Sunset Sarsaparilla's Wild Wild West World

[devinpatterson]

 

On the other hand the sewer pipe and grate could be good too with creature encounters. The grate could be locked from inside, where the vipers can't pick it, (and being filled with critters) it explains why it's not too heavily guarded. Maybe both?

 

This is the part i don't really understand.

 

I was just listing possible ways to get to the top of the interstate (where the vipers are);

1. being chains and or a makeshift elevator that the vipers drop down when they want down.

2. a tunnel and grate that is a rainwater drain. The player could use to get on top the overpass. It could have creatures in the tunnel, which would be interesting, but it's harder to lay out unless the overpass is askew and leaning right against some formation (cliff, hill etc)

Edited October 26, 2011 by devinpatterson

[devinpatterson]

Just wondering, where did you say the viper camp was?, i had an idea that they camped up on a plateau, with a small town on it(it was there before the war) and the vipers have elite snipers, killing caravans travelling through "their land", causing the ncr problems. Just throughinh that idea out there.

 

It is on top of the elevated interstate (I'd guess they are 3 or 4 stories high). The green box on the map from previous page shows their location. It will probably be a car fort (lots of hulks on the interstate). They do extort "tolls" from caravans and kill some (but rarely otherwise the caravans will go a different route). But in general our ideas (yours and mine) are fairly similar.

[devinpatterson]

OK made a foot and leg. There are two versions of each. One are simple movable statics, the other are repair parts. COP-30 will have a leg or foot blown off so these repair parts will be part of the companion quest. It also helps to explain why COP-30 can't retrieve Jones' daughter.

 

I'v already packed the models to just drop in your data folder. I tried to save them in a natural position so they should be easy to place.

The foot & leg are under the private boards models folder. Let me know if they work ok for you.

The most current esp (v18) is under the alpha folder on the private board. Don't add your manufacturing plant to the v18 esp. Instead make a new esp, otherwise when they are merged there will be a duplicate record of eveything in v18. You'll also want to remember the custom meshes and textures aren't in the v18 rar, so the unique protectrons, mkII's etc wont' be available until I gather the files.

 

 

The collision meshes are pretty tight, and there is a stencil on the foot.

 

 

path: Fallout New Vegas\Data\Meshes\creatures\protectron

 

Right foot;

ProtectronFootR under World objects->movable static. Used bucket as base

ProtectronFootRrepair Misc Item. Used spareparts(scrap metal) as base.

nif: BodyPartFootLprotectron.nif

 

Leg;

ProtectronLeg under World objects->movable static. Used bucket as base

ProtectronLegRepair Misc item. Used spareparts(scrap metal) as base.

nif: BodyPartLegProtectron.nif

Edited October 26, 2011 by devinpatterson

[TrooperScooperMKII]

The private board isn't showing an alpha window for me- it's all the Models folder.

the files:

"Sierra Sunset6/7/8/9.rar" refcamp.esp, 1storyLodgesWithboards.rar, SSWWW-Sub-lvl.esp (two of them; the newer one is larger) Sunset-Sierra-General-StoreV2.rar and Vault 32.esp.

and the hitching/TNT plunger are under the resources- the log flume is "completed."

Is it the Sierra Sunset v9, or the Sunset valley one you linked to in the PM? I downloaded the latter; I'm going to look at the other ones in GECK if I can't find the office in the nexus? file.

 

Anyway, by "new esp" I take it to mean that you want me to load the v18 and then save to a different folder?

It isn't a master, so... does it matter if I uncheck the file beforehand i.e. will it create any conflicts?

Also do you have any particular wishes regarding the name, i.e. conflicts?

[TrooperScooperMKII]

 

So I was thinking after adventuring in the robco buildings the player will have info (notes like shipping invoices, as well as terminal entries), that lead to the location of sunset park. This is a change from the location (sewer entrance) being right in front of the area 51 gate. It's not written in stone, but it makes more sense than having the park nestled against a high security military base.

So Area 51 (the mod... or DLC?!!! :pinch: ) is going to be up in the Northwest? Also doesn't that put the park near Nellis? :tongue:

OTOH, in-game Nellis has a small neighborhood? right outside...

 

As you follow up the freeway toward the park entrance (somewhere in the green box above) the player will face a small ncr check point (sandbags, couple of light machine guns). The ncr troopers (just a handful) will inform the player that there is a large viper gang a ways north, living in a junk/garbage/auto fort on top the freeway segments. This outpost although small is fairly well defended and the light machine guns keep the vipers from trying to overrun the checkpoint. The ncr troopers may mention that there is a reward for removing the vipers as not only are they criminals they are also disrupting some caravans (extortion of tolls etc). The vipers moved in somewhat recently, but there are a lot of them. Charging a toll of incoming caravans has netted them a fair amount of caps and they aren't planning on leaving anytime soon. The NCR is having a difficult time getting rid of them due to their strategic advantage. If the player has a positive rep with the ncr and a high speech skill a trooper will reveal that the NCR has decided to wait and bomb them with a vertibird as soon as it is available (none of the troopers knows when/if that will happen) or reassign some veteran rangers to a special task force (when available). I'm doing this in part because I miss the freeway overpass battles and car forts from fallout 3. Since the collision meshes on overpasses are missing in NV don't get any of that action.

Sounds good so far. Though the NCR's manpower shortage? might leave a militia/local vigilante group as the only real defense, or possibly uneasy allies against the Vipers.

 

Somewhere near this point the player will detect a new radio signal, it is a mechanical voice stating "officer needs assistance", calling for backup etc (COP-30).

 

There will also be a few of the sunset flora/fauna, (for example a gila gecko) at ground level in this area.

 

The player will come to a collapsed overpass and here will be the sunset buildings that were outside the park proper, (ie places that you didn't have to get a ticket/pay a fee to enjoy) nestled in the collapsed mouth of a valley. There will be a sunset themed 50's diner, a giftshop, a gas station, perhaps other buildings. The actual entrance to the park/valley has been closed off completely, covered in rubble/fallen boulders and the rubble has damaged some of the buildings. Some of the overpass has fallen as well.

 

This little area is run by an older gentleman and (up until recently) his daughter. They did a pretty good business selling rare delicacies like gila gecko steak, honey mesquite sunset sarsaparilla, etc to caravans coming through this route.

When the vipers moved in he (lets call him Jones) refused to leave all of this. He re-activated a protectron police officer to protect him and his daughter, hoping the NCR would be able to take care of the threat quickly. However as capable as COP-30 (the protectron police officer) was his daughter has just been kidnapped by the vipers. COP-30 can't leave Jones unprotected to retrieve her and Jones won't leave her to head into NV to safety and/or help. The viper gang wants 2000 caps for the daughter (although once they receive the 2000 caps they will ask for more), which Jones doesn't have, and they are getting restless. Jones can offer some of his stock, unique campfire/sunset recipes, his thanks, info on location to the sewer entrance (to the park) and COP-30. This last part, by the way may be a lie. Jones did re-activate COP-30 but did not reprogram him and as such he is still under the jurisdiction and programming of the LVMPD (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department).

 

Couple pointers:

1. the NCR has at least one captured? vertibird, as evidenced by the Presidential visit. However, as there is no mention of an NCR vertibird at the 1st battle for Hoover Dam (where they held the dam -barely-) nor since I find it highly unlikely that they would even consider sending one east for the sole purpose of backwater bandits...

second, Jones/the protectron wouldn't let his daughter get carried off.. not without severe casualties. In which case an all-out attack would be more likely. This, and the fact that his daughter would almost certainly be a hard@ss in her own right given the upbringing/envirmonent and well...

 

anyway, I think the Boomers should be the ones to attack- with artillery instead of an airstrike and the hostages should be a group of captured merchants. Aside from being more impersonal (Boomers might not be aware of the prisoners- more ambiguous) it also is IMO more terrifying- the incoming vertibird is a single devastating attack run, and you can see it coming. An artillery barrage is a protracted steel rain that you probably won't hear/see until it's about to hit- no armor/defense aside from crouching under something solid or running away- so pure paranoia & or a concern for the hostages.

Even worse, Jonas could know/suspect that the Boomers are going to shell the place back to the stone age, but also knows that he can do nothing to stop them. So the player has to/is implored to rescue the relatively weak/helpless merchants (they probably can fight, but not well- especially after "captivity" with the raiders... :ohdear: ) i.e. a small squad of Ringos against a viper's nest of raiders armed to the teeth- this while the Boomers are blasting the raider base into oblivion.

