Van Buren/Endings

This page lists all endings planned for the canceled Van Buren project.

Space Station Destroyed, parts of the world get nuked
The sun is barely cresting over Earth's horizon when the escape pod launches. The camera pans away from the space station, showing the little escape pod jettison from its launch bay. As it tumbles towards Earth, nuclear flashes and then distant mushroom clouds can be seen erupting from the Earth's dark surface. The sun crests even more, showing the brown and burning Earth surface in a better light. The little escape pod falls closer to the Earth and begins to glow in the hot upper atmosphere. A few ticks later, B.O.M.B.-001 blows up. A couple more nuclear explosions erupt from the Earth's surface, and then the screen fades to black.
 * Prerequisites: Default Ending
 * CG ending movie: Once the PC leaves the station via an escape pod, the game should go into a CG movie.

Nuke destroys Denver

 * Prerequisites: The player had the satellite fire on Denver.
 * Image: Show a mushroom cloud in the distance with a highway and train tracks leading up to it.

Denver, once ravaged by nuclear war, suffered again as the satellite-launched warhead plummeted to earth. Dogs, salvagers, buildings, everything was incinerated by the atomic fire. Only a few hardy mutant cockroaches survived the blast.

Dog City

 * Prerequisites: Killed NCR salvagers, dogs rule
 * Image: Show packs of dogs running through the streets, the skeletons of skyscrapers looming above them.

With the deaths of the NCR salvagers, the dogs completely overtake Denver. Though desperate wastelanders brave its borders from time to time in order to scavenge materials from the old world city, the city belongs to the dogs and they aggressively defend it against intruders.

Dog City mk 2

 * Prerequisites: NCR salvagers never make a trade with other groups, they leave, dogs rule
 * Image: Show packs of dogs running through the streets, the skeletons of skyscrapers looming above them.

Isolated from NCR and other groups, the salvagers of Denver eventually die or leave their claims in despair. The dogs roam freely through the town. Though desperate wastelanders brave its borders from time to time in order to scavenge materials from the old world city, the city belongs to the dogs and they aggressively defend it against intruders.

Fort Denver established!

 * Prerequisites: Reconnected salvagers to NCR in Hoover Dam, no train, dogs eliminated, it's a fort!
 * Image: Show a skyscraper on a major road, surrounded by fortified walls and guarded by frontier guys with guns.

With ties reestablished between NCR and its Denver salvagers, and the dog threat eliminated, the salvager camp becomes the foundation for a fortified area in Denver. Over time more salvagers come to the city and establish claims, and the New Camp becomes a true fort. The original salvagers buy off their sentences, sell their claims, and move west, moderately wealthy for their years of hard work.

Dog City mk 3!

 * Prerequisites: Reconnected salvagers to NCR in Hoover Dam, no train, dogs still present, salvagers end up leaving, dogs rule
 * Image: Show packs of dogs running through the streets, the skeletons of skyscrapers looming above them.

Though the Denver salvagers were able to establish trade ties with NCR, the threat of the dogs and the great distance to Hoover Dam eventually do in their small camp before it gets a chance to benefit from the arrangement. The dogs roam freely through the town. Though desperate wastelanders brave its borders from time to time in order to scavenge materials from the old world city, the city belongs to the dogs and they aggressively defend it against intruders.

Fort Denver established! Mk 2

 * Prerequisites: Reconnected salvagers to NCR in Hoover Dam, got train running, dogs eliminated, it's a fort!
 * Image: Show the train station, surrounded by fortified walls and guarded by frontier guys with guns.

With ties reestablished between NCR and its Denver salvagers, and the dog threat eliminated, the train station becomes the foundation for a fortified area in Denver. Over time more salvagers come to the city and stake claims, and Union Station becomes a fort within the city limits. The original salvagers buy off their sentences, sell their claims, and move west, moderately wealthy for their years of hard work.

Fort Denver established! Mk 3

 * Prerequisites: Reconnected salvagers to NCR in Hoover Dam, got train running, dogs still present, dogs eventually eliminated, it's a fort!
 * Image: Show the train station, surrounded by fortified walls and guarded by frontier guys with guns.

With ties reestablished between NCR and its Denver salvagers, the train station becomes the foundation for a fortified area in Denver. Salvagers and soldiers from Hoover Dam drive back the dog packs, fortify Union Station, and stake claims in the city. The original salvagers buy off their sentences, sell their claims, and move west, moderately wealthy for their years of hard work. In time, Fort Denver becomes an actual town.

Ghoul City

 * Prerequisites: Ghouls take over Denver (if you tell them about it and Denver doesn't at least become a fort)
 * Image: Show the train station, surrounded by fortified walls and guarded by ghouls with guns.

