A Requiem for the Capital Wasteland - Areas of Foucs and Merger Wanted

[vindr20]

Elder Lyons mentions the fact that the BoS is seriously overstretched when the Enclave attacks the Purifier, and after its activation it only gets worse having to babysit the water caravans. In game, I've seen roughly the same number of BoS soldiers, maybe more. Of course things always need a little adjustment, but considering the amount of forces at the purifier couldn't withstand such numbers, or the retaking efforts considering the many outposts the BoS control and how scattered those are, I felt correct in my numbers. With that many assets that need defending, and the distance between them, regrouping is difficult if not impossible if one wants to hold onto those assets. Not to mention the fact that most of the BoS were pressed into service, having to face a military trained group.

 

Yes, but you're forgetting a few things:

1. The BoS is going to have a massive advantage over any mercenaries. Namely power armor and advanced weaponry.

2. The BoS may be overstretched, but it could recall most of their soldiers to retake the purifier.

3. The people (with the possible exception of Rivet City Security) love the BoS, they ended the threat of the Enclave, protect against Super Mutant Threats, and give out free water, I don't think the Brotherhood will have trouble with recruits or support to keep/take back the purifier.

[Deleted2547005User]

I still think it works given the equipment and training B.C. has. Numbers can be adjusted, the BoS is still going lose.

[liquideathshred]

As for the addon travel mod, I'm not concerned overmuch by canon and lore. I won't break it, but why should I limit myself to what is set in stone? Along the whole path of the Lone Wanderers journey, I constantly remind the player of Fallout lore. You met the Midwestern Brotherhood, the iconic Denver, the Enclave in Chicago, and the Courier's Mile. I see nothing wrong with adding new groups and new, original locations for the Fallout world. Having the player run around all over the west to follow every little reference to their past, a past the player can choose to have or not, takes away from the journey and New Vegas. In New Vegas, the Courier's past is deliberately left blank, and there are many occasions in the game for the player to choose the events in there own past. Lonesome Road is the only place were solid history is made for the player, all while they were a courier, never about their origins. The transition won't take four years, and the story will skip forward during the Lone Wanderers time in the NCR as a courier, so it's logical to assume in that time the courier traveled to those locations when the correct dialog is chosen.

 

I have to be honest, as a player I'd be much more interested in following canon/lore. There's nothing wrong with adding a few unmentioned locations, maybe some quests etc, but anything explicitly stated as being a part of the Courier's past should be part of the Lone Wanderer's path to the West.

 

Obviously a few things will be difficult to replicate, and we can fill in the holes (like Kansas), but places like Chicago shouldn't be scrapped just based on size. I said it before and I'll say it again: we should do this *right*, not fast. If it takes time to finish, so be it; we're basically making a whole other game in and of itself, to link FO3 to FONV. There's a lot of ground to cover there.

 

How much time have you put into writing for the travel mod quests? Do you need help? I'd be happy to contribute in whatever way I can.

[vindr20]

I still think it works given the equipment and training B.C. has. Numbers can be adjusted, the BoS is still going lose.

 

Well, since it is your mod, I really can't argue too much. However, might I suggest that you give the BC some major advantage, perhaps some sort of deployable EMP weapon?

[Deleted2547005User]

A compromise. An advantage over the BoS will be included, but EMP might not be the best route as it could damage the Purifier. Using it to hold back the BoS forces would be a better option - I wouldn't want to get close to the Purifier if it meant I'd get fried. Better yet, it could be used as a bargaining chip, threatening the destruction of the Purifier if the BoS doesn't clear out. That would give better success for B.C..

 

For those interested in helping, I've created the heightmap for the Kansas Wasteland. It's rather flat, like Kansas, but it does have hills and a very small lakes/ponds dotting the landscape, with a very slight route for I-70 carved into the heightmap.

 

liquideathshred

 

I can always use with the mod, quest writing included. Though the story and locations will need to hammered out to lay the foundation for quests, but some quest work will help with filling out locations. PM me if you are interested, I can give you all of the story that we've gotten so far.

 

I didn't completely ignore the courier's past, but most of the references to his/her path are optional, so adding them in would seem to force that one the player. The Divide is the only true history the player has, and that is one of the things I wanted to include in the travel mod. So the player will be able to participate in their past, and the time transition - like in Vault 101 - will allow for plausibility for the other events in the courier's past.

[SuperSonic64]

One way to balance out the lack of numbers in BC is by making them more stealth and tactics oriented. They could create a distraction for the brotherhood of steel to draw them away from the purifier and utilize stealth boys or possibly versions of the Chinese stealth suit(van buren i believe was planning to have them around hoover dam anyways). They're aren't really any factions that consist of an "elite" group of mercenaries in fallout, and they could make for more powerful and player-like enemies. Imagine some with perks like demolition expert or pyromaniac. By giving them this individual edge, being able to overcome the brotherhood of steel, a example of rigidness and standardization in technique and discipline. If you were going to take it back with the threat of an emp blast, having the brotherhood of steel/enclave or whoever would be helping you take it back would enter through the exit you used in escape in "waters of life" would be entertaining, especially with a time limit before they detonate the emp was used to increase the tension.

 

Also, some minor details that could be written in after a return to the wasteland.

-mirelurks around the purifier would be gone if purifier activated normally. They were already dying in broken steel because of the purified water. No sense in them being around 4 years later

-Republic of Dave has evolved depending on who won the election. Nothing will change if you didn't do anything to rig election. Bob would turn it into a hostile military outpost and/or recruited by bad company. Rosie would turn it into a thriving trading post, and being a "sovereign nation", would be able to trade with a better variety of goods than other merchants.

-If the deathclaws in old oney taken care of, it could act as an outpost for whatever side you took, be it raiders, enclave, or brotherhood of steel

-Girdirshade would be grown up/desolate depending on whether you help/killed its inhabitants.

-Tennpenny towers being more vibrant/desolate depending on whether tennpenny was killed and whether the ghouls took over

-Outcasts presence felt more if technology brought into them and trust gained.

 

These are just a few ideas, but I'm not really sure what ideas you are looking for. You seem to have the perks and leveling problems figured out, and weapon wise, a patch for weapon mods expanded would be a good idea but ultimately not necessary. Maybe remove some weapons from New Vegas and put them in the capital wasteland? New Vegas probably has 2 to 3 times the number of unique weapons that fallout 3 and all its dlc did and honestly, it would make it more interesting to go back to if more unique weapons were there.

Edited April 20, 2012 by SuperSonic64

[Deleted2547005User]

SuperSonic64

 

I've should've included some background on B.C.. Most of the mercenaries, named and otherwise, you'll meet are former Colonial soldiers, giving them the experience of a proper military training and having faced combat numerous occasions. The Bushnell Colony is formed of over a dozen tribes that thirty - forty years ago had fought one another for over a century. Toughness and aggression is the common stock for any man or woman from the Colony. On top of that, they've had to fight Caeser's Legion as they expanded south into Colorado, giving them combat hardness. Most of Bad Company itself is recruited soldiers from two different tribes; Jack's gang - a tribe known for their subversive tactics and stealth, and House Gillion - a family tribe putting tactical know-how above all else.

 

B.C. has their hands on power armor from old enclave bases and from Brotherhood soldiers they've faced in the Midwest. They also deploy Deathclaws with their ground forces, often using them as a distraction or simply as foot soldiers. I refer to the picture I posted, which you can found here again.

 

http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/images/28978

 

It's not the greatest, but there will be future pictures.

[vindr20]

B.C. has their hands on power armor from old enclave bases and from Brotherhood soldiers they've faced in the Midwest. They also deploy Deathclaws with their ground forces, often using them as a distraction or simply as foot soldiers.

 

Power Armor? Death Claws, what did they trial-and-error it until they figured out how Power Armor (Training) works? And if they can't produce power armor, I doubt they'd be able to control Deathclaws (unless they just hijacked Enclave ones, at which point the numbers would be limited.).

 

Food for Thought

Edited April 21, 2012 by vindr20

[Nihilisaurus]

B.C. has their hands on power armor from old enclave bases and from Brotherhood soldiers they've faced in the Midwest. They also deploy Deathclaws with their ground forces, often using them as a distraction or simply as foot soldiers.

 

Power Armor? Death Claws, what did they trial-and-error it until they figured out how Power Armor (Training) works? And if they can't produce power armor, I doubt they'd be able to control Deathclaws (unless they just hijacked Enclave ones, at which point the numbers would be limited.).

 

Food for Thought

Yeah, in-game the only people with the know-how to operate power armours are those directly descended from original members of the Mechanised Cavalry units equipped with it before the war, and even then only those who've preserved this knowledge. Outside these groups the knowledge is practically unheard of, limited only to player characters (by way of these small groups). Adding another group - especially one descended from tribes - radically changes that dynamic.

 

As for the deathclaws, the Enclave only managed to tame them in FO3 with custom built high-tech head implants, and even then if those broke the creatures reverted to their normal behaviour and tore their handlers to shreds. Apart from that the only way would be if you could find some intelligent deathclaws and somehow convince them to fight for you, which is *very* unlikely, the only intelligent deathclaws we ever saw were in Fallout 2, #1 They were all pacifists and #2 They're all dead, they got Frank Horrigan'd.

[SuperSonic64]

I can imagine maybe deathclaws. They didn't really breed them so much as use mind control, but I don't know how thematically that fits a group of hardened soldiers. Enclave was all about using any advantage through technology they could get. BC sounds more like a group of individuals who rely on subterfuge and planned assaults. Power armor doesn't really fit that idea very well. If you are trying to create this group as scavengers, maybe it could work. However, power armor was design to essentially be a trench buster/line holder. It slows you down, but allows you to easily use heavy weapons like chain guns and missile launchers. However, the downside is that is slows you down and makes you much more noticeable. Hence why wearing it makes you a human tank. Hence why, if they were scavenging, Chinese stealth suits fit them better. After all, there were spies everywhere, and chinese stealth suits had made it to d.c. during the war. I doubt they were the only ones to get them. Stealth boys are also a possibility, given their prevalence even after the war. I just don't think pet deathclaws and power armor suit a hardened group of soldiers who use tactics and stealth. I still think some of the player perks could be used to give their soldiers an edge and make them more interesting to fight against. Ninja, finesse, the professional and toughness perks would be good fits. Edited April 21, 2012 by SuperSonic64