A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. The transistor is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics, as the foundation of integrated circuits and then chipsets.
In the Fallout series, one of the aspects of the divergence is the fact that transistors did not became as popular, with vacuum tubes continuing to be the dominant building block of electronics into the 21st century, and the term "chip" typically (but not always) refers to processing units using vacuum tubes, such as the water chip.
Usage[]
- The platinum chip is an incredibly sophisticated piece of technology using integrated circuits, originally printed at Sunnyvale, CA, on the eve of the Great War. It combined the functions of an electronic key and storage device, containing upgrade data for Robert House's Securitron army and operating software of the Lucky 38.[1]
- The fuel cell regulator used in electric cars like the Chryslus Highwayman uses integrated circuits in its chipset.[2]
- Mister Handy units use transistors for basic operations.[3] Memory transistors are also essential for the proper functioning of these robots.[4]
- Slave collars use transistors. Tweaking them permits disarming them.[5][clarification needed] Their integrated circuit architecture was notoriously messy.[6]
- Jack Cabot utilized new transistors to create a portable version of the Abremalin field generator in 2023.[7]
- Transistor radios were popular before the Great War.[8][9] General Atomics BS7 transistor radio was an example of a commercial-grade radio.[10]
- Hologram emitters use integrated circuits to function.[11]
- Big MT used integrated circuits for various experimental circuits, such as IFF systems in the X-13 research facility laser emitters.[12] Doctor Mobius also used them extensively for various Sink appliances, including the light switches,[13] the water tap,[14] the Biological research station,[15] and even used memory transistors in the Brain Tank robobrain chassis.[16]
- Duraframe eyebots use printed circuit boards,[17] especially for upgrades.[18]
- Scrap electronics include printed circuit boards with integrated circuits using transistors.[19]
Demo[]
- The personal computer found in the Crypts' gang house uses transistors and requires popping in a chip to make it work.[20]
Non-canon[]
- In Fallout Tactics, the Reavers worship transistors.[Non-canon 1]
Behind the scenes[]
Vacuum tubes vs. transistors[]
- The preference for vacuum tubes was a conscious choice made early in Fallout's development. Leonard Boyarsky pitched the idea to Tim Cain during the development, proposing that in the universe of Fallout, humans never went beyond transistors (i.e. the transistor was invented, but microelectronics did not catch on) and stayed with vacuum tubes. The idea originated in a proposal to feature a lot of vacuum tubes, since "everything would look cooler if it had vacuum tubes". Cain agreed, adding that vacuum tube electronics would be less susceptible to electromagnetic damage. Leonard Boyarsky recounted the story in 2018, in an interview on Matt Chat.[Non-game 1]
- This was not consistently implemented, as noted in June 2003 by Joshua Sawyer during an exchange on No Mutants Allowed: When a user stated that Fallout is set in a future where the transistor was never invented, he pointed out the fact that EMP grenades in Fallout and Fallout 2 are incredibly powerful against robots, which would not be the case if they were based on vacuum tubes.[Non-game 2]
- During the development of Fallout 3 (2008), and later Fallout 4 (2015), Joel Burgess argued with the team numerous times over the effects the absence of transistors would have not just on the basic mechanics, but also on the culture of the world. In his own words, the butterfly effect change of not inventing a transistor, "[w]hat does that say about the cultural priorities of the people who live in that world?" Burgess recounted this in 2016, in a Ubisoft livestream's closing Q&A.[Non-game 3]
- In Fallout: New Vegas (2011), developed under the leadership of Joshua Sawyer, the platinum chip is an incredibly capacious electronic device and key, printed in Sunnyvale, and an example of integrated circuit technology. Robert House's life extension chamber also include a brain-machine interface, which was described in concept art as mounted on the top of House's head, featuring transistors and vacuum tubes wired directly into the brain after the skull was removed.[Non-game 4] Integrated circuits and printed circuit boards are also referred to occasionally in the game and its downloadable content.
- In a Tumblr question in March 2019, Sawyer maintained his position on transistors in Fallout, reiterating how robots in the series are affected by EMP blasts and pointed out that "the state of technology isn’t represented consistently", in his Fallout: New Vegas included. He also noted that he believed the whole idea was secondary to the setting in his opinion, though it did push interesting ideas (citing the fact that the Soviet MiG-25 used vacuum tube electronics that would theoretically make it less vulnerable to EMPs).[Non-game 5]
Miscellaneous[]
- Although labeled a memory transistor, the item to the right visually resembles and the designations refer to a real-world 6-volt octal (8 pin) vacuum tube. The designations of "6AC7" and "6Ж4" refer to two equivalent vacuum tube types in the North American RETMA tube naming convention and the Russian tube naming convention in Cyrillic, respectively.
- The idea of using vacuum tubes to build chips superior to ones using just transistors and integrated circuits has been explored in recent years.[Non-game 6]
References[]
- ↑ Robert House: " Decades of hiring salvagers out west to search for this little relic in the ruins of a place called Sunnyvale. Back then, anyway. That's where the Chip was printed, on October 22, 2077. It was to have been hand-delivered to me here, at the Lucky 38, the next day. But the bombs fell first. Suffice it to say, the delivery was never made."
(Robert House's dialogue) Note: Printing, in this context, refers to lithographic techniques used in manufacturing microchips. - ↑ The Chosen One: "{201}{}{Do you have a battery that I could use to fix a car?}"
Skeeter: "{120}{}{Funny you should ask that. Ya see, cars use replaceable fuel cells, or batteries, for fuel. What usually broke down was the Fuel Cell Controller. Most amateur mechanics jist assume that it’s the battery itself. But you know what ass-uming things does, dontcha?}"
The Chosen One: "{122}{}{So does that mean you have a Fuel Cell Controller?}"
Skeeter: "{140}{}{Yep. Sure do. Got it right here. Jist waitin’ fer a car to be put into. You got a car?}"
The Chosen One: "{142}{}{I might have one. Maybe I just like old chipsets. How much for the Fuel Cell Controller?}"
(GCSKEETR.MSG) - ↑ Fallout 3 message box transcription: "You remove every transistor related to "basic operations." This robot will never be fixed now."
- ↑ The events of escort Event: The Messenger in Fallout 76.
- ↑ Slavers Escort (
MS13RemoveCollar):
Lone Wanderer: "Okay. I see how this thing works. I just need to tweak this transistor here..."
Slave: "I'm alive! You did it!" - ↑ Little Yangtze terminal entries; Little Yangtze log terminal, Elijah's Journal - Day 2
- ↑ Cabot House terminal entries; terminal, 09/05/2023
- ↑ Quinlan: "Oh, Knight... I was told you were coming. Sorry about this business with Danse."
The Sole Survivor: "He'll be missed."
Quinlan: "Doubtful. I wouldn't "miss" a synth any sooner than I'd miss a transistor radio. "
(Quinlan's dialogue) - ↑ Listening Post Bravo terminal entries; monitoring terminal, LP Bravo Monitoring Report 010
- ↑ Scoot's shack terminal entries; terminal, Ghost Field Research #1
- ↑ Villa Clinic terminal entries; clinic security terminal, Hologram: Hologram Emitters 5.0
- ↑ X-13 research facility terminal entries; technician terminal, Test Observations
- ↑ The Courier: "Sounds like there's some bad blood between you. Or, um, circuits."
Light Switch 02: "That bitch. She thinks she's so much better than everybody just because her processors are bigger. Ooh, she makes me so mad!"
(Light Switch 02's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "I just came over to fill some of these empty bottles."
Sink: "Oh, I'd love to, darling, but the circuits that allow me to dispense water into non-organic containers burned out years ago. You'd have to find a replacement for that module."
(Sink's dialogue) - ↑ Old World Blues endings; Biological Research Station: "The Biological Research Station, obsessed with seeding everything in sight, ran out of fertile plots and blew a circuit trying to seed itself."
Note: This ending is available only if the Biological Research Station is installed and X-22 Botanical Garden is not discovered. - ↑ The Courier: "What was the plan you had?"
Mobius: "Something ingenious and needlessly complicated, I expect. I may have already told you and forgotten it. I forgot I had forgotten pencils until one day I found one. Spent days studying its purpose before my memory circuit kicked in. Felt quiet silly."
