Tibbets Prison design document

The Tibbets Prison design document for Van Buren (Black Isle's canceled Fallout 3) was leaked on September 9, 2005 at No Mutants Allowed. It was written by Chris Avellone, consisting of examples of how to write design documents.

=Transcript=

04: Tibbets is meeting something coming from the West 04: Story: Tibbets, Zax, and Zax's shortened lifespan: Maybe when the players first bust out of prison, Zax sends them a distress call saying he's going to die in 28 days (or maybe he lists himself as a prisoner who needs help). Maybe that's the reason Zax busted the players out of prison in the first place - he needed someone to come save him.

Overview
Tibbets is a cold, sterile, steel-walled automated prison facility, run by technology so ancient it dates back to the years before the Great War - nearly two hundred years ago. It is a facility designed to hold and protect some of the world's most dangerous criminals (military and otherwise) before the war, and now the players are trapped deep inside its cell blocks, desperate to get out. They'll have to fight damaged and crazed robots inside and out, as well as deal with the split-personality machine intelligence within the prison, ULYSSES.

Not only is Tibbets where the players start Fallout 3, they will find themselves returning here over the course of the game, slowly unlocking more and more sections of the prison. As a result, the experience point totals and the strength of the opponents the players face will vary depending on when and where they leave or enter the prison.

Tibbets consists of the following maps (note that because the cell blocks are very much the same, it is quite easy to duplicate maps - once you've done one, you can do 15+ others):

Note: Should we do 01000 maps and give them five digits?

01000SmallCell Block 13, 14, 15 and 13.15 Elevator

01010SmallSecurity Hub 13.31

01020SmallCell Block 16, 17, 18 and 16.18 Elevator

01030SmallCell Block 19, 20, 21 and 19.21 Elevator

01040SmallCell Block 22, 23, 24 and 22.24 Elevator

01050SmallCell Block 25, 26, 27 and 25.27 Elevator

01060SmallCell Block 28, 29, 30 and 28.30 Elevator

01100LargeService Level: Cafeteria, Kitchen, Loading Area, Contaminated Zones

01200MedWaste Disposal and Chemical Treatment Areas

01210MedMedical Treatment Area, Labs, and Genetic Sampling

01300LargeService and Vehicle Depot Areas

01310MedMechanics Bay

01320MedRobot Maintenance Bay

01330 MedArsenal

01400MedCryogenic Cell Block 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

01500SmallCryogenic Cell Block 1, 2, 3

01510MedCryogenic Cell Block 0: ULYSSES Computer Core and Defense Tunnels

01600MedTrain: JOHN HENRY

01610MedTrain: THE GENERAL

01620Med Train: EL LOCO

The goal of this area is initially to escape.

The secondary goal of this area, once you've escaped, is to fight your way back in.

The third goal of this area, once you've fought your way back in, is to make your way to the computer core and confront or destroy ULYSSES. When this occurs, the players will have finished two thirds of the game, and be ready to travel to the next third of the game.

The monsters to be fought in this area are robots in various stages of disrepair (during the initial escape, the players will fight damaged robots - when they return, many of the robots will be repaired and much tougher). Also, the player will find himself interacting with (and no doubt fighting) some of the escaped prisoners as well, who are either hardcore criminals or simply driven mad by confinement.

The playtime in the prison is an estimated 4 to 5 hours, total. It is intended the player spend no more than an hour escaping (for demo purposes), then when they return, they can explore more and more of the prison, slowly unlocking Tibbets's secrets.

Area Background
Tibbets is a maximum security automated prison run by a "divided" computer core, ULYSSES, which itself is a prisoner in the facility, attempting to escape East and return home - just like the players. The irony!

Tibbets prison has its roots in the Tibbets of today. It was always a military prison, holding some of the United States' most dangerous criminals - including the players. Over time, the prison became more advanced, utilizing robotic wardens and utility robots to maintain the structure, especially as the war with China in the 270s and the annexation of Canada began to drain personnel from the United States. It was designed to hold 636 prisoners at full capacity. At the beginning of Fallout 3, it holds much more than that - but when the dust and ash settles after the catastrophic attack at the prison, there will be enough prisoners running from the shattered prison walls to pose a threat to the wasteland.

