An independent New Vegas mod.

[TheAtmosphere]

Maybe not 95%, that could cause power-outages for an extended Vegas, but that is all part of the trick, right?

 

50%, 25%... etc

[devinpatterson]

Maybe not 95%, that could cause power-outages for an extended Vegas, but that is all part of the trick, right?

 

50%, 25%... etc

 

Yep that is part of the trick. If you simply give them the juice, or give it to them at a pittance, they will see you as weak, but it could improve NCR relations. If you drive a hard, but fair bargain (caps, or NCR resources) in trade, they will respect you and it will help to normalize relations (while tipping the legion against you). If you are greedy they may cut off relations (while tipping the legion for your cause) or it will build resentment at being cheated.

[darkus37]

About the time frame: I think skipping to two weeks or a month later is best. It's easier to do and (using a hurricane analogy) this would be the Eye of the Storm, with the eery relative quiet about to become violent again. The Chapter 2 part sounds like a great start. Just to flesh things out a little: at this time, the Courier would outright control New Vegas and the Dam and with limited overall control of West/Freeside. NCR and Legion forces would be severely depleted since they basically wiped themselves out fighting at the Dam. Each would be holed up in fortified areas waiting for reinforcements, and I imagine there would be a rise in attacks by opportunistic raiders and army deserters.

 

About the vanilla companions: this is just my opinion on the matter; but If you decide to go the route I'm suggesting, then the best bet is to probably use the Mass Effect style when dealing with companions from former games - they impact the next chapter in good or bad ways depending on whether they were once allied with you or are alive/dead; and depending on your status with them, make the overall game easier/harder. They can momentarily join up, but it might be better off if they went back to their lives after the current quest completes.

Since you mentioned Cass, I got the impression that the caravan life was over for her. She might still travel and drink, but losing her employees and livelihood really got her (thus drinking herself to death at the Mojave Outpost); this is especially true if you play the pro-NCR side and deny her revenge. It would make sense for her to open up a stable business that could satisfy her drinking and screwing, while still leaving her useful to the plot. I remember mentioning a possible side-quest a while ago about investigating the murder of a prostitute - this could be linked to a serial killer that inadvertently killed a spy working for Cass (who was helping you out) and would end with finding the killer and finishing the work of the spy (i.e. something syndicate related).

The problem with Veronica joining the Followers is that if you try that in-game, they get slaughtered by the BOS.

With ED-E, I think the Navaro trip and finding nothing there is a good idea, especially since I gave the data to the Followers. I don't know if it's a good idea for more upgrades, but if yes, it might be nice to have a more advanced looking version - perhaps not this exactly, but something smaller, sleeker, and deadlier looking.

Just some random stuff:

We discussed this before, but while there is no apparent evidence that the securitron vault is anything but a storage area; I think it should be a manufacturing center as well, perhaps limited by supplies (perhaps opening up a mining settlement side-quest) to explain the increased numbers of securitrons.

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McCarran is only a threat if they control the monorail, but simply cutting power to the line (at the New Vegas Station side) would make it about as effective as a paperweight. There doesn't appear to be any artillery or major vertibird/airplane deployment that would be a possible equalizer versus securitrons.

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The cattle rancher / white glove thing reminded me of something I read from the original Fallout 3 (Van Buren): there was a quest line that involved tribals; where you could defeat their leader, Hecate, and free them from oppression in the short term, or leave her in power and lead to a stronger breed of humanity in the long term. They tried to combine this with Cesar's Legion, but ultimately they just came off as bad guys. I'm not too fond of most morally ambiguous quest/quest-lines, as they are typically not done very well or are slanted in a particular way.

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Mr. House conceded nothing really, he basically gave it all away since he had no real way to control it - the platinum chip was missing and his army was asleep. It's like that old fable of the Rabbit and the Wolf, using reverse psychology to get what you want. His only real bargaining chip was New Vegas itself, which was run by a limited amount of securitrons and allied tribal groups.

Edited May 14, 2013 by darkus37

[Devilman1975]

 

 

There will be tough decisions to be made, as I'd like to write the plotline in a way that some decisions will preclude other choices. If you ally with the BOS, jacobstown is out (barring some extraordinary circumstances).

 

I have to admit that I'm particularly fond of the Jacobstown supermutants and I would probably would choose to favor them over the Brotherhood. While I can understand the Brotherhood wanting to occupy Black Mountain as a communications post I don't see the need for them to go to war with Jacobstown. I guess you could put it down to racism on the Brotherhood's part. I suppose Hardin would be the type of idiot to cause trouble with Jacobstown. McNamara seems more level headed to me.

 

During my last playthrough I couldn't get the good ending for Jacobstown just because a stupid bighorner spawned there and killed Marcus. Next time I'm going to have to use the Marcus companion mod and leave him inside the ski lodge so that he doesn't die.

