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Freeside Overview “Westside is a part of New Vegas, just as much as it's a part of the Wasteland. In the end, stranger, we need them both to continue making our fate.”
Westside is a settlement in the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas.[Pub 1][Pub 2]
Background[edit]
Westside is an impoverished settlement in Outer Vegas.[Pub 1] Westside consists of a cooperative of crop farmers and a militia that protects the residents.[Pub 2] The co-op is run by Clayton Etienne and is comprised of Westside locals.[1] Food grown at the co-op is then sold to travelers and larger factions, with the proceeds being shared amongst the co-op.[1][Pub 3] Westside attracts travelers, merchants and farmers who are looking to exchange goods or find protection.[2]
Tom Anderson, a fringe operator of the Followers of the Apocalypse and former OSI operator, passed through Westside with Arcade Gannon prior to the events of Fallout: New Vegas.[3][4] Anderson remained in Westside and taught the residents how to farm.[5] The hot, dry environment made farming difficult, but with Anderson's help, the co-op began to turn a profit after several years.[6][7][8] For his assistance, Marco would cut Tom a deal on his rent at the Monte Carlo Suites.[5]
With the NCR's arrival in the Mojave Wasteland, politicians in Shady Sands passed the Thaler Act.[9] The act stipulated that farmers would be paid to move to the Mojave to farm land, in exchange for protection by the NCR Military.[9] NCR Sharecropper Farms was one field established under the act.[10] This, combined with the NCR assuming control of water distribution,[11] resulted in a water shortage for the residents of Westside.[11]
With the water being too expensive to purchase and dirty water causing the crops to taste funny, Westside's independence from the NCR was threatened.[11][7][12] The resulting changes led Tom Anderson to rig the NCR's East Pump Station—which filters water from Lake Las Vegas to NCR Sharecropper Farms—to divert a portion of the water to the North Cistern.[Pub 4] Upon being diverted, Hector, a local delivery boy, collected the water and distributed it throughout Westside. As the operation kept the cooperative afloat and the crops thriving, Clayton was in full support of it.[13][14]
The siphoning operation was discovered when Corporal White, an NCR soldier, began looking into the issues and discovered water being diverted to the North and South Cistern in Westside at certain times.[15] This led him to investigate and catch Hector, who forced the child to reveal Anderson's plan.[16] When White confronted Anderson, the latter's affiliation with the Followers caused White to underestimate him, as Anderson would shoot him in the back as he turned to leave, killing him.[17]
Publications[edit]
“The residents of the fortified Westside Zone have a small, but tight-knit community based around growing crops for themselves, and to sell to travellers and larger Factions. Currently embroiled in tense negotiations with the NCR regarding the siphoning of their water supplies, the Westside Co-op features a motley band of folk, including an escapee from New Reno named Clayton Etienne, and a Follower of the Apocalypse called Tom Anderson, who is single-minded in his defense of this operation.”— Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Faction Profiles
Layout[edit]
The larger part of the neighborhood—exposed to the Mojave Wasteland—is surrounded by a small network of walls, while the residential and commercial area is walled completely with the exception of two gates. Westside's services include a food store, apartment complex, liquor store, pawn shop, and fighting arena where matches can both be fought and bet upon. Westside has west and south entrances. The Thorn, Westside Park and the Casa Madrid Apartments lie outside the southern entrance. The Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters is about halfway between Westside and the South Vegas Ruins to the south.
- Westside Co-Op, a grocery store, complete with basic refrigeration.[18]
- Casa Madrid Apartments, an apartment complex providing housing for Westside citizens, prostitutes and travelers who can't pay their way onto the New Vegas Strip.[19]
- Miguel's Pawn Shop, a pawn shop offering various items run by Miguel.
- The Thorn is an underground gladiatorial arena just outside the Westside's barricades.[Pub 5]
- Klamath Bob's Liquor Store, a liquor store run by Klamath Bob.
- The Chessboard, a chessboard near the pawn shop where Judah Kregar can often be found.
Locations[edit]
Factions[edit]
- Westside Cooperative, a group of farmers and militia who comprise the majority of Westside's population.
- Westside Militia, residents who protect the settlement.
- The Fiends attack Westside constantly, sometimes killing the settlement's citizens, including Miguel's grandfather.[20][21] They use the New Vegas Sewers to travel throughout the rest of Outer Vegas.[20] Their leader, Motor-Runner, took Vault 3 as a base of operations to "put down some roots" and to prevent his people from drifting too far into Westside, due to the Great Khans continued business at the settlement, as well as the threat of Mean Sonofabitch.[20][22][23]
- The Scorpions–another group of Raiders based out of the Monte Carlo Suites—sell chems and fight with the Fiends, often unsuccessfully.[24][Pub 6]
Inhabitants[edit]
Appearances[edit]
Westside appears in Fallout: New Vegas.
Notes[edit]
- Dazzle lived in Westside before she was bought by the Omertas.[25]
- Red Lucy considers Westside to be a part of New Vegas and the Wasteland.[26]
- Westside militia members and residents will respawn after three days if killed. Westside militia at the perimeter of the community will periodically get into firefights with randomly spawned Fiends.
- When brought to Westside for the first time, Arcade Gannon will remark about how he either "passed through here" or "heard about what happened with Anderson," depending on the Courier's actions during the quest The White Wash.[3][4]
- Westside is referred to as "Doldrums" in Miguel's dialogue and "VegasWest" in Klamath Bob's dialogue.
Behind the Scenes[edit]
- In an unused quest the player could have released the creatures in the Thorn. They would have killed the arena's spectators before attacking Westside.[27]
- In the Fallout 3: New Vegas First Story Draft, Westside and Fremont were the two communities that made up Freeside.[Doc 1]
- Westside is a real-world neighborhood, Historic West Las Vegas, colloquially known as Westside, an area located northwest of the Las Vegas Strip.
- Paul Fish worked on Westside.[Ext 1]
- Josh Sawyer's JSawyer Mod changed the alignment of Westside Citizens and Militia NPCs from Neutral to Good.
- Josh Sawyer commented on Westside:
“Thanks. Most of the content of Westside was developed by Jeff Husges, though I wrote a few of the characters (Anderson, Meansonofabitch), John Gonzalez wrote some (maybe all?) of the characters in Casa Madrid, and Jorge Salgado developed the Thorn. Scott Everts did most of the world building. Because Westside is "detached" from the Strip and doesn't have any protector groups like the Kings, we wanted to portray them as being very resourceful and community-oriented, sharing a lot of responsibilities, including defense.”— Joshua Sawyer on Formspring
Gallery[edit]
Westside map
References[edit]
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 303: "The magic of New Vegas and the glittering towers of The Strip are out of reach for most folks eking out an existence in this mainly "exterior" zone. Aside from the five interior districts detailed in Part 2, the western side of town consists of a tight-knit Westside cooperative, with society gradually breaking down the farther south you go, where city blocks are violently run by Chem-addicted raiders known as Fiends. They have quite a territory to the southwest, but don't dare risk heading toward the NCR's main base at Camp McCarran, with its adjacent locations devoted to irrigated farming and refugees. To the east and north, independent businesses such as the Gun Runners and Crimson Caravan Company flourish, although they are mainly concerned with the weapons trade. Finally, take a trip to Freeside; it's the only way to enter fabulous New Vegas itself!"
(Tour of the Mojave Wasteland) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 325: "Zone 2A (Westside) consists of a cooperative of crop-growers and militia, and vying for water from the NCR. Zone 2B (North New Vegas) is a squatter camp with few amenities. Zone 2C (Outer and Inner Freeside) is a sprawling series of large roads, structures, and casinos that don't quite have the razzmatazz of those on The Strip."
(Tour of the Mojave Wasteland) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 42: Westside Cooperative
"The residents of the fortified Westside Zone have a small, but tight-knit community based around growing crops for themselves, and to sell to travelers and larger Factions. Currently embroiled in tense negotiations with the NCR regarding the siphoning of their water supplies, the Westside Co-op features a motley band of folk, including an escapee from New Reno named Clayton Etienne, and a Follower of the Apocalypse called Tom Anderson, who is single-minded in his defense of this operation."
(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Faction profiles) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 303: "This location is of paramount importance to the NCR, because it is responsible for filtering the water being pumped along the giant water pipe from Lake Las Vegas [3.22], and then into the Sharecropper Farms [2.20]. There are actually two buildings: the East Cistern, and the facility itself, plus two nearby Manhole Covers allowing access into the sewers [U2]. Inside the cistern is a Water Tower Valve (allowing you to sip clean water), and a blown-out terminal with a Magazine next to it. A matching Pump Station lies to the west [2.27], but this one is on the outskirts of the Sharecropper Farm area. Enter and inspect the interior."
(Tour of the Mojave Wasteland) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 304: "Close to the Westside South Entrance [2.03] is a large scrawled sign for this den of iniquity, which is closed during nighttime hours. Descend into the Manhole to access a large fighting arena. Almost completely surrounding the main arena is a perimeter corridor that allows access into the arena, as well as The Thorn’s Cages below (through any of five blast doors). The sealed door to the north cannot be accessed until you offer yourself in the arena."
(Tour of the Mojave Wasteland) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 307: [2.12] Monte Carlo Suites
"On the western edge of the New Vegas Conurbation and north of the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters [2.17] is a run-down hotel littered with burned-out vehicles, mostly used for cover and not barricades. This is the lair of the Scorpion Gang, a scrappy and overconfident bunch of mercenaries. They don't listen to reason, so Sneak or attack the first gang member at the entrance."
(Tour of the Mojave Wasteland)
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