Joel Burgess, a game designer and lead level designer on Fallout 4, announced on Twitter that River, the inspiration and model for Fallout 4's faithful companion Dogmeat, passed away. River was an integral part of the Dogmeat team when Fallout 4 was being developed. Not only did she inspire the original Dogmeat team to make the character a German Shepherd, but she also dug into the hearts of members all around the studio to the point that more people found a way to help out the team and bring her personality into it. River even won the Top Video Game Dog of 2015 at the World Dog Awards for her work in Fallout 4.
Fallout 4 was originally released in November 2015 on PlayStation 4, XBox One and PC, and it is currently available on XBox Game Pass. This open-world RPG continuation of the Fallout series takes place in Boston, MA where the payer is the sole survivor of Vault 111. There are a total of 13 companions the survivor can recruit and explore with or even romance. Dogmeat is one of them. He doesn't provide any perks like other companions do, but he is helpful in terms of distracting enemies, carrying items and being loyal and loving regardless of the decisions a player makes. He is one of the first companions players will run into at the start of the game since he is located just south of Sanctuary at a Red Rocket Truck Stop.
Former designer Joel Burgess made the announcement early this morning (via Kotaku). He did not give any specifics as to how or why she died, but that wouldn't change the impact of her death. River being the inspiration for Dogmeat was not always the plan according to Burgess. He tells the story of how he visited the desk of a Dogmeat team member and countless pictures of research covered their walls. "Images of German Shepherds snarling, all teeth and attack postures. Within a day or two, River started visiting the studio." Over time, River became a friend to the entire team. Burgess used his announcement to create a thread detailing just how much of an impact River had on the creation and the behavior of Dogmeat in the game.
Burgess found it easier to detail the game-developing aspect of River than to eulogize her on Twitter, but the connection between the two is evident even in this. He details the fact that they wanted to avoid using stock library sounds as much as possible for her but that it was tricky getting a distress call from her; no one wants to put a dog in distress and no one wants to hear the heart-wrenching noise. Burgess says "The only way we could get these was to separate us - I'd have to stand in an adjacent room where she could smell but not reach me until she started calling out."
It is never easy saying goodbye to a loving and loyal pet. No one is going to hurt or grieve like her owner, Joel Burgess, but all Fallout 4 players are going to be a little sadder today knowing the real-life dog who brought depth and personality to Dogmeat is gone. Wandering the wasteland and exploring Boston with a faithful companion who didn't care about the outcome of the player's tough decisions made the game a little more enjoyable. Everyone who played any of the more recent solo Fallout games will know that there has always been a Dogmeat, or at least a canine companion of some kind. Though Fallout 5, whenever it is released, may also have a Dogmeat, there won't be another River.
Source: Kotaku
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