Fallout 3 FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Fallout 3 by Bethesda Softworks.

See also: Fallout Online FAQ

What is Fallout 3?
Fallout 3 is a futuristic post-apocalyptic CRPG set in an alternate universe based on 50s sci-fi pulp fiction, as if the world had stopped in the optimistic 50s and found itself on a dystopian post-apocalyptic reality. It is a sequel to the games Fallout and Fallout 2.

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?
The foreign publishers known so far are:


 * Czech Republic - Cenega
 * Estonia - 1c
 * Latvia - 1c
 * Lithuania - 1c
 * Poland - Cenega
 * Russia - 1c
 * Slovakia - Cenega
 * Japan - Bethesda Softworks

What is Fallout 3 rated?
Fallout 3 has not yet been rated by the ESRB. However, Bethesda intends it to be a Mature game.

When is it going to be released?
According to the Fallout 3 teaser, the release date is Fall 2008. Bethesda has stated, however, the game is coming out on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC simultaneously.

How long has it been in development?
Since 2004.

Is there going to be a demo?
Unlike with Fallout and Fallout Tactics, there are no plans for a public demo.

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.

Will there be a public beta?
There are no plans for external beta testing.

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 or Linux version?
A Mac version is possible if a Mac or Linux 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.

What are the PC system requirements?
We won’t know for sure until we are much closer to the game’s release. Until then Bethesda won't speculate on what kind of processor or video card you might need.

Will it require Windows Vista?
It will be a Games for Windows title. Fallout 3 will work on PCs running either Windows XP or Vista.

Are all versions on the same stage of development?
Yes. The demo was run on a 360 because according to Todd Howard it “shows better in the theater”.

Is it made by people who made previous Fallouts?
No, Fallout 3 is being made by Bethesda Game Studios, while previous Fallout games were made by Interplay and Black Isle. None of the Fallout and Fallout 2 developers are involved in the making of Fallout 3.

Who is developing Fallout 3?
The project is headed by executive producer Todd Howard. Other producers include Ashley Cheng, Gavin Carter and Jeff Gardiner. The lead designer is Emil Pagliarulo who previously worked on Thief games as well as the Dark Brotherhood quests in Oblivion. Lead level designer is Joel Burgess. Other leads are lead artist Istvan Pely and lead programmer Steve Meister. PR and marketing for the game is coordinated by Pete Hines.

See: Fallout 3 developers for a full list of known developers.

Will an editor be available?
At this time Bethesda has not confirmed whether an editor will be available for the PC version.

Will there be any downloadable content?
Downloadable content will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. There will be no downloadable content for PlayStation 3.

The DLC will be substantial, the equivalent of the Knights of the Nine addon for Oblivion, with many hours of gameplay, as opposed to one-off things like items or a hangout.

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

How does character creation look?
The first part of the game is part character creation, part role-playing. It starts with the character's birth, assisted by dad as the resident doctor, in which you pick your basic look based on a computer simulation model of "what will this baby look like when he's older" which also influences your father's appearance. At 4, you get a "You're SPECIAL!" book and you can modify your Primary Statistics. At 10, during your birthday party, your dad gives you a B.B. gun for practising shooting. At 16, you take the G.O.A.T. (Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test), which determines your Tag Skills based on your answers to some questions. It is possible to review and change some things about your character when you leave the vault.

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). They are, however, lower than in previous Fallout games. In Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics and Van Buren, you had 40 character points (or 47 if you have the Gifted trait) to divide among your stats (all 7 stats started at 5 and you had 5 more points to distribute). In Fallout 3, the PC has only 35 character points to distribute during character creation.

What are the skills in Fallout 3?
There are 13 skills in Fallout 3 (as compared to 18 in Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics). They are: Gambling and Outdoorsman skills were completely removed.
 * Barter
 * Big Guns
 * Energy Weapons
 * Explosives (replacing Traps and Throwing)
 * Lockpick
 * Medicine (replacing Doctor and First Aid)
 * Melee Weapons
 * Repair
 * Science
 * Small Guns
 * Sneak (incorporating the Steal skill of previous games)
 * Speech
 * Unarmed

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

For a list of known perks, see: Fallout 3 Perks.

How about traits?
Unlike previous games, traits that gave you both bonuses and penalties at the same time are no longer in the game. Instead, some of them were changed into perks.

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.

Are the attacks in real time combat affected by your skills?
Yes, all combat is governed by die rolls, so even if you aim perfectly, you might still fail a roll and miss the target.