[darkus37]

Well the whole story behind Jacobstown is that a supermutant (Marcus) and a BOS paladin (Jacob) got in a knock-down, drag-out fight - and somehow didn't kill one another during the process. Afterwards they were both exhausted, and suddenly laughed and became friends. They set up a successful mining town named Broken Hills, but it eventually get's abandoned either due to racial tensions, or if the player interferes - the same result but later, when the mine runs out.

 

I concur with Devilman1975 - it depends on the elder at the end-game. If it's McNamara, then nothing changes - in fact, on the wiki, it says he had a truce with Marcus while he ran Black Mountain:

 

In the Eyesight to the Blind quest, McNamara remarks that under his leadership, the Brotherhood has remained neutral with the neighboring Black Mountain super-mutants out of respect. However, this policy was established while Black Mountain was still under the control of the benevolent Marcus, rather than its current unstable and violent leader, Tabitha.

 

If it's Hardin, there could be BOS/Super Mutant fights with BOS paladins attempting to take Jacobstown and Super Mutants attempting to enter Hidden Valley.

[Devilman1975]

If it's Hardin, there could be BOS/Super Mutant fights with BOS paladins attempting to take Jacobstown and Super Mutants attempting to enter Hidden Valley.

 

I like the idea of helping Jacobstown defend against a Brotherhood attack and leading them in an attack on Hidden Valley. I would also like the option of giving Veronica the chance to ask Hardin to surrender. Not that I would expect her to convince him to stand down but she could at least convince some of her friends to stand down and evacuate. This scenario could lead to Veronica taking over as elder of a smaller chapter.

 

As for the Boomers, since the player helped them raise the bomber I'm sure they would like to find a target to use it on. I would be happy to hire them to go into Legion territory and carpet bomb them for laughs. I suppose you can have the same option for the NCR but I somehow suspect that would have more in the way of anti aircraft defense than the Legion.

[devinpatterson]

I suppose Hardin would be the type of idiot to cause trouble with Jacobstown. McNamara seems more level headed to me.

 

&

 

If it's McNamara, then nothing changes - in fact, on the wiki, it says he had a truce with Marcus while he ran Black Mountain:

 

OK sounds good, a respectful truce as long as McNamara & Marcus are in power.

 

 

If it's Hardin, there could be BOS/Super Mutant fights with BOS paladins attempting to take Jacobstown and Super Mutants attempting to enter Hidden Valley.

 

Sounds like a promising branching questline to develop, if the player wants the BOS or SM's (or both)out of the picture.

 

OK so did a bit of sleuthing yesterday. Found a lot of what I was looking for (VStoryIndependentState, VStoryEventSecuritronsFort, etc)by following the secuirtron upgrade console script, El Dorado power station script etc all along the independant/Yesman questline. Still need a few more pieces, but I came across a story event that had been removed by the developers. It essentially was to light up the script when the lucky38 reactor went online. I'd like implement it if possible.

 

I'm going to work via script on disabling the NCR/Legion presence so we have a much more orderly and reversible process.....better than going in and just deleting crap. It will take longer, but it will document the changes and will give us a lot more flexibility.

 

For instance we can do a simple check to see if the player wants to keep the NV treaty. If they do, the whole disable block containing tons of items will not be executed, and the NCR can keep their presence, as is. I suspect though that will be a uncommon decisison, but some players may attempt it to retain NCR forces at teh dam, the quartermaster and other weapon dealers, as well as build good will with teh NCR. Probably take massive speech skill to pull off though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[darkus37]

If we're talking about super-mutants and the BOS, there are so many elements to consider:

 

What about Black Mountain - with or without Tabitha?

What about Marcus being dead or alive? (although this is more NCR related I guess)

How were the nightkin dealt with?

Were the BOS destroyed or allied with another group like the NCR?

How much difference will it make who the leader of the BOS is?

 

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I've thought about the various ways to connect the two groups, and I think the best bet is to use Black Mountain as a flashpoint for a serious conflict between the two groups:

 

Black Mountain is a radioactive pit, but it's still part of the Hidden Valley defense system, which implies some really good technology hidden away. While I don't necessarily want an uber-vault filled with tech goodies, I'm pretty sure that it can be made into a major target that the BOS want to control. McNamara might not have wanted to attack it while Marcus was there, but now that he's gone, it changes things. Hardin would definitely attack it, no question. The way I see it, a BOS/SM war will end in 4 ways:

 

1) Super Mutant Victory - the BOS is succesfully repelled, and nightkin harass BOS patrols in the Hidden Valley. While the BOS is safe in their underground bunker, but they can also never leave - and the super mutants have begun to dig... Most likely the only real difference will be move Super Mutant movement between Jacobstown.

