[WIP] The Siege of Firebase Zulu

[TheMilkArtist]

All,

 

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!

 

Yeah, please make more videos. Kind of like a Dev Diary series. Sometimes it's hard to get a visual perspective of the base and it's features/ terrain etc.

 

I also thought it would be cool to have an approach to Zulu covered by a minefield. Sort of like the "No Man's Land" between Camp Forlorn Hope and Nelson in the main game; which is basically a 300x300 meter stretch of land defended by mines, most likely setup to hold back any Legion offensive from Nelson. Something like that would be awesome for Zulu and perhaps the defenses could be setup by the player if they have a certain amount of Explosives skill. Just an idea.

 

I have another idea which is kinda odd, but i'll try my best to explain. Basically I think it would be cool if you had a couple NCR troopers scripted to lay down suppressive fire continuously in a certain direction. I feel it would give the illusion of the base being under-attack at all times. Kind of "winning the firefight" so to speak. I'm not sure if that's possible to script, but I think it would add some pretty immersive ambience to the firebase.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Pepsi7

[maybenexttime]

Do you know what I miss. I miss fighting, salvaging, and scrounging in city that in ruins (Like such areas in Capital Wasteland). Does one of the worldspace take place in a city?

[obowon1]

Firstly I love someguys mods...not thats out of th way I can get to my real question.

 

The Legion?I dont mean if they will have quests or what not but I mean how are they gonna be portrayed?Is the lore gonna be stretched?Broken?

 

The problem with the legion as I see it is that they deal with absolutes.You cant have a legion soldier that dislikes Ceaser(At least openly).You cant have a legionnaire that critices Lanius etc.How are you going to deal with it?

Edited September 18, 2013 by obowon1

[Guest deleted2159825]

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?

Thanks! The clutter definitely needs some work. I'll work on it as production progresses.

 

As for the referencing events from other mods, it's in place. Good to know players are already thinking along those lines. :)

 

 

 

Yeah, please make more videos. Kind of like a Dev Diary series. Sometimes it's hard to get a visual perspective of the base and it's features/ terrain etc.

 

I also thought it would be cool to have an approach to Zulu covered by a minefield. Sort of like the "No Man's Land" between Camp Forlorn Hope and Nelson in the main game; which is basically a 300x300 meter stretch of land defended by mines, most likely setup to hold back any Legion offensive from Nelson. Something like that would be awesome for Zulu and perhaps the defenses could be setup by the player if they have a certain amount of Explosives skill. Just an idea.

 

I have another idea which is kinda odd, but i'll try my best to explain. Basically I think it would be cool if you had a couple NCR troopers scripted to lay down suppressive fire continuously in a certain direction. I feel it would give the illusion of the base being under-attack at all times. Kind of "winning the firefight" so to speak. I'm not sure if that's possible to script, but I think it would add some pretty immersive ambience to the firebase.

I was rather surprised and impressed by the response, so I'll try to put more videos together as a means of elucidating unique features within the mod (discipline and morale, for example).

 

I'm going to leave mines entirely up to the player. He/she can string together all manner of shrapnel-filled killzones during the siege, though there are no guarantees that the Legion will attack that route. Furthermore, Marcellus' forces are known to drop mortars on suspected minefields as a means of detonating any hidden explosives... :devil:

 

Not sure if suppressive fire would work, at least from a defensive standpoint. Setting up LMG positions that establish interlocking fields of fire? Absolutely. The player will have a lot of say over where NPC's are deployed.

 

 

Do you know what I miss. I miss fighting, salvaging, and scrounging in city that in ruins (Like such areas in Capital Wasteland). Does one of the worldspace take place in a city?

Sorry, this mod is almost entirely rural in its setting. There are one or two minor villages near the firebase, but nothing else. There are some dungeons that can be explored (old world facilities, animal lairs, etc.), though.

 

 

Firstly I love someguys mods...not thats out of th way I can get to my real question.

 

The Legion?I dont mean if they will have quests or what not but I mean how are they gonna be portrayed?Is the lore gonna be stretched?Broken?

 

The problem with the legion as I see it is that they deal with absolutes.You cant have a legion soldier that dislikes Ceaser(At least openly).You cant have a legionnaire that critices Lanius etc.How are you going to deal with it?

Like I always say - I'll bend the lore, but I won't break it. Firebase Zulu is set in a relatively unknown region, and therefore I tried to exploit the relative ambiguity of the Legion itself (what are the exact limits of Legion lands? Who is in charge in other theaters? How strong are their forces outside the Mojave/Fort?). There is so much that we just don't know, and so I'm trying to fill in some of that void without rocking the boat. It will look, act, and feel much like the Legion you know, but there will be subtle differences.

