With any big video game project, there are a lot of ideas that do not make it into the game. Sometimes they are able to save the ideas for future DLC or games, but there are always things left behind on the cutting room floor. For the case of many of Bethesda’s games, they even leave traces of these cut ideas in the game. Usually, these things are left by accident and can be found sitting in secret areas or brought into being via console commands.
So what are these things? Well, they can be anything from mission script, weapons, textures, or armor. In the case of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, there are many weapons that are meant to be out of the reach of the player due to the item belonging to a Non-Playable Character.
Some of the items were meant to only be used by testing personnel. Weapons that deal amazing amounts of damage or NPCs even change aspects of the character themselves. Many of these items can still be brought into the game due to console commands, while others can only be found in the script. This happens often with deleted quests since all we know about some of them is where the quest was meant to happen and in what order it was to be completed.
In honor of the things left behind, we have created this list to show some of our favorites. These entries will be drawn from the most recent 3 Fallout games.
25 Fallout: New Vegas: Godzilla Or Gojira?
There was going to be a random event found in Fallout: New Vegas involving a fire gecko roughly three times the size of a normal gecko. Its health and damage would have been one of the highest in the game.
Its name is Gojira, the Japanese name for Godzilla.
Thankfully, Gojira can still be found in the game files and spawned into the game with console commands. Since this would have been an enemy that you would want to have spawn later in the game perhaps having it as a random event was too dangerous for low-level players.
24 Fallout 4: The Mortar
Though this was designed as a handheld weapon, it is not uncommon for some of the weapons to have handheld versions for testing. One example are the nukes that Liberty Prime uses like grenades; the player can also spawn them into the game to throw. This was most likely meant to be a test for either an upgrade to the artillery piece that can be built in settlements or a prerequisite. It is a shame that we did not get to see more than one artillery piece in the game, but this thing can still be spawned.
23 Fallout 3: Tenpenny Tower Radio
In the game files of Fallout 3, we can still find some audio files that suggest that Tenpenny Tower was meant to have its own radio station. The files themselves point to little moments of Tenpenny wisdom that would be broadcast from time to time. One example was, “A poor man wonders why he is poor. A rich man knows why he is rich.” This would have served as a radio for those that were more on the evil side. Though, the GNR radio station became the only station that would broadcast both your positive and negative events.
22 Fallout: New Vegas: The Papa Khan Set
Though Papa Khan’s armor was still very fitting, there was another set that was meant to be special just for him. This armor was to look very ancient Mongolian in nature.
Sadly, the armor itself was never fully textured.
The helmet, however, was mostly textured and looked very similar to the depiction of the helmet in the Great Khan graffiti. It is too bad that all of the Great Khans did not have armor that was reminiscent of the Mongols instead of a more biker look.
21 Fallout: New Vegas: The Remnant’s Tesla Armor
If you saw the Remnants in Fallout: New Vegas then you knew that they were some of the only Enclave members left this far west in the lore. Seeing this armor in the game files must mean that they were meant to be a larger group that played a larger part in the game. Sadly, they ended up being a small group. This armor was identical to the Enclave armor in Fallout 3 and had almost identical stats. This item is spawnable and is fully textured.
20 Fallout: New Vegas: Enticing Mr. House?
Believe it or not, there are some unused script in the Fallout: New Vegas files that suggest that there would be a point where a female character would be able to entice Mr. House. The script itself mentions having three different reactions to a female courier trying to seduce him, but only after having your brain scanned. There are mentions in the lore to House scanning women’s brains then playing dress up with them. Weird…
19 Fallout 3: The Chinese Dragoon Assault Rifle
In the Operation Anchorage DLC, there was once going to be more of the Chinese weapons inside the vault. One of these weapons was going to be the Chinese Dragoon Assault Rifle. It was going to be a unique version of the Chinese Assault Rifle that had a more winterized skin, much like everything else in the vault. Though it would not have added a whole lot to the game, many of us that liked the Chinese rifle would have appreciated it.
Artwork by Marsvii.
18 Fallout 3: Black Barts Bane
We are pretty sure that everyone remembers the timeless movie A Christmas Story. What you may have forgotten is Black Bart, the bad guy from the TV show that Ralphie watched.
Well, at the end of the movie when he gets the BB gun he wanted, he mentions Black Bart.
Whether it was not allowed to be in the game or the developers didn’t want another special BB gun, we may never know. But, it is a fun reference you can still spawn into the game.
