Nathan "Nate" Purkeypile is a developer who worked on Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 as a world artist and on Fallout 76 as a lead artist. He worked as a world artist at Bethesda Game Studios from 2007 to 2021.
Career[]
Work on the Fallout series[]
Purkeypile's responsibilities on Fallout 3 were major locations, lighting, and creating kits for the level design department to construct areas with.[1] His responsibilities would extend to two of its add-ons as the lead artist on The Pitt and Point Lookout.[2][3]
He also worked on Fallout 4, mostly in lighting while also designing much of Diamond City, including its layout, lighting, and cluttering. In addition, he implemented the sole red seat in the stands of the stadium, a real-world feature of Fenway Park.[4] Purkeypile lit the power armor demonstration scene used in the game's main menu.[5]
In addition to serving as the lead artist of Fallout 76, Purkeypile was also the game's "location scout." He took a vacation to West Virginia and took a large amount of photographs that the team used for reference.[6] Some of the stranger locations, such as the landlocked Landview Lighthouse, were added to the game when Purkeypile proved to incredulous developers that such places really existed in West Virginia.[7]
His duties for Fallout 76 extended to lighting exterior locations, directing the art team, helping decide what new content to implement, and even playtesting. He also designed the death tambo, which he described as his "weird little side project" made during an internal game jam as part of a series of the "instruments of death." The death tambo eventually made its way into the final game. Purkeypile led the art team for over a year after the launch for the game, until the release of Wastelanders.[4]
Locations designed[]
Little Lamplight- Paradise Falls
- Tenpenny Tower
- Underworld
- Shelter (plunger room)[10]
- Diamond City
- The Crater
Other work[]
Purkeypile's other credits include The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, on which he served as a world artist. He left Bethesda on April 15, 2021, after working there for 14 years.
Employment history[]
| From | To | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2005 | Terminal Reality | Additional Art |
| 2007 | 2007 | Retro Studios | Additional Art |
| May 7, 2007 | April 15, 2021 | Bethesda Game Studios | World Artist / Lead Artist |
| May 2021 | Present | Just Purkey Games | Founder |
Credits[]
Fallout series[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Fallout 3 | World Artist |
| 2009 | The Pitt | Lead Artist |
| 2009 | Point Lookout | Lead Artist |
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | World Artist |
| 2018 | Fallout 76 | Lead Artist |
Other work[]
| Year | Title | Credited as/for |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | BloodRayne 2 | Artist |
| 2005 | Æon Flux | Additional Art |
| 2007 | Metroid Prime 3: Corruption | Additional Art |
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim/Special Edition | World Art |
| 2023 | Starfield | Lead Lighting Artist |
| TBA | The Axis Unseen | Director |
Behind the scenes[]
Live & Love issue #10 features an illustrated character based on Purkeypile (Nuke-The-Man, see gallery). The design of the magazine was inspired by Purkeypile and Istvan Pely's trip to the Burning Man festival, during which they fought against each other in the Death Guild Thunderdome.[11]
Gallery[]
.jpg "Fo3 nathan-purkeypile (Little Lamplight).jpg (274 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile (Diamond City).jpg (667 KB)")
.jpg "Fo76 nathan-purkeypile (Crashed Space Station Settlement).jpg (446 KB)")
.jpg "Fo76 nathan-purkeypile (Nuke-The-Man).jpg (578 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile (Steam Tunnel Kit-Lighting).jpg (584 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile (Industrial Kit).jpg (531 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile (Building Kit-Lighting 1).jpg (496 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile (Building Kit-Lighting 2).jpg (323 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile(Building Kit-Lighting 3).jpg (538 KB)")
.jpg "Fo4 nathan-purkeypile (Building Kit-Lighting 4).jpg (549 KB)")
Video gallery[]
External links[]
Interviews
- Developer diary: Character Playthroughs at Fallout 3 website (archived from the original) (Bethesda Game Studios - October 27, 2008)
- Bethesda Blog: Inside the Vault - Nathan Purkeypile (archived from the original) (Bethesda Game Studios - June 22, 2009)
- Former Bethesda lead artist discusses working on 'Skyrim' and the 'Fallout' series (archived from the original) (Washington Square News - April 29, 2021)
- The Many Worlds of Nate Purkeypile (Your Geek Fix - May 10, 2022)
- Fallout 5 should 'go to New Orleans and use cars' says ex Bethesda dev (PCGamesN - October 9, 2022)
Podcasts
- Nate Purkeypile On The Making of Fallout 3, 4, 76 and Just Purkey Games (The Fallout Hub - May 31, 2021)
- Fallout 4 Point Lookout Mod Dev Div (guests Joel Burgess and Nate Purkeypile) (CHAD: A Fallout 76 Podcast - June 27, 2022)
Other
- Just Purkey Games (official website)
- Fallout 4's Modular Level Design (GDC presentation with Joel Burgess - April 14, 2016)
- Life After 76: Why this Veteran Bethesda World Designer Went Solo (Noclip Documentary - December 22, 2023)
References[]
- ↑ Nate Purkeypile's Fallout 3 Developer Diary: "My name is Nate Purkeypile and I am a world artist on Fallout 3. My main responsibilities on Fallout 3 were major locations, lighting, and creating kits for the level design department to create areas with."
- ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter: "As of today I have been at Bethesda for 13 years.
I have been in the industry for 16 years in total.
In that time at Bethesda I've shipped Fallout 3, F3: The Pitt as Lead Artist, F3: Point Lookout as Lead Artist, Skyrim, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 as Lead Artist." - ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter (further references within thread)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Former Bethesda lead artist discusses working on ‘Skyrim’ and the ‘Fallout’ series
- ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter: "Wow, been awhile.
Fun fact, I lit this scene. It’s actually hundreds of tiny lights bouncing all the light by hand and making the glints on the armor 👨🍳😘 jussst right.
Nice to see it popping up still years later." - ↑ The in-game versions of places he visited to scout for the game include, but are not limited to: Beckley mine exhibit, the Cranberry Bog, Fort Defiance, Harpers Ferry, Helvetia, Hillfolk Hotdogs, Landview Lighthouse, Lewisburg and The Whitespring Resort. See their respective pages for details on their real-world equivalents.
- ↑ Bethesda Fallout 76 Interview ~ QuakeCon At Home 2020:
Mark Tucker: "Well, I know our lead artist actually... he took a 'vacation' [air quotes], but while he was on vacation, was taking a lot of photographs. And apparently the people with him were like 'why are you taking all these pictures?' and [he was] like 'I don't know, it's just, y'know, really interesting...' And so he took a lot of photos, so we got a lot of photo reference there. That's one thing that I'm aware of that helped. Ferret can probably elaborate quite a bit more because he was more involved in those earlier stages than I was. But I do know that that has been, in the past, other projects have done that."
Ferret Baudoin: "Yeah. Nathan Purkeypile was our location scout, like, he did an epic tour of West Virginia. And some of the goofiest things in there, like the Landview Lighthouse... Y'know, the first time I saw that on the list, I'm like 'dude, no way, we can't do that! I mean, Fallout's goofy enough!' And then he'd show a picture: 'there! It's there!' I'm like, 'fair enough!'" - ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter: "Various settlements I have made on the Fallout series over time.
Also, to clarify, I did the layout, lighting and cluttering. So not just the world art side of things. I enjoy thinking about how a city is laid out and functions. Designers handled the actual NPCs, quests and dialogue." - ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter: "I recently had someone ask me about my thought process behind city building and cluttering locations.🗺️
I've built places for Skyrim/Fallout such as Diamond City🔷, Little Lamplight🕯️, Paradise Falls🍔, Underworld💀, Crater🛰️, etc. 🐉☢️
So here's a little thread about it.🧵" - ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter: "What's the other biggest factor?
Amusing myself!😂
All of those ridiculous little things like my "plunger room of death" with gnomes with drugs stabbed into their eyes and a person climbing a wall with plungers and dying are just a result of trying to have fun.🤣
That's key!🔑" - ↑ Nate Purkeypile on Twitter: "Also, as a fun follow up to this thread...
Fallout 4 has this comic book cover.
I'm the tall one. Istvan (the previous art director) is next to me.
A not so subtle easter egg about this trip to Burning Man. :D"