What to do when you have 'no idea'?

[Ghost]

Hello,

This doesn't involve such much as a 'world' matter but rather something of a more personal matter, in my case the problem that I can not come up with an original idea for stories and settings.

This is really starting to frustrate me, I have already been trying to expand my knowledge with reading books, going through the internet but I simply can't find the spark of inspiration I am looking so hard for.

Does any of you have any suggestions that could help?

Perhaps this is the wrong topic but it deals with the subject

[AlexJ]

In my opinion there's no such thing as a truely original idea. You have to take an event,place,another story or something and build upon it/modify it.

You've got to use something as a starting point, you can't just make it up off the top of your head.

[Submeg]

Otherwise you'll end up with some strange stuff that no one can visualise

[Stephen Coates]

I am currently working on a project which involves coming up with some ideas and I had trouble thinking of stuff as well, so I just based them on other stories and things which had happened in my life.

[Ghost]

I am really trying my best, I sometimes see ideas from others which make me think "Hey I could have come up with that too." (not that I am saying that I am more creative).

But now that the push comes to call I am 'stunned', my imagination and creativity refuse to play along.

[Submeg]

I find the easiest way to get ideas flowing again, is to either:
1) sit outside where it is quiet and just try and think of nothing for a while. Soon ideas come flooding into your head.
2) Sit in a busy foodcourt with some music on, and usually it sparks ideas

[Harrison]

It all depends what the ideas are going to be used for. I tend to always visualise ideas rather than as a story due to being artistic rather than a writer.

What are you looking to do with the stories or ideas you come up with? Write a short story, write a novel, paint a picture...?

It is near impossible to try and come up with any ideas or concepts from nothing. A good way to conceive ideas for anything is to brainstorm. Spider diagrams are a good way to do this. Start by just randomly writing down a list of anything that comes into your head, no matter have random or strange they may be. The write down the ones that interest you the most on a big piece of paper and then try to link these words to other related ideas and words using a spider diagram. Many ideas can come from this.

Another thing that can work is photography. Take a camera with you and go for a walk somewhere and just take pictures of anything and everything you see. Later when you get back home and look at the images, ideas will start to appear relating to some of them, or you may become interested in something contained in one of the pictures you didn't notice originally when you took it. Often some great ideas can come from random images.

Hope that helps in some way.

Other ideas might be to visit the library and instead of looking at novels and fiction, go to the non fiction area and start randomly looking at some of the books from any section. Non fiction contains everything in life and will spark many ideas.

Alternatively go to a comic book store and look through some graphic novels.

Or even just go to the park and sit on a bench for a while near a busy area. There are bound to be people around you can observe that may spark some ideas.

[Submeg]

Start by just randomly writing down a list of anything that comes into your head, no matter have random or strange they may be.


Lol, if I did that, there would be no logical sequence...

Antelope

Cheeseburger

Washing Machine....

[Harrison]

That is the whole idea. Even those three words you listed could then be used to create some great spider diagrams and in turn some ideas.

For example, Antelope could lead to hunting, big game hunting, on safari, hunting creatures in another galaxy, a bounty hunter searching for an alien on earth, etc...

Or a Cheeseburger could lead to fast food, junk food, the destruction of rain forests for the growing of grass to graze herds of cattle for the burgers, money from fast food chains going to fund terrorism, etc...

See, it does work.

[Submeg]

And washing machine? :blink:

Man you're weirder than I thought! :lol:

[Harrison]

I will take that as a compliment, I think. :unsure:

Washing Machine created many ideas... laundrette, East London, Guy smoking, leaning against dirty laundrette window watching the reflections of passing cars. Prostitutes calling cards tucked into the notice board of the telephone box outside. A guy trying to take one of the cards without being noticed. A tall smartly dressed man in his 40's wearing a long trench coat concealing a sawn off shot gun, walking towards a nearby betting shop...

See, it's easy to come up with ideas based on the simplest thing. Bet you didn't think that would come from washing machine! ;)

[Submeg]

Take it as a compliment....take it...lol. I havent let my imagination do that....but I do like to try and mix two things that definately dont go together. For example, one day I said to one of my friends, "I feel like I'm a cheeseburger caught in a twistie" you should have seen his face :crazy:

[Stephen Coates]

I managed to come up with an idea for my project by listening to Tony Christie's Amarillo over and over for about half an hour through my head phones.

I like that song, so listened to it, then came up with one idea, and as I kept listening to it I came up with more ideas. Some of the ideas that I came up with were based on real events which I had seen.

[Ghost]

Hello

Thanks for the responses, well I have been writing down ideas but to me they never seem to match what someone else has done in the same setting, and I always feel that I am somehow imitating such ideas just in a different form.

[Submeg]

What type of story are you looking to write?

[Harrison]

to me they never seem to match what someone else has done in the same setting, and I always feel that I am somehow imitating such ideas just in a different form.

It is good that your ideas do not match what someone else has done in the same setting. It is much better to have your own unique perspective and interpretation of ideas towards any given subject as this gives you a unique perspective and hopefully will generate unique work. I personally think there is no point in creating anything unless you are generating something original and unique.

People covering old songs and then not sounding as good as the original is one good example of a pointless exercise. Another is people trying to recreate the art of others. Why? Use their ideas, yes, but don't try to duplicate ideas of others, instead use those ideas as a starting point to develop your own.

