An independent New Vegas mod.

[darkus37]

Well, I can understand where you're coming from when it comes to army building, but the player don't really get to do that in the vanilla game - either the NCR, Legion, or Securitrons do most of the major fighting; the player just acting like the tip of the spear and receiving only limited assistance from the Boomers and Remnants. The scenario I'm putting forth is designed to get the player involved in the nitty-gritty of taking over the Mojave - supply lines, securing major locations, spending money to upgrade forces, etc. Making deals with the devil that will be called-in in Act 4. Just hiring mercenaries from a terminal seems like a waste of potential to me.

 

My personal view of where the mod should go is sort of like a Neo-NCR - the beginnings of a multi-species/faction alliance that controls the Mojave. The Battle of New Vegas should only be the mid-point, where once the player takes back the city, now would come the hard part of governing and rebuilding. The upgrade could definitely take place from a terminal, with tons of upgrades available that would restore the Strip to its former glory.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing a side-quest with parts of your Act 7 - it could even be the way the player convinces the NCR to help fight for New Vegas.

 

I was also thinking about some DLC related quests, faction neutral so that they can be added to the other endings. For example, The Tunnelers are finally beginning to attack the Mojave and need to be dealt with before they get a foothold.

[pwinkle]

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.

 

Long time lurker, first time poster.

But THIS was worth me break my silence for. This as the basis for the independent storyline would be awesome, a few tweaks here a there maybe; but this is imo what the story line should pretty much follow.

 

I like the idea of the player actually inciting the riots in order to create a cover for themselves, what would be great is if you started the riots without anyone knowing it was actually you doing it. Yes it's underhanded and sneaky, but it'd allow you to focus on building an army while the securitrons are occupied.

Maybe you could have a 'good' option, which involves making your presence known to the rioters and dedicating some of your existing forces to help them out. This would minimise civilian casualties, but make the final push that much harder, whereas the 'evil' option would make the final push easier at the expense of the lives of many freeside civilians.

 

There could be aftermath as well, depending on which option you went for. If you went for the 'good' option there's going to be more people left alive in freeside at the end of it all, there'll be some bad eggs who'll just keep on rioting/want to kill you; but you'll have the support of the big players in freeside who'll help to supress these threats to your life to show their allegiance to you. (Similar to vanilla, but with increased King's patrols say, a bonus to reputation)

If you go for the 'bad' option there'll be no rioters or people too attack you left in freeside; as most of the locals would have died during the riots. You'll have defacto rule over freeside; or as much as House ever did, but now anyone remaining will be uncooperative or even hostile as you never helped them out during their time of need. (Again similar to vanilla, but with no King's patrols and a slight increase in thugs, plus a dramatic loss of reputation)

 

Just my 2 cents, hoping to help flesh out a part of the potential story.

[devinpatterson]

Hey guys, sorry for the late response. I tried to log in last night but there was maintenance or something going on in the forums. I don't even want to try and touch these longer posts on my phone, but I'll try to touch base with the story lines when I get home in about 6 or 7 hours. In the early hours of the morning I got OGGs working in a BSA, which is awesome (works via BSAopt, right out of the box) and experimented with some securitron animations.

 

OK, looking forward to reading the new story lines

[LuciaofArroyo]

My personal view of where the mod should go is sort of like a Neo-NCR - the beginnings of a multi-species/faction alliance that controls the Mojave. The Battle of New Vegas should only be the mid-point, where once the player takes back the city, now would come the hard part of governing and rebuilding.

 

 

That's sort of what I had in mind too- again, I didn't go into detail on rebuilding, but it's definitely something I'd like to see and would help out with.

 

Maybe we can try and put some of these ideas together now... starting points for the story:

 

1) it's going to begin with the robots going on a rampage (i think we all agree on this)

 

2) The Strip gets damaged enough so that the player (when they take back the city) is realistically able to rebuild it, and truly be able to "Run New Vegas" as they see fit.

 

 

The rebuilding part is probably the most interesting aspect of it all; the player has options to equip troops with weapons and armors that they've secured or purchased in bulk, they can choose styles of buildings and what kind of buildings to place - this sounds like it'd be a challenge to set up, let alone putting "quests" in these optional buildings... I think maybe they'd work as eye candy more than anything else, they'd be functional and provide income, of course. The same goes for setting up trade routes, setting up little outposts in Novac, Goodsprings etc (edit. for the soldiers... the player has to wipe out zombies or fiends from weapons factories or salvage locations to secure the ability to equip troops with power armor for example, that could be a good road to take for adding side quests and killzone areas lol)

 

I don't know if anyones played GTA Vice City Stories, but they have it so that the player can buy selected plots of land, and then choose what business to run out of it, and then stick soldiers there to defend it ... something like that would be very good.

