Hypothetical Fallout set in the Midwest

PaxVenire

Wasteland Peacemaker
Bethesda isn't going to even start production on Fallout 5 until the Elder Scrolls VI releases, and quite frankly that's fine with me because I have little hopes for it.

So in this hypothetical, Bethesda once again outsources the IP to another studio, NOT OBSIDIAN. They ask the new studio to stay away from the East so that they don't interfere with Fallout 5 as well as away from the West so they don't interfere with (whatever x reason, maybe the TV show).

This leaves the whole Midwest open for the new studio.

What setting would you like to see, and what studio would you like to see make this hypothetical spinoff?
 
Bethesda isn't going to even start production on Fallout 5 until the Elder Scrolls VI releases, and quite frankly that's fine with me because I have little hopes for it.

So in this hypothetical, Bethesda once again outsources the IP to another studio, NOT OBSIDIAN. They ask the new studio to stay away from the East so that they don't interfere with Fallout 5 as well as away from the West so they don't interfere with (whatever x reason, maybe the TV show).

This leaves the whole Midwest open for the new studio.

What setting would you like to see, and what studio would you like to see make this hypothetical spinoff?
I've got a few ideas...

For me I'd like to see InXile Entertainment do the spin off, and if we're technically going back to the Midwest, I'd like to see the current state that Illinois is in. Because of the supposed Enclave presence, & the "small rogue detachment" of the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel that's supposedly located in Chicago.

Of course those two factions WON'T be the main ones of the game, they'll take the secondary factions role like their Mojave counterparts did in New Vegas.

I see The Enclave as stable, but not powerful enough to control the area. mind you, they're literally the remnants of those affected by the destruction of both the West Coast & East Coast bases from Fallout 2 & 3.

And what I see in the Midwest BOS, is that they became more of a secret society in order to maintain their survival, & all the little power that they have within the region.
(Going along with the "small detachment" statement from Rothchild in 3 BTW)

They have some semblance of power via proxies, but still not enough of influence that's considered powerful to control whatever territory that surrounds them. And that's when YOU COME IN TO DECIDE! If they should reclaim their former glory of lording over the wasteland.


So those are my ideas for the established presence of these overused, & NGL overrated factions...

New & Original factions however, I've got nothing! But I know that InXile could cook something up that's fresh, like the Beastlords & Reaver Movement from Fallout Tactics.


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For me I'd like to see InXile Entertainment do the spin off

This is a very logical choice, all things considered. I don’t doubt InExile could write a good Fallout game, or at the very least better than Bethesda.
In my perfect world, I think I’d honestly give it to Larian, the devs behind Baldur’s Gate 3. That game was fantastic and proof that top down, turn based RPGs are not dead. I also found the writing to be very good, though I know some will disagree. And while I know 5e DnD is very watered down and easy compared to classic Fallout, I think Baldur’s Gate 3 was a good stepping stone for new CRPG players to get into harder games like classic Fallout. Not to mention I think there’d be something quite poetic about Interplay losing Baldur’s Gate and Fallout and Larian resurrecting both franchises.

and if we're technically going back to the Midwest, I'd like to see the current state that Illinois is in. Because of the supposed Enclave presence, & the "small rogue detachment" of the Midwest Brotherhood of Steel that's supposedly located in Chicago.

This is another logical choice as we’ve heard of Chicago for a while now and since Tactics isn’t “canon” anymore, it would be interesting to see how different Illinois and the Midwest is from that game. Personally I’d like to see a different biome than desert in the Midwest, perhaps more of a mutated savanna type biome.

Of course those two factions WON'T be the main ones of the game, they'll take the secondary factions role like their Mojave counterparts did in New Vegas.

Tbh I was never a big fan of New Vegas confirming that a remnant sect of the Enclave still operates out of Chicago. I don’t like it for the same reason I didn’t like the Enclave in Washington, D.C.
The Enclave should’ve been a one and done, they had their chance, they failed, they should be gone. I wouldn’t mind an Enclave-like faction with perhaps more wasteland-oriented plans than just “genocidal reset” cuz racial purity.
As a matter of fact I unironically think the Gunners from Fallout 4 could’ve made a good “Enclave-like” antagonistic threat had any thought been put into them besides “raiders but better”. That’s something I’m actually working on for my Bethesda game rewrites.
When it comes to Enclave remnants, I think the most I would accept is a small extremist sect operating out of Washington or Oregon, somewhere away from the NCR but close enough to the West where realistically they could have gone after Navarro continue their sinister experiments.
As for the Brotherhood, I’m equally tired of seeing them in places they don’t belong. By now they’re solidified as an East Coast faction as well, and I never liked it. The BOS was originally a faction that fizzled out of the limelight when civilization returned to California, and Bethesda went and turned them into Warhammer Space Marines in a sense. I sound like a hypocrite when I say I like Fallout Tactics, but not so much the idea of the BOS in the Midwest or being able to make giant airships that can traverse the continent.
I feel like if Fallout 3 didn’t want to canonize Fallout Tactics, they should’ve scrapped the idea of being in Chicago entirely, because now we have both the Brotherhood and Enclave in Chicago, making the city a lot less interesting in terms of what we might find there.

They have some semblance of power via proxies, but still not enough of influence that's considered powerful to control whatever territory that surrounds them. And that's when YOU COME IN TO DECIDE! If they should reclaim their former glory of lording over the wasteland.

I do really like this idea. If the Enclave and Brotherhood exiles must be in Illinois, them fighting a Cold War via faction puppeteering rather than open warfare is neat. It would make the retreading of Fallout 3 at least a little more different.
 
Depending on the scale of the map, using the rivers of the Midwest would open up a new frontier for travel. It would be something new in the series and create a new dynamic in the travel system besides land transportation. You could also change how some of the rivers flow and how other waterways behave by using the Great War's nuclear armageddon as an explanation. Hell, the Great Lakes are just around the corner and could be a great way to create a map that uses different ways of transport. Before trains and automobiles, rivers were the highways of the pre-industrial world and are currently not well reflected in the Fallout world.

The three main climate zones of the Mid-West make it possible to create distinct differences between each zone, area, society, and city. Varying the experience for the player, so they won't just experience FNV desert yellow or F3 capital green. That is something The Witcher 3 did great; all locations felt uniquely different, and being in White Orchard wasn't the same as Skellige or Toussaint.

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Nomadic tribes and monsters would dominate the Mid-West plains and force the settled population into forts, fortified villages and larger settlements as protection. Serf-like/semifeudal conditions would be present. The plains would be empty; instead of endless crop fields, roaming monster packs and domesticated animals belonging to said nomadic tribes would thrive on the step. Something akin to southern Ukraine and Russia before the Crimean Tartars slave raids stopped.
For the player, this would create two different experiences. Cities and settlements are safer but more oppressive, but the plains are free from government but more violent and insecure. From low-risk/low-reward areas to high-risk/high-reward ones.
 
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Bethesda isn't going to even start production on Fallout 5 until the Elder Scrolls VI releases, and quite frankly that's fine with me because I have little hopes for it.

So in this hypothetical, Bethesda once again outsources the IP to another studio, NOT OBSIDIAN. They ask the new studio to stay away from the East so that they don't interfere with Fallout 5 as well as away from the West so they don't interfere with (whatever x reason, maybe the TV show).

This leaves the whole Midwest open for the new studio.

What setting would you like to see, and what studio would you like to see make this hypothetical spinoff?

I also think the next game should be around Chicago, but I've lived in Michigan most of my life, so I feel duty-bound to toss Detroit in there. I think it would be funny if they took the run-down manufacturing reputation of Detroit and put it on steroids:

In the pre-war days, ravenous consumer demand and a lack of regulations allowed the automotive industries to expand into bloated cartels, specializing in various electronics, military hardware, and every type of vehicle imaginable. Their factories grew to overtake parks and neighborhoods and sidewalks until Detroit became one big industrial megacomplex, an artificial parody of itself, darkened by everlasting smog but brightened with the halogen bulbs of corporate quota boards, vending machines, and plastic trees. The bombs hit Detroit hard when they fell, killing most of the population, but now that centuries have passed, the radiation has cleared enough so that humans can enter the city once more. There's great danger to be found, especially from the 3 AI systems that directed the major corporate holdings; they have gone rogue without human restraint, and are warring with each other over what's left of the city with the use of mechs enslaved to their networks. Yet, the city is irresistible for scavengers searching for rare parts, fusion cores, or military equipment. And while most of Detroit is blasted beyond repair, if a faction can somehow reclaim the fraction that's still operable, they might just mass produce their way to dominion over the entire Great Lakes Wastes.

As for the studio to make it, how would you all feel about Isomniac? I haven't played Spider-Man 2 yet but I LOVED 1 and Miles Morales. Granted, it might be that Insomniac is better at making it fun to be in an open world rather than worldbuilding and lore and stuff. It might have to be Insomniac with a few others brought in for lore advice and all the social studies junk I nerd out over.

Btw, these are what I'm going for, but think far more futuristic and maybe a little cyberpunk and hwawhatnot. They're taken from the Tim Burton batman's. The main thing to draw from is how there is all this industrial stuff that just should not be where it is, but greed won out over safety codes.

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No Brotherhood. Have the Enclave be like a dozen, two dozen guys.

Control Station REVERE

Control Station REVERE is basically a gas station, a fuel and supply depot hooked up to PoseidoNET, meant to serve as a refuel, resupply, and communications hub for whenever the Enclave emerged from the Oil Rig. It's a little more impressive than other minor re-fueling stations such as Mt. Charleston Bunker, but nowhere near the Oil Rig or Raven Rock. Control Station Revere would sit empty until the destruction of the Oil Rig. Following strange signals from the Far East, the Enclave sought its salvation in Washington, DC. The evacuation of Navarro began in earnest, and Revere suddenly found itself a hive of activity as the Enclave re-secured it and made full use of it as a trans-shipment point. However, this was not to be the Enclave's new home, just a stop-over. It was staffed with a detachment to keep control over the base and be ready to re-supply any stragglers from Navarro or any further expeditions from the Enclave's new home in the east.

Revere's last major surge in activity would come following the disaster at Navarro, ministering to those survivors who now came to join the rest. There would be a trickle of these and other survivors from the west over the next two decades, and the occasional visits from the east for the purposes of new expeditions or to relieve soldiers and provide fresh ones. Duty in Revere was considered safe, but so boring and dreary that you'd be better off dead.

In late 2277, there was a brief communications blackout with the main body of the Enclave. Communications were established briefly thereafter, but it was clear that a disaster was ongoing: Strategic assets lost, leadership decapitated, nearly pushed out of the immediate DC area. The new brass told them not to worry, there was a plan, stay fast. But in early 2278, contact was lost again. But this time, it didn't go back. It wasn't clear exactly what happened. Some of the chatter over coms made it sound like there was an attack, but the exact nature was unknown. The standing orders from the brass back east had been to stand by and await further orders. The CO of the base decided to keep to orders.

Years pass by. Dissent grows in the ranks. The detachment is split between those who are convinced the Enclave has been annihlated more or less utterly - even after Navarro, survivors still came in from the west. Since 2278, there had been nothing, no contact, no sign, no activity on PoseidoNET aside from automated chatter. Some of the detachment wanted to give up the ghost and accept the Enclave was dead. They argued that they should crack open Revere's supply caches and take full advantage. The CO rejected this totally, standing orders were to proceed as usual - cracking open the depots fully would compromise Revere's mission as a resupply station, and would be an act of treason to the human race. Those who sided with the CO, while not totally convinced themselves about the possibility of the Enclave's survival, felt some duty to keep to their mission.

Things looked like they might come to a fight, but finally a compromise was reached. The CO, not wishing to spill American blood, agreed to allow the would-be mutineers to withdraw some materiel and leave to pursue their own fortunes in the Wasteland. These dischargees knew it would be madness to try and build a new world on their own, so they sold their services as mercenaries to local potentates. With their powered armor and advanced weaponry, they were enormously succesful, decisive in conflicts. They became rich and well-respected. Initially they were a pakcage deal, but slowly drifted apart into a handful of groups, but they maintained a gentlemanly accord not to directly oppose each other.

Back at Revere, the detachment continued to age in isolation. The CO would eventually make another concession, agreeing to allow his men to take local wives provided they were not obviously mutants. These Enclavers have established a humble village at the exterior of their base. Only allowed to withdraw a mandated minimum from the supply cache, the village is quite humble without much use of advanced technology. Power armor and gauss rifles are hidden behind drywall, but otherwise it could be any village in the Wasteland. The older 'villagers' will occasionally work shifts in the Control Station, never telling their families exactly where they go or what they do, but most of their time is spent in subsistence agriculture. The aged CO, for his part, prefers to continue to bunk in the base itself, always ready for duty.

The villagers are essentially waiting for the CO to die before they give up and crack open the depot. The mercenaries, who occasionally visit with their old comrades, are secure enough to be happy with this. Many of them consider eventually coming back to Revere to retire when the CO dies.

However, there is one merc, never well liked by his compatriots. He struck off on his own. He did well to begin with, but his luck turned. Lost his weapons, lost his armor, lost his respect among the Wastelanders. Now debt collectors are coming due, and he only has one card left to play - the promise of a fabulous treasure of food, fuel, advanced technology, and even a few vertibirds, protected only by a few old man who have softened over the years.
 
Depending on the scale of the map, using the rivers of the Midwest would open up a new frontier for travel. It would be something new in the series and create a new dynamic in the travel system besides land transportation.

That would be awesome actually, I can picture it in my head, travelling up and down the Mississippi River on a FO1/2-like world map and getting into random encounters where maybe raiders jump on your boat somehow or you get into some kinda post-apocalyptic naval battle with small boats or ferries.

The three main climate zones of the Mid-West make it possible to create distinct differences between each zone, area, society, and city. Varying the experience for the player, so they won't just experience FNV desert yellow or F3 capital green.

Different terrain would be nice to see, the only Fallout game I can think of that actively does this is depending on where you are in the state is Fallout 76, which I actually think the world map and diverse biomes in that game looks nice.

Nomadic tribes and monsters would dominate the Mid-West plains and force the settled population into forts, fortified villages and larger settlements as protection. Serf-like/semifeudal conditions would be present.

What I've always imagine is just like how post-war architecture in California is mostly adobe huts or towns made of scrap (before the return of industry), the midwest and East would probably be sent back to the age of towns like Jamestown, those early colonial settler towns.

