Mr.Tboy
First time out of the vault
Back in April, I posted a thread named "FALLOUT: WAR FOR ARCTIC - Concept Idea", which can be found here in case you're interested;
https://www.nma-fallout.com/threads/fallout-war-for-arctic-concept-idea.220305/
(You won't miss out on much in case you don't read it, look at it if you want more detail about the lore)
So, this whole concept revolves around an Independent Totalitarian Alaska fighting against the Enclave on a mass scale, and the player would find themselves in the middle of this war.
Let me explain,
I started off this concept while thinking about how a Fallout game would work out in a Post-Apocalyptic Alaska. At the start, as many would, I immediately pictured a Metro 2033-Fallout mix-up in my mind. Radiation infested Alaska struggling with mutants and Nuclear Winter. But in time, this picture in my mind changed drastically the more I thought about it. First off, why would Alaska even get nuked on a mass scale in the first place? There's basically no strategically important target in Alaska, even in the Fallout universe. But do you know what else in Fallout Universe drastically changes things for Alaska? The Anchorage Frontline. Even though the Great War took place months after the Chinese defeat in Alaska, it doesn't mean all that massive military presence, POWs and built-up won't just disappear into thin air, that would be especially the case considering the presence of Chinese Remnants possibly leading an insurgency within Alaska. Possibly hundreds of thousands of troops would be in Alaska (most waiting to get transferred to somewhere else once remnants are cleared) by the time bombs fell. And nuking all that conventional military presence alone would have no strategic importance since nobody would expect them to survive through the nuclear winter long enough on theirs own.
So what would happen "realistically" in a case like this? Chinese POWs would break free, whatever is left of the US Army would go insane and start forming raider bands to acquire whatever is left and the local population would diminish in the following decades, and there would be no sign of civilization left by the 2100s. Or maybe, just by pure luck, a man rises up and takes over most of the Alaskan Peninsula within weeks following the war. Adrien Newton was the Governor of the Region of Alaska before the Great War, (Remember that in Fallout Universe there is no such thing as "states" in the USA, Alaska is a Region connected to the North-Western Commonwealth).
He did the impossible, he not only restored the order in most of Alaska but also completely reorganized the system, eventually leading to the creation of the "Republic of Alaska". He fought against the Chinese remnants, who were fueled by revanchism, in a bloody war that lasted for two years. He struggled against the conspiracies that were set against him and the stability of the republic. He struggled against the harsh nuclear winter, which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Alaskans. He struggled against the lack of infrastructure and manpower. But in the end, he completely overcomes all struggles in front of him.
(Or at least that's what the propaganda says)
Newton made a deal with the surviving Generals following the Great War, by granting them great amounts of political authority. Alaska turned into a Totalitarian system shortly after, while sustaining its stability. Newton died in 2139, but his death changed very little. Alaska continued to follow his path many decades to come. A path based upon survivalism, faith, stability, and salvation.
The flag of the Alaskan Republic
The map of the Alaskan Republic
By the 2200s, Alaska became a fully self-sustaining state, not only being able to mass-produce industrial goods but to even try out new experimental products, in factories where descendants of the Chinese POWs are used as slave labor (the state ideology considers them to be the part of a "lower race"). Also, the population of Alaska was about 2 million, far greater than any other place in Post-Apocalyptic America, mostly thanks to the social stability of the Republic. And by 2210s, as the Nuclear Winter started to ease down, most of the harsh restrictions were lifted, and for the first time in decades, proper expeditions were sent.
In 2219, the expeditions traveled far north, to look after the presumably abandoned naval bases. But as they arrived, they were met with shock, to see the bases fully functional. Soon, they were "greeted" by the men in heavy armor, a type of armor that was anything like they've seen before. Those who participated in the expedition had no idea about what they just caused.
...
On March 2219, Enclave launched an invasion of Alaska, with hopes of seizing the massive population pool 'untouched by the radiation' and capturing industries of this 'dissident' and 'treacherous' Alaska. You (The main character) grew up in the Enclave Arctic Naval Base, training for your whole life for this moment, for the "Cleansing of Fairbanks".
On 14 March 2219, Enclave started launching sudden attacks all across Alaska, with the expectation of a quick and decisive victory. They were wrong. Exceedingly wrong. As Vertibirds approached Fairbanks, the hell went loose. The Enclave had truly underestimated the sheer amount of firepower Alaska had. But nevertheless, the assault continued, and the more they advanced through the streets the more they got overwhelmed by the Alaskan firepower. The Battle of Fairbanks abruptly ended overnight, when Enclave command realized that any direct attack on Fairbanks would be futile. Amid drastic firefight, you couldn't reach the evacuation zone before the final Vertibird took up. You started running and yelling after the Vertibirds in the outskirts of Fairbanks, with the hopes that they might see you and return. But alas, the last thing you can remember of that night is being shot at and falling into the thick snow.