17 Fallout 4: A Giant Squid
There was a cut mission from Fallout 4 called 20 Leagues Under The Sea. This mission, from what we could tell, would have lead to an underwater vault. Something even more interesting then that, however, is that there are unused textures of a squid in the game. With that mission title, there is no way they are not connected. Even more interesting there is a “ghoulified” version of those same textures as well.
Artwork by Eldarzakirov.
16 Fallout 4: Piper’s Interview
If you have played Fallout 4 at all you have done Piper’s interview. Have you ever wondered why she does not ask you about life before the war? Well, it was cut, that’s why. Originally, she would ask what you did before the war and what it was like. To which the player would respond that they were a soldier or a lawyer, depending on their gender. This would have had us connect with the character more, and it is a shame they cut it.
Artwork by Quizzicalkisses.
15 The Floater
The Floater is a creature that is found in the first two Fallout games as a product of The Master and his unleashing of the FEV. It was planned to have appearances in both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.
They are some creepy mutated tapeworms.
It is a shame we never got to see them in the newer games, as they are a creepy and interesting enemy. Sadly, the only way you will see one is through mods.
14 Fallout: New Vegas: The Faderator
As we mentioned in the intro, there are some items left in the game that players were never meant to have. One of the best examples is The Faderator Gauss Rifle. It is a fully automatic Gauss Rifle that cannot run out of ammo due to the way it was programmed. The Gauss Rifle itself is a devastating weapon, but if you spawn this rifle into your game, you will be unstoppable.
13 Fallout 3: The Cryolator
The Cryolator has finally become a weapon in Fallout 4, but not many know it was meant to be a creatable weapon in Fallout 3. From the rough textures, we can see that the original weapon was meant to look much different as it was supposed to be made of junk laying around. It is impossible to say if the weapon was meant to work the same as it does in Fallout 4.
12 Fallout: New Vegas: The Enclave Shocktrooper Armor
This item is the same as is in Fallout 3. This is another hint that the Enclave was meant to play a bigger role in the game. They most likely just borrowed the assets, which would explain why they are finished and useable.
This one does not have an in-game helmet that goes with it; however, it is really strong.
This armor set is still able to be used through console commands, but you may want to get the Remnant Helmet to go with it. Pictured above it the armor remade for Fallout 4.
11 Fallout 4: What Combat Zone Should Have Been
The area, Combat Zone, was originally meant to be an arena of sorts. One where you could only fight with melee weapons and your armor. There are mods that bring this back into the game, but come on Bethesda, arena combat is awesome! Even New Vegas had an arena! It’s a shame that the area becomes just another area full of enemies. This could have been the Thunder Dome experience we always wanted.
10 Fallout 3: The Throwing Skill
If you have played the first two Fallouts, then you might wonder where the throwing skill went. Well, for Fallout 3 there were plans in the works to keep the skill. We know this since the baseball traps in the game throw baseballs that are coded to be equippable. They even have a Pip-Boy icon of the player throwing the ball. Sadly, throwing hatchets and knives were also doing to be in the game, but didn’t make the cut.
9 Fallout 4: The Harpoon Gun
As we mentioned, there was going to be a quest in the game that involved an underwater Vault. Well, as a part of the quest there is a weapon that was meant to go along with it, the harpoon gun.
Could you imagine hunting that giant squid with a harpoon gun? Epic.
Though something similar to this was added in the Far Harbor DLC, this was planned to actually look like an actual harpoon gun. Its basic shape can be found in the files but it was never finished.
8 Fallout 4: Pipe Shotguns
If anything, they should have left this in. We always wondered why there was no shotgun variant of the pipe weapons. Well, this was the original plan, but sadly they never saw the light of day. If you think this is a good idea, you can still mod them it into the game. If the wastelanders can make revolvers out of junk, why not a shotgun? Just a barrel, a trigger, a firing pin, and a shotgun shell. Because more shotguns are always better.
7 Fallout 4: The Lucky Rabbit’s Foot
This one would have made for an interesting idea. The plan was that this item would have taken up your grenade slot and for as long as you had it there, would have given you 10% more experience and +3 luck. For anyone else that felt grenades were a bit clunky, this item was for you. They must have decided that this was too powerful and left it out of the game entirely. But the script for such an item remains in the files of the Far Harbor DLC.
6 Fallout 3: The Excalibat
This one is an obvious reference to the sword Excalibur, which was rumored to be found in a rock. There is some speculation that the bat would have also been found in the map stuck in a rock.
Pull the bat from the stone and become a fearsome warrior!
We are not sure if this bat would have also made you king of the wastelands like Arthur in England, but one can dream. It never made the final cut of the game for unknown reasons.