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In the pre-war days, ravenous consumer demand and a lack of regulations allowed the automotive industries to expand into bloated cartels, specializing in various electronics, military hardware, and every type of vehicle imaginable. Their factories grew to overtake parks and neighborhoods and sidewalks until Detroit became one big industrial megacomplex, an artificial parody of itself, darkened by everlasting smog but brightened with the halogen bulbs of corporate quota boards, vending machines, and plastic trees. The bombs hit Detroit hard when they fell, killing most of the population, but now that centuries have passed, the radiation has cleared enough so that humans can enter the city once more. There's great danger to be found, especially from the 3 AI systems that directed the major corporate holdings; they have gone rogue without human restraint, and are warring with each other over what's left of the city with the use of mechs enslaved to their networks. Yet, the city is irresistible for scavengers searching for rare parts, fusion cores, or military equipment. And while most of Detroit is blasted beyond repair, if a faction can somehow reclaim the fraction that's still operable, they might just mass produce their way to dominion over the entire Great Lakes Wastes.

Very cool! The idea of Detroit being a megacity multiple times larger than it's real-world counterpart definitely befits the Fallout universe. As we've seen, Fallout's world also took liberties with their cities, and towns such as Necropolis looking the way it does compared to real-world Bakersfield.

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As for the studio to make it, how would you all feel about Isomniac? I haven't played Spider-Man 2 yet but I LOVED 1 and Miles Morales. Granted, it might be that Insomniac is better at making it fun to be in an open world rather than worldbuilding and lore and stuff. It might have to be Insomniac with a few others brought in for lore advice and all the social studies junk I nerd out over.

I like Insomniac games, they're super fun, I'm just not sure if they know how to make RPGs in the way a Fallout RPG is. I can say though that the open world would definitely look really nice and the gameplay aside from just shooting things would be fun at the very least. I picture them pulling off car mechanics and warfare really well.

Btw, these are what I'm going for, but think far more futuristic and maybe a little cyberpunk and hwawhatnot. They're taken from the Tim Burton batman's. The main thing to draw from is how there is all this industrial stuff that just should not be where it is, but greed won out over safety codes.

Tim Burton's Gotham City is still to date my favorite interpretation in live action. It just screams classic Fallout to me, very good choice of inspiration.
 
No Brotherhood. Have the Enclave be like a dozen, two dozen guys.

Control Station REVERE

Control Station REVERE is basically a gas station, a fuel and supply depot hooked up to PoseidoNET, meant to serve as a refuel, resupply, and communications hub for whenever the Enclave emerged from the Oil Rig. It's a little more impressive than other minor re-fueling stations such as Mt. Charleston Bunker, but nowhere near the Oil Rig or Raven Rock. Control Station Revere would sit empty until the destruction of the Oil Rig. Following strange signals from the Far East, the Enclave sought its salvation in Washington, DC. The evacuation of Navarro began in earnest, and Revere suddenly found itself a hive of activity as the Enclave re-secured it and made full use of it as a trans-shipment point. However, this was not to be the Enclave's new home, just a stop-over. It was staffed with a detachment to keep control over the base and be ready to re-supply any stragglers from Navarro or any further expeditions from the Enclave's new home in the east.

Revere's last major surge in activity would come following the disaster at Navarro, ministering to those survivors who now came to join the rest. There would be a trickle of these and other survivors from the west over the next two decades, and the occasional visits from the east for the purposes of new expeditions or to relieve soldiers and provide fresh ones. Duty in Revere was considered safe, but so boring and dreary that you'd be better off dead.

In late 2277, there was a brief communications blackout with the main body of the Enclave. Communications were established briefly thereafter, but it was clear that a disaster was ongoing: Strategic assets lost, leadership decapitated, nearly pushed out of the immediate DC area. The new brass told them not to worry, there was a plan, stay fast. But in early 2278, contact was lost again. But this time, it didn't go back. It wasn't clear exactly what happened. Some of the chatter over coms made it sound like there was an attack, but the exact nature was unknown. The standing orders from the brass back east had been to stand by and await further orders. The CO of the base decided to keep to orders.

Years pass by. Dissent grows in the ranks. The detachment is split between those who are convinced the Enclave has been annihlated more or less utterly - even after Navarro, survivors still came in from the west. Since 2278, there had been nothing, no contact, no sign, no activity on PoseidoNET aside from automated chatter. Some of the detachment wanted to give up the ghost and accept the Enclave was dead. They argued that they should crack open Revere's supply caches and take full advantage. The CO rejected this totally, standing orders were to proceed as usual - cracking open the depots fully would compromise Revere's mission as a resupply station, and would be an act of treason to the human race. Those who sided with the CO, while not totally convinced themselves about the possibility of the Enclave's survival, felt some duty to keep to their mission.

Things looked like they might come to a fight, but finally a compromise was reached. The CO, not wishing to spill American blood, agreed to allow the would-be mutineers to withdraw some materiel and leave to pursue their own fortunes in the Wasteland. These dischargees knew it would be madness to try and build a new world on their own, so they sold their services as mercenaries to local potentates. With their powered armor and advanced weaponry, they were enormously succesful, decisive in conflicts. They became rich and well-respected. Initially they were a pakcage deal, but slowly drifted apart into a handful of groups, but they maintained a gentlemanly accord not to directly oppose each other.