 

Vipers: It will be possible to sneak along under the overpass without being detected if the player is stealthy. There are chains on top the overpass that can be dropped for the vipers to get to ground level (they can also be used by the player to get to the top of the overpass) or they may just snipe at the player. Jones will also know of a way up if the stealth option is chosen (maybe a trail to a near by cliff or a maintenance ladder on one of the columns) At some point the player will get to the top of overpass and here is where things go from bad to worse. A vertibird will be heard in the distance and soon a bombing run will start. The player needs to make his way through the vipers retrieve the daughter and get off the overpass as soon as possible or face a carpet bombing (not impossible to survive, but unlikely...and even more unlikely for hte hostage).

 

Upon returning the hostage the player can collect his reward, including a key (currently hidden) to unlock a location (diner basement?) to enter the sewer. COP-30 will be suitably impressed by the rescue and may be recruited by explaining the LVMPD no longer exists (speech check/charisma). I'm not sure if the sewers will be packaged with this first mod or be packaged with the 2nd which will include the villa.

 

the diner will be plastered with sunset memorabilia including a custom jukebox. The giftshop is mostly empty (all the good stuff looted), but there will be empty boxes that will foreshadow items that will be available in the park. Havn't given much thought to the gas station, but I do want to add a fair amount of flamer fuel to the tanks (it will come in handy later in the story).

 

Viper gang; havn't thought a whole lot about them yet. There should be a lot of caravan goods, but it's unlikely they will be recovered (because of the bombing). They will be tough and a lot of them, but I'll probably make a level list to match them to the player. A few will have sniper/hunting rifles, and some (say 1 or 2) of the hunting rifles will be from sunset park (re-textures, semi-unique in that there are more than one, but they are better than the vanilla hunting rifles).

 

COP-30; COP (community operations protectron) 37 has a uniform (police hat, badge, duty belt, pants and a LVMPD armored vest) and equipment (police baton, dead money police pistol). His ballistic vest gives him a bonus of +15 DT (much like Joshua Graham's armored SLCPD vest) for a total of 23 (better than T-45d power armor). His police pistol gives him a higher than normal chance of criticals. He will not follow any player with negative karma. He is constantly quoting regulations and other police jargon (ie "assaulting a peace officer is felony", "officer needs assistance when low in health", etc). There may be an easter egg in ref to c3-po since their call signs/names are similar.

 

Jones; a tough SOB, but getting on in years (late 40's early 50's?). He is actually a enclave deserter, he left seeking a better life for his daughter. It's possible that a high int or speech check may reveal clues to his origin in re: to the protectron re-activation.

 

Daughter; havn't really thought much about her, say she's in her 20's or 30's.

 

There may be a protectron cook.

 

So any additional details/ideas/feedback about the Robco buildings, sunset buildings or characters listed above would be appreciated. ETA is hard to estimate, but all resources except for the collision meshes on the overpasses and COP-30 are done, so it may be relatively soon(ish).

All this is good, more or less.

The daughter could be another NPC in the diner area, if she appears at all. Personally, I think it's better to have all three there from the beginning- more hired guns/people to keep the raiders away.

[devinpatterson]

The private board isn't showing an alpha window for me- it's all the Models folder.

the files:

"Sierra Sunset6/7/8/9.rar" refcamp.esp....Is it the Sierra Sunset v9..... if I can't find the office in the nexus? file.

 

Sierra Sunset v9 is from back in may, I UL sierrasunsetMerged18.rar to the model folder, so you should be able to see it now if you saw the other ones.

 

Anyway, by "new esp" I take it to mean that you want me to load the v18 and then save to a different folder?

 

No you'd want to make your own esp. If you do work on the ierrasunsetMerged18.esp one of three things happens. 1. I have to wait until your done and re-UL before I can do any more work, 2. discard your changes or 3. try to merge your sierrasunsetMerged18.esp with my sierrasunsetMerged18.esp and remove a **LOT** of duplicate records.

 

But if you make your own esp I can use fnvplugin to merge it into sierrasunsetMerged18 (or 19 or whatever ver we are on).

 

The downside is you can't use the custom assets in the sierrasunsetMerged18.esp, but for the factory it's probably not something you need anyway. But if it is, let me know and I can add it in for you when I merge the plugin. That's why I included the instructions in post 413. It shows you how to recreate the foot and leg, what static to use as a base, the file path for the nif etc.

