So, in my recent FO2 run I caught an interesting piece of Dialogue from I believe McClure or whatever his name is, basically the guy you want to talk to when dealing with Gecko quests and becoming a citizen.

Anyway, when asked about Geck he says theirs was broke, and they should of had two, but didn't so they just ending up stripping the one they did have down for parts.

This would obviously mean that Vault City is not a GECK built town and the GECK didn't help them one bit, and that so far as we know, New Arroyo is the only town benefited/created from a GECK.

Now, there is some conflicting info, as some other knobs around VC claim they used their GECK. I believe Randal is one. However, with McClure giving pretty good intel on it, I think that his word can be trusted. Plus he is like the one person in VC who doesn't beg to be shot in the eye.

Err...

"A GECK? As I understand it, we only had one. I read that it lasted a long time but it broke down a number of years before I was even born. We were supposed to have two..."

What's the problem exactly? They used the Geck for a long time but it eventually broke down.

"A GECK? As I understand it, we only had one. I read that it lasted a long time but it broke down a number of years before I was even born. We were supposed to have two..."

Sounds like the Geck was working just fine like a machine, and then broke down. Not that it was simply broken and scrapped.

Wasn't that how Black Isle GECKs were supposed to work anyway? They had like miniture fusion generators in, intended to be removed, as-well as plans and such? Given VC's power problem that sounds like a likely scenario.

That was my understanding of what a GECK was. It also had a number of seeds and such. But then again just doing a quick look at the Fallout 2 game guide, it says "This is what it's all about---the salvation of your village right in your hand. Just add water and stir." But then again that is just in the item description under unique items.

In a sense we could say that the GECK in Fallout 3 is pretty much the same as it was in Fallout 2. Maybe Project Purity needed parts so complicated, that they could only be found in a GECK.

If anything McClure is inforcing the idea that a Geck is a complex machine and not some magical "just add water" device.

Doesn't it say "just add water" in the Fallout 1 manual though too? The one that definately gives a better description of the GECK?

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=Fallout+1+Geck+Advert&hl=en&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=Cai&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=BQc3Bm_bh6fbfM:&imgrefurl=http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Garden_of_Eden_Creation_Kit&docid=gGCaD9TrKl_l2M&imgurl=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111202180736/fallout/images/7/7a/GECK.png&w=458&h=638&ei=xG-hUJTCH8jRtAbcsoHgDA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=6&sig=114800757760044444987&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=102&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0,i:111&tx=59&ty=41&biw=1304&bih=678

It's saying, "Just add water" in that all you need to do to make the plants grow is just that. Or maybe the waters for the Cold Fusion reactor? Probably that actually.

Well McClure is pretty old dude, which is why I took it that they never even got to use it.

But, your interpretation could fit. What year did they come out of the vault?

I would imagine he 50+.

Just something about his dialogue gave me the impression it was never activated.

Nevermind Queen B says they started city with theirs.

But obviously it is machine.

Ah yes I forgot it the GECK was first mentioned in the Fallout One manual. There it says it is a machine powered by cold fusion and contains 460 holodisks worth of info.

So yeah a GECK was a complex machine. Maybe the people of Vault 8 managed to use the GECK for rebuilding and used it's cold fusion and complex systems to run equipment until it failed.

"We exited the Vault 120 years ago and, with the help of our Eden kit, began construction of Vault City." - Lynette

So that will have been 2121.

The Book says "Vault City sprang from a vault that opened, as planned, several decades after the bombs dropped. The inhabitants used their Garden of Eden Creation Kit, and Vult City is the result."

It doesn't say how old McClure is.

Edit: but The Enclave provided better info.

Yep yep. I just asked her in game. Now if you will excuse me, she is looking at me sternly over her glasses, and that is her way of saying "shoot me in the face", so I need to oblige.