Fallout Bible 9

Notes: All notes in italics come from The Vault editors, not from Chris Avellone himself.

Fallout Bible Nein

October 15? Nov 6? 2002? Ah, screw it.



The Fallout Bible Update Nein
Here's the ninth Fallout Bible update - if you missed any of the others, check the Black Isle main page (www.blackisle.com), scroll down, and click on the "Read More News Here" section (and scroll down or do a "Find" for "Fallout"). The first three updates have been collected into a sinister "Update Zero" and the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth updates stand on their own.

For those of you who haven't seen these before, the Fallout Bible is a collection of background material and hi-jinks from Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 compiled into one document so the fans can take a look at it. If you see anything wrong or if you think of anything you'd like to see, email me at Cavellone@blackisle.com and I'll see what I can do. I can't promise I'll answer your emails immediately, but I will get around to it, usually when the weekend hits.

This update contains an interview with Fallout designer/programmer Jess Heinig who wrote Zax, helped set up Junktown, and spends his time trying not to body-block Enterprise's Jolene Blalock, some assorted trivia that Jess was happy to pass along (curious how the end cinematic sequences in Junktown were supposed to go?), brahmin and gender identity issues, mutants and sex, info on Patrick the Celt from F1, some questions and answers (but not as much as FOB 8), lots of pies being thrown by Canadians, the truth about the Brotherhood of Steel, honoring the Fallout flag, the winner of the Ink Spots contest, and yet more fallout from our favorite post-holocaust world of the future.

Thanks for supporting Fallout,

Chris Avellone @ Black Isle Studios

Fast Forward
Here's another list of stuff to start the update with. It's almost the same thing as last time, so you can fast forward over this if you're a veteran of these updates.

1. Again, any questions or suggestions for the Fallout Bible, send it on in to Cavellone@blackisle.com.

'''Before you do, though, read #2, below. '''

2. Suggestions for material to include in the Bible, suggestions for good Fallout fifties tunes, comments on why you like pen and paper RPGs over computer RPGs, questions about Fallout events, and suggestions for good source material are welcome, but there are a number of things I can’t/won’t answer because I am busy and I hate you. They include:

·	Giving hints or walkthroughs for the game. If you need a hint or a walkthrough, go to the Black Isle message boards at:

http://feedback.blackisle.com

And within fifteen seconds, someone will post an answer to your problem. The answer will occasionally be snide and sarcastic and may be followed by the words, “silly rabbit�? or “dumbass,�? but you will get your answer. So make your voice heard.


 * Providing technical support. If you have any troubles with your Fallout disks or other Interplay games, you need to contact Interplay customer support at one of the following addresses:

For technical problems:

support@interplay.com

And for any other questions regarding Interplay products, barring hints and tips:

orderdesk@interplay.com


 * Answering questions outside of Fallout 1 or 2. Occasionally, if I am lucky, I can answer Fallout Tactics questions. I don't answer Fallout 3 questions.


 * Reading fan fiction or fan-created material for Fallout.


 * Providing any information, walkthroughs, hints, or support on the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale I or II, Planescape: Torment, or Dark Alliance.

3. Thanks for everybody who sent in tunes - if you have anything that strikes you as a good Fallout fifties ambiance, send it my way at the email address, in #1, above. I'm always looking for new music tunes.

4. There are a lot of questions sitting in my archive. If you don't see your question here (especially if it was recent), I haven't forgotten, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Or at least that's the story I'm sticking to. If you sent in five hundred questions in one email, I can personally guarantee I won't be getting around to it until some time next year, so don't hold your breath, Mr. Question Man.

FEV and vegetation: specifically, carrots
Through the power of bumping despite the loss of search functions on the BIS board, I am proud to present the arguments of Senior Carrot: Carrot is not to be confused with the Flaming Carrot comic book character.

BTW, "MCA" is an acronym for Mr. Chris Avellone (me), for the uninitiated. I feel so street.


 * As has been publicly stated work on FO3 has not started, I hope this gives us a good deal of time to fully work out the universe issues that have arisen.


 * The current FOB thread has grown into a monolith of off topic posting and one thinks any more sensible suggestions would be lost within its dark expanses.


