Fallout 3 Riddle me this

[Megacherv]

Well it's better than the music nowadays, so I'd say yeah

 

[Angerwing]

What's self explanatory about stating a simple fact that anyone who has played a Fallout game would know? What you stated is the cause, but with absolutely no reason behind it. Everyone in this thread is aware that the two split. What the discussion is over is why the alternate history didn't make any more music.

Plot hole? Maybe. Budget restrictions? More likely. Explainable? Definitely. That's what is going on here. Don't act like a smart ass and treat everyone like a child, because you clearly don't know everything.

Games cost alot of money. So why spend the extra money to write music that sounds like it came out in the 50s instead of you know actually using 50s music. All of you people are thinking way to deeply into this. Fallout is supposed to have that 50s feel but with some futureistic technology. Using music from the 50s actually helps with that and its far more practical then paying somebody to write new music.

When your living in a place as harsh as the wasteland and every single day is a struggle to survive writing new music is the last thing on your mind. They dont have the time to do that or the technology to record it. So that would explain why no new music came out after the war. Also the vault built for the great musicians of their time didnt exactly end well. You know everybody being driven insane and killed off. Most of the instruments were destroyed and with all the mirelurks its not a very popular idea to go exploring there. This may not be true in other parts of the world but in the fallout areas it seems very plausable.

There may have been new music before the war but it wasnt as popular as the other stuff so it wasnt as well circulated. Three dog also most likely gets most of his music from stuff the brotherhood finds or what has been scavanged up by others. This would obviously lead to the conclusion that the more popular, more circulated music would have a better chance of surviving and being found. If you really think about it its extremely unlikely that anything that music was recored on ie cds, data disks, etc would have lasted that long anyways. The fallout universe doesnt make any sense when you think about it for a min so stop dwelling on the music and just enjoy the game.

The post you quoted, along with the post of mine I'm about to quote:

I'm of the opinion that the only music that survived was the classics, as they'd probably be in larger circulation if they stayed in that particular societal scene.

Said basically what you just said. Why are you arguing against me? I think it's for the same reasons you do. And there's nothing wrong with using old music, I enjoy the effect, but I was just saying that budget restrictions were a likely factor.

 

[Ava Elzbieta]

Yes but before the war, no new music?

I wondered this too. While it was mentioned that most instruments were destroyed, why would only 50s era music survive? There would've been 120 years of music and its technologically-advanced storage methods to choose from. Furthermore, the 50s theme is prevalent from cars to household appliances and decor (aside from Mr. Handy) and wardrobe. Maybe people in the 2050s, 60s and 70s decided retro was "in" and reproduced relics from over a century previous. Maybe, as many have suggested, the events took place in an alternate timeline.

If we introduced Three Dog to Led Zeppelin, as Chicago Ted hilariously suggests, what would happen to his adorable 50s howl?

 

[Ava Elzbieta]

Silly, of course they did.

Not only did they make new music, but they re-invented a rocket capable of launching into the stratosphere. Once they accomplished that, they shot wireless speakers up all over the country. In case you were wondering, they also had to cobble together materials to create all these speakers. I believe the schematics called for Nuka Cola Quantum, 4 irons, 6 vacuum cleaners and a microfusion cell.

Once they did this, they then worked on re-building orchestras. It took some time, as they had to work with the scraps they had in the wastes. But then, oh the magnificence of it all!

They began composing some of the most brooding music ever heard, and piped it over the airwaves. If you listen closely while you travel the wastes, you can hear its haunting melody.

*applause*
You are the winner, good sir. My hat goes off to you.

 

[Buleet]

They just stayed into the 50' era for a long LONG time.thats the official reason.

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

I agree that it's a tad silly. I really like the idea of a post-apocalyptic 50's style world, and while one can give an excuse that only 50's iconography survived the war, I don't see why they couldn't have set the nuclear war in the 50's, and then the actual game in the future. My suspension of disbelief can easily acccept some sort of 1950's vault system and occasional strides forward in technology made by the survivors over 50's culture lasting as long as it did in the Fallout universe.

 

[Denamic]

So American culture is locked in the 50's idea of Jazz and the American Dream, i get that. BUT did they just decide that after the music of the 30's-50's that they didn't need to make anymore? Did NO ONE want to make anymore of it? Were the people of the 2070's fine with listening to music from over one hundred years ago over and over again?

No, see, the 2070s of Fallout Is our 1950s.
Or rather, it's how a person from our 1950s might have envisioned the future.
It's not like the cultural development just halted for 120 years.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

It's an alternate reality.

... That's all I got, but that's all that's needed.

 

[Surggical_Scar]

It's established that the Fallout universe diverged from our own around the 1950's, and at least American culture fixated on the idea of the 'Nuclear Age'. Feasibly, music would have continued in the same vein, stagnating and reproducing the same old melodies.

I always thought it was a little depressing that almost 200 years after the war, there's hardly any sense of creativity out in the Wastes. Granted, most people are just trying to survive, but even in the richer, better protected settlements (Vault City, Rivet City, etc), no-one has the wherewithal to bang a couple of old tin cans together, let alone string out a tune.

As a personal long-term dream, I'd love, no, pay to see some burgeoning cultural growth in the Fallout universe. Music, writing, art, it can't stay buried forever. Just a couple of ideas off' the top of my head:

* A Super-Mutant writes a book for kids, 'Grog Says Safe', where Grog teaches children about the dangers of the wastes by illustrating just what happens when you run into a Deathclaw.

* A retired Raider, looking for some caps without having to spill too much blood, happens upon a battered, cracked old electric guitar. Somehow, it still works, but the notes sound so much more...savage than before.

* All over the ruins of the Wastes, bright, beautiful murals start springing up, portraits, landscapes, painted and sprayed for the world to see. An anonymous artist has found his calling.

 

[Jonci]

The Fallout universe was created on the idea of what did people in the 50s see the future of the world as becoming if the worst happened. A state of paranoia and nuclear technology, where captialism ran out of control and the big war happened.

People rarely are capable of figuring out what the future will hold for culture and technology. So, given the premise of what would be known in that era, Fallout is the nuclear apocolypic view of someone from the 50's-60's era. Computers were big and bulky with green screens and no one thought computers would get smaller. Nuclear technology was the way of the future and everything would one day use it. People thought records and tapes would be used forever. And the music of the time is the best ever and would last the ages.

The rest is just fiction based on that. That's why the world seems locked in the 50s style, because if you were in the 50s and thought about the future, you'd probably just see some flying cars that looked a lot like what you were driving now.

 

[Therumancer]

so what? you want a whole storyline how music developed!?!? go read a book if you want that.

:|

I just said that the 30's, 40's, and 50's music are rather important to the game because Inon Zur and the ambient soundtrack haven't changed a bit since Fallout Tactics, and are really bland.

go ask the story writers to set it in a different theme unless of course you think that black metal or even R&B fits very well in a 50s environment.
it's fine to say "it's bland" then you are also saying the 50s environment also is bland.

It's rather ironic, whenever I make an augment that the Starwars tech is getting bland, like yours. other people think otherwise.

I've never been a huge fan of 50s music, though some of it is okay.

My major issue with the soundtrack is that while I can understand music left over from the war would be 50s-esque, I fail to see why nobody would be performing any other music. Given that there is a decent amount of remaining technology, as well as people making new stuff, I'd expect some of it to be recorded and played on what radio stations are out there. I can see "Three Dogs" and the way he did things being a matter of taste, and I understand why "President Eden" had what he did on his channel, but come New Vegas it does surprise me a bit that everything would be vintage music... though I admit cost is probably a factor since a lot of it is probably public domain or easy to liscence, and doing music of other styles "right" for the game would involve having to hire people to write and perform it.

I've always found it kind of jarring to see a world where you have tons of raiders and mercenaries and such running around dressed like a combination of 80s punks and S&M leather fetishists, a style that came from later cultures and was inspired by later music, yet still pretty much everything you *hear* is 50s-ish.

Truthfully I'd find it highly entertaining if they decided at some point to do something inspired by "the musical revolution" with fans of "wholesome" 50s-style music freaking out over rock music, especially harder stuff, and how it's corrupting the youth and so on. Albiet being "Fallout" such a conflict would be just as active with guns and bombs than with social posturing and moral arguements. Imagine a scenario loosely based on "Footloose" (which was admittedly more about dance than music) with a psycho priest trying to abolish the corrupted kids who listen to that "new wave devil music" along with his flamethrower wielding co-horts, with the kids, lead by his daughter fighting for their own rights as a resistance in the hills, wanting to kill him and destroy his church. Who do you side with, or do you negotiate some "feel good" peace?

