There are a few ways to join the Enclave Dropout 76. In the Bethesda way, you go through the game to find notes and key cards and eventually stumble across the government base and its malicious AI. The role-playing way, as designed by fans, is completely different. You may experience some Enclave Armed Forces propaganda, leading you to the disagreement and its character channels. From there, players can join the famous Fallout faction and receive custom commands with in-game videos, voice-played messages, and personalized content.
Content production requires specific film and editing skills. Sometimes it means producing propaganda for a specific faction to try to influence a long war between hundreds of players. Other times it is to create a detective test that only a dozen people can see. Some players are so inspired by the original content of the quest that they try to reinterpret, retell or share it with a wider audience.
There is a rich heritage of fan movies that extends far beyond Dropout 76, thanks to the franchise’s popularity and unique retro-futuristic visual feel. Players and artists have previously used the series as a starting point for creative endeavors, including live action films and detailed short films.
Bethesda is also constantly adding new search content Dropout 76, but the company’s efforts are limited by the engine. Before the Wastelanders The game’s stories are limited to audio logs and skeletons around the world. Even with the new quest content, NPCs are often confined or locked in place, and stories are kept in small areas. Players do not have such restrictions.
Into the Mystery, for example, is a movie series made by fans that tells the story of an in-game faction that tragically perished before the game’s events began. Within the actual game, the storyline is easy to miss, making it fertile ground for role players who want to pen more narratives.
Vaultist Films, a collaboration between two fans known as RifleGaming and Bloodied Mess, tells the story, with a longtime character taking the lead role. The series tells the story of the Mistress of Mystery and her wayward daughter. Despite collaborating with other creators, Bloodied Mess has no filming or creative experience. Instead, he learned that he could use Dropout 76 as a set when he experimented with his CAMP.
CAMPs are customizable player bases, such as a post-apocalyptic version of Animal crossing: new horizons. Players’ CAMPs indicate where they can build in the world, although the player is given a budget that limits how many buildings or items can be placed in the world. These areas will then appear to other players on the same server. Players who want the most extensive houses quickly learn to take advantage of the game so they can build more impressive CAMPs.
‘I learned that under the [environment’s 3D] relatively simple gauze, and that changed how I played the game, ”Bloodied Mess told Polygon in a call on Discord. Players like tricks like carefully pasting walls from back to back so they can apply wallpaper on each side. Using these types of solutions, Bloodied Mess was able to start building extensive props and sets. ‘For about six months I started making small vignettes or building videos – mathematically based approaches to building [CAMPs.]”
His experience working with CAMP and sharing tricks such as overlapping stairs and low walls enabled him to create a giant Chinese Liberator bot, the communist equivalent of Liberty Prime. Other projects include massive nuclear reactors created with the ‘clip trick’, or CAMPs floating in the air.
Those CAMPs earned him a fan, which he used to network with other content creators. The Dropout 76 community exists outside of the game itself, on platforms like Discord, and fans come together for greater creative endeavors.
Role players are often the most eager filmmakers among the Fallout community. For example, when Bethesda added a clean toilet to the game, the Enclave Army snatched the object. From there, they launched a propaganda campaign, promising clean indoor plumbing for the citizens of the Wasteland, with photos of their own bases in the game adorned with sparkling toilets.
Officer Barnett, a longtime Dropout 76 community member, works with role-playing groups to create videos, but works primarily with the Enclave Armed Forces. She and Jesse Jewell, the leader of the EAF, are working together on a public, pro-Enclave character video intended for the wider community. But they also work on things that are only for members of the EAF, while going through individual storylines and quests in the game. Sometimes the leaders will sound the alarm on Discord, and a dozen players will all sign up to become improvised cameras, a powerful armor and props.
These stories are not intended for the public. It’s like cut lines in a single player game, except for one specific person. This is a personal amount of attention that developers can almost impossible draw, especially in a game as big as Dropout 76. For example, a young and inexperienced recruiter who has expressed interest in the Enclave will eventually get her own recruiting video, something meant to start her arc in this new Wasteland faction. It’s an experience that requires a lot of work from the community, but creates a gaming experience that is hard to find elsewhere.
It’s a reminder Dropout 76 has come a long way after two years of development. The growth is not only because of the efforts of Bethesda, but also because of the thriving support community that uses the world as a canvas and film set for their own ideas.