Fallout

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game, also referred to as simply Fallout, developed by Interplay and its division, Dragonplay, and self-published on September 30, 1997, is the first game in the Fallout series. The game was initially intended to use Steve Jackson Games' GURPS system, but when Interplay made the decision to drop GURPS on February 12, 1997, it created its own system, SPECIAL. Fallout is seen as the "spiritual successor" to Interplay's classic 1987 CRPG Wasteland. The designers proposed many titles, but they agreed on titling it Armageddon. However, they found out that another Interplay project was going to use that title, so they were obligated to switch again, and Fallout was the team’s favorite among the remainder.

Gameplay
Fallout is an RPG or role-playing game with turn-based combat and a pseudo-isometric view.

Character attributes
Fallout uses a character creation system called SPECIAL. SPECIAL is an acronym of Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. These are the seven basic attributes of every character in the game. They are used to determine the skills and perks of the given character. The developers originally intended to use the GURPS system, but late in the development process they moved to the new SPECIAL system.

Skills
There are 18 different skills in the game. They are ranked from 0% to 200%. The starting values for those skills at level one are determined by the player's seven basic attributes or SPECIAL, but most of those skills would fall between 0% and 50%. Every time the player gains a Level, they will be awarded skill points to be used to improve their skills, equal to five points plus twice their Intelligence. The player may choose to "Tag" three of the 18 skills. A tagged skill will improve at twice the normal rate.
 * Six combat skills: Small Guns, Big Guns, Energy Weapons, Unarmed, Melee Weapons, Throwing.
 * Eight Active skills: First Aid, Doctor, Sneak, Lockpick, Steal, Traps, Science, Repair.
 * Four passive skills: Speech, Barter, Gambling, Outdoorsman.

Books found throughout the game world can also improve some of those skills permanently, although books are scarce early in the game. However, after a skill reaches a certain Level, books no longer have any impact on that skill. Some non-player characters can also improve Skills via training. How high a skill can be developed is affected by the character's Attributes—a character with a low Intelligence will not be able to boost their Science rating as high as a character with high Intelligence, for example.

Some skills can also be improved while having certain items equipped. For example, equipping lock picks would improve lockpicking skills. Chems can also temporarily boost player character's skills; however, they often have adverse effects such as addiction and withdrawal. As skills grow higher in rating, they begin to cost more skill points to increase.

Traits and perks
At character creation, the player may choose two different traits and perks for their character. Traits are special character backgrounds. Most traits have profound effects on gameplay. A trait normally contains one beneficial effect and one detrimental effect. They are listed under perks in the character sheet. Once a Trait is chosen, it is impossible to change, except through the Mutate! perk that lets them change one trait, one time.

Setting
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world following "the Great War," a nuclear war that occurred on October 23, 2077. The war lasted less than two hours, but caused immense damage and destruction. Before The Great War came the Resource Wars, during which the United Nations had disbanded, a plague rendered the United States paranoid and Canada was annexed.

The game takes place in 2161, 84 years after the Great War in Southern California and begins in Vault 13, the protagonist's home. Vault 13's water chip, a computer chip responsible for the water recycling and pumping machinery, has broken. The Vault Overseer tasks the protagonist with finding a replacement. They are given a portable device called the "Pip-Boy 2000" which keeps track of mapmaking, quest objectives, and various bookkeeping aspects. Armed with the Pip-Boy 2000 and meager equipment, the protagonist is sent out into the remains of California to find another water chip.

Protagonist
The player or protagonist of Fallout is an inhabitant of one of the government-contracted fallout shelters known as Vaults. In subsequent Fallout games, they are referred to as the "Vault Dweller".

The protagonist is governed by the SPECIAL character system, which was designed specifically for Fallout and is used in the other games in the series.

At the end of the game, the Vault Dweller would be exiled from Vault 13 and eventually found Arroyo, the starting point for Fallout 2. The Chosen One, the protagonist in Fallout 2, is the descendant of the Vault Dweller.

Recruitable non-player characters
A diverse selection of various recruitable non-player characters can be found to aid the player in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Unlike in Fallout 2, there is no limit to the number of NPCs that may be recruited in Fallout. Their statistics and armor remain unchanged through the entire game; only their weapons may be upgraded.
 * Ian is a former caravan guard that can be found in Shady Sands and is the first recruitable non-player character that the player typically meets. He is an experienced traveler and gunman. Ian can equip any pistol or 10mm SMG (including "large handguns"), and wears a leather jacket.
 * Dogmeat is the only nonhuman non-player character that can be recruited. Dogmeat can be found in Junktown, outside of Phil's house, preventing him from entering his house. The dog may be attracted by either wearing a leather jacket or feeding the dog an iguana-on-a-stick. After that, he will follow the player.
 * Tycho is a former Desert Ranger, now living in Junktown. He can wield rifles, shotguns, and spears.
 * Katja is a disillusioned Follower of the Apocalypse that may be recruited in the library in the LA Boneyard. She can fight unarmed and wield SMGs.

