Athens and OHIO goes post-apocalyptic in new Fallout 76 game

For Bobcats playing the latest Fallout 76 expansion, whether they’re ��Ƶ game development students or longtime fans of the game, the experience can feel a little like inception. Players aren’t just immersing themselves in a new post-apocalyptic world; they’re exploring a digital version of a place they already know well — Athens, Ohio, and ��Ƶ.

According to Jeff Kuhn, director of ��Ƶ Esports and an expert in game design and interactive media, creating those immersive worlds is both a creative and technical balancing act.

“Game design is a balance of art and code so compromises are always made along the way to really hit at the idea of ‘does this feel good to play,’” Kuhn explains. “As you build game maps you test them against that question. Players are active problem solvers in games so you are always trying to give them problems to solve, places to explore, small bits of treasure to discover.”

That philosophy shapes how players move through a space and what they experience along the way. Kuhn compares game map design to the way Disney builds its theme parks, a worldbuilding approach students also study in OHIO’s theme parks class taught by John Bowditch and Beth Novak.

But before a single texture or building appears on screen, game environments must begin in a stripped-down form.

It all starts with geometry in a process called greyboxing. According to Kuhn, the goal is to sketch out the rough ideal with simple shapes to make sure things feel right before investing into adding art.

When it comes to Athens’ inclusion in Fallout 76, Kuhn said the development team likely began with the town’s most recognizable features.

“With Athens in Fallout 76, they probably started with a few large landmarks like the Hocking River, Court Street and Peden Stadium to get the rough geography in place. Often then the goal shifts to ‘what would be fun here?’ and the quest designers and writers would begin to think of what the player can do in this area,” he says. “Then the team would playtest the map to see how fun it is, make changes where needed and then being to finalize the map by adding the art assets, sounds, and items for the player to discover.”

While Bethesda Game Studios has not publicly explained why Athens was selected, Kuhn suggests the developers may have known the game would expand into eastern Ohio and began scouting notable towns in the region.

“As a game designer you are always looking through the lens of ‘what's fun?’ and Athens being old, having a university and being a bigger town in the region creates some opportunity for fun player quests so it seems a logical choice,” Kuhn explains.

The Athens players encounter in Fallout 76 is intentionally not a perfect recreation. Set in an alternate timeline, with the series beginning in 2077 and Fallout 76 taking place in 2102 according to Kuhn, the game allows developers to take creative liberties while still capturing the town’s identity. He notes that while players may be excited to see recognizable locations, they won’t see their own house.

Since this map hits so close to home, literally, Kuhn plans to bring the map into future classes, using it as a way to help students think critically about design decisions.

“Athens being a known entity to our students, we can examine the map and discuss why we think the team at Bethesda Game Studios made the choices they did in their representation of Athens,” he says. “Game design is always a compromise because you are deciding where to allocate your resources in terms of time, development cost, and the fun a player can have. An interesting class project may be for students to explore Athens in Fallout 76 and then sketch out their own version of Athens - it is a great way to see what a person values or thinks is fun and then have class discussions on who included what and why.”

For Kuhn, Athens’ digital transformation offers more than just a fun Easter egg for Bobcats, it’s a real-world example of how familiar places can be reshaped into interactive worlds, and how design choices help determine what players see, explore and remember.

More information from Kuhn on how games are designed to come in an upcoming Ask the Experts podcast.

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