 * The big hit list goes as follows:


 * The Enclave (should be sorted now)
 * The timeline (needs to be sorted)
 * FEV (the debate should end here)


 * The problem as perceived by the/some fans:


 * MCA in writing the FOB lost track of the essence of FO its pulp sci fi element, instead of sticking to the universe where modern day physics don’t apply it seems a modern day excuse has to be conjured up to explain everything. Here we have the use of FEV as a tool to explain everything weird and wonderful on the FO wasteland.


 * Now clearly everything is meant to be the result of 50's radiation, e.g. every monster film in the 50's is due to radioactive material mutating everything, now this is what I believe that Fallout was trying to capture. Why RadScorpions are called RadScorpions etc.


 * Instead we have the miraculous wonder brush of 90's style genetic mutation in the form of FEV to explain everything! Now ignoring all the disparities between FOB FEV and proper FEV as described in several scientific journals in FO1 let us examine where said Wasteland mutating FEV came from.


 * There are 2 possible locations of FEV the Mariposa Base where the large scale production/testing and research of FEV was to take place with huge quantities stored in vast underground vats, and the one bunker (obviously part of a chain) at the West Tek facility where initial experiments took place where there would possibly be small stores. Now let us theorise on ways in which said FEV would be released, Mariposa detonation was post FO1 (when most of the mutations had taken place) that said there is an indication of leaking into the surrounding area. The other would be FEV surviving the nuclear strike on West Tek, how would such a virus survive the nuclear fire sweeping the facility, or be able to pass across the great distances it is described as doing in the FOB through a dense cloud of superheated particles and raging fires?


 * Of course the scenario was preposterous from the start, there is no way FEV could have penetrated the surrounding wasteland in the short period of time in high enough concentrations from the small stocks available to mutate all the creatures.


 * Also one of the main races in Fallout, the Ghouls who to first time players are clearly zombies created by good ol' radiation have to be explained away be a supposed fog of FEV billowing across the Californian countryside and propelling itself under the vault 12 door? When both the prominent creators of the Fallout universe disagree with this, one has to wonder if a change is in order? But that’s why this thread is being written and there’s still time to do it!


 * The game is called Fallout, surely the universe should have a greater emphasis on the effects of its namesake in the guidelines set out clearly in the original then trying to update everything to today’s universe (seen also in the guns etc.).


 * How to rectify the problem:


 * Have the description of FEV lifted directly from the FO1 logs (where it actually make sense and is something rare and interesting).


 * Make reference to the fact the universe is not our universe (indicating differing events on the timeline e.g. no Watergate) and as such the radiation laws that apply are those from the 50's not the modern day. And as such weird and wonderful beasties can be created by said radiation and fallout without having to explain it all away with FEV.

Forgive Carrot for his grammar, he's English and doesn't understand how we do things in the colonies. For anyone new to this argument, the following answers have been derived from it:

- FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) explains the more grievous mutations in the wasteland (the Master, the Master's pets such as the floaters and centaurs, super mutants, Harold), and radiation caused most of the other giant-style mutations you see (scorpions, rats, ants, etc.) and some of the others (ghouls).

- The Fallout world is much like Torg - physics and natural laws are not the same as in our universe, but are based instead on 50s sensibilities and pulp era comics - the Fallout universe is what people in the 50s believed the future would be (with a lot of nuclear warheads dropped on it). As a result, there are endless stretches of desert, radiation will cause giant mutations, rayguns and brains in jars are realities, you might trip over a few giant evil tentacular blobs with plans of taking over the world, see plenty of clunky robots with glass dome heads and lots of blinking lights, and science in general is not only heavily atomic and optimistic, but it is also much easier in the Fallout universe (or also, "Science!") thus allowing people to create ultrasound guns, death beams, and lasers, usually in little or no time (especially when an invasion from outer space occurs). Most modern day concepts concerning artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and so on aren't part of the Fallout universe, since people in the 50s didn't recognize that many of these concepts existed (well, except the terminology for artificial intelligence, which was officially used at the Dartmouth Summer Conference on Artificial Intelligence in 1956, if I have my facts straight).

- In case this is news to anyone, the Fallout world is a divergent Earth. Really. And the world blew up in 2077, not in 1950.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

BTW, STILL waiting on those two prominent creators you cited as evidence, Carrot. ;)

Ink Spots contest answers
The winner of last month's contest was DJ Slamák, who guessed that the first choice of the Ink Spots song for Fallout 1 was "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire." Rock on, DJ, you crazy muthuh, you.

