An independent New Vegas mod.

[devinpatterson]

I can't see anyone settling the divide or even scavenging there. To hostile and rugged for people.

Yeah it's pretty desolate, but keep in mind that a lot of that (tornadoes, dust storms etc) related to meteorology/weather was there before the settlement-possibly as early as pre-war times (as it was where the BigMT practiced their weather experiment). That didn't prevent the survivalist community from becoming established and even flourishing. But what I'm really intrigued by, is the idea history coming full circle and the man (or woman) responsible for ending the the settlement (inadvertently) also be responsible for beginning it anew. And I'll also admit to a lot of curiosity regarding what Ulysses and the NCR saw as so promising in it. It peaks my interest and imagination.

 

Radar fence only keeps unpaired brains/bodies in. Lobotomites and Think Tanks get pulled back, anything with a brain in a (biological)body can walk straight through.

 

For OWB the radar fence would be the greatest barrier (****even though the think tank info only lists it's ability to keep things in****, and at least three people have breached it's defense), but that's not written in stone.

**** asterisks added for emphasis.

 

Hey, been a while since I posted here, but finally had something to say:

Good to hear from you brother

 

1. Mortis - sounds like an idea I had in the OWB thread, sounds cool.

Yeah that could be. I often times notice I come up with the same idea, at different times, in the same thread. Don't know if that's a testament to poor memory or that my gray matter is very predictable <insert mini philosophical rant/monologue about free will here>. My idea on Mortis centers around the experiment going bad....really bad. Like lobotomy via epileptic monkey bad. A lot of organic damage, resulting in a criminally insane think tank. Something akin to a Hannibal Lecter of bots. I'v since had some misgivings as a setting as dark as something like the silence of the lambs probably wouldn't fit very well in OWB....a DLC filled with it's own special brand of peculiar insanity, but edging toward the lighter side of comedy (IMHO). So I may tone that down a bit.

 

I'm thinking he will also tie in strongly with the mini-think tank swarms of previous lotobotmite brains. His "minions" will be an important part of his persona (and possibly comedy relief).

 

Was yours along the same idea? I have the flu (and I'm lazy) so if it's not too much trouble could you repost your idea on the think tank you proposed and we'll see if we have some additional material to co-opt.

 

Might I suggest part of the reason Mortis wants the courier is because the Courier was enhanced by The Sink and survived being shot in the head, thus making him a superior human as a new host body?

That might be intersting, but I'v noticed the think tanks have an aversion to biological bodies as "messy". I think they believe a think tank or bot body is a evolutionary step above humans, so I think he'd be unlikely to want to drop down to a meatbag, organic entity. Unless maybe he was a real hedonist and wanted the sensory experience. Maybe a variation on that idea would be that Mortis wants the player as the ultimate "lobotomite" henchman. As a lobotomite he'd have full control of the player adn you couldn't ask for a better henchman.

 

 

2. The Divide - I was kicking around the following scenario:

 

The town the Courier helped found in the Divide (let's call it Spes - latin for hope) was made up of survivalists and generally hard-to-kill individuals. After the area became a hell-hole, the surviving townspeople managed to seek refuge on the top floor of an old office building to protect themselves from the tunnelers. This new "town" is called Relinquere (latin for abandon) and is slowly dying as their numbers aren't replenished from being isolated, and the horrors of the Divide slowly grind them away. The Courier was thought to be dead, but the events of Lonesome Road have revealed his existence once more, and the people of Relinquere are feeling vengeful - both because the Courier seems to have caused the disaster and seemingly abandoned them.

 

The Courier is ambushed somewhere in the Mojave and forcibly taken to Relinquere to face the town's judgement. There could be several branching paths, such as escaping and leaving them to their fate or working to make them more secure (killing a ton of tunnelers and their Queen for example).

Interesting. I have to admit I'm much more interested in a story plot that involves redemption than revenge (just seems like revenge is so over used). An interesting idea of some survivors from teh original settlement, I was thinking more along the lines of new settlers. I wish they had detailed more of the divides post war history. I'd really like to know what made this community so special in both Ulysses's and the NCR's eyes.

[darkus37]

I hope you get better soon - I myself am in week 2 of "Attack of the Flu!".

