The X-13 research facility is a location in Big MT in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Background[]
Prior to the Great War, the primary research conducted in X-13 was focused on the reverse-engineering and improvement of Chinese stealth technology, specifically their stealth armor, for use by the US military in the Sino-American War. However, the staff's cohesion was spotty, largely due to the micromanaging and short-tempered Doctor Calis, who frequently bullied and harassed his colleagues over the smallest of slights, even to the point of using a server sniffer to pick out private messages from their computer inboxes.[1][2]
In spite of Calis' behavior, the staff were eventually able to make both a prototype and a working model of stealth armor, albeit both lacked the integrated stealth field in the Chinese model. The former was taken from X-13 by Christine Royce and remained with her after she left to find Elijah, while the latter was disassembled sometime before the nuclear apocalypse and remained in the facility.[3]
Other project ventures at X-13 included devising an EM pulse wave module for the sonic emitter, capable of disrupting Big MT's patented force field technology,[4] as well as off-the-books modifications for the K9000 cyberdog gun that was being developed at the X-8 research center.[1][5]
Furthermore, the researchers at X-13 attempted to generate a natural stealth ability in night stalkers via bioengineering in order to sell them to the military as war assets. However, Calis' decision to import cattle prods to trigger the creatures' stealth abilities made them more aggressive and ultimately resulted in his death.[6][7]
Layout[]
Situated directly west of the Think Tank and southwest of the Big MT north tunnel in the cardinal west side of Big MT, the front entrance leads to three labs, each containing one piece of the stealth suit Mk II armor. There is one area that can only be accessed with an upgraded sonic emitter. After the three labs, the Courier will reach the main room with metal walkways. One can then access a doorway on the right that opens to a small virtual reality test room which is no longer functioning.
From that same area, a stairway can be found on the left that goes downstairs to the night stalker test area, which leads to tunnels and the strange still. By looking directly up towards the ceiling in this room, one can see an active force field. Using the upgraded sonic emitter to deactivate it will cause a stimpak, super stimpak, one Battle Brew, and several skeletons to drop from above.
Once all three pieces of the stealth suit Mk II have been retrieved, the player character can access the central door by unlocking it via the security terminal to the right, leading to the X-13 stealth testing lab section which has two levels. The top level consists of walkways which function as observation points for researchers above the stealth testing area, and the lower level is the test track for the stealth suit Mk II.
Outside, some minor loot containers can be found behind the building. There is a broken staircase to the roof of X-13, which has a LAER, five ammunition boxes, and one of the greasy toolboxes used by Slough to hide his snacks. The roof is only accessible via a green pipe that can be reached by finding a way to climb the rock wall west of the facility.
Notable loot[]
Stealth testing lab map
- Stealth suit Mk II - Initially disassembled into three pieces (boots, chest plate and gloves) scattered around the first set of labs, the armor is automatically added to the inventory after all three parts are collected. Relevant to X-13: Attack of the Infiltrator!.
- Main Computer Upgrade: K9000 Mod "Mentat Chow" - Stored in office 2's observation area terminal. Unlocks the K9000 mod - Mentat chow for purchase at the Sink Central Intelligence Unit in the Sink.
- Main Computer Upgrade: K9000 Mod "Resla Roil" - Stored in the observation area terminal. Unlocks the K9000 mod - Resla Roil for purchase at the Sink Central Intelligence Unit in the Sink.
- Auto-Doc Upgrade: Implant Y-7 holotape for the Implant Y-7 - Stored in the terminal just left upon entering office observation area #1 (not to be confused with office observation area #2). Office observation area #1 can be found by entering the reception observation area, and going straight to the other side of the room, where there is a door with a sign on the floor reading "office observation area #1."
- X-13 document - In a wall safe in the administrator's office. Shuts down all security measures in the facility when picked up. Relevant to X-13: Attack of the Infiltrator and Project X-13.
- VR simulation note - Behind the Average-locked door leading into the broken VR simulation room near the entrance to the testing facility, found next to a skeleton.
- Sonic emitter notice - Found on all terminals in the facility.
- Recipes - Lockpick skill book - Can be found in one of the vents in the stealth testing lab, the one over the double doors in the reception area. It is possible to reach the vent while standing on the railing in the reception observation area.
- Recipes - Sneak skill book - From the test entrance, turn right and go through the left door (the one sharing a wall with the "Hold up, Rocketeers!" poster), go through the door just on the right (the one sharing a wall with the REPCONN poster), go through the hole in the wall on the right, go straight through the next hole in the wall, and the holotape is between the two fridges.
