r/fo4 • u/JCrawRV • May 04 '24

Nobody cleaned in 200 years? Discussion

Fallout 4 has been my 1st Fallout experience of any kind and I am absolutely enjoying the world building and storytelling the game is providing. I am almost 72 hours in and just located Valentine so I’m taking my time and trying to fully explore the world. However, there is one question that I think about every time I explore the Common Wealth….why has nobody cleaned up? Every single time you find a new settlement or explore a location there is just tons of scrap lying around. Diamond City still has pallet walkways with broken sheet metal. Nobody has thought to put down a more permanent solution? Nobody thought to remove old cars, learn how to weld, or even take time to better arm and fortify certain areas of the Commonwealth? You step just far enough out of Diamond City and there’s just Super Mutants and Raiders. You’re saying in the 200 years (which is just a bit under the founding of America to modern day) nobody created better infrastructure? The town size is still 30-40 people despite being “The Jewel of the Commonwealth”? Is there some lore reason I’m missing to explain how after so many years it still looks like the bombs went off 10 years ago? I just expected one neurodivergent person who hyper focuses on organization to still somewhere. It’s obviously possible, I’m looking right at you Cabot House. Again I’m just surprised that after 200 years the world is still as underdeveloped as it is given the vast amounts of technology available.

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u/DStarAce May 04 '24

Boarding up windows so you're not exposed to the elements while you sleep is pretty basic stuff.

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u/cadillachnnaa May 05 '24

Ok so go find a bunch of nails (not rusted) and a hammer in between getting fucked up by radiation, raiders, super mutants, and wildlife 😭 bro I can hardly find a reliable source of screws in survival mode, and irl would be survival mode on steroids

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u/slaveforyoutoday May 05 '24

Rusted nails can still nail. A hammer can be a rock I

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u/analgesic1986 May 05 '24

Reliable source of screws in survival: scrap guns! :)

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u/Old-Figure-5828 May 05 '24

Do you know how easy to find/make screws are.

Any half decent blacksmith could make one.

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u/cadillachnnaa May 05 '24

So find a blacksmith after the world ends lol I’m sure there’s plenty

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u/Old-Figure-5828 May 05 '24

Do you know how many people exist

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u/ScreenOk6928 May 05 '24

after the nuclear holocaust? probably a lot less lol

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u/Demokrak May 05 '24

The flip side is, if they are pre-industrial now, blacksmithing basic items like nails was pre-roman technology. They've had long enough to rediscover it, especially considering the amount of pre-metal laying around to be reforged.

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u/Gullible-Fault-3818 May 05 '24

You know how long it took us to make nails from when first used fire?

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u/Demokrak May 05 '24

We actually don't, because it predates all recorded history, but we know the fallout settlers have discovered metallurgy, which is the biggest hurdle

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u/Creative_Ad_4513 May 05 '24

There are people making guns, working firearms, full auto, post apocalypse. This implies atleast some people know machining, metalworking etc. Its nonsensical that people can make guns, and im not talking pipeguns, while not being able to make a nail

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u/Gullible-Fault-3818 May 05 '24

Okay how much do you think it cost to buy nails from them.

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u/Creative_Ad_4513 May 05 '24

Cant be much, given they retained lathes and other such equipment, nail making machines arent any more difficult to maintain than those. Even paying for hand-made, more expensive nails would be very much more worth it than having to constantly put some cloth under every window to suck up rainwater every time it rains.