Making The Montana Chapter

**Making The Montana Chapter** is a behind the scenes design document written by Violet and Lusa, describing the process of creating the Montana Chapter, introduced in update 4.0 of *Old World Blues*.

The document can be found here.

## Contents

Making The Montana Chapter has 29 pages and contains a variety of art ranging from Honour and Patrolocus' designs, older versions of the Montana Chapter focus tree, and event images and concepts.

### CONFIGURING THE TREE

page 3

THE GOOD OL' EARLY DAYS OF MONTANA
Faeelin started the Montana Chapter. Above is what he had laid out before we inherited the nation. Some of Fae's focuses still remain in the new Montana tree!

Though, the process of reconstructing the Montana Chapter wasn't without its bumps.

"Montana Chapter is very much my and Lusa’s baby— we gave this one our all. It’s incredibly ambitious for how new we are to the modding scene, and for the first tree for us to have actually completed on the main mod together, there’s a ton of pressure." -- Violet
### AND THEN, A MONTH LATER... THE CURRENT MONTANA CHAPTER TREE

page 4

BEFORE THE MOVE, THERE WAS GOING TO BE MUCH MORE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN WHICHEVER BROTHERHOOD WON OUT IN WASHINGTON AND THE MONTANA CHAPTER. IN THE ORIGINAL TREE, A WAR AGAINST WASHINGTON BROTHERHOOD/COOPERATION WITH THE CAUSE WAS INTENDED TO SERVE AS THE THIRD AND FINAL ACT OF THE STORYLINE.

Originally, the Montana Chapter was going to be in the place of the Storm Mongers. They were moved after Faeelin brought up that having the first proper Brotherhood and Enclave war in the mod take place in the first year would seem unsatisfying, given their history as ideological adversaries in the games. There was even a nearly completed tree at this stage that was scrapped almost entirely for the one seen at release, meaning the one that is public is actually the third iteration of the Montana Chapter!
### FAMILY AND DUTYWHAT DOES THAT MEAN IN THE WASTELAND?

page 6

Writing the Montana Chapter was daunting. It was the first nation we ever worked on together for the mod. We took a few narrative leaps that we knew would receive mixed opinions, but in the end we had our story to tell; the strife between family and duty -- of honour and glory -- and what it means to different people.
Both Honour and Patrocolus are true in their values. Honour's side of the tree is rich in its exploration of 'the human beyond the steel'. Patrocolus' narrative is dashed with existential sentimentality. He is headstrong in his beliefs, upholding loyalty and duty above all else. He poses questions, accepts suffering, and continues on. In the end, they are both heroes of their own *Chapter*.

The Sisters are meant to evoke the feelings of “medieval fantasy” that the Brotherhood engages with, which is further promoted by the beautifully done tarot art done by Lusa and the imposed restrictions on energy production and ideas that encourage melee weapon production. Plus, it’s just pretty cool to have a bunch of angry women with Super Sledges. --Violet
### CUT CONTENTSOME IDEAS JUST DIDN'T PAN OUT

page 7

Instead of Fort Verity, the gang would arrive at an unnamed town in pursuit of a nuclear silo, and in their search they would end up solving a huge family feud *Assault on Braithwaite Manor* style. This beginning plot was then replaced with the bunker dilemma. It felt more in tune with the Brotherhood and placed more weight on Honour's coup; the townsfolk can live without their plot device, but the bunkerfolk can't.

As a result, Johanna was created; chasing a rogue sister was a great way to establish an immediate conflict between the Sisterhood and BOS.

But none of this would have been possible without the lovely KatW! We stumbled upon her character art for Tanya, and after gaining permission to use the artwork Kat volunteered to contribute in the writing of her character. You can find her here!
### PAINTING PATROCOLUS

page 12

OWB's own NuclearForest illustrated the Patrocolus portrait. You can support and find himhere:
### PAINTING HONOUR

page 14

From the start, we wanted Honour's portrait to stand out. Our tarot-style visual theme started with her. Though a difficult choice, ultimately we went with the closed-eyes thumbnail for her portrait. It conveyed the sombreness within her resilient nature. The sword in the back was also a nicer symbolic touch; her success is built atop a betrayal. Sooner or later, the Midwest will return to reclaim their sword...
### PAINTING MINERVA

page 16

Minerva was crafted just after Honour. We wanted a compliment to Honour's silent, intense nature. In both colour and personality, Minerva is warm and spontaneous-- an integral backbone to the Sisters.
### MAKING THE FLAGSWITH SOVIET\_CYBER

page 18-19

Montana's early conception traces back to Zapdude. "Zap mentioned that the concept of the nation was 'Flyboys'," Soviet told us. "[They'd] fly about and do shit."

Earlier drafts of Montana's flag includes old U.S Army Air corp colours and imagery. These influences remain present in the final flag.

Working on the Sisters' flag was both exciting and nerve-wracking. All because, as Lusa remarked, "This might be the one and only chance we have to make a hot pink BOS".

The Sisterhood flag embodies everything the Montana Chapter isn't. The colours? Warm and welcoming -- passion over pride. The wings? Folded down to the Earth; their ambitions founded in humbleness.
### EVENT PICTURES WITH SCATTERMAN

page 20

Scatter posed a lot of models in SFM for our GFX needs. Here's the behind the scenes of all of that!
### BUT THE STORY DOESN'T END...

page 26

THE MONTANA CHAPTER WILL RETURN IN 5.0