Before I begin, I apologize if this is the wrong forum. I was trying to decided if this was relevant to the New Vegas Discussion or here in the Future Game Discussion. I choose here because it's still something of a concept. If not, the mods or admins can lock this thread if they wish.
Concept:
Old World Blues fit the mold of the 50's classic sci-fi films in style, characters, and plot. I know such types of stories is good sparingly in Fallout, after all Fallout isn't always a goofy game. However, this leans towards the goofy, but does get serious towards the end. Judging by the title, you can assume this is about insects.
I loved the 50's classic Them! and the more modern Starship Troopers, along with it's novel. And while I did like the nod to Them! in the Fallout 3 quest Those!, it was severely lacking in terms of depth and design. Fight a few ants, get a perk based on what you do with the Ant Queen, and go back to looking for your dad. Now if the ants were the size of the Ant Queen instead of breathing fire because of a convenient stash of FEV a mad scientist gave them, maybe it would be better. This is how I would take an insect horde invading the Mojave.
Story:
While running around the Mojave you receive a radio signal from a group known as The Exterminators, a two-man team of Wasteland bug control experts seeking a third member of their team. You travel southwest of Searchlight Airport and stumble upon Vault 23, the home base for The Exterminators.
Locations:
Giant Ant Mega Colony: A newly formed ant colony in Ivanpah Dry Lake, this hole differs from your typically ant burrow. Instead of a hole that drops you into the colony, a massive tunnel slants into the ground to the colony. Inside there are three routes with several branching paths. At the end of each path, you rig a demolition charge to cave in the colony.
Vault 23: Like most of the Vault-Tec Vaults, Vault 23 had sinister intentions. Out of all who applied admittance into the Vault, only those who had the fear of insects were allowed inside. Their worse nightmare waited inside. Thousands of species of insects ranging from spiders, grasshoppers, ants, and hornets swarmed the Vault. The inhabitants had no way out as the Vault door was given the added security feature of a time bolt that was vandalism proof.
Many fearful generations later and Rico and Ape were born. As youth, they seemed to lack the fear of bugs their ancestors and the rest of the Vault had. They turned this lack of fear into a business, they would go room to room and charge fellow Vault dwellers whatever they would offer to clear their rooms of insects. I was a good deal, but one day the door opened and an exodus of Vault dwellers commenced. Rico and Ape were separated from their parents and remained in Vault 23. Eventually their skills at pest removal would expand to the Mojave Wasteland. Now the Vault serves as the HQ of their business, The Exterminators.
Northwestern Tunnel: Once a tunnel that cut through the mountains northwest of Las Vegas, this tunnel now serves as transport to the Nevada National Security Site.
Nevada National Security Site: An entire new area to explore, an image of the shape of the area can be found here.
Once a testing ground fro nuclear weapons, the NNSS was converted as a staging ground for a mysterious US Army project.
Seven of the Areas of the NNSS contains an assortment of prop houses, some still standing, some falling apart and even a few scattered remnants of past nuclear tests constructed in the areas. Each area has a theme. The rest no longer serve much purpose, but may be alluded to in order to provide context to where other locations are.
Area 1: Suburbia
Area 2: Military Base
Area 3: Industrial Complex
Area 4: Underground Bunker
Area 5: Large town (Think New Vegas in size)
Area 6: Medium Town (Think Primm in size)
Area 7: Small Town (Think Goodsprings in size)
Piledriver Bunker: Used to test the durability of bunkers during a nuclear attack, this area was partially constructed and deconstructed numerous times with a final addition being added with the aid of Vault-Tec. Located in Area 15 would be.
Mercury: Located in what was formerly Area 23, this was once a fully functioning town near the the Test Site. It has a school, movie theater, recreation hall, library, and anything else a small town would have. Due to the nuclear testing in the past, the town was abandoned. It was once a great place to prospect, but prospectors have since vanished form the area.
Lunar Training Site: This area is littered with prototype lunar-landers and a bio-dome. It was once a testing area for the USSA to train astronauts for their missions to the moon. This area was given to the USSA from the US Army.
Pahute Mesa Airstrip: Many derelict aircraft stay here exposed to the elements in Area 19.
Security Site Solar Reactor: A lone reactor in Area 27 that is solar powered and powers the whole Security Site.
Yucca Mountain Facility: Once a proposed nuclear repository bunker, it was retrofitted into a housing area for the US Army's HIVE Project.
Companion Characters:
Rico: A former inhabitant of Vault 23, he is the de-facto boss of The Exterminators. He is arrogant, cocky, and thinks highly of himself. His signature weapon is his unique Laser Rifle.
Ape: Another former inhabitant of Vault 23. Where Rico is the brains, Ape is the brawn. He may not be the greatest thinker, but he's a straight shooter with his unique Gatling Laser.
Fly: One of the many Insectoid-Men that roam the Security Site. However, he is not completely under the control of the HIVE. He is part bloatfly and part Ghoul. He served in the Reclamation of Alaska, but before the Great War was transferred to the Security Site as a military policemen. Over the years he has gradually transformed into a Ghoul and stayed on the Site seeing it as a relatively secure place, but with the subsequent activation of the HIVE, he was captured by the HIVE and gene-spliced with a captured Bloatfly.
He seeks to destroy the HIVE.
Scorpion: One of the many Insectoid-Men that roam the Security Site. She too is not completely under the control of the HIVE. She is part human and part Radscorpion. She stumbled upon the Site as a scavenger and was then gene-spliced.
She seeks to preserve the HIVE.
New Items
Burnanator: A modified Incinerator that does not shoot flaming projectiles, but a long jet of flame. Not as strong as a conventional Flamer or Incinerator, but it has a much greater reach. Has a custom green dragon decal.
Mods:
Burnanator Quality Specs: Increases the quality and sustains the the Burnanator.
Gurnanator Extended Tanks: Increases the ammo capaity of the Burnanator.
Toxin Bomb: A gas-bomb looking weapons painted red that explodes and releases a toxic cloud of chemicals.
Exterminator Outfit: An armored variant of a Vault 23 jumpsuit with a salvaged BoS power armor chest plate strapped to the chest and Desert Ranger jackat-like cloak around it.
Exterminator Gas Mask: This mask protects the user from the toxins of the Toxin Bomb.
Quest
You start the quest by going to the Mega Colony. Once thee, you plant your explosive charges and kill the Giant Ant Queen and escape before the charges go off. After that, you start to retrieve numerous SOS radio transmissions from around the Mojave broadcasting an invasion of insects. Not just any invasion of a single insect species, but swarms of Radscorpions, Cazadores, Giant Ants and Bloatflys all together.
You go to Primm, Goodsprings, Freeside, Novac and The Strip.
Once done, you go back to Vault 23 and find out the direction where the invasion began. You go to the Northwestern Tunnel and go to the Nevada National Security Site.
Once there, you are attacked by the Insectoid-Men, mutated, genetically altered humans who each have distinct insect body parts while retaining their human forms, think old-school The Fly in appearance, but with differences between Bloatfly People, Ant People, etc.
You explore likely locations on the map, but eventually are pointed towards Yucca Mountain once every other location comes off clean. Inside the Yucca Mountain Bunker, you meet Fly.
He reveals the HIVE is a computer system that hones in on the frequency of insect species and takes control of them. It also has gene splicing technology from the Big Mountain Testing Facility. It was created in the event that Communists managed to take portions of the Western US and when they arrived in Nevada, the HIVE would lure soldiers with fake broadcasts of US military personal conversing on the Security Site.
Once on the Site, the HIVE's personal force of robots would incapacitate the enemy troops, take them to the gene splicing center, and merge them with insects to create an army of Insectoid-Men. The HIVE was also loaded with advanced military doctrine and repair skills so the Insectoid-Men could both fight theme enemy effectively and keep the HIVE up and running. Without the HIVE, the Insectoid-Men would have free will, but no control and savagely wander the land killing anything they found.
In the post-Great War world, the HIVE is still function, but below top performance capacity. It can control insects to to Las Vegas, but it loses control of Insectoid-Men beyond the Site, so it keeps them in the Site. However, it continue to build an army of Insectoid-Men by adapting to the times and luring prospectors, NCR troops, and Legion troops with claims of treasure ripe for the taking.
Fly wants to shut down the facility to stop the cycle transformations from continuing and so he can leave the facility once and for all.
Scorpion wants to keep the facility running to keep the Insectoid-Men from getting out and attacking the Mojave.
The choice becomes yours.
