The dog actress River has passed away. Many role-players know the four-legged friend well, because she was the godfather for Dogmeat – our animal companion from Fallout 4.
The developer Joel Burgess, who worked for Bethesda at the time, shared the sad news on Twitter. But instead of just mourning, he decided to talk a little about the work on Fallout 4 in memory of her.
River’s role in the development of Fallout 4
Joel Burgess posted a short message on Twitter announcing the death of his animal friend. Accordingly, he decided without further ado to explain Rivers important importance for the role play. Because, as he himself writes: Writing about game development “hurts less than mourning”.
Link to Twitter content
The bitch was a kind of “antidote” for him. Because Burgess’ worst fears about Dogmeat’s role in the game were: He did not want the players to see the dog as an “animal weapon” that is unemotionally set on the opponent.
The developers intended the exact opposite: First and foremost, Dogmeat should become an important, loyal companion that can also fight – if it has to. According to Burgess, the way there was not easy, because the choice of the dog was already difficult, according to him.
The first step was to look for a “professional” four-legged friend who already had experience in the film business or as a police dog, as is the case with most games. This of course hoped that the recordings would be as uncomplicated as possible.
A full team member
But Bethesda decided otherwise: River didn’t have to attend a single casting, so she was ultimately chosen for the role of Dogmeat. As an office dog at Bethesda, she always attended internal meetings anyway, and the more time the developers spent with her, the more they grew fond of her – just as it should be in the game. So it was obvious to just take the river for the recordings.
As a full member of the team, River was gradually carried over into the game. Not only her appearance, but also her personality was the inspiration for Dogmeat’s behavior in Fallout 4. Rivers facial expressions were adopted almost 1: 1 for her digital form, which was, among other things, simply due to her “beautiful eyes”.
You can get a good insight into working with River in this behind-the-scenes video:
Link to YouTube content
And yes, unsurprisingly, Dogmeat’s sounds that you hear in Fallout 4 are also from River. According to Joel Burgess, the sound recordings were “complex”, but the result is all the more convincing.
River also left her mark on finding the way in Fallout 4. Because when they walk together, the dog lady always ran ahead, but stopped at regular intervals to look back to see where her human friend is. Another aspect that should ultimately make up Dogmeat of the Bethesda role-playing game.
Link to Twitter content
By the way, River even won the award for her work on Fallout 4 »Top Video Game Dog of 2015« des CW Television Network.
River’s legacy is “love”
In Burgess’ extensive Twitter story find out more details about River and her role in the development of Fallout 4. Joel Burgess concludes his review with a thought to the players in the RPG: Dogmeat “loved the player”. And if love were Rivers legacy, that would be a consolation for him personally.