The most important thing you have to first come to terms with regarding any work is that no one is right. Everyone has their own unique outlook on life and their own interpretation of their views on life. It just requires you to find a way to outwardly express these unique aspects on life through a medium that you are suited to.

Hope that made sense.

[Ghost]

Hello all,

Since I started this topic I have been making you all curious what it is what I am exactly ‘working’ on.
Well it is related to the Fallout game series.

Back in 2002 (2003?) when it was made official that Van Buren or Fallout 3 was cancelled and all the people of Black Island had been ‘released to pursue other careers’ I have been thinking hard about a fan made third part of the series, or at least simply a new setting and story for players to explore.

I wanted to set up a team and work on an idea but this is harder than it sounds, several others, mostly Europeans in fact, have also tried to set up fan based Fallout projects and not much of them are successful or even around anymore.

My little project ran for a couple of months before the hype passed and it died off, I admit that it was not set up well and currently I am trying to assist another project called FMF by writing dialogue for the many characters in that game, but I still wish to make a Fallout idea of my own.

Now Bethesda has the licence and goes all about how they will make a ‘sequel true to the spirit of Fallout’, I do not believe that Bethesda is capable of this, Oblivion on which engine Fallout 3 will also run is not a true cRPG rather a Hack’n Slash with RPG elements.
I share the worry that Fallout 3 will end up as ‘Oblivion with Guns and mutants’.

These days I am still trying to come up with ideas but one of my problems is that I feel can’t come up with a storyline as good, exciting and ‘epic’ as those from Fallout 1, 2 and the cancelled Van Buren.

What I have made so far feels to much like Van Buren, something I wish to avoid.

As Harrison suggested to me, perhaps some of you would be willing to share ideas with me and help me with some of my own.

If you are interested I could post the outline I made for FMF to show what I came up with so far.

[Harrison]

I've had some additional thoughts regarding this since your PM earlier. Have you looked at the Fallout Modding scene as many people are working on mods for the earlier games and coming up with some amazing expansions for the original games.

Also I'm sure there is some Fan Fiction for Fallout, and this would contain some great plot and story ideas that you could either use as starting points for your own ideas, or the Fan Fiction writers may be a good source to contact to help you in your story development as they may be interested in coming on board and working with you on plotlines and ideas.

BTW, what are you finally hoping to achieve with this project? Do you hope to eventually get a game based on the Fallout series into production and made?

[Ghost]

Hello Harrison

Heh, well that is the dream ;)
I know someone who is working on an engine and he knows a few graphics people, with perhaps some luck this might lead at least to a development kit.

Edit: To be honest, I just enjoy trying to come up with new ideas instead of just looking at old ones and thinking what might have been.

[Harrison]

It would be great if you could eventually get such an idea into production.

Don't forget though that you don't always need to make a game completely from scratch as you could go the modding route yourself and construct the game using an existing game as the basis to build it. There are many games built as mods for other games and they don't look or play anything like the original.

A great example of this is Neverwinter Nights 2. That game comes with a complete construction kit to build a whole complete universe including every element, character interaction and game rule.

[Ghost]

I know, but I would like to bring the graphics of Fallout to 3D and perhaps add some features that aren't in NWN2 such as making your own weapons, medicines etc.

[Submeg]

Hey Ghost,

That sounds pretty awesome. I love story writting, and in fact am currently in the process (on standby at the moment) of writing my own story. I would love to help, possibly it may get me modivated to start my own again.

[Ghost]

Hello Submeg,

I should have been a bit earlier with this but I just discovered the Robot Chicken clips on You Tube (BTW, people must definitely check out Super Mario: Vice City) which kept me occupied longer than I thought.

Glad to hear from you, if you like I could send you the outline I made or perhaps just post it here.
I would like to salvage some stuff from it but perhaps I should start over again.

What kind of story are you working on, original or based on something?

[Submeg]

You can PM me, or post it here, dont mind.

My story is based on the existence of different races, such as orcs, haflings, etc living in the presence of humans. There is then a war, and the outcome of the war is the main point of the story. There is a lot of other stuff going on as well, but that is the basic outline.

[Harrison]

My story is based on the existence of different races, such as orcs, haflings, etc living in the presence of humans. There is then a war, and the outcome of the war is the main point of the story. There is a lot of other stuff going on as well, but that is the basic outline.

What makes your story unique compared to other Fantasy based stories?

Many fantasy stories are based around exactly this plotline. Lord of the Rings, Shannara series, Warcraft etc.

[Submeg]

This is where I pulled inspiration from, but my reasoning for writing this is a bit different. As I love heroes of might and magic, I have felt a bit let down that no one really bases their books on this genre anymore. It's mostly crime novels and such that I see. So basically, my idea was to echo this by saying how the other races (elves,orcs etc) died out and that humans are the only ones left. Basically it is the reason why there are only humans in the majority of novels today.

[Harrison]

So basically the other races died out because people stopped writing about them? That idea has been used before but I'm trying to remember where. I think it was a children's story or film.

[AlexJ]

I read it as the other races died out as a result of the war and hence they aren't written about any more.

