Did China use a shrinkray?

[firsTraveler]

Did China use a contenental wide shrinkray un the U.S.? It would explain why the world seems so small.

[JuJooGuppy]

Not sure if serious, or simply venting indirectly about the world size..... lol.

[radiumskull]

Yes, China used a shrink ray. Deathclaws are mutated desert horned frogs.

[firsTraveler]

It's not just that all the structures seem to small, it's the landscape that feels shrunk. The best example are railroad tracks. Take a look athoes curve arcs, even at dead slow the railroad cars would never have made them, it's like they were built on a balloon that that has been partially deflated.

[noahdvs]

It's not just that all the structures seem to small, it's the landscape that feels shrunk. The best example are railroad tracks. Take a look athoes curve arcs, even at dead slow the railroad cars would never have made them, it's like they were built on a balloon that that has been partially deflated.

You don't honestly think it's feasible to build the area that FO4 takes place in to scale without having tons of wasted space or making large areas of land feel the same, do you? If Bethesda tried to do that, the game probably still wouldn't be released. Even if they were fine with tons of wasted space, they game probably still wouldn't be released by now if they tried to do that. The map is made the way it is so that you get a decent amount of variety and places to explore without having to walk long distances.

Edited April 17, 2016 by noahdvs

[minngarm]

Yea I love immersion and all but I doubt that most people would be down for a literal three hour walk from sanctuary to the outskirts of boston. Let alone another hour or two just to get to DC.

[firsTraveler]

Yeah, I get that. Actually someday I hope there's a FPS game made using something like Googles street view.

[CyrusAmell]

Most games depict a fictional setting, sometimes based on real world locations, with its creation ultimately based on the desired scope and artistic liberties taken by the design team. This is very notable when it comes to towns. An actual town in real life can be pretty massive with branching sections and with layouts to accommodate public needs such as housing and sewage.

 

By contrast most games may seek to depict towns and cities that look good but will usually have a paltry population and none of the standard requirements to make a town run seemingly livable such as available sewage and other amenities. When you walk around in a Pokemon game you will note that most towns are 3-7 buildings with no conceivable infrastructure. In Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim there are certainly more sewers but the towns are otherwise still very small in scope. The only games that try to take in the full-scope requirement of such a sprawling community are the Sims and the GTA Games because their whole schtick is massive population areas to mess around in.

 

Just as towns in video games are essentially condensed & cartoonish depictions of real world towns at best, so too is the over-world essentially limited in scope by the costs of development and the artistic interpretation of the setting. In Fallout 4 that means that we are not expected to ask why Boston is not the size of the actual Boston or missing buildings that would be expected to be where they are. Or why our settlers never complain about the lack of "waste disposal" in the settlements we erect.

 

In short, it's just a video game.

Edited April 19, 2016 by CyrusAmell

[firsTraveler]

Actually there's another suspect, one that who might be more likely to have a shrikray, The Aliens. Taking the balloon annalogy perhaps the aliens have shrunk the entire planet; perhaps on our scale they'd be 2 feet tall. The shortness of the days could be a side effect that has sped up rotation (compressing a constant mass that is rotating will tend to speed it up (like a figure scatter pulling her arms in)).

 

Yes, I think the aliens are the more likely suspects all in all.

[Hallgarth]

Maybe it was an Elder Scroll that did it.

 

Seriously, though, it's development cost and limitations on world size due to Havok, nothing more. That said, they made Boston feel massive even though it's probably smaller than Vegas in New Vegas, which felt more like an amusement park more than an actual population centre.

 

And just to add. A realistic sized Commonwealth that remained interesting would take like 40 years for Bethesda to make, unless they hired entire legions of people to make it. We're talking about a State here.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Hallgarth