[WIP] The Siege of Firebase Zulu

[darkus37]

Just finished watching the video and wanted to give a big thanks to you for showing how you conceptualized and created Firebase Zulu - very interesting stuff and I would be very happy to see more.

 

I do have one or two suggestions for you, if you don't mind:

 

1. You mentioned Masada as one of your inspirations - Masada was only conquered because the Romans literally built a ramp right up to walls. Perhaps you can combine that with the Vietnam connection and have the Legion digging a tunnel underneath the Firebase using slaves from a nearby town. The tunnel entrance into the FIrebase (an underground storehouse) has been temporarily secured, but leaving the tunnel open (but guarded) will have random waves of slave suicide bombers and/or the tunnel being filled with poison gas. The player would then be forced to either A) Flood the tunnel - the "easiest" way, but which will kill all the slaves and have other long term consequences; or B) Place and detonate explosives - will involve fighting through waves of Legion forces, but will also allow the optional choice of the saving the slave laborers with all the benefits that choice will bring.

2. I read previously that you don't want to have rampant use of verti-birds - perhaps you could have just one vertibird strike occur during the final battle, but only if the player does several side missions. For example: news comes that the son (or daughter) of a high-ranking and popular NCR general has been captured along with several of his men and is being held at the nearby Legion base. The son, a well respected soldier in his own right, is going to be tortured to death by the Legion in full view of the Firebase, as soon as one of the Legion's "special" interrogators arrives. The player is then given the side-quest to rescue or kill the general's son. After sneaking their way in (fighting will automatically get the son killed), the player meets the son only to find out that he is unwilling to leave without the rest of his men. The rest of the squad is being held in a different part of the base and every moment the chances of being found out increase. The player will then have the choice of either A) saving the son by knocking him out - feeling guilty over being the only one saved, he becomes a suicidal drunk. This leads to the son giving a boost to Zulu's defenders damage, but a decrease in morale; B) Finding the son dead - Zulu's defenders get a drop in morale, but increase in discipline if the rest of the squad is saved; C) Saving the son and squad - increase in morale and discipline, the grateful father arranging for additional support during the final assault. I'm sure that more variations can be made on the result of the side-quest, but I think I'm getting the idea across.

[Guest deleted2159825]

Thanks!

You mentioned Masada as one of your inspirations - Masada was only conquered because the Romans literally built a ramp right up to walls. Perhaps you can combine that with the Vietnam connection and have the Legion digging a tunnel underneath the Firebase using slaves from a nearby town. The tunnel entrance into the FIrebase (an underground storehouse) has been temporarily secured, but leaving the tunnel open (but guarded) will have random waves of slave suicide bombers and/or the tunnel being filled with poison gas. The player would then be forced to either A) Flood the tunnel - the "easiest" way, but which will kill all the slaves and have other long term consequences; or B) Place and detonate explosives - will involve fighting through waves of Legion forces, but will also allow the optional choice of the saving the slave laborers with all the benefits that choice will bring.

 

Tunneling is written in as random event during the siege. It will be hairy.

As for chemical weapons... I'm not too sure, but I'd never say never. Your train of thought certainly isn't far from mine, though. :smile:

 

 

2. I read previously that you don't want to have rampant use of verti-birds - perhaps you could have just one vertibird strike occur during the final battle, but only if the player does several side missions. For example: news comes that the son (or daughter) of a high-ranking and popular NCR general has been captured along with several of his men and is being held at the nearby Legion base. The son, a well respected soldier in his own right, is going to be tortured to death by the Legion in full view of the Firebase, as soon as one of the Legion's "special" interrogators arrives. The player is then given the side-quest to rescue or kill the general's son. After sneaking their way in (fighting will automatically get the son killed), the player meets the son only to find out that he is unwilling to leave without the rest of his men. The rest of the squad is being held in a different part of the base and every moment the chances of being found out increase. The player will then have the choice of either A) saving the son by knocking him out - feeling guilty over being the only one saved, he becomes a suicidal drunk. This leads to the son giving a boost to Zulu's defenders damage, but a decrease in morale; B) Finding the son dead - Zulu's defenders get a drop in morale, but increase in discipline if the rest of the squad is saved; C) Saving the son and squad - increase in morale and discipline, the grateful father arranging for additional support during the final assault. I'm sure that more variations can be made on the result of the side-quest, but I think I'm getting the idea across.

