Megaton

 is a sprawling settlement, set in a crater and surrounded by impenetrable walls. It features a sliding front gate - guarded by a sniper named Stockholm and a Protectron named Deputy Weld - and is one of the two largest civilian settlements in the Capital Wasteland.

Megaton should be the first populated town the player encounters after leaving Vault 101. Its proximity to Vault 101, its distinctive silhouette, and the relatively straight route make it extremely difficult to miss, and it will very likely be the first trace of civilization the Lone Wanderer encounters.

Location
Megaton is south of Springvale and west of Grayditch, on the border of the wasteland northwest of the urban DC areas.
 * The easiest way to get here is straight southeast from Vault 101, from which it is easily visible. You can also go east to Springvale, and straight south from there.

Origin and History
Megaton was built by a large group of people who originally planned to seek shelter in Vault 101 but were denied access. So without shelter, they sought refuge in a large crater made by a large megaton bomb (though not due to an explosion of the bomb) and a large commercial aircraft. They then constructed a place to call home out of pieces of metal/aircraft found nearby at a decimated air station, which was either Dulles International or Reagan National Airport. They were aided by the Children of the Atom, who worshipped the undetonated bomb in the crater they were building around.

The Plane
The large plane still can be seen in pieces throughout the town. The cockpit and nose cone are built into Craterside Supply apparently housing inaccessible living space to Moira. The main section of the fuselage is used as the armory, and the rear end of the plane is on the roof of Lucas Simms' house providing an extra sniper nest and speculated residence to Stockholm. You can get there via a trap-door in the ceiling of the Sheriff's house. The wings make up the two large "fins" that are symmetrically aligned next to Megaton's main gate, and the two engines are separated. One is used to work the pulley mechanism for the main gates, and the other one is above the path to the common house providing breeze. Another way to get up there is to jump on the roof from the fence near the water station. Although it takes longer, you can talk to Stockholm this way.

Destroyed Megaton
If you choose to destroy the town in The Power of the Atom, Megaton will be nothing but rubble.

You can find Moira Brown here; she apparently survives the explosion, as she was out in Springvale, but the massive radiation from the explosion turned her into a ghoul. You can later find Moira in Underworld. Strangely, the Deputy Weld also partially survived, but only his head remains. He can speak to some extent, and claims that the bomb in Megaton is "perfectly safe".

The explosion also has an effect on the surrounding area in another way - while it is strangely not very radioactive, the massive amount of dust in the zone kicked up by the nuclear blast more or less permanently fogs the area with a green hue. The closer to the center of Megaton you walk, the more radiation is encountered. Radiation peaks at strangely low value 23 rad/sec.

The shattered remnants of Megaton itself is normally inaccessible. On the PC, it is possible to use console to again access to the old Megaton. Fast travel to Megaton, then enter the console command, then go into the ground, you should see a drainage grate that says it goes to Megaton. Enter this and you will be taken to the version of Megaton as it was before the detonation of the nuke. An alternative method to do the same thing is to type and that brings you to Megaton also.

Related quests

 * Following in His Footsteps The central storyline of Fallout 3.
 * The Power of the Atom - A side-quest in Megaton that revolves around disarming or detonating the bomb landing you your first wasteland house.
 * The Wasteland Survival Guide - Moira Brown, the owner of the local general shop Craterside Supply gives this mission.
 * Treatment - Talk to Walter to start this mini quest.
 * Walter's Scrap Metal
 * Church Donations
 * Leo's Drug Habit
 * Blood Ties - Lucy West will ask you to deliver a letter to her family in Arefu.
 * You can start The Replicated Man quest, if you go up to Craterside Supply on a table behind the desk by the door there is a holotape along with a pistol and Radaway. If you sneak into the Megaton Clinic's backroom there is a holotape by a computer there starting the quest as well. The holotape can be also found in Nathan and Manya's House. Sometimes Victoria Watts appears outside Megaton, next to Micky. So you can also start the quest by talking to her.