 

2) BOS Victory - the BOS successfully take control of Black Mountain and refocus on their original mandate - take control of advanced technology. Most likely there will be BOS patrols harassing travelers. I don't think this mod should be very BOS centric, so that would be probably be it.

 

3) Truce - using diplomatic skills, the crisis can be solved peacefully. The super mutants remain as custodians and guardians, using their immense strength to excavate and rebuild areas too dangerous for the BOS; the BOS use their knowledge and skill to help stabilize nightkin (needs a little work - the BOS get the better end of the deal, and it might be added to the BOS victory of having slave super mutants).

 

4) Securitron Smash! - after the two sides have weakened themselves killing one another, recent history is repeated and the securitrons kill everyone left standing. This would just disable most of the super mutants

 

No matter how it ends, people should talk about it, for example: "travelers have been disappearing and only bones have been found". "Those God-damned Brotherhood thugs took my supplies again".

 

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There are several more story elements, not related to this quest idea, but that should be added to the to-do list:

 

Are there going to be Lonesome Road related aftershocks? Two possible outcomes involve destroying reinforcement and supply lines for the Legion and NCR.

Are the Khans going to be disabled after the Hoover Dam Battle?

Camp Forlorn Hope will have to be mostly disabled if the Legion was more powerful. Camp Golf is also going to be affected by which faction was supported more.

Novac is pretty messed up after the battle, which means doing a Nipton on it, and possibly having extra NPC's (Bright's followers) helping to rebuild. Will Nipton be rebuilt or will it just look like reconstruction continues forever?

I think there should be a land-based path between The Fort and Legate's Camp, with Securitrons controlling both areas heavily as they move back and forth the Dam.

Considering the fact that the NCR would be pretty angry at the Courier; there should probably be no people at the Dam, just bots to prevent sabotage.

Depending on the conclusion of Auld Lang Syne, will the Remnants still be at their base?

[Devilman1975]

If we're talking about super-mutants and the BOS, there are so many elements to consider:

 

What about Black Mountain - with or without Tabitha?

I usually decide to repair Tabitha's robot in the main game so that when McNamara asks me to go to Black Mountain the place is already empty and all I have to do is flip a switch. I think that some super mutants respawn on the road to Black Mountain afterwards but they are usually non hostile. It might make sense to have a small team of paladins and scribes deployed there to maintain the satellite.

Were the BOS destroyed or allied with another group like the NCR?

If the BOS arrange a truce with NCR then they will continue to harrass travelers for tech after No Gods, No Masters. I didn't get the chance to offer the ceasefire because I wanted to acquire the Wildcard courier duster after Lonesome Road.

There are several more story elements, not related to this quest idea, but that should be added to the to-do list:

 

Are there going to be Lonesome Road related aftershocks? Two possible outcomes involve destroying reinforcement and supply lines for the Legion and NCR.

That's a good point. I would think that nuking either or both sides would seriously affect negotiations with either group. I usually go with the option to deactivate the nukes. However I'm curious as to how the NCR or Legion found out that the Courier was the one to fire the nukes. Maybe Ulysses somehow tipped them off beforehand.

Are the Khans going to be disabled after the Hoover Dam Battle?

There are three endings associated with the Great Khans when following the Yes Man path. The Courier can kill both leaders and they pack and leave for Idaho, the other option (and best possible outcome) is convincing the Khans to claim their own legacy and they travel to Wyoming and the final outcome is not convincing the Khans to break their alliance with Caesar or convince them that they have no legacy. This outcome will end with the Khans dispersing and joining the smaller tribes and gangs in the Mojave. The end results are always the same with the Khans evacuating from Red Rock Canyon.

Depending on the conclusion of Auld Lang Syne, will the Remnants still be at their base?

Leaving them at their base sounds good to me but if I recall correctly the base is locked to the player after gathering the Remnants. Another possible option could be to recruit some of them as instructors for a New Vegas army. Maybe we could also see Daisy training the Boomers in piloting vertibirds? Depending on how things are settled at Jacobstown, we can find that Dr Henry has returned there to finish his work on the nightkin cure.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Devilman1975

[devinpatterson]

Well crap, I have no time today (but an hour or two free this evening) so didn't even check this on teh wiki, just a quick post. in re: to black Mtn, think Marcus was using it only as a way to broadcast to other super mutants....his comm pipe. Conceivably both sides (assuming it's Marcus & McNamara) could get what they want without conflict. If the SM's have moved on or been killed at the Mtn, you could broker a simple peace were transmissions were relayed to SM's across the land to seek out Jacobstown (which is basicly what Marcus was originally doing with Black Mtn, gathering the remements of his people for a refuge) but the BOS kept the actual installation. An odd arrangement but a win win for both sides.

Edited May 16, 2013 by devinpatterson