TomJ
Still Mildly Glowing
I've been thinking about Fallout 4 and what I would have liked to see over what was actually produced. The points are similar, but the setup and surrounding story I'd like are different. The main difference would be the game should have been set in 2177 rather than 2287.
Vault 111: I would have made Vault 111 a Med Tech facility rather than a Vault. The Med Tech facility would contain the cryopods. Sanctuary Hills would have been built by Med Tech to get test subjects for the cryopod experiment. The people in Sanctuary Hills would have been veterans that were poor and getting a home for cheap thanks to some Med Tech CSR project. This would be found out after you're defrosted. When the bombs drop, the whole neighborhood would run to the facility and be frozen.
The PC: You would choose one of the people in Sanctuary Hills to play as. You could pick a teenager who is about to come of age who is essentially a blank slate or whatever other person you want. The choice of which person you'd take would affect quest options and dialogue option through the game as well as potential stat bonuses early on. Ex a nurse having higher medical skills, a former Army officer being better at guns, or a teacher having better speech.
Leaving the Cryopods: I would have the cryopods just fail at some point during 2177. Since this isn't a Vault, the equipment wouldn't be tampered with and critical system failure would lead to the pods shutting down and the inhabitants being released. You and your neighbors will then interact with each other and with some Med Tech employees that were frozen to be support staff after the people were released. Also subtly implying that they were going to be frozen for more than a few years. You'll then leave the facility and return to Sanctuary Hills.
The Quest: After leaving, a search team will be selected and you'll be selected to go out for {insert reasons here}. You'll go out to search Concord for supplies. This is when you'd start interacting with the rest of the universe. At this point, I'd have the search party interact with wastelanders complaining about the Minutemen and praising the Gunners. The point being that you and your community are just trying to survive, not save someone. The story would be about prewar stuffiness contending with a post war world that lacks the large institutions. In this, the prewar world from a sociopolitical standpoint would be stuffy like in the 1950s. So no gender equality, no gay people, just white bread 50's America that hasn't evolved very much. This like Frost would be more about surviving and interacting with the world than it would have one over arching plot. Yes the main factions hate each other some extent and that will need to be resolved, but your motivation is surviving and rebuilding and dealing with your own demons.
The Factions
The Institute!: The Institute would still exist, but they would be growing humans rather than the 3D printed synths. They would have some cybernetic components grown into them just to make them semi different from humans, but these implants would just better enable a mind wipe, allow them to interface with VR, and be more durable due to their work in less than hospitable environments. They would be mysterious, but not as infamous as the Institute we know. They’d be fear inducing, but not as apparent as a problem. Their goal would be to rebuild civilization, but one based on science and be populated by grown humans.
The Railroad: They’d only change enough to make sense within the plot.
The Minutemen: They wouldn't be as down and out, they’d be mid collapse. They’d still control Quincy and a few areas around it. People would still be skeptical of them and you could side with them and help them rebuild or not. They would be attempting to organize the new world with old world structures.
The Gunners/Vault 95: Vault 95 (the AA Vault if I misremembered the number) would be a religious organization that wants to rebuild the world around old world religious values. They want the idealized old world back, the one that people from the 50s in our timeline idealize.
Army Remnants: Fort Hagen would have an underground section where the inhabitants rode out the aftermath of the war. They want to rebuild, but they don’t have eyes on the surface, they aren’t the Enclave.
Minor Factions:
“The Pack”: There would be a raider faction like the Pack from Nuka world floating around and would control a fiefdom. They would be socially liberated like unlike the prewar world. Meaning they are the opposite of the old world. This would force the player to challenge their old world views, embrace their desires or be stubborn.
“The Operators”: A faction based on underworld businessmen would be floating around. They’d control some old hotels filled with things like gambling, prostitution, chems and alcohol, and other such things. Their motivation is money.
Settlements: I would still put in settlement creation. Each settlement would be a minor faction in and of itself. As a settlement grow and attracts people more radiant quests would pop up. Not of the “ghouls 50 miles away mean us harm” but certain people need help and that unlocks more dialogue and other options.
Raiders: Each raider gang would have it's own reason for being. Either desperation, some being former Minutemen, some just wanting to steal. Depending on their motivations you can interact with them peacefully and potentially recruit them.