 

Mortis

 

I searched through the OWB thread and I think these are the pertinent posts: 3, 4, 5, and 26.

 

One of the really cool things I found about the Fallout series is that it didn't try and shy away from the despair and horror that a post-apocalyptic world would be like. There is humor of course, but the world was pretty damn terrifying - filled with forced mutations, cannibalism, rape, murder, etc. Having a more mature (and frankly evil) opponent wouldn't really be a tonal shift as long as it was a separate (post) story from the OWB questline.

 

Elijah, Salt-Upon-Wounds, and Ulysses were not exactly a barrel of laughs - but I can understand wanting to stick to the slightly zany feel of OWB.

 

 

Sure, having what amounts to a demi-god henchman makes sense. That said, with access to FEV, cybernetics, and other "fun" stuff, there's no reason the player can't wind up fighting a mutant-cyborg clone version of themselves in the climax (the player was being hunted so that they could be used as a template for said clone).

 

The Divide Idea

 

The "good" path would be one about redemption, but the player could also have the option of saying "screw you all!", and leaving the survivors (or making things worse). New settlers wouldn't make sense unless they were armed with Enclave-level tech. From what I've read about the Divide, before the disaster, the area was strategically important as another way into the Mojave, but a dangerous one - to the point where the NCR were scouting possible annexation. The Legion wasn't happy with this development and sent troops to counter the NCR presence, but it was probably unnecessary as the NCR decided against using such as a dangerous route. The disaster just put an exclamation mark at the end of that decision.

 

The town the Courier helped find was just in a good place (strategically speaking), with Old World tech lying around waiting to be scavenged. The tunnelers were underground, the storms weren't as dangerous, and it wasn't as radiated - paradise compared to the post-delivery Divide.

[devinpatterson]

I hope you get better soon - I myself am in week 2 of "Attack of the Flu!".

Ouch, I feel for you. It hit me on Friday, but I was well enough to run a bit on Monday (dog was going stir crazy). I don't know if it was a really mild flu or maybe just a cold. Either way 2 weeks is on the insane side :sad:

 

 

Mortis

 

I searched through the OWB thread and I think these are the pertinent posts

Thanks, I'll look those over

 

One of the really cool things I found about the Fallout series is that it didn't try and shy away from the despair and horror that a post-apocalyptic world would be like...........Having a more mature (and frankly evil) opponent wouldn't really be a tonal shift as long as it was a separate (post) story from the OWB questline.

Yeah, I did mean more in respect to OWB's tone. But yeah maybe. I'm sure there is also a middle ground where this think tank *is* malevolent and still somewhat ridiculous/zany.

 

That said, with access to FEV, cybernetics, and other "fun" stuff, there's no reason the player can't wind up fighting a mutant-cyborg clone version of themselves in the climax (the player was being hunted so that they could be used as a template for said clone).

Yeah there is DNA floating about (for example in your old brain tank). I read somewhere you can actually clone the pc via a console command. That would prevent some cosmetic changes to the model, but if the cybernetic/biological enhancements were rigged as armor they could show up on the clone.

 

Actually that idea might be kind of a cool insight/aspect for your mod (if you havn't done it already). So I know you have a training room (IIRC), but how cool would it be to have a hologram clone of yoruself to fight for that trainig. Do the same as above and apply the holo shader/script and I think it would be do-able.

 

 

 

 

The Divide Idea

 

The "good" path would be one about redemption, but the player could also have the option of saying "screw you all!", and leaving the survivors (or making things worse). New settlers wouldn't make sense unless they were armed with Enclave-level tech.

Yeah, I'm only really interested/intrigued by the story coming full circle, but it makes sense to have a revenge aspect to cover the various eventualities.

 

The town the Courier helped find was just in a good place (strategically speaking), with Old World tech lying around waiting to be scavenged. The tunnelers were underground, the storms weren't as dangerous, and it wasn't as radiated - paradise compared to the post-delivery Divide.

I feel for it to be or become a settlement (as opposed to just a survivors camp) that I need more, it's part of the reason I'm looking at angles to determine if it's more hospitible than first glance would indicate. I mean some of the draws, like prospecting (tech) is still a draw, but if that's the only thing, then I don't believe a settlement will be very feasible. More likely prospectors will attempt forays into the divide instead of settling.

