Sunset Sarsaparilla's Wild Wild West World

[devinpatterson]

Devin, you've really done a lot. I mean a LOT.

 

Thanks :thumbsup:

 

One query: do you want Sunset Sam to be a unique cahracter?

 

Yeah I do, I have a few things in mind for him. Primarily he's information, but I'd like the idea of him having to work very subtlety, since he doesn't want to fall under the MF's suspicion. This makes some verbal puzzles for the player. For instance if the radio suddenly starts playing "He keeps hackin’ and whackin’ and smackin" (just using butcher pete as an example, we won't be using that specifc song for copyright reasons) the player will know that combatants are coming his way very soon. If the player is looking for a certain location or item, Sunset Sam won't tell him/her where it is, but he might spin a interesting yarn that *just happens* to have some subtle clues. The MF may be a few cans short of a six pack but it has massive computing power and loads of human memories/experience to call on, so subtlety is key.

 

Now that's what I'd like to do, *but* it may be too ambitious, especially in regard to gathering pd songs to provide clues. So it may have to evolve into something simpler down the line.

 

The fact that he's an AI that runs the radio station and can jump to any sunset sam protectron means the player could potentially have a lot of interactions with him. Whether those interactions are one way (radio) or two way (dialog via bot).

 

BTW he can jump into other bots, but that's a well guarded secret and will be a potential plot twist. He will say he can jump only to other sunset sam protectrons if asked.

 

Given the number of Quest NPCs and his relative unimportance/obscure background, why not have him be a "front man" for Bill?

 

I just believe he has more potential than a minor/supporting character.

 

IE Bill himself is passing off as a "random" ghoul NPC (with the potential for clever PCs to snoop around) among several other employeess (they don't know who he ie either- he's spying on them, too)

 

Well I'v already got Bill as a protectron brain bot (the pic on the previous page). I just have to add two eyeballs in front of the brain and I'll probably make a green glowing brain. That should be visually interesting, especially since brain bots (of any type) are going to be very rare in the park (grey matter is usually immediately grabbed by the MF, so the brain bots that do exist have to be very valuable in their current capacity).

 

Plus Bill died from a shootout during hte riots, so he couldn't really have ghoulified without changing the back story. If it is just trying to disguise himself as a ghoul I don't htink that would work. The ghoul mask might fool ferals, but couldn't fool intelligent ghouls, especially for extended periods of time.

 

And I think that all the ghouls should be under the radar. Way, way under the radar. If the MF knew ghouls existed it would just try to extract their brains for brainbots and probably end up killing them in the process. They can't reproduce so they can't offer any grey matter down the line, no reason to keep them alive. Plus they are pre-war and could (and do) have technical knowledge that is potentially troublesome for the MF. Of course there are exceptions for certain ghoul npc's like the country singer/cowboy poet....should probably name that guys something.

 

while Sunset Sam is an "AI" aid to the player, that's really just Bill giving commands to a robot.

So he's hiding in plain sight while secretly aiding the player, either for his own ends or the MFs. Perhaps both.

 

Bill has a old western type of honor, but can also be a ruthless bastard. And he is in pretty dire straights so I can definitely see him using subterfuge. Probably hard to become a captain of industry type without getting your hands at least a little dirty. So I see where your coming from in re: to that angle. But we could always compromise and have a front man, just a different character than sunset sam.

 

Maybe his android "companion" could be Bills frontman, a bot love story turned tragic. Of course the fact that she was his consort will have to be kept under wraps to make that work. Could be a good quest line to discover the truth.

 

Or more likely you could come up with a better character, let me know what you think.

 

I could use help on the prequel v0.x story line and I was curious if you still wanted to make the NV crash site for the nazi ufo (or is your geck still screwed up?)

[devinpatterson]

Just wondering but how will this mod start? Because I have a good idea.

 

Hi Mattiga14. Well there will be a prequel to the main mod. It will have a couple of functions. 1. it will allow a preview of the park, so we can show off some assets and maybe get some additional help. 2. It will setup some sunset park lore. I plan on dropping a Robco factory near new vegas (with a couple of rejected sunset protectrons), putting some notes and info in hte lucky 38 and dropping other clues in the sunset sarsaparilla headquarters, and a sunset big rig with some interesting cargo and manifest will be found on the road. 3. It will start the ball rolling on the main mods plot line.

