Happy Holidays and Fallout 4

“Happy Holidays” isn’t a PC (Politically Correct) phrase, in my mind.  (PC phrases tend to grate on me.)  I know there are MANY holidays during this time of year, all shoulder-to-shoulder.  Some people choose not to celebrate, and others choose to celebrate multiple holidays.   Your mileage may vary, and probably will.

And in other news…  I’m sure you’ve heard of Fallout 4.  It’s an open-world, post-apocalyptic, first-person action-RPG, if you listen to what most-everyone says about it.

For me, I see it as spec-fic (speculative fiction) along the lines of “What if the US of America maintained its social sensibilities and mores from the 1950s for a hundred years?”

• The “red scare” of anti-communism ran rampant.
• Resources were being used up like there was no tomorrow (literally).
• Atomic energy is used everywhere.
• Technology advanced in some ways, and did not in other ways.
• The value of the US Dollar was debatable, but not good.
• It appeared that the US didn’t have a position on a global marketplace.  (If there was a such a thing!)
• The US annexed Canada.  (“Sorry guys.  You’re our neighbors, but we need what you have on your land.”)
• The US and China were grasping for finite natural resources and went to war, specifically for Alaska’s resources.
• In 2077, atomic bombs dropped onto US cities.

…and I think that covers the majority of things.  All in all, I think it’s an excellent backdrop for telling all manner of stories when you start including special-interest groups, shadow governments, and other nefarious things.

There are so many stories… some are told simply with the placement of objects in the world.  (A skeletal body in a toilet stall.  A bottle of bourbon in one hand, and a pistol in the other.  Chilling.)

Yes, I am still working on my projects… but the folks at Bethesda Games know how to tell a gripping story and take up many hours of my life.

-Cam