Fontaines Lair

* Entry from Proving Grounds
* See also Fontaine
* See also Amended_Game_Level_Maps
* See also Story
--- --- --- --- ---
This Tall building is now called (by me) "Prometheus Point Tower" ( makes some sense as highest point and very close to Point Prometheus, and its location on the North edge of "Proving Grounds" (Rapture Memorial Museum ). The entire game level being the top floor of the building ( besides the short elevator ride up and the elevator's outside view ). 
Map Orientation is determined from position of that elevator connecting from the Proving Grounds, as well as the two maps which should no longer be overlapping ( the building is *NOT* directly above the Memorial Museum ). The Proving Grounds map was adjusted a little, stretching the approach to that elevator further Northwards, to keep the building edges apart, and to preserve the various window views which roughly show where this Tall building would be (from the Museum). 
Apparently, "Prometheus Point" is one of the taller buildings in Rapture, but its Foundation may also start at a higher seabed location than much of the rest of the City. It is also the Northernmost of the City's tower type buildings. 
-
MY Crude Diagram at the bottom edge of the map picture shows the relative depths. It is a Profile section running 'SSE' "SSE" - South South East - as per Compass designations. from Prometheus Tower towards the Lighthouse. It becomes obvious that the Seabed/volcanic crater which Rapture is built upon is fairly flat ( ancient erosion filling it in ?? ). Rapture is quite near the Ocean Surface -- as compared to the surrounding ocean seabed, which plunges down well beyond a 3000+ foot 'crushing' depths (5 X Rapture's depth). Since it was built in the 1950s era of technology, Rapture cannot practically be located much deeper than 600 feet down ( We could not really do much better today ... ). Consider : 600 feet deep, compared to an approximate 3 miles width ( 3 X 5280 feet ) of Rapture, makes it 26:1 - a rather shallow layout.
Depicted there is a small Iceberg. It shows why you really DO NOT want the tops of any of Rapture's buildings to be closer to the surface than 200 feet deep ( Icebergs are 9/10ths under water ... At 0° C Ice has specific gravity 0.9168, as compared to specific gravity 0.9998 of water at the same temperature. As a result, ice floats in water. 'Nine Tenths' of any Iceberg is BELOW the Water Line. ). The edges of the volcano sticking up high(er) around Rapture's location will block larger icebergs, but small ones can sometimes get through the rim blocking bigger icebergs. That minimum depth requirement could still give the Prometheus Point Tower a height of 300-400 feet (~25+ stories), which is still a significantly sized building. It is also fairly wide, with a width near 200 feet. It isn't much like those narrow tall buildings you see in many of the various (outside sea window) game views.
-
Outside window view shows buildings ( and tall ones everywhere ), so it is the usual views of exaggerated height caricature buildings, which are WAY-WAY TOO TALL (In Rapture, the size would be restricted by the water depth pressure at the lower end, while also not extending too close to the Ocean's surface ( preventing those Icebergs from scraping the tops off the buildings ). When you include the effects of ocean currents, where building height multiplies the leverage working against the building, then 30 floors would be about the maximum. All those buildings we see in the game's Ocean views, with the spires/spikes, thus don't make all that much sense, and being replicated as many times as they are seen ( It just "looked good" ... the vertical-ness - that "Manhattan Skyline" big city look -- NO MATTER THAT MANHATTAN WASN'T YET AS MUCH LIKE THAT AT THE TIME ).
The reason this Tall building could be the 'Highest point in Rapture' ( besides some industrial and farm installations/operations to the North of this area ) is because it resides in the leeward shadow of the edge top of the Sea Mount ( the extinct volcano Rapture is built upon ) named Mt Ryan, which prevents the infrequent Icebergs floating by Southwards (with their "Nine-Tenths Underwater" mass of SOLID ICE) from chopping/shearing off the top several hundred feet of any building too close to the Ocean's surface.
-
The elevator we take up to 'The Lair' is only ( if you count in-game ) about 15 floors in height ( insignificant in exact detail, as it is best not to make the Player wait too long for the 'showdown' Boss Fight ). As usual, the buildings you see out the elevators window are largely caricatures, and generally undersized when you use the 'Cheat Codes' to go out to look at them. They have the usual absurd number of floors ( indicated by the rows of windows ). The MMORPG would cut them all down to something more reasonable, with it still looking sufficiently awesome enough.
--- 
Fontaine's/Atlas's 'Secret Base' is a big interior volume ( the room interior is about 170 by 170 feet ) near the top of the building, which apart from having some big observation decks, would probably be a normal place for building Utilities and elevator shaft machinery. From outside (seen using the 'Cheats') the buildings top is fairly blunt, but that is a View not meant to be seen while playing the game. So, it is quite likely that there could be some floors still above this level ( that it isn't quite the top ). The Tall building likely was built to be impressive in its height, but might have had as much as 1/3 of the upper levels just for show, and NOT be environmentally pressure-contained. The space up there at that lesser depth-pressure might still be used for various purposes - certainly City Utility Fresh Water Storage tanks could extend up there.
