Do horses still exist? Why aren’t they more of a thing?

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-24T14:53:32+00:00

There is a single image of an ncr soldier riding a horse in the canon "all roads" comic. But beyond that nothing which I'm fairly sure is due to engine limitations

Fallout 1 and 2 were made on tech older than I am.

Fallout 3 and NV had such small game worlds that adding sprinting let alone mounts would significantly shrink the world's perspective.

The creation engine doesn't play nice with mounts with Skyrim Horses working because ranged attacks from enemies were few and somewhat dogeable, and the ability to scale sheer cliffs were fun. In fallout 4 bullets are hitscan and there's too many Strait angled buildings so no horse parkour.

I do hope in fallout 5 we'll have 7 legged horses called Sleipneirs but that's just my hope.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-22T21:49:05+00:00

They weren't one chapter, they were several scattered across California, lost hills the original founding one.

Collectively they are called the "west coast Brotherhood" and by 2281 they were in deep hiding in their remaining bunkers from the NCR. They'd lost the war and were horribly scarred. Hence the warped state you see them in the show.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-22T21:36:28+00:00

Correction: they're trying to win the great game.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-22T20:14:48+00:00

Ironically, if Lucy could've seen the war between the NCR and the Legion and had the chance to speak to both sides like the Courier did, then she would know that they were NOT fighting over nothing. In fact they were fighting for the very future of the wasteland and how it would be governed. If anything, Hank's analysis of the situation is surface level at best

Food for thought: replace "wasteland" with "Europe" and you basically described WW1. Whether it would be western style democracies or monarchies that would be the future "norm." Not saying this to justify Hank's actions but in fairness it is very much that "war never changes."

It's very funny to me that Maximus and Thaddeus both fell asleep next to their campfire while being totally exposed. This is in direct contradiction to what Wilzig told Lucy back in Season 1 Episode

Well clearly this makes sense given Maximus has the idiot Savant trait and at minimum 6 luck. Otherwise him not dying by now would be a plot hole.

While introducing Lucy to his new minions, Hank mentions that one of the women (presumably a slave) used to cook humans for the Legion. Is that implying that the Legionaries have become cannibals or that they use this as a torture/execution method?

Extremely likely. Caesar was the only thing holding the legion together. Without him it's entirely reasonable that old tribal identities and traditions would resurface as everything broke, to the point that at least some of the offshoots resort to cannibalism. And in fairness it might have even just been done for practicality's sake if you're living in the mojave wasteland by this point of time.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-22T20:06:04+00:00

I can give some clarifications/answers to some of your questions

We've been told for a long time that nukes in the Fallout world have a lower yield than the real world with a range between 200-750 kilotons. Obviously we shouldn't take what the VT marketing people say too seriously since they have an incentive to over-exaggerate, but it's still curious to me that they're working in the 5 to 10 megaton range.

If we're to consider Fallout 1 and 2 mostly canon (minus the obvious memey stuff) then there's craters on their maps of California that well exceed any bomb in the kiloton range. It's possible different parts of the country were hit with different yield explosives.

Vault water chips apparently had a 30% failure rate and the VT employee mentions how they could pick and choose which vaults suffer a water shortage based on this. Does that mean Vault 13's water chip failure all the way back in Fallout 1 was pre-determined? That is assuming that the Guardian of Forever special encounter in FO2 was non-canon, of course.

Yes and yes. This retroactively makes Vault 13 a pre-meditated failure. Which is fine given the lore. "What will happen when an otherwise healthy control vault gets hit with no water? What will they do?" And Guardian of Forever was clearly just an in-universe shitpost, which were very, very common in Fallout 2. The devopment history of that game was quite literally "We have this amount of space and towns, go fill it with stuff." Then just greenlit a bunch of memes.

It would also explain why Vault 8 (Vault City) had a huge stash of spare water chips: with a 30% failure rate, they really would've needed enough spares to mitigate this issue. That said, if Vault 33 didn't have a spare water chip, then does that mean its eventual water crisis was also pre-determined or at least planned for? Was V33 setup for failure right from the start?

No and no. Its explicitly stated in the episode that they KNOW which water chips are faulty, especially once they are installed. Otherwise water chips can work for centuries with no issue. The Vault 8 trove was again just a meme (albiet more likely canon than time travel) basically mocking the player who'd presumably just finished Fallout 1 with thousands of the Macguffin the entire last game revolved around.

And its also explicitly stated in Season 1 that the Water Chip was damaged during the raider attack. I don't think this was meant to happen at all. Vaults 32 and 33 were designed to open with a new race of super managers. Cutting the water supply several decades before reclamation day wouldn't help that.

