[WIP] The Siege of Firebase Zulu

[Stormbringer13]

The Legion had hound master or two at the Fort, but I don't think they had a title, though I haven't been there in a while.

 

Also, perhaps a low intelligence Courier might cause Marcellus to grossly underestimate her/him, thus resulting in less diversions or other sneaky tactics.

[darkus37]

First, thanks very much for all that information - I forgot to say so previously.

 

Second, I was wondering how you would introduce Tribune Marcellus to the player:

 

 

 

 

Lanius and Caesar had time to be built up in the game world through posters and various NPC's - Zulu will be compressed due to the nature of the mod, so while some information can be picked up from Zulu squadmates, that info will be slanted - might I suggest that it is Marcellus and a Legion force who rescues the Courier - either in the beginning from the Ghosts, or later on from an equally dangerous situation; thus allowing the Legion to stop being a faceless enemy. The Courier would be brought to the Legion camp and see a well laid out and organized force where the slaves are treated relatively well (based more on the Roman form of slavery, where slavery eventually evolves into an indentured servitude that could eventually allow slaves to end their servitude and become citizens). This would allow the Courier to speak to Marcellus and get the other side of the story - allowing a more fleshed out Legion.

 

 

 

 

By the way, I had this idea in a completely different thread that maybe you can use here:

 

 

 

The basic premise is that Legate Lanius is not one man, but instead an amalgam of several Legion commanders combined into one myth. Caesar knew he was getting older and having no family, would need a strong successor to take over after his death (the price of a dictatorship) - but one man can fail and be broken, as is the case with Joshua Graham. So, Caesar would pick one of his strongest and most promising warriors and gave him a mask that would hide his identity - people would eventually respond to the mask (like Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride). If a Lanius were to be killed or needed to be replaced - any inconsistencies in body shape/voice/height/etc. between Lanius's will be ignored as long as the mask is the same; and anyone who was particularly close to the last Lanius could be easily sent elsewhere or killed. Essentially, Lanius was formed to be the Legion bogeyman, and the terrible deeds from many people were attributed to "him" - that is why Lanius has several contradictory origins, never removes the mask, and has all his slaves blinded.

 

Tribune Marcellus could have been either one of the people Lanius took credit from, simply discovered the truth, or even have been one of the failed successors to the Lanius myth and was stripped of the title after a failure which could all lead to his disillusionment. Just an idea.

 

 

 

[Guest deleted2159825]

Also, perhaps a low intelligence Courier might cause Marcellus to grossly underestimate her/him, thus resulting in less diversions or other sneaky tactics.

I have got to include more low intelligence speech options. Christ, they're funny in the vanilla game.

 

 

Second, I was wondering how you would introduce Tribune Marcellus to the player:

 

 

 

 

Lanius and Caesar had time to be built up in the game world through posters and various NPC's - Zulu will be compressed due to the nature of the mod, so while some information can be picked up from Zulu squadmates, that info will be slanted - might I suggest that it is Marcellus and a Legion force who rescues the Courier - either in the beginning from the Ghosts, or later on from an equally dangerous situation; thus allowing the Legion to stop being a faceless enemy. The Courier would be brought to the Legion camp and see a well laid out and organized force where the slaves are treated relatively well (based more on the Roman form of slavery, where slavery eventually evolves into an indentured servitude that could eventually allow slaves to end their servitude and become citizens). This would allow the Courier to speak to Marcellus and get the other side of the story - allowing a more fleshed out Legion.

 

 

 

 

The player will be introduced to Marcellus through a series of formal parleys before and during the battle, as Col. Thomas dispatches the player as a diplomatic envoy. These meetings will take place in the newly-built Legion camp, and the player will see behavior not unlike what you've described. However, the player cannot engage in combat during these meetings.

 

 

 

The basic premise is that Legate Lanius is not one man, but instead an amalgam of several Legion commanders combined into one myth. Caesar knew he was getting older and having no family, would need a strong successor to take over after his death (the price of a dictatorship) - but one man can fail and be broken, as is the case with Joshua Graham. So, Caesar would pick one of his strongest and most promising warriors and gave him a mask that would hide his identity - people would eventually respond to the mask (like Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride). If a Lanius were to be killed or needed to be replaced - any inconsistencies in body shape/voice/height/etc. between Lanius's will be ignored as long as the mask is the same; and anyone who was particularly close to the last Lanius could be easily sent elsewhere or killed. Essentially, Lanius was formed to be the Legion bogeyman, and the terrible deeds from many people were attributed to "him" - that is why Lanius has several contradictory origins, never removes the mask, and has all his slaves blinded.

 

Tribune Marcellus could have been either one of the people Lanius took credit from, simply discovered the truth, or even have been one of the failed successors to the Lanius myth and was stripped of the title after a failure which could all lead to his disillusionment. Just an idea.

 

 

 

As it stands, Marcellus' opposition to Lanius is largely ideological and social; Marcellus is a lifelong product of the Legion, whereas Lanius is a tribal, a novus homo. I like the idea in principle, but I don't think I'm willing to take that leap.

 

[gameknight102xx]

I gotta say, I love the battlefield you designed. Tons of space for long-range characters, plenty of cover for mid-range, and trenches/flanking routes for short range/melee characters. I wish more modders would do this instead of putting everything in vaults or giant, wide-open plains.

 

One question though: how are the Legion going to spawn? I remember in a mod called "Join the NCR" where the 30 or so Legion you fought all spawned in one straight line. So it was easy for a Courier with a 25mm grenade APW to just sweep them without taking a single casualty in return.

Edited September 30, 2013 by gameknight102xx

[Whatswrongwithmyusername]

I have an idea for a new unit,Legion Sniper(maybe a little more Latin name),a unit that uses stealth boy(it is lore friendly cause in DLC Lonesome Road if you nuke the Legion you can see their ghoulified troops using it)and a hunting rifle,they would stick behind the attackers and sniping the troops,and maybe sucidide units attacking with their bare fists being a distraction,also could mines react to suicide slaves cause in mod Russell at part where you defend Silverwood slaves just runned and mines not reacting

[Guest deleted2159825]

I gotta say, I love the battlefield you designed. Tons of space for long-range characters, plenty of cover for mid-range, and trenches/flanking routes for short range/melee characters. I wish more modders would do this instead of putting everything in vaults or giant, wide-open plains.

 

One question though: how are the Legion going to spawn? I remember in a mod called "Join the NCR" where the 30 or so Legion you fought all spawned in one straight line. So it was easy for a Courier with a 25mm grenade APW to just sweep them without taking a single casualty in return.

Thanks!

 

The Legion will spawn in increments of 1-10 (depends on the unit type and other variables) in six potential spawn points. The perimeter starts with one access point, though there is a chance that the Legion can breach three other spots (which can be repaired). Some of the Legion units will be clumped together, particularly in human wave assaults on the front gate. However, there will be a lot of diversionary tactics using smallish assault teams.

 

All,

I don't have a developer diary yet, but I'll try to get one online tonight. Sorry, I was obsessing over Breaking Bad last night. ;)

[maybenexttime]

When will the developer diary be up? I need my weekly hit of Firebase Zulu updates :p

[TheMilkArtist]

When will the developer diary be up? I need my weekly hit of Firebase Zulu updates :tongue:

 

Yeah, didn't want to pry, but I need my fix too. :laugh:

[Guest deleted2159825]

 

When will the developer diary be up? I need my weekly hit of Firebase Zulu updates :tongue:

 

Yeah, didn't want to pry, but I need my fix too. :laugh:

 

Sorry, guys. RL has been hectic this week, but I'll try to get something together this weekend. Right now BlooperReel is patching up some of the interiors, but I should be able to put some commentary together on discipline and morale, and perhaps finally show the 120mm attack in all its unholy glory. Thanks for the support!

[maybenexttime]

 

 

When will the developer diary be up? I need my weekly hit of Firebase Zulu updates :tongue:

 

Yeah, didn't want to pry, but I need my fix too. :laugh:

 

Sorry, guys. RL has been hectic this week, but I'll try to get something together this weekend. Right now BlooperReel is patching up some of the interiors, but I should be able to put some commentary together on discipline and morale, and perhaps finally show the 120mm attack in all its unholy glory. Thanks for the support!

 

Np :p, take your time, situate everything back at your homeside and back to us :)