An independent New Vegas mod.

[kingwilfre16]

if we continue with the whole destroyed strip and lucky 38 not only would it derail from the first post, it would destroy all the gear in the 38,instead of destroying the buildings, block it off with rubble and make the buildings look severely damaged

[LuciaofArroyo]

I still need to find a solution to that otherwise I have to have much larger file sizes (the wavs are at least 4x as big) or skip the BSA and just include loose files.....neither of which I like.

And I havn't found a mp3 bitrate that the geck likes, but I hear the geck stumbles playing back mp3's even if the rate is perfect

 

 

Vegas is using 128kbps for both mp3s and ogg files, if you google up format factory 2.96, there's an option there to convert massive numbers of audio files at once, and manually tweak the bit rates and HZ until you find one that works. Best bet is to extract some voice oggs from the game files, check the kbps and HZ of them, and then match the new audio files to those specifications. (i work with audio a lot, and this is what i've been using for years)

 

I wouldn't recommend using wav files, even if there is a way to do it with them, their size adds massive amounts of memory usage to the NV.exe ...well, in my experience anyway, and screws things up.

 

Plus I'm sympathetic to the NCR fans (even though I didn't play FO1 or 2). I mean you'v got to love the idea of a republic in the lawless wastelands

 

 

Ah hell, I was playing Fallout 2 long before Fallout 3 got popular, the new NCR isn't what it used to be, that's all I can say :smile: Although... now that I think about it, there was a massive modders building resource released a while back (i think it's called sandcrete ((oh it is called sandcrete! http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/48139/? )), which is basically what the NCR buildings were like in Fallout 2. It might be an interesting route to take in an NCR Ending to use those buildings in areas of the mojave, it'd really be an attraction for the old F2 fans: spruce up the Mojave checkpoint, add some permanent facilities to Hoover Dam- hey if Vegas blows up, NCR could build a whole new settlement there on the ruins of the ruins.

 

The House one, a little bit less so, since he spends a lot of time just kicking the cr*p out of everyone that has ever ticked him off. Not my idea of much fun, but there's still the Legion story line and a space theme to shake things up for the house mod.

 

 

Yeah this is why i think merging the House Ending with the Independent Ending is the best way to go. I love House and all, he's the best outcome for the game as I see it, but what's the likelihood he's going to be entirely straight with the player? Especially after his first choice for a right hand man betrayed him so easily. After Hoover Dam, Mr House doesn't require the players services, and that's where the two Endings merge together; one way or another, House goes rogue.

 

 

We share some parallels in our story lines. I had thought of the securitrons turning against the courier from either;

1. a successful hacking attempt of the mainframe from Victor via House

or

2. a failed hacking attempt of Yesman that corrupted Yesman/mainframe.

 

 

Along the lines of merging them together, my thought was simply to have House decay, maybe all the chaos is caused by Houses backup security systems taking over command of the network, and the player has to enlist the help of Yesman and/or Victor; initially fighting Victor of course (who can pass up the chance to make an evil and diabolical antihero Victor?), then changing his mind by convincing him to help the player instead of House.

 

I was thinking that maybe there is a twist and that the bomb (whether in the tops or the 38's reactor) is a ruse.

 

 

 

That's exactly what I was thinking too. I think it'd be cool to destroy The Strip in the end because it'd allow the rebuild of a merged and truly independent New Vegas and Freeside, built more in the image a tent filled trading town around the Lucky 38 tower- and some of the sandcrete buildings of course :smile:

 

I'll write up a brief outline of what I've got in mind for the whole story tomorrow (Vault 21 is going to be a big part of it for sure), but are we in agreement that we're merging together House/Independent?

 

In other words, this would all be the outcome of the game if House is left alive.

Edited July 17, 2013 by LuciaofArroyo

[devinpatterson]

You are right though the reason for sealing vault 21 is incredibly vague. Whatever house's reasons for doing it he obviously felt the place was a threat or could become one. I like your idea of House only sealing off a certain section while leaving the main parts intact.

 

Yeah it just doesn't seem to quite fit together, but it may have just been a ad hoc rationalization by the developers for having the vault hotel. But it makes for interesting conjecture. Maybe it was cut content. Gives vault 21 more.....potential. Also from the wiki;

"The NPC Carlitos Wayne makes a comment about "ending up adding to the bodies in the cement walls". Heck who knows.......

 

 

 

I don't know if we should cause such permanent destruction to The Strip area, unless it's so that it can be rebuilt bigger and better than before.

 

I agree with Darkus, it's one of the reasons I sort of gave up on the legion ending. Essentially because it completely changed the essential character of the strip. But more on that below

 

 

(officially - Benny apparently dug a secret way in) - .......(again, only Benny knowing about the secret entrance/exit).

I wonder if that is Benny (which would be very, very interesting, or if that might have happened quite a while back. Perhaps House ordered the Chairman to break in when he was trying to get the vault 21 people out. If it's more recent, and done by Benny, then I can only imagine he thought there was something worth going through a lot of trouble to get.

 

I was thinking about Half-Life 2's City 17 and some dystopian future movies like Equilibrium - I think there should be propaganda towers everywhere, relaying slogans for whatever faction controls New Vegas. I picture it looking sort of like a Securitron, but with ceiling turrets instead of arms and a tall base instead of wheels (it's static). On top of it should be a flag pole (with faction flag) with a four-sided speaker system on top.

I'm afraid that's not really something I could do. Even if you cut off the lower part of the body of a securitron it's still going to at least bob up and down a bit, it's just part of the animation. And I couldn't make a critter with two skeletons, so the turrets would have to be decorative/for show.

 

But I was thinking of something similar, if smaller in scale and much less oppressive. With the securitrons having a lot of flexibility in re: to their screens, I thought a flag popping up up on their monitor & some patriotic NCR chatter would be appropriate. It's also possible (just conjecture though) that we may be able to use an animated texture, which would add to the effect (a persons face talking or a rippling flag).

 

 

 

if we continue with the whole destroyed strip and lucky 38 not only would it derail from the first post, it would destroy all the gear in the 38,instead of destroying the buildings, block it off with rubble and make the buildings look severely damaged

 

I agree, I'm not a fan of decimating the strip

 

 

Vegas is using 128kbps for both mp3s and ogg files, if you google up format factory 2.96, there's an option there to convert massive numbers of audio files at once

Great, thanks for the advice. I just wish I could find a BSA packer that worked with OGG. I really like bundling everything together in just two files, to make it super easy for players. Yeah the wav files are crazy big, and compression helps very little.

 

which is basically what the NCR buildings were like in Fallout 2. It might be an interesting route to take in an NCR Ending to use those buildings in areas of the mojave, it'd really be an attraction for the old F2 fans: spruce up the Mojave checkpoint, add some permanent facilities to Hoover Dam- hey if Vegas blows up, NCR could build a whole new settlement there on the ruins of the ruins.

Interesting, yeah the NCR mod could definitely include them. Do you think they still make them or was that only back in FO2 times. I realize in the Mojave they probably just use what ever materials are around, but there is lots of sand, so.......

 

Yeah this is why i think merging the House Ending with the Independent Ending is the best way to go.

I wouldn't want to drop the House mod, even though it isn't my favorite. I'd like that to be there for the players that choose that path. But I'm willing to focus most of my work on the independent.

 

After Hoover Dam, Mr House doesn't require the players services, and that's where the two Endings merge together; one way or another, House goes rogue.

While he has a kick butt army there are things the securitrons just can not do. He really does need a lieutenant/right hand man. It's essential, and he needs some one he can trust....that has to be the courier. Whether it's diplomacy, espionage, enforcement, etc House is dependent, and he has very big plans for NV (all the way to the stars).