 

It's a hassle using the single esp with multiple authors vs a master with multiple esp's but we need to be able to use the dlc masters so we have no choice (if I understand the system correctly).

 

It isn't a master, so... does it matter if I uncheck the file beforehand i.e. will it create any conflicts?

Also do you have any particular wishes regarding the name, i.e. conflicts?

 

No it shouldn't make any difference unless your building physically overlaps with the office, but I don't see that happening. Name is pretty much whatever you want, in FO3 I think it was RobcoFacility or something. I just named mine RobcoHQ.

Edited October 27, 2011 by devinpatterson

[devinpatterson]

So Area 51 (the mod... or DLC?!!! :pinch: ) is going to be up in the Northwest? Also doesn't that put the park near Nellis? :tongue:

OTOH, in-game Nellis has a small neighborhood? right outside...

re: area 51, sorry I think they definitively stated lonesome road is the last official dlc.

They'd be west of the green box on the map (which is also west of the vipers).

 

Sounds good so far. Though the NCR's manpower shortage? might leave a militia/local vigilante group as the only real defense, or possibly uneasy allies against the Vipers.

 

I suppose, but since they are the nominal peace keepers, military, charged with protecting the roads and their location is close to ncr military bases they seemed like a reasonable choice. If you figure one vertern ranger as a spotter and several troopers with mounted light machine guns in an emplacement, that's a relatively effective force with minimal man power. Plus it ties into the bombing run, not too many factions have access to that. And the bombing run will make a exciting segment.

 

Couple pointers:

1. the NCR has at least one captured? vertibird, as evidenced by the Presidential visit. However, as there is no mention of an NCR vertibird at the 1st battle for Hoover Dam (where they held the dam -barely-) nor since I find it highly unlikely that they would even consider sending one east for the sole purpose of backwater bandits...

 

Oh they have like 2 or 3 just sitting on the long 15. Doesn't seem too dangerous vs small arms fire, just a high altitude bombing run. That also ties in well with it tanking time to get it down here, and the guys in the machine gunners nest not knowing if they'll ever do it, or wait for a small squad of veteran ranger sharp shooters from camp golf. We want to make it seem like it's very iffy. That way the player won't immediately guess the bombing plot.

 

second, Jones/the protectron wouldn't let his daughter get carried off.. not without severe casualties. In which case an all-out attack would be more likely. This, and the fact that his daughter would almost certainly be a hard@ss in her own right given the upbringing/envirmonent and well...

 

Yeah they'r wounded, that's why I mentioned in the previous messages about COP-30 needing a new leg (although, because of the way I made the model, I'm thinking now it may be a new arm). And of course we want the daughter carried off, that's the fun of a rescue and puts the player's feet to the fire when the bombing starts. In re: to an all out attack and the daughter being a hardass, you can have a band of vipers say half dozen to a dozen lay down enough lead to be a problem. And certainly she can be a badass in her own right, she doesn't have to be a a delicate princess or anything, just got overrun.

 

anyway, I think the Boomers should be the ones to attack- with artillery instead of an airstrike and the hostages should be a group of captured merchants.

 

Boomers are on the xenophobic side, they'd be unlikely to help unless someone was calling in a favor (like the pc did at hoover). Plus they have no real stake in merchants and protecting the roads, but the ncr do. Plus there is logistics to consider, it's farther out than their normal range, spotters etc.

 

Aside from being more impersonal (Boomers might not be aware of the prisoners- more ambiguous) it also is IMO more terrifying- the incoming vertibird is a single devastating attack run, and you can see it coming. An artillery barrage is a protracted steel rain that you probably won't hear/see until it's about to hit- no armor/defense aside from crouching under something solid or running away- so pure paranoia & or a concern for the hostages.

 

Right, but re: the vertibird that's exactly what we want. Hear it coming and know hte timer has started ticking, that's the fun of it. I mean talk about a rush, you'v got 180 seconds (or 5 minutes or whatever) to get that girl and get the hell off. No sniping or taking cover this is pure run and gun.

 

If it is just shells you don't hear until it's too late, then the tension is lost. That being said a "slow" barrage that keeps the player running at full speed is possible as a similar gameplay mechanic as the vertibird, but that would be some strange artillery shelling and no real reason to prefer it over the vertibird.