- Two copies of Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manuals - One is in the reward safe upon completion of all the stealth suit tests, and the other is located on the floor in the room where the chest plate for the sneak suit is acquired.
- X-8 kennel key - In a suitcase in a room with a force field covering the door to the right upon entry. Unlocks the door to the kennel in the X-8 research center.
- There are three thick red pastes and two thin red pastes in the room where the prototype boots are located, on a table at the room's south end. This is the only place in the game that thin red paste can be found without the Them's Good Eatin' perk.
- Protonic inversal axe - Found in the hard-locked stealth test area #2 (VR simulation room).
- Two bottles of Nuka-Cola Victory - One is located underneath a chemistry set, on the first floor, before the testing lab, along with a Nuka-Cola Quartz. The other Nuka-Cola Victory is found near a hot plate in office 2's observation area.
- Doggie treat - Can be found in a dog bowl where the night stalkers spawn on the lower level of the main floor.
- Four bottles of Battle Brew - Three in a strange cask in the night stalker area of the basement, and one on top of a force field in the ceiling of the same room.
- Three Stealth Boys - One in the Battle Brew room, sitting atop a forcefield above (requires the upgraded sonic emitter from the X-8 research center), one to the right of a terminal with a bottle of wine above the REPCONN managers office, and one in the research area on the desk with a terminal and an Irr. Sunset Sars.
- LAER - Found on the roof of the facility which is accessed by walking along the pipe joining the north wall of the building to the small cliff, starting from the Big MT west tunnel's right side, near two duffle bags.
- Preserved meat - Can be found by following the tunnels in the lower area under the force field on the main floor. The still can also be found in the room.
- Cattle prod - Next to Calis's remains on the lower level of the testing facility.
Related quests[]
Notes[]
- Multiple disassembled units of Chinese stealth armor can be seen around the facility.
- From the main entrance, downstairs, towards the end of the night stalker test area, there are sewage tunnels that will lead to a crashed room containing a strange still. A note on the still reads, "1 vodka, 1 mutant cave fungus, 1 Salient Green," which unlocks the recipe for Battle Brew. The room also contains some Battle Brew in the knocked over the refrigerator and a "strange keg" in the corner.
- In the same area as the strange still, if the player character lingers too long, around six invisible night stalkers can spawn in the tunnel and rooms above.
- The interior wall vents in the observation areas overlooking the test course are actually containers concealing loot. This includes the vents that cannot be reached from the walkways.
- In office #2's observation area on the wall opposite the entrance is a poster for Love Sets Sail! starring Vera Keyes.
- Among and behind the structures to the northeast of the entrance, there are several broc flower and xander root plants.
- The area and its exterior are a common spot for robo-scorpion spawns.
- Killing the robots inside the Testing Facility, at any point in time, will garner unique dialogue from the Stealth suit MK II if it is worn at the time.
- The ambient track "Serenity" from Fallout 2 is played within the X-13 research facility.
Appearances[]
The X-13 research facility appears only in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Behind the scenes[]
Area designer Robert Lee worked on the creation of this location, in addition to designing the Stealth suit Mk II, with scripting contributions from Eric Beaumont.[Non-game 1] Environment artist Kristen Altamirano provided art support and a final pass for polish of the location.[Non-game 2]
Bugs[]
The ceiling of the Battle Brew room hides a Stealth Boy, but the sonic emitter may not disable the stealth field.[verified]- During the quest Project X-13, inside the stealth testing lab, the player character may find that one of the doorways/entrances between the stairwell and the second-floor metal walkways on the observation level may become bugged, whereas the door appears to be open but an invisible barrier prevents the Courier from going through. However, there is another available doorway so the player character can route around the bugged doorway.[verification overdue]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 X-13 research facility terminal entries; Terminals, Mendoza's terminal
- ↑ X-13 research facility terminal entries; Terminals, Butz's terminal
- ↑ Events of Old World Blues
- ↑ X-13 research facility terminal entries; Terminals, Slough's terminal
- ↑ X-13 research facility terminal entries; Terminals, Skinner's terminal
- ↑ Calis' skeletal remains are found with a cattle prod just outside the night stalkers' pen area in X-13
- ↑ X-13 research facility terminal entries; Terminals, Dr. Calis' terminal
Non-game