A single map inspired Fallout 3's lead designer to create the RPG's entire story: "It's got to go back to those original themes"

Fallout 3 calls back to the original CRPG Fallout in more ways than one. The box art is obviously an ode to the first game in the series, and was actually the very first piece of art created for the threequel. But even Fallout 3's central story was thought of as a return to "those original themes" explored in Interplay's classic, according to the game's lead designer Emil Pagliarulo, who said he was inspired by a single map.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Pagliarulo remembered seeing "an overhead map of the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin," which play crucial parts in the game's main story. "And the Tidal Basin is a self-contained reservoir. And that was it, right there."

The first Fallout, of course, tasked players with saving their dying home vault by venturing out into the radioactive wasteland and finding a replacement for their water recycling system. So when Pagliarulo saw the Tidal Basin, he immediately knew "it's got to be about water. It's got to go back to those original themes of Fallout 1 where it's just about survival and just about something simple."

The rest is history. Fallout 3 doesn't retread too much ground, but it does deal with a conflict centred around a giant water reserve that could either sustain or kill everyone who drinks from it, depending on the player's actions.

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