CROSS-CONTENT DISCUSSION: Harvesting

[TrickyVein]

Where are the Rivet City Hydroponics?

[The Unspeakable Horror]

They're mentioned in Dr. Li's terminal in the Science Lab. I don't think they have a physical location in-game.

"The RC hydroponics have been restored to basic functionality - easy enough after all our research. The limited amount of clean water we can produce is enough for growing basic foodstuffs.



Still no progress on any mass-purification tests, and with all of the maintenance that has to be done around here, there's hardly any time to attempt new experiments.



In any case, RC wouldn't work as a location for truly large scale decontamination. The infrastructure just isn't here, and the idea of recreating it again is too daunting to convince the rest of the council.



And that's even if the process worked."

[Risewild]

Well I guess that shows that RC can't produce a large quantity of fresh food.

[Casputin]

Maybe enough to sustain the city though? I still like the idea of a modest hydroponic farm on the flight deck. Just my 2 cents.

[TJ]

http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/11900/?

This looks like it would work...

[Spanta]

Building in the things above but trying to provide something new how factible would be to expand upon the sink's (OWB) farming capabilities by adding space for new plants?

[Chaophim]

[quote=frenzyslave]

You can always go underground and cultivate that. Grow some subterranean harvests, like perhaps mushrooms or other edible fungi.

There may be no suitable land surrounding Megaton (and defensible), but there can always be a subterranean entrance WITHIN Megaton's defended walls.

[/quote]

I agree with this logic and, moreover, it makes sense.  All settlements need water, but only in Megaton and Rivet City do you find so much emphasis put on them (still new to FO3, so if I am mistaken, correct me), Megaton putting the most emphasis on it.

Would make sense from a acreage/defense standpoint to have an underground cave that the townsfolk (for good reason) do not mention to strangers.  Not limited to just fungi though, a working greenhouse 'planters' like the ones in Vault 88 and/or Point Lookout's Cathedral.  This would also explain more about the large pipes.

In fact, adding a 'simple' (not a texture of modeler guy, so this is a guess) glow splotch to a section of ceiling in the cave directly under the bomb could show the bomb's radiation leaking down to serve as a sort of subterranean 'sun' which helps the plants grow in lieu of the greenhouse lighting from Vault 88.  Not trying to start any sort of religious debate/discussion here, but many primitive religions included 'sun worship, as the sun made crops grow.  Could mesh well with the Church of Atom's beliefs even though they never outright say "This gift helps our crops grow below!", right?

Explaining it in-game to the player/character would be as 'simple' as them finding the access hatch(s) and going down there, finding either a voiced farmer who explains and asks the LW to swear to secrecy, and/or a terminal/holotape that gives a history of Megaton's farm cave stemming from its accidental discovery, to clearing it of animal life, etc.,  This secrecy would make sense defense-wise, in my opinion, as "Hey!  Megaton has water AND a Mega-Farm!" would paint it as a BIGGER target for raiders, whereas "Megaton has water!" as it is, already draws enough attention, per the existing dialogue.

The way I picture it is they could not only have the planters, but also a couple of brahmin pens down there, with a food processor (mentioned above) and an access hatch leading up into the Brass Lantern (for both cover and convenience).  Moriarty, for obvious reasons, is kept out of the loop on the whole thing and it plays into his already-present disdain for the Lantern, if you think about it.



Just offering suggestions on how to make it feasable *and* lore-friendly while keeping 'major' changes to a minimum.