Pre-War Setting

An overview of the Fallout setting before the Great War.

Background
The franchise's timeline stretches through the pre-War years, to the "future of the fifties," to the decades leading to the destruction of the earth by nuclear war. The games revolve around the occurrence of a global nuclear event known as the Great War. Worldwide shortage of resources such as petroleum and uranium resulted in the Resource Wars, a series of conflicts between the United States, Canada, China, and European powers.

These events culminated in the breakdown of the United Nations and deployment of nuclear missiles at and by the United States. Prior to this, some citizens had elected to purchase space in underground vaults, most of which shielded those within from the nuclear event.

Development
The goal through development was to explore ideas revolving around a futuristic, post-nuclear world. The world included technology that progressed quickly while maintaining the cultural norms of the mid-century. The retro-futuristic, "golden era of science fiction" art style is predominant, but a variety of inspirations were utilized across the board to appeal to a wide audience.

The environment of the game world before the war provided artists a blank slate to work with in terms of designing their futuristic version of modern day. Artists maintained a mix of vintage, familiar, modern, and futuristic aspects throughout the game world. The variation in advancement is depicted also throughout the development of weapons, robotics, and engines.

As opposed to purely "fantastical sci-fi designs," developers considered how industrial and product design would have evolved in the alternate universe. Developers intended for the setting to maintain the dark atmosphere of 1950's apocalyptic prediction, balanced with humor. Urban and suburban U.S. of the 1940s and 1950s also inspired some of the artists, including vehicle design, signage, architecture, and art.