Back at Revere, the detachment continued to age in isolation. The CO would eventually make another concession, agreeing to allow his men to take local wives provided they were not obviously mutants. These Enclavers have established a humble village at the exterior of their base. Only allowed to withdraw a mandated minimum from the supply cache, the village is quite humble without much use of advanced technology. Power armor and gauss rifles are hidden behind drywall, but otherwise it could be any village in the Wasteland. The older 'villagers' will occasionally work shifts in the Control Station, never telling their families exactly where they go or what they do, but most of their time is spent in subsistence agriculture. The aged CO, for his part, prefers to continue to bunk in the base itself, always ready for duty.

The villagers are essentially waiting for the CO to die before they give up and crack open the depot. The mercenaries, who occasionally visit with their old comrades, are secure enough to be happy with this. Many of them consider eventually coming back to Revere to retire when the CO dies.

However, there is one merc, never well liked by his compatriots. He struck off on his own. He did well to begin with, but his luck turned. Lost his weapons, lost his armor, lost his respect among the Wastelanders. Now debt collectors are coming due, and he only has one card left to play - the promise of a fabulous treasure of food, fuel, advanced technology, and even a few vertibirds, protected only by a few old man who have softened over the years.

Awesome read up, I agree the Enclave should be no more than a company if need be. And it would be very interesting to see a sect of remnants still duty-bound forced to make compromises like taking wastelander wives after growing up on Enclave brainwashing of purity and how they're the last hope for mankind against the mutants of the new world. I can imagine there would be some sort of genetic purity test for newborns, causing friction if the CO or Enclavers enforced a euthanasia system for mutant children. I also like the idea of an exodus of Enclave remnants leaving to take work in the wastes, it's like a reverse situation of the Tactics BOS. As for the mercenaries who drifted apart from each other, would they eventually come to a crossroads where they end up killing their former allies at the whim of their employers? And I'd imagine their employers wouldn't be the of generous sort if they send out Enclave geared mercs to do their dirty work, so as the player character, would they be an antagonistic-oriented faction? Also as for the mercenaries who visit their old comrades from time to time, surely they would have the wasteland experience to tell them about life outside the village and how the CO and Enclave were wrong. Are the villagers waiting for the CO to die out of respect or because there's still a loyal group of Enclave supporters in the village that would stop them?
 
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That would be awesome actually, I can picture it in my head, travelling down the river on the FO1/2-like world map and getting into random encounters where maybe raiders jump on your boat somehow or you get into some kinda post-apocalyptic naval battle with small boats or ferries up and down the Mississippi River.
I agree, it's a really cool thing that fits the local character but also feels Fallout-y.

Though a stray thought occurs to me - given the dustbowl that the Great Plains has turned into, I wonder how much that has reduced the water volume of the Mississippi. Probably not enough to make it unnavigable for the pertinent stretches, but food for thought.

That I've always imagine is just like how post-war architecture in California is mostly adobe huts or towns made of scrap (before the return of industry), the midwest and East would probably be sent back to the age of towns like Jamestown, those early colonial settler towns.

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Agreed. Colonial frontier American makes sense as the primary style here, stockade and log-cabin.

Awesome read up, I agree the Enclave should be no more than a company if need be. And it would be very interesting to see a sect of remnants still duty-bound forced to make compromises like taking wastelander wives after growing up on Enclave brainwashing of purity and how they're the last hope for mankind against the mutants of the new world. I can imagine there would be some sort of genetic purity test for newborns, causing friction if the CO or Enclavers enforced a euthanasia system for mutant children.
Originally I thought about giving some discussion to this, but I wasn't sure if it was worth taking the time write out, so I kind of waffled and kept vague the degree to which these are hardline purists vs. the more lax (if not libertine) Autumn Enclave. Obviously I'm reluctant to totally grant an Autumn Enclave, but then again obviously this concepts buys into the Fallout 3 Enclave more or less, and it does make a certain degree of sense - this is after all decades after the Oil Rig, views may change, etc. etc.

Originally I thought that the wives would be subjected to some kind of genetic screening to make sure they were within some kind of threshold. Then I thought maybe it would be a wink and a nod kind of thing, where the standard is just that the women are not obviously mutants. I think overall, to the degree that the Enclavers believe themselves to be a pure bastion of humanity, they're basically convinced that they're the end of the line, pure humanity got blowed up for the final time in the Capital Wasteland. Now they're just trying to get on with their lives, maybe preserve some spark in their offspring, but mainly just try to get on with it.

Still, that doesn't rule out some kind of stricter process to try and perpetuate a purer strain of humanity. Probably not outright euthanasia of children, I'd imagine that they'd prefer to do screening in the womb and abort if need be. But maybe you're right, maybe that wouldn't be practical, and basically it's just a matter of waiting for the child to be born and hoping they look normal. Maybe only recently has an obviously mutant child been born (something minor like an extra finger), and now there's a division in the community on what to do, both with the child and the wife who has now been proven not to "breed true".

I also like the idea of an exodus of Enclave remnants leaving to take work in the wastes, it's like a reverse situation of the Tactics BOS.
It was kind of based off of Atomic Postman's concept of what Sgt. Granite and his squad get up to in whatever locale they crash land in, but I can see the resemblance to tactics.

The basic idea is that a single highly trained soldier in their advanced power armor is at an insane advantage in any fight. Not quite a one-man army, but not far off, easily enough to be decisive in most Wasteland conflicts. I conceive of these figures as being essentially like Arthurian knights or, to continue @Resardiv's apt Russia comparison, Bogatyrs, legendary figures attributed nigh-magical feats, except in this case they're mostly real.

As for the mercenaries who drifted apart from each other, would they eventually come to a crossroads where they end up killing their former allies at the whim of their employers?
I tried to simplify and keep things short by boiling it down to just one 'sinful' failure, but yes realistically they've probably come to blows in the past.

This sort of brings me to what I envision as the main narrative thrust/irony of the two Enclave 'factions', which I didn't really touch on in my post for the sake of brevity. The 'purist' faction despite their beliefs of their own supremacy ends up being timid, inward looking, and ultimately just uninterested in the outside world. The 'revisionist' faction, while breaking to some degree with Enclave ideas of purity and lock-step unity, actually end up being far more monstrous. While the ideology they stepped away from was more monstrous, it compelled them to live together in a community with other human beings. Now they're unbound from any kind of mooring, pursuing only their self interest. I see many of them as chem addicts and harem-holders. This also sort of corresponds to the view of the Circle of Steel I expounded to Atomic Postman that he largely ended up implementing in his Van Buren setting.

And I'd imagine their employers wouldn't be the of generous sort if they send out Enclave geared mercs to do their dirty work, so as the player character, would they be an antagonistic-oriented faction?
I think most of the mercs have ended up drifting away even out of the playable area, carving paths of glory across the former US. But yes, for those that are still alive (it's a dangerous line of work even with power armor) and remain in the game world, mostly they'd be in antagonistic roles to the protagonists, big-bad boss fights.

Also as for the mercenaries who visit their old comrades from time to time, surely they would have the wasteland experience to tell them about life outside the village and how the CO and Enclave were wrong.
Well I think while the mercs don't really buy into the Enclave ideology, I don't think they have a really strongly formed counter-ideology. Indeed, in some ways their line of work puts them in a position to have the general Enclave view more affirmed - they work for the worst people in the Wasteland, they see some of the worst violence and depravity of the Wasteland, and they spend all their time cutting down hordes upon hordes of resources while being at the top of society, thereby reenforcing some view of at least themselves, personally, as supermen contrasted with Wasteland subhumans.

For those that still visit the village, the village in its quaint isolation represents a reprieve. If ever they did return they wouldn't want some kind of impermeable cordon sanitaire between the Wasteland and Revere, they've gone too native for them to see that as viable, but they do want to take advantage of the sociality created by a wavering but still there belief in the idea of the Enclave. Whether the carefully balanced, pragmatic sociality of the village could survive the death of the CO and it's justification is questionable, especially with the 'resource curse' of the supply depots being opened to exploitation.

Are the villagers waiting for the CO to die out of respect or because there's still a loyal group of Enclave supporters in the village that would stop them?
Opinions vary, but I think the driving force is respect for the CO personally, and just taking him as a living embodiment to their old lives, their friends and family, and an unwillingness to give up on that entirely. There would be some consternation within the community about how exactly to go about reform in the case of his death, but it would probably not be irreconcilable.
 
Originally I thought that the wives would be subjected to some kind of genetic screening to make sure they were within some kind of threshold. Then I thought maybe it would be a wink and a nod kind of thing, where the standard is just that the women are not obviously mutants.
Still, that doesn't rule out some kind of stricter process to try and perpetuate a purer strain of humanity. Probably not outright euthanasia of children, I'd imagine that they'd prefer to do screening in the womb and abort if need be. But maybe you're right, maybe that wouldn't be practical, and basically it's just a matter of waiting for the child to be born and hoping they look normal.

I wouldn't put it past The Enclave to own something like an Auto-Doc where they could practically screen people if they wanted to, but you've stated Revere's village is more humble without the use of advanced technology, so I'm not sure. Taking into account, as you've said, this is decades after Navarro and the Oil Rig and Revere was mainly just a pitstop on the way to D.C. where the Enclave wanted to set up full-stop, I'm inclined to go with the more wink, nod sort of engagement.

Maybe only recently has an obviously mutant child been born (something minor like an extra finger), and now there's a division in the community on what to do, both with the child and the wife who has now been proven not to "breed true".

This could make for an interesting quest and a good moral dilemma for the player. Perhaps the baby's mutation is very obvious deformity, and those in the community that are more hardliner to the Enclave ideals could try and convince the player in their own logic why killing the child would actually be a mercy (not out of cartoonish villainy, but rather something they truly believe and can even back up with Enclave research) while the father who is more libertine genuinely fell in love with his family, asking the player to help them get out of the camp safely as he’d rather take his chances out in the wasteland with his family than lose them.

