The below documentation was written for version 1.5.0 in 2015 and is fully up to date.
Overview
The Safe is comprised of five sections, four outdoor and one interior. All exterior sections take place in Court House Square, named after real location in Washington D.C. After entering Court House Square from the Wasteland worldspace, the player will start in the Entrance area (Blue). The entrance connects to the Rise (Orange) and the Ruin (Green), both of which connect to the Camp (Red) which in turn connects to the interior and end-goal: The Safe (Yellow).
The mod respects the guidelines set by Fallout 1 that the player should be able to resolve primary-quest situation either by talking, fighting or sneaking, and that sidequests should allow at least for two of these options. As sidequest only Stealth and Combat will be a focus. Charismatic characters with low fighting or sneaking skills are therefore less likely to be able to finish this area with ease. The Entrance gives the player a short moment to find their bearings and decide on their method. The Ruin focuses on stealth gameplay and has a higher density of cover objects, while the Rise prefers running-and-gunning with limited cover to hide behind. The end-goal is the Camp where the player can sneak or fight their way through in order to reach the Safe. Between the Ruin, the Rise and the Camp are hazards and traps in the shape of explosive objects, minefields and tripwires.
The mod respects the guidelines set by Fallout 1 that the player should be able to resolve primary-quest situation either by talking, fighting or sneaking, and that sidequests should allow at least for two of these options. As sidequest only Stealth and Combat will be a focus. Charismatic characters with low fighting or sneaking skills are therefore less likely to be able to finish this area with ease. The Entrance gives the player a short moment to find their bearings and decide on their method. The Ruin focuses on stealth gameplay and has a higher density of cover objects, while the Rise prefers running-and-gunning with limited cover to hide behind. The end-goal is the Camp where the player can sneak or fight their way through in order to reach the Safe. Between the Ruin, the Rise and the Camp are hazards and traps in the shape of explosive objects, minefields and tripwires.
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Flow
Combat & Stealth
In order to sneak through this area successfully at low level the player has to sneak through the ground floor of the ruin, past a dog, and across an open courtyard. From there the player can reach the high ground and circle around the camp. High level characters could take any route with sufficient points in Sneaking or specialised equipment.
If the player prefers to fight their way through there are three additional routes available by staying on the ground level, by taking the bridge from the Ruin to the Rise, or by climbing the Rise from the Entrance. Pillboxes and minefields come with clear lines of sight, enabling the player to snipe the enemy. Closer range players will have to take alternative routes on their approach to prevent soaking up too much damage from enemy fire.
Story Drops
The next section contains spoilers. Consider playing the mod before reading!
Regardless of personal playstyle, the player is encouraged into exploring the entire area by finding notes on the bodies of named characters and by reading a terminal required to unlock a door. The notes and terminal tell two stories: Of Gilbert and Clara and their valued getaway nicknamed 'the Safe' twenty years ago, and the Talon Company Mercenaries and their desire to open a 'safe' of supposed value in the present.
The Safe interior contains a terminal that may confirm the player’s suspicions or drives the player to find the remaining notes. Reading a specific entry on the terminal will cause Boss Ease to spawn on the player’s way out. Boss Ease carries the only message from Clara and explains Gilbert’s fate, hopefully giving the player closure to the story.
In order to sneak through this area successfully at low level the player has to sneak through the ground floor of the ruin, past a dog, and across an open courtyard. From there the player can reach the high ground and circle around the camp. High level characters could take any route with sufficient points in Sneaking or specialised equipment.
If the player prefers to fight their way through there are three additional routes available by staying on the ground level, by taking the bridge from the Ruin to the Rise, or by climbing the Rise from the Entrance. Pillboxes and minefields come with clear lines of sight, enabling the player to snipe the enemy. Closer range players will have to take alternative routes on their approach to prevent soaking up too much damage from enemy fire.
Story Drops
The next section contains spoilers. Consider playing the mod before reading!
Regardless of personal playstyle, the player is encouraged into exploring the entire area by finding notes on the bodies of named characters and by reading a terminal required to unlock a door. The notes and terminal tell two stories: Of Gilbert and Clara and their valued getaway nicknamed 'the Safe' twenty years ago, and the Talon Company Mercenaries and their desire to open a 'safe' of supposed value in the present.
