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I've heard stories about a ghost town that's just full of mines. Traders just call the place "Minefield." Sounds like the place for some fieldwork! Get in there, get back, and tell me all about it. And could you bring back a mine for my studies?Moira Brown

Minefield, formerly known as Ridgefield, is a nearly abandoned settlement filled with land mines. Travelers avoid the area due to its reputation for being dangerous, "cursed," and haunted.[1]

Background

Before the Great War, the isolated township of Ridgefield was a quiet community nestled in to the hillside, far away from any major roads. More than a century later, a tribe of military survivors stumbled across its remains while traveling from the north. They quickly realized the value of a defensible, hidden location, and decided to make it their own.[1] This was not to last.

After the slavers of Paradise Falls discovered the community, they conspired to raid it for captives. Its inhabitants were all captured except for a single survivor, a small boy by the name of Arkansas. Managing to escape undetected, he returned and vowed revenge. The boy implemented a plan to make the locale a deathtrap for the slavers. He filled the town with land mines, then spread rumors of a new band of inhabitants and waited. When the slavers came to raid the town, they were harried by a hidden sniper and decimated by landmines. The slavers took heavy casualties that day and never came back. The town became known as a ghost town avoided by all thanks to its reputation for being haunted, cursed and full of explosives. Traders eventually gave it a new name, "Minefield," and its sole inhabitant Arkansas, now an old man, still shuffles around guarding the place. Decades later the ruins would be visited by the Lone Wanderer, seeking a landmine for their work on the Wasteland Survival Guide by Moira Brown.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The slavers would not remain completely ignorant of Arkansas, although they would never attempt to capture him. Grouse would consider him a high value target for anyone he could con into doing his work for him, i.e. being a slaver.[9]

Layout

Minefield consists of half a dozen houses (four of which are accessible) built around a curving road, with a playground in the middle between the road. Mines are situated on the road, as well as in other parts of the area. The sniper, Arkansas, is situated near four ammunition boxes on the top level of a partially-destroyed building overlooking the road from the north.

The settlement has four explorable houses: Benson house, Gibson house, Gillian house and Zane house, all of which contain valuable loot, including pre-War books, medical supplies and an R91 assault rifle. Their interiors follow the same basic plan as the houses in Tranquility Lane and Andale.

Each home contains an Easy-locked safe. In the Benson and Gibson houses, the safes are behind an upstairs dresser and contain pre-War money, ammunition and occasionally a Stealth Boy. In the Gillian house, the safe is upstairs under the double bed, while in the Zane house, it is behind the dresser in the first-floor office. All houses contain at least one pre-War book and one skill book.

Notable loot

  • There are a total of 67 frag mines found scattered around the town.
  • For crafting needs, there are at least 10 leaf blowers, 12 lawn mower blades, 9 pressure cookers and 5 vacuum cleaners in and around Minefield.
  • There are 3 bottles of Nuka-Cola in the building that Arkansas is holed up in, next to the mattress.
  • There are four skill books and nine pre-War books in Minefield:
    • Zane house (Average locked): A Pugilism Illustrated can be found in the children's room on a teddy bear's lap. A pre-War book is located in the front room.
    • Gillian house (Average locked): Two pre-War books are in the front room, one on the bookshelf and the other on a table. A Grognak the Barbarian can be found on the child's bed upstairs.
    • Gibson house (Very Easy locked): A copy of Tumblers Today is on a desk, and four pre-War books can be found—one in the front room, one in the children's room on the bookcase, one in the master bedroom's bathtub and the bedside table.
    • Benson house (Hard locked): A pre-War book is on top of a first floor bookcase, while a D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine and a pre-War book is located in the upstairs master bedroom.

Related quests

Notes

  • A "Type A" random encounter occurs at the water tower on the ridge north of the town.
  • Approaching cars triggers a script, causing shots to be fired at them (as if Arkansas was the shooter), which in turn makes them explode. This scripted effect will occur even if the player character remains undetected with a Sneak skill of 100. After a car explodes, re-approaching it will causes shots to be fired at it again. If the player character kills Arkansas from afar however, the scripted event will not take place.
  • To the northeast, halfway to the Temple of the Union is the unmarked location The Roach King's throne.
  • It is possible to permanently lose caravan merchants here if one is not careful. Merchants can arrive and be encountered outside the Gillian house. If the player character sticks around, the merchant along with brahmin and guard will begin to travel down the street, eventually dying from mines.