 

Along the lines of merging them together, my thought was simply to have House decay

Well we can still get the beserk securitrons without sacrificing House's genius. I feel he's much more of a threat, because of his intelligence. I mean if you want to go the Howard Hughes path and say he's slowly slipping into peculiarities/oddness and eventually madness, I can see that. But not a sudden loss of what makes him such a formidable opponent, and that's his mind.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking too. I think it'd be cool to destroy The Strip in the end because it'd allow the rebuild of a merged and truly independent New Vegas and Freeside, built more in the image a tent filled trading town around the Lucky 38 tower- and some of the sandcrete buildings of course :smile:

I believe we can compromise and have a merging of freeside and the strip if the player chooses that path. But I wouldn't want to destroy the strip per se. It's too iconic and such a powerful focus of NV. I'd actually like to start building it up larger. But even in that scenario we can still have a much more integrated society if hte player makes that choice.

 

I'll write up a brief outline of what I've got in mind for the whole story tomorrow (Vault 21 is going to be a big part of it for sure)

Taht's great, I look forward to hearing it :smile:

 

, but are we in agreement that we're merging together House/Independent?

I wont loose the House story line, it is a thing unto itself, & also because we dont' need to. It's very different from Independent and NCR, it has fundamental contrasts to the other endings and very different potential directions. But the independent mod is a good base for many of your ideas (and some fit into the NCR ending as well, like the beserk securitrons, hunting down House in vault 21 etc).

 

[devinpatterson]

OK so here is Beta 1.0. It does all the other stuff listed previously but also clears up all battle conditions (except some audio & the weird flame effect across the sky of the fort) for the fort as well as opening it up fully (no more t-port zones and doors). Please take a run at it and let me know what bugs I need to fix. I only have the independent ending to test it on.

 

I'v already started a Independent specific version (ie forked the beta) and would like ideas and requests for for the NCR regions, the conqured Legion areas (fort & legion camp and secondary camp) and strip. So far I opened up the scuritron vault and have started populating the legion area with securitrons. Next I'll deal with the dam & set up a NCR friendly ver, and a NCR absent ver. In between I'll mess around with the strip & especially the securitrons.

 

Edit: Almost forgot, make a clean save before loading the mod. You will want to revert back to that clean save after testing the mod and uninstalling it. I'll be experimenting with incremental changes (adding quests and what have you) to the Independent version and if it works well you shouldn't have to worry about uninstalling the mod in the future.

Edited July 17, 2013 by devinpatterson

[kingwilfre16]

hey dev, 2 things

1.a reskinned tuxedo as the uncle Sam suit would go well with the hat(probably faster), and similar power armors have been made, will the one you suggest be in red white and blue 'merica style? Or will it be similar to these?

http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/47245//?

http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/47303//?

2.im glad someone is sensible about the strip attack, destroying it would rip the heart out of NV, NV

[LuciaofArroyo]

Ok- brief (but turned out to be long 2500 word) outline of the Independent version.

 

So, to set the scene:

 

Mr House is long gone, the player is the somewhat unwilling defacto ruler of New Vegas faced with the squabbling residents of Westside, Freeside, North Vegas and the unhappy Casino tribes (some of them we can assume will have taken a heavy toll thanks to the players actions). The NCR has withdrawn from the mojave, they maintain a base at Hoover Dam and the Mojave Checkpoint (sandcrete style), and are in the process of removing everything from McCarren, they have a garrison at the Crimson Caravan station in the form of providing military support to ensure trade gets where it needs to be. The NCR citizens are on average glad to be going home, happy that New Vegas wants to continue trade and has allowed them access to Hoover Dam to keep the power flowing into California. But the NCR generals are furious that their victory was taken away from them, and blame the player for all of it. The president has been impeached and General Oliver has resigned, it can be hinted at through dialogue that Oliver requested permission to lead a full scale attack on New Vegas using power armour troops and vertibirds, but that this was denied, hence his angry resignation.

 

ACT 1:

As described in an earlier post :smile:

 

ACT2:

The player ends up at McCarren, no missiles were launched and Vegas is still standing. The Chairman suggests that House has come back and wanted to clear the Strip of people, but he doesn’t know why. McCarren, largely abandoned now, is attacked by rampaging Fiends and the player must defend the building along with a small number of NCR Troops. The Chairman suggests that they flee to the sewers and get out of the Vegas area entirely, since the city is likely going to be consumed in a bloodbath as the securitrons wipe out the residents from one side and the Fiends advance from the other- plus, from the actions of the Kings gang, it’s assumed that they think that the player was the one who turned the robots loose on them, so the player shouldn’t expect to find any friends in Vegas anymore- announcing yourself as “the hero of hoover dam” to anybody you meet isn’t a smart move. The player and the Chairman escape McCarren through the sewage tunnels (a totally new area to construct), a real labyrinth to navigate that’s lightly populated by fiends and ghouls alike. They finally arrive at a desolate sewage tunnel that opens out onto a rocky area, conveniently near to Jacobstown. The player decides to take shelter there, hoping to enlist the help of the Super Mutants to retake Vegas. (in case the player wanders away from the mission goal at this point ((fast travel should be deactivated for now)), there should be an blockade at the entrance to the jacobstown mountain region that the player can’t move beyond, manned by a few heavily armed super mutants who “look at you and say nothing”).

 

ACT3:

Jacobstown has absorbed some of the fleeing refugees who came from Westside, led by their own friendly super mutant Mean Sonofabi*ch. The player learns that Marcus (the iconic super mutant from Fallout 2) asked for volunteers from the mutants to journey to Black Mountain to gather soldiers and weapons- assuming that the robots or the humans would begin targeting all super mutants once they’d got done killing everyone else. By talking to the refugees the player learns more about the situation, that many people thought the fat cats from the Strip had tried to exterminate everybody else, but that there was some doubt about this- in short, nobody really knows why the robots went berserk and people are as likely to blame the player as they are to blame anybody else.

 

There’s a ham radio in Doctor Henrys room which can be fixed up and used to communicate, the player can choose to changes signals until they find one that works (kind of a minigame maybe? The signal tuning could be done with text popups) the only other signal is an SOS coming from the Crimson Caravan, it reveals that they’re under heavy attack from “new vegas securitrons” but they’re holding out, and waiting for an evacuation to get them to the main NCR stronghold at Hoover Dam, a response comes that former General Oliver is on his way back to the mojave with an advance guard (independent from the NCR army) to lead the counter attack- they think that the player has declared war on them, as Oliver suspected was going to happen. The Chairman isn’t happy to hear this, and says that even if they could retake vegas with a super mutant army, they’d have to deal with an invasion from NCR. It looks like they’ve lost. If they could get back into the Lucky 38 or somehow hack into the network and retake the securitrons, then they could shut everything down or retake control and use them to defend vegas against NCR. He admits that the securitrons will likely defend vegas anyway, so the player should just focus on getting them back under control, and worry about sorting out the mess afterwards. He and the player decide that somehow they have to get back onto The Strip and into the casino, that’s the only way that they stand a chance of saving the city. The Chairman wonders whether the players Enclave allies can help them achieve this, the weapons and armor would more than match anything the securitrons or NCR can throw at them.

 

ACT4:

The player and the chairman journey to the Enclave Remnants bunker, finding Doctor Henry inside, tending to a wounded, unconscious and mute Arcade Gannon and Calamity the Ghoulette. He says that he can broadcast a message to all channels that the securitrons of New Vegas have gone berserk, and that all people should evacuate the area, and that the Strip hasn’t in fact declared war on the NCR-obviously it’s too late to save anyone's life, but it should be enough to convince the NCR commanders not to back General Olivers invasion plans. Doctor Henry grants the player access to the vertibird, and a stock of Enclave armor and weapons, and agrees to set the bird to autopilot to get the player back onto The Strip- though a suit of enclave armor isn’t going to be able to guarantee immortality against an army of crazed robots. The player explains the heavy security on the Casino, and Henry then wonders whether the Casino and Vault 21 are linked in some way, both being so close together that the idea of having 2 nuclear reactors side by side would be very unlikely- both places probably draw power from the same source- which would explain why House was so eager to close the Vault. If gaining access to the Casino through the front door is out of the question, then potentially there could be a way in via Vault 21, or at least a way to kill the power to the Casino and cripple the network. Henry says that this is probably the best idea, and if shutting down Vault 21s reactor proves useless, then there’s still the option of assaulting the Casino directly; for the “hero of Hoover Dam”, this shouldn’t be a problem. Henry directs the player to the armory of the bunker, and some blasting charges that can take care of any concrete that might be obstructing the upper levels of the Vault. The vertibird is programmed on autopilot to circle the Strip and land long enough to get the player out onto the ground, and then it’ll leave before the securitron missiles can blow it to pieces, the Chairman decides to stay in the bunker this time. When they player’s ready, they can activate the veritbird and “journey to The Strip”.

 

ACT5:

The vertibird has been shot down by a surprisingly effective barrage of securitron missiles, landing in a sandbox labyrinth of ruined buildings somewhere in what was once Freeside. The player emerges from the burning ruins of the bird and must fight their way through the area to reach Vault 21. Once they make it to the entrance of the old hotel, the player finds that the place has been thoroughly purged of its inhabitants, as the player ventures into the vault, a lone securitron appears, it’s Victor again, “Howdy Partner!”. His voice and screen are noticeably malfunctioning, and his program appears to be failing too. Victor explains that Mr Houses network has gone into shutdown mode, an earlier program, activating in the death of Mr House which would occur in the event of an invasion either by the jealous US Government who were after his technology, or by the Chinese Army; the robots go into automatic mode, and rid Vegas of its human inhabitants. Victor admits that the program is centuries out of date, but reminds the player that Mr House knew exactly what he was doing, and had all those centuries to delete it, and he didn’t. He says that the players shutting down of the reactor won’t accomplish anything, the city has largely been purged already, and besides, the Casino has enough backup power to keep it going for decades. When asked about Yesman, he explains that he doesn’t know who or what that is, and the player deduces that Yesman is and has always been operating unknown to the detectors of the Casino, as far as victor is concerned, when Yesman gives an order, it’s Mr House giving the order, which means that Yesman is still functional but apparently incapable of preventing Mr Houses “kill everybody” program from running. At this point, the player can outwit Victor by asking to speak with Mr House directly, and hey presto, Yesman appears on the screen.

 

Yesman tells the player that disabling the reactor will indeed weaken the network strength, it’ll prevent the securitrons from advancing outside of the immediate area, but it won’t make a dent in the security systems of the casino. Luckily Yesman is more than happy to open the front door for you and let you in, so security isn’t a problem, but there’s nothing he can do about the securitrons themselves. He’s unable to bypass the override controls that Mr Houses program has given them, and other than destroying them all, there’s no way to stop them. Yesman joins the player as a companion, and guides the player down through the vault, blasting areas with the enclave explosives, until they make it to the reactor level, and shut it down safely- there being a time limit to escape the area to avoid being burned to death in the process- but Yesman is happy to stay behind, saying that next time you meet a securitron (if it doesn’t kill you), just ask to speak to him again, and he’ll appear.

 

The player escapes the Vault reactor as it shuts down, plunging the vault into darkness, and must now make their way to the Casino.

 

ACT6:

Outside of the Vault a small army of securitrons have gathered, and Victor approaches again to “say goodbye” to the player, as the robots prepare to open fire. The player can merely summon Yesman again, and gain a grenade launching companion to fight them off- but after they’re all destroyed, Yesman will flicker away and the robot will fall to the floor.

 

The casino doors are open, allowing the player to walk right in, dealing with some ceiling mounted laser turrets and the occasional crazed securitron , whilst being directed by Yesman to the penthouse suite (the players stuff in the presidential suite can now be accessed) whereby the player must take the elevator down to the basement level and shutdown the Casino directly. It means Yesman will be gone forever, along with the other securitrons on the network, but it’ll save the city.

 

(Well, it’ll shutdown all securitrons on the network, but not Marylin of course, she’s on an independent network that House set up directly- maybe she can appear as a bonus companion afterwards or be recruited in the penthouse at this point..? I’ll leave that up to you)

 

Yesman guides the player down through the Casino basement levels, the main enemies being overpowered ceiling laser turrets requiring the player takes extreme caution (perhaps a meeting with a ghoulified Anthony House could take place? He could defend his brother or help the player- I’ll leave that up to you) but ultimately the player arrives at the micro reactor of the Casino and shutdowns down the whole system.

 

 

ACT7:

After the player flips the switch, the screen fades out, and there’s a little elevator ding as the player emerges in the entrance hall of the Casino to meet General Oliver and a squad of renegade NCR troops (making use of all the DLC ranger armors and a handful of marked man NCR armors too, because they’re so awesome). Oliver promptly declares the player is under arrest, and states that he didn’t buy the SOS they got from an Enclave signal, he goes on to say that his soldiers have in fact defeated the securitron army and that New Vegas belongs entirely to the NCR now. The player is to be transported to Olivers new headquarters at Hoover Dam to stand trial, and be executed.

Fade to black again.

 

The player wakes up in a holding cell inside Hoover Dam, stripped of all items and equipment, and is greeted through the barred door by a sorry looking NCR MP who hands the player a shabby gambler suit and a bottle of water, he says that General Oliver is considered to be the president of the NCR now- by their army at least- and that the player can look forward to a show trial to cement Olivers victory in the hearts and minds of the people of the NCR. The MP admits that it may be considered to be a military coup, but the election process is considered to be a waste of time anyway; since Kimballs impeachment Oliver was the best candidate for the job. The MP says he doesn’t care what happens here, he just wants to go home to New Reno, he figures the senate might be angry about this, but Oliver is a hero in the eyes of the regular army, so the whole NCR will likely go along with whatever he says.

 

After the MP conversation comes to an end, a woman walks in wearing ranger armor and dismisses him, she introduces herself as one of the renegade soldiers who followed Oliver into vegas, she says that the folks at the Crimson Caravan believed that the player wasn’t about to slaughter everybody in the Mojave, and that she herself witnessed the robots keel over without being shot, so likely Oliver is using this as a pretext to take power or… maybe he believes his own story. She says that few people, including herself, in the Mojave believe that the player would do all of this, and mentions that the player, whether they remember it or not, saved her life at Hoover Dam, so to repay it she hands the player the key to the cell, and leaves an NCR faction uniform on the desk. She asks that, instead of revenge, the player uses this opportunity to escape, put all of this behind him/her and start a new life… or wait here and face the eventual trial. She thinks the NCR will end up backing Oliver, and that if the trial goes ahead it’ll cause the Mojave to go to war on the NCR and a lot of people will die, needlessly.

 

When she’s finished speaking, the MP comes back in, saying that the ranger had no business to dismiss him and he’s been told off for abandoning his post- the sergeant is on his way down here with extra guards. She tells him to resume his post, and she’ll go and speak with the sergeant and explain the situation, and she leaves, letting the MP sit back down at the desk.

 

The player is largely free on how to go about escaping, they can engage the MP in conversation and knock him out through the bars and steal his 10mm SMG or leave the cell to sneak up behind him and knock him out or engage in combat –causing him to shout for help and bringing in more guards- whatever happens, the ranger vanishes for ever, and the base will turn hostile as soon the player opens fire or kills the MP. The player can of course exterminate the whole base of renegade NCR troops, earning bad karma but having no impact on the rest of the NCR and exterminate General Oliver, but essentially the player is free to leave and explore the changed wasteland; like the “i thought you died perk” changing karma back to zero and becoming a stranger again.

 

The main changes to the wasteland would include laying waste to most of the city of Vegas (up until now the player would have been prevented from going anywhere outside of sandboxes), and creating a new merged settlement around The Strip, adding surviving characters from North Vegas, Westside and Freeside into one community which the player can rebuild and run trade out of (example, Julie Farkas has a new clinic on The Strip instead of the Mormon Fort which is emptied and damaged)- so many more little quests could happen after this point that involve kick starting the new New Vegas settlement.

 

The old North Vegas, Westside and Freeside should remain more or less intact so that other mods aren’t screwed up by the changes, but a noticeable cosmetic change should be applied to make them look more or less “abandoned and wartorn” to reflect the securitron rampage.

 

The Chairman companion reappears outside the Lucky 38 Tower, and when the player finds him, he’s pleased that they’re still alive and says that the NCR troops left the tower alone when they realized they couldn’t even access it, and that the systems inside had been completely overloaded and fried. He says that it’ll be a monument to what Vegas could have been, or maybe a reminder as to what it never should have been- he’s undecided. The elevator inside the casino is broken, but can be repaired and used to ride up to the presidential suite- pitch black now- to recover the players stuff and where Marylin can be found, and brought online after being repaired (perhaps (I think this works rather than recruiting her earlier on)).

 

 

 

And… that’s it! It’s pretty big, but not as big as it seems.

 

Now, question is, are any of the actions here impossible to do? I wrote it with the mind to keep things simple with regards to amazing visual effects- the vertibird crash for example- just explained away by a fade to black on the screen. And things like Marcus being away and Gannon being unconscious keep us from having to worry about voicework for those guys, all things considered, it's pretty easy. The main NPCs for voices would be the unnamed Chairman, Yesman, Victor, Doctor Henry (his character could be changed though) and the Ranger woman at the end.

 

And, up until Hoover Dam the player is going to be fenced in to sandbox areas away from the world map, so there's no worry at all about conflicting with other areas, or there shouldn't be, since the real world map is only changed once the player reaches the Dam.

 

So sandbox areas required will be:

1. Tops Casino- clone of the music room and main hall, with barricades.

 

2. Wartorn Strip- busted up merged Strip with casinos blazing on fire, and the entrance gates blocked off by a fallen chunk of Gommorrah

 

3. Monorail Station- clone of it as it is, just empty of furniture

 

4. Main Building of Camp McCarren- clone of it from the monorail to the main building, most of it boarded up and closed off, and empty of furniture

 

5. long labyrinth of sewers- brand new area

 

6. Jacobstown and surrounding region- blocks off the mountian path so the player can't leave, and adds a connection to the sewage tunnels, Jacobstown itself is full of Westside refugees, so tents and wagons should be added

 

7. Enclave Remnants Base- this could maybe be rebuilt... or just cloned, no big deal.

 

8. Wartorn New Vegas- a kind of Lonesome Road style area of rubble and buildings

 

9. Vault 21- Due for a massive rebuild, but mostly a labyrinth area, plus the reactor

 

10. Lucky 38- Clone of the entrance and the penthouse, adds the reactor area to the basement levels

 

11. Hoover Dam- permanent rebuild, adds new NCR buildings and holding cells inside.

Edited July 17, 2013 by LuciaofArroyo

[kingwilfre16]

Ok- brief (but turned out to be long 2500 word) outline of the Independent version.

 

So, to set the scene:

 

Mr House is long gone, the player is the somewhat unwilling defacto ruler of New Vegas faced with the squabbling residents of Westside, Freeside, North Vegas and the unhappy Casino tribes (some of them we can assume will have taken a heavy toll thanks to the players actions). The NCR has withdrawn from the mojave, they maintain a base at Hoover Dam and the Mojave Checkpoint (sandcrete style), and are in the process of removing everything from McCarren, they have a garrison at the Crimson Caravan station in the form of providing military support to ensure trade gets where it needs to be. The NCR citizens are on average glad to be going home, happy that New Vegas wants to continue trade and has allowed them access to Hoover Dam to keep the power flowing into California. But the NCR generals are furious that their victory was taken away from them, and blame the player for all of it. The president has been impeached and General Oliver has resigned, it can be hinted at through dialogue that Oliver requested permission to lead a full scale attack on New Vegas using power armour troops and vertibirds, but that this was denied, hence his angry resignation.

 

ACT 1:

As described in an earlier post :smile:

 

ACT2:

The player ends up at McCarren, no missiles were launched and Vegas is still standing. The Chairman suggests that House has come back and wanted to clear the Strip of people, but he doesn’t know why. McCarren, largely abandoned now, is attacked by rampaging Fiends and the player must defend the building along with a small number of NCR Troops. The Chairman suggests that they flee to the sewers and get out of the Vegas area entirely, since the city is likely going to be consumed in a bloodbath as the securitrons wipe out the residents from one side and the Fiends advance from the other- plus, from the actions of the Kings gang, it’s assumed that they think that the player was the one who turned the robots loose on them, so the player shouldn’t expect to find any friends in Vegas anymore- announcing yourself as “the hero of hoover dam” to anybody you meet isn’t a smart move. The player and the Chairman escape McCarren through the sewage tunnels (a totally new area to construct), a real labyrinth to navigate that’s lightly populated by fiends and ghouls alike. They finally arrive at a desolate sewage tunnel that opens out onto a rocky area, conveniently near to Jacobstown. The player decides to take shelter there, hoping to enlist the help of the Super Mutants to retake Vegas. (in case the player wanders away from the mission goal at this point ((fast travel should be deactivated for now)), there should be an blockade at the entrance to the jacobstown mountain region that the player can’t move beyond, manned by a few heavily armed super mutants who “look at you and say nothing”).

 

ACT3:

Jacobstown has absorbed some of the fleeing refugees who came from Westside, led by their own friendly super mutant Mean Sonofabi*ch. The player learns that Marcus (the iconic super mutant from Fallout 2) asked for volunteers from the mutants to journey to Black Mountain to gather soldiers and weapons- assuming that the robots or the humans would begin targeting all super mutants once they’d got done killing everyone else. By talking to the refugees the player learns more about the situation, that many people thought the fat cats from the Strip had tried to exterminate everybody else, but that there was some doubt about this- in short, nobody really knows why the robots went berserk and people are as likely to blame the player as they are to blame anybody else.

 

There’s a ham radio in Doctor Henrys room which can be fixed up and used to communicate, the player can choose to changes signals until they find one that works (kind of a minigame maybe? The signal tuning could be done with text popups) the only other signal is an SOS coming from the Crimson Caravan, it reveals that they’re under heavy attack from “new vegas securitrons” but they’re holding out, and waiting for an evacuation to get them to the main NCR stronghold at Hoover Dam, a response comes that former General Oliver is on his way back to the mojave with an advance guard (independent from the NCR army) to lead the counter attack- they think that the player has declared war on them, as Oliver suspected was going to happen. The Chairman isn’t happy to hear this, and says that even if they could retake vegas with a super mutant army, they’d have to deal with an invasion from NCR. It looks like they’ve lost. If they could get back into the Lucky 38 or somehow hack into the network and retake the securitrons, then they could shut everything down or retake control and use them to defend vegas against NCR. He admits that the securitrons will likely defend vegas anyway, so the player should just focus on getting them back under control, and worry about sorting out the mess afterwards. He and the player decide that somehow they have to get back onto The Strip and into the casino, that’s the only way that they stand a chance of saving the city. The Chairman wonders whether the players Enclave allies can help them achieve this, the weapons and armor would more than match anything the securitrons or NCR can throw at them.

