This development log is going to act as a record and self documentation for the path I’ve taken to create a somewhat working Pip-Boy over the past decade.
This isn’t exactly my first Pip-Boy project, like many others I also previously had the Fallout 4 collectors edition into which I jammed an old smartphone and had running the Fallout 4 companion app and that sat on my shelf as a display piece for years, that is until the phone battery exploded, it wasn’t exactly designed to be on charge with the screen on 24/7/365.
It’s been just over 4 years now since I bought the Pip-Boy 2000 Mk VI construction kit by the ever wonderful The Wand Company. When I first laid hands on this prop I was inspired, The Wand Company go to extraordinary lengths to bring a objects into the real world from our imaginations, the attention to detail in everything from the prop itself to the packaging and manuals is unparalleled. So it felt like time to have a redo of my Fallout 4 Pip-Boy 3000 and ideally this time, less explodey.
Planning
The ultimate plan for this Pip-Boy was to create something that felt real, I was inspired by the lengths The Wand Company go to in making something feel like it’s straight out of the game, and I just wanted to expand on that. This led to some high level design goals for the project:
- It must be safe enough to leave running as a display piece 24/7 without the risk of exploding. Portability and wireless power is the ultimate goal, but the majority of the time it will be displayed and not worn so it should be able to do that safely.
- An accurate Pip-Boy would not be touchscreen, user interaction should be through buttons and dials on the device.
- The overall aesthetic should match that of the in-game object, as much as possible I’d like to avoid adding too many extra buttons/ports/lights etc. and where that’s unavoidable try to either keep it discreet or fitting of the overall aesthetic.