» Tue Dec 01, 2015 11:42 am The following is my final summary of what I believe could end up being the start of our journey in Fallout 4. Please bear in mind that the Tutorial as explained below is just a theory, and may not have any relevance to the game we end up playing. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading it. I have tried to incorporate the character creation process as best as possible in the context of what we know from the trailer, and from previous games in the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series. I have also tried to allow for total flexibility with regards to the family setup. As a side note, I have evolved this idea from my previously posted theories, and have therefore provided the relevant links below.
Evidence thread 1: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1520460-evidence-of-pre-war-protagonist-and-tutorial
Evidence thread 2: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1520658-evidence-of-pre-war-protagonist-and-tutorial-thread-2
We begin with a bright flash of light. After a second or two, we see what appears to be a nurse who is shining a light into our eyes. We are sitting down, and it would seem that we are having some kind of medical screening, mirroring the tutorial from Fallout 3. But this time everything in the room looks new, and we are not inside a vault. As we look around we can see daylight shining in through a nearby window. This is quite clearly pre-war. A second person enters the room carrying a clip-board. They sit down opposite us and introduce themselves, saying that they will be conducting the "interview". They then ask to confirm our name, and we are led through the character generation process. We select our gender, race, physical appearance, and finally we name our character. The interview then proceeds, and we are given a few reassurances as well as mention of a research programme. Our current location is revealed, we are inside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The screen fades to white...
The next scene fades in, and we are in an army training facility. There are a few other would-be soldiers in the room as well as several members of army personnel. One of the officers approaches us and engages in conversation. We are then led through to a physical training area, where we are given an opportunity to practice various movement controls such as crouching, jumping and climbing. Either during or after this process, we select values for each of our seven primary stats. Most likely, the training would consist of seven stages, one for each stat. After this, we are led into another area and given basic non-vats weapon training. We practice using a number of ranged weapons, in both standard view and aiming down sights. We also engage in hand-to-hand and melee combat. The combat system will likely be much closer to that of a full-blown FPS. Finally we are led out through another door, and the screen again fades to white...
The third scene fades in, and this time we are in conversation with a friend at a social gathering. The ongoing global crisis is mentioned, and it becomes apparent that our friend knows us from our time training in the army, and that we haven't seen them for some time. They ask us what we've been up to since the training. This leads us into the final stage of character creation, where we select three tagged skills and two traits. We are then asked if we ever managed to settle down, and through various dialogue choices, we identify the kind of person we would like to meet. Our friend then bids us farewell and leaves. We walk over to the bar, and there we see somebody who fits our chosen parameters. This individual will later become our spouse/partner as per the events shown in the trailer, allowing us to effectively create the family of our choosing. We engage in conversation, and they offer to buy us a drink. The screen once again fades to white...
Before the final part of the tutorial, we are given a transition screen with various glimpses of events including our couple posing for the photograph we see at the start of the trailer, the introduction of our child into the family, and the threat of impending war as portrayed with images of newspaper headlines. Eventually the screen fades in again, and we are awoken by our spouse/partner who has just received some alarming news. We go into the kitchen and switch on the radio. The announcer tells us that the outbreak of global war is now imminent, and that martial law has been imposed. We also hear mention of vault-tec, and we find out that our family has secured a place in one of the vaults, namely vault 111. From one of the bedrooms, we hear a baby crying. We follow our spouse into the room as they proceed to pick the baby up and comfort them. We also hear a dog barking.
The radio broadcasts become increasingly more worrying, and the conversation turns to the subject of preparing for the worst. Our protagonist then proceeds to carry out a small number of objectives, perhaps involving other members of the community. There is an increased military presence in the town, and one of the soldiers tells everybody to remain calm and to return to their homes until further notice. This would be a good opportunity to introduce speech checks, perhaps in order to gain a little background information. We go back to the house where the rest of our family are waiting. A few essential items have been packed ready to bring to the vault, and we wait in anticipation for further news.
Within a short time, the radio announcer confirms our worst fears. Nuclear detonations are being reported across the country. The sky is suddenly filled with the sound of air-raid sirens, and the family dog starts to bark loudly and runs out of the house. There is no time to grab our belongings. We run outside, and begin making our way towards the vault. We hear a thundering noise, and a vertibird sweeps overhead. We see many people in a state of panic, gathering up belongings and filling their cars. Others are running towards the park that leads to the vault entrance. A tank can also be seen rolling across the street in front of us, partially blocking the way ahead.
We eventually arrive at the vault gates and push our way through the crowd of people towards the soldier at the front. We confirm our identity and are let through. We make our way round and up towards the vault entrance. There are a small number of other civilians, as well as a vault security guard and another individual wearing a lab coat, possibly a vault-tec scientist or maybe a doctor. He is holding a clip-board. There is also a soldier in power armor guarding the controls for the huge circular vault access lift. The scientist gives notice to the soldier that all subjects are now present, and the soldier begins to unlock the controls to the access lift. Why did the scientist refer to us as subjects?
A sudden blinding flash is quickly followed by a nuclear fireball reaching up towards the sky in the distance. We brace ourselves as a powerful blast wave is thrown outwards in the direction of the vault at incredible speed, the mushroom cloud expanding upwards behind it. And then the blast wave hits. We are thrown to the ground, our body feeling like it's being torn apart. We realise that we are still able to move, although the high winds are keeping us pinned down. We look around to see our family a short distance away from us, they are not moving. Behind us, we hear the scientist shouting, he crawls towards the lift access controls and pushes the huge metal lever. The lift beneath us begins to move and we are being carried down towards the vault door. The scientist clambers onto the lift, and as it begins its descent, the piercing sound of the winds above us becomes unbearable. The lift comes to a halt, and we see the scientist push a large red button next to the vault door. As the door swings into life, we notice that the scientist is also injured, although how badly is hard to tell.
We both go inside and the door is sealed shut. We see the scientist limp over towards a nearby railing, clutching his side. It is clear that we are also badly injured. Our whole body feels numb and our head is spinning. We try to take in the magnitude of what has just occurred, but the physical and emotional impact proves to be too great. We lose consciousness and fall to the floor. Screen fades to black...
**
The next section would lead us into the main game. We wake up in a cryochamber somewhere deep inside the vault. We hear a siren, and an automated voice warning of a system failure. As we exit the chamber, we find that we have some kind of device attached to our left wrist, and our clothes are tattered and worn. We are briefly introduced to the basic mechanics of the pipboy, vats combat will be introduced once we are outside. After a quick search, we find a blue armored jumpsuit and a pistol inside the overseers office. We also find a skeleton on the ground, it would seem that the scientist didn't make it. But the skeleton looks like it has been there for a very long time. Inside the office, we see a terminal.
On the terminal are details of ongoing research conducted over several months. There are is also a reference to something called the Institute, and we quickly discover that all of the potential vault dwellers had attended the same research project as we did back at MIT. It would also seem that this was in some way connected to our being accepted for a place in the vault. The last entry seems to be an unlock code for the vault door. We select this, and are told that the door controls have now been activated. As we make our way towards the exit, a communication comes in over the vault's PA system. It is from the institute.
Thus opens the main quest. We realise that it is probably not safe to stay here, and so we access the vault door controls and make our way outside. Just before we leave, we are given a final opportunity to modify any of our stats. When we arrive at the surface, we are shocked to see just how much the world around us has changed. Who knows how many years we're been down in the vault, or how we have survived for so long. We need answers, but first we must search for signs of other survivors...
