For the Fallout strategy guide, see Fallout Official Survival Guide. |
The Vault Dweller's Survival Guide (VDSG) is the game manual for Fallout. In the original release, it was present in the game box, printed in A5 format with a soft cover and either spiral- (North American release) or glue-bound (European release) edge.[Meta 1]
The manual was written by Chris Taylor, with Ed Rubin handling design and layout, and Tramell Ray Isaac, Jason Anderson, Leonard Boyarsky, and Scott Rodenhizer providing art assets.
Overview[]
Part of a series on |
Vault-Tec Corporation |
---|
Subsidiaries |
Future-Tec · Hawthorne Medical Laboratories · Vault-Tec Game Studios |
Notable facilities |
Vaults · Vault-Tec headquarters · Vault-Tec Regional HQ · Vault-Tec University · Vault-Tec: Among the Stars |
Notable technologies |
Vaults · CAMP · Food paste · G.E.C.K. · Series 1000 shelter · VATS · Vault Star super-reactor · ZAX |
Miscellaneous |
Multi-generational starship · Project Safehouse · Vault Dweller's Survival Guide · Vault-Tec bobblehead |
The VDSG is an official handbook for Vault dwellers, issued by the Vault-Tec Documentation Department in January 2077. Under United States law, it was considered a document with information affecting the national defense of the nation (as per the New Amended Espionage Act), and any revelation of its contents to unauthorized persons was prohibited. VTB-001 focused on the events following a global nuclear war.[1]
It was one of several handbooks issued by Vault-Tec to help dwellers prepare with various end of the world scenarios, identified by the serial number VTB-001. An abridged version of the VDSG was available, focusing on Limited Scale Nuclear War end of world scenario and identified as VTB-002. Other publications were Coping With Mr. Virus! (Disease), How to Eat Rat (Starvation), Flotation Homes and Seaweed (Flooding), and How to Dodge Falling Rocks (Meteor).[1]
The information it provided was extensive and included detailed statistics on Vault 13, nuclear blast effects, a breakdown of SimTek 5000 functionality, a simulation system designed to familiarize Vault dwellers with the outside world after a long period of sheltering (an explanation for the interface), personnel records (character creation and game system), instrumentation (interface in detail) with a breakdown of the features of the RobCo Pip-Boy 2000, combat resolution with a non-exhaustive item list, complete perk list, and other information, including a GECK advertisement, and seven appendices, including two recipes by Tim Cain: Mushroom Clouds and Desert Salad.[1]
Transcript[]
Behind the scenes[]
- The manual contains a wealth of information, and several parts of it are commented out with a rendered strip of tape, with handwritten comments by the Vault 13 overseer. These contain additional explanations or are juxtaposed with the overly optimistic Vault-Tec statements. There is text below them to give the appearance of an actual body of text beneath, however, when present it's a nonsensical variant of lorem ipsum:
- A copy of the VDSG, subtitled Preparing Yourself and Your Loved Ones for the Inevitable Nuclear Apocalypse, is on the Doom Slayer's bookshelf in Doom Eternal.
- The publication is mentioned in a promotional item that came with the real world Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI FM radio module, Boston Bugle Volume 12.
- In the instrumentation section, the image of the terminal includes several lines from the real world Fallout Protection: What To Know and Do About Nuclear Attack booklet.[Meta 2]
- A copy of Coping With Mr. Virus! appears in concept art and the 2010 teaser trailer for Fallout Online.[Non-canon 1]
References[]
Non-canon
Meta