Old World Blues Expanded

[devinpatterson]

I'v never played FO1 or FO2, but in my limited experience Old World Blues really seemed to capture the quirkiness and 50's Sci-fi of fallout. I really enjoyed OWB, but found some places surprisingly sparse......with ample opportunity for expansion.

OWB seemed to only touch briefly/shallowly on some great ideas, full of possibilities.

 

 

In fact, part of the problem is that there is so much that can be expanded upon it can be daunting. So I was hoping to start this thread and get an idea of what other people thought were the most interesting subjects (and of course to recruit some help with the workload). Would you be more interested in an expansion of the X-22 Botanical Garden, z-38 lightwave research, Z-43 Innovative Toxins Plant, the gene splicing, the think tank history/character etc. etc. What were some of your favorite encounters?

 

Here's a few ideas I had to get the ball rolling;

 

z-38;

Greatly expanded holographic research; a holographic melee weapon, a holographic combat armor (probably just vest and helmet), new holographic enemies, possibly a holographic follower.

Atomic laser and atomic holography; We actually have these-in their infancy. I thought this could be a good explanation for "hard light holo's", holograms that affect the environment physically.

A greatly expanded VR room.

etc. Some of these I'v already implemented in a demo/beta 1 and a few more will be in demo/beta 2.

 

Some ideas I have are new robotic factories (for the various mark series), a large expansion of the gene splicing facility, (possibly) a VR sim where the thinktanks live a semi-human life, etc etc (more on that below). OWB is such a rich environment the sky is the limit.

 

I already have some assets made in addition to the items in the beta\demo. New models for the Mark series of protectrons and robobrains, blue lasers (player weapons as well as enemies), new valences, a splice of Rex and the k9000 etc. Here is a couple of pics;

 

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1997/z38d.jpg

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/230/ul2a.jpg

[devinpatterson]

im hoping that the vr thing will be like tranquility lane except in the higgs villiage

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I plan on copying the cell (but of course I'll change the enclosing building to a 6' white fence). Then plop it down in a mini-world of it's own so it won't appear to have any boarders, and will have a sky, other neighborhoods in the distance etc. That should complete the illusion.

 

It also has the advantage that if I ever need to expand it, I can. For instance maybe the neighborhood has a gate that leads to a soda shop that was a favorite hangout of one of the think tank's when he/she was a kid, perhaps a general store. A little VR Mayberry, or what have you.

 

I like hte idea of a VR and being able to see the think tanks as they were in human form. I like the idea of expanding their personalty, interests etc. For instance there would be a friendly VR version of gabe before his modifications, that would wander from Borus's house to backyard. Exploring Dala's house reveals she has some rather racy holo tapes she claims are "essential" for her research into formology, or maybe she wants to do some hands on research. A lot of different implications to explore for each think tank. Maybe 8 can make an appearance in a more understandable dialog.

 

But all of the think tanks (except possibly Dala) eschew and look down upon biological beings. I'm kind of going against lore if I include the VR as a recreational activity, because OWB portrays the think tanks as not wanting to be human anymore. They consider it messy, inefficient etc. So I came up with an idea. They have a recharge plate/base/dais in each chamber. I believe (I could be wrong) that every vertebrate, from the lowliest fish all the way to humans dream. So I tend to think Brainbots of all varieties do as well.

 

This VR can be an extension of this dreamstate. So when they plug in for their recharge, their brains also go into a REM state and enter the VR. This way the VR has more potential plot lines and can delve deeper into the think tank personalities. You can see their concerns, neurosis, conflicts etc materialize inside the sim, giving you a much deeper insight into their psyches.

 

This could allow for quests that digg into the subconsciousness's of the think tanks and are character related. Being a VR and a dreamstate means the think tanks could appear as their robotic selves, adults or even children....all dictated by the dream they are having. For instance maybe the first time the player enters the VR, Borous is a child and Betsy and Marcus are bullying him. You can help to resolve the situation (peacefully or otherwise) and begin to abosolve him of this obsession he has with the two.

 

But it doesn't have to be all character based quests. Because it's a dreamscape, it allows for a much wider variety of encounters, and thus the possibility for some real combat too. For instance a night mare of a Chinese communist invasion the player must fight off. Perhaps subconsciously the think tanks fear other lobotimites, besides the PC, (or any one of their crazy experiments) gaining self determination. That could result in VR nightmares of lobotimites invading higgs village, or even the Giant roboscoprion.

 

A lot of their culture will show in their dreams as well. The ever present pre-war paranoia will be reflected in the fear of chinese spies or co-conspirators. Pehaps the pint sized slasher was a national story and makes an appearance.

 

Really a ton of direction you can go on this one.

 

The only downside is you wouldn't be able to take any items out with you. Most of the time the think tanks wouldn't remember their dreams but some fragments may survive to the waking world. Some of those memories might give the think tank an idea about a weapon, mod or other device and a think tank could give you a holo to use at the sink to make it a reality.

[devinpatterson]

Hello devinpatterson, I was browsing through the nexus and found your mod. I haven't tested it yet, but I do have some suggestions for you for possible future versions: first, I found it odd that the whole area isn't covered by underground tunnels leading to all the various buildings throughout Big MT. I can just see it now: a utility tunnel filled with death traps, lobotimites fighting against night-stalkers with flamethrowers, a cazador nest in the remnants of a reservoir. This leads to suggestion 2: the think tank is not really an enemy. They were... annoying at best in that regard. How about a real enemy? A think tank-er who was also damaged by Elijah, he disappeared into the bowels of Big MT and slowly went further insane. He has his robots move out to outlying communities to steal people for lobotomite creation among other experiments (this can explain why the lobotomites no longer repair the area but act like attack dogs - he changed their programming). Your defeat of the think tank and Mobius makes you a prime target for revenge against the human who dared to hurt him. Since the memories of the think tank are damaged anyway, this madman is simply forgotten. This allows for a lobotomite processing facility, various mutant monsters, allowing to free slaves, etc. Next door can be a kennel for the robo dogs that acted to bring the captured humans here. Anyway, I have a few other suggestions so if you are interested, let me know. Good luck with your mod, it looks fantastic. Darkus37.

[devinpatterson]

I found it odd that the whole area isn't covered by underground tunnels leading to all the various buildings throughout Big MT.

 

True, it's strange. I don't think we can bring back those tunnels since the bedrock they were embedded in has been blasted away, but there could still be tons of maintenance tunnels that would serve equally as well for your idea of death traps, flame thrower wielding lobotomites etc.

 

This leads to suggestion 2: the think tank is not really an enemy. They were... annoying at best in that regard.

 

Yeah there really wasn't a "greater" evil to overcome. Even Mobius, the default villain of the story, was really just confused and misguided.

 

 

How about a real enemy? A think tank-er who was also damaged by Elijah, he disappeared into the bowels of Big MT and slowly went further insane.

 

I like your basic concept of real enemy (and thus a real challenge), but I think if you make it a think tank and follow the the story line of him going insane it mirrors Mobius's history too closely. Maybe there is another equally challenging character that could be used. Whether that's a lobotomite king, a surviving wasteland adventurer, a sentient & twisted deconstructed securitron like 010011110110111001100101, or something else entirely????

 

Whatever that villain turns out to be, I like the idea of stealing people for experiments, freeing slaves etc that you'v detailed.

 

Anyway, I have a few other suggestions so if you are interested, let me know. Good luck with your mod, it looks fantastic. Darkus37.

 

That would be great :thumbsup:

 

I'm going to put up a thread with some ideas on the OWB expansion and with your permission I'd like to include this MSG.

 

I'll also email you the link so we can brainstrom some more in the forums.

[devinpatterson]

Wonderful! I'll gladly help in any way can.

 

My reason for using a Think Tank as an enemy is due to the dark ending of Old World Blues, where left unchecked, they turned the wasteland into a testing ground for their experiments and base natures. You can of course have the rampant securitron but that comes pretty close to President Eden. The Lobotomites do have something like a king, but I kinda seem them like remote controlled flesh puppets. Mobius is different because he chose to make himself the way he is to prevent brains without empathy to escape from BigMT, making him more like a tragic hero. This is the opposite, where a weak enemy becomes a threat because he is weak. For the end boss, imagine the following scene:

 

You enter into a biological lab that has been turned into the main villains headquarters. Dead lobotimite bodies litter the floor and blood is everywhere. The villain taunts you from a balcony overlooking the lab. Suddenly, an object like the one the houses Mr. House pops out of the floor (or it can be there already) and pops open in an explosion of air. Out pops something like a cyborg mixed with a superhuman behemoth. After wreaking bloody havoc, you finally reach the villain who is acting more like a scared child then a Darth Vader. You can try and leave him alone but he will attack you screaming Elijah!.

 

But, I admit, that's a little dark.

 

On the other hand, there are the enemies that are already in-game and only used in Wild Wasteland, the aliens. How about it escapes when Elijah blows everything to hell and it spends the next several years trying to get home and building itself an army of workers to get the materials. You have the saturnite alloy to act like the hull and some high tech stuff lying around, it seems like a pretty good fit. The securitrons could have gone insane because the aliens' attempt at reprogramming conflicted with Mr. Houses directives. You can also fit in the above ending with the alien just yelling "Kill all humans!" or the equivalent. It also fit's the retro 50's theme.

 

Even though the game engine doesn't allow it, I would have really liked to see you running around BigMT with a small flying saucer trying to vaporize you... :)

[senterpat]

I know it's impossible to have a big saucer high in the air, but what about little ships, at player height? I think it would be a lot of fun to have tiny ships attacking you, they could be either controlled by the villain remotely or by tiny npcs or aliens that have been shrunk down. And of they are tiny aliens, they could have a massive ego to go with that size.

I love the idea of fighting a bunch of mini ships and having them tell me to grovel or surrender before I'm destroyed.

[darkus37]

The only way I can see this happening, is if you take something like an eyebot and replace the mesh with a much higher and slightly tilted downward alien ship. That could probably work.

[tizerist]

This sounds really good, keeping an eye on this.

One thing I would advise against is too much shooting / fighting. In the original OWB I got the impression I was always getting attacked and cranking that up would put me off personally.

Sometimes less is more.

Edited May 31, 2012 by tizerist

[devinpatterson]

I know it's impossible to have a big saucer high in the air, but what about little ships, at player height? I think it would be a lot of fun to have tiny ships attacking you, they could be either controlled by the villain remotely or by tiny npcs or aliens that have been shrunk down. And of they are tiny aliens, they could have a massive ego to go with that size.

I love the idea of fighting a bunch of mini ships and having them tell me to grovel or surrender before I'm destroyed.

 

Sure we can do that (little ships, big ego's etc). Re: big ships up in the air, yeah that would be trickier since we don't really have a critter skeleton that wanders about in the sky. But you could still do it via script.

 

My link

The only way I can see this happening, is if you take something like an eyebot and replace the mesh with a much higher and slightly tilted downward alien ship. That could probably work.

 

Yep that's what I did with my valences to make energy beings;

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yksBM6Py8Tk&feature=plcp

 

Yep, you can rig the mesh to a skeleton, or prn it. The eyebot skeleton is great for that, not just because it floats, but because it doesn't deform the mesh much (since you just have the antennas and gun that move around, the rest is practically a static model). Prn can sometimes work better since there is no chance the skeleton will deform it. I used it in the critters above, because I couldn't re-link all nodes in the valences correctly after blender squashed htem :down: An experienced modder may know even more options.

 

Oh, speaking of, I have one of these Photonic AI's in beta 2 under heavy security (behind upgraded force fields, sentry bots etc). The idea mirrors the wiki's statement that a lot of the most advanced fallout tech is of alien origin. The valences came out of nowhere (no backstory) so I figured I'd go with that (alien origin). Plus I have a tie in to the mars project (along with the atomic laser, the AER15 green lasers etc).

 

So what I was wondering is if anyone would like it as a companion?

 

Originally I just included it as a curiosity, and a mod tie in, but maybe people would like one. This is the one I was going to go with, but any of them will work;

 

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5873/unknownzc.jpg

 

Although I'v renamed it "Pipboy OS error: Reference not found" to hide it's origin.

Edited June 11, 2012 by devinpatterson

[darkus37]

Well, while I personally believe that there are too many companions in-game already, considering that you play Old World Blues without any real help, why not? As long as it doesn't keep saying "Hey! Listen!"...

 

It sort of reminds me of this old movie, Batteries Not Included. Basically, tiny little alien robots wind up on earth and help out this one little apartment building and it's tenants.

 

Several suggestions:

 

1) Have it transform from one version to another when it enters combat. Have it be like the size of a fist when passive, then grow in size into a more spiked shape when in combat (I know, I know - too complicated).

2) There's the area where they were studying holograms - when you enter the beam you pass out and nothing happens. So why not have it be inside the beam, where entering dislodges it somehow and it decides to follow it's liberator (you'd have to disable the beam afterwards).

3) Have a toggle switch that activates it (when going stealthy, it sort of sticks out).