Fallout: New California, previously known as Fallout: Project Brazil, is entering beta after nine years in development. The first ModDB post concerning Fallout: New California popped up in 2010 celebrating the projects one-year anniversary. Against all the odds, as of April 1, the AAA game-sized mod for Fallout: New Vegas can now be played from start to finish. Considering how many ambitious mod projects like this fall apart, even after years of work, it’s astounding how much this team has done to bring this project to life.
Fallout: New California contains 14,000 lines of voiced dialog and a branching main quest that allows players to choose whether to play the game as an NCR trooper or a raider. The main quest continues to branch as you play, and since some branches are so completely different than others, this mod has an incredible amount of replay value.
Unfortunately, the beta isn’t quite public-ready yet, but the post detailing the completion of the main questline says that an open beta is a very real and immediate possibility. Fallout: New California project leader Branden Lee said of the mod’s status, “We still have bugs, and we still have defects, but it’s approaching a level of polish you’d expect from a release ready product most of the time.”
Fallout: New Vegas is a fan favorite, and many saw Fallout 4 as a step backward as far as storytelling goes. As this mod serves as a prequel to that game, it’ll make for a great excuse for another playthrough of Obsidian’s masterpiece. For more info on the scope and story of the project, you can see design documents for the mod here.
If you want to keep up with the impending release of Fallout: New California the team will be opening up their Discord soon, and they’ll continue to post updates on ModDB and Facebook.
