Nathan Purkeypile

Nathan "Nate" Purkeypile is a developer who worked on Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 as a world artist and on Fallout 76 as a lead artist. He worked as a world artist at Bethesda Softworks from 2007 to 2021.

Work on the Fallout series
Purkeypile's responsibilities on Fallout 3 were major locations, lighting, and creating kits for the level design department to construct areas with. His responsibilities would extend to two of its add-ons as the lead artist on The Pitt and Point Lookout.

He also worked on Fallout 4, mostly in lighting while also designing much of Diamond City, including its layout, lighting, and cluttering. In addition, he implemented the sole red seat in the stands of the stadium, a real-world feature of Fenway Park. He also lit the main menu intro video depicting Power Armor at a Red Rocket Truck Stop.

In addition to serving as the lead artist of Fallout 76, Purkeypile was also the game's "location scout." He took a vacation to West Virginia and took a large amount of photographs that the team used for reference. Some of the stranger locations, such as the landlocked Landview Lighthouse, were added to the game when Purkeypile proved to incredulous developers that such places really existed in West Virginia.

His duties for Fallout 76 extended to lighting exterior locations, directing the art team, helping decide what new content to implement, and even playtesting. He also designed the death tambo, which he described as his "weird little side project" made during an internal game jam as part of a series of the "instruments of death." The death tambo eventually made its way into the final game. Purkeypile led the art team for over a year after the launch for the game, until the release of Wastelanders update.

For the Wastelanders update, Purkeypile was responsible for lighting all interiors introduced, including the Watoga Underground, while also working as the games' art director. He was also responsible to the creation of The Deep, wanting to do a "whacky underground with a hidden Chinese base," as well as adding the Visitor to the location as a nod to another creature he added, The Interloper.

Locations designed
Sources:
 * Little Lamplight
 * Paradise Falls
 * Tenpenny Tower
 * Diamond City
 * The Crater

Other work
Purkeypile's other credits include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, on which he served as a world artist. He left Bethesda on April 15, 2021, after working there for 14 years.

Gallery
 Fo3_nathan-purkeypile_(Little_Lamplight).jpg|Little Lamplight Fo4_nathan-purkeypile_(Diamond_City).jpg|Diamond City Fo76_nathan-purkeypile_(Crashed_Space_Station_Settlement).jpg|The Crater Fo76_nathan-purkeypile_(Nuke-The-Man).jpg|Nuke-The-Man, an in-game magazine character based on Purkeypile Fo4_nathan-purkeypile_(Steam_Tunnel_Kit-Lighting).jpg|Steam tunnel lighting Fo4_nathan-purkeypile_(Industrial_Kit).jpg|Industrial Fo4_nathan-purkeypile_(Building_Kit-Lighting_1).jpg|Building lighting Fo4_nathan-purkeypile_(Building_Kit-Lighting_2).jpg|Building lighting Fo4_nathan-purkeypile(Building_Kit-Lighting_3).jpg|Building lighting Fo4_nathan-purkeypile_(Building_Kit-Lighting_4).jpg|Museum of Freedom 

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