How were Ghouls made before Bethesda?

[Atlas]

I'm almost positive this has been answered before, but for some reason I'm suffering some massive brain fog today. I know that, originally, feral ghouls were just people who went mad from the pain of living. That, because of the state of their body, they weren't able to move quickly, and that they were most definitely NOT something that could be made immediately like Moira or Camp Searchlight(Really wish there was a mod to replace the ghouls with dead NCR soldiers)

Were they humans who were exposed to just enough FEV to trigger mutations? Was it just some weird thing with radiation that some people had? What was the cause before Bethesda bastardized the series? Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT: And it just so happens I stumble across the answer in the Fallout Bible. FEV+Radiation=Ghouls. So... never mind I guess.

 

[Izak]

EDIT: And it just so happens I stumble across the answer in the Fallout Bible. FEV+Radiation=Ghouls. So... never mind I guess.

Just going to point out that I think there was a small argument about that over at Black Isle, I think Leonard Boyarsky argued that it was entirely due to radiation (because it was a popular belief during the 50's that radiation would do crazy shit to you) while Tim Cain/Chris Avellone argued it was a combination of radiation and FEV.

 

[mithrap]

I think that FEV + Radiations made the cut, in the end, because if it was just radiations, ghouls would have appeared in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and several other pre war events, which is never mentionned. However, the first Fallout took an interesting road with the Bakersfield's vault, implying that there could have been chemicals in the ventilation as well. If I remember correctly (correct me if I'm wrong, it has been ages)
This could have been a way more interesting path, because it would have doomed the Ghouls to be a genetic exception, a localized exception, and it would have enhanced the drama of them being an ephemerical species : first and last generation, which is very sad when you think about it. Shame this idea was basically dropped forever with the new generation titles.

 

[Hassknecht]

I think that FEV + Radiations made the cut, in the end, because if it was just radiations, ghouls would have appeared in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and several other pre war events, which is never mentionned. However, the first Fallout took an interesting road with the Bakersfield's vault, implying that there could have been chemicals in the ventilation as well. If I remember correctly (correct me if I'm wrong, it has been ages)
This could have been a way more interesting path, because it would have doomed the Ghouls to be a genetic exception, a localized exception, and it would have enhanced the drama of them being an ephemerical species : first and last generation, which is very sad when you think about it. Shame this idea was basically dropped forever with the new generation titles.

Hm, no, I don't remember anything about chemicals in Vault 12. As far as I know, ghouls were supposed to be created by long-term irradiation, not intense enough to cause severe radiation poisoning and death, but still high enough to slowly mutate the victim. I.e. exactly what the faulty door in Vault 12 would provide. I always understood ghouls as the product of rather rare circumstance, not something that always happens when there's radiation involved (fuckin' Moira...).

 

[mithrap]

Oh yes, my bad. That's the vault's door that was mentioned, not the ventilation. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[Earth]

Harold was the anomaly, made by both radiation poisoning and FEV exposure. More a mutant than ghoul. The other ghouls from Vault 12 were born from slow radiation exposure from a leak.

I assume the same thing happened with ghouls in Fallout 2. Not sure about the one in Fallout New Vegas. There were the ghouls in Camp Searchlight caused by a radiation bomb so I guess that's more the Bethesda version of ghoul creation. We don't know how long ago the radiation bomb went off though.

 

[Kohno]

What ever way they were "created" originally, they should've remained a local event to the west coast. An isolated freak anomaly rather than a norm across the continent. All the intrigue, mystery and dread of "what else might have happened" died when ghouls and supermutants were standardized to the "stock enemy" -status. Now both are just boring regardless of how they originated.

 

[mithrap]

What ever way they were "created" originally, they should've remained a local event to the west coast. An isolated freak anomaly rather than a norm across the continent. All the intrigue, mystery and dread of "what else might have happened" died when ghouls and supermutants were standardized to the "stock enemy" -status. Now both are just boring regardless of how they originated.

On the same subject, feral ghouls obviously don't make sense in Boston. By putting them on the east coast, you are right, they have lost the intrigue and mystery, the empathy that would made us hesitate between shooting and talking. What would have made sense, however, is this : Institute's test subjects.
The exact same skeleton, sounds, spawn places and animations. Just a retexture, to make them look more like this (warning, creepy : http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net...Concept.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151104222703). Humans, possibly aware (maybe even begging you to run away?), capable of running and make damage (unlike "real" ghouls), with electronic parts hanging out of their rotting bodies, programs interfering with their conscience and driven mad by the experiments. You'd feel bad shooting them. They'd be dangerous, creepy, but on overall, victims.
This way, the lore rape of the ghouls is over and we've got creepy proofs of the Institute's undoings. They consider the commonwealth as a trashcan for their failures, and they are obviously doing some nasty stuff to people, down there. It sets them as a creepy boogeyman. It fits the current setting, story, everything, and it would have let these poor ghouls alone. It would have been something good : an invention. Hurray!
Jesus, a modder can do it. It's just a retexture, with maybe a bit of mesh work.