Not the focus for a game but it could be amusing if they ever did want to include more updated music... something to put in a little town, or as a side quest or whatever.

 

[Duskwaith]

I loved the '50's music in the game. They were a perfect juxtaposition to the environment.

Like Bob Crosbys- Way back home etc.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Did you do Agatha's quest? They had a whole vault of geniuses and musical instrument but it's all ruined. There's no one there and all other things were destroyed by bombs. People in the 2070s are too busy surviving to play instruments.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I'm pretty sure it's mentioned at some point that the songs that are played on GNR are the only songs that are played because the rest of the music collection was damaged and unusable.

That's what I was thinking: only vinyl survived.
Also, it's an alternate reality of America. Maybe it displays what would've happened if our country's cultural progression was stunted by nationalism.

 

[WanderingFool]

Does it really matter? Because of the fifties theme for Fallout, they used fifties music. Maybe the people felt there was no need to develope new music, since they all like the stuff played than, IDK.

*Edit*

The Fallout universe was created on the idea of what did people in the 50s see the future of the world as becoming if the worst happened. A state of paranoia and nuclear technology, where captialism ran out of control and the big war happened.

People rarely are capable of figuring out what the future will hold for culture and technology. So, given the premise of what would be known in that era, Fallout is the nuclear apocolypic view of someone from the 50's-60's era. Computers were big and bulky with green screens and no one thought computers would get smaller. Nuclear technology was the way of the future and everything would one day use it. People thought records and tapes would be used forever. And the music of the time is the best ever and would last the ages.

The rest is just fiction based on that. That's why the world seems locked in the 50s style, because if you were in the 50s and thought about the future, you'd probably just see some flying cars that looked a lot like what you were driving now.

I like this answer, it explains the reasoning perfectly.

 

[leeloodallasmultipass]

So American culture is locked in the 50's idea of Jazz and the American Dream, i get that. BUT did they just decide that after the music of the 30's-50's that they didn't need to make anymore? Did NO ONE want to make anymore of it? Were the people of the 2070's fine with listening to music from over one hundred years ago over and over again?

after reading the reply's ill offer a slightly different view point. the 30-50's music was on Vinyl records... more modern music was on Tapes and or CD's... Tapes are magnetic materials, which are read by a magnetic reading device, the Electro-magnetic pulse's emitted from the nuclear blasts would have fried those tapes with modern music on them.

The same goes for hard drives on PC's, they are magnetic to an extent, its why they say avoid placing magnets near your PC/hard drives.

As for CD'/DVDs etc., research done on old CD's has found there is a Bacteria which actually feeds on the material present in the disks, this is why allot of older generation disks have begun to decay and lost their quality and in bad cases readability.

so based on this idea you could suggest that modern methods of storing music would have been destroyed by the blasts pulses/ over 150 years of decay.

its just a more plausible idea =D

of course I know its a Game and therefore isn't really relevant, but I was just giving the OP a few suggestions to why in theory the music is old school

 

[Aisaku]

Well if we're speaking of inner logic, Three Dog could have had people come over to the studio to play their musics, even if it's just people singing and using tin cans as drums. In the other hands in terms of budget, I guess it doesn't make monetary sense to record their own music, or to offer a more varied selection. I liked GNR for a while, but after I pretty much knew every song I got bored and kept it off at all times.

 

[Judgement101]

Because the game was origionally made in the 90s to they decided to try to make it nostalgic for no reason and left massive plot holes in its' wake. No game is perfect. (Except Diablo II)

 

[Mezzo.]

You try to find some working instruments to play with in a world weary, post-apocalyptic nightmare.

 

[Wylade]

I like to think that in this alternate world, after world war two, they started listening to death metal and the like. then, they went backwards untill they got to jazz (Elvis was by our standards today really a jazz musician). Also, you can't put popular music in the background of this game. try walking around the waste with Justin Beiber playing.

oh, and jazz is completely inoffensive. some people say rock and roll is the devils work and not everybody is the same religion so Hymes are a no-go. this really only leaves jazz.