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I think overall, to the degree that the Enclavers believe themselves to be a pure bastion of humanity, they're basically convinced that they're the end of the line, pure humanity got blowed up for the final time in the Capital Wasteland. Now they're just trying to get on with their lives, maybe preserve some spark in their offspring, but mainly just try to get on with it.

Man, that's bleak. I'd love to interact with this community in-game, perhaps speak to the CO and just hear his mental gymnastics of denial that the Enclave is truly dead and his false hope to one day return to the good old days contrasted with the village who's accepted they are on the verge of extinction, whether they truly believe in their purity or don’t care anymore.

The 'revisionist' faction, while breaking to some degree with Enclave ideas of purity and lock-step unity, actually end up being far more monstrous. While the ideology they stepped away from was more monstrous, it compelled them to live together in a community with other human beings. Now they're unbound from any kind of mooring, pursuing only their self interest. I see many of them as chem addicts and harem-holders.

I didn't think about it like this, this makes sense and is a very interesting flip on the trope of apostacy from an evil ideology or organization making you a better person. Good stuff.

Well I think while the mercs don't really buy into the Enclave ideology, I don't think they have a really strongly formed counter-ideology. Indeed, in some ways their line of work puts them in a position to have the general Enclave view more affirmed - they work for the worst people in the Wasteland, they see some of the worst violence and depravity of the Wasteland, and they spend all their time cutting down hordes upon hordes of resources while being at the top of society, thereby reenforcing some view of at least themselves, personally, as supermen contrasted with Wasteland subhumans.

Ditto to the above.

For those that still visit the village, the village in its quaint isolation represents a reprieve. If ever they did return they wouldn't want some kind of impermeable cordon sanitaire between the Wasteland and Revere, they've gone too native for them to see that as viable, but they do want to take advantage of the sociality created by a wavering but still there belief in the idea of the Enclave. Whether the carefully balanced, pragmatic sociality of the village could survive the death of the CO and it's justification is questionable, especially with the 'resource curse' of the supply depots being opened to exploitation.

This would make for another interesting quest, where the player could sympathize with Revere and help them maintain their way of life by obtaining what they need to remain self-sustaining and isolationist (perhaps eventually resulting in them becoming tribal-ish as years pass in the end screen slide), help them come out of their shells and learn to live amongst the wasteland out of necessity for themselves (resulting in an ending slide where as the last generation of Enclave dies off and their children take their place, they end up assimilating well to the wastes and prosper), exploit their weaknesses to your or another faction's advantage for their technology and supplies (resulting in them either moving on or dying off), or outright extinguish Revere for whatever justification they come up with (perhaps on the order of a faction the player sides with).

Opinions vary, but I think the driving force is respect for the CO personally, and just taking him as a living embodiment to their old lives, their friends and family, and an unwillingness to give up on that entirely. There would be some consternation within the community about how exactly to go about reform in the case of his death, but it would probably not be irreconcilable.

Ditto to the above.

I think most of the mercs have ended up drifting away even out of the playable area, carving paths of glory across the former US. But yes, for those that are still alive (it's a dangerous line of work even with power armor) and remain in the game world, mostly they'd be in antagonistic roles to the protagonists, big-bad boss fights.

Taking the idea of them being chem addicts and generally awful people into consideration, I can't imagine how terrifying it must be to get on the shitlist of a Psycho'd up Enclave merc in full Power Armor. Whatever or whoever employs them must surely have big pocket to afford their quality of mercenary.
 
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What I've always imagine is just like how post-war architecture in California is mostly adobe huts or towns made of scrap (before the return of industry), the midwest and East would probably be sent back to the age of towns like Jamestown, those early colonial settler towns.

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Wonderful image, truly captures what I meant. Just add some Fallout spice and we're done.:ok:
 
Depending on the scale of the map, using the rivers of the Midwest would open up a new frontier for travel. It would be something new in the series and create a new dynamic in the travel system besides land transportation. You could also change how some of the rivers flow and how other waterways behave by using the Great War's nuclear armageddon as an explanation. Hell, the Great Lakes are just around the corner and could be a great way to create a map that uses different ways of transport. Before trains and automobiles, rivers were the highways of the pre-industrial world and are currently not well reflected in the Fallout world.

The three main climate zones of the Mid-West make it possible to create distinct differences between each zone, area, society, and city. Varying the experience for the player, so they won't just experience FNV desert yellow or F3 capital green. That is something The Witcher 3 did great; all locations felt uniquely different, and being in White Orchard wasn't the same as Skellige or Toussaint.

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Nomadic tribes and monsters would dominate the Mid-West plains and force the settled population into forts, fortified villages and larger settlements as protection. Serf-like/semifeudal conditions would be present. The plains would be empty; instead of endless crop fields, roaming monster packs and domesticated animals belonging to said nomadic tribes would thrive on the step. Something akin to southern Ukraine and Russia before the Crimean Tartars slave raids stopped.
For the player, this would create two different experiences. Cities and settlements are safer but more oppressive, but the plains are free from government but more violent and insecure. From low-risk/low-reward areas to high-risk/high-reward ones.