You remember being dragged by some, and since your consciousness was failing, you have no idea by whom.
You woke up in a room with a wooden ceiling, covered in bandages, can't feel anything. You look around, it is a moderately sized room, and judging by the looks of the walls, the building itself might be built out of wood. There's an old man couple of feet away from you sitting in front of a fireplace, there is a child beside him, busy playing with a piece of wood in his hands. You continue looking around, it is a modest but comforting house, nothing like the cold walls of metal structures you grow up in. You are guessing that this is no POW detention center or maybe the Alaskans really do have some high standards. After looking around for a couple of minutes, you finally decide to call the old man. Nothing but grunts comes out, making you realize how unbearable the pain is. But it still was enough to draw the attention of the old man. He rises up and looks at you. It is obvious that he has something to tell you.
...
So, this is the premise of "War for Arctic". A brutal war between the two last functioning armies in the world (probably). The story of an MIA, trying his/her best to make a way out of this, or even somehow change the course of the war in the process. There are also other plot points (such as the descendants of the Chinese POWs uprising and trying to find a way to mainland China or the century-old political discord within Alaska, causing the nation to be divided) but those don't matter much for now.
I have no plans for making a real game out of this, but for the sake of the argument, here are some issues that would come up while actually making this game:
1) How do you make a game which feels immersive, large, dynamic, and interactive, while appealing to the old and new fans of the Fallout series? Alaska must feel large and empty (not in a boring way but rather immersive) while having massive settlements in it, such as Fairbanks and Anchorage, which is both supposed to hold tens of thousands of residents in them. Older 2D Fallout games did this well for the most part (Such as the Hub in Fallout 1 and Shady Sands and Vault City in Fallout 2 (Even they were pretty small in comparison to what they claim to represent)) while having (or at least representing) a massive world outside of the settlements, which is not directly explorable as it was in the 3D Fallout titles but still managed to feel larger in the process. This brings us to the other question.
2) 2D or 3D? For the most part, a 3D Fallout: War for Arctic seems near impossible. Considering this would be a fan project (if it ever takes off), even designing a dozen large-scale cities let alone building a massive wild Alaskan wasteland would take at least a decade to finish. And since none of us can’t work on Minecraft and can’t gather a development team of a couple of hundred people, this is near impossible for anyone to pull out. Unless somebody finds or creates an insane map generation engine, a 3D Fallout: War for the Arctic is not happening, and I’m not even entering the main gameplay aspect here.
3) SO, a 2D game it is then, what is the problem here? Problems on immeasurable levels. First off, how do you portray a large-scale War on a 2D RPG (Possibly a CRPG)? And again, you are not commanding an army or anything, you’re just a green low-rank soldier who is MIA. This also isn’t like the Wars we’ve seen on Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas, we are talking about a war between the two last remaining entirely mobilized and well-armed armies clashing over the last functional industrial regions while being surrounded by a hollow wasteland. The Enclave-Alaskan war would involve approximately at least 100 000-armed men (mostly Alaskan). So how do you put this concept in a 2D RPG? Even the largest battles in New Vegas involved a couple of dozen soldiers at best. Furthermore, the Alaskan and Enclave armies aren’t like the armies of the NCR or the Legion. On one hand, you have well-armed, fully trained, futuristic (in a retro style of futuristic) armies backed by fully functional industries capable of manufacturing weaponry and military vehicles on industrial quantities while being at Old-World level of effectiveness, and on the other hand, NCR and Legion soldiers usually wear and equip items that can be produced in a small workshop. Absolutely nothing in comparison to Enclave and Alaska, which can produce and improve their own Power Armors on a mass scale and have entire armies using them. As far as I can remember the only battle that could be considered somewhat large scale from 2D Fallout games was the battle in Los Angles (Boneyard) where you fight against a group of bandits. And as far as I can remember, it was completely insufferable, thanks to the turn-based battle system of the original Fallout, the battle itself took about 15-20 minutes, but defiantly felt like an hour. And adding other factors such as vehicles might be the greatest challenge while making the game.
I'll probably post more on this concept later on since I have already written hundreds of pages worth of lore and world-building at this point.