Merchant Houses: Various caravan and merchant groups will act like a guild. The quests would be similar to the Crimson Caravan quests from New Vegas. Would play on the politics between them.
Vault 111: I would have made Vault 111 a Med Tech facility rather than a Vault. The Med Tech facility would contain the cryopods. Sanctuary Hills would have been built by Med Tech to get test subjects for the cryopod experiment. The people in Sanctuary Hills would have been veterans that were poor and getting a home for cheap thanks to some Med Tech CSR project. This would be found out after you're defrosted. When the bombs drop, the whole neighborhood would run to the facility and be frozen.
The PC: You would choose one of the people in Sanctuary Hills to play as. You could pick a teenager who is about to come of age who is essentially a blank slate or whatever other person you want. The choice of which person you'd take would affect quest options and dialogue option through the game as well as potential stat bonuses early on. Ex a nurse having higher medical skills, a former Army officer being better at guns, or a teacher having better speech.
Leaving the Cryopods: I would have the cryopods just fail at some point during 2177. Since this isn't a Vault, the equipment wouldn't be tampered with and critical system failure would lead to the pods shutting down and the inhabitants being released. You and your neighbors will then interact with each other and with some Med Tech employees that were frozen to be support staff after the people were released. Also subtly implying that they were going to be frozen for more than a few years. You'll then leave the facility and return to Sanctuary Hills.
The Quest: After leaving, a search team will be selected and you'll be selected to go out for {insert reasons here}. You'll go out to search Concord for supplies. This is when you'd start interacting with the rest of the universe. At this point, I'd have the search party interact with wastelanders complaining about the Minutemen and praising the Gunners. The point being that you and your community are just trying to survive, not save someone. The story would be about prewar stuffiness contending with a post war world that lacks the large institutions. In this, the prewar world from a sociopolitical standpoint would be stuffy like in the 1950s. So no gender equality, no gay people, just white bread 50's America that hasn't evolved very much. This like Frost would be more about surviving and interacting with the world than it would have one over arching plot. Yes the main factions hate each other some extent and that will need to be resolved, but your motivation is surviving and rebuilding and dealing with your own demons.
The Factions
The Institute!: The Institute would still exist, but they would be growing humans rather than the 3D printed synths. They would have some cybernetic components grown into them just to make them semi different from humans, but these implants would just better enable a mind wipe, allow them to interface with VR, and be more durable due to their work in less than hospitable environments. They would be mysterious, but not as infamous as the Institute we know. They’d be fear inducing, but not as apparent as a problem. Their goal would be to rebuild civilization, but one based on science and be populated by grown humans.
The Railroad: They’d only change enough to make sense within the plot.
The Minutemen: They wouldn't be as down and out, they’d be mid collapse. They’d still control Quincy and a few areas around it. People would still be skeptical of them and you could side with them and help them rebuild or not. They would be attempting to organize the new world with old world structures.
The Gunners/Vault 95: Vault 95 (the AA Vault if I misremembered the number) would be a religious organization that wants to rebuild the world around old world religious values. They want the idealized old world back, the one that people from the 50s in our timeline idealize.
Army Remnants: Fort Hagen would have an underground section where the inhabitants rode out the aftermath of the war. They want to rebuild, but they don’t have eyes on the surface, they aren’t the Enclave.
Minor Factions:
“The Pack”: There would be a raider faction like the Pack from Nuka world floating around and would control a fiefdom. They would be socially liberated like unlike the prewar world. Meaning they are the opposite of the old world. This would force the player to challenge their old world views, embrace their desires or be stubborn.
“The Operators”: A faction based on underworld businessmen would be floating around. They’d control some old hotels filled with things like gambling, prostitution, chems and alcohol, and other such things. Their motivation is money.
Settlements: I would still put in settlement creation. Each settlement would be a minor faction in and of itself. As a settlement grow and attracts people more radiant quests would pop up. Not of the “ghouls 50 miles away mean us harm” but certain people need help and that unlocks more dialogue and other options.
Raiders: Each raider gang would have it's own reason for being. Either desperation, some being former Minutemen, some just wanting to steal. Depending on their motivations you can interact with them peacefully and potentially recruit them.
Merchant Houses: Various caravan and merchant groups will act like a guild. The quests would be similar to the Crimson Caravan quests from New Vegas. Would play on the politics between them.
