Anyone for a trip to mars?

[TrooperScooperMKII]

The hologram idea sounds cool.

Pale white walls, utter silence, flickering lights, "hallucinations" & random noises, little/no music for a quiet tension.

Atmosphere is everything.

[TrooperScooperMKII]

One question:

is this going to be contiguous with the Area Fifty one and/or Nazi idea?

What about space suit ghouls?

IE. mutated spacewalkers.

ETA: I just had an idea. Why not create a "turret" that's actually a security camera? IE it has no guns but has max. perception/etc. and alerts all nearby enemies to your presence. Perhaps there could be "stationary" eerie robot guards (statues) that activate if/when the alarm is triggered; ditto for the holograms.

A silent stealth level, with the powered down (or infested/depressurized) areas not having functional turrets/bots; the silence broken by shrill alarms and activating death machines.

New Vegas has excellent stealth mechanics, so it should be quite engaging/fun to play through.

Edited February 3, 2012 by TrooperScooperMKII

[kibblesticks]

The hologram idea sounds cool.Pale white walls, utter silence, flickering lights, "hallucinations" & random noises, little/no music for a quiet tension.Atmosphere is everything.

 

That's kinda what I was thinking. Although the structures I had in mind were made of a brittle bone-like material cus it looks cool when broken.

 

I just had an idea. Why not create a "turret" that's actually a security camera? IE it has no guns but has max. perception/etc. and alerts all nearby enemies to your presence. Perhaps there could be "stationary" eerie robot guards (statues) that activate if/when the alarm is triggered;

 

The turret idea is really cool, definately a lot of potential there. I'm a script noob though so I'd have no idea where to start.

 

As for the space suit ghouls I agree, I think everyone on the open surface should have spacesuits, save perhaps special kinds of supermutants and creatures inhabiting the G.E.C.K affected area as there would be oxygen and atmosphere there.

[kibblesticks]

Just wondering if anyone has any problem with me drawing up a rough timeline of events? I'm reluctant to push ahead without imput but I'm abit taken with this idea and the topic seems to have gone quiet over the past few days. Might just be me, I'm too impatient :blush:

[TrooperScooperMKII]

A brief overview of the sneak mechanics.

I think that this is the command we want. From my understanding, the actorID would refer to the turret (or whatever you want to trigger the detection) but I could be wrong.

[TrooperScooperMKII]

Just wondering if anyone has any problem with me drawing up a rough timeline of events? I'm reluctant to push ahead without imput but I'm abit taken with this idea and the topic seems to have gone quiet over the past few days. Might just be me, I'm too impatient :blush:

I'd love that, as I'm rather scatterbrained on everything. :sweat:

I'm impatient, too, so no worries. Idle minds and idle hands, etc...

[TrooperScooperMKII]

Kind of unrelated, but, I'm enamored of the Infamous one and two soundtracks, which are both heavy and epic.

Given the obvious IP issue I doubt we'll be able to use them, but...

damn.

No chance of a STALKER miracle?

[devinpatterson]

Sorry was crazy busy last week and I thought I had Thur off but ended up working. Still, made some extra cash and that's always good. So just trying to catch up here.

 

I say, more weirdly unnecessary antennae and other crazy SCIENCE! details are needed to maintain the illusion that this is still in the Fallout universe.

 

More retro 50's sci fi is always good. I was messing around with shader effects for research on another mod and the space ghouls. One of the the ones htat caught my eye was scrolling texture. What we could do with this is have a microfiche effect on the computer screens. So when you start fallout 3 you have that great music and the screen scrolls down ending on the power armor helmet. Well we could have that effect or even textures that are pics of other rooms, giving the effect of a camera switching the screen to various shots of different rooms.

 

also simular we need refrences to other things in sci-fi

 

purhaps a boss fight with a tripod, or a run in with a 1x2x9 aspect monolith....

 

Sure, I understand where your coming from with the easter eggs. I'm actually not really big on them, but I know they are a tradition in fallout. I'm a little hesitant to drop any actual alien artifacts per se. Already teetering on the edge of lore as it is. But I bet we could work some stuff in.

 

Is that the chinese stealth suit texture? Whatever it is, great match for the dome.

: Sorry, I don't know if this has been said, but is the technology Enclave or something new? Just so I know what colour to make glowing bits :biggrin:

 

Well figure enclave was pre-war Gov at their technological height and additional research that continued after the war. ED-E is a good example, of continuing enclave research. So while the mars tech isn't strictly new, it is pre-war cutting edge (along with any additional projects they have continued to work on) and more or less the top of the technological limit. They wouldn't have access to continuing enclave development (I'd like them to be isolated in re: to communications with earth so the lore doesn't "bleed over"), but they will have advanced projects of their own. As a base/foundation assume they have access to all pre-war gov, which also implies vault-tec tech, BigMT pre-war etc, as these contractors were so deeply intertwined with Gov it's hard to see where on begins and the other ends (sort of a military contractors paradise I guess).

