WIP - The Powder Keg - A Mod for Fallout: New Vegas

[FiendishGhoul]

http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii509/ThePowderKegNV/ThePowderKegOneSheetAgedMD.png

 

The Powder Keg - WIP

 

A modest mod in terms of both scale and scope.

 

Features include:

 

• 
   
  
• A new exterior location and 2 new interior locations;
  
• 9 new NPCs divided into 3 factions, with 2 (potentially 3) of those NPCs being specialized merchants;
  
• A small, lore-friendly quest with multiple distinct outcomes;
  
• A custom soundtrack featuring 16 new selections of period-appropriate public domain music;
  
• Cryptic notes, locked safes, danger, intrigue, lurid details, unique loot and gear, all that fun stuff.
  

 

Plot:

 

The Powder Keg is a disreputable bar / strip club located on the edge of Fiend Territory, well outside the safe confines of the New Vegas Strip. The bar is owned by a sleazy operator named Ritchie and staffed by a large, extremely violent bartender and three exotic dancers purported to be ex-Raiders. Frequented by an assortment of Wasteland loners, junkies and the occasional NCR trooper, The 'Keg has gained some small degree of infamy among those who know of it. Still others whisper of even less savory secrets concealed behind its neon-drenched facade.

 

Into this den of iniquity comes a stranger whose influence could affect the lives of all involved. Will The Courier uncover an explosive secret? Or will he or she lean back, relax, and revel in the wickedness?

 

Details:

 

The Powder Keg has one named exterior cell, which sits in a vacant parking lot area between the El Rey Motel and an empty gas station, directly across from Camp McCarran. In this exterior cell, a door links to the first of two interior cells, introducing you to the world of The Powder Keg and its inhabitants. All locations are nicely cluttered and fully navmeshed. The interior cells are occupied by a motley assortment of leveled NPCs, equipped with gear ranging from mundane to unique, who belong to three semi-cooperative hidden factions. The interiors also contain a fairly extensive (though by no means "godly") supply of loot. Lastly, the interiors have a distinctive ambiance, personality to spare and even the potential to serve as realistically adequate player housing (under certain circumstances).

 

Of the nine named NPCs who occupy this mod, two are immediately available as vendors specializing in booze and chems respectively, while a third has the potential to also be a vendor specializing in booze and miscellaneous goods. All three possible vendors are equivalent to a moderately well-supplied vendor as they exist in the game by deafult, which is to say a few thousand caps and some stuff for sale. Nothing too extreme.

 

In fact, an emphasis has been placed upon keeping most, if not all, elements of this mod well within the realm of plausibility, given the subject matter. Unique weapons and armors have stats extremely similar to existing uniques, and while leveled, the NPCs themselves should hardly be unbeatable for a player of almost any standing. Locks and terminals range from average to very hard (except for those requiring keys).

 

The quest itself will feature multiple branching dialogue options and possible outcomes, while retaining a certain streamlined efficiency throughout.

 

The location also features a range-restricted radio broadcast of The Powder Keg's jukebox, which consists of sixteen pieces of public domain music which have been individually-selected for relevance and for the sense of time and place they impart.

 

What's done, and what's left to be done:

 

Currently, the locations are finalized and ready to go, barring any unforseen playtesting issues. Superficially speaking, the NPCs are done. However, AI still needs a bit of work and quest-related dialogues and voice acting / lip work are non-existant. The quest itself is still just the barest outline. Basically, the whole thing is a lovely body with no brain at the moment, but that will change with time. An extremely rough draft of an outline for the basic quests can be read here.

 

Also (and this is a pretty big "also", mind you), The Powder Keg, as it exists today, utilizes resources from a few excellent mods available here on The Nexus and permissions will need to be sought and obtained. Most are almost sure fire things, I believe, but a few could be kind of dicey. I'm hoping that grace will shine upon myself and those most wonderful and talented creators of downloadable content that day, but only time will tell.

 

Images:

 

Exterior

 

Interior 1 and Bartender

 

Interior 2 and Regular Patrons

 

Interior 3 and Owner

 

Interior 4

 

Production:

 

This is my first attempt at a quest-type mod, although in fairness it would be more accurate to call this a side-quest-type mod. I have previously released mods for both Fallout 3 and Oblivion, but obviously nothing of this scale. These considerations notwithstanding, my confidence is high as I roll thus far triumphantly into the inner workings of GECK. The Powder Keg .esp / .esm has been monitored continuously and cleaned for unintended changes (surprisingly few) with FNVedit and plays well with a decent selection of some of The Nexus' most popular mods. I have a feeling that The Powder Keg will one day soon make a nice addition to complement almost any load order.

 

Questions / comments / selfless offers of assistance from qualified individuals can be directed to me here on The Nexus.

 

I look forward to eventually releasing this amoral little beastie into the wild, to be adored or ignored or kicked mercilessly about the tail regions by the community at large.

 

Until then, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions about the direction it should take getting there.

 

- FG.

 

http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii509/ThePowderKegNV/ComingSoon.png

[CaptainDerpster]

This looks very promising. I will try it sometime. I would say from the pictures and description that I think it will be good.

[FiendishGhoul]

This looks very promising. I will try it sometime. I would say from the pictures and description that I think it will be good.

 

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Captain.

 

This thread will be updated as things progress, so please check back from time to time.

[tizerist]

Interesting.

The thing that strikes me is that, it aims to add a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

Most mods just concentrate on one aspect, so I shall keep an eye on this. Nice one.

[FiendishGhoul]

Interesting.

The thing that strikes me is that, it aims to add a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

Most mods just concentrate on one aspect, so I shall keep an eye on this. Nice one.

 

Thanks for the interest, tizerist.

 

I'm aiming to provide a location that functions on multiple levels depending on how the player chooses to interact with it.

 

If I am successful, I believe The Powder Keg will be a nicely self-contained microcosm that plays with themes already existing in the Mojave Wasteland, whilst adding a flavor all its own.

 

Now, I need to get my head back into GECK and wrap it around questing and scripting. :wallbash: