[WIP] The Inheritance

[Guest deleted2159825]

Looks like it's probably going to be early next week before I can put some serious time in. I'll try to get a few samples before that though.

 

No worries, I'd rather take my time and release something polished than rush it.

 

Besides, the alternative is to have me voicing unfilled roles, and that's... hardly ideal (God, I still cringe when I hear Judge Richter).

 

One of these days I need to get off my ass and recruit voice actors for some of the roles in NVBI, though part of me says to just leave it alone. We'll see.

[Guest deleted2159825]

All,

 

While the actors have been working at recording dialogue, I've continued to tweak the mod, and unsurprisingly, I've succumbed to feature creep. Last night I wrote and began implementing more post-quest encounters, including a new sidequest that takes some interesting turns. As I result, there will be more voice roles opening up soon. I will be posting them in the thread soon.

 

While this inevitably extends the production timetable, I believe it will enrich the experience of The Inheritance, particularly in regards to choices and consequences.

 

Anyway, I'm seeking a female actress, preferably one who could pull off an elderly voice. Please PM me if you're interested - rest assured it's an intriguing role.

[Guest deleted2159825]

All,

 

I'm happy to announce that Unoctium (creator of the

, among other works) just uploaded our recent interview, in which I discuss (with many mispronunciations) my upcoming quest mods, specifically The Inheritance and The Siege of Firebase Zulu.

 

If you can tolerate my countless miscues and the atrocious microphone,

. Please PM me if you interested in voice acting, or have questions regarding either project. Thank you, Unoctium!

[Guest deleted2159825]

All,

 

Thanks for the feedback and comments! I've been absent for several days, having spent Thanksgiving out of town. However, I'm happy to report that voice actors are continuing their excellent work, and I am wrapping up the sidequests and scripted/random events. I'm hoping to release the mod within a few weeks.

[Guest deleted2159825]

All,

 

Progress continues on the voice acting and feature creep! I updated the voice acting parts, so please take note and PM me if you're interested.

[Guest deleted2159825]

All,

 

I estimate that about 35% of the voicework is fully implemented. While our talented array of actors continues to crank out hundreds of lines, I've been experimenting with some scripting and design features that should be reflected in the finished mod. Most interestingly, I've changed some of my approach to "clearing" dungeons - once the player cleans out hostile NPC's or advances the quest, his/her choices will alter the appearance and makeup of the location.

 

For instance, after clearing out one gang, Fiends could move in several days later. Kill the Fiends enough times, and they're driven off, replaced by generic wastelanders/squatters. Kill them and it reverts to roaches and rats.

 

This may seem like overkill, but it's not terribly difficult to script. It does challenge certain paradigms within the game, however - you expect a dungeon/location to be associated with a certain faction or creatures, and this would engineer an evolving world that reacts to the player's actions, even on a limited scale. However, I think it's reasonable to assume that if you continue wiping out raiders in a given location, they'd eventually decide to abandon it (this can be reinforced with notes).

 

Part of my motivation is to adapt to the limited real estate in the Mojave. Most of us have a litany of mods running, and space is growing scarce. Hopefully this feature will enhance the re-playability of new locations, instead of creating more "One and Done" husks that clutter the Wasteland (I've been guilty of this). If players warm to it, I may add this retroactively to NVBI and NVBII.

 

Feedback, suggestions, and questions are always welcome. I'm looking forward to releasing the mod!

Edited November 30, 2012 by someguy2000

[gunslinger6792]

All,

 

I estimate that about 35% of the voicework is fully implemented. While our talented array of actors continues to crank out hundreds of lines, I've been experimenting with some scripting and design features that should be reflected in the finished mod. Most interestingly, I've changed some of my approach to "clearing" dungeons - once the player cleans out hostile NPC's or advances the quest, his/her choices will alter the appearance and makeup of the location.

 

For instance, after clearing out one gang, Fiends could move in several days later. Kill the Fiends enough times, and they're driven off, replaced by generic wastelanders/squatters. Kill them and it reverts to roaches and rats.

 

This may seem like overkill, but it's not terribly difficult to script. It does challenge certain paradigms within the game, however - you expect a dungeon/location to be associated with a certain faction or creatures, and this would engineer an evolving world that reacts to the player's actions, even on a limited scale. However, I think it's reasonable to assume that if you continue wiping out raiders in a given location, they'd eventually decide to abandon it (this can be reinforced with notes).

 

Part of my motivation is to adapt to the limited real estate in the Mojave. Most of us have a litany of mods running, and space is growing scarce. Hopefully this feature will enhance the re-playability of new locations, instead of creating more "One and Done" husks that clutter the Wasteland (I've been guilty of this). If players warm to it, I may add this retroactively to NVBI and NVBII.