[Ghost]

This is where I pulled inspiration from, but my reasoning for writing this is a bit different. As I love heroes of might and magic, I have felt a bit let down that no one really bases their books on this genre anymore. It's mostly crime novels and such that I see. So basically, my idea was to echo this by saying how the other races (elves,orcs etc) died out and that humans are the only ones left. Basically it is the reason why there are only humans in the majority of novels today.

How silly it may sound, have you ever considered creating a fantasy crime novel?
I don't think that has done many times before and it can be fun to explore this direction of fantasy story telling.

The story could start with a murdered grand wizard and the captain of the city guard has to find out who killed him before any more murders take place.
The captain soon discovers that the grand wizard had made quite some enemies during his appointment to the position and that he may be involved in Dark Magic practice.

Sort of like a crime novel with fantasy creatures.

Regarding Fallout, any more people interested in helping me?

[Harrison]

A fantasy crime novel is quite an interesting idea indeed. I cannot think of many books that have approached this. Only Terry Pratchett's discworld novels come to mind at the moment.

[Submeg]

Hmm, interesting, I can easily change my novel around to make it focused towards that. Very interesting...:hmmm:

Harrison: That wasn't my intended idea, but that's the reason why I decided to come up with a story...

[Ghost]

I remember writer Harry Turtledove also doing something along the theme of combining modern world with fantasy.
In story magic replaced technology and inventions such as virtual reality became virtuous reality.

[Puni/Void]

That's right, Ghost. Harry Turtledove has successfully blended fantasy with the modern world. Are you thinking about the Gunpowder Empire?

Maybe some of his other works could be a source for inspiration for you as well? I can in particular recommend the World War series and the Colonization series. The World War series is about a reptilian race of aliens invading Earth during the Second World War. It consists of four books.

Although this series is not post-apocalyptic, it has many of elements that could be worth looking at. The use of historical characters in the narrative is extremely well done (Turtledove has a background as an historian), and the same goes for the fictional persons as well. Some might say that the "heroes" are a bit standard, but I disagree with that. Anyway, that's another discussion.

I've read quite a few post-apolcalyptic novels throughout the years. I'll see if I can compile a list of them. Some of those might be interesting for you, in case you need some extra inspiration for your project.

Hope this helped a bit. Good luck with your project! :)

PS: I'm really worried about Fallout 3 as well. I'm looking forward to see the Fan Made Fallout project being completed sometime in the future. That will be awesome.
I've got a feeling Bethesda will make an Oblivion clone, only with mutants and guns.
Imagine how the interaction with characters in the game would go. :D Compared to Fallout, Oblivion is shit when it comes to this.. (I know, some might disagree, but it's what I mean)

[Harrison]

I know you dismissed NWN2 Ghost, but I just wanted to ask if you have actually taken a look at the contruction kit that comes with it? The reason I picked this game as a possible base to constuct your idea on is due to its complete open ended ability to design and build anything you like with it.

You can design game areas of any size and popular them with anything you like, including self designed architecture and terrain. You can make your own weapons and items and assign unique attributes to them, but best of all for a Fallout based game you can go into advanced character scripting for conversations and make them as complex and branching as you wish, something that the Fallout games have always been akin too.

It might be worth just constructing a very small area in the NWN2 construction kit to see what it can do, and add a few characters with scripted conversation to experiment with this aspect of the game. This would be a great way to experiment with the gaming engine to see what it can do in a small mini world based on your ideas.

[Ghost]

Hi P G,

Yeah I know about Mr Turtledove's books, I found his name when I was looking on Wiki for writers who made stories taking place in alternate timelines.
I don't know if its exactly the book series you mention I got the reference from, he made several such books in which magic replaces technology.

What I find credible is that he doesn't make it like for example Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, there are certain 'magic laws' similiar to physics laws that magic must follow, unlike other fantasy in which magic can be reality twisting.

I first would like to read Rendezvous with Rama before I begin with other books, just finished A world out of time and I am still reading the Foundation trilogy.

Historians probably make the best tellers of alternative history stories, a couple of days ago a friend of mine told me that a Roman warlord/general after a battle against another nation was within a day's reach of a Chinese outpost, history could have been very different if this Roman has pressed on.

Thanks for your help regarding Post Apocalypse, I have also been looking around for titles on sites such as PA media, quite some stories are pulp.


I shall be honest, I have never played Oblivion as my computer could not run it but from what I have seen and heard about it its gameplay has nothing in common with Fallout yet Bethesda seems to treat it the same, in my opinion Oblivion is rather an action game with adventure and RPG elements, not a cRPG.

I don't know how to explain it further but check out sites such as No Mutants Allowed why Beth's Fallout might be a very bad thing.


Hello Harrison

Well not as much as dismissing it, I actually have a copy (a gift from a friend) but I can't run NWN2 yet, my machine needs to be upgraded first.

But yes, I could try to experiment with creating some simple quests once I know the toolkit works.

[Harrison]

Have you played Morrowind Ghost? If so then you can guest what to expect from Oblivion as it is very similar. Graphically it is quite amazing when it is given a graphics card with enough grunt, but IMO it isn't quite as good in terms of gameplay as Morrowind.

What makes it an RPG more than anything else is its complete open ended gaming world. You can go anywhere and do anything, talk to anyone, buy or steal anything, and you can get caught up in side quests for a long period of time that have little or nothing to do with the main story. It is definitely an RPG with realtime combat, rather then an action game.