(Mobius' dialogue) - ↑ Lonesome Road endings; ED-E: "When ED-E's circuits burned in the fires of the Divide, there was one small part that held on until the end. It was the fragment that held the Old World memories and the words of his creator in his last moments."
Note: This ending is available only if ED-E is released from stasis and sacrifice itself to stop the missiles from launching. - ↑ Eyebot upgrade circuit board
- ↑ Item model and texture.
- ↑ Computer: "{100}{}{This is a badly worn-out desk with a dusty, cracked computer seated precariously atop it.}"
"{101}{}{You plug a loose chip back in and surprisingly the monitor lights up.}"
"{102}{}{Many circuits are fried from an EMP burst.}"
Non-game
- ↑ Leonard Boyarsky: A lot of the things we figured out about it, like the fact that they never went beyond transistors, they stayed with the vacuum tubes, started with me going, "We need a lotta vacuum tubes! Everything would look cooler if it had vacuum tubes on it!" And Tim's like, "Well, you know if they never did, if they never went over to transistors, this would make it so that you wouldn't be as susceptible to an EMP blast."
(Leonard Boyarsky Matt Chat 396 - January 27, 2018, starts at 4:59) - ↑ User Saint_Proverbius: "EMP damage? Ummm.. Imagine a future where the transistor had never been invented. I wish I could remember which Fallout developer said that to describe Fallout's setting, but it's a fairly major concept! EMP really only works well on integrated circuits, re: transistor stuff, which aren't part of Fallout's setting."
Joshua Sawyer: "Let me know if you found out which dev said that, because EMP grenades wreak utter havok on robots all over Fallout and Fallout 2. I walk into the Glow, throw an EMP grenade, and robots drop like flies in a blast furnace. It's pretty clear that ICs are used in robots all over the Fallout world. However, I think that a future Fallout title should take into account that some models of our traditional friends like Mr. Handy and Floating Eye Bot should be made with vaccuum
tube tech to reflect the necessity of robots operating in the wake of atomic EMP blasts."
(Sawyer and NMA, the next chapter, post on the No Mutants Allowed forum, June 26, 2003) - ↑ Joel Burgess: "That culture never invented transistors and part of that influences why you see big tube things. The interfaces in Fallout 1 and 2 are engineered in a way that, in a world without transistors, still gets really advanced technology. How is their technology different, by making this one butterfly effect change? This is an argument that I had, many, many times, with people working on 3 and 4, it's like that transistor decision about the world... That rule isn't just about the mechanics of 'how do I build like a fusion car without a transistor, or whatever?' What does that say about the cultural priorities of the people who live in that world?"
(Joel Burgess Ubisoft live-stream - November 4, 2016, starts at 1:27:30) - ↑ Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.463: "The helmet might be bolted right into his skull, like a "halo"used to stabilize severe neck injuries.
Or it might not be a helmet at all, the top of Mr. House's skull having been removed and fitted with transistors and vacuum tubes.
(Behind the Bright Lights & Big City) - ↑ User blingblingboistuff-blog: "I know Cain and Boyarsky have said that they created Fallout and came up with the whole "no transistor" to justify how everything looked but I wanted to maybe hear your opinion on it? I know its out of yours hands now of course, but I just wanted to know how you feel about it. No transistor or transistor?"
Joshua Sawyer: "I like vacuum tube tech and I think it pushes some interesting ideas, but it feels secondary in the series. One of the interesting properties of vacuum tubes is that they aren’t really affected by EMPs, such as those produced by a nuclear bomb blast. Some Soviet MiG-25s used vacuum tubes dominantly or exclusively, which would theoretically allow them to fly in the wake of a blast (assuming the pilots weren’t killed by radiation). Still, the robots in the series are affected by EMP grenades and similar attacks, so the state of technology isn’t represented consistently."
(Josh Sawyer tumblr post) - ↑ Engadget article archive
Non-canon
- ↑ Reaver: "For the glory of the transistor. Wait! Is this transistor reverse biased?"
(Reaver's dialogue)