Will Armor Class reduce the to-hit chance?
Armor will no longer have an Armor Class that helps you dodge a hit. Armor will only reduce the amount of inflicted damage.

Will there be a multiplayer mode?
There will be no multiplayer mode, like in Fallout and Fallout 2 and unlike Fallout Tactics and Van Buren.

Are drugs in the game?
There are various drugs, and each has its own positive effects and side-effects if you get addicted to them.

Will there be mini-games?
Yes, there will be mini-games. The only one known so far is the hacking mini-game played in order to hack into a terminal. In the mini-game, there was a list of passwords to choose from, and after a choice was made, feedback was given on how many letters were shared between the picked option and the correct answer.

Is first or third perspective used?
While the default view is first person, you can toggle the view with the press of a button/key to an over-the-shoulder view which you can zoome in/out on your character. Both views are available throughout the entire game. It is unknown whether the third person view will be fully usable in combat.

What will influence your dialogue options?
The dialogue options are influenced mainly be the Speech skill, but other skills will also give you access to additional options - e.g. Science or Repair can allow you to give a scientific or technical explanation and to use that knowledge in dialogue.

Will there be special dialogue options for dumb characters?
No, there are no plans for special low-IN dialogues.

Are PC responses limited to 38 characters like in Oblivion?
According to the No Mutants Allowed preview, the PC lines seem to be longer than 38 characters.

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 former 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, Paradise Falls, Big Town and Germantown. Movement between the towns is possible with the use of the Washington Metro tunnels.

Does the story pick up where Fallout 2 ended?
No, the Fallout 3 story is not directly connected to any of the storylines of previous games. Knowledge of previous titles in the series is not required to play Fallout 3.

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.

Will Bethesda use any Van Buren materials?
No, they prefer to start fresh.

Are super mutants going to be in Fallout 3?
Super mutants that are invading the world and are in a constant battle to push humans out will be the player's biggest foes in the game.

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 and no official reason for the change has been stated. 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.

Will ghouls appear in Fallout 3?
Yes, ghouls will definitely make many appearances.

Will they be NPCs you can interact with or monsters?
Both, actually. Most are used as NPCs you talk and interact with, but there are also other ghouls, the Feral Ghouls, these are more “creature” like, and are aggressive.

Is the Brotherhood of Steel going to be in Fallout 3?
Yes, it is, in the form of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel led by Elder Owyn Lyons.

How and why did the Brotherhood get to the East Coast?
The Brotherhood's ruling council decided to send a contingent of soldiers to the East Coast, to recover any and all advanced technology from Washington, DC and to investigate the reports of super mutant activity in the area. And so a small but hardened contingent of Brotherhood soldiers, led by Paladin Owyn Lyons set out from the Lost Hills Bunker in California, and began the long trek east to what was once Washington D.C.

Will the Enclave appear in Fallout 3?
It has been confirmed that the Enclave will appear in Fallout 3. According to a press release by 1c, the Russian publisher of the game:


 * Your main goal like in previous games is to stay alive in the wasteland (for that you'll need various items such as water, meds and currency - bottle caps), at the same time dealing with classic Fallout dangers: radiation, supermutants, the Enclave and hostile mutated creatures.

According to a Fallout Q&A at NeoGAF forums, one of the radio stations mentioned by in game dialogue is apparently run by the Enclave.

Aren't they all supposed to be dead after Fallout 2?
While the Oil Rig was blown up, Navarro and/or some other Enclave outposts might have survived and used Vertibirds to get to the East Coast (notice: vertibirds had to be refilled after 175 miles long flight). It is, however, unknown at this moment why they're there.

What other factions will be in the game?
Aside from the Brotherhood of Steel, the Enclave and the super mutant army, other factions known include Slavers at Paradise Falls and the mysterious residents of Tenpenny Towers.

What Fallout and Fallout 2 creatures are making a comeback?
Super mutants, ghouls, radscorpions, giant ants, brahmin, deathclaws, molerats and centaurs are all coming back, as are the giant cockroaches from Fallout Tactics.

What new creatures are going to appear in the game?
Giant spiders have been mentioned in one of the previews, and mutant bears and bloatflies in interviews. One of the Fallout 3 concept arts shows a crabman-like creature.

Will any characters from previous games return?
It is currently unknown whether any characters from previous Fallout games will make a comeback. However, some previewers mention Dogmeat or one of his descendants making an appearance.