- published: 13 Mar 2016
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Fallout is a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games created by Interplay Entertainment. Although the series is set during the 22nd and 23rd centuries, its retrofuturistic story and artwork are influenced by the post-war culture of 1950s America, and its combination of hope for the promises of technology and lurking fear of nuclear annihilation.
An inspiration for Fallout is Wasteland, a 1988 role-playing game by Electronic Arts. Although the game worlds are different, the background story, inhabitants, locations and characters draw many parallels from this landmark game. It is said that the Fallout series is the spiritual successor to Wasteland.
The first two titles in the series (Fallout and Fallout 2) were developed by Black Isle Studios. Micro Forté and 14 Degrees East's 2001 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is a tactical role-playing game. In 2004, Interplay closed Black Isle Studios, and continued to produce an action game with RPG elements for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel without Black Isle Studios. A third entry in the main series, Fallout 3, was released in 2008 by Bethesda Softworks. Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment with many former Black Isle employees who created Fallout and Fallout 2. Bethesda made it clear that New Vegas was not a direct sequel to Fallout 3, but an addition to the franchise.
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast or a nuclear reaction conducted in an unshielded facility, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes, but this dust can also be originated in a damaged nuclear plant. This radioactive dust, consisting of material either directly vaporized by a nuclear blast or charged by exposure, is a highly dangerous kind of radioactive contamination. It can lead to the contamination of aquifers or soil and devastate the affected ecosystems years after the initial exposure.
There are many types of fallout, ranging from the global type to the more area-restricted types of fallout.
After an air burst, fission products, un-fissioned nuclear material, and weapon residues vaporized by the heat of the fireball condense into a fine suspension of small particles 10 nm to 20 µm in diameter. These particles may be quickly drawn up into the stratosphere, particularly if the explosive yield exceeds 10 kt.