“I studied at University College London, and there were Jeremy Bentham auto-icons, and the whole concept was weird,” Fallout London project manager Dean ‘Prilladog’ Carter told me.
“For those who don’t know, he basically mummified himself and what he calls his auto-icon, which is in a little box at University College London, is his skeleton. His head wasn’t mummified properly. , so it all melted, so they gave him like a plastic wax head,” he continued. “Literally, I really liked the idea because in the real world – which is out there right now – it looks very much like Fallout. I was like, let’s put Futurama into something like this Deal. We’re going to knock that head into the glass thing that’s sitting on the Protectron, and yeah, the rest is what you see in the mod.
Manage cookie settings
Thus was born the Jeremy Bentham robot in Fallout: London, a mechanical marvel that allows you to see just how terrifying a failed mummy can be to a person’s hairline. Oh, and it also lets you debate the state of society in post-apocalyptic London with the founder of modern utilitarian philosophy.
This is just one of the great little details that make Fallout: London feel like more than just a Fallout game, but an unofficial entry in the series, using its setting to create a truly unique Fallout experience that’s unafraid to Laugh openly at this strange experience.
“I’m from London, born and bred, and a lot of people on the team are from the UK,” Carter explains. “We understand our own culture. We’re the biggest self-imitators and we don’t back down. In fact, we’ve received more Feedback from non-British people, [saying]“Oh, are you sure that’s allowed?”, “Can you say that?” Like, yeah, I’m from the country, let’s just say, that’s totally fine.
“We know our class system is crazy and we’re definitely part of it. We’ve taken it to the extreme. You get gentlemen, who are what British people think they are. So if you’re from the lower classes, and I hate that term, But if you come from the lower classes and you see “gentlemen” or “toffs” you say, ‘Well, yes, that’s what I envision them to be’. [other] Way [round, looking down]that’s it. So, we just took what I thought was a very old class system, and we just pushed it to the nth degree. I don’t think anything should be left out because we as a country are a copycat.
Naturally, the result is a game that touches on many of the same themes and topics you’ll hear in discussions about British politics and current affairs – especially in newsworthy times like the one we’re currently experiencing.
“People on Reddit have said our PR needs to slow down,” Carter joked. “They said, ‘Is this all part of an orchestrated plan for Afterlife: London? [was planning]? Obviously, we’ve had an election and we’ve had stuff happen and now there’s riots in the UK and they’re like, “Fallout: London’s PR is off the wall.” It’s like no, this has nothing to do with us. If people want to make their own comparisons and whatnot, that’s up to them.
For anyone who lives or grew up in a country as old and unfamiliar as Britain, it’s important to understand the ethos that underpins a society that has enough historical baggage and oddly ingrained traditions to fill the BBC’s approx. With 20,000 podcasts featuring Cambridge and Oxford professors, it probably won’t be too difficult to understand it well enough to imitate it. But what if you’re from somewhere else in the world and have never set foot in drizzly Blighty?
“When we hire a new writer, we actually have a must-read list or a must-see list in the beginning. [There] For example, “Lock”, “Stock”, “Two Big Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”, [we were] Like you need to watch these to kind of understand the tone we were going for, because a lot of the jokes and references were based on those kinds of movies,” Carter told me. “So, people read these, and we had a Brazilian guy, a wonderful writer who wrote what I think is one of the best companions, and he came back after reading these and said, ‘Now I get it.’ Because he’s from Completely different culture, didn’t know the UK so he watched these movies and now I understand what you want.
“Also, we use voice chat a lot every day. We’re always sitting [that]. So, we have a lot of them, just like you [can] Imagine when you work here for five years, it’s like a giant water cooler and we’re just sitting around the water cooler talking. We had personal jokes and there was really a sense of community and these non-British people had to learn very quickly what my jokes were like and what other British people’s jokes were like.
“We actually had almost a trial period, and if you didn’t know us within a month, you probably wouldn’t know us and you might not be a good fit. However, within a week of us joining, I did get insulted. It’s weird because I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re mine [kind of] People, welcome to join ‘type transactions. This is how we work, this is what family feels like. I know it’s a cliche, but that sense of family is definitely something we feel [cultivated]which is integrated into the game, and I really, really like that.
