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Dedicated Fallout fan uses screenshots from the Amazon Prime show to work out where every vault is located in real life

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By Catherine Lewis published 16 April 2024

California has a LOT of vaults

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(Image credit: Bethesda)
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Using some particularly juicy screenshots from the new live-action show, one dedicated Fallout fan has taken it upon themselves to accurately map out all of the known vaults, making it possible to see if there's canonically a vault near you in a post-apocalyptic alternate universe.

Tunnelsnakesfool has been sharing their mapping project on Twitter after the account for a Fallout 76 podcast innocently asked if anyone had attempted to work out the number of vaults and their locations from the imagery revealed in the show. "As a person less than a month away from having a master's in geography, I knew I could do it!" Tunnelsnakesfool writes. 

They first used the ArcGIS Pro geographic information system software to georeference a screenshot from the show, which basically means that they bound the image down onto a real map to tie it together. From there, they were able to pull it into Google Earth and went on to add even more details, such as the names of major cities and clear state boundaries, to make everything easier to see.

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In a YouTube video explaining the project, Tunnelsnakesfool admits that thanks to the limited amount of imagery on offer, some locations were harder to work out than others. It's also debatable if the points of light seen in the show's original map could indicate multiple vaults rather than just the one, so the exact accuracy of it is hard to tell at this point. However, an enormous amount of work has gone into it, and it's very cool that we have a clearer idea of the exact locations of the vaults, rather than knowing roughly where they are within each state. In theory, one of them could be right down the road from you (hypothetically, of course).

YO I took a 10 min break from my thesis to plot all the Vaults, it's going into the GE file that's on my discord. Tweaked some, not gospel but close #fallout #falloutonprime New tag -> #falloutmappingproject pic.twitter.com/AoHfMEfnATApril 14, 2024

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Lore wise, it's also fascinating to see the density of these vaults laid out in front of us. According to Tunnelsnakesfool's efforts, we can see that the state with the most vaults is California, which in itself appears to contain 11. Not everywhere was so lucky, however, with the likes of Indiana and Delaware apparently having no vaults at all. 

If you're interested in exploring the full thing yourself, Tunnelsnakesfool has shared a file on their Discord server which you can upload into Google Earth for that exact purpose, but as always, be cautious when downloading files online. 

Did the live-action TV show make you want to play Fallout again? Check out our ranking of the best Fallout games for some top recommendations.

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Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
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Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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