Odin actually got it first, but he refused credit, so...

YOU LOSE, ODIN

FEV explains all, half a third of it?
All right, here's the contest for next time - other than FEV I (and II), name two other non-real-world viruses that exist in the Fallout universe. Go!

And NO, despite his appearance, the Master is not a virus. Neither is Feargus. So ha ha ha ha, funny people, now do some research.

Broken footlockers in Broken Hills
Tim Geoghegan (whose last name makes him sound like a sci-fi villain), wanted to extend help to those of you who want to get to those mysterious footlockers in Broken Hills. Interestingly enough, DJ Slamák didn't mention this, so he is now on my shitlist of people that will burn when I get my flamethrower. Of course, if he mentioned it and I forgot, then I will still set him on fire.


 * I believe you were asked about the footlockers in Broken Hills and how to get to them in FOB 8. Well, DJSlamak, who runs Vault of the Future, a Fallout fansite hosted by Duck and Cover, has a guide togetting to those footlockers with screenshots.


 * http://www.duckandcover.net/~Slamak/f2/shots/bh_lock.htm


 * Tim Geoghegan
 * Tim Geoghegan

Thanks, Tim.

The missing PIP Boy button and Vault Zero
Pawel/Ausir, being a gentleman and a scholar, also provided me with the following information regarding that missing PIP Boy button on the interface and Vault Zero:


 * 1. The broken button in PipBoy interface was meant to be "clues" (it was in the FO1 demo, AFAIK).


 * 2. The Vault 0. Here's my theory: i think, that in fact, if BoS elders knew rumors of the Vault 0 from the beginning, while they did not know anything about the Enclave until FO2, it could have been a public secret, which could have had 2 reasons:


 * i. to get rid of unwanted people - politicians and journalists, who weren't always supporting the government policies, some not-that-important scientists and celebrities, and get rid of them - if they knew about the Enclave, and were not let in, they could have exposed its existence. Since they were let in to Vault 0, they didn't even suspect, that there can be an even more secret base.


 * ii. to cover up existence of the Enclave - the more people knew that the Cheyenne Mountain Complex was changed into a government vault, the less people would suspect that the government would in fact hide on an oil rig. it could have been part of the experiment - maybe the Calculator was MEANT to go mad?


 * Cheyenne Mountain is a pretty famous vault-like facility. I believe it's where NORAD is housed.  So it's no big secret.
 * Ausir
 * Ausir

Thanks, Ausir.

Ripping Tangler's hand
Somebody, probably DJ Slamák asked about an item called the "Tangler's Hand" in the last issue. Turns out (according to the Fallout 1 Editor), it looks like the Tangler's Hand belonged to a fellow named "Tangler" (surprised?) who has an AI packet that identifies him as a leader of the Rippers. Or at least he had Ripper AI in his scripting block, whatever "Ripper AI" means. In case you don't know who the Rippers are, they were part of the (defunct) inbred familial gang of Rippers - presumably, they were a rival gang that lived where the Mother Deathclaw is in the Boneyard, as evidenced by the "Ripper" movie poster outside her house hutch. According to some old dialogues, their building was fortified with traps and landmines, and they fought with the Blades a lot.

Oh, in an old dialogue file, Nicole mentions that Morpheus used to be a part of them - I can't get her to mention it in the game, which probably went the way of the Dodo when the Rippers were "cut." If anyone can get her to say this, let me know the dialogue path, and the wealth of nations shall be yours.

I want figures
Langy asks:

'''Will there be statistics of how many people lived before the war and how many died, how many turned into ghouls, how many people the Master dipped, how many became Super Mutants, and things like that? '''

Nope.

But what about Wasteland?
Ausir asks:

'''Though you will not refer to Wasteland directly, are you at least going not to contradict the game in the Bible or in the nextFallout games (like make an ancient monastery in the place of basecochise and las vegas destroyed in the war etc.)? '''

Well, although Fallout has Wasteland influences, they are two separate universes, so there's going to be contradictions.

A.I.
bloodbathmaster2 asks:

'''Will there be an explaination to the AI? in fallout 2, it was said that AI got bored and started the great war. '''

I'll try to do future sections dealing with the Machine Intelligences like ACE, Skynet, Zax, and others. What Skynet (not its real name) says most likely isn't true, and I don't like the concept of artificial intelligences in Fallout - they're too 1990s/21st century.

