Super Mutants: An Article on what Bethesda has done with them in Fallout 4

DirtyOldShoe

DirtyOldShoe

Some kind of lucky
Upon reading the terminals in Virgil's lab it appears the last recorded submersion subject was tagged as CF-203, or Commonwealth Female and the 203rd subject. As this is the final entry in the terminal it is safe to assume that it is the last subject and the total number of specimens was 203.
 
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DirtyOldShoe said:
Do you even care? .
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The writing in Fallout 4 consists of a hodgepodge of random, incoherent "story" elements such as Kid in the Fridge, Ancient Aliens, wacky robots, kidnapping plot, synth/institute conspiracy, and nonsensical factions and other hastily thrown together elements that seem randomly sprinkled on the world map to fill it with a bunch of content that has no coherence or consistency and does not hold up to any sort of scrutiny whatsoever.

So no I personally don't think they gave a crap with Fallout 4. I think it's a hastily thrown together mess of a game and they need better writers and direction.

Can't wait for Elder Scrolls VI. It'll have a dialogue wheel and voiced protagonist. Hurray :/
 
I'm somewhat surprised by the lack of explanation in Fallout 4; I'm not going to make out like writing is the easiest job but staying consistent isn't very difficult, it's probably the bare minimum a writer can do, yet Bethesda consistently fails this simple, important step.
I feel as though it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a reason for there to be Super Mutants, just think for a while and make sure whatever you come up with makes sense, you're not writing the iliad, just make sure what you write is logical.
 
Mr muggyman 3000 said:
Super muntants shouldn't have been in the game to begin with. The only reason they are is because Bethesda is to lazy to make new creatures
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What about trogs, bloatflies, yoa guia, mirelurks, and stingwings and... and... swamp people and... synths... and ummmm.... oh fev dogs.... and ummm oh shit two games and that's it? Does the failed fev excitement count?
 
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Izak said:
I'm somewhat surprised by the lack of explanation in Fallout 4;.
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I wager that's because you haven't actually researched the subject and OP certainly did not.

I mean, seriously, check this:

http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Institute_super_mutant

And cite #4. The project began in August 2178.

Then take a walk through Shaun's dialogue, who explains the point of the effort.

http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Shaun's_dialogue

It's good writing and very subtle, as the FEV used by the Institute accomplishes the original goals set for the FEV project, the creation of super soldiers: Synths.
 
Dr Fallout said:
Make super mutants to make Synths.

Seems legit (note I am joking, I'm not looking forward to an argument)
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Also based on from what we are shown in fo3 synths were created as skaves. Also sentry bots and super mutantsvare both better than synths as soldiers and have both been around longer
 
Dr Fallout said:
Make super mutants to make Synths.

Seems legit
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It was more about finding out a way to modify it so that they can have human-looking synths, which is harder than it sounds given the history of FEV.

That way they don't have to redesign all of their gear and 3rd gens can simply take whatever tools 1st and 2nd gens already use.
 
Tagaziel said:
I wager that's because you haven't actually researched the subject and OP certainly did not.
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How the hell C.I.T ever got their hands of FEV? (the same question for Vault-Tec yet to be answered)
 
Dr Fallout said:
Wait what...

You need FEV to make Synths look more Human?
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FEV resilience, strength, and immunity, without the appearance of a super mutant. Which is kind of a bummer.

0wing said:
How the hell C.I.T ever got their hands of FEV? (the same question for Vault-Tec yet to be answered)
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Because they're one of the foremost research institutes in the United States of the time, also working on military technologies?

DirtyOldShoe said:
1000 pages of bad writing and no reference to mutants or FEV, if you do have a counter argument here could you quote the line(s) in question?
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I'm not going to bother, because you already made it clear you have no interest in facts or sources. I've provided you with a breakdown of Father's dialogue, dialogue which I consider to be well written and explaining the Institute's position in detail. If you think it's bad writing and dismiss it instantly, then why on Earth are you ranting on and on about how super mutants don't fit and aren't explained?