 

Maybe another way could be found through to the Mojave and it could function as a trade route for the draw. Or maybe I'm looking at the the settlement in teh wrong way. It doesn't have to be above ground, could be that the military installations are far superior to what most wastelanders could ever hope to settle.

 

On a side note, for the revenge/survivors, I wonder if marked men (well, they'r civilian analog) would be a better choice than human survivors. It's my understanding that marked men aren't fundementally different from ghouls.

[darkus37]

I don't get sick often, but when I do, it's a pain in the you-know-what.

 

 

Clone fight simulation: if I knew how to script, than yes - that would be an excellent idea. That said, added to the "Wish List".

 

 

Divide Idea:

 

I imagine some limited prospecting on the fringes would be possible, but that would require some heavy armor and armament and a lot of people working together - even then, success is doubtful due to the storms and monsters.

 

No successful base can exist when the very floor beneath you gives no shelter - and don't forget, the tunnelers were able to get into the missile silos en masse (i.e. the tram ride down into the Ashton Silo). That's why I picked a high-rise building - both for the vantage point and relative safety.

 

From what I gathered in the wiki, the Marked Men are insane from first having their flesh flayed off and then being ghoulified - living in constant, agonizing pain. Not exactly the best choice for long-term planning.

[greenknightfury]

In regards to new settlers in the Divide, remember The Pitt of FO3, extremely hazardous, mutant and toxin/rad filled areas get settled with the lure of tech/resources in FO, especially easy to see how it could happen to an area so close to easy supplies (meds and food) as the Divide. Heck they make a point of the fact that the Sierra Madre would be full of people if not for the fact it is so isolated even with it's various horrors, though I'd see that more as a settlement just outside it with many runs into it to salvage the tech.

 

Still drives me nuts that everyone in the Mojave,especially NCR, apparently suffers amnesia along with your character (despite the official statements to the contrary) since LR revealed you had created a nation from being a courier between the NCR and the Mojave so much through the Divide. Sorry but you would be remembered...and the troopers of the NCR would know you (probably on sight since they have working cameras and print newspapers according to things said in the game), and you wouldn't be completely clueless about the Mojave (though it makes slightly more sense not to know all of it than when you were just a Mojave Courier that suddenly didn't know anything about the area).

Edited December 20, 2013 by greenknightfury

[devinpatterson]

Clone fight simulation: if I knew how to script, than yes - that would be an excellent idea. That said, added to the "Wish List".

If I get some free time I'll try to look into it.

 

Divide Idea:

 

I imagine some limited prospecting on the fringes would be possible, but that would require some heavy armor and armament and a lot of people working together - even then, success is doubtful due to the storms and monsters.

I'm actually looking at it from the other angle, trying to find a reason for them to actually settle there. I think tech prospecting can be *a* draw/attraction for settlement, but not *the* draw or the only draw. Otherwise they may just make forays into the region instead of settling down.

 

So my dilemma is; to make this story come full circle, I need a way for settlers to survive and even possibly thrive in the Divide.

 

No successful base can exist when the very floor beneath you gives no shelter - and don't forget, the tunnelers were able to get into the missile silos en masse (i.e. the tram ride down into the Ashton Silo). That's why I picked a high-rise building - both for the vantage point and relative safety.

My memory is far from eidetic (in fact it's fairly dysfunctional) but I don't recall any mound exits in vault or military facility type areas that had floors of concrete or steel. Teh tram ride infestation/invasion could have been breached from almost anywhere and then they just jumped down the shaft. The wiki gives a little background that is really interesting on their history (pretty massive genetic mutation/development from ordinary peeps). But another tidbit is they were down there breeding, trapped, until the first nukes the courier set off created some fissures that they could use to get to teh surface.

 

Anyway, I tend to think they'r burrowing is on the more realistic side (ie unable to breach hardened facilities), and I believe the divides military installations could hold safety from them (if not other threats). I also believe they have the infrastructure to utilize (probably large stores of preserved food for troops, items from teh commissary, etc) if the courier can provide entrance.

 

On the other hand I do like the idea of multiple high rise buildings leaning inward toward each other and tied together with cable bridges. Make shift balloons for transportation to nearby locations and other visual tie ins with a "sky tribe" survivalist group could add to the locations appeal. And of course if they are outside and up high they will only have tunnelers at night and should have choke points to funnel them into fire zones.

 

Maybe a mixture of both (high rise & military installations) by the time the community is established.

 

From what I gathered in the wiki, the Marked Men are insane from first having their flesh flayed off and then being ghoulified - living in constant, agonizing pain. Not exactly the best choice for long-term planning.

Not as survivors, but as the vengeance faction, the madness will add to that.

[devinpatterson]

In regards to new settlers in the Divide, remember The Pitt of FO3, extremely hazardous, mutant and toxin/rad filled areas get settled with the lure of tech/resources in FO, especially easy to see how it could happen to an area so close to easy supplies (meds and food) as the Divide. Heck they make a point of the fact that the Sierra Madre would be full of people if not for the fact it is so isolated even with it's various horrors, though I'd see that more as a settlement just outside it with many runs into it to salvage the tech.

And I suspect there are some serious military ordinance waiting to be unearthed. Although I'd really like it to be multiple reasons (or at least a couple) that makes at least a part of the divide attraction. The courier can be tasked with clearing out a wide variety of opponents (reducing the cons of the divide somewhat), but I feel the divide itself needs to draw in teh settlers with some pros in it's favor.....if possible.

 

So far there's tech (primarily military), resources (food, medical) and the safety of the military facilities themselves, but I havn't come up with anything else yet.

 

Still drives me nuts that everyone in the Mojave,especially NCR, apparently suffers amnesia along with your character (despite the official statements to the contrary) since LR revealed you had created a nation from being a courier between the NCR and the Mojave so much through the Divide. Sorry but you would be remembered...and the troopers of the NCR would know you (probably on sight since they have working cameras and print newspapers according to things said in the game), and you wouldn't be completely clueless about the Mojave (though it makes slightly more sense not to know all of it than when you were just a Mojave Courier that suddenly didn't know anything about the area).

I'm guessing the couriers cluelessness comes from the head wound, but I definitely get where your coming from in regard to the NCR not recognizing him/her :sad:

[Devilman1975]

 

I'm actually looking at it from the other angle, trying to find a reason for them to actually settle there. I think tech prospecting can be *a* draw/attraction for settlement, but not *the* draw or the only draw. Otherwise they may just make forays into the region instead of settling down.

 

So my dilemma is; to make this story come full circle, I need a way for settlers to survive and even possibly thrive in the Divide.

 

To be absolutely honest I'm having a hard time trying to believe that the Divide could ever hope to hold some kind of settlement. When the Courier delivered the NCR's package from Navaro, it set off several nukes in the area. Between the extent of the destruction, you've got an increase in monsters, dust storms and pockets of radiation I'm skeptical about the chances for any community to survive in the area. I can see ghouls and supermutants being ideal prospectors with their resistance to radiation but would still need protective clothing against the dust storms.

 

 

I also believe they have the infrastructure to utilize (probably large stores of preserved food for troops, items from teh commissary, etc) if the courier can provide entrance.

 

Regarding the commissaries we were never given an proper explanation how they worked. I might assume that they are similar to the Sierra Madre vending machines. I would be interested in scavenging the place for useful tech like the machine that remote scanned Ed-E in the Mojave and made copies.

[greenknightfury]

 

Regarding the commissaries we were never given an proper explanation how they worked. I might assume that they are similar to the Sierra Madre vending machines. I would be interested in scavenging the place for useful tech like the machine that remote scanned Ed-E in the Mojave and made copies.

 

 

Well according to the notes the commissaries all linked to a central facility, so teleportation of inanimate objects instead of the fabrication machines that the Sierra Madre vending machines were, but the machines that built the Ed-E were definitely a larger version (probably a much earlier version) of the vending machines.

[sullyvanj93]

see, i love this idea. and to be honest, i'd love to see a team of super-modders work on THIS instead of project brazil, etc.

 

I mean dont get me wrong, I'm sure I'll love their work. But i'd love to see them tied up the CURRENT game stories more, rather than make new ones

 

wish I had the skill to help out in any way...