 

Feedback, suggestions, and questions are always welcome. I'm looking forward to releasing the mod!

 

I really like this idea. it always seemed odd to me in the vanilla game that you could clear out say vualt 3 of the fiends but no body moves in, nothing happens. this should make for a nice change of pace.

[Guest deleted2159825]

@gunslinger6792,

 

Vault 3 was definitely in the back of my mind, as one of the dungeons I'm adding is akin to Evergreen Mills (for the Vipers).

 

While I mentioned that raiders could be driven off from certain locations, this would be different, as it's a hub for their gang. If the Courier cleans the place out, the reinforcements would take measures to prevent another massacre, to include more sentries, patrols, and perhaps a change in leadership. Some of these elements could be randomized, so as to enhance replayability.

 

My sudden investment in dungeon dynamics may not be germane to the main quest, but The Inheritance began as a laboratory for some of my scripting experiments, and I feel this is worth my time and energy. If this works, I'll be looking to implement it in past, present and future plugins. While some dungeons would only have one "evolution" (kill inhabitants, different group moves in, finis), others could have a succession of residents, with some random elements to make it interesting. My ultimate goal is to ensure that none of the content I add to the Mojave becomes dead, but instead reinforces the idea of a living Wasteland. Places like Mago's Bunker and other empty locales could host randomized, scripted encounters, not all of them combat-oriented. We'll see - there still a lot of work left. At the very least, I want players to feel motivated to check back in on a location several days after they've cleared it, and I think this will spark people's curiosity and drive to explore.

 

As for the mod as a whole...

 

The voice acting is roughly 45% complete.

 

Currently, the mod adds 4-5 new weapons, all of them featuring new textures and balanced stats. Some are available during the main quest, while others are only attained through scripted sidequests.

 

The main quest should offer 1.5 hours of gameplay.

 

Additional sidequests manifest several days later, depending on the player's choices in the mod. These are activated when certain couriers deliver letters to the player. There are currently two extant sidequests - one is tiny (<20 minutes to complete), and the other is mid-sized (~1 hours of gameplay). There is one more sidequest written in my notes - I haven't decided whether or not to include it, as it would require some scripting finesse, new dungeons, and more voice acting.

 

As far as release dates go, I'm not certain. I'm moving in two weeks (only 30 miles, but still a pain), so that could postpone the release until January. After that, I will most likely return to Zulu. However, I am considering an update to NVBI and NVBII, for the following reasons:

 

- Releasing versions that are tied into the someguyseries.esm, which will regulate when each mod begins, scripted events, dialogue choices, etc., fusing all my quests together

- Re-voicing the bulk of NVBI. I'm working closely with a lot of talented voice actors right now, so this would be a fine time to harness their abilities and tune up the lackluster voicework in the original (I have to mute my speakers when The Judge speaks). Honestly, would anyone protest if everyone but Randle had improved acting? I certainly wouldn't.

- There are a number of dungeons in NVB that are left empty. I'd at least like to script in some new inhabitants to enhance overall replayability.

- Jase180 (Scull) is working with me again, and I have half a mind to add some extra bounties for the NCR that are scripted around decisions in my other mods.

 

At a minimum, I want to include the repeatable finger collection quest (fingers dropped by generic raiders in Valle del Hierro) to provide sustained income and bounty hunting. I have also considered systemic bounties (kill unnamed outlaws at random locations), akin to the radiant quests in Skyrim. However, the absence of context and narrative surrounding the target might remove that "New Vegas Bounties" feel. We'll see.

 

If you're asking, "Why add bounties to NVBII? Just put this in NVBIII!" let me say this - I designed NVBII to be my vehicle for traditional bounty hunting - posters, working for law enforcement, persistent quest-givers, sandbox presentation, etc. This was so that additional content, including bounties after NVBIII could be included. NVBIII is more like Firebase Zulu and DLC in its concept - you take a one-way trip to a distant worldspace, with most of the content driven by the narrative and, "certain characters". There is little to no traditional bounty hunting in NVBIII.

 

Sorry for the diatribe, but I felt an explanation was in order.

 

That's it for now - apologies for any redundancies in the update. Thanks for the support and encouragement. Hopefully I can wrap this up and keep rolling with new content!

Edited December 3, 2012 by someguy2000

[Russianwalstelander]

I would like to see some new quests for NVB 1 and 2 , but I am not sure that radiant quests are a good idea. I think it can really break that NVB feel and are not needed.

 

As to your shared ESP idea I am only concerened about it having conflicts with old save files. Though I am not sure it will be a problem.

 

Anyway I am sure your ideas will be as awesome as always, so I will be sure to play the mod after the update, if it will happen.

[Mishaxhi]

This living dungeon idea... jesus christ. I wish you all the best and it would be awesome, but it's scrambling my mind even thinking about what it would take.