It does not fit into continuity at-all, this isn't even about the whole thing about FEV being else-where (a mere factor). According to the Vault-Tec terminal in the Pentagon:

Vault Number...
87
Starting Construction Date...
May 2066
Ending Construction Date...
May 2071

Now http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/FEV_research on the other-hand:

2076

Unforeseen side effects began surfacing in early 2076 with the PVP. Animal test subjects began showing an abnormal growth rate accompanied by increased brain activity. The U.S. government took notice of these discoveries, and in the interests of national security, moved a team on-site to secure and oversee the project, which was now dubbed the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) project.

So let's get this straight, FEV is created in 2076, later that same year the U.S. Government begins sending in it's own people to over-see the project in "early" 2076 - so perhaps March/April latest. The next log says that in 2077 they moved the entire project into the Mariposa MIlitary Base. So in the intervening months the Mariposa Military Base was designed.

Where in that chain-of-events does the U.S. Government remove the project from West-Tek, whilst the Mariposa Base is being constructed, then hand it to Vault-Tec with the orders to completely retro-fit a Vault finished half-a-decade before-hand to house this venture? Baring in mind that the U.S. Govt removed it to keep the Project in-house, if they were just going to give it back to another company what's the point? West-Tek are the most-advanced and largest military contractor and actually made the virus itself.

That's not even the end of it either, going by terminal logs in V87:

The latest subjects in the Evolutionary Experimentation Program (EEP) are showing some promise after only a single exposure to the modified FEV. We are currently testing five subjects, two males and three females. Each one of them is under 24 hour observation as usual. We hope to have a breakthrough in this strain as the continual pressure from Vault-Tec and the military at Mariposa is becoming most bothersome.

So these experiments where going on before the bombs had even dropped. Two scenarios, either they were just using the lab facilities for experimentation or they closed the Vault before the bombs. In both cases, why when the U.S. Government had Mariposa built specifically for FEV testing would any experimentation be going on elsewhere. And why is Vault-Tec involved when, again, the U.S. Government was keeping it out of anyone but the military's hands at their own secret installation; the point was to keep the project secure and insular, not fan it out amongst facilities on opposite sides of the country with other interests involved.

The Vault doesn't make sense, period.

EDIT: Cannibal, if you read this and start writing about how much all the Vaults don't make sense don't bother. This is in the Fallout 3 section discussing Fallout 3; it's not the battle-ground for pointing out flaws in the originals.

Which is what I have been saying for along time

FEV wasn't tested on people till a year or so before the Great War. Before when it was just PVP, the military didn't take any notice of it at all, until it was discovered that it could make animals bigger, which made them think "Super Soldiers!" So they sent all the research from West Tec to Meriposa.

So it makes zero sense at all for Vault 87 to have been custom made for airborn strain of FEV several years before there was even FEV! It's total bunk and a big plot hole by Bethesda.

Not even custom-made, re-fitted years after the fact. Such horse-[censored].

I agree, even re-fitting a Vault in such a small amount of time makes no sense. After all the order was for all the research to be sent to Mariposa. Mariposa was built for disease research and could handle FEV. Why a Vault of all places? The military didn't even start human testing till very close to the Great War.

Pretty shocking, isn't it? The whole damn game is an incoherent mess, but this pretty much takes the cake.

Guess there had to be some explanation for the heavy super mutant presence in the region. Logic is kinda outside Bethesda's forte.

Also, weren't the vaults supposed to be social exeriments?

Yes they were supposed to be social exeriments. So Vault 87 doesn't fit as a social exeriment because Vault 87 is a miltary facility with a military based project.

It was cool having different types of mutants but yes I agree bethesda seem to have problems following Lore no matter what game they make...

Hmph. Fine.

I think I found away for Bethesda to fix the canon conflict with Vault 87 and FEV for the next Fallout!. Ok people hear me out.

FEV started out as the Pan-Immumity Virion Project in 2055 in responce to outbreaks of New Plague Virus. The research was underway at West-Tec.

When the Military discovered the potential in PVP to make super soldier in 2076, the military had all the researched from West-Tec sent to Mariposa.

Now here is where the canon confict can be resolved. Vault-Tec and their Enclave connections were interested in a social experiment that involved New Plague and other viral outbreaks and how people will respond to it. They had a Vault going for such an experiment, Vault 87. In this Vault there were labs for such work on viruses. Information on PVP was copied and sent to Vault 87 in 2077 before the Great War. After the bombs fell work on PVP continued and it lead down the same road as FEV, no super humans were created, only Super Mutants.

FEV is mentioned in Vault 87 because some members of West-Tec that worked on PVP were sent to Vault 87. They learned of the Military's plans for PVP at Meriposa. They didn't know all the details but enough, and in time they created their own FEV project.

Bethseda makes me confused.

More plotholes from Bethesda! Yay!

Wait! What about the other Vault 87 plothole? You know, V87 has a GECK for no reason. My guess is that it was put there so there could be "an epic mutant dungeon the player must travel through to retrieve the plot device that will power the other plot device."

Which leads me to my next question, why does a giant water purifier need a Terraforming device to work?

Other plotholes about Vault 87 would be:

Why didn't the BoS know about where the super mutants were coming from? They had Vault 87's location on a giant map along with all the information on Vault 87, info on FEV should have raised alarm bells.

Another would be why didn't the BoS try to get the GECK out of Vault 87, after all they knew it was there and a GECK would be like finding the Holy Grail for the BoS, well worth the risk of radiation. So the BoS couldn't even discover the super mutants location by accident!

But anyways I think I solved the canon conflict with Vault 87 and FEV. Please read ==> http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1397523-vault-87-is-completely-ridiculous/page__view__findpost__p__21249040

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I guess Vault Tec actually believed Vault 87 would succeed. If it had, it would have been fairly well off. Super soldiers etc.

But frankly, given the context there were plenty of other Vaults who could have got one.

Originally though, all Vaults were supposed to have at least two GECKS.


And why can't the Enclave just replicate the Purifier themselves?

Water Purification isn't exactly a terribly complex science.