back to article Bethesda all out for 'Fallout 4', fallout for global productivity foretold in countdown

Bethesda has given us all a reason to take time off with the impending announcement of a new Fallout game. The Fallout daddy has put up a countdown ticker for what will likely be the next edition of the beloved post-apocalyptic roleplaying game series. The countdown clock promises some big news for gamers within the next 22 …

  1. wolfetone Silver badge

    I have literally wet myself with excitement.

  2. Charles 9

    Anyone know the setting? I'm betting on New York: the Rotten Apple, as I think of it in that kind of setting. As for the player character, perhaps a Sole Survivor (from a Vault, that is) this time.

    1. garetht t

      Fallout 4 setting confirmed

      This is only a guess, but it's definitely going to be set in the post apocalyptic world of the Kettering service station off the A14. A separate DLC will be sold for the nearby Little Chef.

      1. Charles 9

        Re: Fallout 4 setting confirmed

        Consider the developers and the setting. All the settings so far have been in America. 1 and 2 were on the west coast, 3 in Washington (with DLCs set in Pittsburgh and Maryland), and New Vegas in the Mojave desert around Las Vegas and surrounding. A non-canon spinoff IIRC was set in Texas.

        Anyway, consider this will be a prime candidate for an expanded game world compared to 3 and New Vegas. That's why I figured New York would be a prime candidate. Other major cities like Chicago could also work. Boston's another candidate. New York and Boston would make sense canon-wise because of 3's mention of the Commonwealth, which canon notes is centered in New England (meaning around Boston, and New York's close enough to be under its influence).

        1. wolfetone Silver badge

          Re: Fallout 4 setting confirmed

          "Consider the developers and the setting. All the settings so far have been in America. 1 and 2 were on the west coast, 3 in Washington (with DLCs set in Pittsburgh and Maryland), and New Vegas in the Mojave desert around Las Vegas and surrounding. A non-canon spinoff IIRC was set in Texas.

          Anyway, consider this will be a prime candidate for an expanded game world compared to 3 and New Vegas. That's why I figured New York would be a prime candidate. Other major cities like Chicago could also work. Boston's another candidate. New York and Boston would make sense canon-wise because of 3's mention of the Commonwealth, which canon notes is centered in New England (meaning around Boston, and New York's close enough to be under its influence)."

          They may throw a curve ball and set it in the United Kingdom. That'd be spectacular, plus anyone who's watched THREADS will know the UK would be a complete shambles after a nuclear war.

          1. sisk

            Re: Fallout 4 setting confirmed

            If we're looking at non-American settings I would think China would be the most likely other nation. After all China and the US were the opposing sides in the nuclear exchange that flattened the world, so it stands to reason that they'd be the two most torn up. Plus being set on the other side of the planet in a world where very few people have the ability to cross an ocean opens up a lot of possibilities. China would likely have very different mutations than the US, so instead of death claws and radscorpions we may have some completely different monsters.

            All that said I think it most likely they'll stay in America. There's a lot of backstory to build on that way.

            1. Turtle

              Re: Fallout 4 In China

              "If we're looking at non-American settings I would think China would be the most likely other nation. After all China and the US were the opposing sides in the nuclear exchange that flattened the world, so it stands to reason that they'd be the two most torn up."

              There is the circumstance that Fallout 2 had a significant "Chinese presence" in that the later parts of the game, set on the west coast, featured a large population of Chinese "immigrants" (which I put in scare quotes because, in the context of the game, I am not really sure that that's the right word. Perhaps "colonists" might be better. I don't recall this plot point sufficiently well to decide.)

              But I am not sure if the above circumstance makes it more - or less - likely that Fallout 4 might be set in China. (Although having the Chinese, in China, speak English, would seem to me to make for a kind of uncomfortable setting - even though today, there are 400 million people in China who are studying English.*)

              * Obviously I don't know but I have read that that's the case.

              1. sisk

                Re: Fallout 4 In China

                Fallout 2 had a significant "Chinese presence" in that the later parts of the game

                I never got very far into Fallout 2 actually. That was about the time this wonderful thing called "Real Life" decided to slap me upside the head and more or less force me to stop spending more than a few minutes a day playing games for a couple years.