 

The prequel will begin by the player following the clues in number 2 (above) and entering by the sewer system (a runoff from the reactor). By chance the mainframe is in hibernation and a million to one happening has occurred. The entry point to the sewer was opened due to a reactor malfunction and runnoff had to opened to the sewer system. Through the sewer system the player can access the sub-level and/or a part of the spanish villa.

 

I think what your really asking is mostly in reference to #3, since that determines how the main mod will start. The prequel will vary somewhat depending on the players actions, but in general the prequel will set up a relationship between the player and the tribals chosen one (via proxy like terminals, radio signals etc, they never actually meet). The chosen one will warn and aid the player in escaping from the park back to teh wasteland, setting up a debt of gratitude.

 

The actions of the player open up a hole in the mainframes network security (and possibly physical security as well) that will later allow the plot of the main mod to develop. This results in the tribals chosen one later taking the fight to the MF and being trapped. With hope diminishing and circumstances becoming more dire she (the chosen one) is able to hijack (perhaps with a little aid from a friendly AI) the network to send a message out to the player via sunset station. If the player chooses to aid her she has hacked another one of the sewer station security doors to allow the player to enter the park. But when the player reaches the station the MF flushes the sewer with highly radioactive water directly from one of hte main reactors. The world goes dim......the player will wake up near the tribals village at one of the sewer drain pipe exits with tribals standing over him/her

Edited August 28, 2011 by devinpatterson

[devinpatterson]

So what do you guys think of making buttercup rideable? If it cruises pretty fast it could be a viable way to travel through the valley. I think I'll add the code and try it out tonight. Buttercup isn't exactly macho, but it's about the closest thing we have for a horse in NV.

 

Also check this out it's a 45-70 gattling gun :woot:

http://www.saaas.co.za/images/morfeoshow/gatling_mach-6735/big/Gatling08082312.jpg

 

I ran some numbers and it comes out to about 500dps with standard 45-70 loads. I thought I could use a wagon model (tons of free ones), add a altered (larger, re-textured to brass) minigun model (so it will be animated) and have a passable 45-70 gatling. I'm sure the players will enjoy the challenge :P

 

Plus after they get it we'll throw a small crowd of bots their way to slaughter........it's only fair they should have a reward for taking it down.

[razzy1319]

Good Stuff Dev!

 

Just "finished" the prototype worldspace. 30x30. 10x10 was a bit too small so I went ahead with a 30x30 world space. Takes a bit to get around.

 

Calling it a prototype at the moment because its basically just deformed land, mountains/hills, "mesas" and rivers/lakes. No ground textures or static stuff yet except for the park fencing by the entrance and an asphalt road/train tracks coming from a tunnel. Its gonna take a while to get this thing populated!

 

Also LOD hasnt been done. Im wondering if I should do that first before populating it with statics.

 

I'll post a picture of the height map that im using as reference as to where stuff would go in a moment.

Edited August 28, 2011 by razzy1319

[razzy1319]

http://www.newvegasnexus.com/imageshare/images/2797923-1314514398.jpg

 

Here it is so far. This is the actual height map

 

Red line is Train Track.

 

Dark Grey is Fencing

 

Black is the dirt road

 

The line beside the train track outside the fence is the asphalt road.

 

The pink circle is the powerplant. Yellow box near that is the tribal village

 

Yellow circle surrounded by water is the indian village

 

orange box by the lake is the Villa

 

light blue box that is smack dab in the middle is MAIN STREET.

 

The yellow box in the far right north corner is northern town. Where your jacobstown hotels would go. Hopefully we could get snowy weather up there.

 

The yellow boxes in between the villa/mainstreet and northerntown/mainstreet are old spanish mission and outlaw town respectively.

 

Do you want me to upload the esp for this? So that we could gradually populate it?

[devinpatterson]

Also LOD hasnt been done. Im wondering if I should do that first before populating it with statics.