 

ACT4:

The player and the chairman journey to the Enclave Remnants bunker, finding Doctor Henry inside, tending to a wounded, unconscious and mute Arcade Gannon and Calamity the Ghoulette. He says that he can broadcast a message to all channels that the securitrons of New Vegas have gone berserk, and that all people should evacuate the area, and that the Strip hasn’t in fact declared war on the NCR-obviously it’s too late to save anyone's life, but it should be enough to convince the NCR commanders not to back General Olivers invasion plans. Doctor Henry grants the player access to the vertibird, and a stock of Enclave armor and weapons, and agrees to set the bird to autopilot to get the player back onto The Strip- though a suit of enclave armor isn’t going to be able to guarantee immortality against an army of crazed robots. The player explains the heavy security on the Casino, and Henry then wonders whether the Casino and Vault 21 are linked in some way, both being so close together that the idea of having 2 nuclear reactors side by side would be very unlikely- both places probably draw power from the same source- which would explain why House was so eager to close the Vault. If gaining access to the Casino through the front door is out of the question, then potentially there could be a way in via Vault 21, or at least a way to kill the power to the Casino and cripple the network. Henry says that this is probably the best idea, and if shutting down Vault 21s reactor proves useless, then there’s still the option of assaulting the Casino directly; for the “hero of Hoover Dam”, this shouldn’t be a problem. Henry directs the player to the armory of the bunker, and some blasting charges that can take care of any concrete that might be obstructing the upper levels of the Vault. The vertibird is programmed on autopilot to circle the Strip and land long enough to get the player out onto the ground, and then it’ll leave before the securitron missiles can blow it to pieces, the Chairman decides to stay in the bunker this time. When they player’s ready, they can activate the veritbird and “journey to The Strip”.

 

ACT5:

The vertibird has been shot down by a surprisingly effective barrage of securitron missiles, landing in a sandbox labyrinth of ruined buildings somewhere in what was once Freeside. The player emerges from the burning ruins of the bird and must fight their way through the area to reach Vault 21. Once they make it to the entrance of the old hotel, the player finds that the place has been thoroughly purged of its inhabitants, as the player ventures into the vault, a lone securitron appears, it’s Victor again, “Howdy Partner!”. His voice and screen are noticeably malfunctioning, and his program appears to be failing too. Victor explains that Mr Houses network has gone into shutdown mode, an earlier program, activating in the death of Mr House which would occur in the event of an invasion either by the jealous US Government who were after his technology, or by the Chinese Army; the robots go into automatic mode, and rid Vegas of its human inhabitants. Victor admits that the program is centuries out of date, but reminds the player that Mr House knew exactly what he was doing, and had all those centuries to delete it, and he didn’t. He says that the players shutting down of the reactor won’t accomplish anything, the city has largely been purged already, and besides, the Casino has enough backup power to keep it going for decades. When asked about Yesman, he explains that he doesn’t know who or what that is, and the player deduces that Yesman is and has always been operating unknown to the detectors of the Casino, as far as victor is concerned, when Yesman gives an order, it’s Mr House giving the order, which means that Yesman is still functional but apparently incapable of preventing Mr Houses “kill everybody” program from running. At this point, the player can outwit Victor by asking to speak with Mr House directly, and hey presto, Yesman appears on the screen.

 

Yesman tells the player that disabling the reactor will indeed weaken the network strength, it’ll prevent the securitrons from advancing outside of the immediate area, but it won’t make a dent in the security systems of the casino. Luckily Yesman is more than happy to open the front door for you and let you in, so security isn’t a problem, but there’s nothing he can do about the securitrons themselves. He’s unable to bypass the override controls that Mr Houses program has given them, and other than destroying them all, there’s no way to stop them. Yesman joins the player as a companion, and guides the player down through the vault, blasting areas with the enclave explosives, until they make it to the reactor level, and shut it down safely- there being a time limit to escape the area to avoid being burned to death in the process- but Yesman is happy to stay behind, saying that next time you meet a securitron (if it doesn’t kill you), just ask to speak to him again, and he’ll appear.

 

The player escapes the Vault reactor as it shuts down, plunging the vault into darkness, and must now make their way to the Casino.

 

ACT6:

Outside of the Vault a small army of securitrons have gathered, and Victor approaches again to “say goodbye” to the player, as the robots prepare to open fire. The player can merely summon Yesman again, and gain a grenade launching companion to fight them off- but after they’re all destroyed, Yesman will flicker away and the robot will fall to the floor.

 

The casino doors are open, allowing the player to walk right in, dealing with some ceiling mounted laser turrets and the occasional crazed securitron , whilst being directed by Yesman to the penthouse suite (the players stuff in the presidential suite can now be accessed) whereby the player must take the elevator down to the basement level and shutdown the Casino directly. It means Yesman will be gone forever, along with the other securitrons on the network, but it’ll save the city.

 

(Well, it’ll shutdown all securitrons on the network, but not Marylin of course, she’s on an independent network that House set up directly- maybe she can appear as a bonus companion afterwards or be recruited in the penthouse at this point..? I’ll leave that up to you)

 

Yesman guides the player down through the Casino basement levels, the main enemies being overpowered ceiling laser turrets requiring the player takes extreme caution (perhaps a meeting with a ghoulified Anthony House could take place? He could defend his brother or help the player- I’ll leave that up to you) but ultimately the player arrives at the micro reactor of the Casino and shutdowns down the whole system.

 

 

ACT7:

After the player flips the switch, the screen fades out, and there’s a little elevator ding as the player emerges in the entrance hall of the Casino to meet General Oliver and a squad of renegade NCR troops (making use of all the DLC ranger armors and a handful of marked man NCR armors too, because they’re so awesome). Oliver promptly declares the player is under arrest, and states that he didn’t buy the SOS they got from an Enclave signal, he goes on to say that his soldiers have in fact defeated the securitron army and that New Vegas belongs entirely to the NCR now. The player is to be transported to Olivers new headquarters at Hoover Dam to stand trial, and be executed.

Fade to black again.

 

The player wakes up in a holding cell inside Hoover Dam, stripped of all items and equipment, and is greeted through the barred door by a sorry looking NCR MP who hands the player a shabby gambler suit and a bottle of water, he says that General Oliver is considered to be the president of the NCR now- by their army at least- and that the player can look forward to a show trial to cement Olivers victory in the hearts and minds of the people of the NCR. The MP admits that it may be considered to be a military coup, but the election process is considered to be a waste of time anyway; since Kimballs impeachment Oliver was the best candidate for the job. The MP says he doesn’t care what happens here, he just wants to go home to New Reno, he figures the senate might be angry about this, but Oliver is a hero in the eyes of the regular army, so the whole NCR will likely go along with whatever he says.

 

After the MP conversation comes to an end, a woman walks in wearing ranger armor and dismisses him, she introduces herself as one of the renegade soldiers who followed Oliver into vegas, she says that the folks at the Crimson Caravan believed that the player wasn’t about to slaughter everybody in the Mojave, and that she herself witnessed the robots keel over without being shot, so likely Oliver is using this as a pretext to take power or… maybe he believes his own story. She says that few people, including herself, in the Mojave believe that the player would do all of this, and mentions that the player, whether they remember it or not, saved her life at Hoover Dam, so to repay it she hands the player the key to the cell, and leaves an NCR faction uniform on the desk. She asks that, instead of revenge, the player uses this opportunity to escape, put all of this behind him/her and start a new life… or wait here and face the eventual trial. She thinks the NCR will end up backing Oliver, and that if the trial goes ahead it’ll cause the Mojave to go to war on the NCR and a lot of people will die, needlessly.

 

When she’s finished speaking, the MP comes back in, saying that the ranger had no business to dismiss him and he’s been told off for abandoning his post- the sergeant is on his way down here with extra guards. She tells him to resume his post, and she’ll go and speak with the sergeant and explain the situation, and she leaves, letting the MP sit back down at the desk.

 

The player is largely free on how to go about escaping, they can engage the MP in conversation and knock him out through the bars and steal his 10mm SMG or leave the cell to sneak up behind him and knock him out or engage in combat –causing him to shout for help and bringing in more guards- whatever happens, the ranger vanishes for ever, and the base will turn hostile as soon the player opens fire or kills the MP. The player can of course exterminate the whole base of renegade NCR troops, earning bad karma but having no impact on the rest of the NCR and exterminate General Oliver, but essentially the player is free to leave and explore the changed wasteland; like the “i thought you died perk” changing karma back to zero and becoming a stranger again.

 

The main changes to the wasteland would include laying waste to most of the city of Vegas (up until now the player would have been prevented from going anywhere outside of sandboxes), and creating a new merged settlement around The Strip, adding surviving characters from North Vegas, Westside and Freeside into one community which the player can rebuild and run trade out of (example, Julie Farkas has a new clinic on The Strip instead of the Mormon Fort which is emptied and damaged)- so many more little quests could happen after this point that involve kick starting the new New Vegas settlement.

