If the FEV virus didn't exist?

Sn1p3r187

Sn1p3r187

Carolinian Shaolin Monk
Do you think if the FEV virus didn't exist in the Fallout universe that there would still be mutations? Like radscorpions, pig rats, nightstalkers and the such? I don't think it would be on the scale of the FEV virus. I think if anything it'd be on the scale of Chernobyl level mutations.
 
I think that because Fallout is in part based on a retrofuturistic science fiction foundation, that even if FEV weren't a thing you would still want to have some kinds of horrific mutant creatures who have thrived in the wasteland in the wake of humanity's fall. You would just attribute the giant cockroaches to things like "mutation" and "lack of predation" or something like that. The only thing that really needs FEV to be justified is the whole "when we dip humans in this vat, they always come out as super mutants." You can still justify Deathclaws, Wanamingos, Mole Rats, Cazadors, and Nightstalkers as just "pre-war scientists doing genetic manipulation" (the first 3 were government projects to use against the Chinese and the latter 2 were just Big MT projects).

Fallout has never treated radiation in an especially realistic way (c.f. ghouls) so "a hundred years of exposure to radiation made these animals giant" isn't a huge stretch by standards of the post-apocalyptic genre.
 
Well, lore would be a bit changed. The first game would be fairly short because of a lack of the Master and the Super Mutants, and would simply involve getting the water chip. The Enclave would never have revealed itself due to a lack of FEV and therefore the means to end all life on Earth, thus negating the events of Fallout 2. Assuming that the NCR still forms, the events of Van Buren and Fallout: New Vegas would likely occur normally. Fallout: Tactics would be negated because the Brotherhood of Steel would never have a reason to go east, but the Calculator would still a problem for the New California Republic and/or other Colorado factions later on. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, of course, wouldn't happen either because the Texas expedition was formed to hunt down the Super Mutants (not that it was canon in the first place anyways).

FEV only created the Super Mutants and possibly the Vault 12 ghouls in part. Everything else occurred because of pre-war experimentation, breeding and radiation exposure. The only dissenting account within the canon would be the Fallout Bible, so whether or not much change would even occur in the lore would depend on whether or not you see the Fallout Bible as an overruling source of canon.
 
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Well the Enclave would probably have worked on some other plan to destroy all mutants, perhaps making a virus from scratch as they do have the resources, or some chemical weapon.
They also still have a supply of nuclear weapons so perhaps they would wait until people start congregating again and the use nukes against these population centers.

BTW, it is save to assume Fallout Tactics is non canon but I have always been thinking that the Calculator and its pacification protocol/robots was the Enclave's original master plan.
Once a set time period had passed the Calculator would 'wake up', send out the robots to eliminate the mutates and undesirables and then construct a new infrastructure (roads, cities, power plants, industry and so on) which the Enclave would then reclaim without ever having to physically do something themselves, risking confrontations with people and creatures on the mainland.
 
No FEV means the amount of various mutations wouldn't be there. FEV explains almost everything connected to mutations or radiation, such as ghouls and most mutated animals. Without it we would have realistic scale mutations, so overall it would be more about Humans and left over radiation, not mutated creatures or mutants and ghouls.
 
Hmm? I ignore the Bible, mainly because I don't agree with some things. And it makes more sense if FEV affected ghouls in some way. Like mutate them to live longer and resist rads.
 
Dr Fallout said:
Hmm? I ignore the Bible, mainly because I don't agree with some things. And it makes more sense if FEV affected ghouls in some way. Like mutate them to live longer and resist rads.
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There's no clear reason how ghoul survive the radiations, but a ghoul would be instant killed by FEV virus. Therefore, I doubt ghouls are infected with the FEV virus. However, it could be the new plague.
 
is there anyone here that would want to be taking a bath in a vat of FEV? i had my character take a dunk in the tank by accident, i dont think i would enjoy it. especially if i went nuts like the nightkin assassins?
 
To be honest, I want to see Lobotomite Super Mutants. We can use the tesla coils to replace the brains before we use FEV. Now we have an army of super mutants without intelligence problem.
 
Even if you consider that the radiation and FEV didn't induced any change in animals DNA, you have to take into account that the world has changed.

The climate has changed, new hazards appeared, the human population almost disapeared and was non existants for a while, some entire species have disapeared (some others species lost their food, some lost their predators), some various chemicals were released into the air, the many dead bodies spread some proteins, etc... To survive into that new world, species had to adapt.

We should take into account not only the Fallout world as we know, but also the Fallout world during the nuclear winter, the few years/decades in which it wasn't possible for any human to survive outside, and yet life kept going...
 
naossano said:
Even if you consider that the radiation and FEV didn't induced any change in animals DNA, you have to take into account that the world has changed.