That said, not all of Fallout London’s homages to British culture were planned or thought out early on. Specifically, the addition of the much-sought-after former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, as the voice of a robot that presides over the same chamber, is all part of an effort to give the mod’s depiction of Britain a feel. A true fit.
“I think that’s one of the things that we’re definitely going to dig into the older games,” Carter said. “In my opinion, I love what Bethesda has done with this series, but it does feel a little sugar-coated, like some of the details, that mask some of the darker elements that were definitely present in the original game. We wanted to, I think, the original game The humor in the game fits very well with British dark humor, so we can be serious when we want to be serious, but at the same time, we only tell the darkest jokes.
“You have to offset that, because if you make it too dark, then it’s just a depressing game and it doesn’t feel like Fallout, and if you put too many jokes in it, then it doesn’t feel like Fallout either. Fallout. There’s a fine line. I think personally, and I’m obviously biased, I feel like we nailed it, but from some of the feedback, I feel like people have understood what we were going for, which is great.
When it comes to doing things the classic Fallout way, Carter did pinpoint one area where the team plans to make additions aimed at those who prefer a more modern approach to Fallout. “The biggest criticism we’ve received is that some people say we don’t explain a lot of things going forward, like when you say Thames Harbor or you come to Swan and Miter, you say ‘Who are these people? Now you can tell We found that out through conversations, but I feel like a lot of the feedback we got was because people were expecting something more like Fallout 4, where you pretty much have the first person you meet sitting there explaining A, B, C. .We don’t want that. We want it to be like Fallout 1 and Fallout 2.
“So I guess one of our updates is a smaller update [will be] Those who will do it for them will appear. Let the lore monkeys actually go get the lore they want and they can get all the stuff they really want like something that’s really in depth without having to find 10 different dialogues and also be a little more detailed for people who need it, Then they can go and get it too. So, we’re just trying to accommodate everyone’s needs, and it’s like a smaller update where we’ll reach out to the voice actors and ask, “Can you help with these things?” and do that.
Meanwhile, when it comes to finding lore and interesting characters in the world of Fallout: London, Carter noted that its gang war questline, at least partially inspired by Peaky Blinders, is something players shouldn’t overlook, even if It’s “currently prematurely discontinued” due to the lack of a wildcard mission arc, and the team plans to add it back. “I don’t know why we decided to do the Gang Wars questline because as far as I know it’s not really done in any other game, you just have your main questline and that’s it.
“I mean, people don’t quite realize that there are basically two main quest lines in Fallout: London. Obviously you have the main quest line, where you go and meet the Fifth Column, Camelot, etc. Wait, wait, or then you go off with the outcasts and then you do what we call the Gang Wars quest line, but it’s still like a three-part effort. It’s not as fleshed out as the other one, but yeah, You can still basically have a complete game.
“If you just do Nomads and stop at the end, it’s as long as some of the games before it, but you also have another path. I don’t know why we chose to do that, and I’m glad we did. It allows us to develop these characters more and put more information into them, which I personally think just adds color to the world.
Carter also said he’d be happy to see other modders try to add their own flavor to certain parts of the game, such as gang warfare, saying, “I’d love to see an ending, I don’t know, [Sebastian] Gaunt becomes King of England. Like, of course, modify it with our permission, just don’t use artificial intelligence.
One thing modders don’t have to add to Ashes of Life: London, however, is birth control pills. Yes, Carter confirmed it to me in a funny way, as you explore London you may find out that these condoms known as jimmy hats are not British slang that you may not know, but the FOLON team works hard to import large quantities of contraceptives set of products. However, he couldn’t tell me exactly why they offer 20 rad of resistance.
“I think the stats are something like that, or maybe it’s just an idea to give them a hint because they’re not the most common thing,” the modder said. “I know there’s been some comments about it on Reddit. [with] People envision how they can help. Did someone say you would wear it as a swimming cap? Is it a full body suit? It’s anything you want.
So, there’s no clear answer to the condom conundrum in Afterlife: London . At least until someone modifies it in some way and asks the Jeremy Bentham robot which way of wearing a jimmy hat will give the greatest amount of radiation resistance to the greatest number of hikers.
