In the wake of sad news comes a rather heartwarming update: Xbox has recently announced that both it and Bethesda were donating $10,000 to the Humane Society in Bethesda’s home county in honor of the canine actress who portrayed Dogmeat in Fallout 4. Don’t look now, I have something in my eye.
We recently got the sad news about the death of River, the dog who inspired the Fallout 4 version of Dogmeat. Owned by Fallout 4’s lead level designer Joel Burgess, River was the model for both Dogmeat’s looks and behavior. Burgess eulogized her on Twitter by telling the story of how she came to be involved in the game, saying she was “the antidote to my biggest worry for the Dogmeat character – a canine weapon, and nothing more. What we wanted was a companion first, and a combat ally second.”
He said her nature helped the character designers nail Dogmeat’s in-game friendliness: “River attended countless meetings; but not just to be poked, prodded, recorded and filmed as a reference – her biggest job was just to BE with the team. The more they bonded with her, the more they saw Dogmeat as a character – a friend.” They would work River’s personality and behavior into the game, down to how she walked, and she would also “voice” Dogmeat (which sounds a little sad as the only way they could get some of her more melancholy barks was to separate her from Burgess).
The Montgomery County Humane Society, the specific charity to which Xbox and Bethesda donated the money (Bethesda’s office is located in that county) responded on Twitter saying it was “honored to be a part of River’s legacy.” Look, I don’t know about y’all, but that pulls at my twisted little heartstrings something fierce. Burgess thanked everyone for the support on Twitter, acknowledged the donation, and encouraged everyone to volunteer at their local animal shelters.
Source: IGN
