Lit MACLUNKY -- The Lit Forum Maclunky Thread, v3

Besides the historical details being the same up to that point, one of the writers/experts on Fallout (Chris Avellone, I believe) has stated this to be the case.

 

This line of questioning feels like a swift road to insanity.

 

I was just thinking that it is possible that even if the over all history could be similar there could be an earlier divergent. F.ex. maybe some of USA's or Germany's experiment that happened in WWII could be the divergent.

 

Well, there are hints that some of the technological developments were spurred by alien technology. But that doesn't explain the sociological shifts - for instance, why the US went to the Commonwealth system.

 

Per the Fallout Bible there's not an explicit "divergence point" so much as "Fallout assumes the future occurred in the way that people in the 1950s thought it would."

 

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. Looking for a real-world divergence point is a road to madness, because it's not really an alternate history in that sense.

 

Per the Fallout Bible: "Fallout takes place on a future earth, in an alternate timeline. I will not be including any information on how and when it diverged - it will remain one of the mysteries of the setting. Just let it be known that it diverged after WW2, and leave it at that."

 

Right, I assume that's developer speak for "Some time in the 1950s we never actually worked out."

Edit: Plus I wouldn't be at all surprised if, assuming the existence of a "definitive" date was ever settled, the Interplay Irregulars had different dates in mind when they were making the games than Todd Howard and the Bethesdas did.

 

Until Fallout 3, there really isn't anything - and to be honest, the original was probably under the assumption that it was a possible future. The presence of the Virgo II Lunar Lander with the Commonwealth flag on the moon, however, makes it clear that it is indeed an alternate reality. And because the matter hasn't been addressed, that's why I'm speculating about it. (Although perhaps Fallout 4 might have some answers).
It's interesting from a standpoint of technological advance, certainly, with them just getting text adventure games and early video games. (Also, that most of the advanced developments were made in the years just prior to the nuclear war).

 

I suspect it diverged the moment Hiroshima and Nagasaki ghouls started popping up.

 

Oh, well, then 1956, since the term AI exists. The point of divergence is clearly the election of 1956, which in the Fallout universe must've been won by Adlai Stevenson.

That **** is what happens when you don't like Ike.

 

Hmm. I think I want Fallout 4, but do I want it as soon as it comes out?

 

Ah, but there's also terms like 'hippie' that have shown up, which didn't exist in popular culture until the 1960s on our world; the existence of the term may simply mean they developed it at a later point.
But on the point of technology - it appears as if the transistor was never discovered until just prior to the bombs falling. Technology seemed to have developed horizontally, not vertically.

Certainly possible; the Shadowrun universe begins to diverge substantially after Michael Dukakis wins the US Presidency in '88.

 

I would wait for a Legendary edition with all the DLC and Bug fixes.

 

Plus by then there will be a decent fan patch that fixes all the bugs they still didn't fix.

 

So the thread title has changed again. Shame, apropos is so last Friday. It should be more... charismatic? I send ACKBAR IS MOIST to the to-be-approved list.

 

"MOIST CHARISMA" is the name of the Lit Dating Thread.

 

Funny thing is, if you follow Kevin Hearne on Twitter, he's fully embraced the meme.

 

Yeah, it's honestly not a bad thing in the grand scheme. One of the best things about HttJ is that kind of light-heartedness.

 

It really is a stylistic throwback to the old Marvel comics and the like. Whether or not that makes it good is YMMV, but I enjoyed it for what it was. It was certainly a more entertaining read to me than Tarkin, which, aside from being Luceno and all that entails, basically had nothing for me.

 

It must be a VIP-only thread or something because I don't see it. Like the deluxe Cad Bane thread with its "your wall of text has to be this tall" requirement.

 

So I just spent a 4 hour train ride talking to a former Emergency Doctor from Somalia who was having severe problems with his new prosthetic hand after losing his orginal hand during his new vocation here in Britain, working in a meat packaging plant.

 

I've always wondered why there weren't tremendous efforts put forth to find ways to bring peoples' foreign degrees and certifications into compliance with local standards, like, the second they enter a country instead of making them start from scratch. Like, if I can basically go in for a day or two and get a local driver's license somewhere I should be able to go in for a few months and be able to practice medicine.

 

I'm double posting because I am.

This is Ewan McGregor playing Jesus in an upcoming movie, but I'll be damned if it isn't an A+ look for Ben in Episode 3.5.