Again, your mindset holds some eery parallels when it comes to mine in terms of design... there is a quest in place that is similar to what you've described. I may well expand on it. :smile:

 

However, I'm going to stick to my guns on the vertibird - for now. A one-time, "earned" event wouldn't be unreasonable, though.

 

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions! Please feel free to share any ideas or pose questions.

Edited September 16, 2013 by someguy2000

[Brigand231]

I made a rough "Developer's Diary"-esque video last night, and just thought I'd share it. It's nothing fancy, but it provides some perspective on the base layout and structure.

 

If ya'll like it, I can probably create more videos to demonstrate certain features as I continue with production. If you have any questions, concerns, etc., feel free to share them here or in the video comments. Thanks!

Holy s*** man! In all the correspondence we've had about this mod I never could appreciate the scope of "just" that one location as I do now after seeing it all spread out like that. I had something more like a Thermopylae cliffside in mind, but noooooo!

 

I absolutely love the feeling of being so very lost while watching you navigate the world space and realizing that there will be a learning curve to the area just in figuring out where you are and where you want to be.

 

...then seeing the quest "The Rooster" pop up and having more than a good idea of what that is scares the living daylights out of me when considering the sheer volume of space involved. I'm already intimidated.

 

Then you had to go and mention Bullhead City, which you know ties into my fiction. Even if I've stopped the story by the time you release the mod I'll have to dust it off and visit Zulu with that character just to dig up the ghost of her innocence on the way.

 

I absolutely love the developer diary approach and the video in general. As I said in the beginning, it gives a much better feel for perspective than I'd previously had. I know you've got things in hand, but the gesture must be made... If there's any way to be of service, just say so. Barring unforeseen life events, you've got a pair of voices at your disposal when that time comes too.

 

Thanks for the video and best wishes in your endeavor, my friend.

[maybenexttime]

You should try to post weekly videos to answer questions and talk more details of your mod and where it is going. I love the idea of trench warfare, reminds me of some Korean War movies.

 

I have to ask are there going to be any ghouls/zombie like things you are going to run into like the inheritance?

 

Anyways keep up the good work!

[Guest deleted2159825]

 

Holy s*** man! In all the correspondence we've had about this mod I never could appreciate the scope of "just" that one location as I do now after seeing it all spread out like that. I had something more like a Thermopylae cliffside in mind, but noooooo!

 

I absolutely love the feeling of being so very lost while watching you navigate the world space and realizing that there will be a learning curve to the area just in figuring out where you are and where you want to be.

 

...then seeing the quest "The Rooster" pop up and having more than a good idea of what that is scares the living daylights out of me when considering the sheer volume of space involved. I'm already intimidated.

 

Then you had to go and mention Bullhead City, which you know ties into my fiction. Even if I've stopped the story by the time you release the mod I'll have to dust it off and visit Zulu with that character just to dig up the ghost of her innocence on the way.

 

I absolutely love the developer diary approach and the video in general. As I said in the beginning, it gives a much better feel for perspective than I'd previously had. I know you've got things in hand, but the gesture must be made... If there's any way to be of service, just say so. Barring unforeseen life events, you've got a pair of voices at your disposal when that time comes too.

 

Thanks for the video and best wishes in your endeavor, my friend.

Thanks, brother. The video has gotten a much stronger response than I anticipated, so more will likely be on the way. :)

 

 

You should try to post weekly videos to answer questions and talk more details of your mod and where it is going. I love the idea of trench warfare, reminds me of some Korean War movies.

 

I have to ask are there going to be any ghouls/zombie like things you are going to run into like the inheritance?

 

Anyways keep up the good work!

That's not a bad idea...

 

As for the ghouls, they will be present, but it won't be anything like Outpost Lambda or Cholla Mountain. Players might be missing ghouls once the battle starts, though. :devil:

 

Thanks for the support!

[darkus37]

Hey, thanks for being so nice in your response to my post - here's a couple of more ideas, maybe some could be worth using:

 

1. Like in some war movies, I was wondering if you could introduce a reporter into the mix. There are multiple scenarios that this idea can be applied to using such cliches as:

 

A) The reporter being a legion spy, the perfect cover to get into areas otherwise inaccessible.

