Fallout Timeline
- Thread starter Brother None
- Start date
Byrd was insane, he was the guy who volunteered to have FEV-II tested on him and his mind didn't survive the injection intact. Therefore, anything he says needs to be taken with a grain of salt. A massive amount of salt to be honest.
Slaughter Manslaught
Vault Senior Citizen
Still, the Enclave's space program makes sense. I believe they already had a shuttle ready to launch (see Bloomfield). Fallout world has the right tech (Nuclear Fusion, for one thing) to do something like that. The bombs probrably hit the shuttle and then forced the Enclave to retake the good ol' USA back.
Mord_Sith
Mildly Dipped
I know what happened... the Hubologists stole the shuttle from the enclave!
A shuttle would not be enough for an interstellar or interplanetary journey, more like a craft to travel to a larger ship.
It would have been nice if you could find a record in Huboglobists' computer that would tell that they got the shuttle from the cargo hold of the freighter.
All and all, I kind of like the idea of the Enclave having a (failed) space program, I used it for my own idea for a Fan based Fallout mod, explaining the connection between the Vaults and the Enclave's space program and how they messed up both because of budget cuts and sheer arrogance.
It would have been nice if you could find a record in Huboglobists' computer that would tell that they got the shuttle from the cargo hold of the freighter.
All and all, I kind of like the idea of the Enclave having a (failed) space program, I used it for my own idea for a Fan based Fallout mod, explaining the connection between the Vaults and the Enclave's space program and how they messed up both because of budget cuts and sheer arrogance.
I like the vault experiments a lot more if you include the idea of space travel for resettlement canon. I read in the Fallout wiki about the idea of interplanetary resettlement and it made me like the whole plot twist about the vaults being part of a massive sociological/psychological experiment more.
The idea of testing people to ensure that you only end up with the best of the best because your plan to save humanity is a long and dangerous resettlement on another planet, which due to the obvious difficulties and the fact that it has never been done before requires that you only take those most likely to survive and prosper, is better than the government deciding to do some psych tests on people should the world be destroyed. It's really just silly to do that rather than create good vaults and hope for the best - the apocalypse is not a good time to be pouring money into quack science (I kid, I like psychology
).
The only other reason for the experiments would have to relate to resettlement on earth. Perhaps realising that the vaults could not last forever the US government decided that an experiment to leave them with the best survivors would be important for an effective effort. Obviously the same as the space program idea but looking at earth rather than another planet. I don't think this is ever suggested in the game though. Also it begs the question why not just let the wasteland carry out natural selection? With the interplanetary resettlement there would be far greater need to conserve resources and to ensure strong group work and psychological wellbeing (so keep numbers minimal by taking only the best)... although the same is still true of a repopulation effort in the wasteland I guess.
The thing I never understood about the resource wars is why there is so much fighting over oil? It is clear from the Fallout games that energy can be obtained from fusion (not only that, micro-fusion is being used also) - cars and weapons run off of it. I'd assume that baseload power would also be obtained via fusion powerplants. So why does anyone even care about oil anymore? Today fusion power (getting past that whole only breaking even thing) would be an incredible despite all the years ahead of compatability and further improvements. In the Fallout world fusion is not just possible, it's all over the place and many things have been modified for its use. There is clearly a proliferation of fusion power and high uptake, who cares about oil?
The idea of testing people to ensure that you only end up with the best of the best because your plan to save humanity is a long and dangerous resettlement on another planet, which due to the obvious difficulties and the fact that it has never been done before requires that you only take those most likely to survive and prosper, is better than the government deciding to do some psych tests on people should the world be destroyed. It's really just silly to do that rather than create good vaults and hope for the best - the apocalypse is not a good time to be pouring money into quack science (I kid, I like psychology
).The only other reason for the experiments would have to relate to resettlement on earth. Perhaps realising that the vaults could not last forever the US government decided that an experiment to leave them with the best survivors would be important for an effective effort. Obviously the same as the space program idea but looking at earth rather than another planet. I don't think this is ever suggested in the game though. Also it begs the question why not just let the wasteland carry out natural selection? With the interplanetary resettlement there would be far greater need to conserve resources and to ensure strong group work and psychological wellbeing (so keep numbers minimal by taking only the best)... although the same is still true of a repopulation effort in the wasteland I guess.
The thing I never understood about the resource wars is why there is so much fighting over oil? It is clear from the Fallout games that energy can be obtained from fusion (not only that, micro-fusion is being used also) - cars and weapons run off of it. I'd assume that baseload power would also be obtained via fusion powerplants. So why does anyone even care about oil anymore? Today fusion power (getting past that whole only breaking even thing) would be an incredible despite all the years ahead of compatability and further improvements. In the Fallout world fusion is not just possible, it's all over the place and many things have been modified for its use. There is clearly a proliferation of fusion power and high uptake, who cares about oil?
Hello URAGR8M8,
Well from what I understand practical fusion power was just barely invented before the War, it would have perhaps relieved energy issues if it had been introduced earlier but by the time it finally was being used in machines society had become to dependent on oil.
Also, fusion power in general was only found in military and government vehicles, the civilian population barely got to enjoy its benefits at all, explaining why roads were clogged up with cars; there was no more fuel.
I think even in Fallout fusion power was really really expensive.
So in a way that makes Fallout 3's exploding cars even more contrived, the reason why the roads were full of car wrecks was because of the lack of gasoline.
Edit: yes there was this add for the atomic powered car in Fallout 1 but remember that only the rich elite could afford one.
Well from what I understand practical fusion power was just barely invented before the War, it would have perhaps relieved energy issues if it had been introduced earlier but by the time it finally was being used in machines society had become to dependent on oil.
Also, fusion power in general was only found in military and government vehicles, the civilian population barely got to enjoy its benefits at all, explaining why roads were clogged up with cars; there was no more fuel.
I think even in Fallout fusion power was really really expensive.
So in a way that makes Fallout 3's exploding cars even more contrived, the reason why the roads were full of car wrecks was because of the lack of gasoline.
Edit: yes there was this add for the atomic powered car in Fallout 1 but remember that only the rich elite could afford one.
Extract from the fallout bible:
"2066 - Summer - Adding further insult to the Chinese-American relations, the first crude fusion cell is unveiled, one of the results of the Power Armor project. Devices designed for the fusion cell begin to be manufactured. Incorporating fusion power into the general US infrastructure begins, but the process is too slow to supply power to the regions that need it. Nearly thirteen years later (Great War occurs), few sections of the United States were supplied with fusion power."
So you see, before the Great War, fusion power existed but was very rare and expensive. There was not enough fusion power to decrease the U.S oil demands. And even if the Americans didn't need the oil there were not gonna sell it to the Chinese so... China would still invade and the Great War would still happen.
"2066 - Summer - Adding further insult to the Chinese-American relations, the first crude fusion cell is unveiled, one of the results of the Power Armor project. Devices designed for the fusion cell begin to be manufactured. Incorporating fusion power into the general US infrastructure begins, but the process is too slow to supply power to the regions that need it. Nearly thirteen years later (Great War occurs), few sections of the United States were supplied with fusion power."
So you see, before the Great War, fusion power existed but was very rare and expensive. There was not enough fusion power to decrease the U.S oil demands. And even if the Americans didn't need the oil there were not gonna sell it to the Chinese so... China would still invade and the Great War would still happen.
One note: fusion cells are just a way to transmit fusion powers in portable ways so it can be used for vehicles and armour. That doesn't necessarily mean that fusion generators weren't available and wide-spread earlier, so fusion might have replaced fuel needs when it comes to energy generators, just not necessarily for cars.
That note combined with the fact that the few civilian fusion powered cars were probably way beyond the incomes of the average citizen makes it pretty assumable that there only a handful of fusion cell powered regular cars around and not roads full of them.
UncannyGarlic
Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
Also keep in mind that the war was over multiple natural resources (including uranium), not just oil, and that oil is used to make plastic.
oil is used not only for fuel but for many other things like plastics, some types of clothes, cosmetics, paving roads (don't know how to say that in english) and more. Even if you don't use it for energy you still oil for many other stuff. I don't think that a society has evolved has the one in fallout would live without oil. Also in the end of the quote i made from the fallout bible it says that altought fusion power existed, right before the Great War "few sections of the United States were supplied with fusion power". So, Brother None, the quote doesn't just refer to the portable usage of fusion power in vehicles and armour. It refers to the entire infra-structure of the U.S (there weren't that many Fusion power generators). "Incorporating fusion power into the general US infrastructure begins, but the process is too slow to supply power to the regions that need it."
I'd just like to point out a quick inconsistency that struck me: the description for the fuel-cell regulator for the car in FO2 states that most people didn't bother to install them because energy was "cheap and plentiful, so why bother?" Cheap and plentiful pretty much implies fusion power (also there is, of course, the fact that the car ran off fusion cells...).
Although, I suppose you could argue that that only applied to those rich enough to afford a car like the Highwayman in the first place, and that such cars and the energy to power them were not available to the general populace.
Although, I suppose you could argue that that only applied to those rich enough to afford a car like the Highwayman in the first place, and that such cars and the energy to power them were not available to the general populace.
While most parts of the U.S. were not supplied with fusion power maybe those parts that did (major cities) had fusion power at a cheap price. But that doesn't explain why in the main highways of the country (near major cities) there where tons of cars without power to run. That's just a theory. Feel free to point out where im wrong.
Kyuu said:
This.
Not everyone could afford an electrical-engine car that runs on fusion cells, but if you can afford that, you really don't need to worry about the price of the fuel (that is, MFCs or SECs). Kind of like the gas-guzzling limos the really rich drive. It's not like they can't afford a better engine in the car that is more fuel-efficient, it's that they're so rich that they don't care.