 

The old North Vegas, Westside and Freeside should remain more or less intact so that other mods aren’t screwed up by the changes, but a noticeable cosmetic change should be applied to make them look more or less “abandoned and wartorn” to reflect the securitron rampage.

 

The Chairman companion reappears outside the Lucky 38 Tower, and when the player finds him, he’s pleased that they’re still alive and says that the NCR troops left the tower alone when they realized they couldn’t even access it, and that the systems inside had been completely overloaded and fried. He says that it’ll be a monument to what Vegas could have been, or maybe a reminder as to what it never should have been- he’s undecided. The elevator inside the casino is broken, but can be repaired and used to ride up to the presidential suite- pitch black now- to recover the players stuff and where Marylin can be found, and brought online after being repaired (perhaps (I think this works rather than recruiting her earlier on)).

 

 

 

And… that’s it! It’s pretty big, but not as big as it seems.

 

Now, question is, are any of the actions here impossible to do? I wrote it with the mind to keep things simple with regards to amazing visual effects- the vertibird crash for example- just explained away by a fade to black on the screen. And things like Marcus being away and Gannon being unconscious keep us from having to worry about voicework for those guys, all things considered, it's pretty easy. The main NPCs for voices would be the unnamed Chairman, Yesman, Victor, Doctor Henry (his character could be changed though) and the Ranger woman at the end.

 

And, up until Hoover Dam the player is going to be fenced in to sandbox areas away from the world map, so there's no worry at all about conflicting with other areas, or there shouldn't be, since the real world map is only changed once the player reaches the Dam.

 

So sandbox areas required will be:

1. Tops Casino- clone of the music room and main hall, with barricades.

 

2. Wartorn Strip- busted up merged Strip with casinos blazing on fire, and the entrance gates blocked off by a fallen chunk of Gommorrah

 

3. Monorail Station- clone of it as it is, just empty of furniture

 

4. Main Building of Camp McCarren- clone of it from the monorail to the main building, most of it boarded up and closed off, and empty of furniture

 

5. long labyrinth of sewers- brand new area

 

6. Jacobstown and surrounding region- blocks off the mountian path so the player can't leave, and adds a connection to the sewage tunnels, Jacobstown itself is full of Westside refugees, so tents and wagons should be added

 

7. Enclave Remnants Base- this could maybe be rebuilt... or just cloned, no big deal.

 

8. Wartorn New Vegas- a kind of Lonesome Road style area of rubble and buildings

 

9. Vault 21- Due for a massive rebuild, but mostly a labyrinth area, plus the reactor

 

10. Lucky 38- Clone of the entrance and the penthouse, adds the reactor area to the basement levels

 

11. Hoover Dam- permanent rebuild, adds new NCR buildings and holding cells inside.

interesting story, but where's the leading of new Vegas like in the first post, with the expansion of your reach in the Mojave, creation of your army

[darkus37]

Hey LuciaofArroyo - really nice job with the summary and some really good ideas, but I don’t agree with all of it, so here are some adjustments and ideas of my own to add for consideration:

 

 

Background

 

The Strip and Hoover Dam are under the total control of the Securitrons; the Dam is especially of great strategic importance and provides power to The Strip - no way it gets left in the hands of the NCR (control over the Dam is the reason two wars have been fought there already). The Mojave Outpost (as the major entry into the Mojave from NCR territory) should also be under Securitron control, with a possible dual control setup (kind of like how the Strip is now) if an agreement is reached with the NCR, like a DMZ of sorts. While there is a general withdrawal of NCR forces, we had the idea (a while ago) that some bases would remain under control of NCR deserters - with some being able to be persuaded into joining the Independent Mojave Militia (a new group that can be built up to fill in the vacuum created by the now departed NCR presence and limited amount of securitrons); and some becoming raiders that need to be dealt with.

 

Two weeks is a good time lapse for the mod beginning - that’s what we were kicking around here before (a time frame of at least a week and no longer than a month). There are no set trade or peace agreements in place, but the NCR is still getting supplied with power (for now). Legion troops continue to harass the Mojave, but do so only in limited numbers and are more like the raiders rather than organized groups.

Like in Broken Steel, the companions have been fired to their default or new locations at the beginning of the mod loading up. The player should start in the Lucky 38, if for no other reason that it’s the seat of power for the leader of New Vegas, specifically in the Penthouse Suite.

 

Act 1: Rude Awakening

 

The player awakens from a deep sleep to the sound of klaxons going off. Running to the Master Terminal (the one with Mr. House or Yes Man’s face on it), the Courier sees a “Connection Lost” message displayed and it is unresponsive. Sounds of explosions begin to fill the air and the Courier notices the securitron guards are acting weirdly, one is repeatedly bumping into the same wall, another is completely shut off, etc. The Courier goes down to the ground floor (for now, the only available option), where the sounds of explosions are even worse, and a badly hurt Tops member rushes up to the Courier. He gives the plot exposition of the Securitrons suddenly going berserk (for good xp the player can heal him and tell him to rest or send him out to his death for bad XP). The Courier rushes outside to see a warzone, with Securitrons firing at one another and everything around them. There are dead or dying people all over the place and burning debris everywhere, with most of the entrances being blocked, the mid-Strip gate being the exception (locked for now).

 

The Courier is forced to defend himself against the rampaging securitrons, the fight made a lot easier since they are unable to use their advanced weaponry or repair abilities while bezerk; they will also be killing each other as well as well as attacking the player. As soon as the player moves out of the way, the door/wall that protected the Lucky 38 closes, sealing the entrance (temporarily). After killing most of the berserkers, Yes Man (once again in a securitron body) appears from the mid-Strip area and helps to destroy the rest of the bezerkers. Once the last one is dead, he tells the Courier that a major viral attack was initiated against the Lucky 38 mainframe, a serious attempt at usurping his control over the securitrons. Yes Man still has some control while fighting against the virus, but these conflicting commands are causing the Securitrons to go berserk.

 

Yes Man then explains that despite his upgrade, most of his consciousness is devoted to fighting the virus so he is only able to fully control one securitron at a time. Just as he is about to finish, he begins to stutter, and suddenly goes silent. His monitor flickers several times and suddenly turns back on - the player is now face to face with Victor. Some dialog begins, the gist of which is that Mr. House’s failsafe has been activated; Yes Man is defeated; and Victor now controls the Lucky 38 and the securitron army. After the conversation ends, and with a final taunt, Victor begins to attack the player but is suddenly destroyed by a rocket. The player looks to see who saved his life and sees one of the new NPC’s - a former mercenary captain who was recruited to provide security to New Vegas after the Second Hoover Dam Battle, a necessity as most of the securitrons were needed to fortify the Dam. My original concept of this guy was Geoffrey Rushe’s character (Sir Francis Walsingham) in the movie Elizabeth – a ruthless and competent spymaster with a dark sense of humor and I was thinking of the name Frank Washington (I’ll use it for now). Frank is standing near the sewer entrance and calls to the Courier to get a move on as he can’t hold them off forever. As the player gets to the sewer lid, a scripted-scene begins with the Lucky 38 opening again, this time with several securitrons coming out led by Victor. This battle is unbeatable as they are invulnerable during this part and are fully upgraded.

 

Entering the sewer reveals several of Frank’s men waiting with heavy weapons. The player follows Frank as another scripted-scene plays, this time of Frank’s men blasting the entrance to the sewer and sealing it off. Frank tells the player that this will only temporarily stop them and that they have to leave right now! If ED-E is available, it should appear and join up at this point, with Frank remarking how ED-E helped them get here while it was trying to get to the player. The player and the rest of the group rush through a short sewer cell, with explosions going off overhead, during which one part of the sewer collapses and kills several of the group – the player knocked off their feet as well. The player can help stabilize several of the wounded for good karma or leave them to their fate. The end of the sewer leads into the Vegas Boulevard monorail station. There are a couple of destroyed securitrons and the entrance is barricaded. Everyone rushes to the monorail and escape, with explosions ringing in the background.