 

I'm shying away from the idea of the player being setup as an Emperor of the Mojave (or whatever) for the reasons I mentioned earlier on; it sounds cool, but in reality it wouldn't be fun to actually play because it takes away the ...how can i say it... apocalyptic element(?) of the game. (then again, so does running a functional casino in the first place, but you know what im trying to say)

Edited July 18, 2013 by LuciaofArroyo

[kingwilfre16]

 

My personal view of where the mod should go is sort of like a Neo-NCR - the beginnings of a multi-species/faction alliance that controls the Mojave. The Battle of New Vegas should only be the mid-point, where once the player takes back the city, now would come the hard part of governing and rebuilding.

 

 

That's sort of what I had in mind too- again, I didn't go into detail on rebuilding, but it's definitely something I'd like to see and would help out with.

 

Maybe we can try and put some of these ideas together now... starting points for the story:

 

1) it's going to begin with the robots going on a rampage (i think we all agree on this)

 

2) The Strip gets damaged enough so that the player (when they take back the city) is realistically able to rebuild it, and truly be able to "Run New Vegas" as they see fit.

 

 

The rebuilding part is probably the most interesting aspect of it all; the player has options to equip troops with weapons and armors that they've secured or purchased in bulk, they can choose styles of buildings and what kind of buildings to place - this sounds like it'd be a challenge to set up, let alone putting "quests" in these optional buildings... I think maybe they'd work as eye candy more than anything else, they'd be functional and provide income, of course. The same goes for setting up trade routes, setting up little outposts in Novac, Goodsprings etc (edit. for the soldiers... the player has to wipe out zombies or fiends from weapons factories or salvage locations to secure the ability to equip troops with power armor for example, that could be a good road to take for adding side quests and killzone areas lol)

 

I don't know if anyones played GTA Vice City Stories, but they have it so that the player can buy selected plots of land, and then choose what business to run out of it, and then stick soldiers there to defend it ... something like that would be very good.

 

I'm shying away from the idea of the player being setup as an Emperor of the Mojave (or whatever) for the reasons I mentioned earlier on; it sounds cool, but in reality it wouldn't be fun to actually play because it takes away the ...how can i say it... apocalyptic element(?) of the game. (then again, so does running a functional casino in the first place, but you know what im trying to say)

 

the new buildings should only be in expanding current areas or creating new areas like outposts or bases, rebuilding would be restoring it to its original form

Edited July 18, 2013 by kingwilfre16

[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.

 

Long time lurker, first time poster.

But THIS was worth me break my silence for. This as the basis for the independent storyline would be awesome, a few tweaks here a there maybe; but this is imo what the story line should pretty much follow.

 

I like the idea of the player actually inciting the riots in order to create a cover for themselves, what would be great is if you started the riots without anyone knowing it was actually you doing it. Yes it's underhanded and sneaky, but it'd allow you to focus on building an army while the securitrons are occupied.

Maybe you could have a 'good' option, which involves making your presence known to the rioters and dedicating some of your existing forces to help them out. This would minimise civilian casualties, but make the final push that much harder, whereas the 'evil' option would make the final push easier at the expense of the lives of many freeside civilians.

 

There could be aftermath as well, depending on which option you went for. If you went for the 'good' option there's going to be more people left alive in freeside at the end of it all, there'll be some bad eggs who'll just keep on rioting/want to kill you; but you'll have the support of the big players in freeside who'll help to supress these threats to your life to show their allegiance to you. (Similar to vanilla, but with increased King's patrols say, a bonus to reputation)

If you go for the 'bad' option there'll be no rioters or people too attack you left in freeside; as most of the locals would have died during the riots. You'll have defacto rule over freeside; or as much as House ever did, but now anyone remaining will be uncooperative or even hostile as you never helped them out during their time of need. (Again similar to vanilla, but with no King's patrols and a slight increase in thugs, plus a dramatic loss of reputation)

 

Just my 2 cents, hoping to help flesh out a part of the potential story.

