Fallout: Project Brazil

Fallout: New California, formerly known as Fallout: Project Brazil is a fan-made modification made by Brandan Lee and several members of the Fallout Modding Community, and is an unofficial prequel to the action role-playing video game Fallout: New Vegas, being set in 2260.

Vault 18 is at the heart of the California Wasteland high in the San Bernardino Mountains, and is sort of an okay-ish place to live. Its legendary Wasteland Scouts have managed to keep its secrets safe for decades despite the wars raging beyond the great door. In their old age, their adventures have created a new generation to take their place... if their rebellious adopted kids survive the threat brewing within their own ranks. Then, on the last big night of the Vault Ball season, you, being one of those same adopted kids adopted into the Vault, make a fateful decision that will change the course of your life -- and eventually the future of New California.

The mod is set to release into two instalments, with the first released on May 31, 2013. The second instalment was officially released on October 23, 2018, with a final launch expected by the end of the year. It can be found here.

Tropes used in Fallout: Project Brazil include:

Agent Provocateur: It's revealed that the Vault Ball coach, John Bragg is Colonel Bragg of the Enclave's Leonidas Squadron. He infiltrated Vault 18 many years earlier and has spent that time grooming the "Enclave Patriots" to help seize control of the Vault.
All for Nothing:
- The Enclave ending. You along with your victorious comrades rendezvous with the Mobile Base Crawler bound for DC and Raven Rock. It's still not enough to stop the Brotherhood of Steel from defeating the Enclave at Project Purity or Adams Air Force Base, undoing much of what had been accomplished.
- The "Survivalists" ending, as well. Fort Daggerpoint is a Pyrrhic Victory, with attrition and fears of both NCR reprisal and FEV contamination forcing you and Boss Elsdragon to lead what's left out of New California. Only to be forced into Caesar's Legion, with Elsdragon crucified for good measure.
Arch Enemy: Boss Elsdragon of the "Survivalists" is this to Vault 18's Dr. Kevin Rossman.
Artifact Title: For the longest time, the mod used the title Project Brazil both as a placeholder and a way to deliberately obscure what said mod is about.
Ascended Extra: While the Enclave Remnants do play a key role in the plot of New Vegas, their presence and numbers are much more significant in New California. Given how 20 years hadn't even passed since the NCR declared war on the Enclave, the mod may also shed light on why NCR authorities even decades after aren't keen on them ever coming back.
Big Bad: The Father, leader of the Super Mutants, would arguably count. Though depending on your actions, Boss Elsdragon and Col. Bragg would count as well.
Bittersweet Ending: The Shi ending, after a fashion. After usurping power from Boss Elsdragon you and the other "Survivalist"-aligned Shi lead the remaining Raiders out of New California, both to escape the NCR and build a new future for yourselves. And while said Shi wind up being brought under Caesar's Legion, they take some consolation in being able to get back at the NCR by the time they reached Hoover Dam.
Blatant Lies: The player may notice something off in the way Coach Bragg talks about his childhood in a Vault somewhere in the midwest, including mentions of seeing old Westerns on TV. Which hints to him being an Enclave agent.
The Bus Came Back:
- The mobsters of New Reno, more specifically the Bishop crime family, make a return. It's strongly implied that they're trying to gain power in the NCR through government corruption.
- The Shi, who were last mentioned in passing in Fallout 4 through Kellogg's memories, are also slated to make a comeback. From what little's known, they're said to have expanded into banking since the events of Fallout 2, with some however aligning themselves with the "Survivalists."
- From the first intro, at least part of the plot involves revisiting the Los Angeles Boneyard, which is shown to have grown since becoming part of the NCR.
- Also making a return are the remnants of the Master's Super Mutant army from Fallout 1, who are still making life in the fringes of civilization difficult.
- The Tribals inhabiting the fringes of New California are slated to also make a comeback in the final version, albeit finding themselves caught up in both the NCR's expansion and the struggle against the "Survivalists."
Call Forward:
- The Long 15 is expected to play a fairly sizable role, given its strategic value. Which in turn foreshadows it use in New Vegas.
- Boss Elsdragon's rise to power in the Athens-Tec Uranium Mine and his subsequent forging of the "Survivalists" mirrors Caesar's Legion. But unlike Caesar aka, Edward Sallow, Elsdragon was born and raised in the Raider lifestyle.
- Fort Daggerpoint, particularly the nuclear warheads and codes inside it, harkens to the Divide from New Vegas. Especially since the codes taken from there are what destroy Hopeville, thanks unintentionally to the figure who would in time be known as the Courier.
Colonel Badass: The Enclave's Leonidas Squadron has Col. Bragg.
Corrupt Politician: NCR Senator Paul DuVille, who's mentioned as having ties to the Bishop crime family from New Reno. But even in the endings where he somehow manages to stay both in the NCR government and the Bishops' good graces, one way or another his antics eventually get to him.
Crap Saccharine World: Standards of living in the NCR are suggested to be improving at this point, and the NCRR station constantly mentions such developments. On the other hand, the continuing threat of the Enclave, Raiders and the like still threaten to upend what peace and order that's already been accomplished. Not to mention how even with the improvements, things remain rather rough even in erstwhile NCR territory. Vault 18 meanwhile, though seemingly on the up and up is shown as on the brink of civil war, thanks in part to the "Enclave Patriots."
Crapsack World: With the NCR still consolidating its territories, all the while fighting the Enclave's Leonidas Squadron, Raiders and Super Mutants all at once, there remain areas that are this, particularly outside of firm NCR control.
Crazy Survivalist: The aptly named "Survivalists," a potent alliance of Raider gangs and tribes who had joined together under Boss Juan Jose Encantada Marxson Elsdragon and are based at the remote Athens-Tec Uranium Mine somewhere off the Long 15.
Development Hell: To give an idea of how long New California has been in development, its intro video was put out in 2013. The second version of the mod's intro came out in 2017.
Doomed Hometown: Not only does Vault 18 succumb to civil war, but it's also implied to be eventually destroyed by the fighting.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: By 2260, the NCR's war against the Enclave is shaping up to be both reminiscent of the Vietnam War and the immediate aftermath of World War II post-1945.
During the War: New California is set towards the tail end of the NCR-Enclave War. While Navarro had long fallen, the Enclave Remnants continue to fight on.
Enemy Mine: It's all but stated that the reason why at least some of the Shi align themselves with the "Survivalists" is because of a common foe in the NCR, particularly over the latter claiming San Francisco.
End of an Age/Dawn of an Era:
- The mod chronicles the beginning of the end of the "wasteland" seen in the original Fallout games set in the West Coast, as civilization continues to reestablish itself and the New California Republic genuinely becomes a force to be reckoned with.
- For the remaining Tribal groups in New California, it seem to be only a matter of time before they either wind up "civilized" like New Arroyo and be under the NCR or are forced out into the wilderness.
Fan Sequel: Or rather, a fan prequel. The story takes place in 2260, well before the events of New Vegas, (and Fallout 3 for that matter) and set in New California.
Foregone Conclusion: Those familiar with the state of the NCR by New Vegas will recognize that the Raiders and Enclave in New California are destined to be defeated, or are at the very least fighting a losing war. While the specifics would change depending on the player's actions, the events of New Vegas still take place one way or another. One notable exception being the Super Mutant ending.
Government Conspiracy: Part of the mod's story involves a Pre-War conspiracy involving the Enclave, with potentially massive consequences.
Meaningful Name/Title Drop: New California's previous title, Project Brazil isn't just a deliberate placeholder. According to Word of God, it also refers to an intentionally misleading code name intended to throw the Soviets, "subversives" and others off the trail of a Pre-War conspiracy, whose ramifications play into the plot.
