I have been looking for them, but either they are not in the game, or I have overlooked them. If they are not in the game, I feel that Beth have missed a good opportunity for some graphic horror that is not violent per se.

So have anyone found one or more of them?

If people don't know what Nuclear Shadows is, it is explained here;

http://nowiknow.com/nuclear-shadows/

I haven't noticed any...was the closest bomb to go off in the glowing sea? Might be too far away from Boston to get the nuclear shadow effect there idk...but then I've never noticed them on buildings closer either...I could see them (Bethesda) overlooking a detail like that tho..



On a side note...I'm glad I like tomatoes..

There was also the Cambridge Crater bomb, which came from the Yangtze. I'm thinking that was a much smaller nuke though as it hasn't left the huge lasting damage that's present in the Glowing Sea.

How close to the centre of a blast do they have to be? Would look great for sure.

Close enough to get vaporized by the thermal radiation, as explained in the link. Their bodies would effectively block for the bleaching effect it has, thus leaving the wall / surface directly behind them untouched, and the sourrounding space would get bleached, thus leaving a "shadow" / imprint. As for how close that is, depends on the size of the bomb, and whether it is above or below ground when detonation occur.

Guess that's what I was wondering...something more related to the Fallout 4 bombs that went off at Boston.

Probably would depend on the size of the bomb/blast...if their '50s' world is like our real world 50s...there were nukes many times larger than the ones dropped on Japan by the 50s..

were there shadows in fallout 3? I am not sure why but I remember seeing 2 in a fallout 3 wall, and I never modded that one.

Well, any handy walls near the bomb site? Maybe one for the modders.

I've not noticed such detail in game, would be cool though. Reminds me of that scene from Battlestar Galactica

Well that's horrific.

It reminds me of ghosts in the Metro series, it could be quite an atmospheric mod.

In the glowing sea there are buildings, also the crater in Cambridge have buildings all around it (probably only a tactical sortie was launched at that place, which doesn't make sense, but meh)

As for your previous question, I looked up on google, and the largest bomb Russia could drop, 100 megaton, would have a fireball radius of 1,88 miles, radiation radius would be 4,65 miles, altho, the hot air blast would kill everyone in a radius of 20,51 miles, and the thermal radiation would cover 47,88 miles. So Nuclear shadows, I would assume, would occur after the lethal radius of the air blast, and within the thermal radiation range, altho not at max or near max range (I will assume)

Now, if we assume a 20 megaton bomb fell in the glowing sea (not unlikely size imo) it would be rougly a fifth of the numbers above, altho I have no clue if it scales so perfectly (probably not) But an estimated guess would then be beyond 4 miles, nuclear shadows could occur, with diminishing probability, and probably not beyond ca. 6-7 miles.

I am no mathematician, so people, feel free to correct me!

Remember that Fallout's nukes are different in that they utilize radiation more and the concussive blast less than real nukes.

Off topic : i was a kid during the Cold War and nuclear war was a very real & legitimate fear growing up (yeah, I'm old). i remember seeing the nuclear shadow pictures from world history classes and they really freaked me out at the time. I think that's why I'm probably drawn to the post-apocalyptic theme. not just those photos, but growing up during that era

On topic : it definitely seems like a missed opportunity. would have made a cool side-quest line, something similar to the Lost Patrol or Freedom trail. search for the nuclear shadows

kind of surprised the devs never picked up on it

That's really something, I remember talking to someone who lived through the nuclear scare too and they always described how the fear was so palpable they could barely even eat day to day.

yes, it was definitely a frightening prospect. I also happened to live right next to an ordinance (bomb) manufacturer. we weren't all that close to any major city but it was said that we would be a first strike target lol. I didn't dwell on it too much, but I do remember playing basketball and wondering if I would suddenly see a bright flash lol. (i can lol now).

that being said, the world is far more unstable and dangerous now. its just that I'm old enough to not care anymore

Hmmm, well, that alters things. According to wiki (it is wiki, so grain of salt is in order) modern nuclear weapons, have a thermal radiation power of 30-50%. So what would be a likely number for Fallout bombs? 70-80%?

Well, I am not that old, altho not a youngling either ('72) So don't have firsthand experience. Can't be easy growing up with scared people everywhere, and not have any influence on what happens or not.......

And yeah, I feel it would have added some atmosphere, as well, as a bit of educating (don't think a lot of people know of them)

i was born in '72 also, but I'm from America. it was a legit concern

EDIT : just a reminder, it wasn't all that long ago really. Reagan - Gorbachev era

Yup, I didn't give it much thought back then. It was more a feeling of being bystanders to US vs USSR. Living in Northern Europe, we didn't get it up close and personal so to speak. Altho, we were a legit target for the USSR. (Denmark can control and lock down the straits of the baltic sea, blocking naval vessels from entering the Atlantic)

I thought you meant older like JFK-Khrushchev era..

I'm just going to run with, there could be some walls and so on with nuclear shadows, so let's be having them!

Just think how much more they could creep us out with those. Turn the corner in a dark room, and BAM, body-shaped shadow on a wall right in your face. Or have them so that it's at a distance and maybe you mistake them for an enemy. Would definitely make me jump a bit.

They could replace those [censored] mannequins

Something to keep in mind is that FO3 and FO4 take place ~200 years after the Great War. If there were any shadow imprints left by the bomb detonations, maybe they would've eroded aeay by this point?


But there was a ghoul named Carol in Underworld, back in Fallout 3, that mentioned that there were shadows left, at least in DC. She recounts how her father was vaporized and left such a shadow.

There where such shadows in New Vegas' Lonesome Road, after the conclusion.

One possibility is because of the landscape. Other than in the city, which from a strategic stand point it is not logical to drop a nuke directly on Boston, half the blast would be wasted. Dropping on the outskirts like at the Glowing Sea would be more effective, as is what appeared to happen. Here in MA though the terrain (hilly) and wooded areas would obscure a direct line of sight to the blast which I would assume would be needed to cast the shadow. Even a low yield which was most likely used in the Cambridge area would be obscured by the close proximity of buildings, not many open areas. Just an assumption of course.