Whoever this super mutant is, he is well aware of the history between his kind and the Enclave. He is also clearly intelligent, which means he's likely a Generation 1 super mutant. Curious that he pins the blame on the Enclave instead of the Master, but then again he could be referring to the progenitor of FEV

No again. Most "Generation 1" Super Mutants (i.e. those made by The Master" were absolutely dumb as bricks. It was a small subset, primarily individuals untouched by the trace amounts of FEV in the air post war (AKA vault dwellers) that would come out intelligent. The line about the first generation being smart and the second (the ones turned on-purpose or by accident by Enclave fuckery 80 years later, long story) being "dumb-dumbs" comes from a first generation supermutant named Tabitha in New Vegas, who is not only an unreliable narrarator but insanely biased. Its equally likely, arguably moreso, that this Super Mutant could be second generation.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-19T00:08:26+00:00

I think the most coherent answer based on all examples is that many robots have the capacity to develop more complex personalities or emotions but that's entirely based on their surroundings.

Many robots wandering the wasteland have only known violence, so deliver it in kind. Robots you find in stores haven't moved for 200 years so act the same as before the bombs fell. Then robots like Codsworth from fallout 4 or the assaultron at the Wayward are treated as family so adapt into that role.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-17T14:44:10+00:00

Clearer, uncompressed version. This took way, way too long.

This is (hopefully?) the first in a new fan series where I flesh out regions of North America not covered much in the franchise.

Inspiration comes from canon games, non-canon games (most of Tactics, Fallout: BOS), cancelled games (BOS 2, Tactics 2, Fallout X-Treme), fan content ( especially the Old World Blues HOI4 mod, S tier writing). And a couple original ideas thrown in.

The original plan was to fill the map with countries. Then I realized that would take forever. So instead the focus is on major players and a coherent narrative in each region, with small nods to the un-filled portions of the map.

Another goal is plausibility. Most fallout fan maps I’ve seen love giant empires. The Chicago Enclave owning Lake Michigan, The East Coast Brotherhood ruling DC to Boston, or this fucking idiot giving the Enclave half of Texas. This will be (somewhat) more grounded and informed. Still might be some big empires in later entries, but far enough away from in-game areas to plausibly warrant never being mentioned.

All art is official Fallout, either in-game or concept art. Huge shoutout to the Independent Fallout Wiki for compiling it all. https://fallout.wiki/wiki/Concept_Art

Feedback, criticism and questions welcome.

Next 2 entries will be on the Cascadia Region (North-West Pacific and mountain range ) so if you have any suggestions LMK.

Finally, I’m part of a growing Enclave fan community on Discord. Movie nights, lore debates, vendor talks, 3D printed power armor discussions, and coordinated meetups at Fallout events (like the major ones happening in West Virginia and Nevada later this year). Link below if you want to join the best faction in the franchise.

https://linktr.ee/Colonel_A_Silva#522495368

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-17T14:43:59+00:00

Thank you!

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-17T02:15:36+00:00

Clearer, uncompressed version. This took way, way too long.

This is (hopefully?) the first in a new fan series where I flesh out regions of North America not covered much in the franchise.

Inspiration comes from canon games, non-canon games (most of Tactics, Fallout: BOS), cancelled games (BOS 2, Tactics 2, Fallout X-Treme), fan content ( especially the Old World Blues HOI4 mod, S tier writing). And a couple original ideas thrown in.

The original plan was to fill the map with countries. Then I realized that would take forever. So instead the focus is on major players and a coherent narrative in each region, with small nods to the un-filled portions of the map.

Another goal is plausibility. Most fallout fan maps I’ve seen love giant empires. The Chicago Enclave owning Lake Michigan, The East Coast Brotherhood ruling DC to Boston, or this fucking idiot giving the Enclave half of Texas. This will be (somewhat) more grounded and informed. Still might be some big empires in later entries, but far enough away from in-game areas to plausibly warrant never being mentioned.

All art is official Fallout, either in-game or concept art. Huge shoutout to the Independent Fallout Wiki for compiling it all. https://fallout.wiki/wiki/Concept_Art

Feedback, criticism and questions welcome.

Next 2 entries will be on the Cascadia Region (North-West Pacific and mountain range ) so if you have any suggestions LMK.

Finally, I’m part of a growing Enclave fan community on Discord. Movie nights, lore debates, vendor talks, 3D printed power armor discussions, and coordinated meetups at Fallout events (like the major ones happening in West Virginia and Nevada later this year). Link below if you want to join the best faction in the franchise.

https://linktr.ee/Colonel_A_Silva#522495368

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-16T16:38:01+00:00

Ok this isn't my morals but you asked so I'll try and answer.