The climate has changed, new hazards appeared, the human population almost disapeared and was non existants for a while, some entire species have disapeared (some others species lost their food, some lost their predators), some various chemicals were released into the air, the many dead bodies spread some proteins, etc... To survive into that new world, species had to adapt.

We should take into account not only the Fallout world as we know, but also the Fallout world during the nuclear winter, the few years/decades in which it wasn't possible for any human to survive outside, and yet life kept going...
Click to expand...
I wonder how long it actually lasted. Honest Hearts gives a typical descripiction of nuclear winter right after the war, but Richard Gray refers to an event known as the 'Great Winter' occuring in 2130 in the first game. Think there's a connection?
 
The-Artist-64 said:
naossano said:
Even if you consider that the radiation and FEV didn't induced any change in animals DNA, you have to take into account that the world has changed.

The climate has changed, new hazards appeared, the human population almost disapeared and was non existants for a while, some entire species have disapeared (some others species lost their food, some lost their predators), some various chemicals were released into the air, the many dead bodies spread some proteins, etc... To survive into that new world, species had to adapt.

We should take into account not only the Fallout world as we know, but also the Fallout world during the nuclear winter, the few years/decades in which it wasn't possible for any human to survive outside, and yet life kept going...
Click to expand...
I wonder how long it actually lasted. Honest Hearts gives a typical descripiction of nuclear winter right after the war, but Richard Gray refers to an event known as the 'Great Winter' occuring in 2130 in the first game. Think there's a connection?
Click to expand...
That wouldn't make much sense. A nuclear winter would occur at least a year or two after the great war and last upwards up to 5 to 10 years. I don't see how the winter occurred so late.
 
Sn1p3r187 said:
The-Artist-64 said:
naossano said:
Even if you consider that the radiation and FEV didn't induced any change in animals DNA, you have to take into account that the world has changed.

The climate has changed, new hazards appeared, the human population almost disapeared and was non existants for a while, some entire species have disapeared (some others species lost their food, some lost their predators), some various chemicals were released into the air, the many dead bodies spread some proteins, etc... To survive into that new world, species had to adapt.

We should take into account not only the Fallout world as we know, but also the Fallout world during the nuclear winter, the few years/decades in which it wasn't possible for any human to survive outside, and yet life kept going...
Click to expand...
I wonder how long it actually lasted. Honest Hearts gives a typical descripiction of nuclear winter right after the war, but Richard Gray refers to an event known as the 'Great Winter' occuring in 2130 in the first game. Think there's a connection?
Click to expand...
That wouldn't make much sense. A nuclear winter would occur at least a year or two after the great war and last upwards up to 5 to 10 years. I don't see how the winter occurred so late.
Click to expand...
Hey, I didn't write this stuff. It's all Fallout lore. I must say, though, I'm disappointed with the lack of knowledge on how mutation actually works in the series, so maybe the creators just didn't understand how nuclear winter works either.
 
The Great Winter comes from the Falout Bible, not the first game and it seems to be an ACTUAL winter, with snow and cold, not the Nuclear Winter.
 
I know a bit bout the nuclear winter, and that it has some major flaws about it. Most nukes don't actually kick up a lot of dust, especially modern ones so the idea of a nuclear winter is unlikely. I think several people explained it in the bible.
 
Walpknut said:
The Great Winter comes from the Falout Bible, not the first game and it seems to be an ACTUAL winter, with snow and cold, not the Nuclear Winter.
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Actually, Gray mentions in his audio diary that humans are becoming scarcer, a clear reference to the winter.

Also, I always interpreted it as a regular winter too, it's just a good thing to look at all of the options- maybe Cain and crew weren't as well versed in the effects of nuclear weapons as I or others.
 
From my understanding, no FEV would mean no Brotherhood of Steel, as the US Army Captain (I forget his name) would likely not have chosen to secede from the US Military and go rogue. Also, FEV changed the way the US Military interacted with its R&D elements, because the nature of the virus caused a whole lot of paranoia in the final days before the war.
 
SteveJobsGhost said:
From my understanding, no FEV would mean no Brotherhood of Steel, as the US Army Captain (I forget his name) would likely not have chosen to secede from the US Military and go rogue. Also, FEV changed the way the US Military interacted with its R&D elements, because the nature of the virus caused a whole lot of paranoia in the final days before the war.
Click to expand...

Brotherhood of Steel would probably still exist, maybe in different locations and different leaders, with changed details. The actual idea is pretty broad.
 
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