Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas is the new game in the Fallout universe. It is not a true sequel to Fallout 3, it's set in roughly the same time as Fallout 3 but in a completely different area, Las Vegas and its surrounding area.

The player begins the story as a courier that is currently in the process of delivering a package when they are ambushed. The player takes serious injuries from the unknown attackers and is treated by a character called Doc Mitchell. From here, the player sets up their character and is released into the world to track down the stolen package and to begin their New Vegas adventure.

It's out now!

Here are the current release dates set for Fallout 3 New Vegas. These are liable to change, but I'll keep them updated as best as I possibly can.

North America: October 19th 2010

Europe: October 22nd 2010

The game is scheduled to be released simultaneously across all platforms, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

In line with previous Fallout games, the player's character does not have a definite name associated with them (although one can be given by the player during the character creation process).

In Fallout New Vegas, the player character is known as the Courier due to that having been the character's profession at the beginning of their adventure in New Vegas.

Fallout New Vegas is available for pre-order at a number of locations, check out your favorite retailer to see their price. I've found Amazon to have the best price currently, but please feel free to leave a comment if you find anywhere cheaper!

Pre-orders from Amazon also come with an exclusive in-game bonus!

There are many factions (groups of co-operating people, like gangs and organizations) that populate the area in New Vegas. Here is a known list of them of who is believed to make an appearance in-game. This list may be added to or removed from as new information is brought to light the closer we get to the release date.

In alphabetical order, the list of Fallout New Vegas Factions are:

Brotherhood of Steel

Caesar's Legion

Chairmen

Crimson Caravan

Followers of the Apocalypse

Gun Runners

New California Republic

Omerta

Powder Gangs

State of Utolbitha

The Brotherhood of Steel has been a present faction in every Fallout game so far. They are believed to be direct descendants of what remained of the US Military and Scientific communities after the Great War. Their mission in the the Fallout universe is to collect and research technologies that came the pre-date the war as well as control any new technologies that are developed.

Although they do not have any malicious intentions towards the general population of the Fallout world, their actions can often be seen in a negative light. They show no sympathy for other residents of where they occupy and keep to themselves and their mission. However, this means that while they often have the ability to intervene in circumstances where other residents are under threat from an aggressive force they will often choose not to. One exception to this was during Fallout 3 when the Enclave captured the water purifier. Although it was in the Brotherhood's best interest to secure the purifier for themselves, after the Enclave were driven out of the area they took it upon themselves to ensure that all citizens were given access to the water and that all settlements received water allowances.

Caesar's Legion is a big player in the world of Fallout New Vegas. This is their first appearance in a Fallout game, although they were initially slated to appear in the now-canceled sequel to Fallout Brotherhood of Steel.

They are essentially a large slave-trading operation, sprinkled with generous amounts of violence and malice.

Caesar's Legion was started by an ex-Mormon Missionary called Joshua Graham, and a Follower of the Apocalypse called Caesar. Together, they built up a force by unifying the tribal villages and defeating their common enemy, a large tribal army called Twisted Hair. The Legion grew in strength over time and had many military victories, including against the New California Republic. The winning streak came to an end when an assault on the Hoover Dam ended in a brutal defeat. As punishment for Joshua Graham being responsible for the defeat, Caesar had him burned alive and thrown into the Grand Canyon.

Caesar's Legion controls a big portion of the New Vegas world, including the airport and the area surrounding two of the nearby Vaults.

The Chairmen are a mysterious faction new to the story that Fallout New Vegas brings.

They are a very business-orientated organization that control The Aces and The Tops casinos in the city of Las Vegas.

The Crimson Caravan is a merchant organization first appearing in the first Fallout game.

They started as a small band of merchants that quickly found their wealth by trading on routes that other merchants deemed too dangerous to travel. Their caravan guards are the highest paid of all merchant guards, but with that they are also the most at risk.

Although the Crimson Caravan acts as a legitimate trading enterprise, there are many people in the Fallout world that believe they are just biding their time in wait of the perfect opportunity to seize power for themselves.

The Followers of the Apocalypse have an overriding mission to do whatever they can to prevent humanity from causing the effects of another Great War. Their plan for achieving their goals is to educate humanity and ensure that the wasteland is rebuilt in a peaceful, beautiful and functional way that benefits society.

The Followers of the Apocalypse are based out of the Los Angeles Public Library building. As a movement, they started their life in the Los Angeles Boneyard. The founder and first leader of the Followers of the Apocalypse was Nicole, who started the organisation after her parents were murdered by marauders at Great Glow.

The Followers of the Apocalypse are generally a very peaceful organisation. They do not believe in using violence to solve their problems, in deed they actively preach against it as it was the violence of the Great War that caused all the problems of the wasteland in the first place. Despite this, some governments of the wasteland dislike and distrust the Followers of the Apocalypse. This is because the Followers encourage free-thought and liberalism, whereas many of the governments (such as the Enclave) administer their lands using fear and oppression. One exception is the New California Republic, in which the Followers of the Apocalypse were involved in its creation and remain a large influence.

