Trigger the Gala Event is a main quest in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Main Quest: Trigger the Gala Event | |||||
| After completing the three previous quests, go to Campanas del Sol in the northernmost section of Salida del Sol North. | |||||
| Reach the steeple of the bell tower and use the controls to trigger the Gala Event. | |||||
| Escape Campanas del Sol and return to the Villa fountain and the gate to the Sierra Madre Casino & Resort. | |||||
| Reward: 1600 XP Vending machine codes: Super stimpak, Holorifle focus optics (optional) | |||||
| Leads to: Put the Beast Down | |||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
After completing all three of the previous quests to plant the three companions at their respective positions, upon finishing the third and final one, Elijah will radio in and direct the Courier to their own post: the top of the bell tower of Campanas del Sol in Salida del Sol North, where the control console for the Gala Event is set up.
Returning to Salida del Sol South (the area where Dog and God were placed during Fires in the Sky), follow the main pathway as before, only instead upon reaching the staircase with the lit lantern, turn back from it and go through the Cloud-covered archway; there will be a weakened speaker on the opposite side so be sure to destroy it, with another one on the archway ahead. Take the staircase opposite the vending machine to the door into the house, serving as an entrance to Salide del Sol North.
Exit the house's lower level, then take a right until reaching the staircase next to a double archway. There will be several ghost people around the area, including harvesters and seekers with gas bombs. Go up the stairs into the apartment, then down the other stairs to a back alley route lined with several bear traps that may be hard to spot in the low light. At the other end, a fork going to a smaller courtyard and a staircase will have a radio on the other side of the archway leading to the latter. In the former, a staircase leads up to a multi-story building with two exits, one of which is on the roof and allows jumping down to the overhang of a second building where a tripwire and bear trap reside at the blown-out wall; the former will trigger a pendulum trap as well.
Either taking the street level door or going in from the rooftop, one will reach the stone pathway leading up to the main courtyard of Campanas del Sol, with the bell ringing in its high tower. Multiple ghost people roam around, both in the upper-level room and in the basement. There is only one route forward, going through the latter area that starts by entering a destroyed west-side wall connected to the basement access. Three ghost people including at least two trappers will roam the wine cellar basement, attacking on sight if one cannot sneak past them. The exit leads onto the balcony encircling the courtyard, below which a few ghost people will have spawn including one seeker throwing their gas bomb on sight while the player character must reach the destroyed north-end wall leading into the main building. Here, one will circle around a smaller courtyard with more bear traps laden around in order to reach the ladder connected to the steeple.
In the steeple, one will find the control console by a window facing the resort above the Villa. Activating it, Elijah will connect to the radio transmitter, demanding them to trigger the Gala Event. One will be able to speak to the other team members and confirm the plan is in place. The Gala Event will then trigger, with music playing on the speakers and fireworks lighting up the Cloud-choked sky. One will unlock the Having a Ball achievement and garnering XP as well. Before leaving, it is advisable to acquire the pair of vending machine codes present in the bell tower for the super stimpak aid item and holorifle focus optics mod.
With the Gala Event in full swing, the gates to the Sierra Madre resort are unlocked, but only temporarily; while there is no in-game time limit to getting to the fountain gates, the rest of the Villa is now covered by the range of many shielded speakers, so further exploration is ill-advised. One can simply run past the newly spawn hordes of ghost people, as they will not follow into each new section of the map. Leaving Salida del Sol after starting the Gala Event is made easier by the graffiti on the walls: numerous tags saying things like "Run, run, run!" are spread along the route out of this area. Upon activating the gala event, some new speakers will activate (especially the red speaker, which is indestructible) making it difficult to exit Salida del Sol North the same way one came in. One can alternatively exit through the gate in the southwestern corner, just north of the entrance into Salida del Sol. The player character will have to drop down from the rooftops into a courtyard filled with the Cloud but the exit will lead close to the exit to the Villa.
Once back in the Villa, reach the fountain and then look north to the gates with the Sierra Madre logo over them, the entrance to the path leading up to the resort. Upon activating it, one receives a message saying that there will be no returning to the Villa until the remainder of the questline is completed. Once inside, the player character will briefly witness the unconscious bodies of their companions before getting knocked out by the resort's security, leading into Put the Beast Down.
Quest stages[]
Behind the scenes[]
The music that plays over the speakers in the Villa and in the resort after triggering the Gala Event is "American Swing."
Bugs[]
If the player visits the bell tower before they have completed the three quests leading up to this one, it will automatically be triggered. This trigger is not complete, however, as no enemies are added, no fireworks displayed and the door to the casino may stay locked, or it may be open with all companions (including ones whose quests have not been completed) already in the casino. [verified]-
During the quest "Trigger the Gala Event," when approaching the control panel in the bell tower to activate the gala event, a scripting error may occur, which causes nothing to happen when activating the control panel which leaves the player unable to finish the quest leaving them stranded at the Sierra Madre. [verified]
- This can be fixed by reloading a save before entering the last floor of the bell tower.
- This can be worked around by proceeding back to the fountain and typing CompleteAllObjectives xx000fc0 (this will close the quest) and unlock 01001314, which will open the gate and let the player go through.
- During the end of the quest when the player has to activate the trigger, the game shows nothing to activate it leaving the player stranded. [verified]
- Sometimes, once activating the panel in the bell tower, the fireworks may not appear.[verified]
- Sometimes after completing the last follower quest (Dog/God, Christine, Dean Domino) the quest will not appear which keeps you from opening the gate to the courtyard. Reload to a save before completing the last of the three follower quests to fix this. [verified]
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