So I've been reading up on some more of the history of Las Vegas (because apart from Las vegas glitz of the 1950's and 60's and Howard Hughes owning alot of the strip I don't really know much about it) and I learned about 'The Nevada Test Site' which is supposed to be 65 miles outside of Las Vegas, and I was curious, is 65 Miles to far to see something like that in New Vegas?

well, there was talk of Area 51 being in the game, and that is 85 miles NNW of Las Vegas. So the Proving Grounds would be well within the map. I think it would be a bit too iconic to leave out?

Area 51 isn't in the game for exactly that reason (that it's too far from Vegas).

I'd HOPE it'd be in, maybe show how the US was testing out nuclear weapons just before the war, terminals and all.

Also, 85? I thought someone said 200 miles? Huh.

I google mapped it.


http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

That shows various routes you could take from Las Vegas to what might be an area near Area 51. (I hope thats correct anyway)


So if that is the right distance, and if Area 51 was cut because of distance, there might be a chance the testing grounds are in.

Then again 65 miles isn't that much less than say 130 miles, so maybe the testing grounds could be a distance issue also.

hmm yeah, looking at it (ahh Google Earth)

If the bottom left of the map is below Primm, and you've got Nipton and Searchlight, then Las Vegas is approx half way or 3/4 up the map, that means the top left (NNW) would end (assuming its a square map like FO3) just off the Indian Springs area? giving you an 80x80 mile map. approx. or something. so yeah, the Proving Grounds and Area 51 are way outside that square.

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edited to correct my atrocious sense of direction. Don't ask me to drive without a satnav, just... dont...

Area 51 isn't in, leaves the possibility of DLC however. :tops:

oh yeah, definitely. Prime locations for DLCs. Bound to be loads of tech in both Area 51 and the Proving Grounds (although they might have merged in the alternate universe)

IRL, the stateside nuke tests were done in White Sands, New Mexico. Area 51 (Groom Lake, Lockheed Skunk Works, etc) was a development area mostly for aircraft (U2, SR-71 and F-117 being the most notable) and their systems.

Actually it would make a nice Northern border of the accessible territory. I mean, after the 50s tests, especially heavy underground, and their probable continuation in the Fallout world way beyond the 2000s, additionally with the dangerous effects radiation combined with FEV has... This must be one hell of a stretch of land.

Finally, another person who isnt an alien area 51 person :vaultboy:

:laugh:
That's just because all of the security in the area leads to speculation.

[/offtopic]

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a DLC package including Area 51 and once and for all making it just another research center in the Fallout world. To wash away the shallow taste of Wanderer's Big Booming Adventure In Space.

hmmm yeah. I loved the Alien guns, but the whole flying saucer thing was...

Area 51 is the place that the pre-war military developed all the Power Armor and lazer weapons, didn't you know? There is still a bunker under there with the next gen armor that was never field-tested cos.. well, a bunch of bombs landed on them before they could. (Hopefully)

Power armour you would have to strike from that. It was developed in what now is a gaping radiated hole in the ground.

Instead of area 51 the dlc should be revisiting LA

It would be interesting, but it's also a pretty damn big area. I don't know if they'd be able to do it justice by just making it small bit of ruins.

As for Area 51, well, let me put it this way. Area 51 in real life is a test site for top-secret aircraft, no? That wouldn't exactly make for a worthwhile DLC. Oh, yes, the modelers at Obsidian would have a field day, but it wouldn't provide a lot of loot for the player. Obsidian could say Area 51 turned into a weapons and armor testing facility, but... that sort of defeats the purpose of using Area 51 at all. You might as well label it "Generic super-secret military base #5." And then there is the temptation to use aliens, which, as we know from Mothership Zeta, makes for a crappy DLC.

:shrug:

I know everyone and their mother seems to want to see Area 51, and I'd applaud Obsidian if they managed to pull it off properly, but I think there are so many better things they could do for DLC...

I should think that Area 51 is a prime DLC target if we take the example of the The Pitt from Fallout3, which is a 4-hour drive from DC and much further away than Area-51 is to Las Vegas. Impossible to say at any level, but the Lore of Area 51 would make it very attractive to gamers (I know I'd buy it!). A question though (as I am not familiar-enough with Fallout lore); is there anything that would make Area 51 _against_ Fallout Cannon rules/lore?

Not really, Aliens have been mentioned in some sense since Fallout 1, pluse since Area 51 is pretty much shrouded in mystery, if they went with the fan service and just did a predictable Area 51 DLC, I think it'd just be a toy chest, but if it was more built around mysterious pre-war tech under development just before the bombs or something, it'd be more unique.

It would be more interesting if they turned the "Area 51" site into some sort of Commonwealth Instutute type place in an upcoming DLC. Perhaps a military style research vault you'd have to enter and explore, since everything above ground would most likey have been blasted away by bombs.

All the initial Above Ground tests were done at White Sands. There was almost a 1,000 test blasts in Nevada, most of which were underground. The reason they were moved there is most of Northern and Western Nevada is Federal Government land, not like BLM land, but "keep your ass off because it's mine" land. It was real easy to keep people away from the test sites. There are also large No Fly zones that are not anywhere near the Nevada Test Site or Groom Lake because the military does training flights of current production craft.

I am not sure if I would want to see the Nevada Test Site as it is really just a big bombing range. Not everything tested here were Nukes, regular bombs too, along with vehicles and planes. Most of the blasts were done underground, so all one would see are large domes in the ground where the earth was pushed up. Also, while the entrance to one of the borders may only be 60 to 100 miles away, and there might be some administrative offices near the gate, all the real testing was done many dozens of miles farther in to the complex.

Area 51 would be more fun to poke around in as a dilapidated old complex.

Agreed. I'd much prefer a secret government weapons/secrets kind of Area 51, alien Area 51 is bred out of people's weird paranoia of the government trying to hide UFOs and stupid crap like that. (At this point its getting worse then the morons who think they see Big Foot, with all the forests we cut down you'd think someone would notice an 8 foot tall Neanderthal/Gorilla looking thing at some point.) :tops:

The Nevada Test Site, if it isn't put in there either already or by official DLC, will most certainly be visited by modders. I'd love an official Obsidian instance of it, though. Especially if we get to run our own nuclear test, because I have a feeling the majority of people who blew Megaton up in Fallout 3 just wanted to see the fireworks..