Without the strong support of NCR, the Denver salvagers fall prey to attacks by the ghouls of the Reservation, hungry for its old-world resources. The ghouls take over Denver, fortify Union Station, and mine its resources to further their agenda in the wasteland.

Catastrophe!

 * Prerequisites: The player blew up the construction debris on the Rim, destroying the dam.
 * Image: Show crumbled dam face with green water cascading over jagged concrete and rebar.

What took five years to build, only took seconds to destroy. In one fell swoop from a carefully placed explosive, millions of tons of water and concrete washed away the lives and ambitions of people who longed for a better future. Hoover Dam, in all its glory and engineering marvel, was no more.

SATELLITE DESTROYS Hoover Dam!

 * Prerequisites: The player had the satellite fire on Hoover Dam.
 * Image: Show a smoldering crater.

Though the missiles of the Great War never touched Hoover Dam, the missiles of B.O.M.B. – 001 did. The atomic warhead incinerated everything. Now Hoover Dam is nothing more than irradiated sludge and scattered rebar, just like so many cities that fell victim to the Great War.

Peace between NCR and BOS

 * Prerequisites: If the player brokered peace between Hoover and Mason's
 * Image: Show Hoover Dam's Rim with new housing and happy people mingling with power armor clad BOS soldiers and NCR soldiers.

With peace came cooperation, and with cooperation came growth. Hoover Dam blossomed under the new peace between the Brotherhood of Steel at Maxson's Bunker and the NCR under Governor Joseph Dodge.

No peace between NCR and BOS

 * Prerequisites: If the player did not broker peace between Hoover and Mason's
 * Image: Show Dodge with a gun under his chin, an explosive exit wound on the top of his head, and a couple of Brotherhood soldiers busting through his office door.

War, no matter how big or small, always has a high price. Governor Dodge and Hoover Dam could not maintain an extended war with the Brotherhood of Steel. Morale ate away at Dodge's men, and soon there was no one left to protect Hoover Dam. Governor Dodge shot himself as the BOS stormed through the front gates, and the NCR became a forgotten memory.

Limit 115 goes unchecked

 * Prerequisites: If the player did not broker peace between Hoover and Mason's
 * Image: Do nothing about the virus.

Limit 115 takes its toll on Hoover Dam. Those who do not die from the plague, flee Hoover Dam when others perish. Half of those who choose to remain become sterile. Over time, the population of Hoover Dam dwindles, and no matter what mechanical or social successes came before it, the plague eventually wipes out another community.

PC distribute smooch through Dr. Yuri and never creates anti-toxin

 * Prerequisites: PC distributes smooch through Dr. Yuri
 * Image: Show ground perspective of the Rim; empty of life, littered with clothed skeletons, with one skull smiling at the camera..

The impact that smooch has on the citizens of Hoover Dam is overwhelming. Soldiers, police, and the common citizens all succumb to the addictive pleasures of smooch. Soon, mechanical equipment shuts down, systems fail, people starve, and lives are lost. Hoover Dam eventually turns into a ghost town, complete with the rotting corpses of its former citizenry.

EVERYONE DEAD!

 * Prerequisites: The player killed everyone in the Reservation
 * Image: Show an empty Trading Post and the front gate leading into an abandoned, dilapidated military base that used to be the Reservation.

The dead shall wake no more. Dr. Willem Clark's prophesy of delivering the Promised Earth to the Children of the Wasteland fell into the realm of forgotten lore, carrying with it one of the last vestiges of nuclear research and development, and the last hope for ghoul procreation and evolution.

SATELLITE DESTROYS THE RESERVATION

 * Prerequisites: The player had the satellite fire on the Reservation
 * Image: Show a smoldering crater.

Once the supplier of the tools for nuclear fire and the home for the Children of the Wasteland, the Los Alamos Nuclear Testing Facility, also known as the Reservation, is wiped away from the pock-marked wasteland by B.O.M.B.-001.

COLONEL GREEN OVERTHROWS WILLEM WITH THE PC'S HELP

 * Prerequisites: Colonel Green overthrows Willem with the player's help
 * Image: Show the Reservation town with adobe housing instead of shanty shacks, the office building rebuilt with an adobe front end, and ghouls intermixing with happy humans in environmental suits.

Thanks to the help of a tenacious human with overthrowing Dr. Willem Clark, Colonel Green not only brought the ghouls of the Reservation into a new age of enlightenment, but he also reached out to the outlaying human communities, establishing trade and commerce that profited all.