[Ghost]

Sorry Harrison, I can bring you in contact with quite a number of people who do not agree with you on that subject and have made a list why Oblivion is NOT an RPG.
And I have to agree with them on this matter.

[Harrison]

The problem is, as we discussed in some depth on the old forum, it is quite hard to pinpoint exactly what an RPG is in exact terms. There are so many different styles and types of game in the RPG genre it is not possible to state exactly what makes an RPG an RPG, and what makes it different to any other genre.

It is easy to see this by going to any of the big gaming sites, as they themselves cannot agree on a specific RPG genre and instead have a lot of sub genres within it, such as Action RPG, Strategy RPG etc...

I personally view Oblivion as a First Person RPG Adventure as it mixes all of those genres together.

[Ghost]

Hey guys,

Just saying ideas out loud here but would HAARP qualify as a good Fallout threat?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAARP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF2Rq5rCwHg

[Ghost]

Behold, the load of Fallout stuff I made up

* * * *

Description of Fan Fallout

* * * *

The storyline


The story would take place several decades after Fallout 2 in the East of the United States continent far beyond the regions where Fallout 1 and 2 took place.

It would start in a Vault still closed two hundred years after the War, unlike possibly other Vaults this one never received the ‘All Clear’ signal and also never choose to act on the favourable conditions the outside monitoring units transmitted, this would be explained in the story.

The player is a member of the second or third generations of Vault Dwellers born in the Vault and has always lived with the idea that there is nothing wrong with the Vault.
However some time at the beginning of the game the player would somehow discover or be confronted with the fact that there is something wrong, he or she would discover that he/she and his fellow Vault Dwellers are being manipulated by an advanced form of electronic manipulation which includes hypnotic suggestion and perhaps a form of virtual reality.
The source of the instructions is outside the Vault.

For some reason this source has been instructing the Vault Dwellers to learn and specialise in a variety of skills such as engineering, science and organising (and if the player would continue to investigate, how to operate a spacecraft).
The Vault is also better stocked with supplies than any other Vaults and unlike the others is a properly working one.

The player would be compelled or forced to leave the Vault to investigate where the transmissions the Vault computers are receiving are coming from and for what purpose the player and his or her fellow Vault Dwellers are being conditioned.


On the outside the player would visit a variety of locations such as “Player Town” (working name), a place the player can turn into a thriving community.
Detroit, a city built around the crater where the original city stood, it is home to a community of salvagers who are rediscovering engineering, forging and machine building.
The Dead City, a Pre War metropolis which population apparently was killed long after the War by an unknown something.
Robot City, a steel citadel founded by thinking machines from before the War and their ‘descendants’.
And possibly later in the game the successor to Area 51, a new top secret base were the Enclave was performing all kinds of ‘hush-hush’ projects.


The player would discover that his Vault is part of an Enclave project to train and educate Vault Dwellers into off world colonists, setting up cities and infrastructures on distant planets.

Before the War took place the Enclave members realised that even if they would survive they would inherited an irradiated almost depleted planet on which the rebirth of the United States might not be possible.

Astronomers before the War had determined that there was the possibility of an Earth like planet in the Alpha Centauri system; the nearest star system to the Solar System, the Enclave now had the intention of re-establishing American civilization on this unspoiled planet.
But they were not sure if the rebirth of civilization would be possible or that the journey to Alpha Centauri could be done successfully.

With Project Safehouse already underway the Enclave decided to use this as a way to experiment with human subjects, exposing selected groups to psychological, physical and social setbacks and limitation and study their reaction to these, analysing the success and failures of the groups.

A complex computer system would oversee the vaults as well as study the possibility of the rebirth of civilization on Earth or any other planets.
This computer is still operating and controls the player’s Vault.

Knowledge gained from these experiments would be implemented in a series of proper working Vaults whose communities had been carefully selected by the Enclave, representing the best in the United States population.
The communities of the Vaults would be trained to become the new builders of civilization the Enclave planned to take control off

The player discovers that the Enclave constructed a large interstellar capable spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit around Earth, this ship was built for the purpose of bringing the player’s Vault community and others to the planet in the Alpha Centauri system where they would build a new society under the leadership of Enclave Overseers.

This plan was to be implemented as soon as the Enclave had taken control of the North American continent again, they would establish contact with the Vaults and send the Vault Dwellers up to the spaceship.
But this was all prevented when the player in the previous game destroyed the Enclave.


There are various flaws in these plans which the Enclave is to blame.

The calculation of human civilization can be reborn is biased; one of the factors the computer in charge of the vaults was to take into its equation was that the Enclave was to survive in order to take a supervising role in this.
The Enclave believed that restoration of human civilization on Earth would not be possible without them.

When the Enclave was destroyed the computer determined from its calculations that human civilization can not be reborn on Earth.


Second; the spacecraft the Enclave built is not properly working.
This vessel is a prototype; its purpose was to test the experimental star drive and cryogenic hibernation systems as well as showing the financial backers of the Enclave that they were working on a plan to restore the United States.

The Enclave’s intentions were to send a group of colonists to Alpha Centauri, if the ship worked properly more would be made and if it failed the gained knowledge would be used to build a better starship.