Story
The player initially has 150 days (4 to 5 months, according to the Overseer) before the Vault's water supply runs out. This time limit can be extended by 100 days if they commission merchants in the Hub to send water caravans to Vault 13. Upon returning the chip, the Vault Dweller is then tasked with destroying a mutant army that threatens humanity. A mutant known as "The Master" (previously known as Richard Grey) has begun using a pre-War, genetically engineered virus called Forced Evolutionary Virus to convert humanity into a race of "super mutants", and bring them together in the Unity, his plan for a perfect world. The player has to kill him and destroy the Military Base housing the supply of FEV, thus halting the invasion before it can start.

If both objectives are not completed within 500 game days, the mutant army will discover Vault 13 and invade it, bringing an end to the game. This time limit is shortened to 400 days if Vault 13's location is divulged to the Water Merchants. A cinematic cut-scene of mutants overrunning the vault is shown if the task to stop the mutant army is failed within this time frame, indicating the player has lost. If the player agrees to join the mutant army, the same cinematic is shown.

With version 1.1 of the game, the time limit for the mutant attack on Vault 13 is nearly eliminated (to a maximum of thirteen in-game years), allowing players to explore the game world at their leisure.

The player can defeat the Master and destroy the super mutants' military base in either order. When both threats are eliminated, a cut-scene ensues in which the player automatically returns to Vault 13. There they are told that they have done great things for the vault and all of humanity but if they came back everyone would want to leave the Vault and that the Vault Dweller must leave for the good of the Vault. Thus they are rewarded with exile into the desert, for, in the Overseer's eyes, the good of the vault. There is an alternate, non-canonical ending (available if the player has the "Bloody Mess" trait, has accrued significant negative Karma throughout the game, or performs the action manually) in which the Vault Dweller shoots the Overseer.

Vault 13
Vault 13 is the Vault Dweller's home. The first quest in the game is to find a replacement for the Vault's broken water purification chip. None of the inhabitants are permitted to leave the vault, under the leadership of the Vault's overseer, who is dedicated to protecting and sheltering them. Vault 13 was probably located under Mt. Whitney, as it roughly matches the location of the mountain. Vault 13 may also refer to a mountain in Indian Wells Valley, within the bounds of the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, known as B-Mountain. The mountain looks very similar to illustrations of the location in the game, and is rumored to have a large underground research center inside.

Vault 15
Vault 15 was once occupied by an enormous number of people of very different ideologies and cultures. The overcrowding and the diversification led to the leaving of four different groups, three of them forming each one raiding group - the Khans, the Vipers and the Jackals - and one of them settling down and founding Shady Sands. Vault 15 is now lair to several mutated animals. This is (probably) the Dweller's first attempt to find a water purification chip, although it is nowhere to be found here.

Shady Sands
A group of former Vault 15 inhabitants have founded a small village between Vault 13 and Vault 15. Shady Sands is ruled by Aradesh, who asks the Vault Dweller to help get rid of the radscorpions who are threatening the village. Here, the Vault Dweller can recruit Ian, an experienced traveler and gunman, to their group. It is also possible to "recruit" Tandi, the daughter of Aradesh, by not returning her to town after her kidnapping. An obelisk in the center of the city has the inscriptions "In remind of hope and peace".

Khans raider camp
A clan of raiders known as the Khans, led by a man named Garl, have set up a camp near Shady Sands. Tandi, Aradesh's daughter, is eventually kidnapped by the camp's raiders, and it is up to the Vault Dweller to save her, choosing from a variety of methods.

Junktown
Surrounded by piles of wrecked cars, Junktown is run by the shop owner Killian Darkwater, who is also the sheriff and grandson of the town's founder. Junktown's gates are closed in the night, and drawing weapons is not allowed except in self-defense. Gizmo, the town's casino owner, wants Killian dead, because he "cramps [my] business". The player can choose to either help Killian or Gizmo. The Vault Dweller can also recruit Tycho, a ranger, and Dogmeat, a wild dog, to their group.

The Hub
As a major commercial town, the Hub is the most quest-filled location in the game. It is divided in several districts, each one controlled by a powerful group of people: the Water Merchants, the Crimson Caravan and the Far Go Traders. Here the Vault Dweller can send water merchants to Vault 13 to extend the time limit in which they must find a water chip. The Hub's approximate location corresponds to Lancaster in California.

Necropolis
The remains of what was once Bakersfield. Overrun by ghouls and containing a vast sewer system, Necropolis is the aftermath of Vault 12. Vault 12 was designed by the Enclave so that its door could not close and the vault's occupants would be exposed to high doses of radiation. This led to the transformation of its inhabitants into ghouls after the Great War. The ghouls were divided in three groups: the surface dwellers, who are the most numerous, and paranoid about non-ghouls and outsiders; the glowing ones, heavily irradiated ghouls, rejected even by their own, and the so-called underground ghouls, living in the city's sewers. It is here that the Vault Dweller finds the water chip while observing an unusual super-mutant invasion, which may be a serious threat to humanity's future.

Boneyard
The Boneyard, also known as The Angel's Boneyard, is the remaining portion of the Los Angeles cityscape. This is one of the later towns that the Vault Dweller may visit, receiving upgrades for end game equipment: the turbo plasma rifle and hardened power armor. The player may also recruit Katja here.

Lost Hills Bunker
(shown simply as "Brotherhood of Steel" in the Pip-Boy 2000)

Headquarters of the Brotherhood of Steel, an organization with roots in the US military and government-sponsored scientific community from before the Great War. The outpost consists of four underground levels; with level one closest to the surface and level four the furthest underground. Level zero is the on-ground entrance.

The Glow
Formerly known as West Tek Research Facility, The Glow is now an irradiated ruin. It is here that experiments were conducted on laser and plasma weapons, and the development of the FEV and power armor took place. The Glow is controlled by a mainframe called "ZAX". It is the Vault Dweller's objective to retrieve a piece of evidence for the Brotherhood of Steel, which is a holodisk left by a fallen Brotherhood of Steel member, that proves he entered the location. The difficulty in this assignment is that The Glow is highly radioactive, and the player must consume anti-radiation drugs to survive their visit. A player unaware of this zone's high radiation levels would find themselves quickly succumbing to radiation poisoning.

Mariposa Military Base
This former military base is where research was conducted on the FEV (which was previously conducted in the West Tek Research Facility). This is where new super mutants are created.

The Cathedral
The Cathedral is the place where the Children of the Cathedral organization, which is a facade for the Master's plans, can be found. Beneath the Cathedral lies a secret vault, wherein the Master resides.

Developers
The Fallout developer team had nearly 100 members (mostly artists). Although most of the team dissolved after Fallout was released, about one third of them formed Interplay's Black Isle division that was responsible for Fallout 2. Some went on to work in future projects, and several key players left Interplay altogether to form Troika Games.

Music
The game soundtrack for Fallout was composed by Mark Morgan.

International versions
The game underwent censorship in certain international versions, including the removal of all children from the game in some of the European versions (e.g. British and German ones). This censorship was apparently imposed because the game included the possibility of killing children, although this was in no way promoted (on the contrary, the game actively discourages this act, though it remains possible as part of the player's free will). Among its consequences are unfriendly responses from non-player characters, bounty hunters regularly and repeatedly attacking the player, and various non-player characters refusing to assist the player in their adventure. In addition to being frustrating for many of the game's players, the removal of children from the game is known to have produced a number of bugs in it.

Marketing
In the Vault Dweller's Survival Guide, Brian Fargo stated that the game had no marketing campaign. Instead he encouraged the fans to give direct feedback about their games at Interplay's website. The Fallout demo was released on April 26, 1997.

Current availability
New boxed editions of the game are published from time to time, usually included on one DVD together with Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics. Fallout is also available for gold members and some times free members at GameTap (this version requires the GameTap client to play), and could be purchased at GOG.com (DRM-free version). Interplay has also struck a deal releasing their own DRM-free copies of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics as a set.

In early 2014, Steam, as well as GOG.com, removed Fallout, as well as Fallout 2 and Tactics, from purchase availability as a result of the license changing hands. Bethesda stated that they will definitely be bringing the games back to Steam, but has made no confirmation as to whether or not they will be returning to other distribution platforms. Some time around June 2014, the games returned to Steam, while in August 2015 they became available again through GOG.com.

On September 30, 2017, the release date of the game in 1997, as a celebration of Fallout's 20th anniversary, Bethesda gave away Fallout for free on Steam until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics are all given for free with the purchase of Fallout 76 on PC.

Film adaptation
Interplay Films, a division of Interplay Entertainment, was formed in 1998 and was to develop seven of the company's most popular video game titles into movies, including Fallout. In 2000, Interplay was said to be partnering with Dark Horse Entertainment on the Fallout movie project. Brent Friedman (Dark Skies, Mortal Kombat II) wrote the script treatment. Eventually, no Interplay property was ever made into a film and the division was disbanded.

In March 2011, the full film treatment was released at The Vault, which Nukapedia shares its origin with.

Early concept vision
At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, held from March 5–9, 2012, Timothy Cain of Obsidian Entertainment held a presentation about the original Fallout' s early development stages. Afterwards, a post-mortem document was released which describes the game's development progress and shows how the team overcame the many difficulties they faced from '94 till its release in September '97. It also provides several early concept art images.
 * [[media:FalloutPostmortemGDC2012.pdf|Early concept vision document]]