- The first boss NPC, conveniently named Boss Nirck, carries two notes: One message from GIlbert, and one that highlights Walsh as an NPC.
- Finding Walsh nets the player a note that hints to a stray dog and a minefield.
- Finding the dog’s toys nets the player a note that confirms all the clues the player may have found up to this point, identifies the Safe door and links the dog into the overarching story.
- Note #2 is by a pillbox with an unnamed but obviously positioned mercenary and contains the least clues, allowing the player to miss it without losing any essential detail to the story.
The Safe interior contains a terminal that may confirm the player’s suspicions or drives the player to find the remaining notes. Reading a specific entry on the terminal will cause Boss Ease to spawn on the player’s way out. Boss Ease carries the only message from Clara and explains Gilbert’s fate, hopefully giving the player closure to the story.
Story & Events
The story told is a mixture of implicit and explicit. The environmental storytelling clues are on their own of limited value, but their function is reinforced after reading the available notes and terminal entries.
A quest was added that takes the player from Vault 101 to Court House Square. The story contained in the Safe is more befitting as an unmarked quest, but was made a marked quest for the sake of accessibility.
Story Breakdown
Stage 1: The first encounter with the add-on is at Vault 101’s immediate exterior. The Scenic Overlook, typically reserved for the player’s first view of the Capital Wasteland, now has the addition of an ammunition case and a dead wastelander referring to the absence of Gilbert, and the question if he had left Court House Square. Obtaining this note reveals the location of Court House Square on the map and begins the quest: “Living a Fantasy”. The player is to access Court House Square and find Gilbert.
Stage 2: Once in Court House Square, the player will find additional notes and terminals which tell the story of Gilbert and Clara, a husband and wife exploring the ruins of the Capital Wasteland. Gilbert has found something of great value and, after having shown it to Clara, installed a security system that only allows the wearers of their Pip-boys to open its door.
The door is referenced in two notes that can be found in the area. The members of Talon Company, using these notes and additional hints from Gilbert’s correspondence, have attempted to gain entrance using their own Pip-boys, a wandering Gary from Vault 108 and their latest attempt: A series of uncovered servers to hack the security system. When found, the notes add entries to the player’s Pip-boy to help them find the Safe.
Stage 3: The player finds the door linked to a cryptic terminal which refers to a failed external connection. When the player authenticates their Pip-boy the terminal will grant them access, referring to the player as “Clara”. The player may now unlock and enter the Safe.
Stage 4: Inside the player finds the remains of a ghoulified Gilbert in Vault 101 attire and coming near it completes the quest of finding Gilbert. There is a terminal in the far back still glowing a faint green, with a workbench and weapon besides it. The terminal tells the stories of his last month alive, how he and Clara are members of a Vault 101 expedition, how he found the Safe, secured it to their Pip-boys, and finally how his Pip-boy failed while he was inside: Entombing him.
Stage 5: The terminal also contains a will begging the player to find Clara and bring her the weapon he made for her. The player does not receive a follow-up quest upon reading this; with the intention of implying that this task cannot be performed.
Stage 6: Upon exiting, the player encounters three new Talon Company thugs. Killing those yields new notes from Clara, dated twenty years ago: Vault 101 recalled its expedition and she returned to their overseer. As her route takes her through the east, she asks Gilbert to visit Moira Brown’s on his way back from the south to pay their dues and to notify Moira Brown that her services are no longer required. Gilbert never received this message.
Intended Implications
Environmental Storytelling
The area contains elements that hint at the pre-war purpose of buildings or more recent events. There are two small stories told throughout worth highlighting:
Walsh & the Dog
Corporal Walsh refers in his notes to the dog, and admits to having cleared some of the mines for the dog’s wellbeing. What the note does not mention is that Walsh also took baseballs from the other mercenaries and used them to play fetch with the dog.
To support this, a stockpile of balls and other toys can be found in the ruin, with baseball equipment all over the mercenary locations but no baseballs.
Gilbert’s Terms
Gilbert did not die of starvation, dehydration or radiation. His dinner table still has food and water, and ghouls do not directly suffer from radiation poisoning. He died from an overdose of Med-X (Which in Fallout is implied to be morphine), going on his own terms. Radiation and the sealed room has kept the corpse sterile enough to not decompose too much.
A quest was added that takes the player from Vault 101 to Court House Square. The story contained in the Safe is more befitting as an unmarked quest, but was made a marked quest for the sake of accessibility.
Story Breakdown
Stage 1: The first encounter with the add-on is at Vault 101’s immediate exterior. The Scenic Overlook, typically reserved for the player’s first view of the Capital Wasteland, now has the addition of an ammunition case and a dead wastelander referring to the absence of Gilbert, and the question if he had left Court House Square. Obtaining this note reveals the location of Court House Square on the map and begins the quest: “Living a Fantasy”. The player is to access Court House Square and find Gilbert.
Stage 2: Once in Court House Square, the player will find additional notes and terminals which tell the story of Gilbert and Clara, a husband and wife exploring the ruins of the Capital Wasteland. Gilbert has found something of great value and, after having shown it to Clara, installed a security system that only allows the wearers of their Pip-boys to open its door.
The door is referenced in two notes that can be found in the area. The members of Talon Company, using these notes and additional hints from Gilbert’s correspondence, have attempted to gain entrance using their own Pip-boys, a wandering Gary from Vault 108 and their latest attempt: A series of uncovered servers to hack the security system. When found, the notes add entries to the player’s Pip-boy to help them find the Safe.
Stage 3: The player finds the door linked to a cryptic terminal which refers to a failed external connection. When the player authenticates their Pip-boy the terminal will grant them access, referring to the player as “Clara”. The player may now unlock and enter the Safe.
Stage 4: Inside the player finds the remains of a ghoulified Gilbert in Vault 101 attire and coming near it completes the quest of finding Gilbert. There is a terminal in the far back still glowing a faint green, with a workbench and weapon besides it. The terminal tells the stories of his last month alive, how he and Clara are members of a Vault 101 expedition, how he found the Safe, secured it to their Pip-boys, and finally how his Pip-boy failed while he was inside: Entombing him.
Stage 5: The terminal also contains a will begging the player to find Clara and bring her the weapon he made for her. The player does not receive a follow-up quest upon reading this; with the intention of implying that this task cannot be performed.
Stage 6: Upon exiting, the player encounters three new Talon Company thugs. Killing those yields new notes from Clara, dated twenty years ago: Vault 101 recalled its expedition and she returned to their overseer. As her route takes her through the east, she asks Gilbert to visit Moira Brown’s on his way back from the south to pay their dues and to notify Moira Brown that her services are no longer required. Gilbert never received this message.
Intended Implications
- Gilbert had found a safe house to live in. Talon Company mistook it for a game changing weapon and set their operation on recovering it, forming the primary antagonist in this quest.
- The reason the player cannot find Clara is because she died prior to the player’s tenth birthday. Felix (From Fallout 3's tutorial) claims he had to repair the Pip-Boy he gifts to the player and that it's very old. The player has worn her Pip-boy from then on and could unwittingly use it to open the door to the safe. The player's Pip-Boy was formerly Clara's.
- Lastly, the story hooks into the original Fallout 3 content as Clara mentions Moira Brown. Moira Brown has an armored Vault 101 suit which a woman never returned for. Clara asked Gilbert to pick up the suit and pay Moira for it, but he never came: Leaving the suit in Moira’s possession for 20 years until the player arrives.
Environmental Storytelling
The area contains elements that hint at the pre-war purpose of buildings or more recent events. There are two small stories told throughout worth highlighting:
Walsh & the Dog
Corporal Walsh refers in his notes to the dog, and admits to having cleared some of the mines for the dog’s wellbeing. What the note does not mention is that Walsh also took baseballs from the other mercenaries and used them to play fetch with the dog.
To support this, a stockpile of balls and other toys can be found in the ruin, with baseball equipment all over the mercenary locations but no baseballs.
Gilbert’s Terms
Gilbert did not die of starvation, dehydration or radiation. His dinner table still has food and water, and ghouls do not directly suffer from radiation poisoning. He died from an overdose of Med-X (Which in Fallout is implied to be morphine), going on his own terms. Radiation and the sealed room has kept the corpse sterile enough to not decompose too much.
Implementation
Greyboxing
The Safe began as a series of sketches, starting with two isolated shooting ranges that coalesced into three linked combat areas. I first greyboxed the area using large ‘Wall Retaining’ kit pieces, which doubled as both buildings and level boundaries. I then slowly began adding aesthetic elements to get a feel for the area. Because the area is in the downtown D.C. area I knew I had limited options of creating large open spaces, and so opted to keep the base layout on the grid to mimic the fairly tight city structure. An added benefit of staying on grid was that I could make the most out of the existing kits with less work into custom setups.
