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For the Fallout strategy guide, see Fallout Official Survival Guide. |
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The Vault Dweller's Survival Guide (VDSG) is the game manual for Fallout. In the original release, it was present in the game box, printed in A5 format with a soft cover and either spiral- (North American release) or glue-bound (European release) edge.[Meta 1]
The manual was written by Chris Taylor, with Ed Rubin handling design and layout, and Tramell Ray Isaac, Jason Anderson, Leonard Boyarsky, and Scott Rodenhizer providing art assets.
Overview[]
 Part of a series on |
| Vault-Tec Corporation |
|---|
| Subsidiaries |
| Future-Tec · Hawthorne Medical Laboratories · Vault-Tec Game Studios |
| Notable facilities |
| Vaults (List of known Vaults) · Vault-Tec headquarters · Vault-Tec Regional HQ · Vault-Tec University · Vault-Tec: Among the Stars |
| Notable technologies |
| Vaults · CAMP · Food paste · G.E.C.K. · Series 1000 shelter · TOMIS · VATS · Vault Star super-reactor · ZAX |
| Miscellaneous |
| Multi-generational starship · Project Safehouse · Vault Dweller's Survival Guide · Vault-Tec bobblehead |
The VDSG is an official handbook for Vault dwellers, issued by the Vault-Tec Documentation Department in January 2077. Under United States law, it was considered a document with information affecting the national defense of the nation (as per the New Amended Espionage Act), and any revelation of its contents to unauthorized persons was prohibited. VTB-001 focused on the events following a global nuclear war.[1]
It was one of several handbooks issued by Vault-Tec to help dwellers prepare with various end of the world scenarios, identified by the serial number VTB-001. An abridged version of the VDSG was available, focusing on Limited Scale Nuclear War end of world scenario and identified as VTB-002. Other publications were Coping With Mr. Virus! (Disease), How to Eat Rat (Starvation), Flotation Homes and Seaweed (Flooding), and How to Dodge Falling Rocks (Meteor).[1]
The information it provided was extensive and included detailed statistics on Vault 13, nuclear blast effects, a breakdown of SimTek 5000 functionality, a simulation system designed to familiarize Vault dwellers with the outside world after a long period of sheltering (an explanation for the interface), personnel records (character creation and game system), instrumentation (interface in detail) with a breakdown of the features of the RobCo Pip-Boy 2000, combat resolution with a non-exhaustive item list, complete perk list, and other information, including a GECK advertisement, and seven appendices, including two recipes by Tim Cain: Mushroom Clouds and Desert Salad.[1]
Transcript[]
Behind the scenes[]
- The manual contains a wealth of information, and several parts of it are commented out with a rendered strip of tape, with handwritten comments by the Vault 13 overseer. These contain additional explanations or are juxtaposed with the overly optimistic Vault-Tec statements. There is text below them to give the appearance of an actual body of text beneath, however, when present it's a nonsensical variant of lorem ipsum:
The Slayer's collection of books, VDSG is near the bottom.
- A copy of the VDSG, subtitled Preparing Yourself and Your Loved Ones for the Inevitable Nuclear Apocalypse, is on the Doom Slayer's bookshelf in Doom Eternal.
- The publication is mentioned in a promotional item that came with the real world Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI FM radio module, Boston Bugle Volume 12.
- In the instrumentation section, the image of the terminal includes several lines from the real world Fallout Protection: What To Know and Do About Nuclear Attack booklet.[Meta 2]
- A copy of Coping With Mr. Virus! appears in concept art and the 2010 teaser trailer for Fallout Online.[Non-canon 1]
The Survival Guide in the TV series
- Pages from the Survival Guide appear in the Fallout TV series episode "The End" on the Vault 33 governing council bulletin board. They include the G.E.C.K. advertisement and the mushroom cloud and desert salad recipes, along with the Vault Boy version of Tim Cain.
References[]
Non-canon
Meta