RobCo PDQ-99a Liberator (Restored Pre-war Prototype) (wip)

[MLeonhardt]

Holy Freaking Deathclaw Jesus this Mod is literally everything I've ever wanted since Fallout 3.

 

To shamelessly add my own ideas:

 

Have weapons built into the arms of the suit itself, like on the RobCo Sentry Bots.

 

Built in Tri-Barrel Gatling Guns, Missile Launchers, Grenade Launchers, Gatling Lasers, Scatter Lasers, giant Chainsaws for melee attacks, can be swapped out and customized on an individual basis. They could be controlled with the left and right mouse buttons.

 

Could also mount weapons to the back or shoulders, like auto turrets, missile pods, Mini Nuke launchers (METAL GEEEEEAR) long range cannons, etc. Back weapons could be controlled with Alt/Melee/Grenade buttons.

 

And of course, built in jump jets would need to be a standard feature. Something that big ain't gonna be able to jump on its own without some seriously bad ass rockets.

 

If this ends up turning into a 1950's Sci-fi Armored Core you will officially reach "Legendary" status in my eyes.

 

 

 

Also, how is this going to be presented to the player in-game?

Will they have to just spawn the thing in?

 

Or will we be taken the extra mile, have it given to us by a character, or found on a quest?

 

In the event of the addition of a character who can get excited about giant robots, I would like to submit my voice for consideration of being used for such a character:

 

https://soundcloud.com/michaelleonhardt

 

Lemme know if anyone is interested in making that happen.

 

I imagine like a Megas XLR type thing.

 

You have a character that runs a big salvage yard. Basically its an old pre-war Junk yard. Character sells his wares to traders and people that pass by.

 

Has a sale going on when you arrive "Everything in that Pile for 5 Caps"

 

Player can look at and activate several pieces of garbage or useless junk, asking the Character the price. Character gets increasingly annoyed in having to repeat "Everything in that pile is 5 caps." "5 Caps." "*ahem* 5 Caps." "5. Bottlecaps." "Everything in that pile. 5 Caps. I doubt the whole pile's even worth 5 Caps."

 

Player comes across a large metal stick, or a piece of rebar or something. Activating said Rebar has the player try to pull on it, causing part of the junk pile to fall down, revealing the Liberator.

 

Player: "So you said 5 caps?"

Character: "Uh..."

Player: "I'll take it!"

 

Quest Completed: "Now Where's First Gear Again?"

 

 

Also, a thought occurs.

 

There is not much in way of actual challenge for something so large and powerful.

 

A way to spawn lots of enemies, or large boss creatures in various environments would be important in making this feel like it has some use apart from ripping through random Raider camps.

 

Maybe once you construct a Mech Hangar and store it in one of your settlements, it becomes a target for massive Raider/Synth/Super Mutant/Brotherhood of Steel attacks.

 

Maybe you could even fight Liberty Prime with it.

 

I apologize for the wall of text, I just got really excited.

Edited February 10, 2016 by MLeonhardt

[Sebviz]

Holy freaking jesus this Mod is literally everything I've ever wanted since Fallout 3.

To add my own ideas:

Have weapons built into the arms of the suit itself, like on the RobCo Sentry Bots.

Built in Tri-Barrel Gatling Guns, Missile Launchers, Grenade Launchers, Gatling Lasers, Scatter Lasers, giant Chainsaws for melee attacks, can be swapped out and customized on an individual basis. They could be controlled with the left and right mouse buttons.

Could also mount weapons to the back or shoulders, like auto turrets, missile pods, Mini Nuke launchers (METAL GEEEEEAR) long range cannons, etc. Back weapons could be controlled with Alt/Melee/Grenade buttons.

And of course, built in jump jets would need to be a standard feature. Something that big ain't gonna be able to jump on its own without some seriously bad ass rockets.

 

 

First of all, thanks for the feedback! It's nice to be confirmed in the idea of getting this in-game. Secondly build-in weaponry (of all sorts, depending on how far people are wiling to participate) is on the to-do-list. Holding a 10mm pistol with those mech-arms are gonna look ridiculus :-D

 

I'm also very fond of the idea of a powerful jetpack that launches this thing in the air, to move fast across the Commonwealth, instead of walking. I'm not sure how fast this thing is going to move, it depends on how it's going to animate.

 

Also, how is this going to be presented to the player in-game?

Will they have to just spawn the thing in?

Or will we be taken the extra mile, have it given to us by a character, or found on a quest?

In the event of the addition of a character who can get excited about giant robots, I would like to submit my voice for consideration of being used for such a character:

https://soundcloud.c...ichaelleonhardt

Lemme know if anyone is interested in making that happen.

I imagine like a Megas XLR type thing.

You have a character that runs a big salvage yard. Basically its an old pre-war Junk yard. Character sells his wares to traders and people that pass by.

Has a sale going on when you arrive "Everything in that Pile for 5 Caps"

Player can look at and activate several pieces of garbage or useless junk, asking the Character the price. Character gets increasingly annoyed in having to repeat "Everything in that pile is 5 caps." "5 Caps." "*ahem* 5 Caps." "5. Bottlecaps." "Everything in that pile. 5 Caps. I doubt the whole pile's even worth 5 Caps."

Player comes across a large metal stick, or a piece of rebar or something. Activating said Rebar has the player try to pull on it, causing part of the junk pile to fall down, revealing the Liberator.

Player: "So you said 5 caps?"

Character: "Uh..."

Player: "I'll take it!"

Quest Completed: "Now Where's First Gear Again?"

 

 

 

It's a good idea! I've thought out a scenario where the player discovers a large underground vault-looking hangar where it's lit up by a single light far in the back, when the player flicks a switch. How the player gets to the hangar I havn't wondered about :-) whether it be your story or mine or some third or fourth idea, I'm thinking that a poll where everybody can give their go at it, is going to determine how it's going to be introduced :-)

 

 

Also, a thought occurs.

There is not much in way of actual challenge for something so large and powerful.

A way to spawn lots of enemies, or large boss creatures in various environments would be important in making this feel like it has some use apart from ripping through random Raider camps.

Maybe once you construct a Mech Hangar and store it in one of your settlements, it becomes a target for massive Raider/Synth/Super Mutant/Brotherhood of Steel attacks.

Maybe you could even fight Liberty Prime with it.

 

I think it's primary goal is to serve as a tool for defending settlements. When the settlement-raiding mod is complete and doesn't rely solely on bat files but an automatic scripted system, the battles can vary from ant squashing to Prime-demolishing :-)

 

 

 

I apologize for the wall of text, I just got really excited.

 

 

No problem at all!

[MLeonhardt]

Absolutely. I've been wanting a good looking mecha mod since I first laid eyes on a Sentry Bot.

 

If I may be so bold as to expand upon the customization aspect a little, I might suggest that each part of the unit is customized similarly to Power Armor, using the Hangar as the crafting station.

 

the Liberator would be broken down into 6 parts.

 

Engine (Replaces the Helmet slot)

Chassis

Left Arm

Right Arm

Left Leg

Right Leg

 

The Engine would not be able to be removed, but can be customized.

Generator - Power supply for the mech

1. Single Core - Uses a Single Fusion Core.
2. Dual Core - Uses Two Fusion Cores, doubling its power supply (And its operational time)
3. Single Core Recharging Power Cell - Single Fusion Core that can recharge at a Hangar station. Full Recharge would take about 6 in game hours.
4. Single Core Solar Powered - Can recharge slowly in sunlight while shut down. Full recharge would take about 12 in game hours.

Radiator - Suppresses heat buildup, so it doesn't roast your buns as you're riding it.

1. Standard - Standard Radiator, prevents heat buildup.
2. Liquid Cooled - Superior Radiator, prevents heat buildup and saves energy, extending operational time.
3. Nitrogen Cooled - Liquid Nitrogen cooled radiator, greatly extends operational time.
4. Cryogenic Radiator - Uses Cryolator technology to keep the engine nice and cool. Nearly doubles operational time.

The Chassis - the body/cockpit/torso of the mech.

Armor - The outer plating of the mech.

1. None - Standard. Offers no protection.
2. Roll Cage - Simple metal roll bars to protect the pilot should the Liberator take a tumble. Offers slight ballistic and energy resistance to the Pilot.
3. Recon Armor - Lightweight full cover armor to completely enclose the cockpit. Has great ballistic, energy, and explosive resistance. Slightly reduces movement speed.
4. Assault Armor - Medium Weight full cover armor to completely enclose the cockpit. Outstanding ballistic, energy, and explosive resistance. Moderately reduces movement speed.
5. Fortress Armor - Heavyweight full cover armor. Supreme Ballistic, Energy, and Explosive resistance.

Interface - Targeting and recon suites for the viewscreen.

1. Standard Interface - Simple screen with vehicle stats.
2. Telescopic Interface - Adds Zoom function.
3. Targeting Interface - Zoom marks targets on the compass. Missiles now lock onto targets.
4. Tactical Interface - Hostile enemies are highlighted while Zoomed in.

Cockpit - The throne on which the king/queen of warfare now sits.

1. Standard Seat - Standard.
2. Bucket Seat - 20% more comfortable sitting, 10% more accurate firing.
3. Safety Belt - Reduces chance of injury when the Liberator takes a big hit.
4. Luxury Package - Adds Bucket Seat, Safety Harness, as well as a Radio (Can be tuned to Diamond City Radio, or Classical Radio) and Cup Holders (Can store beverages)

Thrusters - Back mounted rocket engines allowing the Mech to perform high speed maneuvers.