Once I had determined the rough shape of the area I began replacing the largest placeholders, trying out different configurations of high-grounds, ruins, parks, roads and rubble, knowing that I would have to build around these elements for the remainder of the project. I ended up with the current configuration as it allows for several encounters in a limited space, encouraging player agency in terms of movement, weapon set and playstyle.
The larger assets are very demanding in footprint. Because of this, and the bombed out city aesthetic, I kept very few intact buildings so I could kitbash more easily. Kitbashed buildings and large amounts of rubble also formed the basis to hiding my reliance on the grid, creating more smoothe corners and less predictable geometry.
The Safe began as a series of sketches, starting with two isolated shooting ranges that coalesced into three linked combat areas. I first greyboxed the area using large ‘Wall Retaining’ kit pieces, which doubled as both buildings and level boundaries. I then slowly began adding aesthetic elements to get a feel for the area. Because the area is in the downtown D.C. area I knew I had limited options of creating large open spaces, and so opted to keep the base layout on the grid to mimic the fairly tight city structure. An added benefit of staying on grid was that I could make the most out of the existing kits with less work into custom setups.
Once I had determined the rough shape of the area I began replacing the largest placeholders, trying out different configurations of high-grounds, ruins, parks, roads and rubble, knowing that I would have to build around these elements for the remainder of the project. I ended up with the current configuration as it allows for several encounters in a limited space, encouraging player agency in terms of movement, weapon set and playstyle.
The larger assets are very demanding in footprint. Because of this, and the bombed out city aesthetic, I kept very few intact buildings so I could kitbash more easily. Kitbashed buildings and large amounts of rubble also formed the basis to hiding my reliance on the grid, creating more smoothe corners and less predictable geometry.
Story & Gunplay
Once I had the boundaries set I implemented all story elements: I created the notes, placed them in the world, created the terminals and connected them to the door leading to the interior.
From this point on I began playtesting the game more intensely, setting up ranged Talon Company members to function as targets to mimic what the player would be able to see, allowing me to determine the number of combatants involved, player movement and NPC responses. Medium objects were added to compliment the larger objects and placeholders were mostly rid of at this stage.
By determining how the player was likely to move through the area I could begin implementing the stealth and combat routes in more detail, adding loot, cover, blocking volumes and decorations. A rough navmesh was placed to allow NPCs to move more freely during testing and as details became more final so did the navmesh become more detailed. Grenade bouquets, landmines, exploding cars, medkits, nuka-colas and convenient ammunition dumps were all added to make certain scenarios play out with the opportunity to sneak, cause cool explosions and find handy medpacks.
AI
I decided to keep the AI relatively simple as this area functions as a bandit camp with no dialogue interactions. Instead they rely on basic patrols, animation markers and furniture to look active and allow the player to plan their stealth approaches with relative reliability.
These decision was mostly from the consideration of scope: The AI is not a highpoint of this area, such as they might be in a city. If Talon Company was more interactive in other parts of the game I may have allowed the player to negotiate their part of the loot if they unlock the door.
Were I to include dialogue and negotiation, I would also include a daily cycle of activities for the main camp and all named characters
Once I had the boundaries set I implemented all story elements: I created the notes, placed them in the world, created the terminals and connected them to the door leading to the interior.
From this point on I began playtesting the game more intensely, setting up ranged Talon Company members to function as targets to mimic what the player would be able to see, allowing me to determine the number of combatants involved, player movement and NPC responses. Medium objects were added to compliment the larger objects and placeholders were mostly rid of at this stage.
By determining how the player was likely to move through the area I could begin implementing the stealth and combat routes in more detail, adding loot, cover, blocking volumes and decorations. A rough navmesh was placed to allow NPCs to move more freely during testing and as details became more final so did the navmesh become more detailed. Grenade bouquets, landmines, exploding cars, medkits, nuka-colas and convenient ammunition dumps were all added to make certain scenarios play out with the opportunity to sneak, cause cool explosions and find handy medpacks.
