Fallout 3 FAQ

Who is making and publishing Fallout 3?
Fallout 3 is being developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Who will publish/distribute the game outside the United States?
No foreign publisher details have been disclosed at this time.

When is it going to be released?
According to the Fallout 3 teaser, the release date is Fall 2008, according Game Informer Online, release for Xbox 360 and PC is 3 october 2008.

Is there going to be a demo?
It is not known at this time. While Fallout and Fallout Tactics (but not Fallout 2) had demos, Bethesda's Elder Scrolls games did not.

Wasn't a demo already leaked?
No, you're probably thinking of the pre-alpha tech demo of Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 developed by Black Isle Studios.

Is there going to be a trailer?
A cinematic teaser trailer is available at Fallout 3's official website.

What platforms will it be released for?
The game will be released for the PC, XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Will the game be ported from consoles to PC or vice versa?
Fallout 3 is being concurrently developed from the ground up for all 3 platforms.

Will there be a Mac version?
A Mac version is possible if a Mac game publisher will be interested in porting the game. According to Lindsay Muller, a representative of Bethesda's marketing department:
 * It could happen if there is a large enough demand and if we are approached by a Mac games publisher such as Macsoft or Aspyr. Bethesda Softworks would not port it. So if you want to see Fallout 3 or any of our other games ported to Mac, contact either or both Mac publisher and request it.

Is the SPECIAL character system used in the game?
Yes, SPECIAL is in.

Are the main stats the same?
The main statistics are the same, since otherwise it couldn't be named SPECIAL (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck). However, in the only available screenshot of character stats in the game, they are much lower than in other Fallout games. In Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics and Van Buren, you had 40 character points (or 47 if you have the Gifted perk) to divide among your stats (all 7 stats started at 5 and you had 5 more points to distribute). In the screenshot, the PC has only 33 character points.

What are the skills in Fallout 3?
There are 14 skills in Fallout 3 (as compared to 18 in Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics). The ones mentioned so far are:
 * Computers
 * Engineering
 * First Aid
 * Speech
 * Unarmed
 * Gambling
 * Small Guns
 * Sneak

What about perks?
It is unknown which perks will be in the game. So far we know only that you will gain perks every other level, as opposed to every three levels like in previous games.

Is there a level limit?
Yes, the maximum level is 20.

Is the combat turn-based or real-time?
Unlike Fallout and Fallout 2, which were turn-based, and unlike Fallout Tactics, which let you choose between turn-based combat or real-time combat without an active pause, Fallout 3 uses a real time with pause system.

What is V.A.T.S.?
The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S. is the active pause system. While using V.A.T.S., the otherwise real-time combat is paused. Various actions cost action points, and both the player and enemies can target specific body areas for attacks, inflicting specific injuries.

When is Fallout 3 set? How long after the previous games?
The game is set in 2277, exactly 200 years after the Great War, 116 years after Fallout and 36 years after Fallout 2.

What is the main quest?
The main quest centers around your father mysteriously disappearing from Vault 101 one day, and your quest to find him and find out why he left and where he is/has gone.

Where is the game set?
Fallout 3 is set on the East Coast of the United States, mainly in Washington, DC and its surroundings in Virginia and Maryland.

During his or her journey, the young inhabitant of Vault 101 will see some ancient monument from before the Great War, like the Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial or the battered remains of the Washington Monument in the ruins of Downtown DC, surrounded by the desolate Capital Wasteland. The central hub of civilization in the ruins of the former capital is Rivet City, based in and around the remains of a crashed aircraft carrier. Other settlements include the towns of Megaton, Springvale, Tenpenny Towers and Paradise Falls. Movement between the towns is possible with the use of the Washington Metro system.

Are Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel treated as canon?
Bethesda does not treat the events of Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel as canon.

Is Van Buren treated as canon?
It is currently unknown whether Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios will be treated as canon, although it is unlikely. However, since the game is set on the East Coast, the developers might avoid this issue altogether by neither referencing nor contradicting the Van Buren storyline.

Are super mutants going to be in Fallout 3?
Yes, there will be super mutants, according to the July 2007 issue of Game Informer.

But they're so different! Why don't they look like the old ones?
Indeed, the Fallout 3 super mutants don't look much like the ones from the first 2 Fallout games. The ones shown so far lack the hunched posture, cancerous tissue overgrowth, and are generally less bulky than their counterparts from earlier games. It should be noted that super mutants in Fallout Tactics also had many differences to the ones from Fallout and Fallout 2. As the screenshots shown in the Game Informer magazine are early, the appearance of super mutants might still change.

Why are there super mutants on the East Coast? Shouldn't they all be in California?
According to a Fallout ending, most super mutants fled to the East after the death of the Master. It's not implausible for at least some them to have reached the East Coast after 115 years.
 * The death of the Master was the first major step towards ending his mad dream of conquest and enforced peace, but it is the destruction of the Vats that neutralizes the mutant threat. Without the ability to create more mutants and enforce their harsh brand of justice, the mutant armies flee to the east, beyond the no-man's land.

Does it mean that they're not sterile, then?
No, super mutants are definitely sterile.

ZAX in Fallout says:
 * Additionally, as the gametes of the reproductive system consist of 'half-cells' using split DNA, they could be perceived as 'damage' by FEV, which would 'repair' them, rendering the subject sterile.

And according to Vree:
 * While the process by which this happens is uncertain, it does have some severe side effects. Chief among them is sterility.

But didn't Marcus say in Fallout 2 that they can now reproduce?
According to Chris Avellone, who wrote most of the New Reno dialogues, the single remark by Marcus in a New Reno brothel is a joke.


 * Marcus was joking in New Reno. Super mutants are sterile. Blame me for another episode of bad humor, oh cruel reader.

If they can't reproduce, shouldn't they all be dead by now?
No, according to ZAX in Fallout:


 * As the FEV causes constant regenerative update to DNA, it would effectively render the subject largely immortal, as cell death would be offset by augmented growth.

So while they can be killed, they can otherwise live forever. The same applies to Harold.

Is the Brotherhood of Steel going to be in Fallout 3?
Yes, according to the Fallout 3 teaser and the Game Informer article.

How did the Brotherhood get to the East Coast
If the original Brotherhood acquired the Vertibird plans at the end of Fallout 2, they might have sent some scouts/established an outpost on the East Coast as well. However, it is currently unknown what the explanation of Brotherhood's presence in Fallout 3 will be.