Examining the four main single player games in the franchise and its related spinoff games, this book explores the world of the popular role-playing video game, Fallout.
Kenton Taylor Howard examines the maps of the games, the design of their worlds, and how the franchise has been expanded through fan-created video game modifications and tabletop games. This book highlights the importance of worldbuilding in the Fallout franchise, examining the extensive alternate history the game creates – diverging from real-world history in the early 1900s and resulting in a world that is destroyed by nuclear apocalypse in 2077 – and exploring how the series builds this detailed world over the course of many games. The book also examines how the franchise has served as an extended commentary on American militarism and expansionism. The series is closely examined through the lens of critical media studies, as well as relying on theoretical frameworks relating to video game design and world design.
This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and enthusiasts of video game studies, video game design, media fandom and fan studies, transmedia studies, and imaginary worlds.
Author(s): Kenton Taylor Howard
Series: Imaginary Worlds
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 114
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction: War Never Changes, But Fallout Does
Critical Video Game Studies
Theories on World Design and Video Game Design
Book Outline
1 Origins of the World of Fallout: Fallout 1 and Fallout 2
From GURPS to S.P.E.C.I.A.L.: The Importance of Tabletop Influences on the World of Fallout
Building the World of Fallout: The Map and Timeline of Fallout 1
Expanding the World of Fallout: The Map and Timeline of Fallout 2
Conclusion: The Foundations of a 25-Year Franchise
2 Reviving the World of Fallout: Fallout 3 and Fallout 4
2D to 3D: Bringing a New Dimension to the World of Fallout with Fallout 3
Bringing Civilization to the Wasteland: Fallout 4's Crafting and Settlement Systems
Heading East: The World of Fallout Goes to Washington D.C. and Boston
Conclusion: Reinventing the World of Fallout
3 Expanding the World of Fallout: Fallout Spinoff Games
Semi-canonicity: Fallout Tactics
Noncanonicity: Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Metacanonicity: Fallout Shelter
True Canonicity: Fallout: New Vegas
Conclusion: The Many Shapes of the World of Fallout
4 The World of Fallout as Told by Fans: Fallout 76, Fallout Mods, and Fallout Tabletop Games
Player-Driven World-Building: Fan Creation in Fallout 76
Visual Enhancements, Gameplay Changes, and Total Conversions: Modding the World of Fallout
From Tabletop to PC and Back Again: The World of Fallout in Tabletop Games
Conclusion: How Fans Expanded the World of Fallout
Conclusion: Success and Failure, Design Strategies, and the Future of the World of Fallout
25 Years of World-Building: Success and Failure in the Fallout Franchise
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Launch the Bombs: World-Building Design Strategies From the World of Fallout
Please Stand By: The Future of the World of Fallout
Index