 

I'd wait on the lod because any big landscape changes would mean you have to re-generate it and I think it takes a while. I honestly don't mind running about without lod, I usually have my view and fade options really short anyway. Did you get the water worked out?

 

 

We may want to include a log sluice near the Indian village river. Also a haunted 49'r mine ride taht would be 7 or 8 squares from main street (walking distance). But we would need a little hill to put the mine door in. It doesn't have to be very tall a couple of stories would have enough room for the mine entrance and another entrance or two a couple of stories up for the mining carts to race in and out of the mine.

 

I'm also pondering the sunset farms idea. I think I might have mentioned it in the thread, not sure. I'll put it in my next post next time. But basically the fields for sunset farm could be attached the the north of outlaw town.

 

regarding the train, do you need a station where the horizontal and vertical tracks intersect? I bet we could find a good western wheel house/train station/depot for that spot.

 

I get where your coming from by having the spanish villa, and northern town being distant from main street. Makes sense to separate them from the park, as they will be expensive option and along with the luxury the well to do customers are paying for seclusion from the main park. But I think you might want to move the Spanish mission and Indian village about 3 squares diagonally closer to main street/park proper. And outlaw 7 or 8 closer to the main park. This way those attractions are within walking distance from main street. And it still leaves us plenty of room if we want to include a haunted ghost house on a Kentucky plantation, or some other attractions.

 

I like your idea of having the Spanish villa lakeside, especially for a premium resort. But what about taking it all the way and placing it on a island in the lake, perhaps with a little ferry to get back and forth. If we put it a ways out and have some mist around the island that will mean we don't have to worry about lod in the villa mini-world. Although I'm not sure there will be much of a lod problem anyway with just flat water around it, so maybe the mist wouldn't be necessary, just cool to see in the morning.

 

I don't think you want extensive fencing very far outside of the attractions. The fencing in the form of a tall stockade was really a lod thing for main street/park proper. It was intended to use a stockade to provide a mini world space, much in the same way the strip has mini world spaces with fake statics (just outside the walls to give the impression of a full worldspace). I'd recommend either removing the fencing that is in gray or bringing it in tight against the road (so hikers don't wander on to the asphalt and get hit). If you remove it completely you should probably still put the waist level concrete barriers along side of the road. If you bring it tight against the road I'd recommend chain link. Although the chainlink will segment part of the park and be a PITA for players who will have to run around it. Maybe the waist high barriers would be better, at least you can jump over them. And maybe we'll put a few sunset arches over the road, using customized freeway overpass signs (whatever they'r called). One at the beginning of the road and one just before the blacktop.

 

Also I'd throw a little gas station somewhere on the road between the entrance and the park proper's stockade, or maybe on the black top, whatever you think works best. In fact it could probably be expanded to a gas station/convenience store and small diner. That way weary travelers could get a bite to eat and gas up without having to enter the park itself. Just peel off into the valley grab your junk and head back on to the highway.

 

As far as the tribals I imagined them on the farthest south part of the road. Partly because they can use vehicles to make a car fort for shelter/structures. But also if the player goes with the option to storm the gates via smashing through it in a vehicle, they can just start driving north on the road. The code for rideable creatures works reasonably well for level areas, but changes in height really screw with it in regard to velocity. So rough terrain would make it difficult to gain any appreciable ramming speed. I think if you can put them in 0,24 through 0,29 that would work better.

 

Do you want me to upload the esp for this? So that we could gradually populate it?

 

That sounds like an outstanding idea, is it an esp or a esm?

[TrooperScooperMKII]

 

Now that's what I'd like to do, *but* it may be too ambitious, especially in regard to gathering pd songs to provide clues. So it may have to evolve into something simpler down the line.

 

The fact that he's an AI that runs the radio station and can jump to any sunset sam protectron means the player could potentially have a lot of interactions with him. Whether those interactions are one way (radio) or two way (dialog via bot).

 

BTW he can jump into other bots, but that's a well guarded secret and will be a potential plot twist. He will say he can jump only to other sunset sam protectrons if asked.

 

I just believe he has more potential than a minor/supporting character.