Appearances

Minefield appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

  • The names of the houses in Minefield are references to the Hideo Kojima game Snatcher.[10]
  • In the Capitol Post building in L'Enfant Plaza, the decapitated body of Gibson sitting with his head between his legs can be found, with a note on it that says "SEARCH THE HOUSE." This is identical to a scene in Snatcher. The house in the game also had a miniature house model. "Gibson" refers to Jean Jack Gibson, a character from Snatcher. Gillian's house refers to Gillian Seed, the protagonist of Snatcher. Benson is the name of two characters from the game as well (either Benson Cunningham the chief or Harry Benson the engineer). The name of the last house, Zane, however, is not used in Snatcher.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.332: "3.09: MINEFIELD (LAT 04/LONG 14)
    Before the bombs fell, the isolated township of Ridgefield was a quiet community nestled into the hillside and far from major roads. More than a century later, a tribe of military survivors stumbled across it while traveling from the north. They quickly realized the value of a defensible, hidden location and made it their own. Now no one goes to Ridgefield anymore, and the ghost town is known only as "Minefield." People swear that it's haunted by the last survivor's ghost. Arkansas is the "ghost" in question; he may be old, but he's still a crack sniper, and he's holed up in the ruined concrete building at the town's north end. Sneak down from the Water Tower [2.O], as this has the least number of Mines to worry about. There are dozens dotted around the entire area; deactivate them and cover the ground very slowly."
    (Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition Tour of the Capital Wasteland)
  2. Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.61: "Arkansas
    The last of the military survivors who made Minefield their town, Arkansas was a small boy when the Slavers first came and captured nearly all of the tribe, but they never found him. Swearing revenge, he spread rumors of a new band of inhabitants and set a trap for the Slavers. When the Slavers came to raid the town again, they were harried by a hidden sniper and decimated by landmines. The Slavers took heavy losses that day and never came back. Now an old man, Arkansas still shuffles around this place."
    (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
  3. The Lone Wanderer: "Let's hear more about the landmines."
    Moira Brown: "Landmines are one of the few dangers out there that you can profit from. Disarm one before it blows, and you can sell it for plenty of caps. I've heard stories about a ghost town that's just full of mines. Traders just call the place "Minefield." Sounds like the place for some fieldwork! Get in there, get back, and tell me all about it. And could you bring back a mine for my studies?"
    The Lone Wanderer: "I'll head into Minefield. Wish me luck."
    Moira Brown: "Oh, don't worry. No one ever goes there because they say it's a ghost town. And since ghosts don't exist, you can just focus on the landmines. I hear there's a playground in the middle of the town. Reach that point and come back, and I'm sure you'll have some stories to tell!"
    The Lone Wanderer: "Let's talk about Minefield..."
    Moira Brown: "How are those hot little potatoes? Because, you know, they're on the ground, like potatoes. And hot, because they, um, explode. Anyway, what's up?"
    The Lone Wanderer: "What do you know about Minefield?"
    Moira Brown: "They say it was a town called Ridgefield, until slavers cleared it out. Now, it's supposedly cursed, and just a deathtrap to visitors. Now, everyone calls the place "Minefield" and says it's a ghost town. Superstitious nonsense, of course, but that's how people think. You'll be fine."
    (Moira Brown's dialogue)
  4. The Lone Wanderer: "I haven't been to Minefield yet. Hold on."
    Moira Brown: "It's not just because they say the place is haunted, is it? Because that's no reason to avoid the place. Ghosts don't exist. But landmines do. Oh boy, do they. And that's what we need to study!"
    (Moira Brown's dialogue)
  5. The Lone Wanderer: "That whole place is a deathtrap."
    Moira Brown: "Lots of places are, nowadays. Good work staying staying alive in tough conditions - it'll be a great example for the book! I know you may not want to see any more explosives for a while, but obviously you know your way around them. Have a couple rainy-day toys of mine. And looking at this landmine, it gives me an idea. It's a terrible device that does terrible things, of course. But it's easy to make your own, too."
    (Moira Brown's dialogue)
  6. The Lone Wanderer: "That whole town is a trap. There was a sniper out there, just waiting for me."
    Moira Brown: "Not quite as much of a ghost town as they say, is it? Good work staying calm and collected under pressure - it'll be a great example for the book! I know you may not want to see any more explosives for a while, but obviously you know your way around them. Have a couple rainy-day toys of mine. And looking at this landmine, it gives me an idea. It's a terrible device that does terrible things, of course. But it's easy to make your own, too."
    (Moira Brown's dialogue)
  7. Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.332: "3.09: MINEFIELD (LAT 04/LONG 14)
    Before the bombs fell, the isolated township of Ridgefield was a quiet community nestled into the hillside and far from major roads. More than a century later, a tribe of military survivors stumbled across it while traveling from the north. They quickly realized the value of a defensible, hidden location and made it their own. Now no one goes to Ridgefield anymore, and the ghost town is known only as "Minefield." People swear that it's haunted by the last survivor's ghost. Arkansas is the "ghost" in question; he may be old, but he's still a crack sniper, and he's holed up in the ruined concrete building at the town's north end. Sneak down from the Water Tower [2.O], as this has the least number of Mines to worry about. There are dozens dotted around the entire area; deactivate them and cover the ground very slowly."
    (Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition Tour of the Capital Wasteland)
  8. Wasteland Survival Guide (quest)
  9. Strictly Business
  10. Joel Burgess on Twitter
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