AI
I decided to keep the AI relatively simple as this area functions as a bandit camp with no dialogue interactions. Instead they rely on basic patrols, animation markers and furniture to look active and allow the player to plan their stealth approaches with relative reliability.
These decision was mostly from the consideration of scope: The AI is not a highpoint of this area, such as they might be in a city. If Talon Company was more interactive in other parts of the game I may have allowed the player to negotiate their part of the loot if they unlock the door.
Were I to include dialogue and negotiation, I would also include a daily cycle of activities for the main camp and all named characters
Environmental Hazards
Several environmental hazards were introduced to keep the player on their toes around the ruin. There are three distinct hazards in two areas of the ruin.
The first two hazards occur when the player uses the ruin to cross the bridge. The player is first primed to pay attention by having to avoid the holes in the floor. The drops are non-lethal and force the player to repeat a small section of the building. Once conditioned to mind their step, the player may come across a box of landmines to then face three deployed landmines on a relatively narrow bridge, the bridge itself is also riddled with holes which should keep the player’s awareness high. The attentive player should be able to move through this area safely, less attentive players may cripple a limb or die.
Another environmental hazard is a grenade bouquet hanging over the City Liner, a bus with a large explosive radius. The player is not primed to this trap, which itself is triggered by a tripwire on a narrow route between the bus and a wall. As the route is hidden, it is assumed the player is more perceptive than typical players and requires less conditioning. Should the player hit the tripwire they still have a window of time to escape the blast radius at the cost of being detected. As the player hits a checkpoint entering the area less than ~1.5 minutes earlier and these traps are part of the first encounter I consider it fair game to deal heavy damage on these traps.
From a narrative standpoint, the traps are set up across these buildings to help the Talon Company crew to cover their rear, as they lack the manpower to patrol the entire area. Some mines are cleared by Technician Walsh, as he is afraid the dog will trigger them, hence the box with inert mines.
Exploding cars are placed in wide open spaces to function as generic, short-lived cover. The player is capable of hiding behind them from a distance, but should remain aware of their potential to explode. For close-quarters inert cars are used instead, to prevent players from deeming the encounter space to be ‘unfair’. One army truck, which was used to ship the servers for Talon Company, stands at the camp. It can be used to kill at least one gunman with a nearby patrol.
Several environmental hazards were introduced to keep the player on their toes around the ruin. There are three distinct hazards in two areas of the ruin.
The first two hazards occur when the player uses the ruin to cross the bridge. The player is first primed to pay attention by having to avoid the holes in the floor. The drops are non-lethal and force the player to repeat a small section of the building. Once conditioned to mind their step, the player may come across a box of landmines to then face three deployed landmines on a relatively narrow bridge, the bridge itself is also riddled with holes which should keep the player’s awareness high. The attentive player should be able to move through this area safely, less attentive players may cripple a limb or die.
Another environmental hazard is a grenade bouquet hanging over the City Liner, a bus with a large explosive radius. The player is not primed to this trap, which itself is triggered by a tripwire on a narrow route between the bus and a wall. As the route is hidden, it is assumed the player is more perceptive than typical players and requires less conditioning. Should the player hit the tripwire they still have a window of time to escape the blast radius at the cost of being detected. As the player hits a checkpoint entering the area less than ~1.5 minutes earlier and these traps are part of the first encounter I consider it fair game to deal heavy damage on these traps.
From a narrative standpoint, the traps are set up across these buildings to help the Talon Company crew to cover their rear, as they lack the manpower to patrol the entire area. Some mines are cleared by Technician Walsh, as he is afraid the dog will trigger them, hence the box with inert mines.
Exploding cars are placed in wide open spaces to function as generic, short-lived cover. The player is capable of hiding behind them from a distance, but should remain aware of their potential to explode. For close-quarters inert cars are used instead, to prevent players from deeming the encounter space to be ‘unfair’. One army truck, which was used to ship the servers for Talon Company, stands at the camp. It can be used to kill at least one gunman with a nearby patrol.
Drawing the Eye
To help the player get the most from the environment I placed several objects to draw the player’s eye. To do this effectively I use objects that are in sharp contrast with the environment. The environment is mostly dull greys with supplements of brown through the standard Fallout 3 assets, and this appearance was maintained throughout most of the scenery with the exception of volatile car wrecks and interactive objects. In addition, nearly everything in the terrain is static, making moving objects more noticeable.
