River soon became popular among all the developers. “The more they bonded with her, the more they saw Dogmeat as a character – a friend.” “River attended countless meetings but not just to be poked, prodded, recorded and filmed as reference – her biggest job was just to BE with the team,” said Burgess. They researched professionally trained dogs, but eventually River began visiting the team in the studio. Often companions are there to support the player with extra firepower, but Burgess explains how, with Dogmeat, the team wanted “a companion first, and a combat ally second”. For Twitter, I thought it’d be appropriate to look back at her impact on that game,” he began. “Heartbroken doesn’t cover it, but I won’t eulogize her here. (plus, writing about game dev hurts less than grieving) /ayN1Vd6oqQ For twitter, I thought it'd be appropriate to look back at her impact on that game. Heartbroken doesn't cover it, but I won’t eulogize her here.
I said goodbye today to River, who most of you know as Fallout 4’s Dogmeat. Joel Burgess, a developer on the game, shared a Twitter thread about River and how she inspired the game’s companion, which has since gone viral. The much-loved dog that provided the inspiration for Dogmeat in Fallout 4 has sadly died.ĭogmeat is one of the companions in the apocalyptic RPG and was based on a real-life German Shepherd called River, who was a huge hit with the entire team.
