What would you think of...

[Surf Solar]

... a much more bleak and depressing setting in Fallout?

I am thinking of making a little mod in this setting, but as I just started to learn all these mechanics I can't promise it will be ever finished of course.

My basic idea was potraying maybe a family of 3-4 people.
The game starts right before the war starts and will show the general paranoia, when finally the day comes the nukes hit the american continent. The family will manage to hide in their bunker, thanks to fathers good preparations, he knew what would come etc.

You then gain control of your character and will try to survive in these harsh times. There is shortage of food, water and general depression kicks in. I want to solve much more of these situations via dialogues, then combat etc. Then, some day you HAVE to go out of your bunker and the reality catches you. Everything is gone, destroyed, dead, radiated, wiped out. You will basically have to survive, not to run around gunning everyone.

What I basically want to know is: are players even interested in such adventures? With barely a fight in it, more telling a story, showing the ethics and situations right after such a horrible war?
Would players get bored soon, because it's too mean and boring not to be able to fight proper?

I am really interested in your opinions!

 

[Quoth]

This cannot be boring unless it's badly written.

What would be the storyline like? Something like The Road?

A family who runs out of supplies finally emerges form the underground to make their way into a new world order around there somewhere, or possible the coast.

Although, the game would feel somehow incomplete without combat. If the dad was so well prepared and depending on your tagged skills he would give you a hunting rifle or a magnum revolver to fight cannibals or desperate marauders walking about the fresh wastes for supplies or food (you). Ammo must be a serious problem, gathering what you can from successul cannibal anihilations.

Quests, quests, quests...

Helping a faction to bring down another faction, or make the two factions working together for survival.

But maybe is too early to have factions already, maybe just small groups of families or gangs.

 

[Surf Solar]

This cannot be boring unless it's badly written.

Ok, then I will do my best.

Something like The Road?

Yes, actually the Road is a big inspiration for me, also "The Day after", or "Threads". Of course there needs to be a balance between more tense moments and the fight for survival, else player will get bored.

Although, the game would feel somehow incomplete without combat. If the dad was so well prepared and depending on your tagged skills he would give you a hunting rifle or a magnum revolver to fight cannibals or miscellaneous marauders walking about the fresh wastes. Ammo must be a serious problem, gathering what you can from successul cannibal anihilations.

Exactly, I want to solve many problems via dialogue, but sometimes a gun is needed. Ammos should be scarce, you should be thankfull to find 2 shells of shotgun ammo in some locker.
A guy who threatens you is somewhat in the same situation like you, he tries to survive. With high speech skill you may be even overtalk him and he decides to join you, instead of both people get killed. I am thinking of such situations, where your choices really have consequences.

 

[Quoth]

What do you expect the main character to be like at the end of the adventure? Do you want to implement levelling at all?

This doesn't sound like your regular hero of the wastes plot, with plasma rifles, secret underground facilities and power armor.

 

[Surf Solar]

Exactly, I always disliked the end game content, crazy sci-fi weapons and all this stuff. You will be just the regular, average U.S citizen.
That's why I opened this thread, because I can think of that people maybe don't like to run around with "crappy" weapons like pipe rifles etc. throught the whole game.


I don't even know if this is possible, but I would throw out skills and such at all (so as the levelling) to make it more like an interactive novell. Of course I don't know if this is even possible as said, it's much likely that this won't work in the end.

I didn't think of the end of it yet, as I just brainstormed a few ideas. Though, this kind of game was always a dream for me to make.

 

[Quoth]

My dream game would be something like yours, but it would use the Penumbra engine, from a first person viewpoint, with the mouse used mostly for picking up objects or notes.

 

[camil2003]

I would very much like a setting like this.
I was a lover of threads(shows nobody truly wins in war and the survivors deserve the pity most of all).