The player is drawn to the safe by a lit billboard and coloured houses standing over it, contrasting with the grey ruins on the same level.
To help the player get the most from the environment I placed several objects to draw the player’s eye. To do this effectively I use objects that are in sharp contrast with the environment. The environment is mostly dull greys with supplements of brown through the standard Fallout 3 assets, and this appearance was maintained throughout most of the scenery with the exception of volatile car wrecks and interactive objects. In addition, nearly everything in the terrain is static, making moving objects more noticeable.
The player is drawn to the safe by a lit billboard and coloured houses standing over it, contrasting with the grey ruins on the same level.
Hostile character are ordered on patrols that force them to frequently walk or stand upright near objects of a different shade to make them stand out and warn the player beforehand of a potential fight. Contrasting objects either make use of bright lights or movement to draw the eye, such as flaming drums, floodlights or a Nuka Cola vending machine.
The two images below highlight use of architecture and colour to guide the player. The bridge is the only curved architectural piece, and stands out to the rest of the environment for its height and colour. Hopefully making it more noticeable to players who attempt to reach it. The army truck and Nuka Cola machine in the other image are placed to suggest a stealth route by moving along the far right side of the area.
Loot
It is assumed players have no need for wealth, as this modification is made approximately 7 years after game release and the Fallout economy can be easily broken into a world-a-plenty at easy/medium difficulty. Therefore loot relies on intrinsic value over high-monetary value. It is assumed that players will still instinctively gather cartons of cigarettes, scrap metal, teddy bears and alcohol beverages and chase after popular and perceived rare items such as Nuka Cola and Nuka Cola Quantums.
Medkits are mostly placed to allow low-level characters to survive the area but also to lure the player into certain areas. The player receives one medkit as a freebie on the ground-floor of the ruin, and from that point on the player has to engage in encounters to earn them. One medkit was placed by the Rise camp as it is a location of high-traffic, in order to reach it the player must kill or deceive at least two Talon Company members. There is one medkit present in the Camp to help the player recover from their first boss fight, and another inside the Safe to prepare for the second boss fight, making for a total of four.
As the Rise had no strong theme on itself, I placed a Nuka Cola truck to increase its value to the player, relying on the conditioning of the player to want to find more Nuka Cola Quantum - A rare collectible. The truck faces with its rear towards the camp, putting the player in the line of sight of any potential attackers, but also to divert attention away from the blocking ruin at the cab.
Ammunition is placed to make sure the player has something to shoot with, though 5.56 assault rifle ammunition is most present to ensure the player has enough to go around when they receive a new unique assault rifle in the safe.
Other encounter sites, and moments of respite between them, were given miscellaneous junk to make the world seem more used. Random and mostly useless material, such as clipboards, baseballs and cutlery was placed for filler, with craftable junk to build new items from placed on more common routes.
The Safe, as means of a quest reward, contains two new weapons.
Weapons
For the safe I developed two new weapons, a modified rifle and a unique mortar-based weapon. The rifle, named Rusted Trust, was an experiment I wanted to make available to other players. It was the original reward for completing the Safe together with its twin. After completion I was unhappy with these simple modifications and decided to make a more enticing weapon to reward the player with: Baby Boomer.
Rusted Trust
Rusted Trust is a variant to the existing Chinese Machine Gun with an incredibly high rate of fire made to mimic the real life AK-47 firing rates together with expanded magazines. To offset the speed advantage, each bullet does less damage to a target. This makes the Rusted Trust great for rapid bursts of fire and a higher rate per second at the cost of having to use more ammunition to achieve this effect.
All other statistics on Rusted Trust are identical to typical Chinese Machine Guns, and can also be repaired using them.
It was named “Rusted Trust”, after Gilbert’s will written eighteen years ago: Trusting the Baby Boomer in the hands of a stranger.
Baby Boomer
Baby Boomer is a Railroad Rifle reconfigured to work as a portable, cluster mortar. It is unique in its class and fires “Rifle Grenades” in a strong arc. It fires four missile-shaped objects per shot and each lob deals explosive damage equal to 30% of a missile from the missile launcher. The Baby Boomer can fire three clusters before needing to reload.
