Fix The Old Computer is the main prequel quest on the Path of the Scientist in Fallout: New California.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Follow Dr. Rossman to the Computer Lab. | ||||||||||||||
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| Talk to Maria | ||||||||||||||
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| Repair all four network tiers. | ||||||||||||||
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| Enable the top Tier Switches. | ||||||||||||||
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| Check the status of the Tier 1 Network. | ||||||||||||||
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| Enable the bottom Tier Switches. | ||||||||||||||
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| Check the status of the Tier 2 Network. | ||||||||||||||
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| Repair the cables in the Vault 18 cistern. | ||||||||||||||
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| Check the status of the Tier 3 Network. | ||||||||||||||
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| Investigate the secondary Tier 3 Network feed. | ||||||||||||||
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| Re-route the Tier 4 network cable. | ||||||||||||||
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| Check the status of the Tier 4 Network. | ||||||||||||||
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| Investigate the strange Tier 4 signal. | ||||||||||||||
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| Leads to: Wait, We Have Robots? Off To See The Wizard | ||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
After finishing character creation, follow Dr. Rossman from the clinic into the center of the Vault atrium. On the way, he will comment on the current situation in the Vault and have a conversation with Sarah Carter. After arriving at the computer lab, he will tell the player character to fix Maria, the Vault computer mainframe. In order to do so, all four network tiers must be repaired. They can only be repaired in numerical order.
Start a dialogue with Maria and and choose "DISPLAY MAINTENANCE MENU". Choose the tier 1 network and you'll receive instructions to enable the top tier switches. From the room with Maria, take a right and go up the ramp. The switches are located on the "main bus," the only interactable object on this floor. Once the switches are flipped, head back to Maria and choose "DISPLAY SYSTEM STATUS". Choose tier one to repair it (25 Science required).
Go back to the main menu and select "DISPLAY MAINTENANCE MENU". Choose tier two to be informed of the need to activate another three switches on the bottom tier. They are NOT on the bottom level; they are located on Maria itself, next to the broken Pong terminal. Talk to Maria again and choose "DISPLAY SYSTEM STATUS" and repair tier two (30 science required).
The remaining two tiers can be repaired by going out to the Lower Cistern. The access hatch is located in the Utilities area of the atrium; if she is present in the computer lab, Kira Mann can be asked to lead the player character to the hatch. Once inside, hack the two Average level terminals (50 Science required). Choose the options available in both terminals and return to Maria and repair tier three (35 Science required). Note that if the terminals become locked out, there is no way to finish the quest other than reloading a save or using console commands.
For the fourth tier, go back to the cistern, use the tier three terminal on the right, and reroute the tier 4 connection to the computer lab. Return to Maria and repair the final tier (40 science required).
Investigate the tier 4 signal by going to the Tier 4 Holo Feed Control terminal directly to the right of Maria. This will trigger an Enclave hologram, after which Kira will make an exclamation and Dr. Rossman will run to the player character to ask about the situation, which will cause Off To See The Wizard to start.
After finishing up with Maria, head to the Star family apartment, which is in the Lower Apartments. Check the personal terminal and choose WastedGirlz.net, then have a discussion with OriansGirl01. Depending on dialogue options here, the perk Electro Lover may be obtained. Once the dialogue is over, the quest will end.
Notes[]
- If I'd Wrestle A Bear For You was completed prior to finishing this quest, Kira will not be in the atrium. This can cause certain problems; first, the objective marker about asking her to give directions will still point to her even though she will no longer give them. More importantly, if she is not present for the Enclave hologram, Dr. Rossman will not talk to the player character and thus Off To See The Wizard will not be able to start. This can be avoided by progressing this quest before completing Kira's side quest.
- After accessing any of the terminals at least once, Dr. Rossman can be asked if there is anything else to do, which will lead him to hand over the Vault 18 Elevator Key and start the quest Wait, We Have Robots?.
- Reading the last entry on Tier 2 Terminal 4 will allow one to ask Dr. Rossman about joining the Wasteland Scouts, which will lead to obtaining the perk Scout Master.
Gallery[]
