Blackfoot Tribe design document / 5 This is part 5 of the Blackfoot Tribe design document for " Van Buren " , the canceled " Fallout 3 " by Black Isle Studios . Scripting . Scripting covers a number of elements : Note that there may be some scripting - specific information for NPCs , audio , art requirements and so on that may be listed there . In addition to the points listed below , this is more like an " Area script " scripting section than anything . Use the GENERAL section for checks that must occur throughout the area , and the TOWN - SPECIFIC and DUNGEON - SPECIFIC for checks for a particular map . General . There are some general scripting issues . . . Town - Specific . There are some important things to consider for towns . . . Dugeon - Specific . There are some important things to consider for dungeon locations . . . Cool Shit . There are a lot of resources in this area and a lot of things to kill ( bat s , coyote s , radscorpion s , spore plant s ) if you ' re looking to get on the good side of the locals ) . You have the opportunity to become a tribal leader , and to advance their technology by quite a bit , making their success directly related to your coolness . Weapon / Armor Progression : Starting with leather armor , tribal weapons ( including " sharpened " versions of spears ) , zip gun s , pipe rifle s , and the rare / expensive standard pistol or rifle . You get a boost when you find / open the military cache . They improve their own weapons if you teach them how , giving you a steady supply of ammo and cheap simple gunpowder weapons which you can use to sell in other areas . For skill - related stuff , there ' s an Outdoorsman Lab that you can upgrade to a Science Lab . For StealthBoy you can get some cool soft boots that are good for sneaking , and some dogskin clothing that makes you look more impressive and intimidating . Useful Skills : Persuasion , Deception , Mechanics , Outdoorsman , Science , Sneak , Traps Merit Badges : Lift Operator ( If you get the ski lift working again ) , Grand Master of Guano ( if you do the " Mine Guano " quest ) , Puppy Orphanmaker ( if you kill the adult dogs or coyote s in a lair but leave the puppies ) New Items : The player can learn how to sharpen spears . What keeps you coming back ? Lotsa resources . Many quests to do . The military cache in the tunnel . Checking status on the uplift progress ( and getting your money / equipment rewards for it ) . Is there an interesting gaming technique , quest , or RPG element about the location ? This is a place where you can start with primitive conditions and build them up to at least an 1800s level of technology . You ' ll see the town become more wealthy and see upgrades to their equipment over time . Handouts : You ' ll be able to find old holodisk s in themilitary cache , a journal hidden in one of the homes by Bloch , the leader of the original squad . Quest Items : yyyyy Vehicles : none , other than the nonfunctional Greathound bus / gate Task List . The Tasks section is a list of all the work that needs to be done for the area . It is a good summary for the producer , other designers , artists , and programmers as to what has been done in the area , who to check with if you have questions about certain tasks , and so on . This section is only useful if it is used . If we ' re several months into the project and no one has been using it , then it will no longer be used or updated . There ' s no sense in wasting time doing additional bookkeeping if it ' s serving no purpose . Sound Requirements . The Sound Requirements section is intended to cover every conceivable audio question you ' ve had to answer for an RPG in the past . You know the drill . Some aspects to consider : The basic chart for SFX would be as follows : Map and Map Key . The Map and Map Key section has a JPG of the area , with each important location numbered . Again , this is useful for QA , other designers , game editors , and strategy guide authors . Here ' s an example of what I mean ( see next page . . . ) : Blackfoot Maps . Green is flatland . Brown is hills . Gray lines are streets / paved roads from the old world . Brown lines are walkable paths . Vehicle would be parked outside the main wall , except if you ' re friendly to them in which case you can park it inside the wall . Location Checklist . Each area document will also have a Location Checklist . In " Fallout 3 " , we need to make sure that each character type has an equally enjoyable role - playing experience in each location ( evil characters and stupid characters are usually given the short end of the stick ; the rewards for these types of characters are usually unbalanced when compared to the goody - two - shoes characters ) . No more ! In addition , there were a few skills and statistics in " Fallout 1 " and " 2 " that didn ' t see enough use by the designers . As an example , Charisma wasn ' t nearly as useful as most of the other statistics in " Fallout 1 " , and the Doctor Skill was as useless as a third thumb in both " Fallout 1 " and " Fallout 2 " . If we take care to see that each stat and skill can be used effectively design - wise in each location in the game , then I think these stats can gain back some of the ground they ' ve lost over the past few games . That ' s what the location checklist is for . The location checklist is a glorified grocery list , covering a number of the role - playing possibilities for each " kind " of character the player may have chosen ( Stealth Boy , Science Boy , Combat Boy , DiploBoy ) . This checklist is intended to insure each kind of character has something cool to do in each location , and that the rewards and role - playing experiences for each location are balanced whether the player is good or evil , stupid or smart , a combat monster or a science guy . Designers don ' t have to make sure that each entry is checked off for each location – " as long as they make up for it in another of their locations in the game . " The exception to this rule is for early areas of the game , since those are the first areas the players will encounter , and I want their character to have a rich role - playing experience all - around right from the start . ( If the player went through three early areas , and his Doctor skill isn ' t used once , then he ' s going to be sorry he took it . ) My prototype checklist consists of the following entries : I ' d like these categories to be balanced out among