History Headscratchers / Fallout

*** Not entirely true: according to the timeline, certain advanced tech companies like Wilson Atomatoys and Mass Fusion were founded decades before the war (though admittedly, we don't know what their first products were), and the fusion cell was introduced in 2066. And while giving China the tech to solve their own energy crisis may have been giving up America's main military advantage in the long term, it would also effectively remove most of China's motivation to fight, and, along with impending military defeat, been a very strong bargaining chip the US could have used to make them sign a peace treaty. Then again, given the US government was already pretty much The Enclave by that point, anything less than the total destruction defeat of the Chinese [[DirtyDirtyCommunists Communist]] government that had invaded their land, let alone sharing tech may never have been on the table.

*** Besides, Caesar has [[spoiler: a fatal brain tumor]], [[FridgeBrilliance which could explain why his Intelligence and Charisma are so low in terms of gameplay]].

The series is meant to have a 1950s vibe to it, but are we seriously meant to believe that nobody made new music between the 1950s and 2077? No songs from the Beatles, Black Sabbath, Michael Jackson, or their ''Fallout'' equivalents? Sure, we got Slipknot and other modern rock bands in ''VideoGame/FalloutBrotherhoodOfSteel'', but... [[FanonDiscontinuity nobody likes to talk about that game]].

The entire Brotherhood of Steel (aside from the chapters who recruit) is descended from an army platoon and their families but how did they get such a large population without becoming massively inbred, just how many members do army platoons usually have?
** They likely engaged in some limited recruitment at first, at least taking on outside families who weren't part of the Brotherhood persay. After a few hundred years though they became increasingly isolationist, probably because they now ''had'' a viable population and had other powerful factions staring enviously at their tech.

Since the pre-war USA never really phased out of using fossil fuels for the most part, what was the state of the climate? Surely in a world where corporations worked under unchecked capitalism, abysmal health and safety standards, widespread resource wars, and carelessly dumped nuclear waste, how did they even manage to make to 2077?

As we all pay attention to the lore and townships of the nasty war that reduced everything to literal cinders, one hard to avoid question keeps nagging in the back of our heads: What's the USA's and it annexed territories consensus like? Because if we took factors like traitorous-Raiders, Deathclaws, Super Mutants and Feral Ghouls and other likes that prey on surviving Humanity. Will there really be a humanity after the NEXT 200 years? recolonization of the States is not going to be easy if you have a 1 in 8 chance of surviving, DAILY.

** Well, don't forget the ''Film/MadMax'' movies which, while more from TheEighties than TheFifties, have already been used aesthetically for many aspects of ''Fallout''[='=]s post-Great War society (i.e. the PostApunkalypticArmor, VillainByDefault [[TheUsualAdversaries Raiders]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', as well as the highwayman [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Mad Mel]]). Presumably, Post-War Australia may be just like the Film/MadMax Australia of scattered survivors and raider packs zipping around in {{WeaponizedCar}}s -- just with the cars [[ILoveNuclearPower powered by nuclear engines]] instead of gasoline, and with more mutated humans and animals to worry about on top of all that.

** Best I can tell, it originated on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki.

** To avoid assigning blame to any particular country. It's not relevant to gameplay, and would just offend citizens of whatever country they point the finger at. Also, to illustrate the futility of nuclear war: it doesn't matter who starts the war, everyone loses. TheMatrix is another example. NoOneKnowsWhoFiredFirst could be a UsefulNotes/ColdWar trope.

[[folder:That Band]]
* [[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_Out_Boy]] Don't they know his name is "'''Vault''' Boy"!?
** Unless I'm missing a joke here, there's nothing that says that the band was named after ''Fallout''. In fact, they're named after [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Radioactive Man's]] sidekick, Fall Out Boy.
[[/folder]]

** This is an example of early adaptation weirdness. The ''Fallout'' universe is set in a 60's era; [=PCs=] didn't exist until the late 70's. Thus, they had to do a weird hybrid of 60's tech look with technology that didn't exist then. When it entered the 3D era, they were able to improve the look.

** Well, don't forget the MadMax movies which, while more from TheEighties than TheFifties, have already been used aesthetically for many aspects of ''Fallout''[='=]s post-Great War society (i.e. the PostApunkalypticArmor, VillainByDefault [[TheUsualAdversaries Raiders]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', as well as the highwayman [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Mad Mel]]). Presumably, Post-War Australia may be just like the MadMax Australia of scattered survivors and raider packs zipping around in {{WeaponizedCar}}s -- just with the cars [[ILoveNuclearPower powered by nuclear engines]] instead of gasoline, and with more mutated humans and animals to worry about on top of all that.

** Best I can tell, it originated on ThisVeryWiki.

** Essentially, they are not actually hiding the base (it's too big to be a 'hidden base'), but they are also not advertising that it is there. There's a little bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation that comes into play with the isometric view and limited graphics capability of those older games, but there's plenty of reality to something like that as well. Navarro military base is based on Fort Bragg (the real Navarro has no military base and is far away from where Navarro would appear in game). This Troper has lived near major military bases all his life, and a thin line of trees (particularly evergreens) obscures major structures awfully well to the point that if it weren't for the big signs that pointed out that it was a base, one would not realize there was anything of importance back there at all -- particularly to people travelling on foot. That said, there's also the one gate guard there at Navarro who deters uninvited guests, as well as a chain-link fence to prevent anyone from entering the base itself.

** This is an example of early adaptation weirdness. The fallout universe is set in a 60's era; PC's didn't exist until the late 70's. Thus, they had to do a weird hybrid of 60's tech look with technology that didn't exist then. When it entered the 3D era, they were able to improve the look.

** [[WordOfGod According to the]] [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline#2052 official timeline]], Europe and the Middle East nuked each other to oblivion BEFORE America and China did, fighting for the last few drops of oil in the Middle East. It's safe to say that if anybody survived that shitstorm, it's mutated all-to-hell (although [[WordOfGod Chris Avellone]] claimed he wanted to make a prequel game called "[[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_Resource_Wars Fallout: Resource Wars]]", which focuses on a British army unit fighting their way back to the English channel across a war-wracked Europe -- between the implications of this and [[EvilBrit Alistair Tenpenny's]] migration to the Capital Wasteland from Britain, there may have been a program in England similar to Vault-Tec in America, allowing some Brits to survive the nuclear holocaust in Europe).

** Check out the [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Metro2033 Metro]] [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MetroLastLight Series]] for an example of what Fallout Russia might look like.

* Why has nobody tried to repair the pre-war cars, when other Pre-War technology like Power Armor, Robots, and Energy Weapons have been? Ask any african and they'll tell you that a car isn't just a way to get from A and B, it's a tool for survival when living in a place with dangerous animals, as not only does it surround you with protective armor, it also makes you bigger, and faster than animals that might do you harm, which is why they tell you never to get out of the car when you see a lion. Now picture the world of Fallout, with its Deathclaws, Yao Guai, Rad Scorpions, Cazadors, Giant Ants, etc. Having a car could mean the difference between life and death. Not only that, the NCR is described as being "Like a real old time country" by the time of New Vegas. If they really are that far along in the process of rebuilding, then why aren't there any new cars being made?
** Power Armor, robots, and energy weapons are relatively self-contained, and somewhat limited to technophile groups. Cars require considerable infrastructure which may not be worthwhile given the relatively small, spread out populations involved. And, as awesome as cars can be as defense against wild animals, an alternative tactic, used with success by human populations the world over, has been to not go where dangerous animals live. Most of the population of the Fallout universe are relative homebodies, with soldiers, New Vegas tourists, and designated heroes as the main exceptions.
** Also, some people HAVE actually repaired pre-war cars for use. There's the Chrysalis Highwayman in Fallout 2, a few more vehicles in Fallout Tactics, and there are what appear to be working trucks seen parked in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
** Getting one running is relatively simple, but unlike shockproof battle gear, 'planned obsolescence' would be in full force. Even the Highwayman (I miss that car!) needed several parts replaced to make it effective, and that's not counting various other real-world issues such as wear and tear on the tires, and the ever-increasing likelihood of being inside it when somebody fired a missile into your power plant.

** There is a cars mod that actually adds drivable cars to Fallout New Vegas. Could explain your question.

--->Fallout 1 has five.\\
Fallout 2 has none.\\
Fallout New Vegas has about twenty (ignoring farming a randomly appearing NPC in one of the safe houses).\\
Fallout 3 has well over a hundred, since every random container and some enemy drops could have them, while those with Chinese Stealth Armor had an equivalent technology (possibly not as damaging?).

** Yes. Dr. Henry (who is in both Fallout 2, working for the Enclave, and then in Jacobstown in New Vegas) says as much. Stealth Boy side effects are more pronounced in Nightkin than humans.

** Australia probably wasn't hit with nukes, but expanded universe material suggests that the nuclear war caused such widespread and devastating ecological damage (to say nothing of the economic impact of two powerful nations obliterating each other) that the rest of the world, even those not hit with nukes, couldn't have fared very well. Australia is probably back on its feet for the most part by the time of New Vegas.

** Okay so let's go with "Australia is probably back on its feet for the most part by the time of New Vegas". The mutated hyper intelligent Sydney Funnelweb Spiders are lovely folks in happy towns doing a splendid job of living after killing all the humans on the continent.

** Well, don't forget the MadMax movies which, while more from TheEighties than TheFifties, have already been used aesthetically for many aspects of Fallout's post-Great War society (i.e. the PostApunkalypticArmor, VillainByDefault [[TheUsualAdversaries Raiders]] in Fallout3, as well as the highwayman [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Mad Mel]]). Presumably, Post-War Australia may be just like the MadMax Australia of scattered survivors and raider packs zipping around in {{WeaponizedCar}}s -- just with the cars [[ILoveNuclearPower powered by nuclear engines]] instead of gasoline, and with more mutated humans and animals to worry about on top of all that.

** The fallout series seems only differentiate by projectile size, not case size, since there are no case length dimensions (5.56mm is just 5.56mm, not 5.56X45mm). The hunting rifle looks like a M98 mauser, which is 7.92MM, which is .32 caliber. So, when you shoot the .32 ammo in the Hunting rifle, you're shooting 7.92mm Mauser ammo.
** That's absolutely not possible. Regardless of whether Fallout ammo has dimensional differences, you're still able to load the exact same ammo into the Hunting Rifle and .32 Pistol. If you've got a revolver, you can load it exclusively with ammo picked up from rifles, and vice versa. There's no doubt that the guns are meant to be shooting the exact same round, and the discrepancy in power is ridiculously large.
** Fallout calibers are not necessarily the same as real world calibers, they are just probably very close since there's not much reason to reinvent the wheel. IIRC both Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics do have use of historical guns from our Post-Divergence timeline (Fallout 2 sticking mostly to guns that never had real production runs), but this has been declared somewhat non-canon by Bethesda. Remember, the current NATO calibers are all post-Divergence. The .32 can just be treated as a caliber invented for Fallout that's a pastiche of real-world .32 pistol and rifle rounds and was designed to be used for either.

** All of these explanations are fine and dandy, but the power gap between the revolver and rifle is too immense to be explainable as anything except for GameplayAndStorySegregation. While a longer barrel gives more power and range, there's a finite limit to just how much power any cartridge can provide. A .32 round that works in a small, cheap revolver with little recoil and is easily survivable several times over by an unarmored citizen simply cannot be granted enough power to blow heads off or take down mutated predators in one shot by increasing the barrel length because there's just not enough powder to push the bullet. Having too long of a barrel could even result in less power than the optimum, as the bullet reaches its maximum velocity in the barrel and is slowed by friction. The .357 Magnum hits hard both in a pistol and a rifle; the rifle will hit harder and reach a longer range, but the pistol can still make a one-shot stop even on a deer. If it worked the way Fallout guns did, the rifle would turn anyone it hit into a fine red mist. It's GameplayAndStorySegregation, no way to explain it otherwise.

** (Original Troper) Ok, so there is an explanation given (where exactly? In game or AllThereInTheManual ?), it's just not a very good one "Okay guys, for our spaceship design, lets not place speakers that send frequencies that drive you insane, lets not pack it with twice the number of people its supposed to carry and hand out guns. Our research shows this is bad." Plus, some of these are implied (or explicitly mentioned in the logs) to have required the help of certain people living IN these vaults, who must have been a few really loyal company men. Especially in case of vault 101, which required consecutive generations of Overseers to cooperate. But it's the Fallout universe, heartless and stupid acts by authority figures are what got them into the post-apocalyptic mess.

** You're partly right. Vault-Tec and the Government really did not expect nuclear war to happen, neither did many of the people who signed up. But then war ''did'' happen, and the Vaults were used for their expressed purpose. Call it convenient timing, but if your theory is correct, the Vaults could only get the signal out within a day, at most, otherwise all sorts of issues would have happened. In Fallout 1, you can find recordings that say that many of the Vault's intended population ignored the warning calls, thinking it a false alarm. The details of going into the Vault include an emergency siren and lots of phone calls, which would probably alert quite a few people if it were to be a few days ahead of the Apocalypse. But all indications are that all was well in the general public the morning of the day the bombs fell -- the school field trip that creates the Little Lamplight community, for instance. In Fallout 3, you find letters delivered to prospective Vault Dwellers explaining when and how they'll be contacted when the Apocalypse arrives (many of the letters are still in the mailbox, meaning they weren't received). It shows that the people going in had been screened well before-hand and had signed on expressly for shelter in the event of nuclear annihilation:

[[folder:Legitimacy of Fallout Bible]]
* What bugs me is people treating the Fallout Bible as the Word of God, which seems to include Bethesda to an extent, and some people on this page. Despite the name, it isn't that. For one, Chris Avellone, who put it together, wasn't even involved with the first Fallout. For the second game, he was just one of several designers, and not in the lead. Another thing is, the design for a game changes throughout the development progress. The Fallout Bible has bits and pieces here and there from the design documents. Some ideas were changed by the time they made it to the finished game, and some were left out completely. Whether it was due to limiting the scope to fit the resources or because the developers just decides the idea was too silly or stupid or just ill-fitting, we don't know. After all, does anyone think the first Fallout would be better if it included a settlement of intelligent raccoons?

** True enough, most of the Fallout Bible was WhatCouldHaveBeen (and we're glad it wasn't) but much of it could also be considered WordOfDante. Avellone at least rates that much, as he was almost [[WordOfGod God]] at one point being lead designer on ''Van Buren'', when most of the Bible was compiled.

** It's not really intended to be "this is exactly what Fallout is supposed to be," so interpreting it in that manner is more FanDumb than anything else. Black Isle had a habit of putting very outlandish things into their games as jokes, so just because it might have appeared in a future Fallout game doesn't necessarily mean it was supposed to be a major plot point or very much beyond an EasterEgg.
** Also considering Bethesda has ignored canon elements, I doubt they treat the Fallout Bible as though everything in it is supposed to be canon. Case and point, everything in Fallout 3 has a nuclear reactor and Washington DC still exists in a very recognizable form. As opposed to electric cars, which existed prior to the nuclear bombs falling, and Vertibirds using oil based fuel (which is a plot point in Fallout 2, since one of their bases is partially devoted to making fuel and the other serves as a refueling point).
** Considering that the said fuel-making base was ''destroyed in a nuclear explosion'' at the end of Fallout 2, isn't it pretty logical that the Enclave would start powering them with different means? Also, Bethesda didn't "ignore" that there were electric cars; rather, they simply added nuclear ones. Both types of vehicle exist in the Fallout world now.
** The Oil Rig was powered by a nuclear engine because it also served as a post-war facility. Logically, it's efficiency is expanded by using a nuclear power source to power the drill to siphon the oil, which is used for the vertibirds. It wouldn't make sense to use oil to power the facility that's meant to produce oil. The problem is that Nuclear power is treated as a dangerous and unstable in the other games (Fallout 2 demonstrates the problems with the Gecko power plant), and treated with fear and respect for that power. As for electric cars, Bethesda did forget, as there are zero references to electric powered cars in the game. As it's noted on the Fallout 3 Headscratchers page, with such a plethora of nuclear cars in DC, it's a wonder why there aren't more craters at the scene of major accidents. Adding to this is that FO3 Vertibirds explode with much more violence than cars or buses (and certainly more than a comparable fuel-driven vehicle), and they're certainly built to be quite robust. If it were only some vertibirds which are armed with nuclear weapons or missiles, this would be understandable, but in Fallout 3, even the unarmed troop carriers will explode rather impressively.

** Please remember that anytime you use the word "Maybe" it's entering WildMassGuessing because of all the misinformation. ''Maybe'' nuclear cars are so volatile because they are simply there for [[RuleOfCool more explosions]], rather than any rational or sensible existence. Yes, nuclear power in Fallout 1 and 2 is considered unstable. [[http://www.falloutwiki.com/Gecko_(town) Gecko's power plant is not stable and is under the constant and watchful eye of the Ghouls there.]] They simply happen to be comfortable in there. To wit, what is one way the Chosen One can destroy the Oil Rig? [[http://www.falloutwiki.com/Power_plant_operations Tom Murray]] can be talked into simply turning off the control system for the power plant, which causes the destruction of the Oil Rig in a giant nuclear fireball. What you're saying instead is that these cars can just vent off two hundred years of intense heat without any sort of proper maintenance, while armed supermutants have been fighting in the streets for over a hundred years (let alone the past twenty when the Brotherhood came along), and none of these "destabilizing cars" explode or are pulled apart or used as improvised explosives.

* Didn't see this, so here we go: In Fallout 1 you save Vault 13 and [[spoiler: are exiled for all your trouble]]. So in Fallout 2, why doesn't PipBoy know the location of Vault 13? Or even have basic maps? I can understand why wouldn't have the whole map (maybe the Vault Dweller headed straight to the tribe) but how come it doesn't have the route to Vault 13, the place it came from? Seeing as it automatically records your travels this is bizarre.

* It bugs me that in Fallout 2, it's mentioned that Vault City was built by the Vault 8 dwellers who were lucky enough to be part of the "control" group for the experiment. Yeah, they had a G.E.C.K to terraform the nearby area, but otherwise they used supplies and technology from the Vault to build and maintain Vault City, one of the most high tech settlements in that game. And, also in Fallout 2, it's mentioned that no one wants to leave Vault 15 alone because it has valuable high-tech pre war goodies in it. So why, at least in Fallout 3, can't you go to some of the other Vaults and find advanced technology in them? I realize Vault 112 didn't exactly need much except something to power the Tranquility pods, and the rest of the Vaults, except 101 of course, have GoneHorriblyWrong (all according to plan) not long after sealing so I can understand that a lot of things have been damaged in those 200 years, but some things have to still be functional and able to use outside of the Vaults. Namely the Vault power generators, which are still keeping computer terminals and those eerie red lights on. Learning what makes said generators tick may at least help the settlements in finding better power sources of their own, and, at best, recreate smaller versions of the generators for themselves.

** Their lips are huge. If they didn't wear braces, they wouldn't be able to talk or eat. It's not as obvious by the time of New Vegas, but just look at the [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101225082741/fallout/images/6/61/FO01_NPC_Lieutenant_N.png Lieutenant]], or [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101226052752/fallout/images/1/11/FO01_NPC_Harry_B.png Harry]], and the need becomes obvious.

* Here's what's bugged me throughout the entirety of Fallout 2 and 3. The Enclave are remnants of the pre-war U.S. government. They have the best technology and most members of any organization in the Fallout universe (well, close to the most numbers, though that's obviously not the case now). They have top of the line military training and weapons that will disintegrate Brotherhood Paladins in one hit. So why is it that time and again, they keep getting foiled by untrained civilians and factions they clearly should be curbstomping? The NCR in Fallout 2 didn't even have anything special about them, they were just a bunch of Vault dwellers who united some tribes and made a nation, the Enclave does not even have a plan for stopping post-war nations that don't even have power armor or plasma weapons in a straight up fight? And in Fallout 3, they get their asses kicked by the Brotherhood, which is especially odd since not only are they more numerous, better trained, and have better tech than this branch, but the Brotherhood was already stretching itself thin dealing with the super mutants! Seriously, it's a wonder these guys even got to their positions in the U.S. government.
** Well the Enclave never actually had to fight any of the major factions in Fallout 2. The NCR, even at that point, had a huge reserve of manpower to draw from and the Brotherhood technology isn't as far behind Enclave as reputation makes it out to be. The Enclave probably could have won that fight, but the cost would have been substantial and their Final Solution would have simply made the whole fight pointless. As for Fallout 3, it would seem that the Brotherhood simply withdrew and fortified, not presenting a viable target for the early assaults. It was a stalemate until Liberty Prime was deployed, and by the time it was destroyed the Enclave was in full retreat.

** Enclave numbers do not and have never compared anywhere near the same level as the NCR reached by Fallout 2.
** Superior technology isn't an "I Win" button in the Fallout universe. Yes, power armor does stop small arms fire very effectively. It does not stop heavy weapons or armor piercing bullets very well, and, while there isn't a huge amount of it around, there is more than enough considering the number differences. Besides, running around with weapons capable of disintegrating power armor is one of the most bone headed things they could possibly have done because the NCR and Brotherhood, with there superior numbers are going to win fights and scavenge those weapons. Once they have those weapons, they took away one of your main advantages (power armor), while still keeping superior numbers.

* In the original Fallout 1 and 2, drugs are a commodity worth their weight in caps. A single bottle of buffout or Mentats can cost almost as much as a Stimpak. But after New Vegas, they got the selling price of Jet while Stimpaks are still pricey. Also addictions are simply worth 2-5 doses of the drug you've gotten high on and the doctors are more than willing to combat your addiction instead of telling you that you are constantly getting addicted and need to learn the hard way of going cold turkey. So why is there more "liberal" reactions to drug use and drug price.
** Supply and Demand versus the time period. In Fallout 1, stimpaks were in a greater demand simply because of the CrapsackWorld nature of the game. Other drugs, like Buffout and Mentats were something of a luxury, and really, there weren't many suppliers for those drugs (most of them were apparently pre-war items). In Fallout 2, there still was a great demand for stimpaks, and less for 'performance enhancing' drugs, with recreational drugs like Jet becoming more popular (though its performance enhancing properties were less manageable, but useful). By this time, there still weren't many suppliers, but they were starting to have some manufacturing capabilities. By New Vegas, simply put, that's because it's New Vegas. A few hundred miles away from the relatively safe and conservative NCR, and you're in a Den of Vice and Villainy with a greater need for medical supplies because of the nearby conflict between armies. Drug use is quite a bit more liberal, by both locals and visitors, and since there's a steady flow of supplies coming in from the West, there's more of the other kinds of drugs readily available. There is a thriving drug trade, which is amply supplied by the Khans (see: Jack and Diane), the Atomic Wrangler, street dealers (Dixon even sells a 'low-quality' version of jet), the NCR (black market dealings), and so forth, compared to the limited number of suppliers from 40 and 120 years before. And why wouldn't a 'quick fix' to rid a person of their addiction be appreciated in such a town for the low cost of 5-6 doses of your preferred drug of choice? "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," afterall.
** It also applies to Fallout3 which started the whole "Med-x is cheaper" thing, and the Capital Wasteland isn't what you call a civilized place.
** It's implied to be pre-war morphine. [[RealLifeWritesThePlot The change was made because some countries were going to ban Fallout3 for portraying real-world controlled substances in a "realistic" fashion.]] That said, Morphine is cheap and plentiful in the real world.

** The Village Elder is only 53 at the start of Fallout 2 (born in 2188, and the game starts in 2241). She is not aging very well, probably due to the rustic conditions and hard life in a dry community like Arroyo. The Fallout Bible states the Chosen One's birthday is March 23, 2221, which would make the Chosen One 20 years old when Fallout 2 begins.

** Nope, the Elder is the Chosen One's mother. The Vault Dweller is the canonical Grandfather.

** I refer you to [=MacArthur=] and his sacking for his coup de president during the Korean War. The Fallout universe seems to be filled with American [=MacArthurs=] and Pattons who will make disastrous political choices to gain a military advantage.

** In Fallout 2 you can restore an AI called Skynet, who becomes a companion, its implied in the game it started the war, by launching US nuclear arsenal at targets around the world. This is a reference to the terminator films

** Part of this is literally AllThereInTheManual for VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}, as the Vault Dweller tells the story about the small group who left Vault 13. The inferred story is that the group left after hearing the Vault Dweller's exploits, but were not able to convince the Overseer to give them a GECK as the Vault remained sealed afterwards until the events of Fallout 2. What knowledge this small group had was not applicable to the Wasteland, and the Vault Dweller had to teach them how to survive using the skills he picked up. As for why their technology wasn't kept up, time simply wore away at their tools and equipment, as the Pipboy had demonstrated in the above entry.

* The selection of goods available in the Fallout universe strains credulity. 200 years after nuclear war, society doesn't have indoor plumbing and barely has electricity, but fantastic biotechnology (stimpaks, Rad-X, Rad Away) is lying around everywhere. Post-war consumer goods don't exist, but ammo presses and a massive arsenal of guns do. I'm sure this is a social commentary on the twisted priorities of a warlike people, but come on, shouldn't the year 2277 at least have toilet paper?

** Also consider the postwar social structure. With a very few, lowly populated exceptions seen in the games, the overwhelming majority of the population is almost certainly nomadic, for the simple reason that in a lot of places, the ground isn't too productive again yet (particularly on the East Coast), and so finding food enough to settle down is rare outside of, again, a few lowly populated exceptions (although that's increasingly changing on the West Coast). If you can't settle down and live in one place, you can't really begin rebuilding industry. Its worth noting that, as of New Vegas, the West Coast seems to be well on the way to rebuilding basic infrastructure and settled-in-one-place non-migratory civilization; we just spend all our time in the hinterlands where, aside from the prewar ruins, things are largely still tribal and dotted with "towns" just barely big enough to feed themselves, let alone start large-scale crafting.

* In Fallout 3, after you get your house, your Mr. Gutsy robot can provide you with 5 bottles of purified water every week. Purified, radiation-free water. Now, even though that isn't a large amount, doesn't that mean that Mr. Gutsys are basically equipped with technology that does the same thing the GECK does? Couldn't someone with some scientific proficiency create a water purifier using a few of these guys?

* In all Fallout games, there was a distinct narrator for the intros / endings. Who is that person? Is he in game?
** It's Ron Perlman, he did play another character in the first Fallout, but has since just done the opening and ending narrations.

** Probably the fact that war and the militaristic culture was never really culturally rejected by Fallout universe Americans. While Hippies and the Peace movement did exist in the FO universe, its clear that they never got anywhere near the traction it did in real life and it is implied that Nixon was never impeached. This led to the embrace of traditional American authoritarian values with nothing to question them, and thus -- cultural stagnation.[[/folder]]

* This is more hypothetical than anything else but I'm curious how the writers of Fallout plan to handle the issue of a strong military force attaining nuclear weapons in future games. To be blunt, in light of the NCR's success in the West Coast and the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel bringing steady progress to the East Coast, civilization is going to return at some point in the future. What I'm wondering is how are these groups going to treat nuclear weapons when the option of attaining one presents itself? Not only are there a number of nuclear weapons left over from before the war (The Divide, Megaton, etc.) but eventually these factions will learn how to weaponize nuclear material like their ancestors did and create new ones. Do you think the cultural stigma surrounding nuclear weapons, after they ravaged the planet, will make it socially unacceptable for civilians to accept the presence of nuclear weapons in a military arsenal? Or do you think they're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past and use nuclear weapons in warfare again?

The series is meant to have a 1950s vibe to it, but are we seriously meant to believe that nobody made new music between the 1950s and 2077? No songs from the Beatles, Black Sabbath, Michael Jackson, or their Fallout equivalents? Sure, we got Slipknot and other modern rock bands in ''VideoGame/FalloutBrotherhoodOfSteel'', but...[[FanonDiscontinuity nobody likes to talk about that game]].

** [[WordOfGod According to the]] [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline#2052 official timeline]], Europe and the Middle East nuked each other to oblivion BEFORE America and China did, fighting for the last few drops of oil in the Middle East. It's safe to say that if anybody survived that shitstorm, it's mutated all-to-hell (although [[WordOfGod Chris Avellone]] claimed he wanted to make a prequel game called "[[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_Resource_Wars Fallout: Resource Wars]]", which focuses on a British army unit fighting their way back to the English channel across a war-wracked Europe - between the implications of this and [[EvilBrit Alistair Tenpenny's]] migration to the Capital Wasteland from Britain, there may have been a program in England similar to Vault-Tec in America, allowing some Brits to survive the nuclear holocaust in Europe).

** Check out the[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Metro2033 Metro]] [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MetroLastLight Series]] for an example of what Fallout Russia might look like

** Well, don't forget the MadMax movies which, while more from TheEighties than TheFifties, have already been used aesthetically for many aspects of Fallout's post-Great War society (i.e. the PostApunkalypticArmor, VillainByDefault [[TheUsualAdversaries Raiders]] in Fallout3, as well as the highwayman [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Mad Mel]]). Presumably, Post-War Australia may be just like the MadMax Australia of scattered survivors and raider packs zipping around in {{WeaponizedCar}}s - just with the cars [[ILoveNuclearPower powered by nuclear engines]] instead of gasoline, and with more mutated humans and animals to worry about on top of all that.

** You're partly right. Vault-Tec and the Government really did not expect nuclear war to happen, neither did many of the people who signed up. But then war ''did'' happen, and the Vaults were used for their expressed purpose. Call it convenient timing, but if your theory is correct, the Vaults could only get the signal out within a day, at most, otherwise all sorts of issues would have happened. In Fallout 1, you can find recordings that say that many of the Vault's intended population ignored the warning calls, thinking it a false alarm. The details of going into the Vault include an emergency siren and lots of phone calls, which would probably alert quite a few people if it were to be a few days ahead of the Apocalypse. But all indications are that all was well in the general public the morning of the day the bombs fell - the school field trip that creates the Little Lamplight community, for instance. In Fallout 3, you find letters delivered to prospective Vault Dwellers explaining when and how they'll be contacted when the Apocalypse arrives (many of the letters are still in the mailbox, meaning they weren't received). It shows that the people going in had been screened well before-hand and had signed on expressly for shelter in the event of nuclear annihilation:

** I believe the implication was that all the "I-on-U" cameras didn't ''just'' link to the Overseer's office - the data would also be transmitted (probably via underground cable) to the Secret Vault, where elite Vault-Tec staff could sit back and PassThePopcorn while doodling little drawings of themselves flying on rocket ships. The various projects showing how to use hallucinogens, sonics or FEV to generate unstoppable shock troops would be useful if their new destination was inconveniently inhabited: just decant some Gary-Clones, drug them up, slip them the virus, give them headphones and drop them on the planet.

** Essentially, they are not actually hiding the base (it's too big to be a 'hidden base'), but they are also not advertising that it is there. There's a little bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation that comes into play with the isometric view and limited graphics capability of those older games, but there's plenty of reality to something like that as well. Navarro military base is based on Fort Bragg (the real Navarro has no military base and is far away from where Navarro would appear in game). This Troper has lived near major military bases all his life, and a thin line of trees (particularly evergreens) obscures major structures awfully well to the point that if it weren't for the big signs that pointed out that it was a base, one would not realize there was anything of importance back there at all - particularly to people travelling on foot. That said, there's also the one gate guard there at Navarro who deters uninvited guests, as well as a chain-link fence to prevent anyone from entering the base itself.
** Personally I felt it was the dozen plasma turrets that ''really'' deterred uninvited guests. It's worth noting that the Navarro base ''was'' built pretty close to the ground - one modest satellite dish and the Vertibird hangars. No massive antenna mast, no observation towers: I agree that it looks a little dubious in-game, but if they'd build the whole thing in a relatively shallow depression it could be hidden in the dead trees.

** [=MacArthur=] wasn't sacked just for wanting to make a dangerous political decision; he wanted to use nuclear weapons because the Chinese were flooding the Korean peninsula and UN troops were rapidly losing the ground they had just taken from the North Koreans. [=MacArthur=] faced a complete reversal of the situation the US military faced in China - China, in this case, would be the ones contemplating nuclear warfare to stop the American advance.

** Probably the fact that war and the militaristic culture was never really culturally rejected by Fallout universe Americans. While Hippies and the Peace movement did exist in the FO universe, its clear that they never got anywhere near the traction it did in real life and it is implied that Nixon was never impeached. This led to the embrace of traditional American authoritarian values with nothing to question them, and thus - cultural stagnation.[[/folder]]