Fallout creator confirmed that China started a nuclear war. He also explained why they did it, pointing the finger at the US

Tim Cain shared another interesting fact about the first Fallout – the developer not only admitted that China was the first to launch nuclear bombs, but also revealed the reason behind it. Moreover, he talked about the fate of predefined characters and the origin of treats well-known to fans of the series.

The Role of China, the USA, and Russia in the first Fallout

Even though you won't find this info directly in the game or its design docs, the Cain team always knew it was China that kicked off the nuclear war. They were provoked by the United States, which continued research on biological weapons despite a UN treaty prohibiting it. When diplomacy and espionage didn't work out, China decided to attack, and the US government hit back. Then, other countries started dropping nukes too.

The dev also explained Russia's marginal role in the conflict – the creators assumed it had broken up into smaller, conflicting states. However, Cain pointed out that all the info he shared isn't official canon, since that's up to Bethesda, the current owner of the franchise.

Fallout characters and sugar bombs

The role of predefined characters, which we can choose in Fallout instead of creating our own alter ego, is also interesting. Cain claims that they were unlucky and drew the shortest straw, which is why they were given the mission to acquire the water chip. Moreover, a similar lottery led to the death of the poor guy whose body we stumble upon right after leaving Vault 13.

Getting rid of each of these characters would be beneficial for the overseer due to their traits. Max Stone was strong but stupid, so there was no reason to keep him in the gene pool. Meanwhile, Natalia Dubrovhsky was known for theft, and Albert Cole was a cunning manipulator.

Source: Interplay / Bethesda.

Cain also mentioned that "sugar bombs" are a nod to the Calvin and Hobbes comics, where the characters munch on chocolate frosted sugar bombs. The developer is a big fan of the comics, but even though those bombs were designed, they didn't show up in the first or second game—they debuted only in Fallout 3.

Fallout

September 30, 1997

Rate It!

• Overview

• Interplay
• games trivia
• Bethesda
• RPG games
• Fallout (franchise)
• Tim Cain