Suggestion thread for codex-themed content in Wasteland 2

[hiver]

Good ideas to munch over.

 

[bonescraper]

Welcome to The Pit( or whatever name it should be). It is a mining settlement in a canyon for various gemstones

Glittering Gems of Hatred? I love this idea

The only thing that would make justice to our Prestigious Lodge of Monocled Gentlemen is a joinable faction with it's own questline and unique location

 

[laclongquan]

A big red Troll with a monocle standing proud, his foot on the neck of a nerdy glassed guy belly down on the ground. One hand on hip, another point toward.

A line on the base of the statue: "We dont scale to your level" implying the majesticness of the Troll.

How about that for the statue?

 

[jiujitsu]

jiu-jitsu's ideas​

--The RPGs themselves should be special. Highly aesthetic, ornate, versions of old fashioned rocket launchers. Oldies, but goodies, made with tender love and care that possess excellent functionality.

--The tribe would be beset by many problems that a few 'modernizations' could easily solve, but no one is willing to sacrifice the old traditional methods to solve them. (ie. Running low on the elder RPG ammo, but has a stockpile of ammo for newer model RPGs -- convince them to upgrade or work out a deal with a neighboring community to get them the older rockets they need)

--In dialogue, many of these Codexians should say 'bro' a lot. Not too much, though. Unimportant Codexians should have some funny, cunt-like, floating text when you click them. (ie. Check out the 'Newbag' or 'Newslag' or something. Can't say 'fag.' Or "Oh gawd it's hevan!" Or "What can change the nature of a tranny?")

--The Codex troll would in-fact be a statue erected by the tribe in honor of the god of RPGs, MCA. (Let's face it, MCA is worshiped here to a certain degree and he did create the troll himself... It's only fitting.) MCA wouldn't stand for Mister Chris Avellone, though. Some other name would have to be thought of with the same initials M.C.A.

--There should be a "Town Hall" scene with regards to whatever problems are facing the tribe. This scene should play out like a Codex thread full of argumentative cunts. Nothing fancy, just floating text or a dialogue window works.

--This tribe should have serious trade problems. Due to their traditional nature, they basically shun all new tech and ideas which alienates them from neighboring tribes/communities. Also, their general cunt-like nature really pisses off possible trading partners, thus they live in a state of isolation. (ie. Certain dev's won't do interviews with us. All devs won't post here. Any mention of this website on certain other forums is censored. etc.) EDIT: Due to these trade problems any world 'currency' would be useless here. To trade you would have to barter item for item.

--When asking about the Codexians in other locations, the responses should be along the lines of "Don't go there." or "Those cunts..." or "We'd be better off if they were wiped out... here's a job." or "They drove me off and I dropped my heirloom pocket watch please get it back for me!" (The watch is now a beautiful addition to a certain Codexian's precious RPG. What to do...?)

--Choice and consequence. Helping the Codexians nets you their services (ie. Tricked out RPG, NPC follower, their support in a portion of the main quest, etc.). Helping them also brings the ire of neighboring tribes and communities which scorn you as one of them. (ie. Good luck trading in these locations[High barter skill?]. Be careful you don't get attacked in others[High speech skill/Charisma?]. Obviously, skills should only help you so far. Supporting them should certainly cut off other avenues.)

How's that? I feel excited.

 

[hiver]

Damn... what can i say. Would be nice to see but looks a bit too much to expect, realistically speaking.
If something of a mod kit ever comes out though...

I really dont want to slag it at all, just because its a different idea than mine. Im fine with whatever gets chosen / accepted in the end.
Just sayin...


I think that having graves of distinguished old codex members around the statue would work fine as something low key.
But i would need help with coming up with all of them and lines that would be written on their graves.
it is an old tradition in old RPGs anyway

I have only:

Cleve - grave inscription saying simple "ITZ came", maybe having one titanium arm sticking out of the grave wih middle finger raised and setting off a bomb (you cannot disarm it) if its interacted with in any way.
Saint proverbius - no idea... -help needed-
St Toxic - help needed-
Vault Dweller - maybe "Age of Decadence don him in" or "He came from decline and gave us Age of Decadence" or something similar.... "He lived in the Age of Decadence"?
Dark Underlord - "Guardian of the code" - help needed-
Jimbob - think something yourself will ya? - i think he deserves it for that glorious work of art masterpiece he created. maybe " He brought Art to codex" or "Guardian of lulz"

-edit-
Oh fuck yeah... Volly! - "roofles!"

Aaand thats all i have at the moment.... not so versed in general lore of the place myself.
I definitely need help here.

Feel free to add people and suggestions for inscriptions.
Only us would get it, at least most of it, and it would make other players wonder what the heck happened there.... which i understand is one of the Wasteland things.
Plus adding another grave would be as cheap in resources and design effort included as i can imagine.

Additionally :

Finding an RPG in one of the graves or on the statue...
Getting a story of ITZ from Cleve Ai or computer or statue itself.

 

[Shannow]

I'd like to point out some stuff:
Cleve != the codex. He hardly ever posted outside of GD, and was never really a member of the community. If he wants Cleve's bunker in W2, he can donate >1000$ himself. That said, a bunker populated some xenophobic luddites and perhaps a grave with titanium skeleton nearby sounds good, IMO.
Prosper's even worse. Most of the time we just tried getting rid of him. The only way I can see him implemented is as the Noober of some ingame codex-community. And even then it seems like giving him too much credit...
Glittering Gems of Hatred is of course codexian in spirit and written by a member of ouf prestigious community, but it's still NMA.

Anyway, I'm planning on waiting 3 weeks. Then I'd collect the suggestions from this thread in a poll (with links to the posts), the codex can then vote for a week. We'd point Fargo to the poll and he could decide what he wants inXile to implement (if anything at all) while subtly being influenced by what the codex community favours... Unless you all think that's a shit idea. Then you can come up with something better.

 

[jiujitsu]

We are forgetting Ian "RexExitium" Miles "SolInvictus" Cheong "ThePepsiBaron" Wen "Spinepunch" Xian... He should be the evil diety in opposition to the holy M.C.A.

 

[JarlFrank]

A bunker of Codexer would be a cool idea, yes.

I myself could be a guy clad in black-white-red clothes (German Empire colors) who would offer female PCs to suck their toes and lick their blood.

A Luzur who keeps a large collection of something (maybe books?) would also be cool.

 

[Kingston]

We are forgetting Ian "RexExitium" Miles "SolInvictus" Cheong "ThePepsiBaron" Wen "Spinepunch" Xian... He should be the evil diety in opposition to the holy M.C.A.

Put Exitiumpedia as a book in the game.

 

[Harpsichord]

A pack of whining luddites with a few Codex catchphrases between them who hang around the troll statue seems like it would be more than sufficient. You guys are getting pretty over the top with the ideas here, we should probably be pretty humble about the pitch we give, or at least have a rock solid minimally invasive idea for when they say 'lol no that won't work' to some of the outrageous shit you guys are bringing up.

 

[Menckenstein]

Statue in the desert with an altar. If you put an RPG on the altar you get a broken scale and level.

 

[Achilles]

Ok, since I love making up stories, I'll take a stab at this. Here's my idea:

The Codex was a pre-war cult of devil/alien worshippers (trying to explain the codex troll statue here, open to ideas about this one) who predicted the coming of the war, or The Great Decline as they used to call it. They preached about the coming darkness but noone listened. Finally, they took refuge inside an abandoned military bunker in a remote location, in hopes of escaping the coming disaster. Unfortunately, when the Great Decline came to pass, they too fell victim to its destructive power (hey, we have 200+ pages of Mass Effect, don't act like we are somehow immune). Now, all that remains is the abandoned bunker with some skeletons, a statue of their God and the last copy of the actual Codex, their holy book describing the principles upon which they were planning to rebuild society after total destruction.

It should be simple enough to implement, just a remote small area with a statue and a book. Thoughts?

 

[Darth Roxor]

The Codex was a pre-war cult of devil/alien worshippers

Sounds like Baa cultists in Might & Magic 6, I approve

 

[hiver]

Yup, me like too. Good setup.

 

[Metro]

Ok, since I love making up stories, I'll take a stab at this. Here's my idea:

The Codex was a pre-war cult of devil/alien worshippers (trying to explain the codex troll statue here, open to ideas about this one) who predicted the coming of the war, or The Great Decline as they used to call it. They preached about the coming darkness but noone listened. Finally, they took refuge inside an abandoned military bunker in a remote location, in hopes of escaping the coming disaster. Unfortunately, when the Great Decline came to pass, they too fell victim to its destructive power (hey, we have 200+ pages of Mass Effect, don't act like we are somehow immune). Now, all that remains is the abandoned bunker with some skeletons, a statue of their God and the last copy of the actual Codex, their holy book describing the principles upon which they were planning to rebuild society after total destruction.

It should be simple enough to implement, just a remote small area with a statue and a book. Thoughts?

This is perfect. Simple yet funny and to the point. I'd eschew any elaborately designed concepts rife with a dozen in-jokes and memes and go with this idea. The Codex book could be one of those $2,500 level 'artifact/items' you hunt down and one of you more creative people can write the backstory of it.

Fake edit: If you want an even more interesting/interactive twist you can hide 'The Codex' at another location and have some sort of mini-quest to find it and bring it back to the 'bunker/vault' where it unlocks further backstory and maybe some secret cache of 'pre-Great Decline' weapons/items useable in game. For an extra tacked on lulz one or more of these items might not work because their 'DLC battery charge has expired' (I'm sure someone can craft a better/more subtle DLC joke).

Real edit: You could add some of the key people in the back story like St. P, VD, DU, etc. etc. but shoehorning in a dozen or more people with a grave, npc, or whatever just seems silly... no, not silly as in video game silly but just plain dumb. Like people who try to get in the camera shot during a live newscast.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I really like Alexandros' suggestion.

Two additional points:
1. One bit I'm not sure about is the "devil/alien worshippers". Maybe we should make clear it's a troll somehow?
2. Provided we can get two artifacts OR an artifact + a weapon (the $1000 tier), what about a Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) as another item inside the bunker? You know, an RPG and a Codex.

 

[Metro]

Agreed with your two points, although I think his devil/alien worship thing was just in confusion as to what that little dude actually is -- he could be the fallen god (whose name dare not be spoken) outcast from the 'AAA pantheon' during the Great Decline. You could make the RPG obtainable by returning 'The Codex' artifact to the bunker/vault. I think it would also be good to incorporate some of jiujitsu's ideas in having npcs elsewhere mention the Codexians and to 'stay away from the bunker,' etc. I would revise it to go with Alexandros' concept of everyone already being dead rather than have active/living npcs (although aspects of his story could be in the backstory accessible via the book or computer terminal, whatever).

Edit: Again borrowing from jiujitsu you could have the other npcs who mention to stay away from the bunker to be part of the 'return the Codex to the bunker' mini quest line. Have them offer clues or whatever dependent on ability checks. Ultimately you would find the Codex in some obscure location clutched in the arms of a skeleton representing THE most important Codexian (St P?). Maybe you could put him amongst a small party of fellow pilgrims representing two or three other important people here. Backstory there being they took the book out to minister to the unlearned heathens some time after the Great Decline, etc. etc.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Fargo basically needs to clarify what he means by "location", "statue" and "shrine". Is the location prize really just "We name some random spot on the map after you. EG: Johnson Donator Falls". The statue really would be just a statue. And a shrine could be anything from just a statue to a small building to an entire building complex.

My guess is it'd be easy for all of this to be together in some sort of a graveyard location. Tombstones with the names of donors. Statues for those who donated the $5k and Shrines (small buildings / tombs) for those who went all out. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they were thinking.

 

[Metro]

Fargo basically needs to clarify what he means by "location", "statue" and "shrine". Is the location prize really just "We name some random spot on the map after you. EG: Johnson Donator Falls". The statue really would be just a statue. And a shrine could be anything from just a statue to a small building to an entire building complex.

My guess is it'd be easy for all of this to be together in some sort of a graveyard location. Tombstones with the names of donors. Statues for those who donated the $5k and Shrines (small buildings / tombs) for those who went all out. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what they were thinking.

That was sort of my impression, too, which is why I think the bunker filled with long dead people with a small mini/fetch quest is easier to work in than an entire location of active npcs and elaborate questlines.

 

[hiver]

Clarification from Fargo is certainly needed so that we know exactly what our options are before we decide what to choose.

But for the time being, this is just throwing ideas out there and speculating, exploring possibilities.

I think an RPG as an artifact would be logical and would have some meaning to most players although its name or exact function or ammo can have additional meaning clear to codexians.

The point about the graves with inscriptions is that it is the easiest and "cheapest" way to get more general codex memorabilia inside the game, not to pose for glory, ffs...
Inscriptions therefore should be cynical and self depreciating to a good measure but basically funny. With some added meaning if possible.

If there is a function like "inspect this" - like in fallout then its easy to add different text to each.

Now, seeing how its an alternate timeline and if the game will happen close to the original time it can be argued that members will still be alive but getting even one NPC is a lot, let alone more. Each NPC would have to be different, animated, god forbid given a voice, given enough content to be interesting... etc. etc. etc.
At the moment i think its sensible to assume NPCs will be more difficult to get then just 6-7 copies of same grave model, or dozen, - same shit basically. Which is easy to implement.

-edit-

sgc_meltdown : "he melted down" :D ?

 

[DarkUnderlord]

NPC ($1,000): Somewhere in the game you meet a large, fat rounded, bearded man called "Saint Proverbius". He wears plain brown robes. He's mad drunk and out of his mind. Mumbling something about what he's created ("What have I done. *hic*", "What abomination have I created."). On him you find drugs of some sort, alcohol and a key... You can steal or kill him to get these items. Talking to him just has him mumble various inane ramblings.

Item ($2,500): This is the key to understanding the RPG Codex
Description: You can just make out some writing etched on the side: Est. 2002

Statue ($5,000): Somewhere or another in the game is a Codexian Troll Statue.
Description: This highly prestigious looking statue hasn't been scaled to your level. There is a small keyhole in the marble platform on which it stands.

On the front of the marble platform which the statue stands on is a plaque which reads / pops up the text:

`Twas bumface, and the raging hordes
Did hurr and durr in the GD:
Indecent were the tranny-men,
And the gents sipped at their tea.

"Beware the popamole, my bro!
The Jews that fund, the health regen
Beware the quest compass, and lo
The sticky cover-walls!"
He took his MHD in hand,
Long time the casual foe he sought --
So rested he by Volourn's tree,
And wanked a while in thought.
And, as he fapped to members banned,
The popamole, with dicks aflame,
Came whiffling from retardo land
And regened as it came!
A, B! A, B! And so the QTE did go
The MHD went spatter-splat!
He popped its mole, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou ended the popamole?
Come to GD, my patriot!
Epic win! Over 9000!'
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas bumface, and the raging hordes
Did hurr and durr in the GD:
Indecent were the tranny-men,
And the gents sipped at their tea.​

When you use the key on the statue, a low rumbling noise is heard and the statue slides sideways, revealing a metal trapdoor beanth. Attempting to open the trapdoor brings up a panel that asks "Please enter FATE Unlock Code:" and displays a 9 digit keypad. Entering the 4-digit code from the key unlocks a Bunker...

Shrine ($10,000): Going down the now open trapdoor brings you to a small metal bunker with two rooms. The main room has weapon racks along one wall with shelves along the other. The weapon racks are bursting with RPGs (generic in-game rocket-propelled grenade launchers). 20 or so should do it. Ammo may and or may not be abundant, depending on game balance [In fact, maybe the RPGs don't have any ammo in the game at all, rendering them useless]. The shelves are full of cans of tinned food. At the back of this room is a metal door into a small bedroom which has a set of bunkbeds and a computer terminal. On one of the bunkbeds is a skeleton with a generic description. Something like "Some poor sod."

Accessing the computer terminal brings up "Vault OS" and gives you access to "The Codex", which is a list of diary entries. This is where I run out of specifics other than one diary entry which mentions "No can opener! No can opener! I can't believe I forgot the can opener! All these tins of food and now I'm locked inside. Trapped! With no can opener! What's worse is the program that opens the hydraulic door mechanism has failed and I can't get out. Curse my poor coding skills!"

 

[Kosmonaut]

CODEX TROLL ONLY!!!

Anyways, I like the Vault OS thing. It's fun, but I'm almost picturing Cleve threatening with a lawsuit or something.

 

[hiver]

hmm!
Now were getting somewhere! Good idea about the NPC of the Saint.
Alternatively his grave inscription could read something like "he created a monster" or similar.
And i like the idea that the entrance to the bunker is beneath the Troll.

Not sure about the key though... but that can be tweaked of course. Maybe Saint has a book on him with some directions and 2002 scribbled over other intelligible writings... which when better inspected would lead the player to the statue?
just throwing it out there... could be a set of directions where the player searches from one point to another, like looking for treasure so there is some gameplay to it.

 

[Metro]

I definitely think having the statue/bunker at one location and St.P/npc living or dead at another with either a key or Codex book or whatever to open the bunker. Although maybe just have it open a secret room in the bunker to unlock a special/named RPG (with flavor/story text) and further backstory -- that way you can still allow people to access the bunker even if they haven't found St. P so they get a little story but not the special RPG. Similarly perhaps you could work in a few iterations of how things unfold depending on what you find first: St. P or the bunker, throw in some skill checks, rewards, whatever. If you kill St. P you can get the special RPG but if you don't kill St. P and go on some 'holy quest' for him you can return the weapon where he'll 'bless' it and maybe give you a title or something. I think the more streamlined/simple you keep the actual content the more deep you can get with iterations on how it'll play out, C&C, etc.

Keep the 'Great Decline' reference by Alexandros because I think that's fucking hilarious!

Edit: To clarify I mean RPG as in the weapon.

 

[Achilles]

I like the general idea of the NPC and the key to the bunker, but I feel that the rest is far too (truly sorry for using this most hated of phrases) immersion-breaking. I think it is important to design those easter eggs in such as a way as to be both consistent with the game world and relatively subtle, which is why I tried to come up with an explanation that would fit the tone of the game and make sense to someone even if they weren't "in on the joke".

The setup that DU proposed is funny, but not so much an inside joke as blatant RPG Codex fan service. This whole sequence of events would make absolutely no sense to outsiders and I worry that we (and other donors requesting similar treatment) will end up damaging the game for the sake of vanity.

I think someone from RPG Codex who is in contact with Fargo should warn him of this danger. A game world filled with nonsensical quests and locations would be a really bad thing.