So thoughts? Criticisms?
Concept:
Old World Blues fit the mold of the 50's classic sci-fi films in style, characters, and plot. I know such types of stories is good sparingly in Fallout, after all Fallout isn't always a goofy game. However, this leans towards the goofy, but does get serious towards the end. Judging by the title, you can assume this is about insects.
I loved the 50's classic Them! and the more modern Starship Troopers, along with it's novel. And while I did like the nod to Them! in the Fallout 3 quest Those!, it was severely lacking in terms of depth and design. Fight a few ants, get a perk based on what you do with the Ant Queen, and go back to looking for your dad. Now if the ants were the size of the Ant Queen instead of breathing fire because of a convenient stash of FEV a mad scientist gave them, maybe it would be better. This is how I would take an insect horde invading the Mojave.
Story:
While running around the Mojave you receive a radio signal from a group known as The Exterminators, a two-man team of Wasteland bug control experts seeking a third member of their team. You travel southwest of Searchlight Airport and stumble upon Vault 23, the home base for The Exterminators.
Locations:
Giant Ant Mega Colony: A newly formed ant colony in Ivanpah Dry Lake, this hole differs from your typically ant burrow. Instead of a hole that drops you into the colony, a massive tunnel slants into the ground to the colony. Inside there are three routes with several branching paths. At the end of each path, you rig a demolition charge to cave in the colony.
Vault 23: Like most of the Vault-Tec Vaults, Vault 23 had sinister intentions. Out of all who applied admittance into the Vault, only those who had the fear of insects were allowed inside. Their worse nightmare waited inside. Thousands of species of insects ranging from spiders, grasshoppers, ants, and hornets swarmed the Vault. The inhabitants had no way out as the Vault door was given the added security feature of a time bolt that was vandalism proof.
Many fearful generations later and Rico and Ape were born. As youth, they seemed to lack the fear of bugs their ancestors and the rest of the Vault had. They turned this lack of fear into a business, they would go room to room and charge fellow Vault dwellers whatever they would offer to clear their rooms of insects. I was a good deal, but one day the door opened and an exodus of Vault dwellers commenced. Rico and Ape were separated from their parents and remained in Vault 23. Eventually their skills at pest removal would expand to the Mojave Wasteland. Now the Vault serves as the HQ of their business, The Exterminators.
Northwestern Tunnel: Once a tunnel that cut through the mountains northwest of Las Vegas, this tunnel now serves as transport to the Nevada National Security Site.
Nevada National Security Site: An entire new area to explore, an image of the shape of the area can be found here.
Once a testing ground fro nuclear weapons, the NNSS was converted as a staging ground for a mysterious US Army project.
Seven of the Areas of the NNSS contains an assortment of prop houses, some still standing, some falling apart and even a few scattered remnants of past nuclear tests constructed in the areas. Each area has a theme. The rest no longer serve much purpose, but may be alluded to in order to provide context to where other locations are.
Area 1: Suburbia
Area 2: Military Base
Area 3: Industrial Complex
Area 4: Underground Bunker
Area 5: Large town (Think New Vegas in size)
Area 6: Medium Town (Think Primm in size)
Area 7: Small Town (Think Goodsprings in size)
Piledriver Bunker: Used to test the durability of bunkers during a nuclear attack, this area was partially constructed and deconstructed numerous times with a final addition being added with the aid of Vault-Tec. Located in Area 15 would be.
Mercury: Located in what was formerly Area 23, this was once a fully functioning town near the the Test Site. It has a school, movie theater, recreation hall, library, and anything else a small town would have. Due to the nuclear testing in the past, the town was abandoned. It was once a great place to prospect, but prospectors have since vanished form the area.
Lunar Training Site: This area is littered with prototype lunar-landers and a bio-dome. It was once a testing area for the USSA to train astronauts for their missions to the moon. This area was given to the USSA from the US Army.
Pahute Mesa Airstrip: Many derelict aircraft stay here exposed to the elements in Area 19.
Security Site Solar Reactor: A lone reactor in Area 27 that is solar powered and powers the whole Security Site.
Yucca Mountain Facility: Once a proposed nuclear repository bunker, it was retrofitted into a housing area for the US Army's HIVE Project.