-
This floor's huge ceiling structure is at least curved, with large support 'ribs' to help spread the force of the Ocean's water pressure using arches - holding back all those millions of tons of water pressing down on it. There are 4 corner towers that the 'ribs' feed into to buttress the interior arches. Being at the top of the building, and closer to the Surface, it would be subject to quite a bit less water pressure (like being 1/3) than the buildings hundreds of feet below. There would still be BIG compression struts inside the floors to hold back the pressure pressing inward on those large side walls.
-
What exactly is the rest of this big tall building used for ??? ( Nothing says that Fontaine owned it all - or at all. Wouldn't it then have made an obvious place for him to be found by Ryan, or previously seized and dismantled ? ) This isn't a covert cavern like Smugglers Hideout had been. Whatever was originally here, possibly it was no longer active once the %27civil war%27 began. Fontaine/Atlas may have 'persuaded' anyone else to abandon operations there ( much better to work out of an abandoned site ... ). Perhaps it was a place that declined as far back as the previous 'economic distress' in 1952, and never quite regained its popularity.
--- --- ---
Added :
Added a stairwell in one corner, and other access to other levels and various utility shafts.
Interesting Idea - that the 'Tower' also incorporates large fresh water tanks to serve a whole section of Rapture. With fresh water being gravity fed through an extended system ( with 400 feet down to 'street' level, that would be 200 PSI of pressure ). It would also be a water source for fire-system sprinklers and hydrants, which being gravity fed would work even if the power failed (versus some pump driven system). "The Water Works". Various control, pump, desalination and purification machinery would be involved with those systems. There is space for approximately 3,600,000 gallons of water in the tanks at the corners of the top of the building. Those water tanks (indicated on map) would have heating elements to prevent them freezing.
-
Obviously all the other floors of the building have been omitted. They would have ( as hinted in the Point Prometheus Level Map ) included :
* Trolley Station in an adjacent building reached by a walking viaduct. 
* Bathysphere 'Transfer' Station to make use of the Cable Hub installation at Point Prometheus
* Strong/Deep Foundation to support and anchor such a large/tall building. 
* Atlas's much used Sewer connection ( how he got around avoiding Ryan's security, which was eventually closing in on him ). That would be located way down at the Foundation level of the building.
* Viaducts connecting to smaller buildings in the vicinity.
Elevators and stairs would connect all the floors of this ~ 300-400 foot tall building. A whole variety of different businesses and other facilities could be in this particularly wide (for Rapture) building. Offices, manufacturing, residences, shops could all fit and be appropriate. The Building would also have the usual Pump Station, Utilities, Multi-shaft Elevators/Stairs/Airlocks. It would probably have its own Jet Postal Sub-Station. A private Bathysphere Garage might be included or be adjacent.
A tall building like Prometheus Point Tower would have its Foundations driven deep into the seabed bedrock ( and be situated where that rock was mostly stable, which would not be everywhere on an undersea Volcano ). Forces from sea currents push against the building's side, even when most of those effects are alleviated by the sides of the Sea Mount (Mt Ryan), which rises all around Rapture up near to the Ocean Surface.
There are some floor levels above the elevator's top and at the opposite end, for which there was no path for the Player to get to them. I've converted the area around the one elevator to have 2 additional elevators ( or rather the machinery for them for use on the floors below ). Those elevators would share the window view you see when coming up in that one 'round' elevator. The opposite end of the building could be machinery/access for the water systems.
--- --- ---
==Oddities==
I'm not sure how Atlas could be holed up in the Prometheus Point Tower building (Sanctorum and HQ ?) with such a huge/extensive set of apparatus - seemingly designed for his 'transformation'. It would have been a known 'Fontaine' property and would have been 'Seized'. So Fontaine somehow assembled and moved all that stuff into there quietly during the %27civil war%27 ?? We need a plausible explanation ( There can be lots of debates for the MMORPG's Creation Community to decide on such 'filler' stories ). Fontaine would have to have technical staff still around ( there's no evidence he had any expertise in the various ADAM technologies/processes ) to set it up. All that was likely done in the early 'civil war' period.
You see buildings out the windows that are actually higher than where you are. SO you either aren't at the top of this building or it is NOT the highest point in Rapture (besides the Lighthouse).
Those Big "The Great Chain" decorations look a bit too big to get into the room except by being built into it. They were probably there when the the room had some other purpose. I suppose it could be inflatable. With no Freight Elevator being in evidence, the rest of the big machinery also would be hard to get there. 
Look out of the elevator, into the sea (when going up), the building in distance has huge 'Eternal Flame' (mortuary/crematoria) Neon advertisement sign. Not exactly such a big business to warrant that over-sized advertising. It is more a case of reusing game assets to cut costs, though you'd think they could have picked something better. Despite high-tech stuff in Rapture lowering some expenses, the cost of such a huge lighted sign would still be significant.
-
This building is an Odd place to be some kind of factory. Big windows would be impressive, if anyone sightseeing was ever up there to look out them ( maybe it was once a famous Rapture Restaurant or Club, before that %27civil war%27, and all the heavy machinery was moved in ). But then, it IS a setting for a "shoot-em-up" game's big "boss fight" - so NO logic/cohesion/consistency is actually required ... The MMORPG would prefer to have logic and plausibility 'being in effect'. Corporate offices ? A bit extravagant : How big could a 'corporation' be, when there are AT MOST ~20000 20000 Rapture Population - John Shirley in his Novel uses this estimate of 20000 people living in Rapture. - so ~40000 inhabitants for the whole city ?
What is all that weird machinery for ?? And it is unlikely something Fontaine managed in the short interval which you ( as Jack ) took to catch up with him. So what was all this stuff for ? What exactly was this place for Fontaine ? It doesn't seem necessary for Fontaine's "transformation" - with all the self-injection/drinking (now) of ADAM which everyone else seemed to use. SO somehow, Fontaine was planning on doing THIS "Conquest of Rapture" ( Plan C ), and had this monstrosity prepared and ready ? Not particularly plausible ( the gamewriters seemingly had to come up with a 'Boss Scene' for their 'Finale' ). 
BTW, Excessive ADAM use leads to physical and mental deformities, so Fontaine 'would be in for' a good one, with the amount of ADAM he looks to be taking. Maybe, that big machine was needed to keep him running - but what would his Exit Strategy be once HE was so 'Spliced-up' ? ( Maybe, there was a means to 'flush it all out' of his system - Or he hoped there was ... Too bad Rapture was reduced to such a mess, and any further Genetic Tech work/developments would be rather hampered ). 
-
Why have that 'catch-pool' to the right side of map ? (North, opposite the elevator) - it is kinda odd. Maybe the "High Point" Club's Restaurant had a "Catch you own dinner" fish pond ?? Or some gimmick of standing in water in 'waders' while you drank cocktails ... A 'Koi' Gold fish pond ?? ( Those railings ruin the effect ). Some Creepy ""Tiberius"" 'Little Fishies' in Libertarian Rapture ????
--- --- ---
==Observations==
Those huge top floor windows do not fit for Industrial/Utility use of the space ( just as those huge ones at Neptunes Bounty were wrong/unneeded ). It is VERY Expensive extra construction - such is required to support such oversized windows ( even in our low-pressure Surface world ). So this place must have been originally for some other purpose where people were there to look out those expensive windows. Perhaps a restaurant or nightclub. (( IF it was some exclusive/expensive venue ... )
-
I've suggested that Elevator Entrance ( You go through in the game, Exiting the Museum ) may be there because a top-floor Observation Floor on this tower may have been part of the Museum 'experience'. That would explain why that path doesn't go anywhere else.
-
As with many other map levels, the Elevators are arbitrary in which way you enter them on the previous level and then which way/direction you exit. On this map the entrance out the bottom is the same direction as your exit at the top ( 180 Degree turn is 'Slipped In' ), which unfortunately would have that whole top floor hanging out in the Ocean. We will assume to correct that in the MMORPG.
-
Such a tall building would have an extra deep foundation because of its size (especially height) of its outside surface. A Large surface makes it more susceptible to the forces of any ocean current or large the turbulence caused by storms. That force is particularly strong near the top of the building ( being closer to the churning surface ) and where the greatest leverage is applied by the water forces -- all working on the buildings foundation anchorage.
-
Unfortunately, you cannot have the game's Modified Reality Gimmick, where you could actually see some Sunlight seen from the windows. The Tower's top, at 200 feet from the Ocean Surface, is STILL 'too far down' to see ANY sunlight from the Ocean's surface ( Bright sunlight is pretty much invisible/extinguished when seen through 150 feet of water ).
-
You are leaving a squat Museum building, but if you look outside the window on the way up, you see one of an impressive (though wrong) Skybox view showing many tall buildings overlapping where the Proving Grounds were ( the previous levels skylights and window views make this inconsistent ). It really doesn't matter in the Solo games ( or to the artists, or have any impact on gameplay ), but in a (more) realistic MMORPG, with seamless terrain, it all should be made consistent.