It has been confirmed that The Followers of the Apocalypse will be appearing in Fallout New Vegas, although the externt of which has yet to be determined. It's possible that it will be a continuation of a branch that moved into the Hoover Dam. They have previously only appeared in the original Fallout game, although there have been occasional references to them in Fallout 2 and Fallout 3.

The Gun Runners, as a gang, predate the first Fallout game in which they made their first appearance. They started out as a normal gang of undesirables but found it much more profitable and less risky to operate as a weapons supplier and retailer.

The Gun Runners HQ is a weapons factory near a settlement called Boneyard that they captured then restored and fortified. Their fortress-factory produces a wide range of weaponry, ammunition and armor from Scrap Metal which they procure from the wastelands, local settlements and traveling merchants.

In the early days of the Gun Runner operation their main supplier of Scrap Metal was the settlement of Adytum. However, Adytum soon fell under the watchful gaze of the Regulators, an organization which hunts down and disposes of aggressive individuals and gangs. When the Regulators set up shop in Adytum, they saw to it that the Gun Runners were given very uncompetitive prices for the materials that they needed. Such a move would have put the Gun Runners out of business so they armed another local gang called the Blades who then freed Adytum from the influences of the Regulators. Since then, the Blades and the Gun Runners enjoyed a very peaceful and friendly relationship.

Since these early beginnings the Gun Runners have expanded their business to other parts, including around the area in which Fallout New Vegas is set.

The New California Republic is the largest known organization in the Fallout universe, and as such is the biggest power player in Fallout New Vegas.

It is run in a democratic fashion, similar in scope to that of the United States government before the Great War. It has an elected President and a council of Representatives, individual members of which are referred to as Councilors, Senators or Governors. There is no discrimination between the sexes written into law (although elements of sexism exist, as in any society); indeed, the second and longest running President was a woman called Tandi.

The New California Republic was started by the remnants of Vault 15 after the surviving occupants opened the doors and left, soon settling a new town called Shady Sands in 2161. The leader of the new settlement was Aradesh, who later became the first President of the the New California Republic when it was officially founded in 2186.

The modern New California Republic consists of several member states including Dayglow, the Hub, Los Angeles, Maxson and Shady. The combined total population is approaching 1,000,000 citizens, making it the largest known.

The New California Republic has a strong military made up of many divisions, including robotic warfare components. One such division, the New California Rangers, operate as guardians of the Republic's citizens way of life. They are fiercely opposed to criminal gangs and regularly attack and perform raids on slaver groups.

The New California Republic is probably the most welcoming group to all members of the wasteland's population. Humans, Ghouls and even Super Mutants are welcome to join the Republic and participate how they like. Both the military and political career paths are open to all citizens.

Omerta is a faction new to the Fallout universe in Fallout New Vegas.

They are a very secretive faction and are essentially operated as a Mafia-type organization.

They control and run the Gomorrah Casino, which also acts as their Head Quarters.

The Powder Gangs are co-operative alliance of criminal gangs based around the New Vegas area. They are a new faction for Fallout New Vegas, not having appeared in any previous game.

The Powder Gang membership originated from criminals imprisoned in the New California Republic's prison at Black Canyon. The New California Republic were attempting to expand eastwards but were met with a shortage of labour required to build the railway networks that were required to facilitate this expansion. As a solution, the NCR hired criminals from the prison that were nearing the ends of their sentences. This new work force then set about laying new rails under the employment of the New California Republic.

During the building of the new railway infrastructure, the New California Republic hit financial difficulties and so were unable to pay the engineers on time and in full. The workers revolted and took control of their stations, using their new found freedom to steal explosives and blow up the very network they had built along with any caravans or other ripe targets they could find.

The State of Utolbitha is a addition to the Fallout universe, making its first appearance in Fallout 3 New Vegas.

The State of Utolbitha is a Super Mutant faction, populated only by super mutants and led by a female mutant called Tabitha. It was founded in 2278, 2 years before the main story begins.

Unlike some of the other Super Mutants the player will meet in Fallout New Vegas, members of the State of Utolbitha are always hostile and will shoot at the player on sight.

As Fallout New Vegas hasn't been released yet, there are currently no mods available for it. When there are some though, I'll post a link to all my favorite ones!

My Favorite Fallout New Vegas Mods:

There aren't any mods yet! :)

My Favorite Places To Go For Fallout New Vegas Mods:

There are no dedicated Fallout New Vegas Mod repositories, but keep an eye out on Fallout 3 Nexus - it's currently the best place to get Mods for Fallout 3 (plus a few other great games).

Information About Creating Your Own Mods For Fallout 3 New Vegas

No SDK has yet been confirmed, but it's likely that Modding Fallout New Vegas will be similar to Fallout 3 in that it will use the GECK tool.

Update: It has been confirmed that an improved version of GECK will be used for modding and creation for Fallout New Vegas and that it will ship as part of the usual distribution. This means that modders will be able to start work from day one, if they want to.

This is the very first trailer that was released for Fallout New Vegas. It's more of a teaser than giving any indication about what the game is going to be about, but it really sets the mood!

This is a much more recent trailer, first shown at the E3 gaming convention.

It's really exciting!

What do you think of this lens? Could it be improved in any way?

If you have any news or know something I don't about the upcoming Fallout game, please let me know and I'll be sure to credit you!