# Do you feel like there are more stories worth telling in the Fallout universe? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 6, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093 "2011-11-06T20:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/21 "2012-05-19T12:20:08Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > General reports is that it’s pretty bad. [Allistair Tenpenny](http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Allistair_Tenpenny) is from England and came to the Capital Wasteland to seek his fortune, which [tells you how bad it probably is in England](http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/England#Behind_the_scenes). [Colin Moriarty](http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Colin_Moriarty#Background) is also from overseas. The ghoul Companion Raul Tejada mentions the nuking of Mexico City. One of the Khans in _New Vegas_ has a New Zealand accent as well (I know it’s because the voice actor was a New Zealand stuntwoman, but even so). And one of the characters in the _Point Lookout_ expansion was English, too. It stands to reason there are places in the _Fallout_ world that weren’t FUBAR in the war. Who’s going to waste a nuke on Timbuktu or Invercargill or Port Vila? Of course, setting a _Fallout_ game in a location where everything’s more or less fine isn’t going to be particularly exciting (even if you throw in some sort of biological agent or wind-carried radiation issue), but there’s still plenty of scope to tell _Fallout_ stories set in the UK, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and even Australia or India. Or, as someone suggested, a Lunar colony (I think such a colony was mentioned in at least one of the games, too.) And I’m really looking forward to _Fallout 4_, wherever it’s set. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/22 "2012-05-19T16:15:46Z")
“There are 8 feet tall commie mutants beyond the corner. You have a PowerFist 3000 (whatever the hell that is).” is a story that will always be worth telling. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/23 "2012-05-19T17:13:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I hope they stop the “progress of civilization” theme, though. The setting in _Fallout 3_ felt legitimately post-apocalyptic, while in _New Vegas_, it just felt kind of run-down. Agreed with this statement. DC was in much worse shape IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/24 "2012-05-19T17:15:27Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _Fallout: Cascadia_. After the defeat of Caesar’s Legion and the annexation of New Vegas, the NCR turned its attention to its northern border, the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest. A quibble with this one: the NCR did not necessarily annex New Vegas. If you start the next game with the assumption that they did, you’re going to annoy anyone who took one of the other two paths. I went the “No Gods, No Masters” route, myself, and I wouldn’t care to have that swept away in setting up another game. You could avoid that by just not mentioning New Vegas or Hoover Dam, though. I kind of like the Fallout: Luna idea. I’m actually writing a Fallout homage LARP game this year that involves a lunar base in the Fallout world, though it’s military, rather than a vault. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/25 "2012-05-19T18:00:58Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Agreed with this statement. DC was in much worse shape IMHO. That’s why, despite the fact that NV was a better game, I enjoyed FO3 more. NV just had too many people and too much civilization - I often felt like I was wandering around some rinky-dink modern-day third-world country, instead of a futuristic wasteland. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/26 "2012-05-19T18:07:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I hope they stop the “progress of civilization” theme, though. The setting in _Fallout 3_ felt legitimately post-apocalyptic, while in _New Vegas_, it just felt kind of run-down. It’s not the progress of civilization. It’s explained in-lore: New Vegas, like New Reno, was subject to lots of nuclear fallout but no direct hits. A big part of it is Mr. House’s defense systems deflecting away any warheads. Personally, as someone who has played all the main games, I did really live NV’s theme. Sometimes F03 felt like “ah, another destroyed building.” > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > One of the Khans in _New Vegas_ has a New Zealand accent as well (I know it’s because the voice actor was a New Zealand stuntwoman, but even so). And one of the characters in the _Point Lookout_ expansion was English, too. Zoë Bell, best known as “one of the women from _Death Proof_.” It’s weird though, because to my recollection the others characters she voices don’t have NZ accents, and the Khan’s father does not have the same accent either. Desmond’s English accent is the most explainable because he’s 200+ years old. Even so, I remember not noticing it right away because his voice is filtered through gravel. I’m not sure about a lunar one. It might seem like a clone of every other space game that’s out, although I’d be willing to be convinced. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/27 "2012-05-19T22:01:26Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Played the first game, have no desire to again. You do not place a time limit on the plot of a game! Its creators did that with Star Control II as well, actually. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It stands to reason there are places in the _Fallout_ world that weren’t FUBAR in the war. Who’s going to waste a nuke on Timbuktu or Invercargill or Port Vila? In a fanatical ideological war, both sides would; they aren’t just trying to destroy the other side (aka the Americans/Chinese); they are trying to ensure that no other power or culture rises up to replace them before they can recover and re-extend their world influence. They’d make a point of throwing nukes are every population center they could spare one for. Just imagine what, say, the Enclave would have done. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/28 "2012-05-20T01:45:49Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > A quibble with this one: the NCR did not necessarily annex New Vegas. If you start the next game with the assumption that they did, you’re going to annoy anyone who took one of the other two paths. I went the “No Gods, No Masters” route, myself, and I wouldn’t care to have that swept away in setting up another game. You could avoid that by just not mentioning New Vegas or Hoover Dam, though. Realistically, any game set after F:NV would have to pick one ending, and the NCR is the best one to go with since it avoids having the Courier be a person of note in the world afterwards and fits the theme that civilization is gradually rebuilding. The series has done this before, after all; FO2 assumes the Vault Dweller saved the ghouls of Necropolis, and NV assumes that Marcus joined the Chosen One’s party and survived. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/29 "2012-05-20T01:53:19Z")
> [@Xandroid](#): > > I’d like to see more of the American Midwest–any parts around major cities because I really liked the urban environments in Fallout 3. Oh, come on. Who’s going to believe a Midwestern city with a large number of abandoned buildings and rusting dilapidated infrastructure? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/30 "2012-05-20T06:29:18Z")
Or they could go the way of Deus Ex, and say, state that the NCR won, but eventually had to pull out or lost influence to to random, non-Legion raids. And Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel took place around Chicago. It is semi-canonical, but more so than Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/31 "2012-05-20T12:27:22Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > In a fanatical ideological war, both sides would; they aren’t just trying to destroy the other side (aka the Americans/Chinese); they are trying to ensure that no other power or culture rises up to replace them before they can recover and re-extend their world influence. They’d make a point of throwing nukes are **every population center they could spare one for**. Just imagine what, say, the Enclave would have done. (Bolding mine) That’s sort of my point- there’s going to be places (a lot of places, IMHO) that weren’t nuked either because it wasn’t worth it or the opposing powers had run out of them/were no longer capable of launching them. ---
**Author:** ![Stowed\_Bob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stowed_bob/32/3312_2.png) [@Stowed\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stowed_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/32 "2012-05-21T00:07:45Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Oh, come on. Who’s going to believe a Midwestern city with a large number of abandoned buildings and rusting dilapidated infrastructure? 🙂 There will be no time to explore since you will be riding the radioactive tornadoes inside a lead coffin to traverse the large expanses of nothing. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/33 "2012-05-21T03:39:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [It’s present-day-but-1950s Massachusetts.](http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Commonwealth) Just a heads-up, but the wiki has moved to a less obnoxious server than [wikia.com](http://wikia.com) is: > **[The Commonwealth](https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/The_Commonwealth)** > > The Commonwealth is a geographic region on the post-War North American continent, largely encompassing the pre-War American state of Massachusetts along the Eastern Seaboard, with a center point in the city of Boston. The Commonwealth is first... ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/34 "2012-05-21T07:01:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That’s why, despite the fact that NV was a better game, I enjoyed FO3 more. NV just had too many people and too much civilization - I often felt like I was wandering around some rinky-dink modern-day third-world country, instead of a futuristic wasteland. The problem is that FO3 and NV are quite explicitly set 200 years after the War. By then, radiation would still be an issue, but I would certainly hope people would start being able to pull the remnants of civilization back together. The Capitol Wasteland felt far too much like it was only a couple decades at most after the War. I’m sorry, but after 200 years the best you can do is Megaton? You can’t reopen any factories? You can’t even clean the random bits of paper up off the floor in Rivet City? Yeah, super mutants are something of a concern in DC, but it wasn’t until YOU came along that enough weaponry was amassed to be able to hat up and take them out after 200 years? FO3 just feels _too_ post-apoc, which is fine in and of itself but presents problems when considered in the larger context of the canon. New Vegas hit canon much more accurately, with civilization beginning to recover. ---
**Author:** ![Stowed\_Bob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stowed_bob/32/3312_2.png) [@Stowed\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stowed_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/35 "2012-05-21T08:25:42Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > The problem is that FO3 and NV are quite explicitly set 200 years after the War. By then, radiation would still be an issue, but I would certainly hope people would start being able to pull the remnants of civilization back together. The Capitol Wasteland felt far too much like it was only a couple decades at most after the War. I’m sorry, but after 200 years the best you can do is Megaton? You can’t reopen any factories? You can’t even clean the random bits of paper up off the floor in Rivet City? Yeah, super mutants are something of a concern in DC, but it wasn’t until YOU came along that enough weaponry was amassed to be able to hat up and take them out after 200 years? Only because of the two previous sequels being set in the West Coast, and New Vegas inherited that baggage. It seems like Fallout 3 was how they wish it could always be, just like in the first Fallout, where humanity’s first starting to crawl out of the vaults and piecing everything back together. Since this was the first foray into the Capital Wasteland, they got to do the bare bones ruins. Any sequel set in the capital will see things get better, giving way from a Wild West to ordered societies. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/36 "2012-05-21T13:39:17Z")
> [@srzss05](#): > > Just a heads-up, but the wiki has moved to a less obnoxious server than [wikia.com](http://wikia.com) is: > > [The Commonwealth | Fallout Wiki | Fandom](http://www.falloutwiki.com/Commonwealth) Yeah, the falloutwiki site (or at least the Commonwealth page) was down when I was posting that, weirdly. > [@Bosstone](#): > > The problem is that FO3 and NV are quite explicitly set 200 years after the War. By then, radiation would still be an issue, but I would certainly hope people would start being able to pull the remnants of civilization back together. The Capitol Wasteland felt far too much like it was only a couple decades at most after the War. I’m sorry, but after 200 years the best you can do is Megaton? You can’t reopen any factories? You can’t even clean the random bits of paper up off the floor in Rivet City? Yeah, super mutants are something of a concern in DC, but it wasn’t until YOU came along that enough weaponry was amassed to be able to hat up and take them out after 200 years? Remember, NV is clean and built up because very little of it was knocked down in the first place. Plus, Mr. House kept the city in order; there’s no giant force of Securitrons keeping order in DC. There’s also no NCR equivalent in DC, and a million times more mutants. One reason is that there’s no supply of clean water, so the Capitol Wasteland can’t support a concentrated human population. That’s the whole point of Project Purity. > [@Stowed\_Bob](#): > > Only because of the two previous sequels being set in the West Coast, and New Vegas inherited that baggage. It seems like Fallout 3 was how they wish it could always be, just like in the first Fallout, where humanity’s first starting to crawl out of the vaults and piecing everything back together. Since this was the first foray into the Capital Wasteland, they got to do the bare bones ruins. Any sequel set in the capital will see things get better, giving way from a Wild West to ordered societies. One pretty obvious issue is that having an environment full of crumbling buildings means (1) lots of textures and stuff, and (2) lots of potential visual barriers. When your game is designed for ~300 MHz Pentiums and uses an isometric viewpoint, those are pretty good reasons to design an _empty_ sandy wasteland. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/37 "2012-05-21T15:47:26Z")
I’m waiting for the full-on Fallout/Paranoia crossover in a vault ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/38 "2012-05-21T17:41:38Z")
> [@Stowed\_Bob](#): > > Only because of the two previous sequels being set in the West Coast, and New Vegas inherited that baggage. It seems like Fallout 3 was how they wish it could always be, just like in the first Fallout, where humanity’s first starting to crawl out of the vaults and piecing everything back together. They who? Bethesda, who didn’t have anything to do with the previous two Fallout games? And you call it ‘inheriting that baggage’, whereas those who like the Fallout verse see it as continuing that story. No, there are many many references within FO3 to it being 200 years after the War. It’s very hard to reconcile the on-the-nose crawling-out-of-the-wreckage post-apoc with that length of time, especially when you compare it to the progress other regions were able to make in that amount of time. They could have pretty easily set it only 50 years after the War, and it would have made more sense. After all, it’s so far from California that their stories would have never interacted. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There’s also no NCR equivalent in DC, and a million times more mutants. One reason is that there’s no supply of clean water, so the Capitol Wasteland can’t support a concentrated human population. That’s the whole point of Project Purity. Well yes. But why did it take 200 years for Project Purity to happen? Yes, they needed a research lab; why did it take 160 years before someone found Rivet City? I don’t really buy that Horace Pinkerton’s party was the only group who could found Rivet City and secure a research lab. I don’t really buy that James and Madison Li were the only humans who could figure out Project Purity. Now, the project missing a vital piece to work makes sense. Had Rivet City existed for 100+ years (and not been so damned _messy_) and James and Li had been the inheritors of a long-running but stalled Project Purity that could not advance due to needing a GECK but lacking information on where to find one, it could have hung together better. It’s just very hard to accept that after so long humans would still only be barely surviving and not making any effort at living. Mind, I like FO3. Its timeline stretches my suspension of disbelief, but doesn’t break it. But I do think FONV was a better game in story, setting, and gameplay. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/39 "2012-05-21T17:43:50Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Realistically, any game set after F:NV would have to pick one ending, and the NCR is the best one to go with since it avoids having the Courier be a person of note in the world afterwards and fits the theme that civilization is gradually rebuilding. The series has done this before, after all; FO2 assumes the Vault Dweller saved the ghouls of Necropolis, and NV assumes that Marcus joined the Chosen One’s party and survived. Well, as long as the game itself isn’t set in the west, they could avoid most mentions of the events of New Vegas. Maybe have it set up where you could load your old NV save in, and then whenever someone mentions New Vegas the dialogue would be different depending on how you ended that game. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093/40 "2012-05-22T23:52:30Z")
> [@These are my own pants](#): > > I’d really like to see them be a bit more adventourous location-wise, i.e. somewhere outside of the US (the same goes for GTA, there’s only so many times you can re-hash a pseudo-New York City, another UK-based iteration would be nice). Not to get off topic, but I think a GTA version of Rio de Janeiro (a la Five Fast Five Furious) would kick ass. Tokyo, Paris, and London would also be good GTA settings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-like-there-are-more-stories-worth-telling-in-the-fallout-universe/602093.md?page=3)