                1. Turtle

                  @sisk

                  "That was about the time this wonderful thing called 'Real Life' decided to slap me upside the head"

                  I'd've slapped "Real Life" right back!

          2. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
            Joke

            Re: Fallout 4 setting confirmed

            Corrected it for you

            They may throw a curve ball and set it in the United Kingdom. That'd be spectacular, plus anyone who's watched THREADS will know the UK would be a complete shambles BEFORE a nuclear war.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Fallout 4 setting confirmed

              Boris, you of course would be one of the few survivors, or so legend has it.

              I agree that the UK would be a great setting. Places such as Slough, Telford or Yeovil already appear very much like they've been nuked. No imagination necessary.

      2. Teiwaz

        Re: Fallout 4 setting confirmed

        Kettering Service Area

        I've never gotten into the Fallout series. But that idea has merit.

    2. Sean Kennedy

      "Setting"

      I heard Boston and Philadelphia thrown around, but I really don't know.

      For my money, however, they couldn't go wrong by taking it to New Orleans and playing off the 1950s voodoo angle. There's a lot of atmosphere they could exploit to really give the game a great feel.

      1. Charles 9

        Re: "Setting"

        Don't know about Philly since 3's The Pitt was set in nearby Pittsburgh.

        Boston I'll give you since it would provide a canon tie to the Commonwealth, mentioned in 3, especially since we need a new adversarial power if we assume the Enclave is not a significant force in this area after its collapse in Washington.

        PS. As for New Orleans, perhaps not as a mainline setting but a prime candidate for an expansion.

    3. David Webb

      Rumour is "The Institute" or MIT, so Boston.

      Having a look at the source code (people do that....) Final script:

      src="/57601643.institute.js"

      So seems like a hint towards an institute (MIT!)

      Am excited about a new Fallout game BUT the Witcher has set the bar really high for visuals on RPG's now, so Beth had better have a great engine cause, even though Skyrim looked okay, Witcher blows things out of the water, and that's the bar it has to reach.

    4. teebie

      I'm thinking Baltimore, that way they don't have to make any changes to the city's appearance.

  3. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    "Australia refused to give it an age-rating certificate."

    It's worth noting that the Australian censors settled down once the "morphine" in pre-release builds was renamed Med-X to bring it in line with the rest of the fictional drugs in the game.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: "Australia refused to give it an age-rating certificate."

      It's also worth noting (and this didn't get fixed) that one early Fallout 3 quest couldn't be completed negatively in Japan (the quest's name, "Power of the Atom," should give a clue why).

      1. AceRimmer

        Re: "Australia refused to give it an age-rating certificate."

        The game was not released to the Indian market due to the two headed cows known as brahmin

    2. Indolent Wretch

      Re: "Australia refused to give it an age-rating certificate."

      Shame, the bit where you meet your dad and he confronts you about "what you did" is a nice touch which they obviously won't get to enjoy either.

  4. raving angry loony

    Not content with announcing and hyping games that have barely even started being developed and won't be available for years, are they now so desperate that they're taking to announcing and hyping announcements that haven't been written yet? Madness.

    Fallout 3 was "announced" in 2004 and released in 2008. With Fallout 4, get back to me when the damn game is actually available. Assuming I'm still alive.

    1. Charles 9

      Fallout: New Vegas didn't take nearly so long from first news to final release, last I recall. I suspect most of the time delay for 3 was because it was the first 3D Fallout and a lot of things had to be built from scratch or changed vs. the isometric world of 1 and 2. Plus there was the need to get used to the Gamebryo engine.

      Plus note, the article notes a countdown. They wouldn't put one up without something to show at zero time, wouldn't they?

      1. raving angry loony

        Of course, depending on the management they might have changed the engine. We don't know. We probably won't know for a long time. It's still a countdown to an announcement about a game to which there will then be a countdown. I consider this level of meta-hype to be detrimental to the industry really. Although probably great for marketing departments, those hives of scum and villainy.

        1. Charles 9

          Most companies are savvy enough not to switch engines unless there's a big reason to (ex. GTA4 switched engines due to Renderware being bought by a rival). Since Gamebryo fully supports HD (as it's used in the PC version) and is cross-platform (if you can code for the PS3, the PS4's pretty easy, especially if you already have the PC and Xbox One as another target), there should be little reason to switch. Plus, even if you switch engines, most of the assets (basic textures, models, etc.) can usually be converted with a lot less effort then it would've taken to make them from scratch (which had to be done for 3).

          1. Jediben

            But Gamebryo is an abomination and always appears to have been born 8 months prematurely.

            1. Jediben

              Well it seems they are still flogging Gamebryo within a nanometre of its placental integrity. Bethesda should change their motto to "Why Try Harder?".

              1. Charles 9

                Or how about "Why fix what isn't broken?"

                1. NumptyScrub

                  Or how about "Why fix what isn't broken?"

                  I can only assume you never played Fallout 3, BethSoft sometimes refuse to fix what is broken :P

                  Not content with announcing and hyping games that have barely even started being developed and won't be available for years, are they now so desperate that they're taking to announcing and hyping announcements that haven't been written yet? Madness.

                  Official Fallout 4 trailer on YouTube

                  If they can put that together using the in-game engine, then it's basically in a state that Bethedsa are happy to release (see above) ^^;

    2. Iain 15
      Joke

      You might be interested in...

      Acme Knicker Untwister (1 Unit) £769.99 (+£9.00 p&p)

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  5. Tom Servo

    Lordy, this AND XCOM 2 announced?

    Time to pack the wife and kids off for xmas somewhere, I'll be busy.

  6. OGShakes

    Beyond Hope

    I think Canada is crying out to be the next setting for Fallout, with most of the country already beyond Hope. Ok this is a Vancouver/Canadian in joke, look up Vancouver on google maps and follow the TransCanada highway in land!

    1. JLV
      Happy

      Re: Beyond Hope

      Or watch Rambo I again ;-)

      Bloodborne & Fallout 4. Bliss. That PS4 may yet come to pass.

  7. AceRimmer
    Gimp

    And......

    Nothing.

    Just says "Please Stand By" with no count down timer

    1. Blank-Reg
      Facepalm

      Re: And......

      Probably forgot to publish or server crash. Honestly, don't do a countdown timer if there's nothing at the end.

      And, judging by what's appeared, I don't think this is going quite to plan...

      1. AceRimmer

        Re: And......

        I now think it might have been on purpose

        A few refreshes revealed different "errors" and now I get the trailer

    2. Charles 9

      Re: And......

      Well, that's what you first see when you load Fallout 3 IIRC. Anyway, given there's an ESRB logo on it (albeit Rating Pending), they must have something they're about to submit since, under the rules, once you slap an ESRB rating on your ads, ALL ads going forward MUST sport it, and you MUST have the final rating before you go live.

      OK, saw the trailer. Vault 111 will be the initial setting. And it looks like my second guess was right. If the Paul Revere statue (and retrofitted USS Constitution) is any indication, we're talking Boston here. Which means we're definitely talking the Commonwealth. Also the Brotherhood of Steel, IINM by one of the powered armor shots.

      That now leaves the question on the identity of the Player. For the record, here's the list of past IDs:

      1 - Vault Dweller

      2 - Chosen One

      3 - Lone Wanderer (NV didn't have a vault dweller, so was instead just called "Courier")

      I'm still banking on "Sole Survivor".

      1. AceRimmer

        Re: And......

        4- Android

        1. Jediben

          Re: And......

          5 - Time traveller/Clone/Amnesiac former President

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    and 15 minutes after release

    will come the "no clothing" and "sex slave companion" patches on Nexus....

    and the ever desirable "remove weight limit" hacks :)

    1. Charles 9

      Re: and 15 minutes after release

      I think it takes a GECK to do those mods. I've made stuff of the like for 3 and NV. GECK may be a bit.

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