COLONEL GREEN OVERTHROWS WILLEM WHILE THE PC SITS OUT ON THE BATTLE

 * Prerequisites: Kyle the Hook remains leader of the Rusty Hooks
 * Image: Show Colonel Green and his ghoul guards arming themselves with high powered rifles, with a backdrop of stacked crates marked "Top Secret" and a couple of odd, futuristic looking rocket type weapons propped up against a far wall.

Though Colonel Green's trust of humans never blossomed, he never made any overt, aggressive moves on the outlaying human communities. Still, Colonel Green knew that one day the humans would try to destroy him and his ghouls, so he made certain his men and equipment were always in top fighting order. In addition, the Colonel continued research and development for advanced weaponry in preparation for that fateful day when the humans made their move against the Reservation.

PLAYER HELPS DR. WILLEM CLARK

 * Prerequisites: Player helps Willem
 * Image: Show Dr. Willem Clark's body impaled on a flag pole in front of the main gate to the Town.

No good deed shall go unpunished, nor shall any bad deed. With the help of a human stranger, Dr. Willem Clark was able to take his Nuclear Nellie and fire its radioactive ordnance on a populated human community. This act united all the humans within the region, and they launched a retaliation attack on the Reservation itself. Though the battle was bloody for both sides, the humans won the day, leaving any evidence of the ghouls from the Reservation buried under broken rock and concrete..

Boulder Nuked

 * Prerequisites: The player nuked Boulder
 * Image: Show the dome, blackened and cracked open in parts, surrounded by scorched earth, clouds of greasy smoke, and horrible greenish rain.

In Boulder, once again the sky burned and the earth was blasted by nuclear fire. Those creatures that survived the explosion quickly succumbed to fallout, poisonous air, and mutated diseases harbored in the charred flesh of the dead. Boulder became synonymous with Hell, and tribals and civilized folk alike forever avoided "Three Deaths Rock."

ZAX dies, Jackals invade, meltdown

 * Prerequisites: ZAX dies, Jackals invade
 * Image: The dome, part of it blown outward by a nuclear blast from within. In the foreground, a few Jackals fleeing the explosion, with other Jackals in the background scattered in other directions.

With the auto-cannibalistic death of its ZAX unit, the doors to the Boulder dome open wide. The Jackals pounced on this opportunity and enter the dome, killing and eating all within. Without ZAX to regulate the dome's nuclear reactor, it soon goes critical, giving the Jackals only a few short minutes to escape before the meltdown occurs. The Jackals flee, carrying the scientists' deadly strain of the New Plague into the wasteland.

ZAX dies, meltdown, Three Deaths Rock

 * Prerequisites: ZAX dies, no Jackals, their reactor goes nuclear
 * Image: The dome, part of it blown outward by a nuclear blast from within. Everything around it is wasteland, with clouds of greasy smoke and horrible greenish rain.

With the auto-cannibalistic death of its ZAX unit, the doors to the Boulder dome open wide. Though the scientists were able to seal the dome manually, the loss of the mainframe doubles their workload for repairs. Their unstable nuclear reactor eventually goes critical. The diseased scientists choose to be incinerated rather than carry their infection outside the dome. Tribals and civilized folk alike forever avoided the acid rain, toxic clouds, and radiation of "Three Deaths Rock."

ZAX dies, no Jackals, reactor OK, scientists shut down stuff and die with no cure

 * Prerequisites: ZAX dies, scientists fail, everyone dead or sleeping
 * Image: A room in the interior of the dome. On a bed sits a Chinese woman in an environmental suit, holding a small pistol in her hand, as if gathering courage to use it.

With the auto-cannibalistic death of its ZAX unit, the doors to the Boulder dome open wide. The scientists were able to seal the dome manually, preventing their contagion from leaving. Laboring alone, they were unable to find a cure for their disease, and one by one they died or went into cold sleep. The last survivor, Xian, sealed all exits to the dome to maintain their quarantine, then took her own life.

ZAX lives, scientists fail, everyone sleeps

 * Prerequisites: ZAX lives, scientists fail, everyone dead or sleeping
 * Image: ZAX lives, scientists shut down stuff and die with no cure

Though their ZAX computer was saved from cannibalistic suicide, the Boulder scientists were unable to find a cure for their disease. Eventually they reached a consensus and had the computer put them in cold sleep. Lacking any humans to talk to or protect, ZAX sealed the entrances to the dome and resigned himself to wait. The scientists still sleep, along with the other people Dr. Presper had put away for his rebirth of civilization.

ZAX lives, Nursery cure dome abandoned

 * Prerequisites: ZAX lives, cure from Nursery, scientists shut down dome and leave
 * Image: A view of the cold sleep chamber, with rows and rows of hatches, each with green lights across the board.