 

A good example of this is the vault 22 stuff (the one with all the plants). It is a vault-tec project but also in tandem with OWB's BigMT, and the "official" (non-shadow) Gov. Since it's essential research for terraforming it was used extensively on the mars project (much to the mars personals determent).

 

... actually they're probably micro-vac-tubes instead of transistors but you get my meaning.

 

I'd say that the colors prevalent In General should be:

Red and Black - for dirty textures, Martian dust is notoriously fine and sticky... also corrosive.

Blue and Green - For interiors and such. People respond to these colors well and remind them of "home" and "safety"

 

I like the idea of micro tubes, very retro high tech, an interesting paradox.

 

Makes sense, with green/blue(ish) being the opposites (on the color wheel) of red/rust they'd be the highest contrast and seem like good colors to go with. Old world blues interiors have a blue theme going (blue glow on floor, blue stripe on wall) I think they'd make some nice tile sets. We don't have to use the actual OWB resources, if were worried about excluding anybody that doesn't have the dlc (**if** it's all we use from OWB. I'm sure we can simply do a re-texture (the tile set meshes are the same as vanilla) if that's all we need from OWB.

 

 

Okay so Brainstorming the layout of Mars; I was thinking a Crater is probably the easiest way to keep people inside an area without using huge walls like big MT or doing a "You can't go that way, turn back" message. Craters on Mars range from 1 metre to 5,300 miles so size isn't an issue :thumbsup:

 

Yep that's what I was thinking too, a very sheer one so we can avoid LOD hassles. In addition I'm pondering a ever-present sandstorm effect. Just the couriers bad luck to arrive during the most inhospitable season of the martian climate (but also a nice cover for any LOD failings).

 

With that in mind I took the liberty of drawing up a basic bare-bones plan to work off. This is in no way fixed, it just tries to incorporate some of the ideas in the thread (sorry if I missed something crucial, it's a very long thread).

 

That's a nice setup. I was thinking of something along the lines of a central base/main installation in the middle of the crater with various domes (about the size of OWB's think tank dome) radiating out like the spokes of a wheel. The hub of the wheel, the main installation would also be a space port and is essentially a military base. It would be tasked not only with organizing research and civilian contractors but overall mars project defense. The spokes radiating out to the domes could be a above or below ground monorail tracks. But that's just my initial idea, not written in stone.

 

I'll try to make an illustration when I have a few minutes (don't have any good drawing software, hate drawing in gimp, but I think MS has a online paint package or something).

 

The original Mars outpost. Built, maintained and controlled by those still loyal to the Enclave.

 

That brings up an interesting point, that I had meant to cover before I got slammed at work. What's the composition of mars personal? We know this is right up the alley of the enclave (they wanted to build a starship for gods sake), vault-tec (fits right in as a facet of their "holocaust survival" plan), the military (huge strategic advantages to controlling space), civilian researchers (life long dream for many scientists to study mars) and last, but not least civilian sub-contractors (I separated them from vault-tec because their motivations are simply money, not a sociopath need to rule post apocalyptic world.). They could all have a piece of the pie, and all have valid (and compelling) reasons for being there.

 

But it would appear for all intents and purposes these factions are under military control. Now of course enclave and vault-tec activities will be below the radar as they scheme to gamble with the world. But the military would be the chain of command for the civilian researchers and contractors. Some of the highest ranking military are secretly enclave (in disguise as per they're pre-war shadow gov guises), but the enclave isn't obvious per se.

 

There are other ways of doing this (like a much more enclave heavy presence), or a civilian super project funded a major corp/individual. But I think this makes the most sense in light of the geo political situation in the pre-war fallout world, and the astronomical cash required.

 

However fast forward 200 years and we could certainly have enclave remnants/descendants in control as you suggest above. In my mind, I saw them as leaving behind their old affiliations in the desperate struggle to survive the catastrophic failure of the mars project, but your idea of a surviving, organized enclave or military force has a lot of merit as well. Especially if we want to present the player with a few fights vs a well trained and equipped fire team. They could also be a continuing theme of antagonists through out the storyline, providing a constant obstacle to the player.

 

Also a note on civilian contractors. There is a ***LOT*** of potential there. Poseidon energy for the power plant, Greenway Hydroponics for flora/terraforming/biodome, REPCONN Aerospace for the plasma rockets, General Atomics for brainbots and a whole host of other stuff, BigMT for flora/terraformin and robotics, Robco for robotics, Vault-tec for various life support systems and through Future-Tec (their subsidiary) the geck technology etc. etc. It will be up to us whether we include some of their personal in construction of the mars project or if the project was a total blackout with no info or personal coming in or out save through the military.