Notable loot

 * Bobblehead - Strength - inside Lucas Simms' House, on a desk in a bedroom on the second floor.
 * Pre-War Book - Four in Billy Creel's house: 3 downstairs on a table in a box, and one more upstairs.
 * Grognak the Barbarian - in Jericho's house.
 * Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual - on a shelf in a ruined house (at the top of the hill between Megaton and the Super-Duper Mart, next to a rusty, domed silo).
 * Sniper Rifle - the Hollowed-Out Rock outside the southwest edge of Megaton (also contains a Sniper Rifle, ammo, Stealth Boy, Stimpacks and a note from "E" to "S" entitled: "As Requested").

Bugs

 * There may be a random spot on the Megaton gate from the inside where blood is shown to be gushing as though you were shot. If you fast travel or travel back to the location, it will still be there. (Confirmed on 360)


 * There is a bug where the praying Confessor Cromwell will die unexpectedly. His death does not affect any quests. It's possible that this is intentional, as the water, like most other sources of water in the game, is highly radioactive.


 * There is another bug where Nathan might be found dead in the Radioactive Water. When this happens you will not be able to talk to Manya anymore as all she will do is talk about her missing Nathan.


 * If you bring a follower into Megaton and start jumping from level to level, there is a possibility that they will also jump and fall to their deaths (Tested on 360).


 * If you have good karma and the town starts to give you presents, the settler that gives them to you may be stuck in one of the bathrooms. Just check the bathrooms if you don't ever get rewards.


 * In the Players House in Megaton, there are two main places where you can get stuck (which is very unfortunate because you cannot fast travel to get out of there). In your room if you jump behind your bed you will not be able to get back out unless you load your last saved game. Another is downstairs in your house in the chair next to your Bobblehead Collector's Stand, if you jump behind that chair you will be unable to jump out and again you will have to load your last saved game. Both of these bugs can also be gotten around by either sleeping in the bed, or by sitting in the chair. This will move your character to the other side of your obstruction.


 * There is a bug when entering the Brass Lantern, Dogmeat will attack Leo and Andy unprovoked.


 * There is also a glitch where if you kick a metal barrel at a NPC, he or she will die unexpectently and will also hurt you. This doesn't do anything to karma though if you talk to any of the megaton settlers, they will treat you as though you have bad karma.


 * There is a glitch where people think that both Lucas Simms and Colin Moriarty are dead, but they are both alive.


 * Sometimes when entering Megaton for the first time Mr. Burke will be found near the atomic bomb. He floats in the sitting position moving toward the walkway leading to the saloon. Once he passes the post holding up The Brass Lantern's canopy he reverts to the normal walking animation. You can talk to him normally and even receive the Fusion Pulse Charge from him needed for The Power of the Atom. If you immediately give this charge to Simms before Burke gets to the saloon Simms runs over to the saloon, passing Burke. He enters, leaves, and finds Burke, but as soon as he starts the conversation he simply falls down dead. (Confirmed 360)

Megaton Bug Fixes (Patch 1.1)

 * As of the December 15th, 2008 (PS3) and January 13th, 2009 (Xbox 360/PC) releases of the Fallout 3 patch, the issues regarding unexpected NPC disappearances and deaths have been fixed. Upon entering Megaton, if they haven't died previously, you should now be able to find all of your missing NPCs including the biggest offenders, Walter, Billy Creel, Colin Moriarty, and Andy Stahl.

Japanese Version of Fallout 3 Megaton Quest Removed
In the Japanese version of Fallout 3, the quest to blow up Megaton has been completely removed due to its "parallels to real historic events" quotes Official Xbox Magazine. They are referring to the atomics bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

It is unconfirmed if it is ever possible to get the suite in the Tenpenny Tower having this quest removed from the game completely. It is believed that the quest has been replaced with something else to get suite instead if you wish to live in Tenpenny Tower in the Japanese version of the game.

Gallery
Мегатонна Megaton