Vault Ark IV - looking for feedback

[Ikyoto]

I'll be creating a large vault - something on the lines of the combined areas of at least 4 other vaults.

 

My need for a really large area is that this one was intended to be more than a vault, it was an "ark". It has a huge open area for growing plants (trees, brush and scrubs from Oasis), large computer/lab storage areas for the collected DNA of all of earths animals, a giant set of tanks for all the water, etc. The living areas are going to be seperated out into several areas themseleves as the original specs called for 1,000 people with another 4,000 in freezers.

 

I want this to be big, and as close to logical as the game premise will allow. There will be inhabitants who are split - the "let's get out of here" crowd, the "let's open up and try to save the world" people, the "let's stay put and enjoy the underground paradise we have" and the new overseer - he's the "stable in public but so crazy he makes the joker look like the poster boy for mental stability" guy.

 

Think of this as a big F3 version of "Vault City" from F2. ;)

 

I'm looking for ideas and special areas to include. The layout is circular, with each level being cut into quarters with a central shaft connecting all of them and leading to the small surface vault/processing area. Six levels, four sections each, plus the processing level and shaft - that's 26 areas to create, each slightly larger than the square footage of Megaton.

 

Do you think it's doable? and if so, how many actual "NPC's" vs "Vault Ark IV Citizen" types? Those are the real pain. I figure two or three max per segment.

[Solon]

The game isn't logic at all, that's not the point. Although it didn't seem as much, most vaults (like vault 8, the vault city vault) could hold 1000 people! The vaults water needs where supplied by a water purification system that, among other things, recycled their water.

 

And what will be the experiment of the Vault?

[Ikyoto]

Well, one of the real reasons for the huge water vats is the sea creatures - I've modeled a couple of deceint sea monsters and they need a home. Low enough poly count for the engine and they might be interesting if they every accidently got loose... purely by accident of course.

 

Thsi vault really doesn't have a secret experiment - it's the one that the Vault-tec board of directors ran to! They meant it to actually WORK.

 

Too bad they forgot about mental instability in a closed gene pool. Oh well. ;) It'll also tie in well with Amata running up to the player at some point begging for help because Vault 101 is going under due to the fact that the most qualified person to keep it supplied and maintained got shown to the door.

[Levyathyn]

Hmm. I really like the idea, especially the unknown genetic quality pertaining to potential mental stability. The idea has a lot of potential, but you may need to bring a few people together to make it work. I'll brainstorm for ideas over the next day or so. If you need my help, new as I am to modding F3, I'm yours.

[Ikyoto]

Thank you. I can do mapping and once I dust off my old copy of blender I'll convert the models I've made and see what I can do for rigging in F3. This is going to be more of a "out of the box" mod that I'll use to learn the scripting. Mapping and building a level are old hat.

[MasterSaji]

I like the idea of a Vault City-esque uh Vault for the Capital Wasteland. By the way you describe it, it sounds like a "real" GECK. By real I mean trading in seeds and whatnot for actual living samples of plants and creatures and such. And it's totally doable, if you have the time and put the much-needed effort into it. And if you need any help, I'm willing, for what that's worth. :P

[Rockatanskiy]

Sounds like a great idea, and I can't wait for it to come to fruition.

 

I'm not sure how hard this would be to do, but could you make the vault less... maze-like than the in-game ones. To be honest, I HATED traveling around in ANY of the vaults in the game (especially 101) because I would keep running around in circles and getting lost, and I would have to keep referencing the local map every 5 seconds. The layout of some of the ingame vaults are quite unergonomic, and because it's modularized, every room looks like the one before it.

 

Basically, I just hope you make it more open, and give rooms distinctive props and textures that make them recognizable compared to the other rooms in the vault. I really like the idea of a central Biodome thing, and I hope you can possibly make the hallways bigger and less claustrophobic.

[Ikyoto]

Here is the layout I'm working with. Getting the curves is a pain, but the hallways are the same distance across as the larger hallways in Vault 101. Rooms and offices are spaces around the outer rim of each level and segment. Large rooms are in the center "wedge" of each one on some levels, while others are laid out for more halls and rooms, depending on the need of that particular segment.

 

The central shaft connects everything, with service crawls connecting some levels and wedges. I want those in because I think having to crawl through air shafts while fighting off opponents from front and rear is the definition of "challenge". ;)

 

The hall at the top connects to the separate processing vault that is also the entry to the outside.

 

 

LOTS to do. I'll post a second image later with wedge layouts more detailed for people to comment on. Right now each wedge is dedicated to a particular function with levels being done in a similar fashion around the ring. Level one being admin, two through four being housing, entertainment and dedicated services for that wedge. Five will be distinct for each wedge and six is maintenance and you can more easily get from one wedge to the other though there.

http://www.loresinger.com/backroom/layout.jpg

[Rockatanskiy]

That looks like a great and practical design. I just hope that you make the various flights distinctive enough to tell them apart!

 

But yeah, it's simple and clean and I like it.

[Phoynix]

Not to put a dampener on anything but the Idea that a species isnt viable if the gene pool gets to small is actually incorrect.(and annoyed me in the game about it too)

 

Studies have shown that actual mutation rates for interbreeding is only 5% higher then normal, the other side effect carried genetic diseases appearing a majority of the time actually wipes out the non viable stock leaving a pure base stock for racial recovery with almost no genetic diseases.

 

Both of which actually increase the remaining stocks chances for surviving, reduced genetic diseases added with a faster evolution response mean faster ablity to adapt genticly to a changing enviroment.

One of the largest evidence for this the "traditional" thinking cant account for is the new species explosion directly after every mass extinction event that has occured on earth.

 

An an example all euopeans today are geneticly decended from 1 man and 7 women worked out by using genetic drift back tracking.

 

If your going to use science and its current day science, use real facts!