Despite Fallout: London’s massive scope, a few elements didn’t quite make the cut in this Fallout 4 mod. As part of the upcoming update featuring the Wild Card questline in its entirety, the development team experimented with introducing rideable horses and bikes to the game.
In a hypothetical scenario where you’ve yet to encounter Fallout: London’s enigmatic Sleipnir, eight-legged creatures that evoke both terror and amusement with their mere existence, it was once proposed that you’d have the opportunity to gallop through the post-apocalyptic capital on one of these imposing steeds. Regrettably, the anomalous brontosaur’s genetic makeup bore an uncanny resemblance to its Elder Scrolls counterparts, rendering it excessively sentimental about preserving its lineage.
During a VG247 interview, which also explored Staff Folion’s envisioned future trajectory and its approach to capturing the essence of British Fallout, Undertaking Manager Dean ‘Prilladog’ Carter recounted the challenges faced by modders trying to develop a Grand National project.
“We actually needed rideable horses. Carter remembered receiving the game, despite its notorious bugs and damage: “It was that bad,” he said. The team’s experience was akin to playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, where a horse’s ability to climb mountain sides became a meme. In Skyrim, the ability to get away with egregious environmental neglect can be attributed to the majority of the world’s terrain being remarkably flat, punctuated only by occasional mountain ranges. However, it’s when you encounter mounds of debris, littered with trash and abandoned vehicles that the stark reality of the setting becomes glaringly apparent.
What impact did these supplementary hurdles have in reality? As the horses galloped freely across the property, your team’s agility allowed you to scale building facades with ease, yet despite our best efforts, the machines struggled to keep pace, their engines straining under the weight of these aerial antics. Within the specified timeframe, at least.
“It appears that someone is currently developing a modification that enables drivable vehicles and other features.” Though we didn’t originally create our map with drivable vehicles in mind, it’s also not suitable for horseback riding, which can lead to unforeseen complications? Modders described absurd scenarios arising from attempts to navigate the terrain on horseback. As the man fled with reckless abandon, he resembled someone hurtling down a mountain slope without brakes, his desperation propelling him forward like an uncontrollable force. So as to utterly fail. While mythical horses like Sleipnir exist in myth and legend, they remain elusive to us.
The plan also included the development of a rideable bicycle, which Carter described as “somewhat unconventional”. “The bicycle’s primary purpose was always intended to be a display model, where riders would board and zip off down the highway,” he explained, “However, that one is on us, since there were so many requests from people saying ‘I want a rideable bike’ that we tried to incorporate this feature as well.” As the scenario unfolded, it became clear that we had strayed significantly from our intended objective, and the fact that this minor detail was so far removed from what mattered most served as a poignant reminder of the need to abandon it, leaving us with a sense of regret.
Wouldn’t you have preferred having the option to ride a majestic stallion alongside The Shard in your Fallout: London playthrough? Tell us under!
