Fallout 1 never cut it for me really. I saw it as relatively simplistic, altho the setting and atmosphere were there. They were definitely on to something, but it needed some more work in my view.
Then, Fallout 2 happened. The setting, the atmosphere, graphics, gameplay, etc. - everything was phenomenally designed and conceived. For example - the viewport is not set as narrow for no reason; it helps with immersion of the character and makes the world feel bigger. And the story was truly stellar. It was a game, and yet it felt eerily real with its retrofuturism. I know that it is hard to talk about realism in a game like this, but Fallout 2 was something like a narrative agent, a carrier of the story that the player moulded as the game passed on. The inclusion of children, altho a problematic move today, helped to make the whole thing more real. All in all, Fallout 2 set the standard, and is the sole reason why this forum and many more exist.
My view is actually pretty opposite, well, sort of. I've always prefered Fallout 1 over Fallout 2 myself. I stated this many times, and very few people agreed with me (which is fine
![Very Happy :D :D](/../../xencustomimages/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
), but Fallout 2 is way too "funny" and "scifi-ish" for me. While the latter is not that much of an issue in my view, the former is.
Fallout world is evidently heavily inspired by Mad Max world created by mastermind director Goerge Miller. In both Fallout and Fallout 2, you can see the resemblences everywhere you look. Of course, there are many more pop-culture references and/or inspirations that formed the artstyle, setting and lore of this world, but the way I see it, Mad Max is the most widely implemented one among them. It's not only leather jacket or Dogmeat, mind you.
Fallout 1 uses many themes from Mad Max 2 and partially Mad Max 3 to establish its own setting - raiders (Humungus' gang), The Hub (Barter Town), and so on. But the most important one (at least to me) is very general - it's a portrait of this wasted, harsh, ruthless and hopeless decayed world Miller mastered to portrait back in 80's. Fallout 1 has it all in it. I call it dystopia (even though it might not be the best term), and that's what I personally seek in every post-apocalyptic vision, whether is a book, film, or a video game.
Fallout 2, despite being much better in many ways and being very enjoyable in terms of general gaming experience, lacked this dystopian feeling for me. It enlarged and further developed some nicely fitting themes, but to this, it lost its focus on dystopia and decaying society, and instead focused on sort-of-rebuilt society (NCR, tribals) and how bizarre such world would be - literally making fun of it. I tend to think this was intentional for as we know, setting of Fallout 2 is very different from Fallout 1 - it's more of a post-post-apocalyptic world then pure dystopian post-apocalypse, and it works excelently in its own fashion.
I bear this huge love for Van Buren for I sense some sort of reincarnation of dystopian themes in the original design documents - mainly in decaying NCR (that's what you deserve, you salty bureaucrats!), massive tribal population, and the whole concept of Denver, its pre-war and post-war lore alike.
New renders are phenomenal and I hope you will find the time and persistence to finish it all!!
Why, thank you. Some of the most recent visual changes: