Minus_Zero
First time out of the vault
First, I figured I would clear up a few things. Yes, I just joined the same day as this post, but I have visited NMA and the forums sporadically throughout the years. Having purchased both Fallout and Fallout 2 shortly after the bundle pack was released, I have spent many hours playing through both games multiple times over the years. So for those that judge credibility by posts or activity on the forums, this isn't my first day on the boards. Just think of it as me recovering from being mute. 
Now with that out of the way, I have been entertaining a variety of ideas for mods using the various tools presented to us by those who were kind enough to provide them. (I thank you all, truly). One thing that I remember experiencing the first time I played through Fallout, was a distinct disappointment with the Brotherhood of Steel and their corruption. (I do understand the reasoning behind this. Human nature and such). The ideals they were formed upon are quite noble and would be greatly beneficial to establishing some sort of order and aid to both the inhabitants of the Wasteland and its advancement. After reading through most of the Fallout Bible, (I'm going through each version chronologically), I believe it would be safe for me to say that there has not been a great deal of technology created that surpasses what was present before the nukes were dropped. Many of the improvements and new discoveries were made by the Brotherhood. While it's true they made it a point to keep this technology away from most of the public, it does state in their good ending of Fallout 1 that they gradually introduced their technological advancements to the general public and later on became a major research-based organization. This is more what I had initially perceived them to be.
The first iteration of the Brotherhood, it would stand to reason, would have aided the people of the wasteland in a more open fashion. That is, before the greed and lust for power creeped into their somewhat-stabilized organization. It would make sense to limit the distribution of knowledge and equipment to only those that would use them for "good," so to speak(where "good" is merely goals or morals that are parallel to what the first BoS was formed upon).
Bear with me here, as this description of my stream of consciousness does come together into something coherent.
While considering what elements I would like to include in a FO mod, and exploring what others have done, I came up with a few very basic pieces of foundation I would like for my mod:
----
1. The ability to modify weapons in different ways, to give the player options on what strengths they would like to enhance in their weapons. A simple example: the player acquired a new shotgun that was quite effective for the enemies present at the time it was obtained. At some point later,, the gun still has comparable damage, but the range and low ammo capacity would normally bring about a desire to find some replacement, despite the weapon possessing utility for the enemies they are currently facing. The player is then given a route through which they can either increase the range or ammo capacity, thereby increasing the utility of the weapon. (These are merely examples, and not the only things that can be changed about weapons. Still in-concept, and I'm not entirely sure what options I will be able to employ.
). As only one quality could be enhanced, the player is given the ability to customize their weapons according to their current needs and playstyle.
One way to implement this, while still retaining a semi-unique process of earning the upgrades, would be that the Brotherhood of Steel's Scribes and Knights would be able to perform this function. Either special locations or "mini-games" could be given to find the specific part(s). One idea would be to have the upgrades on holodisks as Blueprints, with a specific area or field with various objectives that the player could be taken to for each weapon they wish to upgrade. Nothing too tedious, and if implemented correctly, would add a great "mini-game" of sorts. This system is synergistic with the next idea.
2. To include new weapons. While rather basic, it would give the weapon customization a more unique flavor to take a stepped approach to the player's possible armory. By this I mean removing the large gaps between power in weapon progression, and spreading out the increases over a long enough time line. This was done well in the Fallout series in many aspects, but I feel there could be a smoother transition into the more devastating power of the high-end weapons and such. Nothing too huge, but enough to compliment the previous system. Again, it would make sense that the player could help by acquiring the necessary information/materials for the BoS to produce a new weapon. Think of a Gun-Runner type atmosphere, where the Scribe and Knights' processes are elaborated upon, giving the player a means through which they can gain their new equipment while at the same time enhancing the process and feeling of accomplishment. Again, this fits with the wasteland atmosphere of scavenging for old technology, and using/improving it.
Hand-in-hand with this concept is the fleshing out of melee weapons. For me, at least, it just didn't feel like there were enough options. The stepped progression also manifests itself here in a more apparent manner.
3. A slight deviation from the Chosen One plot, where the player's initial motivation is nothing near as epic. The main plot is not something that requires a Chosen One, the player merely takes it upon themselves to deal with the issue at hand, as it does directly affect them. As events unfold, the ink in the shadows behind what they perceived is revealed, and the stain's corruption is their call-to-action. A stronger, more intense motive than merely surviving in the wasteland, and the previous perils to which their community could have been subjected.
----
Idea 2 works well with the concept of the player being a new member of the Brotherhood of Steel. (Moving through the ranks, aiding the Scribes and Knights in developing technology for both their own use and those who are in need, etc.) Idea 1 would lend itself to the BoS aspect, if the BoS were not an organization that has deviated from their core ideals, seeded with corruption. I also wanted to show a positive side to the BoS, as even the most corrupt organization may still possess members who are not like the whole. So what I would like to do is accomplish all of these things, while incorporating a positive BoS. The way I am thinking of going about this, is something along the lines of placing the character as one of the people who fled in exodus from the military base with General Maxson. More or less with a time period of the initial formation of the Brotherhood of Steel. I recently played through Fallout 1 again, and Maxson's log on the base's computer is quite powerful and moving. This would lend a great deal of initial motivation, outside of just surviving the hazards of life in the wasteland. (That, and the title would fit with later plot events as well. But I won't elaborate on Idea 3 until I make some progress on the mod. Don't want to spoil everything).
As I said, I'm still scouring through the Bible and trying to get my facts straight. This is all very much the product of initial brainstorming and concepts. I would appreciate any sort of comments, corrections, questions, or whatever you wish to provide. Insults included.
I know this is a horribly long post, and somewhat disorganized. There's just a great deal of things flooding through my head, so I figured I would come to the Masters for input on these aspects of my musings. 8) Thanks for reading!
EDIT: I saw that a previous post similar to this was vatted by Per because there was "nothing to show." While I do have various and sundry aspects of the mod in progress, there's hardly a comprehensive set of screenshots I could post that would act as a visual aid for the plot and weapons system, given that so much is still up in the air with regards to balance and things. Especially since there are a great deal of things left "hanging" until the setting issue is resolved. Will my lack of posting materials be a problem?
Now with that out of the way, I have been entertaining a variety of ideas for mods using the various tools presented to us by those who were kind enough to provide them. (I thank you all, truly). One thing that I remember experiencing the first time I played through Fallout, was a distinct disappointment with the Brotherhood of Steel and their corruption. (I do understand the reasoning behind this. Human nature and such). The ideals they were formed upon are quite noble and would be greatly beneficial to establishing some sort of order and aid to both the inhabitants of the Wasteland and its advancement. After reading through most of the Fallout Bible, (I'm going through each version chronologically), I believe it would be safe for me to say that there has not been a great deal of technology created that surpasses what was present before the nukes were dropped. Many of the improvements and new discoveries were made by the Brotherhood. While it's true they made it a point to keep this technology away from most of the public, it does state in their good ending of Fallout 1 that they gradually introduced their technological advancements to the general public and later on became a major research-based organization. This is more what I had initially perceived them to be.
The first iteration of the Brotherhood, it would stand to reason, would have aided the people of the wasteland in a more open fashion. That is, before the greed and lust for power creeped into their somewhat-stabilized organization. It would make sense to limit the distribution of knowledge and equipment to only those that would use them for "good," so to speak(where "good" is merely goals or morals that are parallel to what the first BoS was formed upon).
Bear with me here, as this description of my stream of consciousness does come together into something coherent.
While considering what elements I would like to include in a FO mod, and exploring what others have done, I came up with a few very basic pieces of foundation I would like for my mod:
----
1. The ability to modify weapons in different ways, to give the player options on what strengths they would like to enhance in their weapons. A simple example: the player acquired a new shotgun that was quite effective for the enemies present at the time it was obtained. At some point later,, the gun still has comparable damage, but the range and low ammo capacity would normally bring about a desire to find some replacement, despite the weapon possessing utility for the enemies they are currently facing. The player is then given a route through which they can either increase the range or ammo capacity, thereby increasing the utility of the weapon. (These are merely examples, and not the only things that can be changed about weapons. Still in-concept, and I'm not entirely sure what options I will be able to employ.
). As only one quality could be enhanced, the player is given the ability to customize their weapons according to their current needs and playstyle. One way to implement this, while still retaining a semi-unique process of earning the upgrades, would be that the Brotherhood of Steel's Scribes and Knights would be able to perform this function. Either special locations or "mini-games" could be given to find the specific part(s). One idea would be to have the upgrades on holodisks as Blueprints, with a specific area or field with various objectives that the player could be taken to for each weapon they wish to upgrade. Nothing too tedious, and if implemented correctly, would add a great "mini-game" of sorts. This system is synergistic with the next idea.
2. To include new weapons. While rather basic, it would give the weapon customization a more unique flavor to take a stepped approach to the player's possible armory. By this I mean removing the large gaps between power in weapon progression, and spreading out the increases over a long enough time line. This was done well in the Fallout series in many aspects, but I feel there could be a smoother transition into the more devastating power of the high-end weapons and such. Nothing too huge, but enough to compliment the previous system. Again, it would make sense that the player could help by acquiring the necessary information/materials for the BoS to produce a new weapon. Think of a Gun-Runner type atmosphere, where the Scribe and Knights' processes are elaborated upon, giving the player a means through which they can gain their new equipment while at the same time enhancing the process and feeling of accomplishment. Again, this fits with the wasteland atmosphere of scavenging for old technology, and using/improving it.
Hand-in-hand with this concept is the fleshing out of melee weapons. For me, at least, it just didn't feel like there were enough options. The stepped progression also manifests itself here in a more apparent manner.
3. A slight deviation from the Chosen One plot, where the player's initial motivation is nothing near as epic. The main plot is not something that requires a Chosen One, the player merely takes it upon themselves to deal with the issue at hand, as it does directly affect them. As events unfold, the ink in the shadows behind what they perceived is revealed, and the stain's corruption is their call-to-action. A stronger, more intense motive than merely surviving in the wasteland, and the previous perils to which their community could have been subjected.
----
Idea 2 works well with the concept of the player being a new member of the Brotherhood of Steel. (Moving through the ranks, aiding the Scribes and Knights in developing technology for both their own use and those who are in need, etc.) Idea 1 would lend itself to the BoS aspect, if the BoS were not an organization that has deviated from their core ideals, seeded with corruption. I also wanted to show a positive side to the BoS, as even the most corrupt organization may still possess members who are not like the whole. So what I would like to do is accomplish all of these things, while incorporating a positive BoS. The way I am thinking of going about this, is something along the lines of placing the character as one of the people who fled in exodus from the military base with General Maxson. More or less with a time period of the initial formation of the Brotherhood of Steel. I recently played through Fallout 1 again, and Maxson's log on the base's computer is quite powerful and moving. This would lend a great deal of initial motivation, outside of just surviving the hazards of life in the wasteland. (That, and the title would fit with later plot events as well. But I won't elaborate on Idea 3 until I make some progress on the mod. Don't want to spoil everything).
As I said, I'm still scouring through the Bible and trying to get my facts straight. This is all very much the product of initial brainstorming and concepts. I would appreciate any sort of comments, corrections, questions, or whatever you wish to provide. Insults included.
I know this is a horribly long post, and somewhat disorganized. There's just a great deal of things flooding through my head, so I figured I would come to the Masters for input on these aspects of my musings. 8) Thanks for reading!
EDIT: I saw that a previous post similar to this was vatted by Per because there was "nothing to show." While I do have various and sundry aspects of the mod in progress, there's hardly a comprehensive set of screenshots I could post that would act as a visual aid for the plot and weapons system, given that so much is still up in the air with regards to balance and things. Especially since there are a great deal of things left "hanging" until the setting issue is resolved. Will my lack of posting materials be a problem?
