Well actually, with Chernobyl there was a very real fear of a second explosion, which would have been caused by the molten uranium seeping down into lower levels and coming into contact with water. Estimates were made that indicated that the city of Minsk would have been leveled and much of Kiev destroyed (something like an affected radius of 300km). The explosion would have also vaporized the remaining fuel in the other reactors and led to much, much more Fallout being released than was. Most of the Ukraine and Belarus would have been uninhabitable for many years. Luckily they were able to get the water drained though, but it just goes to show you the potential for destruction that Nuclear Power Plants have if they go really bad (Chernobyl was horribly mis-managed though).

But yeah, on topic, the cars blowing up makes really no sense. There isn't really any reason to have them blow up game-play wise either (and it could get really annoying on occasion). I liked how New Vegas toned down the number of explosive cars.

i always thought the cars were using hydrogen. Eh i usually have going thru my mind that the cars were hydrogen based or hell that bullet zipped thru hit the fuel tank, fuel leaking over battery/generatory and then the build up of pressuredize fallout/air/etc mized with sparks makes it go pretty mushroom cloud boom . As far as the radiation u get its fromt eh escaping fallout that was stored/trapped inside that was released. Makes sense in my head and works for me, maybe no one else but eh ow wells. im guessing im one the few who actually like watching the explosions and the danger/challenge the cars can bring.

The U.S. dollar worth went WAYYYY down
Or
They were running out of resources, prices sky rocketed.
But we shouldnt worry about it.

When I hear the word explode and reactor, I think mushroom cloud. So I was pointing out that a nuclear reactor that is offline will not produce a nuclear explosion seen in Fallout 3. Not even if you shoot at it with a minigun.

Even a running nuclear power plant wont.

How did the fallout get in the tank? It a sealed tank - Hydrogen is a gas at room temperature so its going to have to be airtight.

Also the fallout in the tank would decay at the same rate as the rest of the fallout in the area.

nah those were 2 different reasons, one being that the cars were using hydrogen OR the bullets pierce thru..etc etc etc. It makes sense in my head and if it doent for anyoen else..ok dont care lol. Besides if that fails withme, i just gotta remember that EVERYTHING to do with tech is different than ours straight down to what batterys they use to the light bulbs so its not a normal cr as it is in our days because thiers gonna be stuff in their we have no idea about because they arent doing ti the same way as us. AND if all that fails i just imagine that all the vehicles are really cool looking pintos and that all my bullest are hitting them in the rear lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3S-yOs-RO4&feature=related

Guys guys guys you're forgetting that in the Fallout universe the laws of absurdity trump the laws of physics - including nuclear physics. Part of the humor of fallout is making fun of some of the crazy things that went on in the 1950's. Take a look at number 1 on this list - http://www.cracked.com/article_19481_the-8-most-wildly-irresponsible-vintage-toys_p2.html?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=feature_module - and you realize that safety wasn't really a big concern back then.

that was totally AWESOME!! yet another reason why i wish i could have grown up in the 50s...

ahhh, the car mushroom cloud debate... again.

everytime i see claims that it is impossible for a nuke car to explode from a gunshot, i feel the need to draw attention tot he fact that radiation doesnt make animals gaint sized, either.

Cars in Fallout 2 were electric cars that ran on energy cells. Also the radiation isn't what made the animals big, in Fallout.. It was FEV that made them bigger not radiation :grad: :thumbsup:

yes yes, i know that was the original thought.
But that is kind of on thin ice for me, because the whole of the west coast is infested with radcreatures, and there are some in FO:T as well.
Far away from any source of FEV.
Also, if there are to be creatures that are mutated from atmospheric FEV, why aren't ther more Harold style mutants?


Point still remains.
Cars exploding is not the time to try and throw real world science into the mix.

I think something said somewhere that the FEV virus, very small amounts, got into the air and spread across the globe mutating things along its path.

THe thing about people being split was for ghouls, whether it is radiation or FEV.

you are correct. edited my post, though.

atmospherics though..... why not more harold style ghouls?
And why call radscorpions rad scorpions?

FEV got into the atmosphere in very small amounts when West Tec (the original home of FEV back when it was PVP) was nuked and the FEV was let out. Not enought to make super mutants all over the place but enough to make some creatures bigger.

Also most of the animals we see such as mole rats and deathclaws are pre-war creations and reproduce very fast. Bugs such as radscopions would reproduce fast as well and in 200 years would easily cross the country.

Ghouls were originally created by being exposed to to much radiation and then exposed to FEV. Then it was changed to just Radiation as Fallout started moving away from the core region. What would Fallout be without Ghouls?


My point is it was a stupid thing to have cars explode. Cars were electic in Fallout 2 and it makes zero sense to have pre-war cars that are nothing more then nuclear bombs on wheels. People that hated Americans would have an easy time getting a nuke. Would not need to stock pile fertilizers and get a rental van.. just go out and rent a nuclear bomb on wheels :thumbsup: If there was a homeland security in the Fallout Universe they must have had their hands full.

I totally get your point, I just devils advocate along the lines of taking things that dont quite add up with a grain of salt, because, amongst the OG devs there is inconsistancy, is all.

Also, as fur nuclear items.
If we are using 50's retro-futurism as the example, even kids had access to nuclear elements.