How important is the search for the past in a Fallout game?

[Morbus]

So, I have been thinking about this for some time now: how important is to feel that something happened before the game time? How important is to discover it?

One of the greatest things it Fallout (IMO) is the constant lore we are surrounded by. Wherever we go go, whatever we look at, we always get something that reminds us of what we are, where we are and most importantly when we are. Not to mension some cool things (easter eggs? maybe not properly due to the nature of the game) like Elvis paintings or those hilarious random encounters, like the nukacola truck or the UFO.

Anyway, the aim of this topic is this: is it important that we get to discover the past for ourselves? Or wouldn't it matter if we'd just listen to others memories or stories? Well, personally, I loved L.A. being present in the game, I loved San Francisco being present in the game, I loved Chicago to be mentioned in Tactics, I loved all those ruins from the past (specially the Glow ), but what I loved the most was to explore them, was the feeling of entering a long forgotten place, the feeling of discovering the unkown and being the first the know it! (Maybe that's why I study archeology?) It's just an awesome feeling, and an awesome experience too. Could we say Fallout was inspired in Tomb Raider's concept? Well, because it's like the same...

Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions about this matter, how important do you think it is do explore pre-war ruins, how do you think it should be made for Fallout 3, how much do you like it or maybe you just don't care about it at all...

My thanks for reading this,
Morbus.

 

[SuAside]

discovering the past was always an important aspect of FO's story & gameplay. it's all part of what makes the setting work so well.

however, that alone doesn't make a game great. check out The Empty Scrolls: Oblivious & tell me the lore spread throughout the game (mostly a shitload of books & such) was immersive...

 

[Morbus]

Poor Oblivion... Oblivion has almost no lore at all, and, because of that, many say that it turned out to be generic high fantasy. I agree with it. But not Fallout. Fallout is a lore monster

 

[Per]

It's an interesting question, but I'd say the quest for the past was not an important factor in Fallout.

The past is essentially the war and the pre-war world. The basics of why and how it happened are known, though you fill in a few blanks later on. The main issues are related to the post-apocalyptic world, how to deal with it, and how communities deal with each other, not how everything got that way.

Also, G.E.C.K. aside, there's no big theme of "using the past to improve the future". There's no secret vault where you can mine energy and tech for everyone to make it all good again. Rather, technology is breaking down, those who hoard it are paranoid and/or arrogant, and new solutions have to be found in the here and now. Being sheltered in Vault 13 by talking deathclaws is all right for a while, but then people come and kill you off.

There is an element of finding out how present events came to be (e.g. what is the origin of the Master) and hidden details (e.g. there were other, earlier Vault Dwellers), but that's regular plot exposition found in any story and not specific to Fallout or post-apocalyptica.

Inventing a "twist" explanation for the war in a future storyline ("it was staged by G-Man lol") would only serve to diminish the issues previously explored.

Wasteland was pretty much the same.

 

[SuAside]

The past is essentially the war and the pre-war world. The basics of why and how it happened are known, though you fill in a few blanks later on. The main issues are related to the post-apocalyptic world, how to deal with it, and how communities deal with each other, not how everything got that way.

There is an element of finding out how present events came to be (e.g. what is the origin of the Master) and hidden details (e.g. there were other, earlier Vault Dwellers), but that's regular plot exposition found in any story and not specific to Fallout or post-apocalyptica.

i think you're thinking too long term here, Per. and yes, of course it's not specific to Fallout.

however, can you imagine a Fallout without the details, the stories, the small discoveries you make all along the game? i believe that it's the little things that made Fallout what it is. Fallout has a certain atmosphere and those small details such as the background stories you discover are a great part of that for me.

 

[Sander]

i think you're thinking too long term here, Per. and yes, of course it's not specific to Fallout.

however, can you imagine a Fallout without the details, the stories, the small discoveries you make all along the game? i believe that it's the little things that made Fallout what it is. Fallout has a certain atmosphere and those small details such as the background stories you discover are a great part of that for me.

I think you're missing Per's point.
He's not saying that history and lore have no part in Fallout, but that they are no part of the overall theme and idea of Fallout.
In other words, Fallout's history and lore are important and serve to enliven the game and improve immersion. However, they are not an essential part of Fallout's theme and setting. They are there to provide flavor and some minor explanations, not to serve as major plot points or themes that the games revolve around. The games revolve around what the population would do after the bombs fall, not about what made it happen.