 

you sir have won free internet

[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.

The strength of the fiend attack should be on how many fiend leaders are left, if there's no leaders left there should be a securitron attack instead, if you don't complete I put a spell on you or do it in favor of the legion you should have to go through more sewers as the monorail is destroyed

Edited July 19, 2013 by kingwilfre16

[darkus37]

@pwinkle: that's pretty much for what I'm hoping for. I had the idea of a peaceful riot vs. rampaging riot. The peaceful riot is orderly and non-violent, the securitrons standing at the ready and trying to disperse the crowd but nothing bad happening out of fear of turning the public against them - the benefits are good karma but the drawbacks are more securitrons between the player and the Lucky 38. The rampaging riot will give bad karma and will leave a bunch of npc's dead, but there will be less securitrons during the final push.

 

@LuciaofArroyo:

 

1) Definitely.

 

2) There are several problem with this - A) how much is too much destruction? For example, we could have the Ultra-Lux be destroyed, but that would prevent people from doing any side-quests within and prevent entering one of the more unique locations in New Vegas. B) There isn't that much space to expand further - the way I see it, the only way New Vegas can expand is to absorb Freeside and Westside, allowing for new stores and the like. The actual Boulevard only has build-able space between the Gomorrah and Freeside gate, and behind Michael Angelo's workshop. I limit it to those areas due to the defensive walls that surround the city (but I guess the borders can be expanded if needed). There are plenty of possible things to add, but we have to be realistic in the scope of our ideas - there is no industrial base or resources that could be used to build new areas; and there are very real limits to the Game Engine; but most importantly, devinpatterson is the only one that is physically modding (at least for the moment), and his time and abilities must also be taken into account - the more people working on this, the larger the scope can be.

 

Yeah, we thought about that too, with the Independent Mohave Militia (IMM) being in every town, and patrols going back and forth to keep the peace. They would start out as weak civilians that with training and gear upgrades, could become a really formidable force.

 

That sounds pretty cool, but every possible variation has to be scripted and all the additional NPC's are a lot of work, especially if they have any sort of dialog.

 

Just because the player becomes the King of New Vegas doesn't mean he won't have stuff to do. Let's face it - the Courier is basically a trouble magnet, and I doubt things would remain calm enough to just chill out in the Penthouse. For example, we thought about having some ambient quests like Legion raids that the Courier might have to deal with personally and the open-ended nature of the ending will allow further adventures.

 

I get what you're saying, but I think it would be that much better to see physical proof that the player made a difference - positive or negative - on the Mojave.

[LuciaofArroyo]

 

A) how much is too much destruction? For example, we could have the Ultra-Lux be destroyed, but that would prevent people from doing any side-quests within and prevent entering one of the more unique locations in New Vegas. B) There isn't that much space to expand further - the way I see it, the only way New Vegas can expand is to absorb Freeside and Westside, allowing for new stores and the like. The actual Boulevard only has build-able space between the Gomorrah and Freeside gate, and behind Michael Angelo's workshop. I limit it to those areas due to the defensive walls that surround the city (but I guess the borders can be expanded if needed).

 

Exactly, that's why I was suggesting a reasonable ammount of damage happening to free up the unoccupied buildings along Freeside, tear down a couple of places that aren't used for anything and give us the space to work with. Just even looking at Freeside as it is, there's a ton of room for makeshift wooden shacks, and empty buildings that can be turned into functional places- all this done of course without destroying any of the key areas like Mick and Ralphs.

 

I'm not suggesting anything as complicated or gamebreaking as you might be thinking.

 

As for The Strip itself... hmmm... if we leave all the existing locations in good condition (i so wanted to destroy at least once casino) then the main street of the Strip area can be worked with, adding vendor stalls for food and various items, new posters announcing stuff related to the player.. there's a lot that can be done here without actually deleting necessary "quest related" bits and pieces.

 

but most importantly, devinpatterson is the only one that is physically modding (at least for the moment), and his time and abilities must also be taken into account - the more people working on this, the larger the scope can be.

 

 

I'm sure a few builders would be happy to do some of the stuff we've talked about here, who can resist the aesthetic draw of sandcrete? :wink:

 

 

That sounds pretty cool, but every possible variation has to be scripted and all the additional NPC's are a lot of work, especially if they have any sort of dialog.

 

 

Were you talking about the GTA thing here?

 

It wouldn't be that hard; let's say each location has a readily built facade to go on top of it at the click of a button of a terminal. Now the player decides what to run out of this building, again using the terminal, we can options based on location (farming if it's outside somewhere, trade outpost to conduct caravans, that kind of thing) and depending on what option is chosen, there's a little change to the building- maybe crops and farming stuff appear inside and outside of it, or drug lab equipment is added, or sandbag fortifications or whatever. Little cosmetic changes like that. When the building has been designated a task, then the player, still using a terminal, has to assign NPCs to it- e.g. Hire Local Farmhands for 10 caps a day, Hire Expert Farmers for 30 caps a day... or Hire Local Militia for 20 caps a day or Hire Armored Super Mutants for 300 caps a day: the quality varies on the cost. So these guys run the business- the equivalent of standing around interacting with a navmesh- and then the produce of the business is deposited every few days, perhaps in a safe, for the player to pick up later. The produce can be money, food, water, drugs, it all will depend on the nature of the business.

 

As for dialogue, that isn't really a problem either. Other than conversations being written (and i'm totally cool with writing some of them myself) there might be a an initial greeting to play out and then no more sound. That'd be the simplest and quickest way to do it, obviously.

 

But anyway, if you examine what's being suggested here in terms of scripting there really isn't too much actually happening.

 

(edit. if you want to run the Mojave and get it's riches and be a business tycoon, this is a great way to go about doing it)

 

 

Just because the player becomes the King of New Vegas doesn't mean he won't have stuff to do. Let's face it - the Courier is basically a trouble magnet, and I doubt things would remain calm enough to just chill out in the Penthouse. For example, we thought about having some ambient quests like Legion raids that the Courier might have to deal with personally and the open-ended nature of the ending will allow further adventures.

 

 

And you're telling me i'm giving Devin too much modding work to do :smile:

Edited July 19, 2013 by LuciaofArroyo

[darkus37]

Ah, I got the wrong impression - I though you were talking about wholesale redo of the entire area.

 

 

Since we're on the subject, I had this idea about a construction company opening up in Freeside, run by a ghoul (or a super-mutant like Marcus) with a crew of super-mutant workers. His brains and their brawn would be a pretty good way to explain new buildings opening up. This would allow for the semi-destroyed casino's, which would be repaired through them. There would also have to be several requirements before they could rebuld: a new smelting/metal fabrication shop; trade deals with the Crimson Caravan (or alternative) for more exotic elements like fabrics, woodwork, and plastics; and maybe a deal with the BOS for electronics (there would have to be an alternative made for those who chose to destroy the BOS).

 

 

I was also considering what a rebuilt Free/Westside would look like, and what could be realistically added.

1. A police station - The Independent Mojave Militia's main headquarters would be here. It would be a combination police and court building with a small jail underneath. One of the side-quests could be a prisoner escape and/or hostage situation, something that could be solved through violence or dialog options. I was thinking in the side street where the thugs usually spawn and where Joana meets up with Carlitos from the "Bye Bye Love" quest.

2. A bank - it could be called something like New Vegas National, and would have a robbery attempt made via criminals tunneling in through the sewer system.

3. A museum - I'm thinking either a serious location, or maybe a joke version like Sierra Petrovita's Nuka-Cola museum in Girdershade - perhaps both.

4. Water Towers or tanks on top of the buildings - considering that this is a desert, seems like a prudent choice.

5. A gate connecting the Strip to Westside.

6. Better walls around Westside.

7. Guard Shacks at all the gates going into the city.

8. A power plant - I was thinking of it being built and operated badly, with toxic sludge leaking into the sewer system. The local rat population mutates even further from this and decides to journey to the surface, with all the city dwellers basically playing whack-a-rat. With the rats dead, the player will have the option of shutting it down (no karma change, just a ton of money lost); continuing to let it run (bad karma and the city dwellers become sick); increase the output further (really bad karma and fills the air with radiated particles); fix the plant (good karma and let's the city have more electricity); and finally fix and optimize the power plant (great karma, electricity, and some undetermined bonus).

 

 

I'm not against sandcrete structures, I just don't know if they should be in the city proper - they do tend to stick out a bit.

 

 

Well, the scripting might not seem a big deal to you, but I have a lot of trouble with it so my perception is a bit skewed. I sincerely hope it will be easier that it sounds (to me).

 

 

Hey, nobody's perfect. :biggrin: