Technology is a part of the gameplay and setting of the Fallout Series.
Background[edit]
The franchise's timeline stretches from pre-War years, to the "future of the fifties," to the decades following the destruction of the earth by nuclear war.[Dev 1] With the goal of exploring ideas revolving around a futuristic, post-nuclear world, the game setting exists on a timeline that branched after World War II.[Dev 2][Dev 3] This fork led to a world where technology progressed quickly while maintaining the cultural norms of the mid-century.[Pub 1][Pub 2][Pub 3]
Setting[edit]
Pre-War[edit]
In the Fallout setting, new innovations were made, resulting in a world filled with advanced technology. Atomic energy was used as a nearly limitless source of power, allowing for the advancement of domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, and portable computers.[1][2] Technology advancements in combination with geopolitical tensions and resource scarcity played a role in the ongoing Resource Wars.[3] The United States began research into super weapons in an attempt to liberate Chinese-controlled Alaska.[4]
Anticipating a nuclear war, large underground Vaults were built to shield inhabitants as well as stockpile resources and technology.[5] The Great War, a nuclear exchange that devastated the planet, ended large scale technological advancement.
Post-War[edit]
Technology after the war was a valuable commodity, and the acquisition and control of it started new conflicts. Groups such as former Vault Dwellers, Reavers, and the Brotherhood of Steel sought to salvage, record, and control technology in the wasteland.[6] These groups studied, replicated, and guarded the technology of the past.[6] Those studying at the Commonwealth Institute of Technology retreated underground, creating sophisticated habitats and laboratories over generations, known thereafter as the Institute.[7] The scientists created a teleportation device in order to seal itself off from the surface.[8]
Advancements[edit]
World Objects[edit]
Terminals[edit]
| Image | Name | Editor ID | Form ID |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Terminal | ||
|
Terminal Console | TerminalConsoleOn |
000BC249 |
|
Terminal Desk | Terminal01 |
00047853 |
|
Terminal High Tech Cubicle | HighTechCubicleTerminal |
000731B1 |
|
Terminal Improvised | TerminalOnImprovised |
000CEA77 |
|
Terminal Institute | DefaultTerminalInstituteDesk |
001A71F4 |
|
Terminal Institute Desk | DefaultTerminalOnInstitute02 |
001B2361 |
|
Terminal Institute Wall | DefaultTerminalInstituteWall |
001B2362 |
|
Terminal Pre-War | Terminal01Prewar |
001079E4 |
|
Terminal Standing | TerminalOnStanding01 |
000424FD |
|
|
Terminal Wall | TerminalWall01 |
0008E9EC |
Behind the Scenes[edit]
The environment of the game world after the Fallout timeline branch provided artists a blank slate to work with in terms of designing their futuristic version of modern day.[Pub 4][Dev 4] For the alterative timeline's impact on environmental storytelling, many objects were created to look familiar to what exists in the real world and others are developed as those from the future.[Pub 5][Dev 5]
Artists used the separate timelines as inspiration to maintain a mix of vintage, familiar, modern, and futuristic aspects throughout the game world,[Pub 5] and developers were intentional in featuring fictional aspects and real world equivalents appearing both before and after the timeline branches.[Dev 6][Dev 7] The retro-futuristic, "golden era of science fiction" art style is predominant, but a variety of inspirations were utilized across the board to appeal to a wide audience.[Dev 8][Dev 9][Dev 10] Urban and suburban U.S. of the 1940s and 1950s also inspired some of the artists, including vehicle design, signage, architecture, and art.[Dev 11][Dev 12]
As opposed to purely "fantastical sci-fi designs," developers considered how industrial and product design would have evolved in the alternate universe.[Pub 6] Developers intended for the setting to maintain the dark atmosphere of 1950's apocalyptic prediction, balanced with humor.[Dev 13] Technology developed unevenly in the alternate universe, advanced in some ways and primitive in others, with advancements from real world history having never occurred or if similar, developed much differently.[Pub 7][Pub 8] The variation in advancement is depicted also throughout the development of weapons, robotics, and engines.[Dev 14][Dev 15] This flexibility allowed artists to depict a world with layers of history and culture on both sides of the timeline's split, spanning the generations in both directions from the Great War.[Pub 9][Pub 10]
References[edit]
- ↑ Fallout 4 Intro: "We began to use atomic energy not as a weapon, but as a nearly limitless source of power. People enjoyed luxuries once thought the realm of science fiction. Domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, portable computers."
- ↑ Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel intro: "In the 1950s, we dreamed of a better world. Clean, fusion powered cars, robots that walk the dog, peaceful existence thanks to the wonders of science."
- ↑ Fallout intro: "In the 21st century, war was still waged over the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and Uranium."
- ↑ Capitol Post Terminal Entries; Development of Super Weapon Confirmed
- ↑ Fallout Tactics Intro: "The great Vaults were built to house the wealthy, the powerful, the influential and those deemed necessary to their survival. Inside resources and technology were stockpiled, a final defense against the coming holocaust. With the past behind them and the present destroyed. They looked to the future."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fallout Tactics Intro: "On North America's west coast, one group of military vault dwellers emerged almost unscathed. They surveyed the wasteland and squared their shoulders for the task ahead. These dedicated survivors salvaged the technology from the vaults, technology that was studied, replicated and fiercely guarded."
- ↑ Sole Survivor: "Who built this place, originally? Has it been here long?"
Allie Filmore: "The construction of the Institute is the work of generations of scientists. The original survivors of the war, our progenitors, took refuge in the basement of the old Commonwealth Institute of Technology. Over time, their sons and daughters dug deeper into the earth and built increasingly sophisticated habitats and laboratories. It's a process that's still going on today. Even now, we're digging out tunnels for new facilities and infrastructure. Just think what this place will look like a hundred years from now. I hope I'm there to see it."
(Allie Filmore's dialogue) - ↑ Fallout 4 loading screens: "After developing the Molecular Relay, an advanced teleportation device, the Institute sealed off access to the surface and began their campaign of underground expansion."
- ↑ Fallout 3 manual p. 2: "Fallout 3 presents a much grimmer reality. Imagine if, after World War II, the timeline had split. Our world forked into one branch, the Fallout universe the other. In that other branch, technology progressed at a much more impressive rate, while American society remained locked in the cultural norms of the 1950's. It was an idyllic “"world of tomorrow," filled with servant robots, beehive hairdos, and fusion-powered cars. And then in the year 2077, at the climax of a long-running war with China, it all went to hell in a globe-shattering nuclear war."
- ↑ Fallout 3 manual p. 2: "Nuclear war. The very words conjure images of mushroom clouds, gas masks, and bewildered children ducking and covering under their school desks. But it's the aftermath of such a conflict that truly captures our imaginations, in large part because there’s no real-world equivalent we can relate to. Mankind may have witnessed the horror of the atomic bomb, but thankfully we’ve somehow succeeded in not blowing up the entire planet. At least, not yet."
- ↑ Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Manual p. 2: "In a future not far removed from our own, a world filled with marvel and wonder is shaken to its very foundations by the greed and destruction of mankind."
- ↑ The Art of Fallout 4, p. 22: "BOSTON: Much of modern-day Boston's skyline consists of buildings that were constructed well after Fallout's timeline diverged from our own. The taller structures that make the city recognizable are too contemporary in their designs. That gave us a blank slate to work with in terms of designing our version of a city of tomorrow. The older historical aspects of the city were retained for authenticity, but we wanted to layer them with some futuristic architecture, as this is a type of environment that hasn't been explored yet in the Fallout universe. As you can see in these early concepts, we explored some pretty far-out ideas for just how built up and evolved our version of Boston would be. We ended up with a more balanced approach—something that felt different but was still a grounded and relatable metropolis."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Art of Fallout 4, p. 283: "Fallout takes place in an alternate timeline, and although there are many objects the player will find familiar, much of it is just different enough that it needs to be designed from scratch. Sometimes a table is just a table, and certainly there are tables that look like they're straight out of a vintage furniture catalog. But other times the table is from the future, and that's where we have some fun. We try to maintain a mix of the old, the familiar, the modern, and the futuristic, as that's what you find in the real world. "
- ↑ The Art of Fallout 4, p. 283: "It's fairly easy to create fantastical sci-fi designs, but we challenged ourselves to think about how industrial and product design would have evolved in this alternate universe."