What would you say to a version where the player takes control of a roaming warband and raids settlements? They could use a horde of riders on mutated buffalo and rusted cars. Or perhaps they could be the lawbringer of the Midwest, trying to stamp out the hordes for good with an elite counter-raiding team.

There could be a part where you call a Mongol-inspired Kurultai. According to the great AI deity I worship, chatgpt, in real life it was a meeting convened during times of importance and crisis in which chiefs, nobles, big shots and reps from various tribes and regions across the empire were invited to make grand decisions with a democratic majority.

I can see this being the moment the player has to decide who to throw their support behind to become the next leader. The game's villain then manipulates the situation and forces the player to make their decision in front of everyone, knowing that no matter who they choose, everyone else is going to peg them as an enemy for passing them up.
 
What would you say to a version where the player takes control of a roaming warband and raids settlements? They could use a horde of riders on mutated buffalo and rusted cars. Or perhaps they could be the lawbringer of the Midwest, trying to stamp out the hordes for good with an elite counter-raiding team.

There could be a part where you call a Mongol-inspired Kurultai. According to the great AI deity I worship, chatgpt, in real life it was a meeting convened during times of importance and crisis in which chiefs, nobles, big shots and reps from various tribes and regions across the empire were invited to make grand decisions with a democratic majority.

I can see this being the moment the player has to decide who to throw their support behind to become the next leader. The game's villain then manipulates the situation and forces the player to make their decision in front of everyone, knowing that no matter who they choose, everyone else is going to peg them as an enemy for passing them up.
This sounds like a Fallout game made by Paradox Interactive. I'd be down for an official Fallout strategy game (inb4 Tactics). I never could get into the overcomplicated Hearts of Iron IV mod, though I enjoy the fan fiction lore.
 
What would you say to a version where the player takes control of a roaming warband and raids settlements? They could use a horde of riders on mutated buffalo and rusted cars. Or perhaps they could be the lawbringer of the Midwest, trying to stamp out the hordes for good with an elite counter-raiding team.

There could be a part where you call a Mongol-inspired Kurultai. According to the great AI deity I worship, chatgpt, in real life it was a meeting convened during times of importance and crisis in which chiefs, nobles, big shots and reps from various tribes and regions across the empire were invited to make grand decisions with a democratic majority.

I can see this being the moment the player has to decide who to throw their support behind to become the next leader. The game's villain then manipulates the situation and forces the player to make their decision in front of everyone, knowing that no matter who they choose, everyone else is going to peg them as an enemy for passing them up.

You could probably go two ways with that approach:
  1. RTS game with a more narrative approach, like the old Warcraft games.
  2. Something for modern audiences, like State of Decay.
But alas, Bethesda will make sure nothing like this will be made.

This sounds like a Fallout game made by Paradox Interactive. I'd be down for an official Fallout strategy game (inb4 Tactics). I never could get into the overcomplicated Hearts of Iron IV mod, though I enjoy the fan fiction lore.

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Skill issue:smug:
 
Admittedly, yes. I'm too pea brained to get into games like that. I'll stick with Mount & Blade Warband.
Mappie autism is the #1 Swedish export. I was born into it, moldet by it.
Is it Bannerlord you're playing? Have only played Warband and its expanions.
 
Is it Bannerlord you're playing? Have only played Warband and its expanions.

I found Bannerlord to be extremely underwhelming and quite boring personally, also very poorly optimized. I have a decent PC with an SSD and it still runs like shit. Warband has been my bread and butter for a long time, may more replayability, especally with total conversion mods like the Roman Empire, Sengoku Japan, 13th century Europe, Napoleonic Wars, Vikings, Dark Ages British Isles.
 
I found Bannerlord to be extremely underwhelming and quite boring personally, also very poorly optimized. I have a decent PC with an SSD and it still runs like shit. Warband has been my bread and butter for a long time, may more replayability, especally with total conversion mods like the Roman Empire, Sengoku Japan, 13th century Europe, Napoleonic Wars, Vikings, Dark Ages British Isles.
Viking age and Napoleonic was what I played a lot back in the days. I Have so many great memories of pillaging Ireland and line-firing muskets at Russian hordes, really helped that it was such a simple game that I run on my potato PC.
IIRC it had a lot of local European sever communities which trived.
 
This sounds like a Fallout game made by Paradox Interactive. I'd be down for an official Fallout strategy game (inb4 Tactics). I never could get into the overcomplicated Hearts of Iron IV mod, though I enjoy the fan fiction lore.
You could probably go two ways with that approach:
  1. RTS game with a more narrative approach, like the old Warcraft games.
  2. Something for modern audiences, like State of Decay.
But alas, Bethesda will make sure nothing like this will be made.



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Skill issue:smug:

Dude we need a Fallout mod for Civ 6 now. I want to unite America under the Republic of Dave.
 
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