 

The main structure is a large greenhouse dome surrounded by a ring-building. The building is connected to the dome by four walkways, through which O2 circulates throughout the facility. The dome houses many species of Earth plants, with typical Earth bugs roaming around (roaches, mantises, bloatflies, etc). The staff are protected by walkways that overlook the greenhouse area. Firearms and flammable materials are not allowed, however, as any fire would burn up the facility's oxygen supply in minutes.

The ring building contains a loading bay, a radar room, an armoury, barracks, shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, a gym, a chapel, an entertainment suite and a bar. Privacy is limited and the private journals/terminals of the staff are testament to this.

 

This sounds like an excellent setting for the biodome, maybe moving the radar room and armory to the main installation (as the scientists don't initially know that the flora research would turn deadly, so an armory wouldn't be a high priority). Also we might consider adding a Diana Stone from the "Nursery" storyline for the tribals. link

 

B: Swamp: Catacombs:

Swamp:

The western section of the Mars crater is swampland. Large, sickly vegetations creeps along the ground and drags itself up rock faces. The air is thick with a green haze and everywhere there lie stagnant, primordial pools of ooze, brimming with radiation and disease. Strange creatures hunt in these Martian woodlands. Mutated bugs and F.E.V monsters stalk their prey

 

Great description, but the temperature and the low atmosphere of mars unfortunately precludes any swamp outside. Liquid water boils off due to the low vapor pressure (sublimation), even though it is bitterly cold. In addition the lows can be insane, some of the numbers I came across are -193°F. So it's either vapor or ice, no liquid on the surface. I think we either have to move it to a pressurized dome(geck/"bad biodome" described below-maybe near a malfunctioning water treatment/extraction plant that is pouring out h20), or cover the whole crater in a dome (which would be quite an engineering feat).

 

Catacombs:

The catacombs are a series of tunnels overgrown with plant life. .....At the centre of this multicoloured maze sits the Mars G.E.C.K. This device continually assesses the surrounding environment and adjusts it to accommodate life. However, the effects are clearly not what the original creators intended.

 

Very interesting. I'd imagined the martian geck experiment, as a separate dome (a biodome gone bad so to speak), where the geck had been detonated via the FO3 ver of matter energy conversion . The dome would assist the scientists in keeping everything contained (at the time, over 200 years some critters may have found their way out and survived the martian wasteland) so it can be more easily studied and give the new life atmospheric pressure. While the geck does change matter, it doesn't seem to actually create life. It comes with seed packs etc. So even advanced genetically engineered creatures would probably have trouble adapting to mars' 0.0044 psi, earths is 14.69 psi.

 

But no reason we can't have both, with the "twisted biodome" above ground and your catacombs and a variant martian geck kit that continues to monitor and adjust the environment, sitting below ground. The dome above would be a good candidate for your swamp as well.

 

C: Research Outpost #01:

Research Outpost 01 is a place where scientists tried to play god with the F.E.V. Any lover of science fiction immediately knows what this means.... the ghoulified scientists know their Enclave superiors would shoot them on site. They now try to eke out a living on the surface of Mars, moving from site to site and scavenging any food, water and materials they can find to keep themselves alive.

 

Yeah this area will be a lot of fun, I'll ask Dogtown if we can borrow extensively from his critters mods. He's always been really generous in that regard. FEV horrors to come.....

In regard to the ghouls and their nomadic existence, I think it's a very interesting idea. But it brings up a point that has always been rather muddy to me. However from the reading I'v done on the wiki, I think ghouls still have normal biological needs (food, air etc) as opposed to what they're undead appearance would suggest. So if we're going with a nomadic existence for the ghoul scientists outside their dome, we might make several small base camps in martian caverns where they can seal off some air. Perhaps have them traveling from hidden cave to cave scavenging along the way. Because I think they would still be susceptible to decompression and suffocation.

 

Which I guess means it will probably just be space ghouls, trauma suits and fev experiments that can wander the martian wasteland unencumbered by protection.

 

F: Outpost #02: Martian Ruins:

Outpost 02 was built after a powerful dust storm led to the discovery of strange structures lying beneath the planet's surface.......Supermutants were drawn to the Martian ruins

 

I have to admit I do prefer the idea of martian ruins being abandoned and isolated. I think though we'll have to swap FEV horrors for the supermutants, don't believe they could survive outside (if the cold and decompression didn't get them, they still couldn't breath), but I'm sure the FEV experiments could.