Heck some guy is making an rpg that I liked for the setting(although his taste in music left alot to be desired). sure its an rpg maker game but it still had the feeling of trying to survive in an harsh world where threats were alot stronger than you(shame its only demo for now)

Everything turns Gray
http://rpgmaker.net/games/881/blog/


Now to my thing I have been throwing some ideas for a post apocalyptic sort of game on word with my ideas but I nothing made.

First was different template backgrounds with their own skills and things to start which could benefit and cripple you in the game from the beginning or even the end.

In everything is Gray they had a fatigue gauge that you needed food and water along with some sleep to replenish less you get closer to and I liked the idea and wanted to use a better version of it along with weather hurting your condition(Gray had this system as a simple it drained you fatigue faster when it rained or snowed) but I want to expand and make a getting sick thing with it too.

Also for the eating system I want to incorporate a sort of system where the main character can only eat certain things depending on his build(Like he or she flat out refuses to eat certain things unless really hungry or deprived and even then will not do it unless they have felt the sting of hunger and desperation several times over.)

As I said earlier in the beginning the main will get background templates kind of like mass effect but actually have more effect for childhood, teenager and adulthood and the templates start as a beginning that you can play through or skip and just read a journal about but they each give skills and starting builds for the main character. I am working on a blank build which allows the main to have no background but can adapt easier and learn more than the other builds to for people who want more freedom.

I haven't gotten all the templates worked out yet but basically I developed two templates were Survivor and Soldier.

Survivor is the main character was the survivor of some horrible accident that stranded him and many other people far away from society and help and he had to adapt skills to survive(such as cannibalism, knowledge of herbs, hunting skills and the ability to survive and adapt in harsh weather and environment.

This Build will help in the harsh apocalyptic world as the main can already eat things others would deem nasty and harsh to survive but when it comes to fighting, handling guns or technology(Like advanced kinds like computers, etc) or medical skills, lockpick or anything else then the survivor will find it somewhat rough.

The next build I got down is the soldier for obvious reasons and it is a fighter sort of class for combat and handling fear(Wanted to try putting in a fear sort of system with anxiety and all that) but when it comes to high survival in a harsh world then the soldier starts off bad(Soldiers are trained to fight not survive).

I liked fallouts way of gaining different skills and all classes can gain some of the skills from other classes through training, desperation, work or even odd things.

Like with cannibalism you gain it through severally starving yourself and eating nastier and nastier foods(rotten or raw) and finally after one severe starvation case you can examine and eat a person and when the main agrees you gain cannibalism.

Its an okay skill because it enables you to eat people and other things to make it easier for food but in the societies to come cannibalism is looked on as a barbarian like skill and most societies or followers will not like it and Cannibalism can and will allow you to contract diseases very easily.

There is sort of a weight gain and in shape sort of system but I haven't really thought of much on it.

Phew I need a break for now but what do you guys think?

 

[camil2003]

Also while the ability to fight and defend yourself is on many levels an important skill(Often glorified over other skills in many other games) I want to make it only a skill with its own benefits and weaknesses as there are many options to a situation that can solve or end it.

I can be the best gunslinger and ranbo incarnate but a simple disease or starvation can cripple me and kill me(its how it should be in a harsh world).

Even when diplomacy doesn't work there are still skills that can indirectly defeat enemies without combat.

Got some ideas but the closest one I got is traps that can stun or flat out kill enemies along with a sort of pet system and there is followers.

 

[mor]

... a much more bleak and depressing setting in Fallout?

I am thinking of making a little mod in this setting, but as I just started to learn all these mechanics I can't promise it will be ever finished of course.

My basic idea was potraying maybe a family of 3-4 people.
The game starts right before the war starts and will show the general paranoia, when finally the day comes the nukes hit the american continent. The family will manage to hide in their bunker, thanks to fathers good preparations, he knew what would come etc.

You then gain control of your character and will try to survive in these harsh times. There is shortage of food, water and general depression kicks in. I want to solve much more of these situations via dialogues, then combat etc. Then, some day you HAVE to go out of your bunker and the reality catches you. Everything is gone, destroyed, dead, radiated, wiped out. You will basically have to survive, not to run around gunning everyone.