Because of its arc, the Baby Boomer has two uses:
Close range is intended as a weapon of last resort, use is discouraged through the use of a large explosion radius, causing the player to frequently harm themselves at close-range. Point-blank use of the Baby Boomer will cause for heavy damage on the player. Long-range use yields a greater blast radius as it gives the lobs more time to disperse and also allows the player to fire from a great ranges out of, and into, full cover, it is also where the three shots per reload come into their own: By firing volleys the player can use explosions to blanket sizable areas of a battleground to weaken, if not kill, pockets of enemies.
Volleys are also essential to the weapon as the UI could not be adjusted for arc fire. The player is required to learn and estimate the appropriate angle to fire at in order to hit their target. The player is expected to fire volleys, causing a majority of lobs to miss frequently with a fair number of rewarding hits that wipe out weaker enemies in a single blast.
Ammunition carries the name of “Rifle Grenade”, after the real life counterpart. I considered it likely they were still used during the Great War of 2077 and so made them present throughout the Wasteland. It is intended to be plentiful, allowing the player to make frequent use of Baby Boomer with less concern over missing a shot. To make it plentiful the player can obtain it through two methods:
There is one schematic near Gilbert, one can be bought off of a specific merchant, the third is found in the bowels of a military base. Each schematic allows the player to make more rifle grenades out of the same number of components.
Rifle Grenades rely on other ammunition types to be made at a workbench. Few – if any – players ever store ammunition; Ammunition has no weight, and you never know when you might need it. This should, in theory, lower the threshold of making Rifle Grenades from existing components as compared to other craftable items, which rely on heavy and exotic parts to make. Making rifle grenades is not intended as a challenge, but as a supporting element to make this late entry into the player’s arsenal more accessible.
To compensate for the default animation, which slots a railroad spike into the weapon, the schematic states that for every three grenades you’ll need to replace the firing pin, as the explosion from firing damages the internal mechanism.
The rifle grenade deals considerable damage in a large area but is unwieldy and dangerous. It is not designed to be practical, but in the right hands can be incredibly fun to use.
It is assumed players have no need for wealth, as this modification is made approximately 7 years after game release and the Fallout economy can be easily broken into a world-a-plenty at easy/medium difficulty. Therefore loot relies on intrinsic value over high-monetary value. It is assumed that players will still instinctively gather cartons of cigarettes, scrap metal, teddy bears and alcohol beverages and chase after popular and perceived rare items such as Nuka Cola and Nuka Cola Quantums.
Medkits are mostly placed to allow low-level characters to survive the area but also to lure the player into certain areas. The player receives one medkit as a freebie on the ground-floor of the ruin, and from that point on the player has to engage in encounters to earn them. One medkit was placed by the Rise camp as it is a location of high-traffic, in order to reach it the player must kill or deceive at least two Talon Company members. There is one medkit present in the Camp to help the player recover from their first boss fight, and another inside the Safe to prepare for the second boss fight, making for a total of four.
As the Rise had no strong theme on itself, I placed a Nuka Cola truck to increase its value to the player, relying on the conditioning of the player to want to find more Nuka Cola Quantum - A rare collectible. The truck faces with its rear towards the camp, putting the player in the line of sight of any potential attackers, but also to divert attention away from the blocking ruin at the cab.
Ammunition is placed to make sure the player has something to shoot with, though 5.56 assault rifle ammunition is most present to ensure the player has enough to go around when they receive a new unique assault rifle in the safe.
Other encounter sites, and moments of respite between them, were given miscellaneous junk to make the world seem more used. Random and mostly useless material, such as clipboards, baseballs and cutlery was placed for filler, with craftable junk to build new items from placed on more common routes.
The Safe, as means of a quest reward, contains two new weapons.
Weapons
For the safe I developed two new weapons, a modified rifle and a unique mortar-based weapon. The rifle, named Rusted Trust, was an experiment I wanted to make available to other players. It was the original reward for completing the Safe together with its twin. After completion I was unhappy with these simple modifications and decided to make a more enticing weapon to reward the player with: Baby Boomer.
Rusted Trust
Rusted Trust is a variant to the existing Chinese Machine Gun with an incredibly high rate of fire made to mimic the real life AK-47 firing rates together with expanded magazines. To offset the speed advantage, each bullet does less damage to a target. This makes the Rusted Trust great for rapid bursts of fire and a higher rate per second at the cost of having to use more ammunition to achieve this effect.
All other statistics on Rusted Trust are identical to typical Chinese Machine Guns, and can also be repaired using them.
