And the modding community making it a reality!
Oh how we wish we could give this a rousing (and apt) “yes!” But despite petitions and constant memes about Bethesda’s reputation for remastering and re-selling certain games, these rumors are just that. Rumors. But fans of Obsidian’s work are jumping for any scrap of evidence to support a theory that a re-master of Fallout: New Vegas might be in the works. It’s certainly something that fans are clamoring for: just look at the comments on this tweet from the official Fallout twitter account. The majority of them are asking for a remaster, or a complete second New Vegas game.
While we of course cannot confirm or deny any of these claims regarding the future of the Fallout franchise, here are the reasons that some fans think a remaster may not be too far in the future.
Chris Avellone Facebook Doodles
It somehow just seems to fit the canon that the largest amount of speculation comes in the form of stick figure doodles. Chris Avellone, RPG-giant and chronic-doodler, has been uploading some pictures onto his Facebook account that fans of the franchise have thought to be rather suspect. The one which drew the largest amount of attention and truly launched the theory was an image of a stick figure hugging the Vault Boy, with the text “I missed you so much!” What followed was an onslaught of folks facebook-stalking and over-analysing any and all of his signature doodles. Bypassing the possibility that Avellone could simply have been re-playing the franchise, the internet took to speculating that either a New Vegas remaster or a Fallout 5 was in the works. After surely racking up hits on his otherwise personal Facebook page, Avellone posted a second doodle featuring himself and the Vault Boy, this time with the caption: “there it is again…that sense of being watched.” In the time since, it seems that Avellone has found a partial respite from what we can only describe as the constant hoards of internet soothsayers since word has gotten around that he is currently not working with either Bethesda or Obsidian.
Obsidian Entertainment’s Twitter:
Obsidian Entertainment, the production company which created New Vegas, is no stranger to teasing their own projects. For those of us that remember the tweets about Obsidian’s “Project Louisiana” from this time last year, perhaps copious speculation simply comes with the territory. Fallout fans were quickly overwhelmed with theories of a New Orleans installment of the franchise…however the project turned out to be Pillars of Eternity II rather than another Fallout.
Now it seems Obsidian is at it again, starting with this tweet from November of 2017. Now, if you saw this tweet and were excited like I was, unfortunately since that date, there has been no further elaboration as to what the next project might be. But of course, fans have retained the hope that it is a New Vegas remaster or another Fallout game altogether. Unfortunately, this hype train just keeps on a-rolling, since Obsidian has neither confirmed nor denied these speculations. Regardless of what the next game will be, we look forward to seeing what Obsidian has next in-store for their fans.
But Wait!
While any details on an official remaster are nebulous at best, it seems that fans of the game have taken things into their own hands in terms of remastering. Here at Silver Soul we want to highlight cool materials built by the fans as much as we do new ventures by developers.
The Re-Creation Modding Community:
There are plenty of fan-made mods in the works such as The Frontier and Cascadia that will take the player to parts unknown, but there is also a strong community retroactively modding to make previous releases look brand-new. Those who remember the Black Mesa source mod for the original Half Life should be familiar with this concept: fans who want to re-create an older game using a newer form of the franchise’s engine. Through pain-staking labors of love, these modding heroes bring a game back to life (and even throw in some unique content here and there). The dedicated Fallout fans have some re-creation mods of their own, and they’re worth all the caps in the wasteland.
The Fallout 4 New Vegas mod is under development, which would completely re-create the Mojave Wasteland using the Fallout 4 engine – and it is looking nothing short of amazing. Check out the gallery on their website and see for yourself! And to stay up-to-date with their developments, you can follow them on twitter.
But if you are sitting back and sighing in your chair about how you wish there was such a modding community for Fallout 3: fear not! Fallout 4 Capital Wasteland is another unofficial recreation project that is using the newest Bethesda engine to re-create everyone’s favorite destroyed national capital. With monthly updates and plenty of ways to connect with the dev team, fans of Bethesda’s first big Fallout adventure can keep up-to-date with the production.
Do you have coding, 3D modeling, or digital art skills that you could contribute to the cause? On each of the projects’ websites, you can apply to join the team and be a part of the action.
DIY “Remastering”:
Don’t want to wait for the F4NV project to be complete? Want to take a DIY approach to remaster your own copy of New Vegas? This comprehensive document compiles all of the best mods from across the internet with a short detail of what they do, and where you can find them. If you want to see what they look like in the game itself, this YouTube video does a good job of compiling some of the more popular mods and gives you an idea of how they look in-game.
In the end, no matter how you play it, mods or not, we raise our glasses of Sunset Sarsaparilla to Obsidian and all the hard work that they did on New Vegas, and the fans and community who are working hard to continue to make it one of the best RPGs in recent years. This game has surely stood the test of time, and none of us will ever be able to look at the humble mailman the same way ever again.
Silver Soul Gaming 