It was also equipped with an experimental nuclear booster that were to accelerate the ship to interstellar speed, this drive is highly dangerous and shouldn’t be used near Earth orbit as its activations would destroy a vast region as well as contaminate the atmosphere with radioactive material that would sterilise the surface in time.

The ship was to move away from Earth on conventional hydrogen rockets but because of bad funding the ship never received these.


Apparently someone has received the report of the computer and is determined to carry out the Enclave’s plans not aware of its flawed nature.

The player must now return to his or her Vault and convince the other Vault Dwellers with the truth of the Vault and the project they have been part of.
By the time the player would reach the Vault it is abandoned and all supplies and technology have been taken.

The player would pursue the Vault Dwellers to earlier mentioned military base where the Enclave had parked a fleet of shuttles, after having fuelled and prepared one such shuttle the player and his or her team would go to the starship to confront the person who is still carrying out the Enclave’s plans.

Once onboard the starship the antagonist would be revealed to be the Vault Overseer of the player’s own Vault.
He and his predecessors have always been aware of the Vault’s true purpose and were waiting for the signal of the Enclave to prepare for the space mission.

The Vault Overseer received the report of the computer but when he did not hear from the Enclave he had determined it to have been destroyed; now instead the Vault Overseer and a selected group of followers would carry out the plans themselves.


The player could choose to fight the Overseer or confront him with the truth of the nature of computer’s calculation and facts about the spaceship.
Or the player could choose to fix the spaceship and join the Overseer’s cause.

Either way, the player must choose in the end between his or her fellow Vault Dwellers or the survivors of Earth, as the pre launch sequence has already been initiated by the time the player came onboard the crew and colonists can not return to Earth the same way they came onboard.

If the ship is to be evacuated the modules containing the hibernating Vault Dwellers will be dropped randomly over the Earth’s surface and the player’s community will effectively seize to exist.

In the end either the spacecraft takes off and suffers an accident during the journey (or manages to reach its destination if the player fixed it) or is destroyed in Earth orbit.


Various locations


1. Vault ##

The starting position of the game, this is the Vault in which the player was born and grew up.
At the start of the game the player somehow discovers that his or her fellow Vault Dwellers are influenced by an advanced form of electronic hypnotic manipulation (perhaps a form of virtual reality) which compels them to learn certain skills and gain knowledge on various subjects, from engineering and medical knowledge to large scale organising.
These instructions are sent by a source outside the Vault

For some reason the player has escaped the influence of this manipulation, perhaps through an accident or other means (this could be determined in the set up of the game), he or she starts questioning matters or engage in activities opposed to the program that is running inside the Vault.

The player must leave the Vault to discover the source of the instructions and the true purpose of the Vault.


2. “Player Town”

This is the place nearest to the Vault, a run down town somewhere in the middle of the map that has seen better days and is now inhabited by only a few people.
Problems are caused by some local raiders and mutant wildlife.

The player can assume control of the town and bring it prosperity, the player can for example direct people with skills to go to the town and make trade agreements with other settlements to send supplies and materials that help in building the town.

As more people go to the town new stores are opened and new services are available, sending competent mechanics to the town results in machine shops were items can be made and repairs can be done on machines and vehicles.
Doctors result in better medical aid and medical supplies, while sending teachers and scientists will result in the inhabitants becoming more educated and the option to improve skills such as science.

Lastly, the town can be turned into a capital or major settlement in the region, becoming one of the building foundations of civilization in this part of the United States.

Depending on what people and materials are send here, the town could become a recreation of cities from before the War.


But as the town numbers increase as does its prosperity it also attracts the criminal element that will do its best to influence the town or even take control of it.
If the player is not careful the town could become a hub of the slave dealers or a major traffic point on the drugs routes

The player can choose to eliminate this or actual allow it for his or her own gain, but it will have influence in the endgame.


3. Detroit

Before the War this was a major manufacturing city where military machines, vehicles and supplies were manufactured, this made it a primary target for the Chinese missiles and bombs that wiped out the centre of the city and most of its industrial sectors.

Still some inhabitants managed to survive and others were drawn to the city from outlying settlements, in the years after the bombing these people sustained themselves with extensive salvaging of supplies, equipment, tools and raw metal which they used to build houses or sold to passing caravans.
This got them the nickname ‘The Detroit Junkers”, a name they accepted for themselves.

After several decades living like this some of the Detroit Junkers started to relearn Pre War knowledge such as Engineering and Metal Forging from Pre War books and discs.
The Junkers started to repair old machines and rebuild some of the factories which were taken into use, these days Detroit makes quite an income with its metal foundries, manufacture of metal products and the salvage and repair of Pre War machines.

Detroit has also become quite a trading centre and several caravan houses have offices here, it is also an important repair and refuelling point for the truckers in the region.

Presently Detroit and its inhabitants is doing well but there are dark clouds in its future, raw materials are running out at the edge of the Detroit crater, forcing salvage groups to go deeper into the radioactive zone.
To survive team members have to use more Rad X and Rad Away which they are becoming addicted too and has a degenerative effects on their sanity.

Detroit needs a new source of raw material soon to maintain its existence.


- Detroit Blast Crater

The centre of Detroit, also nicknamed the Hot Spot by those who live near its edge.
Ground Zero is pretty much devoid of any structure, as one moves away from it ruins of buildings increase until partly intact buildings at the walls of the crater.

