situated on this side of the dam, south of the roadway. |
Sections[]
Inhabitants[]
Notable loot[]
- Hoover Dam snow globe - On the central reception desk in the visitor center.
- Two suits of Chinese stealth armor - In the offices' radioactive barrel storage, in the middle stack of crates.
- President Kimball's suit - Can be looted off his corpse if he dies during the quests Arizona Killer or You'll Know It When It Happens.
- General Oliver's uniform - Can be looted off his corpse during the quest Veni, Vidi, Vici and No Gods, No Masters.
- 12 frag grenades - In a locker in intake tower 2.
- Hoover Dam saferoom key - One found in each of the three desks in a large T-shaped room between the central and eastern wings of Hoover Dam offices, with another being found in a desk in the room directly to the right after entering through the Hoover Dam power plant 01 door. Opens a saferoom in the second floor of the visitor center that contains nothing of interest.
- Elaine's letter - Next to a bed in the soldiers' quarters around the corner from Quartermaster Bardon, in the Hoover Dam offices.
Related quests[]
Notes[]
- The head engineer, Mike Lawson, shares that there used to be six turbines running but only four now function. Even though the player character can swim down to reach the turbines, they cannot be repaired.[18]
- When on top of the first sniper tower, one can lock and unlock the ladder. However, it can be used either way.
- The NCR Rangers walking on the dam do not wear NCR Ranger patrol armor, they wear a lower resolution variant. The insignia on the shoulder is blurry, the water pack on their backs is flat, and rifle-grip weapons do not change position when holstered. Much like the face masks worn by troopers, the armor cannot be looted from their inventory.
- There are invisible walls around the area where Kimball speaks. If he is killed and his body ragdolls, this may result in his body flying and bouncing off the invisible walls.
- Arcade Gannon will make some comments about the dam if brought there as a companion.[19]
- The dam is one of the few locations with fresh water outside as well as inside. The water inside is marked as owned but inflicts 0 rads.
- The dam is mentioned in an alternate ending for Dead Money ending as well as in the ending for Old World Blues.
- If one repairs the Legion's howitzer at the Fort during I Hear You Knocking, then starts Eureka! for the NCR, the howitzers stationed on the dam will fire and destroy the one at the Fort.
Appearances[]
Hoover Dam appears only in Fallout: New Vegas and is mentioned in its add-ons Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road.
Behind the scenes[]
- The in-game Hoover Dam is based on the real-world location of Hoover Dam, a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona.
- Hoover Dam's namesake is Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States who was in office at the time of its construction. It was briefly renamed to Boulder Dam during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency before reverting back to Hoover Dam in 1947.
- Many sections and landmarks of the real-world Hoover Dam are seen in-game, including the visitor center's Winged Figures of the Republic sculptures (though it lacks the star chart mosaic).
- The maps of the Hoover Dam scattered around the Mojave are blueprints created in the 1930s and can be seen in the University of Nevada Las Vegas Digital Collections.
- On the side of one of the stone guard towers is a banner reading, "LEGION GO HOME." This is a reference to the real-life slogan "Ami go home," originally a protest from European communists against US occupiers after WWII, later adopted by European peace movements during the Vietnam War and more recently the Gulf War.
- The other side of this is a reference to the film Monty Python's Life of Brian wherein the main character writes "Romanes eunt domus," grammatically incorrect for "Romans, go home." He is later corrected by a Roman centurion.[Non-game 3]
- During the battle at Hoover Dam, most non-player characters wear masks. This was encouraged by Joshua Sawyer as an attempt to reduce memory usage and FaceGen/FaceFX expense.[Non-game 4]
- A cut note from Fallout 3 references the dam being sabotaged.[Non-canon 1]
- If one jumps on the artillery cannon, runs down the barrel and jumps, they can go past the game's barrier and go to the bottom of Hoover Dam. Just save before hitting the ground, then load a save. Facing the direction of the river, if one goes on the right side, they can find a door to the Hoover Dam power plant 2 and a door leading to power plant 4. Otherwise, this area of the map is inaccessible. There is an "exit door" in the northeast corner of plants 2 and 4, behind the metal stairway which ascends west to the top of the generator, that can be used to exit to the spillway. One of these doors is also used in the final quest.
- At the base of the dam, while it is possible to get above the top of the chain link fence from the water, invisible barriers prevent the player character from actually hopping over it, even when attempted from the cliffs far above the barrier. However, it is possible to jump off the north side of the dam into the water. This places the player character on the opposite side of the pontoon barrier and allows them to swim the length of the Hoover Dam. However, using the console to toggle collisions, then continuing into the northern side of the dam's waters through the pontoon barrier, will cause the game to crash. A one-way ladder upwards is available to return to the top of the dam on the NCR side of the river.
- If one jumps down from the Hoover Dam into the water on the north side, and swims as far east as possible until they can't jump/walk any farther, they may begin to hear artillery fire and flying shells even though they have not started the battle at Hoover Dam. In addition to the sound effects, the theme music of Hoover Dam will change to the version heard in one of the end game quests. This music is unique and will not play in any other location in the game.
- If one jumps off the north side of Hoover Dam and returns to the top of the dam, the game may glitch and cause things like the artillery cannon to completely disappear and the texture for the road in front of the visitor center to change.
Cut content[]
- Hoover Dam originally featured active jet flow gates and water exhaust jets ejecting water into the Colorado River. Both were disabled pre-release, likely due to technical limitations: The jets are animated and the Gamebryo engine did not support animated LOD objects.
- The Hoover Dam and the Legate's camp are connected by a long, winding road. It is not accessible, not navmeshed, and affected by a script that teleports anything caught inside to either the entrance gate at the Dam or the exit gate at the camp. Scripts suggest that the area was intended to be used to store reinforcements to be later sent into the battle, using a "conga line" system, but it was later disabled. A leftover trigger behind the gate spawning a pair of legionaries suggests that the road was at one point supposed to be an actual combat zone, but it is disabled in the released game, together with the whole area. There are also multiple crosses spread out along the road, some hidden behind level geometry, indicating that the area was simply cut to save on time.
- If Julie Farkas is convinced to support the NCR, she mentions providing medical support. A Follower NPC exists as
VFSFollowersDamDoctor
, and his dialogue exists inVdialogueHooverDam
, but is not placed in the game. - There's an unused empty map called "Arizona Spillway Tunnel" (HooverDamIntArizonaSpillway). The Arizona Spillway is a real part of Hoover Dam and is modeled in the game. It is used to remove excess water from the reservoir, with a long cylindrical tunnel that spills into the Colorado. There is an unusuable grate at the bottom of the spillway in the game, and the tunnel is present in the game (mostly obcured by cliffs and the rest of the Dam), which suggests it was to play a role in the second battle at one point or another, though the specifics are unclear.
- Gun turrets would have been present at Hoover Dam. There are full scripts and messages (vHDLVLTurretScript, vHDTurretMessageNCR01, vHDTurretMessageNCR01b, etc) that show they would be initially disabled in the conflict, and the player could then repair them to help fight against the Legion.
- There's a large amount of reworked/redundant code involved with the endgame fight. It's extremely difficult to unpick it all as there are several iterations/implementations of things like the reinforcement code as it was clearly realized having so many enemies in the area at once would kill console performance. It's difficult to separate what was abandoned from what actually works.
Gallery[]
References[]
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Non-game
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Non-canon
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