Festus (Fallout: New Vegas)

Festus is a unique robot residing in the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters' lobby in the Mojave Wasteland.

Background
Festus is an animatronic automaton designed as an interactive display for visitors and tourists. Unlike most other robots in the Fallout universe, who operate with a degree of autonomous artificial intelligence, Festus is a simple machine that only responds to a set of about a dozen designated command phrases with pre-recorded responses.

According to a message from Lucas Nash, Festus was made by RobCo Industries for the Sunset Sarsaparilla Corporation and was indicated to have replaced an older model in that corporate memo. The message also states that others were to be purchased, but were never put into use, due to the Great War of 2077.

Quests

 * The Legend of the Star: Festus will introduce the legend of the Sunset Sarsaparilla Stars and tell the Courier there is a reward for collecting enough of them.
 * A Valuable Lesson: Festus unlocks a door containing the reward for collecting 50 Sunset Sarsaparilla Stars.

Other interactions

 * When first meeting Festus you may want to select the "Pleased to meetcha" dialogue option. This option will explain all of the dialogue options available to the player.
 * If the player asks Festus to tell about the "Silly Ol' Advisory," he will list numerous serious health problems associated with drinking Sunset Sarsaparilla. He will ask the player to repeat yourself twice before finally telling. This may have been programmed into Festus in an attempt to prevent people from hearing the advisory.
 * After redeeming 50 Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps for the quest, Festus will tell you the story of "The Legend of the Star." He'll make mention of Nuka-Cola, the principal rival soft drink of Sunset Sarsaparilla. After this, he'll mention that to avoid legal action from the Nuka-Cola Corporation, he will inform you that Nuka-Cola is a "swell" drink, but sometimes people just want something "different."

"Lucky Horseshoes"
If you select the dialogue option "I Feel Lucky," you have the option to play a variant of blackjack called Lucky Horseshoes. You can ask Festus to instruct you on which buttons perform which action.

Rules

 * Number cards count as face value.
 * There are no face cards (Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Jokers).
 * The goal of the game is to get close to 21 in order to win the hand.
 * You may draw or hold, however once you hold you are done drawing for that hand.
 * If the players are equal close to 21 (for example 17 - 25), the player who got there first has the advantage.
 * If a player draws and their new total equals the other player's total, the other player's total is increased (bumped up) by one. This is known as lucky horseshoes, and ensures that ties are not possible.

Each time you win you have a 6% chance of getting a Sunset Sarsaparilla star cap and a 24.44% chance of getting a card for your Caravan deck, otherwise you get up to 9 bottle caps. The game can be played repeatedly to garner more and more prizes.
 * NOTE: A mental tally of yours and Festus' total must be kept, as Festus does not keep track of this for you.

Appearances
Festus appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes
Festus is a reference to the character Festus of the 1952 radio and 1955 television Western drama series Gunsmoke.

Bugs

 * Sometimes when entering the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters a loud metal crashing noise can be heard (like when a robot crashes to the floor), due to Festus having turned 180 or 45 degrees to face the wall. Interaction is still possible even though the player will only be able to see the back panel. He may eventually turn back if you re-enter.
 * It is possible to knock him unconscious with the Golden Gloves or boxing tape. If done so you cannot speak to him and he will not regain consciousness. If you do kill him you can walk through him.
 * Sometimes, when entering dialogue, the words may skip to the next line. The next lines will also skip until you are ready to talk.

Gallery
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