It was named “Rusted Trust”, after Gilbert’s will written eighteen years ago: Trusting the Baby Boomer in the hands of a stranger.
Baby Boomer
Baby Boomer is a Railroad Rifle reconfigured to work as a portable, cluster mortar. It is unique in its class and fires “Rifle Grenades” in a strong arc. It fires four missile-shaped objects per shot and each lob deals explosive damage equal to 30% of a missile from the missile launcher. The Baby Boomer can fire three clusters before needing to reload.
Because of its arc, the Baby Boomer has two uses:
- Low-arc close-range
- High-arc long-range
Close range is intended as a weapon of last resort, use is discouraged through the use of a large explosion radius, causing the player to frequently harm themselves at close-range. Point-blank use of the Baby Boomer will cause for heavy damage on the player. Long-range use yields a greater blast radius as it gives the lobs more time to disperse and also allows the player to fire from a great ranges out of, and into, full cover, it is also where the three shots per reload come into their own: By firing volleys the player can use explosions to blanket sizable areas of a battleground to weaken, if not kill, pockets of enemies.
Volleys are also essential to the weapon as the UI could not be adjusted for arc fire. The player is required to learn and estimate the appropriate angle to fire at in order to hit their target. The player is expected to fire volleys, causing a majority of lobs to miss frequently with a fair number of rewarding hits that wipe out weaker enemies in a single blast.
Ammunition carries the name of “Rifle Grenade”, after the real life counterpart. I considered it likely they were still used during the Great War of 2077 and so made them present throughout the Wasteland. It is intended to be plentiful, allowing the player to make frequent use of Baby Boomer with less concern over missing a shot. To make it plentiful the player can obtain it through two methods:
- Rifle Grenades can be found in any container that also contains missiles, in which case there is a chance they replace the missiles.
- This method is for new characters that are just starting their adventure.
- Rifle Grenades can be made at any workbench after finding one of three schematics.
- This method is for higher level characters that will already have ransacked most missile-containers, keeping them from obtaining rifle grenades.
There is one schematic near Gilbert, one can be bought off of a specific merchant, the third is found in the bowels of a military base. Each schematic allows the player to make more rifle grenades out of the same number of components.
Rifle Grenades rely on other ammunition types to be made at a workbench. Few – if any – players ever store ammunition; Ammunition has no weight, and you never know when you might need it. This should, in theory, lower the threshold of making Rifle Grenades from existing components as compared to other craftable items, which rely on heavy and exotic parts to make. Making rifle grenades is not intended as a challenge, but as a supporting element to make this late entry into the player’s arsenal more accessible.
To compensate for the default animation, which slots a railroad spike into the weapon, the schematic states that for every three grenades you’ll need to replace the firing pin, as the explosion from firing damages the internal mechanism.
The rifle grenade deals considerable damage in a large area but is unwieldy and dangerous. It is not designed to be practical, but in the right hands can be incredibly fun to use.
Optimisation
In order to make the level more accessible to a wider range of computers I took the following steps:
QA room
The QA room was added when combat testing became essential. In order to rapidly create varying characters and enter the area it was outfitted with anything a general adventurer obtains in low-medium levels, as well as a bobblehead that gives experience per tap for rapid level-up.
In order to access the QA room press tilde (~) to bring up the console screen either at the main menu or in-game and enter the code:
COC SafeStart
In order to make the level more accessible to a wider range of computers I took the following steps:
- I avoid committing all combatants in one single fight which – unless the player purposefully kites the enemy – rarely happens. This should prevent crashes to desktop.
- To keep the graphical footprint low I also avoid using single pieces from different kits, and reuse assets where possible, typically with unassuming assets and only in adjacent or opposite areas where players cannot directly see the similarities.
- Piles of rubble were added to block player vision and movement. In order to keep the player from climbing these I added collision planes at an upward slope. This reduces the need for a detailed backdrop.
QA room
The QA room was added when combat testing became essential. In order to rapidly create varying characters and enter the area it was outfitted with anything a general adventurer obtains in low-medium levels, as well as a bobblehead that gives experience per tap for rapid level-up.
In order to access the QA room press tilde (~) to bring up the console screen either at the main menu or in-game and enter the code:
COC SafeStart
Thank you for reading! And please contact me if you have any questions about my work.