 

So the player has to/is implored to rescue the relatively weak/helpless merchants (they probably can fight, but not well- especially after "captivity" with the raiders... :ohdear: ) i.e. a small squad of Ringos against a viper's nest of raiders armed to the teeth- this while the Boomers are blasting the raider base into oblivion.

 

Oh no, I think it's much more heroic to rescure the daughter, but we can throw merchants in as well, say they were being held for ransom. And I don't think you could really fight while the boomers are shelling the place, those explosions are pretty much terminal with a large area of effect.

 

All this is good, more or less.

The daughter could be another NPC in the diner area, if she appears at all. Personally, I think it's better to have all three there from the beginning- more hired guns/people to keep the raiders away.

 

In re: to hired guns, I'd rather not. It means we have to increase the vipers numbers, and there are plot holes, like why the hired guns don't come along on the rescue. And I really don't want to deal with a bunch of actors and follow packages. It's extra drain on the cpu and this is a higher level adventure so heroic actions are the order of the day.

Edited October 27, 2011 by devinpatterson

[devinpatterson]

I'v been wrestling with a question ever since I got the protectron MK II's working;

What will be the androids role in sunset park?

 

They're not very lore friendly otherwise I'd have them in every public area of the park. The MKII protectrons can do almost everything the androids can do except change attire on the fly (not a big deal, it's hardly essential to swap hats in a firefight). They do require new modeling for attire though, so that's a chunk of work yet to be done.

 

At this point in time I'm inclined to relegate them to the backseat. With only a handful of actual androids (a sherrif, a outlaw/villan, bronco bills companion etc), in deference to lore. But in the end the mod is for the players and I'd like to know how people feel. Do you want to stick with gun toting, western protectrons? Do you prefer androids so the towns look like a real western or do you want a mix of both?

 

Let me know so I can start preparing for the 2nd mod, where these actors arrive on stage.

[devinpatterson]

Do you guys remember Sierra Petrovita, the nuka cola girl? The daughter could be the parallel sunset sarsaparilla girl. Clueless, survives because other people look out for her (her father) and sheer luck, cute but vacuous etc. Has a huge love of all things sunset and is full of useless sunset trivia. The diner could be her sunset museum, with lots of sunset promotional junk. Once she's rescued, again saved by someone else (the player and as luck would have it she wasn't raped or beat, just pissed off) she could have quests. One quest could be similar to Sierra's to recover rare sunset flavors/blends. Other quests could be rare or collectible sunset stuff. She could even inadvertently be the key gaining additional info on the park entrance. She could also have a signature dish she whips up in the diner, similar to Sierra's Mississippi Quantum Pie. The hook on this character is everyone does things for her, and despite her naivete everything always works out for her.

 

Oh and she can probably teach a perk similar to a sunset version of Quantum Chemist perk as payment for her rescue, or maybe another recipe.

Edited October 27, 2011 by devinpatterson

[TrooperScooperMKII]

I'v been wrestling with a question ever since I got the protectron MK II's working;

What will be the androids role in sunset park?

 

They're not very lore friendly otherwise I'd have them in every public area of the park. The MKII protectrons can do almost everything the androids can do except change attire on the fly (not a big deal, it's hardly essential to swap hats in a firefight). They do require new modeling for attire though, so that's a chunk of work yet to be done.

 

At this point in time I'm inclined to relegate them to the backseat. With only a handful of actual androids (a sherrif, a outlaw/villan, bronco bills companion etc), in deference to lore. But in the end the mod is for the players and I'd like to know how people feel. Do you want to stick with gun toting, western protectrons? Do you prefer androids so the towns look like a real western or do you want a mix of both?

 

Let me know so I can start preparing for the 2nd mod, where these actors arrive on stage.

This is a good point. Though they are undoubtedly a lot tougher/stronger/nimbler than other bots, their main purpose is as a robotic shell for a human mind; they could be the park "employees" instead of just scenery/security. Also I think that aside from a handful of posse-bot bosses, they would simply be the NPCs of the park- merchants, etc.- and would be comparatively weak, but the few "special" i.e. named bots would be the posse in disguise "on the job"

IE the gunslinger is doing Wild Bill type show, the bandit is in the jail/a gunfight with the sheriff, etc and they're all friendly entertainers until the MF/Bill turns on the kill switch. All so the tigers are among the sheep, so to speak.