random encounters as well , when possible ( obviously , not all categories will apply ) . Post - Game Adventuring : ( This is likely to get scrapped , since the end game will be pretty final ) The " Fallout " game will continue after you " finish " the game , and the player can keep adventuring if he wants . I want the locations to react to the player having won the game , either with small scraps of dialogue , minor art changes ( banners hanging from windows congratulating the " hero " ) , and so on – anything to give the player a pat on the back . Room for Improvement . If you upgrade their furnace , more of them will start wearing cheap metal armor . They ' ll also put more metal on their defensive wall . Even the dog s might get limited armor . If you refit the ski lift to do something else , then . . . Yyyyyy HERE XXX If you teach them to make guns , more sniper points will appear on the wall and all warriors will carry some sort of pistol or rifle . This means the number of random encounters with Blackfoots will increase in the area ( but you ' re probably friendly to them , so that ' s OK ) , and other sorts of random encounters in the area will decrease . Guns will become cheaper here . Technology level for guns only will increase . Morale will be higher . If they start trading water and Brahmin , the place will become a little more repaired . Rough sections of streets will be paved with flat stones . People will start to dress in more modern clothing to better mix with their trade partners . They ' ll establish trade relations with nearby settlements . They ' ll have other sorts of trade goods in town , and at better prices . Perhaps a telegraph line could be strung , or even a new kind of lab available . Overall hp will increase with greater access to medicine and other kinds of food . Technology level will go up to average in all levels . End Movies . Each area document will also have a list of possible End Movies depending on what the character did in the location . This section should contain : A quick example is provided below : Blackfoot End Movies . WHERE TO GO CONDITIONS 1 . GUNS OF THE BLACKFOOT 2 . NO SLAVES , NO LIFE ( WTG ) 3 . PLAYER DESTROYS THE BLACKFOOTS 4 . RANCHERS AND WATER TRADERS Random Notes . This section is just for random notes you ' ve made on the location - brainstorming ideas or whatever . It ' s like a word junkyard for stuff you might use or might not , but you haven ' t ruled them out yet . about 300 people in the tribe , only a fraction of them are on - screen adventure seed : stole an NCR kid from Hoover Dam or one from New Canaan Kurisu is a hard - core slaver , and and a tough butch bitch with an attitude - she not only has accepted her slaver role , but she ' s really good at it - I just want it to be a marked contrast to Sulik and a reversal of what one would expect Sulik ' s sister to be like ) . My thought with Kurisu was this - at the start of the game , she is a low - Karma character , a hard - core slaver who hates her tribal roots and has always been bitter than her brother never came to rescue her . Depending on the player ' s actions , he can save her ( good Karma ) or he can drive her deeper into hate ( lower Karma ) . But I ' d like Kurisu to be one of those CNPCs whose fate you can change by your actions . I ' d also like the player to become one of Kurisu ' s " house - husbands " if possible ( she should have more than 1 ) . area needs more combat ties and dungeoncrawling . monster caves ? can hire them to track down or enslave people Finding the prisoner here seems a little easy to me , but he could be one of the " easy " prisoners in the game . We ' ll sort it out . I like the existing complication you have for him , but you might want to spice it up with : Chagas was captured by Kurisu , so she owns him , and she ' s not going to let him go . Kurisu may have sold Chagas to someone else . The player , when asking about escaped prisoners , gets told about another prisoner instead of Chagas , since the Blackfoot don ' t consider Chagas to be a prisoner - he ' s one of the tribe . Once the players realize they ' re chasing the wrong guy , they may come back to find Chagas sold off or missing . make acquriing Chagas more difficult If the player kicks the crap out of Kurisu ( or some other method of dominance ) , then the player could take control of the tribe and force them to stop slaving ( though this may make them unhappy ) . instead of Emancipation , take more slaves ! The players can lure other tribes to this location , and they can fight , killing each other . The players poison the tribe with their presence , so even the women , children , and brahmin start dying over time . Even if they ' re slavers , this is bad news . And what if the player somehow contaminates Chagas with a new strain that does kill him ? If the player defeats Kurisu , maybe the rest of her house husbands show up over time to challenge the PC ( kind of like the Morton Bros . In " Fallout 2 " ) Slavery moral issue : If the player has to deal with the Blackfoot , then this becomes a real slippery issue for the player to have to wrestle with - make it in the player ' s interest ( either quest - wise or resource - wise ) that makes dealing with the Blackfoot a good thing ( like the military weapons cache , the railroad issue , getting them to find prisoners for you , and so on ) . Themes / Religion note : It ' d be amusing if their slaves were cool with how things were - and they accepted their status , and were angry if the player caused trouble for them ) Quests : Rescue a New Canaan missionary being held by tribals Tell other tribals where they can find the Blackfoot ( war ! ) Find a way to get the Blackfoot to help you round up prisoners from the Big Empty Get the Blackfoot to break ties with Caesar , or strengthen them Get the Blackfoot to stop raiding NCR , or increase the raids Get the Blackfoot to stop messing with the nearby railroad , perhaps Appendix . Include a summary of changes you ' ve done in a document at the end , and dump it into the Source Safe comments , if you can . Chances are , you ' ll have to email this information to certain people on the team , so it ' s worthwhile to record here . 8 / 4 / 2003 : Finished quests and AO . 8 / 1 / 2003 : Finished the maps . 6 / 24 / 2003 : Compiled my Blackfoot sections and Jeff ' s Hangdogs 7 / 7 / 2003 : Finished document and made changes according to other designer comments