Monthly Modder: Fallout London
When the team behind Fallout: London revealed their project a few years ago, it became an immediate object of interest for the modding community. While several mods have imagined the world of Fallout expanded to new locales, this huge collaborative effort boldly takes a franchise traditionally rooted in satirizing Americana and gives that same treatment to the rich cultural target of the UK and British culture by bringing the action to London.
With so much to tackle and incorporate into this ambitious project, the multi-talented modders of Team FOLON continue to work hard to complete the mod that will allow the player to visit their version of London. But they’ve been keeping the modding community excited by releasing the mod’s individual outfits, weapons, and more as they create them. They recently collected all the content released so far in their “Fallout London Standalone Releaser” (Bethesda.net, Nexus) for players eager to see this content. They talked with us about that release strategy in addition to their many sources of inspiration and the process of collaborating on this British Invasion.
The Fallout franchise is rooted in 1950s Americana and their futurist ideals satirically juxtaposed against a post-apocalyptic landscape. How do you stay true to that while expanding Fallout to a city outside of America?
Although the Fallout games play on and comment upon Americana, its themes of the endless cycle of war, humanity's quest for survival, and our many many attempts at creating/improving civilization are universal. Fallout London also follows the design formula of Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 in making use of the setting in a historical city to discover more about its associated history and culture, both real and fictional. From Victorian prison hulks to Morte D'Arthur, Shakespeare plays to parliamentary proceedings, players will engage with and learn from the setting of the game in a way that's unique to the London location whilst still true to the Fallout formula.
What are some of the elements of London/UK culture, society, and history that have been most fun to draw inspiration from and give the Fallout treatment?
The UK has such a vast and rich cultural history. There is so much to choose from. We decided to ensure we had the staples like the Royal Guards, Medieval Knights, and Guy Fawkes included. But we took inspiration from other parts too, like the two World Wars and the druidic heritage of the country. The latter is a personal favourite of mine. You can see some characters from that faction in our recent announcement video.
You’ve individually released mods for a number of the clothes and weapons in advance of the full Fallout: London release. Why did you decide on that content release strategy?
We know that in the modding community there's nothing more frustrating than waiting for something you want only for it to never appear. These releases are our promise that it's coming. A taste of the big picture if you will. It doesn't tarnish the full experience; it's just proof that we are really making things here, that the full mod is coming and that it will be amazing.
What is your hope for when players get to experience all those elements put together in the full mod when it releases?
We hope they're properly immersed in the London Wasteland. We've put a lot of effort into building a consistent world that is full and fun that feels connected to the franchise while offering our own unique twist. We want players to still feel like they’re connected to the Fallout universe whilst encountering a new perspective.
There are a number of other ambitious, collaborative mod projects expanding Fallout 4 to new cities. Do you feel any friendly competition, and/or inspired by those other teams’ efforts?
We’re definitely inspired by others, and sometimes we feel we have to increase our ambition to match. Some others out there are pretty amazing, and we’re very happy to have friendly competition to see who can make the best experience. But we also do keep in close contact with others for collaboration - we’ve worked directly with the Vault 13 project for instance, supplying them with 3D assets and getting scripting and level design help in return. It’s great to be able to work with other teams like that. Hopefully we can inspire other modders out there too.
How has working collaboratively served the massive scale and ambition of your project when compared against smaller mods you’ve made on your own?
Working in such a large team certainly has its pros and cons. As the Project Manager I have to make sure everyone works well together and works consistently, requiring a lot more communication and coordination than a solo project. It has its stresses, but at the same time you meet the most wonderful people with their own unique talents who all share the same passions as you. I’ve made some long-lasting friendships, and that’s worth a lot. It can be hard seeing your friends go though, especially when they leave to go and work for yourselves! It’s very bittersweet seeing them leave.