- ↑ The Art of Fallout 3, p. 61: "Technology in the world of Fallout 3 is somewhat paradoxical in that it's incredibly advanced in some ways, and downright primitive in others."
- ↑ The Art of Fallout 3, p. 62: "Certain technological advancements that we take for granted in our own history either did not occur, or developed along a very different path."
- ↑ The Art of Fallout 4, p. 54: "Architectural variety is important to depict a world with layers of history and culture that span the generations both before and after the Great War."
- ↑ The Art of Fallout 4, p. 232: "Still, this is Fallout, and there are some limitations on how advanced the tech can get; in certain ways development is quite stunted. You won't find color screens - and certainly no flat-screen technology."
- ↑ Leonard Boyarsky: "As Art Director, I was responsible for the look and mood of the game (as far as visuals were concerned). I came up with the idea of the “future of the fifties” setting, and had to convince everyone that that was the way to go. I also came up with the idea/design for the “Vault Boy” and the “cards” (as I called them) showing him doing all the different things in humorous ways. By the way, he’s not the Pip Boy, the Pip Boy is the little guy on your Pip Boy interface. The Vault Boy was supposed to evoke the feel of Monopoly cards, and the Pip Boy was based on the Bob’s Big Boy mascot."
(Leonard Boyarsky; Fallout Developers Profile) - ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "What was U.S./world history like before the timeline included in previous Fallout updates?"
"No one has asked this yet, but I thought I would cut this question off at the pass. Fallout takes place on a future earth, in an alternate timeline. I will not be including any information on how and when it diverged - it will remain one of the mysteries of the setting. Just let it be known that it diverged after WW2, and leave it at that." - ↑ Tim Cain: "My idea is to explore more of the world and more of the ethics of a post-nuclear world, not to make a better plasma gun."
(Chat with Tim Cain; March 9th, 2002) - ↑ Ferret Baudoin: "What is the fall of pre-War US? What were the fault lines? What were the real problems? And I think that's something we explored with Appalachia - not necessarily the bigger thing, but we tried to look at it regionally. And we tried to say, OK, what-why was this not working? And, you know, trying to sort of expand upon, you know: This is reality, then there's the Divergence, and then we end up in Fallout, you know, pre-War times."
(Fallout for Hope - CHAD: A Fallout 76 Story Podcast Twitch stream, 12/16/2020) - ↑ Fallout Bible 6: "Perhaps you can answer the question of whether Fallout is set in an alternate timeline or not. By alternate timeline, I mean a world where some part of our history up to now was different then what we know. It seems many fans are inclined to believe this view. Some who claim to be "in the know" and say they've seen the original design documents for the first game support this view. However, I've noticed no such evidence in the Fallout Bible."
"Fallout takes place in an alternate timeline. There's no documentation about exactly how and when it diverged (and this will never be addressed in the Fallout Bible - see above), but it did. You will have to take it on faith." - ↑ "Question: Sunset Sarsaparilla started production in 1918...years before the Fallout universe diverged from our own. Mistake on the part of the developers?"
Joshua Sawyer: "No. Fictional brands in the Fallout universe don't have to exist only in the branched timeline."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements/Miscellaneous/Joshua Sawyer/Joshua Sawyer Formspring posts/2011) - ↑ "Question: were native americans annihilated in FO's divergent timeline?"
Joshua Sawyer: "Not explicitly, no. There are a lot of NA tribes scattered all over the country -- and plenty individuals who are ethnically NA but do not live in NA communities -- so a fair number (percentage-wise) probably lived through the war in various ways."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements/Miscellaneous/Joshua Sawyer/Joshua Sawyer Formspring posts/2011) - ↑ Tim Cain: "Any time one of the design team came across a picture of a weapon or piece of armor from anywhere (such as Soldier of Fortune or Ladies’ Home Journal) and it was “cool enough” to include, it was fair game. Entertaining gems have been imported from just about everywhere, hence almost everyone will find something about which to reminisce. It reminds me of Mystery Science Theater. They always say, people aren’t going to get all of our jokes, but the people who will get them will really appreciate them."
(Fallout developer statements; Fallout: More fun in the post-nuclear world) - ↑ Leonard Boyarsky: "I was really influenced by The Road Warrior, The City of Lost Children, and "Brazil" in terms of movies, and the comic book series Hard Boiled."
(Leonard Boyarsky; Fallout Developers Profile) - ↑ Tim Cain: "Seriously, the artists just thought that 50's tech looked cool. So they set out to make a future science that looked like what the Golden Era of science fiction thought that future science would look like (if you can follow that sentence). Vacuum tubes, ray guns, mutants, the whole works. And I think they succeeded quite well."
(Fallout developer statements/Miscellaneous; Tim Cain: Fallout 50's tech, 1997 October 21) - ↑ Question: "What specifically inspired Fallout for you? What were the biggest influences?"
Tony Postma: "Urban and Sub-urban America of the 40'-50's....the cars, the signage, the art, the architecture...all of it. I already had a few books with photos and documentation of the period. Also the comic books "Big Guy and Rusty, the Boy Robot" and "Mister X" by Dean Motter help with the machinery and the mood."
(Tony Postma; Fallout Developers Profile) - ↑ Tim Cain: "I don't think I can answer this, since so many people has a hand in the design and scripting, and it seems everyone put in their own little in-joke or reference. I mean, I'm surprised by some of the things in the game! But some of the movies the inspired us were Road Warrior, Brazil, City of Lost Children, Blade Runner, Batman, Ghost in the Shell, On the Beach and of course, Star Wars. A lot of adventure ideas were variations on things I've seen in MUD's about 7 years ago at the peak of my playing. As far as books, oddly enough the book "Lord of Light" by Zelazny was an inspiration."
(Fallout developer statements/Miscellaneous; Tim Cain: Fallout's influences, 1997 November 18) - ↑ Tim Cain on rpgcodex.net
- ↑ Joshua Sawyer: "In the Fallout universe, I think that the military appeal of weaponry that uses a small number of more-or-less universal ammunition types would be great. Today, we have NATO standards so that allies armies can share ammunition. But what if you could use the same ammunition type for powering a sniper rifle that you'd use for a devastating close-range weapon (e.g. a Microfusion Cell powering a Laser Rifle or a Plasma Rifle)? For a military force in the field, the flexibility of that would be immense. Anyway, I considered the EWs in F:NV to have reached the point where they were starting to replace conventional weapons, but had not yet completely eclipsed them -- sort of like the early days of firearms, when they were still being used concurrently with bows."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements/Weapons; Joshua Sawyer: Energy weapons, 2012 February 16) - ↑ Joshua Sawyer: "I like vacuum tube tech and I think it pushes some interesting ideas, but it feels secondary in the series. One of the interesting properties of vacuum tubes is that they aren’t really affected by EMPs, such as those produced by a nuclear bomb blast. Some Soviet MiG-25s used vacuum tubes dominantly or exclusively, which would theoretically allow them to fly in the wake of a blast (assuming the pilots weren’t killed by radiation). Still, the robots in the series are affected by EMP grenades and similar attacks, so the state of technology isn’t represented consistently."
(Fallout: New Vegas Developer Statements/Miscellaneous; Joshua Sawyer: Vacuum tubes, 2019 March 5)