M.E.R.C.

[sumoftwosins]

I really didn't want to turn this into a double posts, but things have changed quite a bit from the Player HQ mod idea I tossed around. I have expanded the mod quite a bit and thought it was time for a semi-official jump into the community to get feedback and help for the mod.

 

MERC / Military Engagement & Reconnaissance Corporation

 

The MERC mod will add a new military base within the wasteland that will be temporarily occupied by an enemy faction. The player will be able to forcefully seize the base and take ownership of it. At this point, through out the game, the player will be able to hire staff for the military base and the new MERC faction. The player will be able to hire people for a number of positions that will provide various functions to the player and the rest of the personnel.

 

Scope

Beyond the obvious, the mod will add more quests and action within the Fallout 3 environment with the purpose of extending game play. How will this be accomplished? The first thing that the player will have to deal with is raids from other factions who will also want to control the military base. These raids will vary due to what faction is attacking, but some will be overwhelming and there is a possibility of multiple factions attacking at once. You will be notified when you base is being attacked, but you will not be able to directly teleport to it – only to a near by location. The more staff you have and the better equipped your staff is, the better chances they will be able to defend it while you are away.

 

The next stage of the mod will involve contracts, similar to that of Talon Company and Riley’s Rangers. I hope to implement a territory system (Like GTA SA), but I haven’t outlined the details of it yet. The idea will be for your MERC faction to be hired by various groups in the wasteland for protection. This can be as simple as having one of your soldiers hired as an additional escort for a caravan. As stated, I would like to have territories or areas that you will be able to protect and control. Your faction will be paid for the services it provides, so what will you do with extra money? You will need to purchase supplies, weapons, and any other items that your faction needs to keep fighting the good fight… not to mention the payroll.

 

Personnel

The idea of a diversified staff is so that your base will operate autonomously to some degree without you. Beyond the obvious security type forces, you will need doctors, mechanics, and so forth. Medics and doctors will help keep your forces healthy and alive. Mechanics will keep weapons and armor repaired so you don’t have too. You will need to hire multiple people for each position due to shifts. One mechanic will not be able to repair things 24/7, so having a few will keep items repaired frequently. If the base operates autonomously, what does the player have to do? The player will still need to acquire items, check up on the locations their staff is at, and assist with tougher contracts.

 

In addition to the MERC staff, I plan to have it so that your followers will regroup at the base whenever you fire/relieve them. This way, you will be able to reach them all in one convenient location.

 

Story / Local

There will be a story line to explain the military base and so forth. There will be new holotapes and other items that will advance the story. As with Fort Constantine, there will be keys and access codes scattered around the Wasteland that will allow further access into the base. With each area of access there will be new options for the player. An example of this is unlocking the armory and utility section. Once you have access to this section, you will be able to hire an armorer/mechanic. Once you have access to the underground barracks, you will be able to hire additional staff. That sums most of it up aside from the location… which I have not chosen.

 

Additional Elements

As stated above, the location will be the last thing decided and completed. I want to make sure that this mod will not interfere with other modifications out there even though it isn’t that likely someone will put something in the exact location I do… but regardless, I want to keep it compatible. I have created re-skinned versions of the combat armorer and power armorer that will be unique to the new faction. As far as weapons go, I will not actually make any or modify any. I might hit a few of the other modders up about including some of their weapons with this mod… maybe we’ll see some weapons from Fallout Tactics or something.

 

Requests

Now I’m not going to ask for a bunch of people to step up to make this mod for me. However, I am not familiar with the Oblivion type setup and I could use a hand with implementing the interaction between the player and the mod. I should be able to code what I need, I'm just not sure where it all will need to be tied in. With someone who is familiar with the setup could speed the process up. I will also need some voice overs for the characters. I’ll need voices for the generic people that will be expendable and some unique voices for the ranked characters. I need both female and male voices. I’ve got friends and people I work with that I can use, but I figured I’d hit up Fallout fans first. So let me know if you are interested. I’ll be working on a character outline and dialog over the next couple of days. If you know someone who has a good voice and might be able to help... talk to them.

 

I will be throwing up a website sometime, but I prefer to work on the mod while I have the time available and I know I’ll eventually hit some road blocks during the mod… so I will have time then for something official. Plus I don’t have any images yet. I will have some shots of lower base and the new armor hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

 

So let me know if you have any thoughts and would like to be involved with the mod. For right now, hit me with a PM if you want to jump in. I'll post more contact info after I've figured out the website details.

[sumoftwosins]

I made another Video Walk through. I changed from the Military / Utility look and went back to the clean vault look. This video shows the underground interior base. Right now I'm working on the characters, markers, and so forth... trying to get the base to look busy. There is only one person in this video... the template M.E.R.C. security person. I threw him in there to test/view the new combat armor. So right now I'm working on the people and the interaction. I still need some voices though for the unique characters and dialog. Though I still need to clutter the base with items, but the design and furniture are knocked out.

 

http://www.astraybullet.com/_web/fo3/mercintprev.html

 

My favorite thing so far was the new "Happy Maker".

[TheOutlander]

I saw your original concept thread on this, so I'm going to be watching this one closely. It looks good so far. :thumbsup:

[sumoftwosins]

Here is the new Combat Armor. Its basically a new texture, but it is new armor and not just a reskin. There will be some unique traits. I'm going to work on the male one a bit more. It doesn't seem as roughed up as the female one.

 

http://astraybullet.com/_web/fo3/MercCU1.jpg

 

I will be releasing a beta here in the next day or so to look for bugs.

[jsnider193]

Looks fine to me .. probably an non-equality thing here, lets the lady go 1st through the door.

[OnyxAbyss]

Looks like a really cool mod. I can do some textures if you want, while you work on other things. Let me know what you need.

[kaidohoo]

Awesome idea and so far looks great....cant wait for this mod to come out!! :biggrin: :thanks:

[sumoftwosins]

Well I figured I needed to do an update. I haven't quite made it as far as I thought due to some navmesh problems. I re-did a bunch of stuff trying to track down the problem. But now I have the NPC's moving around the base like a charm. I've also been working on some new textures and so forth. Oddly enough, the thing I proudest of so far is the new clean version of the water fountain. It looks nice. Aside from that I have some more developments. As I stated in the outline, I wanted to have it so that you could upgrade the faction like player levels. Things that would improve the weapons, armor, and so forth. I've also been trying to figure out how to tie in some of the new special characters. So this is what I've came up with so far.

 

For the most part you will have three types of forces or categories of staff. You have security, soldiers, and non-combat people. Security will mostly be generic that help fill up the world with activity - plus that also help keep the place secure. Soldiers will be the actual combat element in the mod. They will be the NPC's that will spread through out the waste land through your contracts. Non-combat people consist of the doctor, mechanic, and traders.

 

As for the special characters, they will essentially become the "quest" part of this mod. I have six special NPC's that as you hire or unlock will provide the upgrade system for the MERC faction. Each of these NPC's will modify the faction's SPECIAL and Skill sets. An example of one character, once acquired, will boost everyone's Strength & Big Guns.

 

I'm still trying to work out the armor and weapon upgrades. Basically advancing from combat armor to power armor - assault rifle to laser rifle.

[phathod]

Looks like a great mod. I can't wait for this one!

[sumoftwosins]

The crappy thing about scripting and coding is that it is hard to show examples of. So here are more pics from the items.

 

Here is the Armor, based of the 51b. Not sure how I like it. The second pic is the new lab suit and the pimp'n new water fountain.

 

http://astraybullet.com/_web/fo3/MercArmor.jpg

http://astraybullet.com/_web/fo3/MercWater.jpg