The Holy Hand Grenade
Ausir asks:

'''will you include info about the holy hand grenade? :))))'''

Stats for the Holy Hand Grenade on the right...

Range: 15, 2 lbs., 300-500 points of damage. It costs 4 AP to throw. Save it for Horrigan.

Unfortunately, you can't get the holy hand grenade in the actual game because of a bug. The good news is that there's a patch out there which you can find at:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/binaries/fallout2.shtml

Have fun. The patch, I believe, is courtesty of Maxim Sorokin (aka Seawolf).

Brahmin
I think Red1 asked about brahmin once on some chat or another. So here is an entry for brahmin.


 * Important! What follows is the rough draft layout for the "critters" section for the Fallout PNP game.


 * If there's anything about the layout that's missing or you think would be helpful to you as a GM, please email me.


 * Or at least have the courtesy to bitch about it somewhere where I can eavesdrop on it.

Fallout PnP: Brahmin!
Brahmin are mutated brahmin cattle with two heads. If you just said, "hell, I thought brahmin were something from India," well, you'd be right. A bunch of brahmin made their way to the states long ago for crossbreeding purposes. When the bombs fell, brahmin grew two heads. They are quite hardy. They are also a delicious toasty brown, as you'll notice in the picture to the left. They attack by head-butting or trying to gore someone with their horns, so brahmin-tippers beware. For some reason, only the left-most brahmin head has horns, which raises some curious gender identity issues.

Brahmin serve a vital environmental niche in Fallout - they form the foundation of survival for many species in Fallout, most notably, humans. They also form the backbone of the NCR economy. They also form the backbone of the New Reno "NCR brahmin rustling" economy. Brahmin can pull carts, old cars, plows, and dead bodies. Brahmin can be driven into herds then used as stampedes on rival tribal villages which is better than a Delayed Blast Fireball any day of the week. Brahmin can be worshipped. Brahmin hair can be woven into bags and ropes. Brahmin hide can be stretched over wooden or metal rods to make canoes, if you're into that sort of thing. Brahmin sinew can be used for bowstrings or thread for stitching. Brahmin shit is great fertilizer (and fuel for campfires). Brahmin meat is delicious - well, only because no one in Fallout knows what a succulent Pre-War steak used to taste like. Brahmin are a source of milk that is like modern day milk, yet terrifyingly different. Brahmin can be tipped over. Brahmin bones can be used as clubs, knives, arrowheads, eating utensils, hoes, or even dice, and their skulls look really scary dotted all over the desert landscape. Their horns can be turned into drinking horns if you feel like getting medieval. Brahmin can be used to distract a hungry deathclaw. Brahmin fat makes decent soap. Their hide can be used to make tents (or tipis/teepees), clothing, belts, saddle bags, shoes, leather armor, or a bizarre brahmin-looking disguise so you can sneak up on other brahmin and listen to their conversations. You can also use their tails as fly brushes or paint brushes, depending on your level of artistic talent.

There are domesticated brahmin and wild brahmin. PCs are encouraged to approach wild brahmin like they would a domesticated brahmin, because the end result is amusing for the Overseer.

Wild brahmin can forage for themselves, and they can be found across the wastes, gathered into small herds, wandering here and there, munching on the dirty weeds scattered throughout the desert. Fortunately for the ecology of the wasteland (and the survival of their species), brahmin can go for long periods of time without water - they don't need much to survive. They have a strong sense of smell, and they don't hesitate to stomp over any wasteland predator that threatens them or their calves - well, except deathclaws, because no one messes with deathclaws.

Brahmin are a great source of cattle drive and range war adventure seeds, if you feel like getting your Louis L'Amour on for a few sessions.

There are rumors that the smell of brahmin shit is highly addictive.

If you wanted to give brahmin perks, you'd probably want to give them three levels of the Perk: Strong Back, and possibly the Perk: Acute Sense of Smell, but no one really cares.

Brahmin, like giant ants, are believed to be the result of radiation. This is a little worrisome, since they may be radioactive.

will add the stats tables later

Original stories
Suicidal Bob sayz:

'''I read in the back of the Fallout 2 Strategy guide, the section that talks about the process the design team went through to develop the storyline and such, and it states two storylines that were thought about. One of them being about an intelligent computer making a city of androids, and the main character going into space, the other about the Master's army capturing mutants for slave labor. I was wondering if in the actual storyline of Fallout, did these happen, or were these ideas just scrapped when the storyline that was used for Fallout 2 was selected as the one to be used?'''

They were scrapped, and they never happened in the Fallout universe. They were ideas by the original team that were being tossed around before the second original team, Tim, Jason, and Leonard, began work on F2. I haven't been able to find an original copy of the original story doc, but if I do, I might print it in all its original glory.

Jet? When? Myron? How old? Huh?
Daniel Horn raises a good point:

'''This is where I send stuff for the Fallout Bible... Right?'''

Yes.

'''Well, I was wondering this: How old is Myron, and how long has Jet been around? Because he looks to be late teens, possibly early 20's. '''

'''However, if he is that young, as far as I can figure out Jet wouldn't be around. '''

'''Mrs. Bishop got hooked on Jet by Bishop (before they got married) and for that she got kicked out of Vault City. However, Angela Bishop, her daughter, is what, late teens, early 20s? Because presumably she had Angela after she got married to Bishop, and thus after she got addicted to Jet, Jet would have to be at least as old as Angela Bishop, and Myron would have to be older (at least 10-15 years, I figure) than Jet. But he doesn't look it. Did Myron REALLY invent Jet? Or is it just his usual egotism?'''

You know what, you're right - that was a mistake on my part. Myron is supposed to be 17-20, but that kind of messes things up if you take the Bishops into account. I had always thought he had made Jet pretty recently (within a few years) so that the Mordinos could rise to power.

Myron really did invent Jet. He's really, really smart and really, really annoying.

So ignore the Bishops and their messed-up rendition of events - they're been taking too much Jet anyway.

Timeline stuff
Just a quick update on timeline credits:

BTW, the original timeline (not yet printed, but it shall be coming to a future update near you) that I originally credited to Scott Campbell was done by Brian Freyermuth and approved by Scott. Much of the post-F1 stuff was originally laid out by Rob Hertenstein, who I do not know where he has absconded to, but if he is reading this, I would love to hear from him.

My apologies to the mis-credited parties - and knowing is half the battle.

Leap of faith
Dan Spitzley would like to say:

'''Neither Fallout handled Leap Years, did they? I was just thinking that that might make for an interesting adventure seed. What if the Fallout universe does have Leap Years, but every February 29th the entire population is put to sleep by the "bad guys" for some nefarious purpose, waking up on March 1st none the wiser. This would explain why nobody ever sees Feb 29th on the PipBoy. As soon as it comes along, everybody's abducted by aliens or something. Alternately, perhaps a bug in the PipBoy calendar that everyone "follows" has made the world forget about Leap Years since the war, meaning that maybe soon it will be dark in the afternoon or they'd have snow in August since they miss that one day every 4 years.'''

Just a reminder that I do not accept adventure seeds, especially from insane programmers who have been working too hard.

BOS corrections
Well, according to the Fallout 1 editors, it looks as if there are the following internal breakdowns amongst the Brotherhood of Steel ranks for the Scribes and Knights, and Paladins.

Knights and Scribes have the following ranks: Initiate, Senior Initiate, Apprentice, Journeyman, Senior, and Head Knight/Scribe.

And...

Paladins are identified as being Junior Paladin, Paladin, Senior Paladin, and Head Paladin.

Fun? You bet it is!

Holotapez
Sean Meskill would like to say:


 * I the last installment, you mentioned how you were not sure a laser could read a tape. They can.  In 69, I believe, RCA made a prototype system called Holotape for video playback, that read hologram data on plastic tape with a laser.  It really worked and that type of tape is completely plausible.  You can see pictures of that system here: http://www.cedmagic.com/history/holotape.html  All you guys did with fallout was extrapolate a real technology to a viable conclusion without knowing it.  So that is holotape, explained at last.

Sean

Thanks, Sean.

Ian and his gun
Several people asked about what kind of gun Ian was to give you in his dialogue in Vault City. The answer is: I haven't been able to find out. Ferg knows, but he won't tell me because he doesn't talk to me anymore except to spit on me.

Ausir is whoring his site
Ausir wanted me to publish the link to his Russian website...

(It's actually Polish, but I can't resist.)

http://www.fallout.scifi.pl

So there it is.