1. Standard - Basic Thruster. Functions like a standard Jetpack.
2. Thrust Vectoring - Greater aerial mobility.
3. High Output - More powerful thruster to rapidly ascend.
4. High Efficiency - More efficient, low power thruster
5. Charge Engine - Sprinting is replaced with a sliding rocket powered charge attack that can send enemies flying and traverse terrain quickly.
6. Hover Engine - Double tapping Jump while in the air will make the Mech hover in place for a short while, allowing a more stable shot.

External Systems - Back Mounted weapons/devices activated with the Alt/Bash/Grenade key.

1. None. No External Unit
2. Radar Unit - Greatly expands the range at which you can detect enemies on the compass while standing still.
3. CIWS - Defensive laser beam turret that targets and shoots down missiles and grenades.
4. Machine Gun Turret - Shoulder mounted autonomous machine gun turret that can fire on nearby enemies.
5. Laser Turret - Shoulder mounted laser turret
6. Rocket Turret - Shoulder mounted missile turret
7. Fat Man Launcher - Shoulder mounted Mini Nuke launcher. Fired by pressing Alt/Bash/Grenade.
8. Grenade Launchers - Fires a cluster of grenades in an arc to bombard a wide area.
9. Rail Cannon - Large, powerful cannon that can hit enemies from extreme ranges. Low fire rate.
10. Missile Pod - 6-shot missile pod that fires target-seeking missiles.

 

The Arms - Doing most of the fighting

Servos - Control arm movement speed and aiming ability.

1. Standard Servos - Standard
2. High Speed Servos - Increases aiming and attack speed
3. High Power Servos - Increases melee damage
4. Advanced Servos - Increases Melee Speed and Damage, as well as Aiming speed.

Armor - Dictates resistances/durability

1. None - No external armor
2. Recon Armor - Light armor, provides meager resistance
3. Assault Armor - Medium Armor, superior resistances, lower aiming speed
4. Fortress Armor - Heavy armor, supreme resistances, inferior aiming and attack speed.

Weapon - The pièce de résistance

1. Claw/Hand - Basic arm/manipulator for punching attacks.
2. Ripper Claw - 3x Oversized rippers mounted to the arm for deadly melee attacks.
3. Pile Bunker - Powerful Spike Punch
4. Minigun - 5mm Minigun
5. Autocannon - .50 Rapid Fire Cannon
6. Gatling Laser - Standard Gatling Laser
7. Scatter Laser - Semi-Auto Laser Shotgun
8. Plasma Caster - Plasma Blasting autocannon
9. Flamer - Heavy Flamer for spraying napalm
10. Grenade Launcher - Rapidly fires normal grenades.
11. Rocket Launcher - 4-shot missile pod that fires straight flying rockets.
12. Gamma Cannon - Powerful Radiation Cannon that melts Humans
13. Pulse Rifle - Lightning Gun that fries electronics and Power Armor.

The Legs - Getting a move on

Servos

1. Standard - Basic Servos
2. High Speed Servos - Powerful Actuators that increase movement speed
3. Reinforced Servos - Increases durability
4. Reinforced High Speed Servos - More durable high speed servos

Armor

1. None - No Armor
2. Recon - Light Armor, minor energy, ballistic, and explosive resistance.
3. Assault - Medium Armor, better energy, ballistic and explosive resistance. Slightly lowers movement speed.
4. Fortress - Heavy Armor, supreme resistances, greatly lowers movement speed

Thruster

1. Standard - Basic Thruster. Functions like a standard Jetpack.
2. Thrust Vectoring - Greater aerial mobility.
3. High Output - More powerful thruster to rapidly ascend.
4. High Efficiency - More efficient, lower power thruster.
5. Charge Engine - Sprinting is replaced with a sliding rocket powered charge attack that can send enemies flying and traverse terrain quickly.
6. Hover Engine - Double tapping Jump while in the air will make the Mech hover in place for a short while, allowing a more stable shot.

 

 

 

 

 

Just some ideas.

[yopoman]

The idea is definitely possible. There was a similar mod made for Fallout: New Vegas. And, worst case scenario, it could always make for a killer enemy-type.

 

By the way, really awesome design! I love the little terminal in the front! The only thing I'd point out is that it seems like it'd be a bit impractical for military use, considering there's no type of shielding in the front. Then again, it is a prototype, so maybe it was just never finished? :wink:

 

If he also made its own larger "power armor station" with a crafting crane or taller arms, you could mod it and add new armor shields and plating, new optics, faster legs/powertrain, or more weapons mounts, the possibilities are endless! :)

[yopoman]

I would be happy to offer some of my writing skills for a short backstory or dialogue with the character who introduced the armor in the quest, if you you decided to take that route of course. I write, compose music, do graphic design work professionally for my own small media business. This project sounds really promising and juicy! Here are some backstory ideas I'll write as they come into my mind...