With their ZAX computer saved from cannibalistic suicide, the Boulder scientists were once again able to focus their attention on repairing the dome and researching a cure for their disease. Though they made some headway, success came unexpectedly a year later in the form of genetically-engineered fruit sent from the Nursery. Freed from their disease, environmental suits, and prison-home, the scientists left Boulder, ordering ZAX to seal it behind them. The sleepers remain, awaiting someone with the knowledge to wake them safely.

BOS takes over

 * Prerequisites: BOS takes over, dome looted, scientists killed, dome sealed
 * Image: The dome in the background. In the foreground, heading away from the dome at a leisurely pace, are several wagons or small trucks laden with gear and machinery (covered by tarps). The BOS logo is on the trucks and on the people visible within or on them.

Alerted to the presence of pre-War technology, the Brotherhood of Steel sends agents to Boulder to prevent these items from falling into the wrong hands. Finding diseased NCR scientists holed up in the facility, the B.O.S. agents gassed them to death and incinerated the remains. All data and materials were stripped from Boulder, and the site was sealed to prevent access by tribals and other undesirables.

Sleep through the holocaust 1

 * Prerequisites: You put yourself into cold-sleep to await Presper's new world order (mystery ending)
 * Image: A view of a coldsleep hatch, it's lights all in the green except for one that's yellow.

Determined to survive Presper's nuclear attack, you have the Boulder scientists put you in cold sleep. You are never awakened.

Sleep through the holocaust 2

 * Prerequisites: You put yourself into cold-sleep to await Presper's new world order (Presper ending)
 * Image: A view from the patient's perspective, lying on your back, coming out of cold sleep. Everything is blurry and distorted as your senses become used to normal wakefulness. Looking upward, you see standing over you is an older version of Presper, holding a large syringe of blue liquid.

Determined to survive Presper's nuclear attack, you have the Boulder scientists put you in cold sleep. Eventually you are awakened... by Doctor Presper.

Sleep through the holocaust 3

 * Prerequisites: You put yourself into cold-sleep to await Presper's new world order (ghoul ending)
 * Image: A view from the patient's perspective, lying on your back, coming out of cold sleep. Everything is blurry and distorted as your senses become used to normal wakefulness. Looking upward, you see standing over you is a ghoul in doctor's scrubs.

Determined to survive Presper's nuclear attack, you have the Boulder scientists put you in cold sleep. Eventually you are awakened to a world that's very different than the one you left....

GUNS OF THE BLACKFOOT

 * Prerequisites: You gave them guns
 * Image: Show the village, with simple gun towers behind the main wall. Tribals with guns stand in the foreground, watching a column of slaves head into the village.

With the ability to create and repair firearms, the Blackfoots became more aggressive, expanding their territory and swelling their ranks with slaves. The tribal village became the center of a small but dangerous state, avoided by all but the most desperate traders.

NO SLAVES, NO LIFE

 * Prerequisites: Stopped them from slaving & left them to die without another economy
 * Image: An empty, decrepit village, a few human skeletons, and feral dogs running around everywhere, some still with collars.

Deprived of their trade in human flesh, the Blackfoots began to dwindle away as the tribute to Caesar's Legion took its toll. Eventually the Blackfoots scattered to the wasteland, and the hounds of the hangdogs ran wild in the hills once again.

PLAYER DESTROYS THE BLACKFOOTS

 * Prerequisites: You killed everyone in the village
 * Image: An empty, decrepit village, a few human skeletons, and feral dogs running around everywhere, some still with collars.

Wiped out by the escaped Prisoner, the Blackfoots and Hangdogs vanished as a tribe. Their village was looted by salvagers, and its dogs left to roam free.

RANCHERS AND WATER TRADERS

 * Prerequisites: You made them Brahmin and water traders.
 * Image: The village, with some tribals dressed in more modern clothing. A series of telegraph wire poles extend from the background and out toward the wasteland.

Convinced that water and Brahmin were the key to the tribe's prosperity, the Blackfoots began a tentative trade in water and animals with nearby settlements. Their ready supply of the precious drink and hardy stock were well received by their neighbors, and all villagers reaped the reward. In time, the Blackfoots abandoned slaving for their new trade, and their village experienced a boom in wealth and trade. Though never fully trusted by other settlements, the Blackfoots gained a reputation for fairness and quality goods.

Vipers not dealt with

 * Prerequisites: The player didn't deal with the Viper siege.
 * Image: The village at Mesa Verde in ruins, with corpses lying everywhere and black smoke pouring out of the dwellings.

