Even two decades after its launch, the original Fallout has a large fan base around the world. There is now a new open source project that allows players to run the classic game on their phones natively.
The project’s creator Alex Batalov uploaded Fallout Community Edition to GitHub last week. He described it as a “fully working re-implementation of Fallout” that “works (mostly) hassle-free on multiple platforms.”
The Community Edition not only offers the original gameplay, but also contains engine bug fixes and some quality of life improvements.
As explained by game developer Adam Lacko, it is a “reverse-engineered source code of the original Fallout engine (a separate project called Fallout Reference Edition) rewritten in C++ and enhanced to run natively on mutliple platforms.”
As you go about your day, I’d like to bring to your attention that Fallout Community Edition, an open source Fallout game, was released today.
You owe your prayers to Alex Batalov, the creator, and our champion.https://t.co/ItPagHCYCf
P.S.: You can play it on Android too! pic.twitter.com/Xuc5QmvrRp
— Adam Lacko (@lacko_adam) February 10, 2023
To install and play Fallout Community Edition, you need to own a copy of the original game on Steam or GOG. The source code itself is available under the Stustainable Use License, which allows using and modifying software for non-commercial or personal use.
The release page contains build binaries for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It is worth noting that prior to the release of the Community Edition, the first Fallout could only be played on mobile using emulators.
Batalov also noted that he will continue to improve the project, promising to add some features from Fallout 2. He already has Fallout 2 Community Edition.
In other news about pre-Bethesda Fallout games, programmer and designer Tim Cain last year opened up about creating an RPG system for Fallout 1 and making the in-game world react to the player’s actions. There is also a fan, who reimagined character models from Fallout 2 using Stable Diffusion.