Fallout

This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

Fallout is a post-apocalyptic game series that takes place in America about a century or two in the future where America had been bombed so much that it has been left as a rotting, smelly and depressing wasteland that happens to have high as fuck raiders come up to you and attempt to have anal with a chainsaw or a laser weapon.

Despite the setting, most of the games are fairly noblebright, with a darkly humorous streak and a series-long theme of rebuilding.

Plot and Setting

Basically, post-apocalyptic America was filled with what seems to be... 50's art style and pop culture humor.

Long story short, America as a culture never went past the 50's in terms of mindset, so for 120 years, Americans still bitched about red commies. Much of the technology is on par with 50's sci-fi in both style and design, so while they had nuclear powered cars, they still used vacuum tubes in their computers.

However the US government became obsessed with 50's nostalgia. Uncle Sam became more and more oppressive, in an attempt to keep what was believed to be the greatest of American time.

All of the countries, being greedy little shits and all, decided that they just happened to be more important than one another and should have all the resources for themselves. Since none of them were taught to share at a young age, when oil started to run low in the 2050's, wars over it flamed up, the EU fractured in civil war, and China invaded Alaska for its oil. But the US had power armor and mini nukes up the ass, but China has those fancy stealth suits that was TROLOLOLOLing American forces, Warp Spider Style. But due to plot, America kind of kicked China out of Alaska. Then they just got bored and decided to take over Canada. Couldn't get cozy with anyone. Then the nukes started to fly.

No one really knows who fired the first one, it might have been China in a desperate attempt to save themselves, or it could have been aliens, or maybe a bored AI. Anyone but America, because suggesting otherwise is commie-pinko traitor talk. (plus the whole "they were winning").

But the fact is everyone nuked each other. China nuked America, America nuked Britain, Congo nuked Zimbabwe...

We don't know much about what happened to the rest of the world, but in America, most of the survivors hid in massive underground shelter-cities called Vaults. Being paranoid, pumped full of propaganda and having all of the earth's resources at your disposal, wouldn't you build something similar? As it turns out, the Vaults were a giant experiment. Most were built in order to see how well the real shelter (a space trip to Mars) would fare, while others were just made to dick with the people living there.

Fast forward 200 years and tribes and nations started popping up. Like these.

Factions

• New California Republic: The largest faction and 3rd most high tech, only group trying to rebuild America. These guys resemble what America today would be if it was a militia.
• New Vegas: Thanks to a billionaire, Nevada was never nuked and so Vegas is still running casinos with said billionaire in power. New Vegas has the most advanced technology but is limited and only has a robot police force (there is a deactivated army of them hiding underground) and the billionaire who made himself a life-support machine before the bomb's fell.
• The Legion: One dude watched too many Roman movies and formed a group of tribes into a Roman empire, which is now the major power of Arizona. Despite their leader modeling them after Rome, their behavior is more like the Huns given they're population consists only of soldiers and forced labor, as well as their preference for rape-pillage-burn over govern-administer-build.
• The Brotherhood of Steel: Formerly a small group from the US military, they turned into Knighthood who collect and protect technology, the second-highest-tech faction. It used to be a major power in the early days but has been slowly dying out due to low numbers and being assholes. NCR destroyed most of them in a war, but there are still a few chapters out. A Chapter in DC is the de facto leader of the area, mostly thanks to allowing outsiders to join and not being dicks.
• The Enclave: The US government. The most advanced power due to holding onto technology from before the nuclear war, with the goal of uniting America and killing all mutants (read everyone but them). They talk big but have very little real power and would be a joke if they didn't have the firepower to carry out their plans. They have mostly been destroyed, because being a bunch of jerks and refusing to work with anyone works out pretty poorly in the long term (see the Brotherhood of Steel).
• Shi: Chinese Communist soldiers turned psuedo-Imperial China 2.0. They worship a freakin computer called...while...Shi (remind you of someone?). They are also not the only ones going for Imperial China hence the 2.0, the other one is the Republic of China who had already conquered the nuked mainland China and declared their Prime Minister as the New Emperor of China...despite the fact that it was the R.O.C. themselves that historically overthrown the last Imperial Dynasty due to Ideology and what-not. It is also hinted that the new Imperial China is reconstructing nukes to aim directly at, you guess it, MURICA!!!
• Hubologists: scientologists with armor, guns, a spaceship and porn stars instead of Tom Cruise. WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN THINKING INTERPLAY!?!?
• The Khans: The oldest Raider group in Fallout still active, about the same age as NCR as they both come form the same Vault. Unlike most raiders in the game they're fairly friendly and figure its better to just sell drugs and run protection rackets to villages than raiding.

Timeline

• 1945: Someone forgot to make the transistor and ultimately screwed it up for everyone
• 2077: Humanity screwed up this year
• 2161: The plot of Fallout 1, back when there was only about 3 deathclaws and lasers actually CUT
• 2241: The Plot of Fallout 2, mega badassery and improvement off Fallout 1
• 2277: The Plot of Fallout 3, the beginning of full 3D FPS, slow as fuck plasma weaponry and mega debuff power armor
• 2281: The plot of Fallout New Vegas, what should have been Fallout 3

Technology

Now, the weapons tech used in this can be explained in many, many ways, but the easiest way is to think of all the WH40K tech, but more convenient with the added bonus of not blowing up in your face once in a while but with the downside of guns jamming every 3 seconds and guns that rot before your eyes. Still, the weapons tech can be badass in an alternate universe (if you accept the 37,933 year difference between the universes) so the fallout tech is still considered cool. The fallout universe also incorporates REAL LIFE GUNS into the series (and a whole bunch of them) such as the skorpion, MP5, MG60, M9, etc. This then changes in the later games (and in the 1st, but that was the 1st) to 'Hunting Rifles', '10mm Sub-machine Guns' and 'Miniguns'. Oh well. Its easier to just say the tech in fallout swings between Madmax weapons, to real weapons to 50's ray guns, to crazy shit like shotgun fist and a weapons that fire eight mini nukes (a shotgun of nukes if you will). Also one of the deadliest weapons in the 2D games was a BB gun. No, really. Aim for the eyes.

As for armor, well...
The majority of the wasteland has rags as 'armor' and a baseball glove as a 'pauldron', although some people have done better (and some creatures too). Let's go over the basics:

• NCR has your mass produced, easily recognizable uniform that has a desert color (no, not dessert, but I wish it did. That is, if the dessert wasn't so IRRADIATED!). The most technologically advanced armor they have is the other 'mass-produced-but-not-produced-as-much' NCR veteran combat amour, which is basically riot armour with a trench coat over the top and a riot helmet with glowy eyes The T-45d power amour with the tech ripped out of it, leaving an empty and sad metal shell behind.
• BoS has power amour (don't get your hopes up, this is Fallout power armour we're talking about).
• Legion has football gear since its the closest thing to roman armor they can find. Higher ups do have better armor, mostly just scrap-metal plates but a few like the Legate have sweet forged armor.
• Raiders have stuff stolen from: women they've raped, people they've slaughtered, houses they've raided, prospectors they've held up then slaughtered etc.
  • Khans you get biker gear you bought with the drug money you make.
• The Enclave have power armor far superior to that of the brotherhood (still Fallout power armor)