 

G: Launch-pad:

The Launch-pad houses the rockets. The rockets are the only way on or off the planet. This is where you begin your journey, and where you must return if you want to make it off the planet alive. There is a road leading directly from the launch-pad to the Main Base.

 

I think we might have a better solution if we combine the mainbase with the Launch-pad. Your suggestion (launch pad off base) has merit in regard to safety, especially concerning any experimental rockets. But I think it might work better if we imagine it as you would a air force base, with the base adjacent or surrounding the air strip (the parallel of a space port/launch pad). From a tactical and logistics point of view I think it would be more useful for the base designers.

 

Where the pad is will also determine the location of the space ghouls, and if we want them in the main base. This is where I had imagined them being, but it may clash if we want enclave remnants in the main base. On the other hand we can always have the remnants surviving in a different dome/outpost.

 

But some great input Kibblesticks, I suspect with this mod the difficulty won't be coming up with ideas, but deciding what to leave out. Also great work on the flora, they'r essential not just for driving home the "alien" aspect of the mod, but as contrast to the vault like interiors, plus they look awesome.

 

I have this crazy busy schedule until the 10th, but I'm starting to adapt my sleep patterns to it, so I hope to be more active and productive next week. I'll try to check some more today and tomorrow to catch up with the thread. I'm kind of pressed for time though, cuz I want to release a little mod tomorrow (OWB's Z-38).

Edited February 4, 2012 by devinpatterson

[TrooperScooperMKII]

Now that I think on it, a Big MT researcher brain would be a nice "helper" for the player- as in, one of the few genuinely helpful (or not) NPCs on the base.

I'm picturing a military researcher torn with regret (or at least pretending to...) trying to help the player survive.. or perhaps he/she/it is just lonely and desperate to talk with someone, especially someone from Earth who would probably be more receptive/dependant on the brain guy.

IE he helps you along, but if/when you try to leave he makes a big fuss about maintaining radio contact (he could be "contacting" you via a radio channel- basically droning on to the player, just to have someone to talk to) and/or butting in with hints/advice from time to time; some of which might actually be useful.

[greenknightfury]

 

That brings up an interesting point, that I had meant to cover before I got slammed at work. What's the composition of mars personal? We know this is right up the alley of the enclave (they wanted to build a starship for gods sake), vault-tec (fits right in as a facet of their "holocaust survival" plan), the military (huge strategic advantages to controlling space), civilian researchers (life long dream for many scientists to study mars) and last, but not least civilian sub-contractors (I separated them from vault-tec because their motivations are simply money, not a sociopath need to rule post apocalyptic world.). They could all have a piece of the pie, and all have valid (and compelling) reasons for being there.

 

But it would appear for all intents and purposes these factions are under military control. Now of course enclave and vault-tec activities will be below the radar as they scheme to gamble with the world. But the military would be the chain of command for the civilian researchers and contractors. Some of the highest ranking military are secretly enclave (in disguise as per they're pre-war shadow gov guises), but the enclave isn't obvious per se.

 

There are other ways of doing this (like a much more enclave heavy presence), or a civilian super project funded a major corp/individual. But I think this makes the most sense in light of the geo political situation in the pre-war fallout world, and the astronomical cash required.

 

However fast forward 200 years and we could certainly have enclave remnants/descendants in control as you suggest above. In my mind, I saw them as leaving behind their old affiliations in the desperate struggle to survive the catastrophic failure of the mars project, but your idea of a surviving, organized enclave or military force has a lot of merit as well. Especially if we want to present the player with a few fights vs a well trained and equipped fire team. They could also be a continuing theme of antagonists through out the storyline, providing a constant obstacle to the player.

 

Also a note on civilian contractors. There is a ***LOT*** of potential there. Poseidon energy for the power plant, Greenway Hydroponics for flora/terraforming/biodome, REPCONN Aerospace for the plasma rockets, General Atomics for brainbots and a whole host of other stuff, BigMT for flora/terraformin and robotics, Robco for robotics, Vault-tec for various life support systems and through Future-Tec (their subsidiary) the geck technology etc. etc. It will be up to us whether we include some of their personal in construction of the mars project or if the project was a total blackout with no info or personal coming in or out save through the military.

 

This definitely feeds right into the idea I talked about before with the population split into various factions or something like a caste system, with more resources and luxury afforded the top castes (the leaders mostly made up of the descendants/ghoulafied orginals of the Military leadership/Enclave officers and the scientist/priests made up of the the descendants of/ghoulafied/brainbot scientists of the mission), with a citizen caste made up of those from the most vital of the workers descendants/ghoulafied originals, and the almost slaves that are the highly mutated labor that maintain the place and do all the most dangerous unpleasant tasks other than fighting off the FEV monsters and such as that would be the job of the gaurds who would be the top of the citizen caste.