B) The reporter being a ballsy female that will become a love interest, but who get's tragically killed during a mortar attack. A) can be merged with B) by having a crew member being the Legion spy or have the female reporter be replaced by the spy.

C) The reporter is a plant by the government opposition party to get propaganda against the war with the Legion (and to help oust Kimball). Similar to A), the reporter could try and sabotage Firebase Zulu so that Zulu is wiped out, with the reporting being slanted to show the war in a particularly negative light.

D) The reporter is a plant by the government to get propaganda for continued war with the Legion (and to help support Kimball). Similar to A), the reporter could try and support Firebase Zulu through slanted reports to show the war in a particularly positive light.

 

Using one of (or using parts of several) the above suggestions, have Firebase Zulu get WW2-style newsreel report breaks (like the game ending slideshows), narrated by the reporter that display decisions the Player made (similar to the Coyote Courier from NVB II). You would probably have to divide the mod into several Acts to get the full effect of what I'm talking about.

 

2. A super-mutant ranger - this might seem like a weird idea at first, but I remember Fallout 2 mentioning that ghouls and super-mutants were part of the NCR Rangers; and while some ghoul rangers did make it into New Vegas (Ranger Station Echo), there was also supposed to be a super-mutant ranger named Chauncey. I think it would be really cool for Chauncey (or someone like him) to be an ally during the mod - mini-gun a-blazing. After the end of Zulu (and if he's still alive), he would be found at Ranger Station Foxtrot attempting to keep the NCR and Jacobstown super-mutants from getting into conflict.

 

3. Black Marketeers - most war-related movies I've seen has the one guy that can get anything... for a price. Similar to Contreras from Camp McCarren, the player would be able to get some unofficial stuff; but at the cost of the other people in Zulu (i.e. the player would get better equipment in return for helping to bring in drugs).

 

4. Would be nice to have some NCR NPC's mention something about Zulu after the mod ends, i.e. bad ending: "Did you hear about the battle of Firebase Zulu? Completely got wiped out by the Legion - how do they expect us to win now?".

 

Well, I think that's all for now. Hope something manages to stick.

[Immodium]

Watched the video, loved it. I hope too see more videos in the future i don't have any HUGE suggestions other than having a plethora of Terrifying Presence Dialogue Options. Scratch that, i actually did have a question, will there be any sort of mess hall/ Soldier area? you didn't go over a lot of interiors so this could be something that you could go over in another video. I was really impressed with the landscape, looks great. Let me know when Private Beta comes along, i'm itching to get my hands on this. I'll also try my best to think of some better suggestions lol.

[Guest deleted2159825]

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

1. Like in some war movies, I was wondering if you could introduce a reporter into the mix. There are multiple scenarios that this idea can be applied to using such cliches as:

I'll probably leave it to the Coyote Courier, but that's a solid idea. Hell, they could send someone. No promises, though.

 

 

A) The reporter being a legion spy, the perfect cover to get into areas otherwise inaccessible.

 

Got one of those already.

:devil:

 

 

The reporter being a ballsy female that will become a love interest, but who get's tragically killed during a mortar attack.

 

Got one of those (not reporters, but love interests).

 

 

 

Using one of (or using parts of several) the above suggestions, have Firebase Zulu get WW2-style newsreel report breaks (like the game ending slideshows), narrated by the reporter that display decisions the Player made (similar to the Coyote Courier from NVB II). You would probably have to divide the mod into several Acts to get the full effect of what I'm talking about.

I love this idea. Let me see what I can pull together once the mod is further along.

 

 

2. A super-mutant ranger - this might seem like a weird idea at first, but I remember Fallout 2 mentioning that ghouls and super-mutants were part of the NCR Rangers; and while some ghoul rangers did make it into New Vegas (Ranger Station Echo), there was also supposed to be a super-mutant ranger named Chauncey. I think it would be really cool for Chauncey (or someone like him) to be an ally during the mod - mini-gun a-blazing. After the end of Zulu (and if he's still alive), he would be found at Ranger Station Foxtrot attempting to keep the NCR and Jacobstown super-mutants from getting into conflict.