"The FEV research effort continued for several more decades, despite producing no useful data - except for manufacturing more super mutants for the surface to contend with. When Brian Virgil succeeded Dr Syverson as head of the project in April 2286, it became evident that FEV experimentation ran its course and served no useful purpose, not with the availability of third generation synths."
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Oh great, quoting out of context. You forgot these two sentences:

"The research was intended to produce effective synthetic organics, but it ground to a halt in March 2224. Despite perfecting two FEV strains, the accumulated radiation damage in test subjects provided an insurmountable barrier to further development.[8] Just three years later, in 2227, the organic synth project experienced a breakthrough due to the acquisition of Shaun and his undamaged pre-War genetic code. The third generation synth project was spun off from the FEV research initiative."
 
Tagaziel said:
Because they're one of the foremost research institutes in the United States of the time, also working on military technologies?
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There's an entry in some terminal or a dialog or something that explains it? Same goes to Vault-Tec.
And if they have researched and developed it before the war, why wait for 2178 and behave like FEV is discovered only now?
 
0wing said:
There's an entry in some terminal or a dialog or something that explains it? Same goes to Vault-Tec.
And if they have researched and developed it before the war, why wait for 2178 and behave like FEV is discovered only now?
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Because the Institute's divisions are autonomous and it's more like a confederation of independent parts than a cohesive, whole faction. There are secrets within secrets, shrouded within secrets in the Institute. In the horror and chaos of the Great War, who would notice that a file on a top secret, eyes-only project disappears and a sample gets removed to a reinforced location?

For Vault-Tec, it was apparently intended for it to be set up around Wayne Merrick, for a rival research effort:

I'm told that Dr. Merrick is one of the brightest minds in the field of accelerated evolution, and apparently Vault-Tec agrees, because they've set up this Vault around him to suit all of his needs in the event that the bombs fall. All of his data and his work have been transferred to this facility from many important sources such as Mariposa Base, West-Tek and Vault-Tec Labs.

I like Dr. Merrick. He's driven without being careless. He knows that in the event of a nuclear war, he may be the only person left in the world that can advance human genetics beyond where they are now. He's meticulous, detail-oriented, and reports everything to me on a regular basis.
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More interestingly, it seems they already started experimentation before the Great War:

The latest subjects in the Evolutionary Experimentation Program (EEP) are showing some promise after only a single exposure to the modified FEV. We are currently testing five subjects, two males and three females. Each one of them is under 24 hour observation as usual. We hope to have a breakthrough in this strain as the continual pressure from Vault-Tec and the military at Mariposa is becoming most bothersome.
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http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Vault_87_terminal_entries

I don't like Fallout 3's writing, but there are interesting inferences to be had from available content. Vault 87 was a way to store a backup of the FEV project in case of a nuclear war... Except everything went sideways when the Vault was nuked. For all we knew, it may have even been deliberate, as a decoy protecting Mariposa. Given the degree of Chinese infiltration in Washington, D.C., it would also explain why our favorite military base escaped nuking.
 
I'd say blatant handwavium unsupported by the writing in the game is worse than quoting something without context. If there are huge plot holes, filling them with guesswork when Bethesda couldn't be bothered is not really the best way to go.

If you have to resort to "For all we knew" you might as well say "this is pure conjecture" and stop acting like you're right.
 
Tagaziel said:
I wager that's because you haven't actually researched the subject and OP certainly did not.

I mean, seriously, check this:

http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Institute_super_mutant

And cite #4. The project began in August 2178.

Then take a walk through Shaun's dialogue, who explains the point of the effort.

http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Shaun's_dialogue

It's good writing and very subtle, as the FEV used by the Institute accomplishes the original goals set for the FEV project, the creation of super soldiers: Synths.
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I may have to read them again but my impression was FEV project was done for then resurrected by Shaun (possibly to find a cure for his disease that's why he kept Virgil in the dark)
 
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