The crater is not as devoid of life as one might think as it is home to various mutant species as well as insane and cannibalistic ghouls that from time to time enter the inhabited sections of Detroit as well as its sewers.


4. Robot City

A shining citadel of steel in the middle of the wasteland and probably the most advanced settlement on the North American continent and perhaps the world.
Robot City was founded by thinking machines created before the War that after emerging from bases and other reinforced locations took control of the remaining automated infrastructure; robots and factories to build a settlement for machine inhabitants.

Robot City is a collection of towers, factories and power plants that are connected by hanging roads and monorails, and the city is a hive of activity as robots and computer controlled vehicles move from building to building, carrying out the instructions given by the thinking machine rulers.

Little is know about the city and its inhabitants as the thinking machines rarely if ever interact with the other denizens of the wasteland, preferring to stay outside the matters of organic beings unless it influences them directly.

The more knowledgeable people in the surrounding settlements are rather worried about Robot City, fearing that the thinking machines might decide to get rid of their former human masters once and for all.
Though Robot City has the abilities to defend itself and wage conflict on the wasteland the machines so far have shown no interest in starting such a war yet.


Seeds for adventure; the thinking machines of Robot City are looking for other remaining thinking machines of the wasteland and would compensate well for any knowledge of their whereabouts.


The thinking machines are divided in tolerating the surviving humans and their mutant offshoots or exterminate them once and for all with the idea that they have had their chance and could be a danger for the thinking machines.

The player could influence their decision with his or her actions; he or she could even set up trade agreements between the thinking machines and the various human settlements.


5. Dead City

A Pre War metropolis which had actually survived the War pretty well, most of the inhabitants were later killed or forced to flee for an unknown menace, perhaps because of the shock these former inhabitants could not make any understandable explanation, mumbling about demons and the grim reaper.

This in turn started stories that the city had been claimed by the Devil as a purgatory for the souls of the millions of people who died during the nuclear war, and that Death itself was roaming its empty streets.

In reality most of the surviving population had been wiped out by a new strain of carnivore mutants called the Nightstalkers whose biochemistry could not tolerate sunlight, forcing them to operate during night time, attacking everything alive.

There would have been the possibility of isolated communities in the skyscrapers of the city which were holding their own.


Seeds for adventure; during the visit to the game the player would discover a new type of Nightstalker mutant strain was developing, one that could tolerate sunlight.
If nothing done about it these mutants would escape into the wasteland and attack other settlements


- West Tek office

Located near the centre of the Dead City is one of the once majestic office buildings of West Tek, the bureaucratic part of the corporation or so it seemed.

While the building itself housed the many offices and administrative branches as well as meeting rooms, it cellars connected to a very advanced and sophisticated laboratory where various projects; mostly biology related were carried out and stored.

The office building above suffered from the War and the passage of time the laboratory itself remained reasonably intact save for several cracks in the walls which connected to the underground sewer and public transport corridors.

Samples of various experiments were kept in the laboratory including viruses that carried genetically altered material, perhaps predecessors or diverging strains of the Forced Evolution Virus.
One of these viruses was released and travelled through the cracks into the sewers where it came in contact with city survivors who had gone underground because of the fallout.

The virus had no effect on them but altered the genetics of unborn children, introducing body changes and making their behaviour more feral.


Seeds for adventure; this is one of the places where the player would learn the truth behind his or her Vault, the Enclave’s great experiments and possibly the still orbiting Ark starship.


6. Area 52

Replacement to Area 51 which the United States government during the early 21st Century determined no longer to be a disclosed military research and test facility.
Various rumours circled around that base that alien ships and the remnants of aliens were stored there and that research on their technology took place there.

Top secret research did take place there and its reputation alone would attract Chinese intelligence, the base was also a priority target during any nuclear exchange.

Because of this a replacement facility was determined necessary, a base on a location consider previously strategic unimportant.
A location in the state of ###### was selected as the ideal place, the cover of a munitions depot and airport refuelling base was adopted to explain construction of the base.

The base was used by the United States government for research and development in various sciences such as Stealth technology, Super Computers, Artificial Intelligence, Cloning, Cryogenic Hibernation, Genetic Engineering, Super Conductors, Anti Matter generation and Space Travel.

Prior before the outbreak of the War the personnel of the base were evacuated to the Poseidon Oil Derrick, the headquarters of the Enclave and the base itself was sealed off. Computers were left online to continue on the research until the return of the staff.

After the War quickly an atmosphere of mystery surrounded the base, no one who went to the base ever returned from it. Some people claimed that the base was now a radioactive crater but wanderers who passed it claimed that the facility was still in good state, almost pristine ever.

Even for most of the Enclave the base was a mystery as it was off limit except for highest agents and officers and the leaders of the Enclave who maintained its secrecy.

Super Computers still continue to research and develop new technologies.


The surface of the base consists of barracks, hangars, garages and administration buildings, the research laboratories, power generation and quarters for personnel such as the scientists and the Enclave officers and soldiers are located under the base. A number of silos contain the various levels and facilities necessary for research and habitation surrounding a primary silo that contains the base’s power reactor.

The base is maintained and guarded by the facility’s main computer and its defences consist of automated turrets and armed robots as well as mine fields.


Note: this place would be a technological utopia for people such as the Brotherhood of Steel as it has plenty of Pre War technology and supplies, however it is well defended.

Note: it’s improbable that no one ever returned that went there; rather it would kind of be a warning to the general people in the area. I am thinking a few people that went to the base did return but never bragged about it, perhaps out of fear of some other reason.

Note: this is the place where the Enclave stored its nuclear weapons in case it should ever start another nuclear war.

Note: this is the place where the Enclave stored the space shuttles that were to ferry the colonists to the Ark starship in orbit around Earth


The B3 – Stratobomber

The ultimate aerial weapon the United States Air Force had developed before the War, stratosphere altitude able; computer assisted flight capabilities, and advanced stealth making it completely radar invisible.

The design was made at ####### to be a replacement for existing bomber planes that would make up the first aerial wave against the Chinese when open war would start but it was not actually realised until 2070 at the top secret US Airforce base of Area 52 where other essential technologies were being developed.

Appearance:

The Stratobomber resembles a large flying wing

Jet engines run along both sides of the crew section through the wing.

A small dome is located on the end of the plane (think like the domes on old WW2 bombers), automated guns are located in it.


7. The Ark

The Enclave’s prototype starship, the Ark was to be mankind’s road to the stars and the Enclave’s ultimate survival.
Construction of the Ark started some decades before the War and technology developed for the great Vaults and the Enclave’s own headquarters were used in it.

The Ark never received its full complement of conventional hydrogen fuelled booster rockets that were intended to move the Ark away from Earth until it had reached the save distance where the atomic fusion boosters could be activated.

These boosters were to accelerate the Ark to the necessary speeds where it could activate the Buzzard ramscoop drive that is the ship’s primary star drive.
If the atomic fusion boosters were to be activated near the vicinity of Earth these would cause severe damage to the planet’s atmosphere and cover most of the surface with deadly radiation that could only be survived by those deep underground or in the oceans.

The Overseer knows this but has no qualms of sacrificing life on Earth to ensure the launch of the Ark and the prosperity of the people onboard it.
He is not aware however that the Ark suffers from various shortcomings resulting from the Enclave’s carelessness and greed.

Like the Vaults, the Ark is merely an experiment.


Concept:

The Ark was the Enclave’s prototype starship and like most Enclave projects such as the Vaults corners were cut when the project became too expensive.
It can even be questioned if the Enclave believed that a starship could work and the Ark could be an experiment to test the engineers’ theories and designs, should the Ark fail the Enclave could use the gathered knowledge to create a new and better working ship.

In the game it’s revealed that the Ark is not the working starship it is suppose to be, some parts of the ship were never properly finished and the ship has suffered from the passage of time.
Some satellites have smashed into it and its meteor shield has deteriorated from solar wind and galactic dust.


I also had ideas for two other locations, one was called the Gap, a wasteland filled with the hulks and remnants of pre War vehicles, inhabited by mutant wildlife and raiders with the possibility of a military base or bunker under it

Camp Miles would have been a salvager camp that was located near the Gap; it was initially set up by Junkers from Detroit but had also attracted the attention of other people including organised crime.


Other locations would have been the Militia Bunker and Raider City but these were created by my friend Airsoft Guy.


Groups

The Judicators

A militia force from the West which origins lie in Las Vegas, they are pursuing a raider gang that has been harassing settlements under their control.
Despite sounding


West Tek Infantry Division

A group of soldiers from the East, their exact origins and goals aren’t known and they claim to work for someone called the president of West Tek, a Pre War research corporation that handled quite some government and military contracts.

They seem primarily interested in information about former West Tek facilities/offices and military facilities in the area.

The group seems to have access to Pre War equipment and weaponry and wear a type NBC suit not seen before the War, this backs up their suspected connection with a Pre War group or organisation.


Seeds for adventure; while not revealed in this game these soldiers actually worked for a cabal of Pre War scientists who used to work for West Tek but decided not to take their chances with the Enclave just before the War, instead entering cryogenic hibernation at an underground facility.

The soldiers’ task was to secure Pre War resources and intact facilities while finding out how much of the Enclave’s projects had survived.


The Rippers

Raider exiles from the West who crossed the radioactive Midwest to escape the New California Republic, apparently for some time they had been part of a prison workforce which worked on various NCR building and reconstruction projects in return for lesser sentences.

They do not share the information how they exactly escaped but it and the journey cost them a large number of members including leaders.
Currently this raider group is in hiding.


Seeds for adventure; one of my ideas was that the player could assume leadership and rebuild this raider group.

After having recruited new members and supplied them with new weapons the Rippers from time to time would commence raids, the player can then collect what the Rippers had taken from others.


The Coyotes

One of the indigenous groups of raiders that is well known for its general cowardice similar to that of the prairie dog, whatever name they once had chosen for themselves has disappeared from people’s memories over time.

The group prefers to prey on weak targets and attacks other raider groups after a raid in order to steal their loot and weapons.

Not surprisingly they are both the targets of militia and other raider gangs, to survive they have become quite adept at hiding.


Seeds for adventure; a bunch of trouble makers that would try to oppose the rebuilding of the Rippers, perhaps the best members could be swayed away to join the player’s ‘raiders’ but in the end it would be best if the player destroyed this group.


“Luddites” (no name yet)

A religious group who primarily seemed to spread the word of God and spread spiritual wellbeing to the people of the wasteland, their actual goal was to destroy the evil technology and science that had destroyed the old world, they would for example target scholars and scientists but leave the actual work to others.