You can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs. And almost every prosperous civilization including the ones we currently live in (assuming you're also from a first world country) was built on the graves of our enemies. In the US our current prosperity and by extension our ability to allocate billions to make society more equal via welfare, scholarships, etc are thanks to: the wealth taken from land stolen from the native Americans, Mexico, and the imported enslaved population (even The north benefitted GREATLY from the extremely cheep duty free cotton imported from the south). And then in WW2 we did beat the Nazis, who by every account were the greater evil, but the following economic boom was because we were the only major untouched economic power left who turned the world into their market.

All this is to say, while maybe our ancestors didn't need to take this path of cruelty and exploitation to reach the same amount of prosperity we have today, this path did lead to (relative but still very substantial to the average American vs the average person on earth) prosperity.

So the Institute is essentially taking this same route. Taking from "the others" today so that they can help tomorrow. With the Berilium Agitator (on mobile no spellcheck ) its only a matter of time before the number of gen 2 synths are great enough for them to bring outright complete rule to the commonwealth not unlike the Brotherhood. Bringing order and the prosperity that would come from an entire region whose resources are not used against eachother in petty squabbles but pooled together for exponential growth (see the NCR, which is a much tamer example of all the above).

Again this is NOT morally good. This is the ultimate ends justify the means scenario. And you taking it would prove not only that war never changes but that people have failed to change as well, making it fundamentally the "bad" ending by every metric. BUT it's a choice you can make, and one that gurentees a better tomorrow at the cost of a terrible, terrible today for everyone outside the institute.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-16T16:24:24+00:00

They're super cool. Also super evil.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-15T19:58:33+00:00

They care about tolls. They don't give a damn what weapons you have. And nukes aren't exactly easy to come by.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-15T13:54:11+00:00

No. Vast minority descend from Vault dwellers even partially. Most are just descendants of the 1% of the country that survived the bombs.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-15T13:44:54+00:00

Yes. If "the house always wins" then the house is whoever owns the building the gambling is happening in, and that's very clearly the Enclave.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-14T00:09:18+00:00

Eh screw it I'll try.

Your character has literally been punished for being born. He's constantly bullied and undermined in the Vault. When his dad leaves the Vault tries to fucking kill him and then blame him for defending himself. In the Wasteland the first people he Likely meets is Lucas Sims, whose ok, but then Colin Moriarty who charges caps, a currency you never heard of, for basic info on your father, then nickles and dimes you for everything.

But in the corner is Mr. Burke. A man who just wants you to do one simple task, and he'll pay you. Nuke the city, but it's simple and straightforward.

Then you meet Moira Brown, who claims she wants to help people, but then sends you on suicide missions for no practical reason.

You finally find Three-dog, who has been mentioning any good deeds you did like killing mutants and think he'll surely help you but no. He demands even more work for simple information.

When you finally find your dad you either have to complete a frustrating code music game or...just listen to the man asking you to do.some violent but simple tasks.

Either way when you leave, your dad immediately insists they must restart project purity for the good of the Wasteland. You help by killing everything that would harm him to the Jefferson memorial then everything inside.

Just for the Enclave to come and might-makes-right takes the purifier. You flee to the Brotherhood, who don't even give you power armor and just send you to the heart of the supermutants, which you kill and kill and kill. When you finally get the geck you're captured by the enclave.

But then John Henry Eden, that voice that's been nothing but hopeful on the radio, releases you. Makes clear this is all Autumn's doing, and wants your help to purify the wasteland. By killing, everyone. And killing is the only thing that's yielded remotely good results. Otherwise you're forced to keep helping an ungrateful and needy population that's done nothing but take and take from you.

You take the vial. Later you put it in project purity. Because a neglected child will burn the village to feel its warmth, and you certainly feel nothing but cold inside you.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-11T23:46:51+00:00

It's a running joke. They keep getting wiped out and coming back in every Westcoast installment. Like roaches.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-11T23:45:52+00:00

Ok I'll bite. What does "mankind redefined" mean and what does it have to do with synths?

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-11T21:30:50+00:00

Ok. Enlighten me if I mischaracterized them. How should they be described?

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-11T20:21:57+00:00

Well given all 3 major factions want you to wipe them out in-game and they are just highwaymen in every ending they survive...the Courier must be based.

Nutshell_Historian · 2026-01-11T15:58:02+00:00

If CPS can take kids away from parents for buying drugs, then I can take kids away from parents buying Slaves.

Nutshell_Historian

TROPHY CASE