Fallout Shelter: attack definition

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Effects

Types of attacks

Weapon bursts are categorized by where the burst occurs relative to the surface of the earth. Each type of burst has different key effects. An enemy will choose a burst type appropriate for what they are trying to accomplish and the means of weapon delivery available to them.

An air burst is a burst that is high enough off the ground that the fireball does not touch the surface (this height depends on the weapon yield) but low enough that there's still an appreciable atmosphere (below 100,000 feet). Air bursts produce much less fallout than surface bursts. A terrorist could presumably achieve an air burst by exploding a weapon within an aircraft.

A surface burst is a burst that either occurred on the surface or low enough in the air that the fireball touches the surface. The surface involved can be either earth or water. A surface burst causes considerable fallout.

Since underwater bursts are most likely in an attack at sea against a military target, they are not relevant to civilian protection. Fallout Shelter has only limited support for reporting their effects.

Underground bursts are primarily relevant to nuclear testing, therefore they are not supported in the current release of Fallout Shelter.

A high-altitude burst is one that occurs at an altitude of at least 100,000 feet. The primary effects of a high-altitude burst are disruption of radio and radar signals and damage to electrical or electronic equipment from the burst's electromagnetic pulse. Blast, fallout, and thermal effects are not significant.

Adding attacks in a hurry

From the attacks list, tap on the New button. Where possible, attributes are pre-set to sensible values. You only have to choose a weapon and a target.

You could also start with an existing attack, in either the attacks list or the attack editor, duplicate it with Record | Duplicate Attack, and then change the copy.

Adding attacks methodically

ATTACK NAME

Attack names are optional, and can be up to 23 letters long.

ATTACK CATEGORY

As in the built-in Palm OS applications, you can define up to 15 categories for attacks. By default, all attacks are Unfiled.

ARSENAL

The arsenal dropdown consists of all the arsenals in the weapon editor, plus All. When you choose an arsenal, the weapons dropdown is updated. The default arsenal is All.

WEAPON

The weapon you want to use in the attack must be chosen. If you realize you want to make changes to the weapon definitions, you can fast-jump to the weapon list screen by choosing the last entry, Edit Weapons...

YIELD

If you've chosen a weapon that can be set to different yields, you have to pick which yield to use for the attack. Yield defaults to the highest value for the weapon you've chosen.

TARGET

The target you want to use in the attack must be chosen. If you realize you want to make changes to the target definitions, you can fast-jump to the target list screen by choosing the last entry, Edit Targets...

HEIGHT (DEPTH) OF BURST AND SURFACE

For a ground, air, or high-altitude burst, choose Above For an underwater or underground burst, choose Below. Then choose whether the surface is Land or Water. When a new attack is created, it defaults to a burst 0 feet over land.

DISTANCE TO SHORE

For bursts over or under water, the distance to the nearest shore determines the height of tidal waves when they break. If you don't set this, Fallout Shelter won't report on wave effects.

IS IT DAY OR NIGHT?

If you are outside at night, your pupils will be dilated, increasing the potential for eye damage from thermal radiation. We assume the attack is at night.

IS THE GROUND WET?

If soil or rock at the target is wet, the crater will be deeper and wider than if it is dry. For conservative planning, wet ground is assumed by default.

SNOW AND CLOUDS

Snow and cloud cover will reflect back thermal radiation, increasing the risk of burns and fire. Happily, though, reflected thermal radiation does not contribute to the risk of retinal scarring. For conservative planning, snow and clouds are assumed by default.

VISIBILITY

Visibility is the horizontal distance at which a large dark object on the horizon has just enough contrast to be discernable in daylight. Fallout Shelter uses the standard international descriptive terms (like Very clear and Thin fog). Check the weather links for sources for the current visibility and historic averages if you can. Otherwise, guess based on the descriptive terms and your knowledge of the area.

The less the visibility, the more thermal energy is blocked from reaching you. By default, Fallout Shelter assumes that there's 12 miles' visibility (Clear).

WIND VELOCITY AND DIRECTION

When the burst is low enough for the fireball to touch the ground, there will be significant delayed radiation effects from fallout. Where, when, and how much depends largely on the wind speed and direction.

At each altitude in the atmosphere, the air may be moving at a different speed or in a different direction. And, of course, the wind is different every day but has seasonal patterns. Initially, the fallout is transported by high-altitude winds. As it falls, surface winds spread it out.

In a future release, we plan to integrate a weather database, to allow a more sophisticated fallout analysis. Meanwhile, enter a single wind speed and direction that Fallout Shelter should use for calculations. A normal range is, say, 8 to 45 mph.

For planning purposes, try different winds and see how the effects change. You can either do this by changing the attack or duplicating it (Record | Duplicate Attack) and changing the copy.

Direction is entered by choosing a compass point. Or choose Towards me, to assume that the wind is heading straight toward you. This option will give you the most cautious result.

Fallout Shelter defaults to a 30 mph effective wind speed heading straight at you.

NOTES

If you want to capture additional information about a attack, you can add a text memo up to 4096 letters long. If you need more space, let us know.

Locations

Effects