Britain’s beloved Larry the Cat inspires new furry companion in Fallout London

A Tale of Video Game Pets; ‘Chief Mouser’ the latest to follow you across the wasteland

Larry the cat posing at 10 Downing Street. Credit: His Majesty’s Government, Open Government License (UK), via Wikimedia Commons

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Two years ago when Team FOLON released Fallout London, an obscenely successful fan mod built on the power armour framework of Fallout 4, they naturally gave us companions. They gave us their version of Dogmeat.

Unlike the Belgian Malinois or German Shepherd of previous Fallout games, Fallout London’s Dogmeat was an English bulldog with the name of Churchill.

And he was a very good boi.

Churchill in Fallout London, a total-conversion fan mod of popular role-playing video game Fallout 4. Credit: Team FOLON

When fans raised concerns of Churchill rushing into battle without protection, Team FOLON added lootable dog armour, complete with his own bowler hat and a lit cigar reminiscent of the ones that the real Winston Churchill had smoked a “truly extraordinary” amount of.

If all this seems a bit silly, well, that’s exactly what playing Fallout was like — 1950s retrofuturism limping through a post-apocalyptic wilderness to occasional Pratchettian insight/absurdity. This, and video game pets go way back. It’s why (nearly) everyone has a favourite Pokemon, why we adored the dog in Fable II and the Mabari mutt in Dragon Age: Origins, and let’s not forget at least one kitty Mr Midnight, who helped us brave the nightmares of *Fran Bow* (2015).

Fran and Mr Midnight, together in a dream in Fran Bow (2015). Credit: Killmonday Studios

I’m also willing to bet tickets that players of Baldur’s Gate 3 went out of their way to adopt the owlbear cub, just so they could see the flufforb play with her best friend Scratch.

Personally, a video game pet was also how I dealt with grief when I lost my beautiful scrawny cat, Skye; she lived on as a companion to my sorcerer character in Elder Scrolls Online. The point is gamers really love their in-game pets, and go through ridiculous lengths, to the point of reloading battles, to keep them at their side.

The Dogmeat That Nearly Wasn’t

Interplay (the legendary studio who gave us Fallout 1 and 2, the early Baldur’s Gate games, and personal favourite Planescape: Torment) unknowingly started a grand tradition when they introduced Dogmeat way back in 1997. This nearly didn’t happen. The first Fallout did not even have a companion system until literal weeks before shipping.

Co-creator Timothy Cain, in his game design video ‘The Credits Problem’, said the Fallout team had decided early on — at a time when games like Wizardry and Ultima had multiple party members — that the player character would be alone. Fast forward two years later, and the idea of followers unexpectedly got revisited. By then, it was early 1997; the game was mostly done and development had shifted to bugfixing. Attempting companions would put pressure on the “vastly overloaded plates” of people already working 12 to 14-hour days.

Programmer Jesse Heinig, however, was able to code and demonstrate a rudimentary follower system, using just scripts.

“Very wisely he (Heinig) picked Dogmeat who has no dialogue and no inventory. He got Dogmeat to follow you around, enter fights when you were attacked, and importantly he got Dogmeat to go from one map to another… I’m not sure the way he did it was kosher, but he got (followers) to work,” Cain wryly added.

The Dogmeats of Fallout 1 (1997) and Fallout 4 (2015). Credit: Interplay, Bethesda Softworks

The follower system had numerous problems: potential bad save games, bloated scripts, behavioural AI. (If you weren’t careful, for instance, your man Ian could notoriously gank a whole squad of enemies while shooting you in the back.) But QA loved it, and of course, people loved the dog. It guaranteed Dogmeat’s return in sequels, and oh look, who is this puppy we see in the 2024 Fallout TV show?

D’aww. The earlier scene was rough, though. If you don’t know what I mean, I recommend www.doesthedogdie.com. Credit: Amazon Prime Video

In short, Dogmeat’s popularity is why we have Churchill the bulldog getting underfoot in Fallout London. And why I am now stuck out here in the wasteland, waiting to adopt the Chief Mouser, one of two new companions to arrive with the upcoming second DLC, Last Orders.

Sorry, other companion Becket; a vision-impaired cultist monk is cool, but I’m here for the kitty.

Prey-Stalking, Lethal Prowler

If you have not heard of Larry the Cat, Britain’s very own Chief Mouser of 10 Downing street, you are in for a treat. Adopted from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home (a location you can visit in Fallout London), Larry became an instant media darling with his scene-stealing grace and the tendency to photobomb dignitaries from all over the world.

Just last week, Larry the Cat again made the news for outlasting six British Prime Ministers with the resignation of of Keir Starmer. This cat is 19 and has served as official mouser for a stonkin’ 15 years (he might outlive the King at this rate.) Despite being hired to catch rats, Larry is just as likely to pounce on a pigeon as he is to chase a fox off his territory.

Can’t wait for the Chief Mouser to meet the cyberpigeons and killer foxes of Fallout London. Credit: Team FOLON

If you were to boot up the latest version of Fallout London (have I mentioned this mod is free?), you can already see a Larry-inspired cat lounging around his home turf. The option to recruit this mighty hunter, however, only comes when the DLC drops at an unspecified time. “Later this year” was the last prediction, once those final bugs are zapped.

I however am still racing to experience the slew of content from the first DLC Rabbit & Pork. I had been distracted with both Kingdom Come: Deliverance games, Grimshire, and the Gothic 1 Remake.

Team FOLON chief operating officer Dean ‘Prilladog’ Carter said unavoidable hurdles threw a hitch to the original plan of releasing Last Orders to coincide with their Collector’s Edition kickstarter last month. If they’d wanted the extra help, they didn’t need it. The campaign was funded in “six hours”, ending at GBP £69,002 (around USD $92,138) at time of writing. Luckily for fans, they are apparently accepting late pledges and the devs’ new website might offer merchandise soon.

“Please remember the kickstarter has nothing to do with the mod. Fallout London is and will always be free,” Carter said in a discord announcement.

What to Expect from the Last Orders DLC

The Tommies responding to a threat in Fallout London. Credit: Team FOLON

Players can expect a new questline involving the Tommies, a peacekeeping sub-faction devoted to the Queen but acts under the supposed direction of the tyrannical Gentry.

• 8 sub-faction quests, 8 new side-quests
• 20 new locations
• new instrumental punk rock music to play in Camden, district of the anarchist Pistols sub-faction
• over 500 bug fixes and technical tweaks
• 20 adjustments across London’s existing six settlements, seven quest-specific player homes, and the one free Garage Hideout next to The Swan & Mitre (another real-life location you can visit in the game)
• Becket, a new human companion determined to find a cure for the deadly Tunnel Cough she has been infected with;
• and of course, the Chief Mouser.

Carter notes that while the player can get the Mouser to follow them, the cat’s attacks are unlikely to be “as advanced as Churchill’s”.

No word yet on whether the Chief Mouser will get the armour treatment, although such a mod already exists in the Fallout 4 modding community.

“So it (cat armour) is clearly possible, haha,” said an undisclosed member of the dev team.

Not sure if you should try Fallout London? Here are my Ten Reasons why this crazy mod is better than Fallout 4.

I also wrote a way-too-long guide to the mod’s best backpacks (can you tell Fallout London was my 2024 game of the year?)

Hey there, I’m Chris. I write to entertain and educate using screenshots to bring life to my stories. I probably take way too many photographs for my own good. I also despise AI — I could give an entire rant about AI-assisted games.