- 
All those Little Sister Vents (so many ...) - Possibly there for their original pre-Gatherer use ? ( For air ventilation - nah other places would have the same capacity required. ) Would it make any sense for this place to be a location where Little Sisters came to have their ADAM extracted ( Little Sister Central ... ) ? A bit cruel to make them climb all the way to the top of this building. It doesn't make much sense ( Couldn't they just use an Elevator ? ) Actually having Little Sisters traverse miles through ventilation conduits everywhere else isn't all that much better (or logical) an idea.
-
Look at what's above you in the cavernous room -- There are 4 tall skinny Art Deco statues at the 4 points above the LS vent clusters ( air duct openings ).
-
There is a slight floor ramp around Fontaine's ADAM Injection Machine. On my map it is indicated as wide but actually changes the floor height only a little - a rather strange thing in a building when a simple step up ( a built up raised platform ) could have been simpler.
-
You look out the large windows and the floor curves down for some reason - I think it is mostly just so you can see further downward outside (Skybox) while standing so far away from the window.
--- --- ---
Fontaine's Lair at Prometheus Point ( that Tall Building at the end of BS1 ) :
What exactly was this place.   That machine that Fontaine/Atlas keeps going back to does not seem necessary with all the self-injection of ADAM everyone else seemed to use ( ??? Somehow Fontaine was planning on doing THIS and had this monstrosity ready (Plan C) ??? ... so he organized it BEFORE his faked death ?? ) 
Excessive ADAM use leads to deformities and insanity.  Fontaine was in for 'a right good one', with the amount of ADAM he looks to have taken (maybe that machine was needed to keep him running ). But what would his 'exit strategy' be once he was so Spliced up ( Maybe there was a means to flush it all out of his system - or he hoped there was ... ).  He was obviously desperate.
It might be an important Player goal in the MMORPG game, to investigate if Fontaine had known some method to do this 'flushing' which would help with New Rapture's "Cure" process -- One of those mission things that take the Players into it,  but they never quite find ( but lead them through an interesting tale ) ???
--- --- ---
It would cost a pretty penny to make all that ( Fontaine really was no Al Capone here ). So what would it have been for ? ( Testing/manufacturing facilities for Big Daddies and such -- we already had ALOT of that elsewhere ).
Suddenly it is some HUGE Plan B for Fontaine ( building a massive Submarine to escape in might've been simpler ). Boss Fight ... It is a Game ... Yah, Right. Though that Museum might've been an even better place - And with more justification for the settings existence in Rapture (less contrived than this is).
After Fontaine's "Shootout" demise, all his Rapture assets were forfeit. Whatever THIS place was ( It is rather hard to hide ), it might have ( imagination at work ) been mostly dismantled and scrapped ( sold to highest bidder ) to help pay reparations to all of Fontaine's victims and the expenses his crimes cost the City.
Amazing automation here with all this complex stuff and no technicians to operate it all. Yes, it is just a nice open 'scene' they visualized', probably was easier than having the "Boss" NPC figure do lots more animations ( like multi-level jumping ) and to require better Scripted AI actions/strategies/sounds ( needed to be a REAL challenge to the Player, instead of just a ton of HitPoints to overcome ).
--- --- ---
The BS1 Ending - Fontaine's Evil Badguy Lair Setting :
Cost him a pretty penny to make all that ( Fontaine wasn't Al Capone here, you know ). So what would that place have been for originally ? ( Testing/Manufacturing facilities for Big Daddies and such we already had elsewhere ). 
Suddenly it is some HUGE 'Plan C' for Fontaine ( Building a massive Submarine to escape in ( or just use onme of the fishing types ) - THAT might've been so much simpler and more logical/practical - You could still have the FINAL BATTLE in that ... ). Boss Fight ... It is a Game ... Yah, Right. Though that Museum might've been an even better place ( Idea - just one level with lotsa destructible scenery - Hmmm, that was hard for me to come up with ... Like 10 seconds thought. ) - And with more justification for the setting's existence (less contrived).
After Fontaine's demise, all his Rapture assets and properties were Forfeit/Seized ( at minimum for reparations to the victims of his crimes ). Whatever THIS place was (rather hard to hide), it might have ( here a little imagination at work ) been mostly dismantled and scrapped ( sold to highest bidder - "Seized" and "Auction Tomorrow" signs all over ) to help pay the reparations to all of Fontaine's victims, and the expenses his crimes cost the City.
That Amazing automation ( ADAM feeding machine ) with all this complex stuff and further with no technicians to operate it all. Yes, it is just a 'scene' they visualized', probably easier than having the "Boss" NPC graphics figure do lots more Animations and having some better-scripted battle actions/strategies/sounds ( SOMETHING done to be a REAL Challenge to the Player, instead of just a ton of HitPoints to overcome ).
--- --- ---
Did YOU Drink that blood/body-fluid like the Little Sister would ?
Was Jack not yet enough of an addict so to Resist that Temptation ?
--- --- --- --- ---
.
.