 

So you want him to be the MF's dog?

Sounds good.

Re the radio thing: why not simply have a triggered "intercom" type thing for scripted one off communications? This would probably be for the more specific, unique plot events.

I don't know how radio stations work.... is there an audio activator thing? A world object that would continuously play the "radio" tracks, with a generic emitter for the regular stuff and different ones for other events.

Basically, it wouldn't work from the pip-boy, but the world level and (possibly) a "Sunset Radio" thing.... perhaps an orwellian surveillance eyebot "escort" trailing you around, opening doors. Cheerful, helpfully opening doors/shutting down security, and herding you along the MF's predetermined path. Going against it for too long might have it start "accidentally" reactivating the security in the worst possible moment...

Could that be sunset Sam? An eyebot escort a la Victor?

 

I could use help on the prequel v0.x story line and I was curious if you still wanted to make the NV crash site for the nazi ufo (or is your geck still screwed up?)

Is v0.x the SSWWW plotline, or the Nazi one?

Either way, could you PM a rough outline of the general consensus/plan for the UFO crash site/plotline in question? I got lost between school and surgery.

My GECK is working, I haven't touched my desktop in a week or two, but it's still there.

[devinpatterson]

So you want him to be the MF's dog?

 

Sunset Sam? No he should be working against the Mainframe, but undercover. The MF really doesn't give him any more thought to him than a human would a toaster (at least initially).

 

Re the radio thing: why not simply have a triggered "intercom" type thing for scripted one off communications? This would probably be for the more specific, unique plot events.

I don't know how radio stations work.... is there an audio activator thing? A world object that would continuously play the "radio" tracks, with a generic emitter for the regular stuff and different ones for other events.

Basically, it wouldn't work from the pip-boy, but the world level and (possibly) a "Sunset Radio" thing.... perhaps an orwellian surveillance eyebot "escort" trailing you around, opening doors. Cheerful, helpfully opening doors/shutting down security, and herding you along the MF's predetermined path. Going against it for too long might have it start "accidentally" reactivating the security in the worst possible moment...

Could that be sunset Sam? An eyebot escort a la Victor?

 

Well I had thought it would play from teh pipboy, but a messenger eyebot could play the music too, as your suggesting. and the orwellian eyebot makes good sense if you take the route of going to the mainframe.

 

Is v0.x the SSWWW plotline, or the Nazi one?

Either way, could you PM a rough outline of the general consensus/plan for the UFO crash site/plotline in question? I got lost between school and surgery.

My GECK is working, I haven't touched my desktop in a week or two, but it's still there.

 

Yeah I will definitely do that. Surgery? Hope everything went ok?

[devinpatterson]

Protectron brainbot with eyeballs. Still using the dog brain, swap that out tomorrow. And I need more light but it gives you an idea what I'm shooting for;

 

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6527/protectronbraineye.jpg

[razzy1319]

We could actually just leave the park attractions all over the park. I was planning to disable fast travel and in its place have a covered wagon system. Just tell the android riding it where you want to go and spawn there like the fast travel system.

 

Wanted it this way so when for example you go up to northern town, which passes by the outlaw town. You get a random encounter with some outlaws, robbing the covered wagons. Same goes for when youre going to the resort. Only banditos or indians attack. It was supposed to be playacting when the park was running but since then it has turned into a real thing.

 

There is a looooooooooot of space dont worry, the valley to the south east, the lake/mountain north west and the mesas(still messing with this) up north.

 

The spanish villa on a lake is a good idea. Buts lets hold that until we could find a riverboat model.

 

Put up a temporary fence using Tranquility Lane White fences scaled up. You cant jump over it. easy enough to remove.

 

I like where the tribal village is at right now which is NEAR the power plant. They could get the cars easily. and theyre somewhat protected by a valley of sorts from weather problems. I'll be putting up another road down there. Maybe a dirt road.

 

Im working on the parking lot at the moment. Maybe we could put them there if you want them to use cars as houses. Its the big yellow box near the entrance of the park.

 

Its an esp right now. I could also upload the files for the Grand Saloon and its neon signs which is in cell 0,0