Companion Characters:
Rico: A former inhabitant of Vault 23, he is the de-facto boss of The Exterminators. He is arrogant, cocky, and thinks highly of himself. His signature weapon is his unique Laser Rifle.
Ape: Another former inhabitant of Vault 23. Where Rico is the brains, Ape is the brawn. He may not be the greatest thinker, but he's a straight shooter with his unique Gatling Laser.
Fly: One of the many Insectoid-Men that roam the Security Site. However, he is not completely under the control of the HIVE. He is part bloatfly and part Ghoul. He served in the Reclamation of Alaska, but before the Great War was transferred to the Security Site as a military policemen. Over the years he has gradually transformed into a Ghoul and stayed on the Site seeing it as a relatively secure place, but with the subsequent activation of the HIVE, he was captured by the HIVE and gene-spliced with a captured Bloatfly.
He seeks to destroy the HIVE.
Scorpion: One of the many Insectoid-Men that roam the Security Site. She too is not completely under the control of the HIVE. She is part human and part Radscorpion. She stumbled upon the Site as a scavenger and was then gene-spliced.
She seeks to preserve the HIVE.
New Items
Burnanator: A modified Incinerator that does not shoot flaming projectiles, but a long jet of flame. Not as strong as a conventional Flamer or Incinerator, but it has a much greater reach. Has a custom green dragon decal.
Mods:
Burnanator Quality Specs: Increases the quality and sustains the the Burnanator.
Gurnanator Extended Tanks: Increases the ammo capaity of the Burnanator.
Toxin Bomb: A gas-bomb looking weapons painted red that explodes and releases a toxic cloud of chemicals.
Exterminator Outfit: An armored variant of a Vault 23 jumpsuit with a salvaged BoS power armor chest plate strapped to the chest and Desert Ranger jackat-like cloak around it.
Exterminator Gas Mask: This mask protects the user from the toxins of the Toxin Bomb.
Quest
You start the quest by going to the Mega Colony. Once thee, you plant your explosive charges and kill the Giant Ant Queen and escape before the charges go off. After that, you start to retrieve numerous SOS radio transmissions from around the Mojave broadcasting an invasion of insects. Not just any invasion of a single insect species, but swarms of Radscorpions, Cazadores, Giant Ants and Bloatflys all together.
You go to Primm, Goodsprings, Freeside, Novac and The Strip.
Once done, you go back to Vault 23 and find out the direction where the invasion began. You go to the Northwestern Tunnel and go to the Nevada National Security Site.
Once there, you are attacked by the Insectoid-Men, mutated, genetically altered humans who each have distinct insect body parts while retaining their human forms, think old-school The Fly in appearance, but with differences between Bloatfly People, Ant People, etc.
You explore likely locations on the map, but eventually are pointed towards Yucca Mountain once every other location comes off clean. Inside the Yucca Mountain Bunker, you meet Fly.
He reveals the HIVE is a computer system that hones in on the frequency of insect species and takes control of them. It also has gene splicing technology from the Big Mountain Testing Facility. It was created in the event that Communists managed to take portions of the Western US and when they arrived in Nevada, the HIVE would lure soldiers with fake broadcasts of US military personal conversing on the Security Site.
Once on the Site, the HIVE's personal force of robots would incapacitate the enemy troops, take them to the gene splicing center, and merge them with insects to create an army of Insectoid-Men. The HIVE was also loaded with advanced military doctrine and repair skills so the Insectoid-Men could both fight theme enemy effectively and keep the HIVE up and running. Without the HIVE, the Insectoid-Men would have free will, but no control and savagely wander the land killing anything they found.
In the post-Great War world, the HIVE is still function, but below top performance capacity. It can control insects to to Las Vegas, but it loses control of Insectoid-Men beyond the Site, so it keeps them in the Site. However, it continue to build an army of Insectoid-Men by adapting to the times and luring prospectors, NCR troops, and Legion troops with claims of treasure ripe for the taking.
Fly wants to shut down the facility to stop the cycle transformations from continuing and so he can leave the facility once and for all.
Scorpion wants to keep the facility running to keep the Insectoid-Men from getting out and attacking the Mojave.
The choice becomes yours.
So thoughts? Criticisms?
. Not much new equipment mentioned but nice for a rough draft. The Nevada National Security Site is a interesting concept and i think the dlc should have its focus there. A few flaws in general but still is a excellent dlc concept 
.