 

Imagine how fun it would be to discover this "mech" in the cargo-hold of a sunken, but in-tact, submarine in the Boston harbor. Or maybe in a sunken military cargo ship with a literal skeleton crew to loot for backstory notes or holotapes. Th sunken vessel might be full of submerged chests containing military and RobCo blueprints, diagrams, schematics, correspondence, and backstory. There are many ways you could take this backstory. For example, an over-budget, top secret DARPA-like agency contract awarded to RobCo's defense department that never saw the light of day. It's backstory could take some inspiration from the Joint Strike Fighter's controversial story of never-ending R&D and its exploding costs. One could even involve other defense contractors like Arc-Jet systems who designed the jump-jet thrusters and tie that in with the Arc-Jet Systems Brotherhood quest storyline.

 

There are so many possibilities for a mod like this. Imagine if the mod included a story-rich quest the player would need to complete to assemble this beast. The player would have to follow a trail of scattered and well-hidden components and schematics. The clues or components for this hunt might be in hard-to-find or partially buried, highly secured military transport vehicles, crashed vertibirds, trucks, trains, and sunken ships with the idea that the government canceled the development of this machine due to its never-ending costs and development time and ordered its parts split up and destroyed separately to avoid capture by the Communists.

 

It would be up to the player to find all of the pieces of the mechanical puzzle and assemble them all in one place. A mysterious, quirky character could serve as the starting point to this quest or optionally, you could find a component and be instructed by the Journal to "find someone who can take a look at this object". The player would find a character who was on the treasure hunt already but has become old and frail over the years and has the garage space for this thing in an abandoned military bunker but needs help retrieving the parts. This would be a very Bethedsa-like quest if going this route but I believe would be lore-friendly and fun. The character would be a little crazy, with an interest in retrieving all the missing components and re-assembling them after stumbling across old military notes or communications when he was a younger adventurer. His old discoveries might have started him/her on a conspiracy-theory and myth-filled treasure hunt. Imagine a Tinker Tom-like character, eccentric, driven, intelligent and unorthodox. This character could send the player on mini-quests to go retrieve the missing parts of the machine. It would make for a great high-level quest filled with dangerous enemies and all sorts of traps in the way of retrieving the pieces. They might even be so heavy that a suit of standard power armor would be needed to bring the components back to the eccentric character's bunker-garage.

 

I'm just brainstorming here, but these are all possible, and they'd be really fun to play and discover, as long as you had a lot of modders working together on it. What an amazing piece of concept art and 3D model! Keep this project going friend. :D

 

Yopoman

[Flyingdebris]

As much as I like the idea of one of these being a super special one off prototype, I also think it would be a missed opportunity to not have some sweet sweet mech vs mech fighting. Especially one of these decked out in Raider style armor.

 

Like lets say you find the super secret location that the Liberator project was being worked on, and maybe its in the process of being raided by some faction. Maybe a rogue element of BOS, maybe gunners, or raiders, or whatever. You fight your way in, face off with the boss of the group that managed to get the Liberator up and running at the last second, and frag him. However in the chaos, that group managed to make off with the blueprints and much of the supplies.

 

So now you have a heavily damaged Liberator to get up and running, which in its freshly repaired condition would only have basic functionality.

 

Some time later, you can track down blueprints and supplies in order to unlock new abilities for the Liberator, however, the faction or factions that initially stole the blueprints managed to figure out how to make their own knockoff budget liberators. And so they start to proliferate the wasteland.

 

Thus giving you ample opportunity to fight these things and salvage them.

[HoneyBearSquish]

wow so many amazing ideas for this, and the concept is glorious i hope to see this in-game someday xD

[TheTalkieToaster]

So what skeleton are you planning on rigging this to? Or are you creating a full set of animations too?

[Sebviz]

I have no Idea to be honest. This is where I start asking for help! :-) The benefits from using an already existing skeleton is tempting, but if it means that it will look silly, I would prefer to do the extra work and get it animated on a new skeleton. What do you think?

[Userper]

I would wait for the geck, it's cool pooling all these ideas. (there are some really good ideas here by the way. :))

But honestly everything will be easier when the geck comes out :b

 

Plus with the new pa functions, making stuff like bikes and even cars is gonna be really easy compared to nv.

 

I'm willing to bet in the first week after release, a new compatible skeleton gets released. :)

Would be well worth putting in the extra work for something like this :)