What I basically want to know is: are players even interested in such adventures? With barely a fight in it, more telling a story, showing the ethics and situations right after such a horrible war?
Would players get bored soon, because it's too mean and boring not to be able to fight proper?

I am really interested in your opinions!

that a great idea, the only problem is if you can make it, the writing will be the easy part ..

My dream game would be something like yours, but it would use the Penumbra engine, from a first person viewpoint, with the mouse used mostly for picking up objects or notes.

the engine is nothing special but Penumbra created a very nice setting, its was very refreshing compared to the usual stuff but many of paradox games are, its one of my favorite publisher and while they are small and make games that usually unplayable until the second patch but they compensate with games that i like.

 

[x'il]

(...) With barely a fight in it, more telling a story, showing the ethics and situations right after such a horrible war?

(...) the writing will be the easy part ..

Giving Surf Solar's goal, quite the contrary i'd say.

I am thinking of making a little mod in this setting, but as I just started to learn all these mechanics I can't promise it will be ever finished of course.

You mean an FO mod or something else?

 

[Oerjeke]

I'd actually enjoy this most likely. I mean, I do enjoy the quirkyness in Fallout games but a little more realistic and serious game - even if it's a mod - would be nice.

 

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

Before you start thinking about what would go into the mod, or whether or not people would like to play it, you need to start writing. I recommend creating your story arc, and then writing out the entire thing. Once you're finished, and are satisfied with the results (don't get too hung up on editing it yet), take a week or two off and put it out of your mind.

After that, if you no longer have the drive to work on it, you've at least written a cool post-apoc story.

If you still want to work on it, then you've probably got a few new ideas floating around. It's time to go through the entire thing a few times, revising and editing as you go. Now you're going to want to make a few copies, and show it to some friends for some feedback. After that's done, you'll need to edit it and further refine it based on the feedback you received.

If you've managed to go through this entire process, you'll have a solid story written up for your mod to be based on; and you can now start thinking about the mod itself.

Good luck

 

[cratchety ol joe]

I can only offer advice from experience of an RPG i ran some years ago.

I spent a good couple of months planning out scene by scene each section of the adventure, (in some respects it was quite rail-road'd by my approach, but in each instance players had the control of what happened)

I deliberately went out of my way to choose how the course of the game should go, including writing several scenario specific 'encounters' and events.

Overall i think there were 4 main chapters (possibly 5, I cant remember it was some time ago)

In each chapter I decided a general time-line of events what 'goals' were achievable and what effect on the characters and overall story there would be due to the events of the chapter.

as such I was able to stick closely to the 'story' and it kept the players eager for more. although mine did have heavy combat action involved, some of the best and most memorable parts were out of combat in events which were pivotal to the storyline.

So yes, ensure your story is solid, plan out lots of 'what if...' and be sure to keep the story and the player characters together, its all to easy to have a story go on around the PC's and as a player it starts to feel remote and uninteresting.

I'd be glad to help write and create with you I enjoy creating things, the challenge of trying to both predict what could happen and also to help guide PC's in the right direction.

 

[Jax Sparrow]

The idea in my opinion is great I really do hope that you can do that mod, and that desperation that you want to achieve is one of the things that I enjoyed about fallout.

 

[Surf Solar]

Thanks for your comments so far.

x'il, yes, it will be a FO Mod.

I first had this idea when I tried to learn the basic modding stuff in Fallout. Created some maps just for fun at the beginning (hell, is this mapper a bitch to use ). I slowly began to create a little background for these maps, wrote everything down and let it rest, such as Phil (btw thank you for the little 'guide' ) suggested. Tried out placing scripts, rewriting scripts and of course dialogues (which isn't that easy too for me). For now, I let the maps I already have aside and concentrate in fleshing out the story, such as you suggested. It's good to see that people are interested in such a setting and gives me motivation to work further on it. Thank you!