Members would be spread across communities over the wasteland, seeking information as well as recruiting new members for the cause such as raiders who would be organised into squads assigned to destroy technology and books and kill anyone knowing or teaching such subjects.



Other groups would have been the inhabitants of the bunker and the various raider groups of Raider City.

I was also considering adding the Shi, now major industrialists and the Followers of the Apocalypse, wandering scholars and doctors.



Characters in the game:

The player / the Vault Exile (working name):


The Vault Overseer:

The head administrator of Vault ## and the mastermind behind the conspiracy / master plan, he cares about the people he leads but considers all means to restore human civilization and order justified.


The Pursuer:

A humanoid robot that has been sent after you, who built it or commands it is unknown (the Vault Overseer). It does not carry any firearms but it’s armed with an electric prod that can stun the player and party members, the robot can also take on serious firepower before being knocked down.

Once immobilised the robot starts to repair itself after which it continues its goal. Should it take out the player the player is brought back to Vault ##.

During the game the player needs to defeat the robot, salvage its memory core or reprogram it and turn it into a new team member.

Note: so far this idea is just a suggestion.


Alternative suggestion:

Progressive stronger robot hunters:

As the player journeys through the wasteland he/she is chased down by hunter robots that are programmed to bring the player back to Vault ##. In the beginning the hunter robots don’t have too much hit points and armour but as the player probably does not have the fire power to destroy the robots he / she can only stun them temporary.

Like ‘living’ characters the robots have a ‘fatigue’ bar which can be depleted. Once empty the robot shuts down and the player can return to non combat gameplay. However should the player attack the robot in this state it will come back online immediately and the battle starts over again.

Should the player destroy one of the robots a more advanced model (stronger) is dispatched to search and capture the player. This will continue until the most powerful model is released, this thing is near invulnerable and can not be destroyed, the only way to get rid of this robot is to complete the quest in which the player must track down their source or command centre and shut that down.

Robots can be stunned with small weapons fire and EMP weapons.


Traxus:

One of the few living Super mutants the player can befriend and convince to join his / her party. Traxus is a mercenary when the player encounters him, selling his services to the highest bidder.

Seeds for adventure; a possible storyline, Traxus is looking for his lost brother and joins up with the player to increase the chances to find him.


Johnny:

A Ghoul the player can befriend and convince to join his / her party. This character would be an expert outdoorsman and can yield sniper rifles.

Johnny hates being a ghoul and wants to find the means to become a human again.

Seeds for adventure; during the game the player can assist Johnny in this quest to find the means to turn him back into a human.


CENTRUS:

Successor to the ZAX series of sentient computers, it’s the computer overseeing the Vault experiments and also serves as the central computer of the Ark.


Professor Maximilian

He was the head of the design team that created the starship, I toyed around with the idea if the player could find him in the West Tek laboratory, hibernating in a cryogenic unit, or if he was part of the West Tek group in the East, trying to find out if the starship project was still going on.



New gameplay elements

‘Knock Out’ combat

Unlike the earlier Fallout games but possibly like Van Buren it is possible to defeat an enemy or enemies without killing him, her, or it, by decreasing their fatigue to zero.
Underneath the ‘life’ bar is the ‘fatigue’ bar, during a normal fight the fatigue bar suffers as much as the life bar does, but if ‘knock out’ weapons are used such as gas grenades, stun weapons etc, only the fatigue bar decreases.
When the bar reaches zero the target falls unconscious and either has to rest or receive fatigue stimulants (for example a ‘special’ stimpack)


Limited high tech weaponry

Unlike the other Fallout games I want to make the appropriation of more advanced weapons a bit harder, forcing the player and his/her team as well as opponents to rely more on Melee combat or small weapons.
High tech weapons still exist but most of them are in the hands of big organisations such as the Brotherhood of Steel, the NCR, and so on, or in weapons cache deep inside destroyed bases, so no raiders of small town militia armed with military grade weapons such as miniguns or laser weapons.
Instead weapons such hunting rifles, personal guns and police weaponry is more common throughout the wasteland with here and there people who use self made weaponry.


Manufacturing of own weapons and items

As mentioned before most high tech weapons are either in the hands on the big organisations or still lie hidden somewhere, also some advanced items such as doctor’s bags, medicines and certain type of boosting drugs are very rare in the wasteland.
The player can choose to search for these items but he, she can also manufacture these themselves in workshops and laboratories, or find NPCs who can manufacture these items.

The type item and the way to create it depends on the player’s Science skill, raw material, and type of manufacturing centre, medical drugs for example have to be made in a laboratory while steel armour for example in a workshop.

Perhaps certain manuals are also necessary when you want to make more complex weapons and devices as well as special components such as chips or power cells.

Places such as Detroit and Robot City offer such parts for sale or the player can salvage them.


The English might be off here and there, some of this stuff is written recently while other text was cut-and-pasted from older documents.

Sorry about that but the ideas should be clear.

[Ghost]

Hello,

Anyone here who has any suggestions, ideas etc since I was gone?

How about you Submeg?

[Ghost]

Again a break since I was last here.

Why hasn't anyone responded?

[Harrison]

We have been really busy with the main site, sorry.