The Vipers eventually crush the village of Mesa Verde for defying Hecate. The surviving Ciphers are scattered into the wasteland, taking their secrets from the Old World with them.

Alliance with BoS, CoS in charge

 * Prerequisites: Alliance with BoS, CoS in charge
 * Image: The village at Mesa Verde in ruins, with corpses lying everywhere and black smoke pouring out of the dwellings.

The Circle of Steel's paranoia eventually causes them to withdraw all troops to Maxson's bunker. The NCR, learning of the Ciphers' collaboration with the Brotherhood, launch a massive assault on the village. Every Cipher man, woman, and child dies in the siege.

Alliance with BoS, CoS not in charge

 * Prerequisites: Alliance with BoS, CoS not in charge
 * Image: A group of Ciphers working on a suit of Power Armor while a Brotherhood soldier looks on.

The Brotherhood-Cipher alliance allows both groups to prosper. The Ciphers welcome the opportunity to put their skills and knowledge to the test, and in exchange the Brotherhood uses its firepower to shield Mesa Verde from its enemies.

Ciphers defeated/all dead

 * Prerequisites: You kill all the Ciphers
 * Image: The village at Mesa Verde, crumbling and empty.

With the Ciphers gone, the carvings and paintings of Old World knowledge on the walls at Mesa Verde fade away, lost forever to the ravages of time.

Mesa Verde got nuked

 * Prerequisites: Mesa Verde got nuked.
 * Image: Big mushroom cloud rising over the place Mesa Verde used to be.

In a flash of nuclear fire, Mesa Verde disappears from the face of the earth, as does all Old World knowledge contained in the village.

Vipers gone, Ciphers alive with no allies

 * Prerequisites: Vipers dealt with, Ciphers left alone
 * Image: A snapshot of the village during the day, with children running in the background and an old man with a pile of partially-repaired electronics surrounding him.

With the Vipers gone, life at Mesa Verde returns to the normal routine of surviving from day to day. Most Ciphers remain nomadic, repairing whatever electronics they find and bringing a small measure of civilization back to the wasteland.

Jericho and Mormons together in peace, plant optimized

 * Prerequisites: PC made peace between Jericho and the Mormons
 * Image: Jeremiah and O'Connor shaking hands, surrounded by smiling townsfolk and a prosperous Jericho.

The presence of the Mormons tempered Jericho with morality as the town grew large and prosperous thanks to its optimized water plant. Jericho becomes one of the most important towns in the wasteland, known for its fairness towards its trading partners and generosity towards the unfortunates of the wasteland.

Jericho and Mormons together in peace, plant not optimized

 * Prerequisites: PC made peace between Jericho and the Mormons, but didn't fix the water plant
 * Image: Jericho with a nice Mormon church in the middle of town. Not prosperous, but not falling apart.

When Jericho's aging water plant eventually breaks down, the citizens are sustained by their faith through the troubled time, thanks to the Mormons. Although Jericho's dreams of prosperity turn to dust, the town manages to survive, and becomes a place many decent, hard-working people call home.

Jericho nuked

 * Prerequisites: Jericho got nuked
 * Image: Jericho as a big, black, smoking radioactive crater, maybe with a scorched, upside-down sign reading "Jericho".

Atomic fire wipes Jericho from the face of the wasteland. The radiation from the blast ensures that no one will rebuild anywhere near the ruins of Jericho for a long, long time.

Mormons destroyed, water plant not optimized

 * Prerequisites: Player killed everyone in New Canaan, did not repair Jericho's water plant
 * Image: The water plant with its doors wide open, abandoned. Rusty piles of junk are strewn everywhere.

Jericho enjoys many years of peace and prosperity until their water plant, reliant for far too long on jury-rigged parts, breaks down completely. Jericho eventually becomes a ghost town, the empty water plant the only sign of its former glory.

Mormons destroyed, water plant optimized

 * Prerequisites: Player killed everyone in New Canaan, repaired Jericho's water plant
 * Image: Jericho, looking prosperous, but with a dead guy in the street as other well-dressed townspeople look on.

Jericho becomes one of the most important towns in the wasteland, thanks to its fully operational water plant. However, as Jericho's wealth grows, so does the corruption inside the town. Factions vie for control of the town, and bribery and assassinations become an integral part of Jericho's politics.

Jericho destroyed

 * Prerequisites: PC didn't help Jericho OR the Mormons
 * Image: Jericho with a lot of burned down buildings.

The skirmishes between Jericho and the Mormons eventually turn deadly, and although the Mormons are eventually wiped out in the conflict, much of the town is destroyed in the process. Many citizens choose to start over somewhere else in the wasteland, and the dream of Jericho is abandoned.