There is a ghoul ranger, Watson (one of my favorite characters in the mod), but throwing in a mutant ranger might be forced at this point. I wouldn't rule it out during a random event, though... ;)

 

 

3. Black Marketeers - most war-related movies I've seen has the one guy that can get anything... for a price. Similar to Contreras from Camp McCarren, the player would be able to get some unofficial stuff; but at the cost of the other people in Zulu (i.e. the player would get better equipment in return for helping to bring in drugs).

On it. :)

 

 

4. Would be nice to have some NCR NPC's mention something about Zulu after the mod ends, i.e. bad ending: "Did you hear about the battle of Firebase Zulu? Completely got wiped out by the Legion - how do they expect us to win now?".

Very doable with my NPC's. Vanilla characters are a different animal, though. Rest assured my people (Russell, Doc, etc.), will have dialogue for it.

 

 

Well, I think that's all for now. Hope something manages to stick.

They stick - I just won't say how much. ;)

 

 

Watched the video, loved it. I hope too see more videos in the future i don't have any HUGE suggestions other than having a plethora of Terrifying Presence Dialogue Options. Scratch that, i actually did have a question, will there be any sort of mess hall/ Soldier area? you didn't go over a lot of interiors so this could be something that you could go over in another video. I was really impressed with the landscape, looks great. Let me know when Private Beta comes along, i'm itching to get my hands on this. I'll also try my best to think of some better suggestions lol.

Oh, Terrifying Presence will be there in all its glory.

 

As for facilities, here's where it stands now (in the am, off the top of my head):

1. Command Post

2. Temporary Housing

3. Enlisted Barracks

4. Officer Barracks

5. Ghoul Barracks (they're segregated - a source of conflict and quests)

6. Medical Bay

7. Engineering Bay

8. Chapel

9. Chow Hall

10. Rec Room

11. Quartermaster's Shack

12. Comm tent (it's outside, open-air)

 

It's going to be at least a few months before we hit private beta, though things are moving along quite nicely. I've been in a solid groove for the past week or so.

 

Last night, I actually took a break from quest implementation to re-vamp some of the sandbag work (in light of all the feedback, as well as a fresh perspective on the base). There is now a shallow trench lining the perimeter. I didn't think to take screenshots (and I'm away from my pc), but picture the walls from Camp Golf, half-buried at the edge of a natural trench. I'll go over it in the next video (maybe this weekend).

 

Tonight and/or tomorrow I'll be working on "Saving Private O'Reilly", a sidequest dealing with the problematic Pvt. O'Reilly, a gifted marksman who's stewing in the brig.

 

After that, I'll have about five quests to knock out (all of them smallish) before proceeding to the battle. It's important to note that much of the peripheral content involves dialogue and investigation, not violence. Some players may get bored, but I believe it's important to develop characters and reinforce certain conflicts within the garrison. I'm really looking forward to the quest that deals with the human-ghoul tensions. Actually, that could have action, depending on how you play it... ;)

[dangman4ever]

Love the video man! Definitely want to see more.

 

Oh I personally think you nailed the whole Vietnam firebase look just right.

Edited September 17, 2013 by dangman4ever

[Stormbringer13]

Welp, that video was highly informative, and serves to stoke the fires of anticipation. Definitely a fine place for a siege, that trench fighting should be a hoot.

 

I also managed to catch a look at the first line or two of the Colonel's dialog, and happened to catch the name Garth. Wouldn't have really meant anything to me, if it weren't for the fact that I found a certain note mentioning a fellow by the same name. I wonder... but really, foreshadowing, in Someguys mods? No way.

 

As for suggestions, I initially thought it'd be a little difficult to find you're way around the base with most of the buildings dug in, but after some reflection I think it'll be fine. Just a little time to get used to is all. The firebase did look a little bare, and while I know part of that will be alleviated via the new defenses set up during quests, I think some clutter like ammo boxes, containers, scattered reading material, and whatnot would give some of the areas some more character. Maybe some wounded out by the medbay?

 

I also think that referencing some of the events in your previous mods via background dialog would be pretty cool. Perhaps comments on taking out Canyon Cove, or the successful stand at Ranger Station Charlie. Perhaps completing some of these might give a slight boost to morale?