Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Fallout 4 is one of the gaming world’s most anticipated titles of the year. With its forthcoming release comes a bevy of tweaks and alterations to some of the core gameplay elements experienced in the past installments of Bethesda’s wildly popular post-apocalyptic franchise. For instance, in order to work out the kinks in the action-RPG’s first-person shooting segments, the design team enlisted the helping hands of Doom developer id Software for gunplay refinement, which resulted in smoother, and more realistic battle interactions.

1. German Shepherd Database

Some of Fallout 4‘s other components are also attempting to be as true-to-life as possible, at least as far as Bethesda has tried to give practically every seemingly extraneous piece of the world a larger purpose by making better loot. And since Fallout 4‘s setting is inspired by the actual environments, landscapes, and landmarks that populate Boston, it’s sensible to assume that other features in the game have been brought about by ideas from reality as well.

Without Fallout 4‘s lead level designer Joel Burgess’ pet pup, one of the series’ most popular characters may not have made a return. In fact, as seen in the behind-the-scenes footage below, the developer’s German Shepherd, River, was the real-life inspiration for the model of the Dogmeat companion – the canine that can’t die.

Boards Community Central The Vestibule I want to buy Fallout(4) just so I can play the game with a German Shepherd sidekick. It's really about as far as Fallout 4 goes as a 'horror.

As previously reported, players will be able to direct Dogmeat’s actions through the issuing of commands, sending him to retrieve items, scout areas, or attack when necessary. Also, it must be pretty cool for Burgess to know that he’s immortalized his dog in what will likely go down as one of the most memorable video games of the year, if not the century.

Speaking of immortalization, a recently revealed video of Fallout 4‘s director Todd Howard has also been released, as he discusses fans getting to use other companions in the game, and their inability to be killed. As seen in the video below, Howard confirms that the use of Dogmeat and other in-game escorts is completely optional, adding that none of them can die, saying:

German Shepherd Database

“When he’s your follower, your actual companion in the game – there’s a number of them, not just the dog – they can’t be killed in that state [of battle]. . . . You’ve seen Mr. Handy. He’s one of the other companions, so you can take Mr. Handy instead of the dog and swap them in and out.”

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With so many new and revamped features to look forward to in Fallout 4, it’s obvious that one of Bethesda’s main goals is giving players the freedom to do virtually anything they want that’s within reason. On top of the inclusion of more responsive companions, the studio’s introduction of the ability to craft and customize weapons, armor, and settlements should also give the game a more lifelike feel.

Taking all of the changes and alterations into mind, and the fact that current-gen console discs can hold a lot more data than previous generations, it’s no wonder that the sequel will contain double the assets of Skyrim. Having said that, quantity doesn’t necessarily result in quality, but considering Bethesda’s skills as a developer, fans should rest easy and expect to be holed up in their respective Vaults for months to come once Fallout 4 goes on sale.

Fallout 4 is set for release on November 10, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One

Source: Bethesda Softworks 1, 2 (via GameSpot)

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Bellyache's Dogmeat Mutts by Bellyache
Bethesda's Dogmeat texture as a base

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