In Medias Res: The mod opens up in the middle of a Vault Ball match, with it and the subsequent pep talk with Coach Bragg also doubling as a chance to customise the player's character.
Mythology Gag:
- Vault 18 has shades of Vault Zero from Fallout Tactics, as it was originally designed to act as a hub for intra-Vault communications until said intra-Vault comms were severed by the Vault's rebelling inhabitants after learning of Vault-Tec's intended experiments. It also unintentionally foreshadows Vault 81 from Fallout 4, being a control Vault in all but name where the intended experiments were never conducted.
- The first intro is a direct Shout Out to that of Fallout 1, only instead of the camera panning out to reveal desolate ruins, it instead reveals a revitalized Boneyard. The 2017 intro is similar, only this time panning out to Enclave's Leonidas Squadron fighting off an unseen enemy.
- The Vault-Tec commercial seen in both intros includes references to other locations in-verse, such as Vault 101 in Washington DC.
Neighborhood Friendly Gangsters: The New Reno mobsters, especially the Bishop family, try to cultivate this image in the NCR. Siding with them in the ending reveals that while the Mob's corruption in the NCR is institutionalized, at the very least it also brings about a period of prosperity, which is good for business.
No Campaign for the Wicked: Averted. It's possible for the player character to side with the Raider-dominated "Survivalists," not to mention the Enclave.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Compared to many other Vaults, Vault 18 is not only rather democratic and stable. But its inhabitants are also willing to "adopt" people from the wasteland, so long as they integrate into society. Unfortunately, this allows Enclave agents like Col. Bragg to infiltrate the Vault, dragging it into the wider struggle over New California's future.
Obvious Beta: The game is still a work in progress even after its official release, with a final launch set for the end of 2018.
Radio: So far, there's New California Republic Radio, with the smooth-talking Roger Moore as its DJ.
Rebellious Spirit: You, potentially.
The Reveal: Whichever ending you choose, you wind up in Hopeville, survive the nuclear detonations turning it into the Divide, and become the Courier.
Rising Empire: The New California Republic, though not without some stumbles and difficulties. And in many of the endings, survives to become powerful enough to expand out into the Mojave.
Rooting for the Empire: The "Enclave Patriots," a political faction within Vault 18's society is comprised mainly of youths loyal to Pre-War America's values as represented by the Enclave. There's a reason for that, and they've also gained a foothold in Vault Security. It's also possible for the player character to side with the Enclave Remnants eventually.
Shout-Out: The game makes a number of nods to The Frontier, another mod set in the northern fringes of the NCR (around Oregon).
Town with a Dark Secret: Vault 18's ostensibly meant to be a control Vault, or more specifically a "control control Vault" serving as the hub for intra-Vault communications. In reality, it was originally intended by Vault-Tec as an experiment to see what people would do with the information gleaned from learning of the social experiments done in other Vaults. The experiment however was never put into action thanks to the one who commissioned Vault 18 in the first place, California Senator Andrew Skolls, dying in a car accident as well as the MP stationed in the Vault killing the Overseer and Vault-Tec agents, with even the intra-Vault comms severed.
Vestigial Empire:
- The Enclave Remnants are decidedly more numerous and more importantly are organized enough to potentially threaten the NCR even after the fall of Navarro, be it through force like the Leonidas Squadron or through covert networks of spies and loyalists that are even found in Vault 18.
- Remnants of the Master's Super Mutant army are mentioned as still roaming the fringes. Now being led by a figure known as the Father, they remain obsessed in finishing what the Master started.
- The Raiders comprising the bulk of the "Survivalists," after a fashion. As they make up all the remaining holdouts in New California to the civilized order represented by the NCR.
World Half Full: Compared to Fallout 2 the world continues to rebuild and move on. Even with the tensions and conflicts across New California, it's also implied that standards of living are beginning to move closer to Pre-War levels as the NCR advances its civilized order.