The post-apocalyptic wasteland we have all come to know and love has been around since 1997 when the first PC version launched on September 30th. Throughout the years, the game has gone through many software and story changes, but two things remain constant in Fallout: the retro-futuristic setting and the fact that war never changes.

Fallout is set in a reality in which the world depended on nuclear energy for power. Everything from cars to robot servants is powered by the great glowing green. However, more than a hundred years before the setting of the first Fallout, a global energy crisis began and so did the third world war.

As expected, every country pulled out the nukes and the United States government hired the good, morally correct VaultTech company to build shelters all over the country to house the population. The games have you emerge from one of these vaults to explore the desolate wasteland as The Vault Dweller, the Lone Wanderer, or the Sole Survivor.

Here are the 15 Fallout Secrets The Creators Tried To Hide.

Black Isle Studios

Baldur's Gate

Although the Fallout series is now a product of Bethesda, the first two games were created by a company called Black Isle Studios. The company was named after the Black Isle in Scotland, the founders' homeland, and was later bought by Bethesda.

Black Isle Studios was a key part of the team who produced the first Fallout game. The studio then reshuffled much of their staff and they made Fallout 2. Sadly, the studio had to cancel the rest of the games they had in development when their parent company, Interplay, ran into some series financial difficulties.

Black Isle Studios was eventually closed down after much of their staff was let go. The studio was also responsible for developing the Baldur's Gate series from 1998 to 2001.

The Other Vaults

Fallout's story is centred around the player emerging from a vault for the first time in hundreds or thousands of years, depending on the game. So whats the deal with the vaults?

Well, the wasteland has approximately 122 "public" vaults and an undisclosed number of private vaults. The public vaults were the ones that the Vault-Tec Corporation built and all but 13 of those vaults worked as they were advertised. The dark secret of the vaults is that they were designed to lure people in so that government officials could conduct human experiments on the residents.

It wasn't hard to convince people to sign up for the vaults, seeing as the threat of nuclear war was hanging over them and they were desperate for protection. After the bombs dropped, thousands of people across the US were sealed into underground vaults and unknowingly became test subjects of the government.

Matthew Perry Voices Benny

You might recognize the voice of Benny in Fallout: New Vegas and that's because he's voiced by Chandler Bing himself, Matthew Perry. The Friends actor was so obsessed with Fallout 3 that he injured his hand from playing the game so much.

In an appearance on Ellen, Matthew Perry presented Ellen Degeneres with a signed copy of the game and revealed to her that he received injections in his hands for his injuries.

This appearance led to a dream come true for Perry, as the creators contacted him and asked if he wanted to have a voice role in the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas. Benny certainly has done well for himself in the wasteland, as he is named The Chairman and serves as the second protagonist in the game.

 12. The Freefall Legs

The Freefall Legs are a blessing to anyone who enjoys jumping off various objects from any height without dying. This piece of armor opens up a whole new world in Fallout, as they make the entire wasteland into a potential playground.

The legs were created by an intern named Jack Rockford who was inspired by the shock absorption of the power armour. The player must wear both legs at the same time to get the full value, otherwise they get a slightly decreased crippling stat on one leg. Each piece of leg armor grants 10-18 damage protection, as well as reducing fall damage by 50%.

The player can find these wonderful items inside the Mass Fusion Building on the 28th floor. It's pretty much inaccessible unless equipped with a jetpack or by using a glitch with a trash can that allows players to slide up walls.

Abandoned Game

One of the best games in the series, if not the best, is Fallout 3. Due to the aforementioned financial difficulties, Black Isle Studios had to abandon the series after the second instalment. Thankfully, Bethesda saved the day by buying out the company and booting the game back up.

After making the game completely from scratch, Bethesda put a lot of time and effort into marketing the game as a new, refreshed story of the series that gamers loved. They ended up hitting the nail on the head, as Fallout 3 is the highest rated game in the series.

The game is considered one of the best all time and won a plethora of Game of the Year awards when it was released. Fallout 3 took a major step forward by being the first game in the series to have 3D graphics and introduced the insanely fun V.A.T.S system.

The Real Fat Man

It may surprise players to know that the Fat Man is based on a real nuclear device. The Davy Crockett, otherwise known as the M-29 Davy Crockett Weapon System, was a nuclear device created during the Cold War.

This lethal weapon is capable of that shooting mini nukes at the enemy with practically no recoil. The M-29 could temporarily render an environment uninhabitable due to radiation and had a range of about 2.5 miles. Approximately 2,100 of these bad boys were made before being decommissioned in the late '60s.

During this time, the German Defence Minister took quite the interest in the weapon and suggested arming German troops with them. Luckily, the Americans determined that would be a bad idea and after using the Fat Man in Fallout, we can agree with them.

Cow-tipping

For some unknown reason Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout 3 included the ability to cow tip. For players who ever wanted to try pushing over an unsuspecting cow, now is your chance.

In the original Fallout, cow-tipping can strangely be done by pouring beer on them. However in Fallout 2, it can only be done on PC, since the player needs to hold down the click on your mouse while selecting the push action from the drop-down menu.

In Fallout 3, the player can cow-tip by sneaking up behind an unsuspecting bovine and pressing the Activate button. It's important to note that all weapons need to be holstered to do this. Unfortunately for the cow, its ragdoll physics sends it flying.

Where's The Ladder?

There isn't a single Fallout game that contains a ladder. Have you ever seen one you can climb that doesn't immediately go into a loading screen?

In an interview at Quakecon in 2010, game director Todd Howard challenged gamers to find a working ladder in the game, claiming "You won't." Much like Bethesda's other successful franchise, The Elder Scrolls, there isn't a single working ladder in the game, which makes for some creative adventuring.

According to Howard, they actually did try to include ladders in the game. However, they ended up causing problems with the AI characters. While ladders in games like The Last of Us are crucial for exploring and advancing in environments, the makers at Bethesda don't feel like it's worth the hassle.

The Experimental Plant

This experimental plant can be found on The Prydwen, a modified and armored Brotherhood of Steel airship in Fallout 4.

The Scribe brought the flower aboard the airship and after deeming it safe to digest, brewed an incredibly delicious tea. It turned out that the tea was highly addictive and as the rest of the crew became more and more agitated with each other, they decided to stop drinking it.

The magical properties of the plant could be due to the fact that it's actually Nirnroot, an alchemy ingredient from Bethesda's Skyrim game. While it is a common spice in the land of Skyrim it can also be brewed into potions that damage your health, or help resist against magic. In Fallout 4, the plant gives you +5 rads and +10 HP.

Is That A UFO?

In Fallout 4, the player is able to witness a UFO crashing into an unmarked location just east-southeast of Overland Station. The player must visit the location after seeing the ship crash, otherwise there won't be anything there.

After reaching level 20, the player must travel around the wasteland until they hear what sounds like an airplane crash. As soon as this noise is heard, an UFO will appear and crash in the distance. It may be hard to see the actual ship due to its speed, but it will leave a short-lived smoke trail that can be followed.

Additionally, if you're travelling with a companion they will comment on it. The UFO is worth visiting as exploring the crashed ship supplies the player with some nifty alien gear.

Dunwich Borers

Before the Great War, the Dunwich Borers company manufactured rock drills for digging and tunnelling and was evidently terrible at work place safety. The site is located in the Commonwealth and is inhabited by raiders and ghouls alike.

As the player heads deeper into the site, the Sole Survivor discovers a sinister operation that was taking place under the supervision of the "Management." After clearing out all the enemies, the player discovers that they were actually trying to uncover a lost site of worship.

The whole scenario is a reference to H.P Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror", in which a sinister presence descends upon a village after the birth of a strange boy. Exploring the area yields useful items like three mini nukes, the Dunwich Borers key, Astoundingly Awesome Tales #3, and a Sneak bobblehead.

Liam Neeson Is Your Father

In Fallout 3, you play as the Lone Wanderer who leaves the Vault in search of his father, James. It turns out that James is voiced by Liam Neeson.

James was Vault 101's physician, but he never felt comfortable living in the vault and was determined to bring clean water to the people of the wasteland. When the Lone Wanderer comes of age, James escapes the vault. This triggers a security crisis and brings on accusations that you had something to do with it.

After escaping yourself and following James' trail you unfortunately discover that he has been turned into a dog named Doc. This despicable act was perpetrated by Stanislaus Braun, the insane Overseer of Vault 112.

A Blade Runner's Weapon

In Fallout: New Vegas, you can acquire the successor of the .223 pistol from the previous games. However, this version is heavily modified. This new weapon is referred to as That Gun and is based on a famous cinematic weapon.

According to lead designer Joshua Sawyer, That Gun was modeled off of Rick Deckard's trusty side piece from Blade Runner (1982). It has the second highest potential critical hit (2.5x) of all the one handed, non-energy guns and is beaten only by the silenced .22 pistol.

To acquire the gun, the player can either buy it or steal it. The weapon can be found in Novac at the Dino Bite Giftshop for about 1750 bottle caps. If the player doesn't have enough bottle caps, the weapon can be stolen from the storage room.

Meat Of Champions

Meat of Champions is a special perk in Fallout: New Vegas that can only be unlocked one way: by killing and eating all the kings of the wasteland. In addition to the dinner part of the quest, the player must have the cannibal perk on before they can dine on Caesar, Mr.House, and President Kimball.

The simplest way to get this perk is by siding with Caesar's Legion, seeing as President Kimball and Mr.House can be killed during the story missions. There is an opportunity to kill Caesar while doing the "Et Tumor, Brute?" quest. While Ceasar is in a coma, the player is asked to perform brain surgery to save him. Alternatively, the player can just let him die although they will need their Medicine or Speech to be over 50 in order to get away from the guards.

If the player manages to kill and cannibalize all three of these fine gentlemen, they will unlock the Meat of Champions perk. The perk grants +1 Luck, Intelligence, Charisma, and Strength for 60 seconds after eating any human corpse.

Fallout 4's Pickman Gallery is located in Boston's North end and is another reference to H.P Lovecraft. The gallery is full of mutialted corpses of both raiders and ghouls, as well as a number of disturbing paintings.

The location has a bunch of loot including a bobblehead, power armor, Nuka-Cola, and even more. If the player manages to save Pickman from the raiders, they will be given a key and his favorite painting, "The All-Seeing Eye". Disturbingly, all of the paintings in the gallery are painted with the blood of people who Pickman has killed.

Pickman and the gallery are both based on Lovecraft's short story "Pickman's Model", in which a Boston painter creats increasingly disturbing images in what looks like blood.

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Did we miss any secrets from Fallout that the creators hid in the games?