So, I get the idea of what @Mr-Johnson is saying/pitching here. Getting back to his idea of a Fallout MU, at some unspecified point in the Fallout Universe, pretty much the post WW2 50's, the world took a 'step back' and used atomic technology to fuel technological advancements that benefited society, much like the science fiction of that era and earlier had proposed. And, the aesthetic of the world remained stuck in the 50's, because reasons.
There's a few problems with this general concept, though (even with the Fallout series, not just the MU pitch)
- It's internally inconsistent. We 'step back' and devote to technological advancement through atomic power, but we still build nuclear arsenals and there's still a Cold War between 'Yanks' and 'Commies' going until 2070 when the nuclear war breaks out between the US and China. So, there's really no 'step back' moment.
2)It ignores societal changes that accompany technology. Everything is basically 'Leave It To Beaver', but with robots and clunky wrist computers.There's no mutual influence of society and technology upon each other, outside of a general consumer demand for 'more convenience'. Society has been frozen for about 120 years, which is hard to justify outside of 'it's just this way because'.
Now, this works in a game series like Fallout, because the primary focus is survival and shooting. Also, the universe is meant to be a satirical comment on the 50's-early 60's consumer culture. The past is barely sketched in enough to support the game's style. It works great for a FPS, but on a game where the primary purpose is role-playing, it leaves a lot of details lacking.
I think this is the issue when designing a game around a particular aesthetic: you have to have a slightly logical reason for the aestetic to exist beyond 'it looks cool'.
Let's take a look at a successful game with a strong and clear design aestetic: Shadowrun. It boils down to 'cyberpunk + magic', but FASA worked the lore around the concept in order to explain it and how society has changed and reacted according to the in-game history.
Bottom line: things don't just exist in a solitary vacuum. William Gibson created the idea of cyberspace, and that influenced how the Internet developed into what it is today as much as the physical technology of ARPANet. We have dedicated scientists and technicians working to create matter/enercy converters because Star Trek postulated the possibility with transporters and replicators. If you're proposing a dieselpunk/atompunk/raypunk/whateverpunk aesthetic for a game, there needs to be reasons why the world exists like this. And that means creating details that may make creating the gme more of a chore than a pleasure for you.
