Abigail Van Buren

Van Buren was the codename given to Fallout 3, a game that was being developed by Black Isle Studios before Interplay, the parent company of Black Isle, laid off the PC development team on December 8, 2003. Van Buren was set to carry on the Fallout series, following Fallout 2, prior to being cancelled. On May 3 2007, the tech demo of the game was leaked onto the internet[1].

Currently, an official Fallout 3 project is being developed by Bethesda Softworks[2].

Story

A town from Van Buren

The following is a description of the scrapped development of Fallout 3 by Black Isle Studios. Fallout 3, as it is currently being developed by Bethesda Softworks, is unlikely to follow this plot line.

Although the complete story was never revealed, many important details were divulged during the game's development.

The game was to take place east of California (the setting for the first two Fallout games), in the former states of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Nevada (the American Southwest or Four Corners area).

The character would start the game as a prisoner. Whether the character was wrongfully imprisoned or guilty was to be determined at character creation. The game would have started with the character in a strange prison being attacked. An explosion would knock him unconscious, and, when he awakened, the cell door would open. Taking the opportunity to leave, the player would escape into the wasteland while being pursued by strange assailants. After leaving, the character would have the power to shape the destiny of the Wasteland. His interactions with organizations such as the Brotherhood of Steel could bolster or destroy the organizations, influencing people associated with them, much as in the previous two Fallout games.

One of the most significant elements of Fallout 3's plot and backstory was to be an ongoing war between the Brotherhood of Steel and the New California Republic.

The game's ultimate plotline was planned so that the events in the beginning of the game would have been part of a scheme by a rogue NCR scientist, Dr. Victor Presper, to seize control of a U.S. orbital nuclear weapons platform and use it to initiate a second nuclear holocaust, cleansing the world of all but his chosen few. In the end, the player could not stop all missiles from launching, and his or her decisions would ultimately have decided the future of the world[3].

Vehicles

Van Buren was set to feature five vehicles[4].

• Dune Buggy: Fast and small, the Dune Buggy could hold four passengers and go where other vehicles couldn't. It had a 133 HP engine that ran on small energy cells.

• Cop Car: The cop car was the fastest vehicle in the game. It featured a 440 cubic inch engine that ran on small energy cells. It could carry six people.

• Motorcycle: The motorcycle, which also included a sidecar, was able to hold three people and could be upgraded to have a mounted gun. It was fuel-efficient, and small energy cells were all that was needed to power its 78 Horsepower motor.

• Semi: The semi-truck was the least fuel efficient vehicle in the game. It could, however, have a camper attached to it, allowing the player a mobile science and mechanics lab, along with almost unlimited room for storage. It carried six people.

• Train: The player could restore old railroad tracks, allowing transport along them using an old locomotive.

Locations

Fallout 3 was to be centered around Utah and Colorado, but it also would have included areas of neighboring states. The player would be able to visit places such as Hoover Dam, Denver, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon.

External links

• Van Buren Unofficial FAQ at No Mutants Allowed
• Van Buren Technology Demo at No Mutants Allowed
• Van Buren article at The Vault, the Fallout wiki
• Svatopluk page on Van Buren
• Interview with John Deiley
• Gameplay footage of Van Buren Tech-Demo at YouTube

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