Misanthrope
First time out of the vault
Hi NMA folks!
I've been lurking here for awhile but as yet couldn't register. I had to jump through hoops with my ISP to get myself an email address from them, and now I have. Rejoice!
Anyway, I wanted to open discussion on a project I'm working on here. Actually, they're two projects, sort of. First is the "Settlements Expanded Project", started by myself. Second is the "Wasteland Expansion Project", started by myself and another modder.
Settlements Expanded is an attempt by me to increase the size and relative importance of many D.C. area settlements. Many, including myself, were quite disappointed to find many of these settlements really weren't deserving of the title "town". Arefu, Canterbury Commons and Big Town inparticular are little more than a couple of hollowed out buildings with a small handful of people living in them. Larger settlements, such as Tenpenny Tower, Rivet City and Paradise Falls are themselves too small for what they are supposed to present, particularly in the case of Rivet City, which is supposed to be the largest settlement in the D.C. Wastelands but has only a couple dozen inhabitants -- half of whom are guards. So I decided to try and increase the size of these settlements in an intelligent, immersive and canon-accurate manner. This will, in the first stage, deal mainly with adding more buildings (or opening up inaccessible buildings) and adding more NPCs, giving them routines and having them become a part of that 'settlement'. The second stage will include adding quests and involving dialogue and other features.
The second project, Wasteland Expansion, was started by me and Khet. Khet had his own project whereby he hoped to open up many closed-off, boarded-up buildings throughout the wastelands (for instance, there are a total of ~350 buildings which use the boarded-up doorway throughout the wastes). This mainly deals with adding many new interiors and populating them with interesting loot, creatures, NPCs and stuff of that sort. After "finding each other" and noticing our two projects had similar goals we decided to semi-merge into one project.
So here we stand. I have begun working on expanding settlements. The first stage of expansion on Arefu is complete (I released a fairly buggy BETA here. I have added new structures and new NPCs while trying hard to keep Arefu the "small, desolate" town in atmosphere. Eventually I will modify Arefu so that most if not all of these additions only take effect once the Arefu quest dealing with the Family is completed by the Player (since it's established that most inhabitants have fled due to the Family, and thus wouldn't return unless the threat was dealt with one way or another). Included is a bar-store, where a new NPC, Jesse, mans a bar and sells assorted lowly junk.
I have begun working on Canterbury Commons along the same lines. I've added three new interiors so far, opening up three of the previously-closed off buildings in Canterbury. In line with established facts about Canterbury I will not be adding any shops. I may add an NPC with a high repair skill (perhaps higher than any other NPC in the Wastelands). Most new inhabitants will be simple citizens of the settlement.
Others have risen up to help. Someone has begun work on expanding the inside of Tenpenny Towers (which has ~20 stories but only 3 which are accessible) and others have offered to help in various ways.
As said, the hope is to create a wasteland inhabited by more interesting settlements which give off the impression that they have been lived in for decades, rather than the "we set this town up last week" feel that most settlements have. Megaton will not be touched; it is essentially perfect in terms of design and structure and it generally looks like it's been around for ages, with plenty of inhabitants, shops, bars, homes and things to do.
So with all that said I'd like to get "NMA-style feedback" and discussion, and perhaps help. Settlements in FO1/2 were much more impressive than most of the settlements we see in the D.C. wastelands and I'd think this sort of change would be enjoyed by many here. So let me know what you think, give the BETA a try, and volunteer to help if you'd like!
I've been lurking here for awhile but as yet couldn't register. I had to jump through hoops with my ISP to get myself an email address from them, and now I have. Rejoice!
Anyway, I wanted to open discussion on a project I'm working on here. Actually, they're two projects, sort of. First is the "Settlements Expanded Project", started by myself. Second is the "Wasteland Expansion Project", started by myself and another modder.
Settlements Expanded is an attempt by me to increase the size and relative importance of many D.C. area settlements. Many, including myself, were quite disappointed to find many of these settlements really weren't deserving of the title "town". Arefu, Canterbury Commons and Big Town inparticular are little more than a couple of hollowed out buildings with a small handful of people living in them. Larger settlements, such as Tenpenny Tower, Rivet City and Paradise Falls are themselves too small for what they are supposed to present, particularly in the case of Rivet City, which is supposed to be the largest settlement in the D.C. Wastelands but has only a couple dozen inhabitants -- half of whom are guards. So I decided to try and increase the size of these settlements in an intelligent, immersive and canon-accurate manner. This will, in the first stage, deal mainly with adding more buildings (or opening up inaccessible buildings) and adding more NPCs, giving them routines and having them become a part of that 'settlement'. The second stage will include adding quests and involving dialogue and other features.
The second project, Wasteland Expansion, was started by me and Khet. Khet had his own project whereby he hoped to open up many closed-off, boarded-up buildings throughout the wastelands (for instance, there are a total of ~350 buildings which use the boarded-up doorway throughout the wastes). This mainly deals with adding many new interiors and populating them with interesting loot, creatures, NPCs and stuff of that sort. After "finding each other" and noticing our two projects had similar goals we decided to semi-merge into one project.
So here we stand. I have begun working on expanding settlements. The first stage of expansion on Arefu is complete (I released a fairly buggy BETA here. I have added new structures and new NPCs while trying hard to keep Arefu the "small, desolate" town in atmosphere. Eventually I will modify Arefu so that most if not all of these additions only take effect once the Arefu quest dealing with the Family is completed by the Player (since it's established that most inhabitants have fled due to the Family, and thus wouldn't return unless the threat was dealt with one way or another). Included is a bar-store, where a new NPC, Jesse, mans a bar and sells assorted lowly junk.
I have begun working on Canterbury Commons along the same lines. I've added three new interiors so far, opening up three of the previously-closed off buildings in Canterbury. In line with established facts about Canterbury I will not be adding any shops. I may add an NPC with a high repair skill (perhaps higher than any other NPC in the Wastelands). Most new inhabitants will be simple citizens of the settlement.
Others have risen up to help. Someone has begun work on expanding the inside of Tenpenny Towers (which has ~20 stories but only 3 which are accessible) and others have offered to help in various ways.
As said, the hope is to create a wasteland inhabited by more interesting settlements which give off the impression that they have been lived in for decades, rather than the "we set this town up last week" feel that most settlements have. Megaton will not be touched; it is essentially perfect in terms of design and structure and it generally looks like it's been around for ages, with plenty of inhabitants, shops, bars, homes and things to do.
So with all that said I'd like to get "NMA-style feedback" and discussion, and perhaps help. Settlements in FO1/2 were much more impressive than most of the settlements we see in the D.C. wastelands and I'd think this sort of change would be enjoyed by many here. So let me know what you think, give the BETA a try, and volunteer to help if you'd like!