 

As often happened with historic Legions, troops will be most loyal to their immediate commander. Due to geographic distance and limited means of communication, Caesar is a demigod-type figure to be worshipped and revered, though many of the legionaries (in Marcellus' theater, at least) have never even seen the man. Lanius is in a similar category. Marcellus would never openly question or impugn Caesar, of course. However...

if Caesar is dead, the animosity for Lanius becomes more apparent, if only in private dealings.

This is plausible, especially when considering Vulpes' doubts about Lanius.

 

Based on all the information presented in-game (e.g., Marcus' dialogue), it's clear that Caesar's demise will usher in a chaotic power-grab within the Legion, not unlike those seen during the Roman Empire (particularly during the Crisis of the Third Century). Lanius simply lacks the charisma, intellect, and/or resourcefullness to hold the Legion together. That's my opinion, anyway. Marcellus is just one part of that breakdown, with ideological schemes of his own. If Caesar is gone, and it's a choice between supporting Marcellus or Lanius, you better believe Marcellus' own men will stand with him (though it hinges on the outcome at Zulu).

[Stormbringer13]

I don't know if it's feasible, but as your writing grows increasingly inertwined with the core narrative of New Vegas, perhaps you might consider altering the vanilla ending slideshow and inserting some of your own slides. Then again, perhaps Just A Courier who do in lieu.

[thegypsy]

Have you ever considered actually contacting J.E. Sawyer/Chris Avellone or some of the other big Fallout devs? I mean, I doubt they would be able to definitively answer any lore questions you might have, but from what I understand they are extremely supportive of the modding community and I could definitely see them at least providing some good feedback for you.

[Guest deleted2159825]

I don't know if it's feasible, but as your writing grows increasingly inertwined with the core narrative of New Vegas, perhaps you might consider altering the vanilla ending slideshow and inserting some of your own slides. Then again, perhaps Just A Courier who do in lieu.

Yeah, that's Just a Courier territory.

 

 

Have you ever considered actually contacting J.E. Sawyer/Chris Avellone or some of the other big Fallout devs? I mean, I doubt they would be able to definitively answer any lore questions you might have, but from what I understand they are extremely supportive of the modding community and I could definitely see them at least providing some good feedback for you.

I very well may do that. Sawyer was polite enough to answer one of my questions on Formspring, so I maybe he could field a few questions via email. I'll look into it this weekend.

 

Quick Update:

- Work on sidequests continues, though I've also been working on terrain, navmesh, and even some of the preliminary scripting for the main battle.

 

- It turns out scripting the bombardment won't be as bad as I thought. The Nellis script requires the engine to track the player and any npc's who enter the killzone, accounting for cover, movement, etc. I'm going to have a number of persistent markers spread around the firebase that will serve as "targets", with the x and y coordinates being randomized to simulate inaccuracy and spread the fire around. The rate and lethality of fire will depend on the player's choices in certain sidequests. Right now they will be deploying *simulated* 60mm mortars, and possibly 120mm's - again, it hinges on the player's actions. Getting pounded by 120's will suck.

 

- As for moving defenders, I came up with a simple solution - during the siege, you can speak with any of the named defenders and ask them to follow you. Subsequently, you can lead them wherever you like, then inform them to "Guard this position", making them do just that. So far it's working quite well, though I may add a scripting caveat so that you can only move one defender at a time, in order to prevent exploitation of this mechanic.

 

- I may create a simple menu that pops up when the player "activates" (attempts to speak to) named defenders during the battle. It would give the following options:

- Give Frag Grenade

- Give Stimpak

- Administer Stimpak (Requires Medicine 30+)

- Administer Healing Powder (Requires Survival 30+)

- Initiate conversation

- Do nothing

 

Any thoughts on that? Suggestions? It would be relatively easy to implement; it's just a matter of adding that code to each NPC's script. I'm reluctant to add a "share items" option as that could really disrupt balancing.

 

My goal is to test out the opening attack at some point this weekend, if only to get a general idea of positioning, LOS, etc., in relation to an actual attack. I'd rather make changes to terrain and navmesh now than down the road.

 

Thanks for all the comments, suggestions, and support!

Edited September 19, 2013 by someguy2000

[Stormbringer13]

I think having a cap of two followers would be ideal, as I figure players may want to move a few at a time without having to run back for the rest. And definitely incorporate a follow option in the pop up menu.

 

I have to say, you seem to be breezing through this. I realize that you've worked on Zulu for a while now, and you've had two and a half mods of practice since Bounties II, but still, appears to be a pretty brisk pace. And enjoying it too, from the looks of it.

[darkus37]

Got some more stuff rattling around - here you go:

 

Moving Defenders

Would it be possible to make a device like Euclid's C-Finder that allows 3-4 guys to reinforce a position? It would only work on the Firebase Zulu plateau and would be limited to a pool of say 12 guys total. This would allow quick deployment without having several NPC's following the player around and getting in the way.

 

Named Defenders

From a personal standpoint, I don't like to micro-manage too much. It would be good to have the option to bolster individual NPC's, but I would also have the ability to bolster all the NPC's with better gear/weapons/ammo/healing items at once as well. For example: Zulu squad is low on healing items. During a random (up to you) side-quest, the player can find a cache of Legion healing supplies. The player can then sell them to the black marketeer, keep it for themselves, or pass it on to Zulu squad. This particular possible upgrade would be a reward for exploring the mod world, and would give a significant health buff to all the NPC's.

 

Main/Side Quests

I have several half-formed ideas, again mostly based off of of movies, television, and books that I think would be a good fit.

 

1. The Guns of Navarone - basically, the player is given the opportunity to sabotage the Legion's cannons - perhaps either the cannons themselves or the ammo. This would eliminate the artillery fire and increasing morale with Zulu squad. By the way, will you be be implementing a Legion morale level as well? Every successful mission should not only make the defenders stronger, but the attackers weaker as the once seemingly unbeatable Legion begins to fall apart due to the Courier's actions.

 

2. M*A*S*H - just some battlefield medicine related stuff (no Hawkeye-esque hijinks - unless you want 'em...). Mostly things like helping to rescue wounded and/or booby-trapped soldiers.

 

3. Tool Time - Fallout 1 & 2 had this optional choice of optimizing certain equipment for bonus XP with some long-term benefits down the road. I think it would be a good idea to allow a player with high science/repair abilities to contribute to the overall success of Firebase Zulu by optionally doing stuff like making the artillery more accurate; working in the armory so that the NPC guns are more accurate and give better damage; rejiggering the generators to provide more power; etc.

[LordSam17]

I'm actually watching Zulu as I type this, and I had some ideas for the mod.

I remember you talking, one point, about there being other contractors besides yourself. Depending on how many contractors there are, hopefully at least two, they should have polar-opposite opinions on what to do. IE: Spend medical supplies on saving already wounded soldiers pre-fight, on the chances it will work, or save the supplies (And maybe euthanize the wounded) for the main battle. And you could choose either option, or be a middle ground (Save those we can, but those who are too far gone we don't try to save.)

Also, I disliked how in normal NV lots of the work you did with the faction really only goes into options for the end game fight. Maybe, if your character is on good enough terms with certain factions, you could call in reinforcements from them, which would lead to a few things. If you call in help from the Followers of the Apocalypse, they use their extensive medical knowledge to save troops, increasing morale, but their anti-war leaning has some detrimental affects. IF you call in the BOS (After getting some form of a peace-treaty/cease-fire), you get a squad of power armored spec ops which will help, come the main siege. But the legion, noticing the soldiers, will up their game to match, equipping their soldiers with more firearms and attacking more often so that the advantage of the power armored soldiers is nullified. And maybe some of the soldiers in the firebase will be upset that the BOS is here, leading to increased tension.

Also, someone suggested the morale system work for the legion as well, so here's an idea I had for that. At some point, the Legion has to blow off some steam, right? The constant attempted raids and standing around would be tough on them, so they have some shindig going down, maybe a giant feast, or an orgy with the local captured slaves, or what ever it is they allow. You can possibly ruin it in several ways.

1: You poison their food supplies, so that for a while (maybe even up to the time of the siege if you work fast enough) soldiers will have been taken out of the fight, either due to death or food-poisoning.

2: You crash their party, coming in either guns-a-blazing or ninja-like, and kill quite a few people, leading to there now being less soldiers to fight, a decrease in legion morale, and the legion no longer allowing things like those parties, making stress rise on their side. A possible consequence for this one would be that they know it was you and attack more often.

3: Ofcourse you could do nothing, leading to the Legion having an increase in Morale and being a tougher fight come final siege.

Those are the ideas I have for now.

Happy Trails,

LordSam17