Big Town

Big Town is a medium sized settlement surrounded by a makeshift wall, consisting of six survivors and four possible additional characters. The town has been ravaged from super mutant and slaver attacks. It is located north of Vault 101 and southeast of the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema. It is also one of the starting points of the quest Big Trouble in Big Town.

Background
The population of Big Town is mostly comprised of teenagers that were former residents of Little Lamplight, being expelled upon their sixteenth birthday.

Big Town was glorified by those of high authority in Little Lamplight as a safe and comfortable area where "mungos" go to live. In reality, Big Town is constantly besieged by slavers and super mutants, while the demoralized residents can do little to repel the invasions. When the Lone Wanderer arrives in the settlement for the first time, they are informed that some residents were kidnapped by super mutants and taken to the old police station in Germantown, whom the Wanderer can rescue if they so choose. Upon arrival, every resident is seemingly depressed and ready for death. A prime example of this can be observed through dialogue with Bittercup.

Aftermath
After completing the quest "Big Trouble in Big Town" by showing the citizens how to defend themselves, mutant attacks will cease on Big Town and the area turns into a relatively safe place to visit. The quest can also be completed by simply fighting off the mutants yourself and not having to teach the citizens anything in the way of knowledge. The effects this may have on the citizens in the future are uncertain, however. The chosen method of handling the problem (or not) will also determine what happens in a certain random encounter with a wasteland merchant. If you choose to help Timebomb, you will get the Lucky 8-ball and free medical services from Red.

Layout
Big Town is a small town which apparently used to be a sprawl of suburban housing before the Great War. It has since been transformed into a makeshift fortress with walls made of cars, debris, and rubble. The dilapidated homes are fortified with barbed wire and sandbags. The town is only accessible by using a bridge crossing a makeshift moat (located at the north end), as the town is surrounded by barricades.

Inhabitants

 * ¹ After randomly encountering the scavenger who is heading for Big Town, he will remain there indefinitely.
 * ² After completing Happy Birthday to You
 * ³ Only if rescued during Big Trouble in Big Town

Appearances
Big Town appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes
"Big Town" is the name of a song by Roy Brown, whose songs Butcher Pete and Mighty, Mighty Man are included on the Fallout 3 soundtrack and are heard in-game on Galaxy News Radio.

Bugs

 * The nearby wheels provide a better moving platform as the carts can glitch through the protectron. In order to test one's positioning, one should enter two additional cells in order to trigger the glitch; such as entering red's clinic, then the basement of the clinic, then return to the outside. If done correctly, there should be a longer loading screen with a background image rather than a black screen, and the robot will have attempted to move.
 * It has been noted above in the Notes section that enemies may randomly appear upon fast travel. But sometimes upon fast travel they will actually spawn in front of the player from 'thin air'. This may result in one or more non-player character's to be killed, and could affect certain quests such as Strictly Business if Red is killed.
 * The inhabitants may randomly become "hostile" acting as if they are going to shoot but just following the player with weapons drawn and cannot be interacted with. Leaving and waiting a few days seems to fix this.
 * After ending the Big Trouble in Big Town mission, if you do not wait the two waves of super mutants to attack, all the inhabitants will disappear, as if they had been killed. No corpses will be found.