It was actually used as primitive isolation studies before the Vaults were established, except the subjects were prisoners, especially CODE'd to see if they could withstand the rigors of isolation for protracted periods of time. This was the time when the recycling systems and water purification systems were tested before using them in the Safehouse Project - any prisoners harmed during the procedure were tended to - not dystopian style.

In 2040, it was commandeered by the United States government in association with Vault-Tec and Poseidon Oil to tie into their Safehouse Project.

Here is a segment taken from the web and modified for Fallout 3:

USP Background Information

 * Rated Capacity......... 414
 * Current Population... 456 (9-10-57) 636?
 * Security Level..........HIGH
 * Custody Level..........IN and MAXIMUM
 * Judicial District.........District of Kansas

The United States Penitentiary (USP), Tibbets is located on 1,583 square acres with 22.8 inside the penitentiary walls. It is an all-male high security level facility committed to carrying out the judgments of the Federal Courts. It provides a safe, secure and humane environment for those offenders committed to its custody. Like all Bureau facilities, Tibbets adheres to a balanced philosophy that recognizes that punishment, deterrence, and incapacitation are all valid purposes of confinement. Opportunities for positive change are provided through work, education, training, and counseling for inmates motivated toward self-improvement.

The USP Tibbets came into existence through an act of Congress in 1895. Inmates from the military prison at Fort Tibbets were used in the early construction and were marched 3 ½ miles to the site daily, returning to the prison at the Fort at night. This continued until February 1903 when the first 418 inmates to occupy the prison site were moved into what now serves as a laundry building. Prisoners and supplies for the prison were handled via a rail line that passed through the prison to unload and load cargo.

In 1906, all federal prisoners from Fort Tibbets were housed in the new institution and the prison at Fort Tibbets was returned to the War Department. A milestone in the new penitentiaries' construction was reached in 1926 with the final placement of the dome overhead the rotunda - from which the penitentiary derives its famous nickname - "The Big Top."

On 5 April 2040, the Secretary of the Army made the decision to build a new Disciplinary Barracks, with a capacity for 456 inmates. A cost ceiling of $363 million in allocated construction dollars was set. The target budget year for funding this project was fiscal year 2041. Construction began in the Fall of 2042, with completion projected for the Fall of the year 2045.

In July 2042, discussions with Vault-Tec to determine space and functional requirements for the new facility. On 6 September 2042, the Combined Arms Center Commander was given a decision brief of the USDB project, and selected one of three design options for further development. He also requested the Corps of Engineers to research an alternate location for the placement of this facility, since the geological evaluation of the site adjacent to the Trustee Unit revealed unsuitable subsurface conditions. Discussions involving the possible movement of the prison and relocation projects were also discussed, leading to the three-rail system that exists today.

The planning process reached the 10 percent stage on 4 Oct 2042; the 35 percent stage on 27 March 2043; 65 percent stage on 19 January 2044; 90 percent stage on 3 May 2045; and 100 percent stage on 15 August 2046. The 100 percent Design Meeting was conducted on 16 October 2046.

In designing this facility we are applying state of the art design and equipment, as it exists today, borrowing heavily from the experiences that the Federal Bureau of Prisons and several state prison systems encountered when designing and building prisons.

Tibbets Programs
Tibbets provides academic, work and occupational education opportunities to all inmates who wish or who are required to participate in them. It also provides a full range of recreation and leisure time activities.

Education: Tibbets offers a wide range of education programs from basic literacy to high school equivalency (GED) to parenting programs through the Personal Information Processor issued to each inmate. The Bureau utilizes the high school equivalency as its literacy standard and inmates failing to meet this standard are required to participate in education programs. In addition, the Education Department offers English as a Second Language and bi-lingual Adult Basic and Secondary Education opportunities.

We offer a number of ACE courses to include: Spanish I and II, Keyboarding, Creative Writing, History, Career Development, and Pre-Release. We also have VT Programs, Graphic Arts and Barber College certified by the State of Kansas. We are attempting to get a Culinary Arts VT class operational, as well as, a distance learning college program.

Vault-Tec: The Vault-Tec operation at Tibbets is the largest in the Bureau and includes three factories. These factories employ over 320 inmates and last year recorded sales of over 26 million dollars with profits exceeding 6 million dollars. The profits from all Vault-Tec operations are used to fund salaries, re-invest in new factories, and other expenses of Vault-Tec.

Health Services: Health Services provides a full range of outpatient and infirmary care to all inmates. There are 26 full-time medical staff members, including 2 Physicians, 2 Dentists, 2 Pharmacists, 9 physician assistants, 2 health information personnel, an administrator, and an assistant administrator. Automated medical staff include six Auto-Doc systems and a number of on-call medical robots. This staff provides 24 hour coverage and specialty services are provided by consultants from the community. Four hospitals in the local area offer inpatient and outpatient care on a contractual basis.

CODE: USP Tibbets provides a residential treatment program to those inmates interested in making pro-social life decisions and uses the latest in psychological methods and technology. The Challenge, Opportunity, Discipline, and Ethics (CODE) program is a year-long residential treatment program offered in the prison. The mission of the program is to foster a sense of trust, responsibility, integrity, and tolerance. Inmates enrolled in the program spend the first three months exploring the change process, followed by six months of daily treatment methods to promote positive life skills, and during the final three months of the program inmates develop skills to discourage relapse into prior negative forms of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Each area template should include an Area Background section. This section should have the following:


 * Describes how the area ties into the overall game. This includes any story or plot foreshadowing that occurs in this area as well as any other story elements that are part of the area.


 * Gives any historical information about the area that audio, other designers, or magazine editors may need or want to build upon.

Critical Path: In keeping with the Fallout genre (and hinting at the structure of the end-game), the players have four ways to escape the prison during the opening sequence. This makes the "critical path" actually four different paths, but they are all confined to the following four locations:

X

X

X

X

How do you predict the players will travel through here four different ways?

Economy: Tibbets is self-sufficient. It has a recycling water supply, a waste recycling system that extracts moisture from human waste, and it has several stockpiles of oil, petrol, fusion cells, and electrical batteries to keep it going for at least fifty more years. It has exploited its massive stockpile in ties with Robot City to "beef up" in preparation for its escape.

Relationship with Other Communities: Tibbets has no relationship with any other communities in the wasteland west of its location - most of them don't know it's even there. The only "communities" that know of its existence are the machine intelligences governing Robot City to the East, which are attempting to find ULYSSES and correct the "divide" that has occurred within its system - and return it to its imprisoned, intended place as their slave.

Art requirements
Each area template should include an Art Requirements section. This section should have the following:


 * Provides a rough map of the location in a JPG file (see RadScoprion Nest, below). No one cares how clean it is, but it should include enough information so an artist/level designer can look at it, understand what you mean, and build the level with all the design parameters you have specified. The map may be contained in a separate file, but each location in the game should be mapped out, just as it was done for Torment and Icewind Dale.


 * Tells the artists what tile set will be used (if appropriate).


 * Tells the artists any special scenery objects that will be used for the area (i.e., cots, freestanding floor safe with an open and close animation, a turkey roasting on a spit, a special flashing neon sign, and so on).

Design Note: Whenever possible, try to include one brand-new visual or scenery object in each location to give the players a visual jolt, or just go, "cooooool."


 * Any ideas you have for the Town Map picture for the PIPBoy (i.e., do you want it to look like a Luray Caverns pamphlet, a travel guide, a picture of the chain link fence of an army compound, and so on).


 * Any movies or scripted cut scenes in these locations? Cut Scenes are elaborated on further in the Scripting section, below.

Example: Radscorpion Nest Map
RadScorpion Caves: A dark, claustrophobic cavern complex filled with vicious “Black Radscorpions” (“Black Radscorpions” that use the same model, but different stats) and baby black Radscorpions. The Raiders feed them captives every once in a while to keep them around. They also think the scorpions are kind of cute.

T: Pitfall Destination. Put a few bones and skeletons around these areas.

1: Ladder up to Entrence Cavez. Put lots of bones and skeletons around this area. (The Raiders dump victims down here occasionally.)

2: Spud’s Lair: Lair of Spud, the biggest, baddest Radscorpion in the land.

3: Victim: Another body of a victim here.

Locations
The Locations section of the document will probably be a series of entries, each one describing each location within the area. Designers will determine what format and procedure works best for them. Each location section should probably cover the following information, however:


 * A quick series of bookmarks for each location and sub-location described in the document so the players can just jump to it.


 * The physical aspects of the locations, so artists can get a feel for the area's art requirements.


 * The feel and tone of the area for audio. Include any description you think would help them get a better handle on the area. Emote if necessary. Do interpretative dance. I don't fucking care, but don't omit important details.


 * The area's purpose.


 * The major characters you expect to be found in the location.


 * Any adversaries you expect to be encountered in the location.


 * A brief description of quests likely to be found in the area.

A potential sample from the Raiders caves would be:

Example: Bak Entranze Summary
Back Entrance: This map is pretty small and (hopefully) uncomplicated. This is the secret backdoor entrance to the Raider caves that the player can find if they have a high Outdoorsman skill.

This “secret entrance” is a hole in the ground surrounded by a cluster of abandoned shacks with their walls falling down and huge gaping holes in the roofs. There is no living in these shacks, so don’t worry about having to place critters anywhere around here. The Raiders also do not guard this backdoor entrance to their caves (they don’t believe anyone could really find it).

The only item of interest on this map is the black hole that leads down into the Raider Caves.

Design Note: When designing locations and sub-locations, keep in mind that there may be locations the player returns to frequently, such as stores, flophouses to rest, or the local doctor. Try to make these as convenient to reach as possible.

Cast of Characters
The Cast of Characters section describes the major NPCs found in the location.


 * A quick series of bookmarks for each NPC and companion described in the document so the players can just jump to it.

Generic NPCs
Describe their background, personality, their function, any ties to quests in the area, and if they are voice-acted or not. If voice-acted, include a brief sentence indicating what you think the character would sound like, preferably using a real world actor as an example (it's easier for audio to do voice casting if they have a real world actor to use as a basis for comparison – chances are, they can't get THAT particular actor, but they can get someone who sounds like him or her).

Companions!
Be sure to include potential companions here, too. Make a note of what they're good at, their stats, and so on, along with any things that would prevent them from joining the party (the player's Karma is too high or too low, his Reputation isn't high enough, the player needs to complete a quest first, and so on).

Design Note: Might want to combine the cast of characters with the Monster Roster, at least in terms of stats. Dave Maldonado had a suggestion for a series of task lists for the producers that combine both the cast of characters, companions, and the critters all in one list. I keep wondering if there should be separate completion lists maintained outside of the templates that track overall progress. Dividing them amongst various location documents seems counterproductive – I'd prefer the Icewind Dale: HOW excel sheet, though there is the problem of regular upkeep.

Scripting
Scripting covers a number of elements:

General
There are some general scripting issues...


 * Are there any wacky scripting things you'll need the programmers to be aware of? (For example, can you go to Hoover Dam, aim an artillery cannon at the town of Podunk five miles distant, fire a poison gas shell into the town, then go back to Podunk and all the inhabitants are dead except for the ghouls? Or, if the town is suffering from a disease, does the population die off over time? "Little" things like that.)


 * Are there any cut-scenes in the location? If so, include specific details of how the cut scene plays out, including characters you may need added or subtracted from a map on the fly, camera angles, and so on.


 * Do any creatures in town spawn or respawn? If so, is this respawning tied to any other parameters, such as difficulty level, the player's level, skill use, reputation level, and so on?


 * Are there any changes that occur on the map in terms of spawning, creature difficulty, or otherwise, that vary according to the difficulty level of the game, the level of the player and/or the party, or the fact it's a single-player or a multiplayer game? Do any boss battles become harder? Do any spawned creatures change (behemoth robots instead of rad rats suddenly start popping out of the word work)? Let your programmers know. They like knowing this stuff.

Town-Specific
There are some important things to consider for towns...


 * What happens when the player attacks someone in the area? (This is primarily important for towns – most dungeon-crawl locations it won't matter.)


 * What happens when the player breaks into one of the houses in the town?


 * Are any of the town inhabitants listed in the Monster Roster below organized into teams? Do they call for help? Will any of them fight each other if they spot an rival group of townsfolk?

Dungeon-Specific
There are some important things to consider for dungeon locations...


 * Are any of the monsters listed in the Monster Roster below organized into teams? Do they call for help? Will any of them fight each other if they spot an enemy critter?

Monster Roster
The Monster Roster section indicates what monsters are found in the location. If you can, list the numbers of critters present, their approximate XP award, and if they are intended to respawn in a location or not.

If any monsters change according to difficulty level, make sure you note these variations here as well.

In addition, write a sentence or two about what kind of random encounters would you expect to see near the town—and make a note of what ones shouldn't occur near the town. You may need to pass this information off to a designer who is solely responsible for designing random encounters, and the more he or she knows, the better.

Cool Shit
The Cool Shit section is just that—what's cool about this area? For starters, you should be able to say in one or two sentences why a player would remember this location. If you were a player, what would make you want to play this location? What would make you glad you played this location?

This section should include the following technical details:


 * The weapons, armor, or item progression occurs in the area. This includes cool stuff you can buy from storekeepers—if possible, try to include items out of the player's price range or just out of reach (dangle the carrot...) so the player is motivated to go accumulate cash to purchase the item from the store.

Item progression should be broken down in a skill basis, and it can be included in the Location Checklist, below. Basically, whenever possible, a location should have some item or weapon that compliments a skill.


 * Can the player get any merit badges in the area? (Merit Badges are essentially worthless Perks or items your character can accumulate – they don't affect gameplay, but they're like collecting brownie points and act as additional carrots. Things like, "Purple Heart Medal," or "Perk: Refuse Extraction Coordinator," or "Perk: Searches Toilets.")


 * What skills are especially useful in this area? (Note: keep this simple – the, uh, painfully detailed skill analysis occurs in the Location Checklist, below.)


 * Can the player either build cool new items or learn how to build cool new items in this location? (For example, a Mechanic may discover a laser sight in one town, and be able to attach it to a rifle using a craft bench – or he may find plans for a combustion engine he could put into a rusted hulk out in the desert, making it able to be driven around.)


 * What would keep the player coming back to this area? Is there a locked elevator that requires a 150% Repair skill to fix and opens into a new location? Is there an ornery old cuss who won't give you a quest until you've gained a few levels? Is there a shopkeeper whose stock keeps changing... and keeps changing for the better the more good or bad acts you do in other locations in the world? Can the player blackmail someone and keep coming back for his monthly payments? There should be at least a few carrots like this in each location to keep the players coming back and getting more mileage out of the area.


 * Is there an interesting gaming technique, quest, or RPG element about the location? As an example, Lonelywood in Heart of Winter had a neat series of events that developed over time, and as you returned to the town throughout the adventure, events would build on events (the werewolf murders, the murderous squad of adventurers coming to attack the owner of the Whistling Gallows, Baldemar's hiring of the assassin – and the assassin eventually turning on him). Is there a puzzle type that hasn't been seen in the game until this point? A mini-game? (Molerat Mambo in Redding in Fallout 2, for example.) Every location needs some spice to turn it up a notch – as much as art needs to continually wow the player, the design needs to shake them up, too.


 * Are there any quest items in the area?

Quests
The Quests section should be set up so you can cut and paste the damn thing into a PIPBoy quest log. This section is broken into several parts: The Main Quests in the area that are designed specifically by a designer, the Merchant Quests which are more generic "go to X with caravan Y and get Z reward," and the Floating Quests, which are a series of randomly generated quests for the area.

Note: Make sure to refer to the quest design section in the F3_Style.doc.

Main Quests
Main Quests are quests designed specifically by the designer for the area. Information on these quests should include:


 * The initiator of the quest.


 * The importance and the scope of the quest.

Importance: Critical quests are ones that the player has to do to advance the game, Major quests are ones that could span an area or two and involve a lot of steps, and Minor quests are ones that could be solved on the same map or by walking to an adjacent map, or may involve only one step to solve.

Scope: Small (same map), Medium (a map or two away), and Large (crosses several maps, takes a long time to complete).


 * A quick description of the quest.


 * A quick breakdown on how all four different types of characters could solve the quest. If the quest can only be completed by one type of character (which is fine), indicate it here.


 * Quest flags, if appropriate, and what stage each flag represents.


 * Rewards of the quest, including experience points, items gained, reputation, and especially any quest items gained.


 * The journal entries for bad karma, good karma, normal karma, and dumb characters when appropriate. (I don't know if we're going to have all these categories, but plan for them now.) Not all quests need this much variation, but if you think it would work for the quest, then put them in. Again, these journal entries should be able to cut and pasted from this document into a game text file without a hitch.


 * The quest table will be laid out so it can be imported to a QA database so we can quickly set up the standard quest checklist for the game. Here's a sample template (we still need to work with this):

Area: The area of the game and the map in the area where the game takes place.

Quest Name: The name of the quest.

Designer: The designer responsible for the quest so people know who to contact.

Dstatus: The status of the design.

Script: The programmer in charge of programming the location.

Dscript: The status of the coding for the quest.

LogStat: What's the status of the log for these quests? Do you get the unsolved version, do you get the solved version, and do you get a good/bad karma and a stupid one, if appropriate?

Passable: Is the quest passable in some form?

QA 100%: Is the quest completable in ALL forms?

Note that quests should reinforce the "feel" of a location. As an example, Redding in Fallout 2 was set up to be a frontier, rough-and-tumble Western mining town, with a "Gold Rush" kind of ambiance about it. Quests in the town involved becoming the sheriff (a career move that, in classic Western style, no one wants), dealing with drunken brawls in the local saloon, dealing with dirty infighting between the two mining companies, trying to help out the local country doctor, cleaning out an infested mine, dealing with a band of robbers, and so on – the nature of the quests made you feel like you were in a Old West movie.

Also, if there is a companion in town, make sure you indicate how to get him in your party, and set up the conditions as a quest. ("To get Cassidy in your party, you need to find him in his tavern, ask him about his recent rash of troubles, then invite him to come with you. You will gain +500 XP, +1 Reputation, and Cassidy comes with a shotgun, leather armor, several shells, and a lot of whiskey.")

Merchant Quests
For some locations, there will be a merchant caravan that travels to and from the city. Make sure you describe what caravan missions are available in the location, and a note of who the caravan master(s) are for the location and where they can be found. It's usually best if they are located somewhere near the opening map of the location.

Floating Quests
Scott Warner suggested implementing a randomly-generated quest system for TORN, based on the Privateer model; basically, a number of random quests appear on a "job post" (or its equivalent) somewhere in the world, and the player can pick and choose from a number of simple quests that change over time.

These randomly generated missions make no pretensions about being cut-and-dry FedEx or Murder Quests: "Go collect bounty on five ghouls," "retrieve five chunks of gold ore," "deliver three sub-machine guns to the caravan master," and so on. Make a quick list of different kinds of quick and dirty random missions that would be appropriate for the location – several of the missions (but not necessarily all) should be tied to the random encounters that occur near the town.

Task Lists
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:

Music
The music breakdowns depend on the game. In Fallout 3, we will most likely be going with music themes tied to areas, which is in keeping with the previous games. Be sure to include your preferences for these themes in the document so Adam Levenson has something to work off of... even if it's just a starting point for a debate.

Basic SFX
An area's going to need sound to make it come alive. Some basics:

Environmental Sounds: Wind, weather, settling rocks.

Item-Specific Sounds: Glance through your area, see if there's any items that might need sounds to complement their presence: the humming of generators, crackling of fires, buzzing of neon signs, and so on.

Wildlife Sounds: Wolves howling, birds chirping, crickets, hissing of rattlesnakes. Do not include human voices in this category (that's covered in "Walla," below).

Business Sounds: Any SFX tied to businesses or merchants in the area (sound of a tractor in the distance, a trash compactor crushing metal, gunshots from the rifle range, roaring of a plane from an airport).

Living Sounds: Any SFX tied to everyday life in the area (tolling of a church bell, sound of a basketball on asphalt, car engine coming to life, chopping of wood).

For every sound effect you want, be sure to include:

Distance: The distance you expect the sound effect to be played at.

Time-Dependent: Is the SFX tied to a time cycle? Does a factory stop crushing metal cans at night? Is a neon sign turned off during the day? If so, audio needs to know.

'''Any Walla? '''Is there any walla that needs to be done for the locations? This is much different from sound effects, because a voice actor must be employed to do the lines. See "Walla" SFX, below.

"Walla" SFX
Walla is a term used to describe any voices you hear in the area. The catcalls of prostitutes, people groaning in pain in a dungeon, ghostly whispers in a haunted house are all examples of this. Walla SFX questions break down into the same categories as basic SFX:

Distance: The distance you expect the walla sound effect to be played at.

Time-Dependent: Is the walla tied to a time cycle? Does a street empty out at night? Do the merchant stalls close up shop and the merchants go home? Does a bar become more lively when twilight falls?

'''How many people and what's the gender and racial mix? '''Be sure to include roughly how many people are in the location, their races, and their genders. For example, a rough and tumble bar might have "12 patrons: 5 human male bandits, 3 human female bandits, 2 super mutant males, 1 ghoul female, and a whirring servant robot that occasionally asks if a customer wants drinks.")

'''What's the mood of the place where the walla is occurring? And how should the voices sound? '''In the example above, you might describe it as "a rough and tumble bar in a bad section of town where disreputable raiders gather to smoke, drink, and occasionally get into a fight or two; all conversations should either be loud, raucous, drunken stories about successful raids, attacks on caravans, or other crimes, or else be mumbled planned conversations with a group planning their next raid. A few insults may be being thrown around at other patrons or directed toward the robot servant. The area should feel alive and threatening (like a WWF match), but not sinister."

'''Does the walla sound have any other SFX? '''In the example above, the servant robot's speech may need to have a slight whirring or clicking sound associated with it as the robot speaks and rolls around the bar.

Does this walla sound need any DIRECT SFX attached to it? If the walla sound effect is "people screaming as they're being whipped," then not only do you need a whip SFX, but you need to make sure that the whip SFX plays before the screaming or at least complements the screaming.

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...):

Example: Virgin Street Map Key
1. Empty Lot: This is where the Corvega is parked when the player comes to New Reno. At some point while the player is in New Reno, the car will be stolen, so there will need to be a “scripting hex” somewhere in the lot that activates when the player comes within 10 hexes of it (basically, whenever the player hits that hex radius, he’ll say “Where the hell is my car?”).

2. Miss Kitty’s Scratching Post: This building has tons of graffiti covering its surface and ten cap whores line the sidewalks outside, calling out to the character.

3. Miss Kitty’s Parlor: This is where clients can check in with the madam and arrange to get their snake drained.

4. “Bedrooms”: This is where Miss Kitty’s prostitutes take care of the customers.

5. Shitty Building: A number of junkies fill this building. It is run down and crappy, more so than any building on the street (no one lives here). Junkies lie on the floor or stagger around the edge of the building, high on Jet.

6: Shitty Building, 2: Some random building. Feel free to play around with it or cut it out to save space on the map.

7: Mordino Casino: The entrance to the Mordino Casino. Clicking on one of the doors takes the player to the Mordino Casino, First Floor Map (below).

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, Charisma Boy). 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: 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.

Ending: A brief, one-sentence explanation of the possible endings for this location. These are described in more detail in End Movies, below.

Economics: This is just an entry to make sure that you have given some information in the location that gives clues on how it manages to stay afloat financially in the wasteland; you don’t have to beat the player over the head with it, but just make sure it’s communicated in some fashion in the location.

Tie to Another Area 1: I’d like to see the areas tied together more – either with inter-dependent quests, or family members spread out across locations, or something that gives the player the feeling that each location in the game is not an isolated location all into itself.

Anyway, that’s the bare bones checklist, and it’s subject to revisions. Here’s an example of how the list could be filled out:

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:


 * The condition for each end movie. Someone has to script this, so make sure it includes all necessary flags or other conditions that need to be checked.


 * The narration text for the end movie. Write it as if Ron Perlman would read it.


 * Some suggested art for the end movie slideshow. Keep it as a simple 2D image. 

A quick example is provided below:

Example: New Reno End Movies
WHERE TO GO CONDITIONS

'''1. EVERYONE DEAD! (WTG)'''

'''2. PLAYER FOUNDED HIS OWN CRIME FAMILY! (WTG)'''

3. PLAYER’S CHILD (WTG)

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. 06-25-01 – Fallout Location Template document created.

06-28-01 - Added comments from Steve Bokkes (QA Quest List), Dave Maldonado (Appendix and Item and Character Summaries), and Feargus (Quest Importance and Scope). Added spawning and difficulty level information to the Scripting section as well as an "estimated play time" entry into the Area Summary section.

07-09-01 – Added comments from Dave Maldonado and added "character's sex" (male/female) to the location checklist.