 

Act 2: It Takes A Licking And Keeps On Ticking

 

 

McCarran Airfield is mostly deserted, with most of the forces withdrawn and only a skeleton crew left to defend it. The player is approached by the temporary base commander (let’s call her Janet Hawke) and a conversation begins – if NCR reputation is good, the player and the rest of the group is allowed to stay temporarily, if bad, the player is told to leave right away or be shot. In either case, the monorail is shut down immediately.

As the player and group get ready to leave and approach the entrance, sound of yelling and bullets being fired are heard. Fiends begin pouring out of the gate and head toward the main concourse. For good NCR rep, the player can attack the Fiends, or just let them continue onward – there will be consequence to that decision later. Once the Fiends have been dealt with, Frank mentions going to his former headquarters so that they can regroup – it will be located near the Basincreek building.

 

During the journey to the new HQ, there will be another Fiend attack, which will be made easier if the player helped the NCR as they provided additional supplies and healed the NPC in the group. Although it was locked, the building needs to be cleared anyway due to some ants burrowing their way into the basement. While the player clears out the ants in the basement, Frank is able to get the equipment working again and reports begin to come in from the Westside and Freeside areas. The securitrons control the Strip once more, but are no longer bezerk, and are patrolling Westside and Freeside with guards at the entrances to those areas. To top it off, speakers are blasting propaganda, telling the people that the rightful successor to Mr. House has come to take control of New Vegas and that there is a very large reward for the betrayer, a.k.a. Courier 6 – who is wanted dead or alive (this will add random encounters with bounty hunters).

 

At this point, Frank begins to wonder why the securitrons have stopped killing. We are now introduced to a new NPC, Gordy Freemond (intentional allusion to Gordon Freeman). He explains that while the Securitron Vault activated a lot of them, they are unable to build more as newly built securitrons suddenly go berserk – probably thanks to Yes Man still fighting back as a Ghost In The Machine. This means that while they can’t make more right now, they are still a very formidable force to deal with. If the player was on good terms with the companion NPC’s, they will become available at this point.

 

From here, there are multiple side-quests involving the gathering of forces to retake New Vegas, part of which includes building up the newly formed Independent Mojave Militia. This Act will also have an NCR incursion as you suggested, with either the NCR being beaten back or temporarily joining as allies during the final push towards New Vegas. From this point onward, it’s going to be a little vague as I only have broad ideas for the rest of the mod.

One thing I would like for certain is a quest to find a McGuffin of some sort that will disable the securitrons allowing a final victory at the Strip, while also neutralizing the Securitrons at the Dam and the Fort. The quest will take place in Robert House’s hidden workshop, located underneath Camp Golf. One possible idea for the McGuffin is Mr. House’s special super computer with his memory engrams, which if disabled, will allow Yes Man to recover control.

 

Act 3: So Easy A Caveman Can Do It

 

There are several parts to the final push, with several past decisions coming into play. I would like for the mod to be mostly stand-alone (the events during the mod shaping the conclusion), but it would be nice to have some prior decisions come into play as well. For example, the battles will be much easier if you had helped the super-mutants as they will be on the front lines with mini-guns and rocket launchers, blasting away at securitrons. Additionally, if you dealt with Keene by helping or calming him down, there will be Nightkin doing stealth attacks during the assault.

I also think that part of the assault will involve a riot in Freeside, which will divert the securitrons away from Westside, allowing the player’s forces to slip in through the sewer system.

This is neither here nor there, but I had a weird idea of Yes Man moving to the Fort with all the securitrons and becoming an independent but tiny machine nation – I don’t know how of even if that should be added.

 

Act 4: You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby

With the securitrons destroyed or under the player command once again, now starts the rebuilding and reinforcement of the Mojave and New Vegas. New Vegas will be a different place as the groups that helped the player retake the city all want a seat at the table – some with counter desires.

 

Act 5: Viva New Vegas

The player is now the “King of New Vegas”. Things appear to be running smoothly and money is coming out the wahzoo. This act begins with the player walking down the repaired Strip – suddenly, an assassin attempts to kill the player. Once the assassin is dealt with, now begins the search for who sent him. Again, sorry about the vagueness, but we had an idea a while ago about one of the New Reno mob families attempting a hostile takeover – if used, it would probably be part of this act.

 

 

Well, that’s all I got for now - hope it was worth the read.

[kingwilfre16]

Hey LuciaofArroyo - really nice job with the summary and some really good ideas, but I don’t agree with all of it, so here are some adjustments and ideas of my own to add for consideration:

 

 

Background

 

The Strip and Hoover Dam are under the total control of the Securitrons; the Dam is especially of great strategic importance and provides power to The Strip - no way it gets left in the hands of the NCR (control over the Dam is the reason two wars have been fought there already). The Mojave Outpost (as the major entry into the Mojave from NCR territory) should also be under Securitron control, with a possible dual control setup (kind of like how the Strip is now) if an agreement is reached with the NCR, like a DMZ of sorts. While there is a general withdrawal of NCR forces, we had the idea (a while ago) that some bases would remain under control of NCR deserters - with some being able to be persuaded into joining the Independent Mojave Militia (a new group that can be built up to fill in the vacuum created by the now departed NCR presence and limited amount of securitrons); and some becoming raiders that need to be dealt with.

 

Two weeks is a good time lapse for the mod beginning - that’s what we were kicking around here before (a time frame of at least a week and no longer than a month). There are no set trade or peace agreements in place, but the NCR is still getting supplied with power (for now). Legion troops continue to harass the Mojave, but do so only in limited numbers and are more like the raiders rather than organized groups.

Like in Broken Steel, the companions have been fired to their default or new locations at the beginning of the mod loading up. The player should start in the Lucky 38, if for no other reason that it’s the seat of power for the leader of New Vegas, specifically in the Penthouse Suite.

 

Act 1: Rude Awakening

 

The player awakens from a deep sleep to the sound of klaxons going off. Running to the Master Terminal (the one with Mr. House or Yes Man’s face on it), the Courier sees a “Connection Lost” message displayed and it is unresponsive. Sounds of explosions begin to fill the air and the Courier notices the securitron guards are acting weirdly, one is repeatedly bumping into the same wall, another is completely shut off, etc. The Courier goes down to the ground floor (for now, the only available option), where the sounds of explosions are even worse, and a badly hurt Tops member rushes up to the Courier. He gives the plot exposition of the Securitrons suddenly going berserk (for good xp the player can heal him and tell him to rest or send him out to his death for bad XP). The Courier rushes outside to see a warzone, with Securitrons firing at one another and everything around them. There are dead or dying people all over the place and burning debris everywhere, with most of the entrances being blocked, the mid-Strip gate being the exception (locked for now).

 

The Courier is forced to defend himself against the rampaging securitrons, the fight made a lot easier since they are unable to use their advanced weaponry or repair abilities while bezerk; they will also be killing each other as well as well as attacking the player. As soon as the player moves out of the way, the door/wall that protected the Lucky 38 closes, sealing the entrance (temporarily). After killing most of the berserkers, Yes Man (once again in a securitron body) appears from the mid-Strip area and helps to destroy the rest of the bezerkers. Once the last one is dead, he tells the Courier that a major viral attack was initiated against the Lucky 38 mainframe, a serious attempt at usurping his control over the securitrons. Yes Man still has some control while fighting against the virus, but these conflicting commands are causing the Securitrons to go berserk.

 

Yes Man then explains that despite his upgrade, most of his consciousness is devoted to fighting the virus so he is only able to fully control one securitron at a time. Just as he is about to finish, he begins to stutter, and suddenly goes silent. His monitor flickers several times and suddenly turns back on - the player is now face to face with Victor. Some dialog begins, the gist of which is that Mr. House’s failsafe has been activated; Yes Man is defeated; and Victor now controls the Lucky 38 and the securitron army. After the conversation ends, and with a final taunt, Victor begins to attack the player but is suddenly destroyed by a rocket. The player looks to see who saved his life and sees one of the new NPC’s - a former mercenary captain who was recruited to provide security to New Vegas after the Second Hoover Dam Battle, a necessity as most of the securitrons were needed to fortify the Dam. My original concept of this guy was Geoffrey Rushe’s character (Sir Francis Walsingham) in the movie Elizabeth – a ruthless and competent spymaster with a dark sense of humor and I was thinking of the name Frank Washington (I’ll use it for now). Frank is standing near the sewer entrance and calls to the Courier to get a move on as he can’t hold them off forever. As the player gets to the sewer lid, a scripted-scene begins with the Lucky 38 opening again, this time with several securitrons coming out led by Victor. This battle is unbeatable as they are invulnerable during this part and are fully upgraded.

 

Entering the sewer reveals several of Frank’s men waiting with heavy weapons. The player follows Frank as another scripted-scene plays, this time of Frank’s men blasting the entrance to the sewer and sealing it off. Frank tells the player that this will only temporarily stop them and that they have to leave right now! If ED-E is available, it should appear and join up at this point, with Frank remarking how ED-E helped them get here while it was trying to get to the player. The player and the rest of the group rush through a short sewer cell, with explosions going off overhead, during which one part of the sewer collapses and kills several of the group – the player knocked off their feet as well. The player can help stabilize several of the wounded for good karma or leave them to their fate. The end of the sewer leads into the Vegas Boulevard monorail station. There are a couple of destroyed securitrons and the entrance is barricaded. Everyone rushes to the monorail and escape, with explosions ringing in the background.

 

Act 2: It Takes A Licking And Keeps On Ticking

 

 

McCarran Airfield is mostly deserted, with most of the forces withdrawn and only a skeleton crew left to defend it. The player is approached by the temporary base commander (let’s call her Janet Hawke) and a conversation begins – if NCR reputation is good, the player and the rest of the group is allowed to stay temporarily, if bad, the player is told to leave right away or be shot. In either case, the monorail is shut down immediately.

As the player and group get ready to leave and approach the entrance, sound of yelling and bullets being fired are heard. Fiends begin pouring out of the gate and head toward the main concourse. For good NCR rep, the player can attack the Fiends, or just let them continue onward – there will be consequence to that decision later. Once the Fiends have been dealt with, Frank mentions going to his former headquarters so that they can regroup – it will be located near the Basincreek building.

 

During the journey to the new HQ, there will be another Fiend attack, which will be made easier if the player helped the NCR as they provided additional supplies and healed the NPC in the group. Although it was locked, the building needs to be cleared anyway due to some ants burrowing their way into the basement. While the player clears out the ants in the basement, Frank is able to get the equipment working again and reports begin to come in from the Westside and Freeside areas. The securitrons control the Strip once more, but are no longer bezerk, and are patrolling Westside and Freeside with guards at the entrances to those areas. To top it off, speakers are blasting propaganda, telling the people that the rightful successor to Mr. House has come to take control of New Vegas and that there is a very large reward for the betrayer, a.k.a. Courier 6 – who is wanted dead or alive (this will add random encounters with bounty hunters).

 

At this point, Frank begins to wonder why the securitrons have stopped killing. We are now introduced to a new NPC, Gordy Freemond (intentional allusion to Gordon Freeman). He explains that while the Securitron Vault activated a lot of them, they are unable to build more as newly built securitrons suddenly go berserk – probably thanks to Yes Man still fighting back as a Ghost In The Machine. This means that while they can’t make more right now, they are still a very formidable force to deal with. If the player was on good terms with the companion NPC’s, they will become available at this point.

 

From here, there are multiple side-quests involving the gathering of forces to retake New Vegas, part of which includes building up the newly formed Independent Mojave Militia. This Act will also have an NCR incursion as you suggested, with either the NCR being beaten back or temporarily joining as allies during the final push towards New Vegas. From this point onward, it’s going to be a little vague as I only have broad ideas for the rest of the mod.

One thing I would like for certain is a quest to find a McGuffin of some sort that will disable the securitrons allowing a final victory at the Strip, while also neutralizing the Securitrons at the Dam and the Fort. The quest will take place in Robert House’s hidden workshop, located underneath Camp Golf. One possible idea for the McGuffin is Mr. House’s special super computer with his memory engrams, which if disabled, will allow Yes Man to recover control.

 

Act 3: So Easy A Caveman Can Do It

 

There are several parts to the final push, with several past decisions coming into play. I would like for the mod to be mostly stand-alone (the events during the mod shaping the conclusion), but it would be nice to have some prior decisions come into play as well. For example, the battles will be much easier if you had helped the super-mutants as they will be on the front lines with mini-guns and rocket launchers, blasting away at securitrons. Additionally, if you dealt with Keene by helping or calming him down, there will be Nightkin doing stealth attacks during the assault.

I also think that part of the assault will involve a riot in Freeside, which will divert the securitrons away from Westside, allowing the player’s forces to slip in through the sewer system.

This is neither here nor there, but I had a weird idea of Yes Man moving to the Fort with all the securitrons and becoming an independent but tiny machine nation – I don’t know how of even if that should be added.

 

Act 4: You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby

With the securitrons destroyed or under the player command once again, now starts the rebuilding and reinforcement of the Mojave and New Vegas. New Vegas will be a different place as the groups that helped the player retake the city all want a seat at the table – some with counter desires.

 

Act 5: Viva New Vegas

The player is now the “King of New Vegas”. Things appear to be running smoothly and money is coming out the wahzoo. This act begins with the player walking down the repaired Strip – suddenly, an assassin attempts to kill the player. Once the assassin is dealt with, now begins the search for who sent him. Again, sorry about the vagueness, but we had an idea a while ago about one of the New Reno mob families attempting a hostile takeover – if used, it would probably be part of this act.

 

 

Well, that’s all I got for now - hope it was worth the read.

Ring-a-ding baby, that's the bees knees XD, sorry just had to do it. Its perfect though some damage that can be rebuilt, while ruling the mojave

[LuciaofArroyo]

 

interesting story, but where's the leading of new Vegas like in the first post, with the expansion of your reach in the Mojave, creation of your army

 

That would be mentioned in the single sentence i gave to it; vaguely hinting at "little side quests" after Hoover Damn :wink:

 

To be honest it had crossed my mind that the player could physically recruit an army and ally with the Boomers... Super Mutants + Pre War Artillery could be fun, but it'd be largely cosmetic, since the player can in theory command a massive army, but what would they do with it?

 

I was thinking that post Hoover Dam 2 (the escape) the player would return to New New Vegas and be able to recruit mercenaries- this could be a mod in and of itself- from areas where they have positive relations, basically by sitting at a terminal and summoning up mercs, super mutants and militia at a cost of say 60 caps for every 24 hours they're activated.

 

I see it this way; if we create a new town around The Strip, merging it with Freeside, then the player has the ability to physically build new buildings on the ruins, and conduct trade caravans and so on- a lot of freedom. There's plenty of things that can be done at that point, but in the earlier posts I was just focused on the storyline which would put the player in a reasonable position where they could do that. Although if the dramatic story was to be scrapped and this mod was just to focus on the ability to build Vegas in-game, and make caravans and hire troops, then I'd be fine with that, that's still insanely cool however you look at it :smile: I was just under the impression that people wanted a plotline before this ability was given to the player.

 

Also, with the idea of an army... it sounds good and everything, but it'd take away from the game all of hat makes the game so cool. It's less focused on the player battling the odds, and makes it more about the player sitting on a throne giving orders- and that sounds cool, but it wouldn't be much fun to play.

 

(edit. now that I think about it, a mod that just allowed the player to build vegas would be absolutely awesome by itself...)

Edited July 18, 2013 by LuciaofArroyo