Vault

The Vaults are a series of massive underground fallout shelters developed by Vault-Tec in the mid-21st century.

Overview
The vaults initially appeared as a haven for the endangered U.S. population. However, there were not nearly enough Vaults to achieve the task. The true reason for these 'shelters' was that in fact they were a series of sociological experiments planned by pre-war government. Each Vault was set up with different conditions and observed to see how the dwellers within coped with varying conditions and the pressures of isolation.

The story intended for the player to first encounter information about the vault as they read the Vault 8 records in Fallout 2. They could discover a classified file (opened with a successful Science skill roll) explaining the purpose of Vault 8 was to be a "control Vault," designed to hold 1000 people and open at a designated time. This file was intended to foreshadow the discovery of the true and sinister purpose of the Vaults.

The player was also intended to apply his Science skill to the central computer in Vault 13 to obtain a history of Vault 13, the Overseer's involvement in the Vault Dweller's expulsion, and even worse, the true purposes of the Vaults. The Overseer was conscious of the true purpose of the Vaults as social experiments on a grand scale, and consequently drove out the Vault Dweller because of fear he would ruin the experiment... or uncover it. Of course, the Overseer himself caused problems not long after this, according to Martin Frobisher, the leader of Vault 13 in Fallout 2:


 * There used to be an overseer, many years ago, but he did a bad thing and many of our people left the Vault. Only to die in the Wastes, I'm sure. He was tried and sentenced to death for his crime. We haven't used the title since.

Martin did not see the Overseer executed, however... his information comes from the Vault 13 records passed down by his ancestors.

The Vaults were never intended to save the population of the United States. With a population of almost 400 million by 2077, the U.S. would need nearly 400,000 Vaults the size of Vault 13, and Vault-Tec was commissioned to build only 122 such Vaults. The real reason for these Vaults was to study pre-selected segments of the population to see how they react to the stresses of isolationism and how successfully they re-colonize after the Vault opens.

Known Vaults
The total number of vaults is a government secret and has been lost; there were "public" vaults, which numbered around 100 and an undisclosed number of "private" vaults. Information on whether Vault-Tec was an international corporation and were there vaults made by them in other parts of the world, or were they strictly U.S. based, cannot be released due to Vault-Tec and US Government regulations.

Positions

 * Overseer
 * Underseer - Overseer's deputy (present at van Buren tech demo)
 * Security Officer - armory supervision, in charge with his security team
 * Medical Officer - physician
 * Supply Officer

Facilities
ODYSSEUS - extremaly advanced AI was designed to coordinate and operate all of the Vaults before Project Safehouse was privatized. According to Chris Taylor Vaults were bigger than they appear in the game, which confirms Vault-Tec advertisement showing a multilevel Vault.

Power supply
Required specifications for energy levels. Power saver mode possible.
 * Vault 8/Vault City - some inefficient power generator (power demand: Vault facilities, street lights, buildings internal lights, heavy laser turrets, other 100 Citizens needs, Outskirts clinic - it seems other Outskirts denizens could have limited access to electric power),
 * Vault 13 - primary power supply - geothermal, General Atomics Nuclear Power backup systems as secondary power supply (power requirements: 3.98mkW a day),
 * Vault 15 - some power generator probably, which should be repaired (however it could be built-in by raiders),
 * Van Buren tech demo Vault - T6 Fusion Generator, a sixth generation TRIDENT class fusion generator from Poseidon Energy, relatively large and inefficient.

Water Purification Systems

 * were able to deliver over 15,000 gallons of pure, refreshing drinking water a day,
 * were rated to work without significant loss of output for over 250,000 hours (10,417 days, c.a. 28-29 years),
 * were using Water Purification Chips (typically packaged in groups of five to a box),
 * Vault 13 was able to survive 150 days without Water Purification System (water rationing was necessary).

IT systems

 * central computer or computer control system - think machine (according to Vault Dweller's Survival Guide),
 * life support computers (air purification, air condition),
 * teaching (educational) terminals (2 - at Vault 13, 1 - in Vault 8),
 * Brotherhood of Steel supercomputer built-in at Vault 13 instead of Overseer (after year 2161),
 * ZAX AI at Vault 29 instead of Overseer.

Environmental Systems

 * Ventilation.
 * Required specifications for temperature and humidity within Vault.

Security Systems


Mentioned by Vault 8 central computer (may be Vault door and overseer's seat armed with double minigun).

Stores
Complete construction equipment, hydro-agricultural farms, water purification from underground river, defensive weaponry to equip 10 men, communication, social and entertainment files (for total duration of 10 years at 1000 capacity).

Portable equipment

 * GECK
 * defensive weaponry to equip 10 men (according to Vault Dwellers Guide: Combat Armors, pistols and clubs probably, Vault 13 Armory was equipped with one double barreled 12 gauge shotgun also, but there were no armors; smg and grenades were assault weapons, .223 rifle and spear - hunting weapons, sledgehammer and Vault-Tec Knives were tools, Leather Armors and Leather Jackets - sport equipment)

Equipment listed at Vault Dwellers Guide:
 * weapons:
 * Pistol - 10mm 6520 Colt
 * Rifle - .223 Rangemaster
 * SMG - 10mm H&K MP9
 * fragmentation grenade
 * Vault-Tec Knife
 * Sledgehammer
 * razor-tipped Spear
 * Club - a police baton
 * Brass Knuckles
 * ammunition:
 * .223 FMJ
 * 10mm JHP
 * 10mm AP
 * armor:
 * Combat Armor
 * Leather Armor
 * Leather Jacket
 * chems:
 * Radaway
 * Rad-X
 * Stimpak
 * Super Stimpak
 * miscellaneous:
 * Backpack
 * Doctor's Bag
 * First Aid Kit
 * Dynamite
 * Flare
 * Lockpicks
 * Geiger Counter
 * Motion Sensor
 * THT Tapes - a holotapes

Appearances in games
Fallout: The other Vaults present in this article were mentioned in Chris Avellone's Fallout Bible only.
 * Vault 12, Vault 13, Vault 15 and the LA Vault appeared in Fallout 1 (year 2161).
 * Vault 8, Vault 13 and Vault 15 appeared in Fallout 2 (year 2241), as well as Vault Sexteen porn movie produced by New Reno Golden Globes.
 * A malfunctioning Vault with unknown number and exact location appeared in Van Buren tech demo (year 2077),
 * Vault 69 advertisement appeared in the Van Buren concept art.
 * Vault 29 and Vault 70 were to appear in Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 project by Black Isle (year 2253).
 * Vault 101 is going to appear in Fallout 3 alongside at least Vault 106 ear 2277).

Spin-offs:
 * Vault 0 appeared in Fallout Tactics, but the idea did not really fit the Vault experiment.
 * A secret Vault-Tec Vault dedicated to FEV research appeared in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, but is considered non-canon.

Behind the scenes
The vault experiment was an idea created by Tim Cain during the initial stages of Fallout 2 development.