Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Suggestion thread for codex-themed content in Wasteland 2

commie

The Last Marxist
Patron
Joined
May 12, 2010
Messages
1,865,249
Location
Where one can weep in peace
Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
I like the idea of a real Codex as at least one of the things so that people with at least a passing knowledge will be in no doubt as to what it references as well as it being pretty subtle in the gameworld(nod to Alexandros and his fear that some suggestions make it seem like we're going for the injoke/reference style of FO2). Also I think it says a lot about everyone here in a general way and doesn't immortalize a particular individual or their sayings over others(particularly anything that promotes prosper, Volly, Liberal or any other fucker should be out!) :


"This is a hefty tome, bound in a strange hide, pages encrusted and stained. While barely decipherable, it appears to be the collected wisdom of thousands of voices of rage; yet about what, you have no idea. All that you can be certain of is that it was once some sort of fantasy book as it is full of trolls"

Shannow told me to add it here, so no whining that I'm spamming the forums with the same thing, ok? ;)
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
A general reference is probably the better approach and keeping the in-game content to:

- St. P who holds the Codex.
- Statue with an entrance to a bunker.
- Bunker containing a few rooms (or at least only a few accessable rooms and you have more blocked off by rubble for the sake of scope).

People will get references like 'Great Decline' and RPG, etc. Again the benefit of keeping things fairly discreet is that you can do a lot of additional things with it to add depth: you could 'use' the Codex book artifact to increase one stat, use it to find a key to open the bunker and get the 'RPG' weapon (in the process of which the book is destroyed so you don't get the benefit of both), use it to open the bunker, get the RPG and return it to St. P where he'll bless you for a different stat and give to you a mock/meme title, etc. All of that would make the Codex 'presence' fit in with the overall setting and not require a huge amount of work but still make it a memorable experience in-game. Instead of just a static location it would be an interactive quest experience with a little bit of C&C. I dunno, just seems to me that would be a much better homage to the Codex than Volourn and tranny references.
 

hiver

Guest
hi guise, whats happening today? Yesterday was pretty glorious day.... EA got filed against over illegal marketing practices for ME3, Wasteland2 reached another milestone, hell even sgc_meltdown returned and Codex went over 7 freaking thousands of Kwanza dollars.
Unfuckin believable.

anyway, i would go for a stat boost that Codex book gives. either +1 to intelligence or any smaller stat thats used for arguing with people, persuasion if its in the game i guess.
RPG and great decline are pretty much a given, i think.
 

JarlFrank

I like Thief THIS much
Patron
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
33,052
Location
KA.DINGIR.RA.KI
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
How about the following idea. I tried to keep it as lore-consistent and unintrusive to the immersion while stuffing as much Codex references inside as possible:

The Ruins of Codexia

In the middle of the wasteland, you find the ruins of a small town. It had been built close to a river, but its bed has dried out long ago. You can only guess at the town's past splendour as you behold the decayed facades of what used to be neoclassical buildings.
In the centre of the town - you guess it used to be the marketplace - you see a large statue of a moustached man wearing a monocle. The statue is badly stained with dirt, but you think you can see a frown of disapproval in its face. The inscription at its base says "Declive venit".
In some areas of the town you spot clusters of mole carcasses. It seems that a virulent rodent problem contributed to the decline of this town. You notice that all the carcasses lie close to about chest-high wooden crates - maybe the crates contained poison to get rid of the rodents.
Some of the houses had been barricaded and you can see signs of conflict around these barricades. There are many corpses of black men with machetes in their hands, and - fewer- corpses of white men and women within the houses. It appears that the town had been raided by a gang of the wasteland who managed to overrun the defenders and plunder the town.
The largest building close to the town's centre seems to be its government building. Within, you can see more signs of conflict, and the largest amount of corpses; it seems that this building had been the last line of defense when the town was attacked.
(now, here would be many dead Codexers who can be identified by items they're having in their inventory, or by their appearance; it's best if some Codexers here give me ideas on what they want to have in their inventory/is most characteristic about them. Nothing fourth-wall breaking, please)
In what appears to be the mayor's office, you find a book lying on the desk. It is slightly disheveled, but not damaged. It seems the plunderers were not interested in books and documents. You open it and read the most interesting entries. It is a diary signed by a certain Mayor Unterberg.
(I'm going to leave out the dates, just going to write the content of the entries and number them)
"1. Since the downfall of civilization after the war, the situation in our fairest town of Codexia has grown ever more dire. We suffer regular attacks from various bandit groups who covet all that we hold dear and feel nothing but disdain for our values and way of life. We are the only settlement in this area that still maintains a semblance of law and order. I cannot allow anarchy to break out, or we will become as the bandit groups who roam the wastes. As long as we stay true to our values of order and civilization, we will triumph over the disorganized raiding parties who fight without tactics and honour.
2. There has been another attack on one of our food caravans. The bandits ambushed us like the cowards they are - hiding behind rocks and popping out to take shots at our men. We managed to defeat them, but with each attack, we're losing men. If it goes on like this, they will kill us all.
3. After a long discussion with my staff, we have decided to allow immigrants who are seeking shelter from the wasteland. We only stand a chance if we build up our strength. We need to stay vigilant, though, and keep the new members of our community under heavy scrutiny until they have proven that their intentions are not hostile. We can't allow the savages to infiltrate and destroy us from within. I have given Frank and Jaesun the task of keeping the immigrants in check and to expel them if they show any sign of hostility towards us. Until they have proven themselves, they will have no rights in this community.
4. I have had another discussion with my staff, and we have decided to send out groups to spread the word of our town, and to look for new recruits to our cause. Wallace (Ventilator of Doom) has agreed to scout the wasteland and report anything newsworthy to our community, so that we know what goes on around us. Berenice (Crooked Bee) is preparing a concept for a radio news station that sends news out into the wasteland and tries to attract new immigrants. I wish them the best of luck, especially Wallace - it is a dangerous task to scout the wasteland.
(I chose VoD and Crooked Bee because they're the main news poster and the twitter girl, respectively)
5. Today, Wallace has brought us horrible news. Several bandit crews are planning a coordinated attack on our town. I've issued orders to barricade the streets and the most defensible buildings and my staff have started to train a militia. I don't know whether we'll be able to withstand the attack - they outnumber us at least 10 to 1 - but we we'll never surrender. If it has to be, all of Codexia will make its final stand.
6. They're here. This morning, we were woken up by gunshots and battlecries. Our militia has taken their positions and will defend the town until their last breath. I have locked the Codex, the old book containing all our laws and history, into the secret chamber and destroyed the key. We cannot allow it to fall into the hands of our enemies. Without the key, nobody can access the chamber, and the only copy is in the hands of our old friend Saint. I don't know whether he's still alive, but I've sent out a small group to go search for him and, if possible, bring reinforcements - if it is not already too late. May all the gods be with us."
This is the last entry.

Also, the Codex moderators would all be militia captains in charge of the town's defense, so their corpses could be found in different places of the town, close to the barricades.
Saint's body could be found somewhere close to a car crash, and the key can be looted from his body.

So, what do you guys think?
 

hiver

Guest
A bit too ambitious i think, whole small town, houses, baricades, bodies, etc...
Some of it can be made from game resources of course but it requires a lot of additional work.
 

Kingston

Arcane
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
Messages
4,392
Location
I lack the wit to put something hilarious here
I think DU's bunker idea works good, except...

1) Get rid of the key to understanding the Codex. It's too explicit a reference.
2) The poem is definitely too much. Maybe we could put some latin stuff here (and if we do have latin text anywhere then we should aim to namedrop Rex / Sol Invictus).

The FATE unlock code could work, as FATE could just be the name of a computer security system. You could have Saint mumble the code every now and then when he's walking around. The skeleton could read "these bones look strong, if you didn't know any better you'd say they were made of titanium". Maybe you could use one of his bones as an above-average melee weapon.

On Cleve's computer you could find grim.exe which crashes upon running.

EDIT: A powerful hostile bandit npc called Roshambo? (although he's already in Tactics, so it's not that high a priority)
 
Self-Ejected

ManjuShri

Self-Ejected
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
5,525
Location
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
Tim Cain's rule for references in Fallout 1. That's where Fallout 2's references and jokes failed in my eyes.

aXWOj.png
 

Harpsichord

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
1,822
I would ask that we not suggest any tranny references for three reasons, listed in order of importance:

1) I don't think that it's appropriate for us to foist our own sense of political incorrectness on inXile. They could catch shit over the mere mention of the word tranny and get wrapped up in some bullshit because of an oversensitive activist.

2) While trannies are a notable part of the forum culture here, they are completely separate from what the codex 'stands for' with regard to video games and old school rpgs.

3) I'm entirely cool with us all having a fun time and ranting about dick-girls, but my own inner butthurt feminist doesn't want to add to the long list of media references to trannies as the ass-end of jokes.
 

sgc_meltdown

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2003
Messages
6,000
might I humbly suggest that an explanation for a codex troll statue appearance as being 'created by a devout follower of the cult's precepts as an example of humanity's darkness taken to the surface. The awestruck believers, weeping at the overwhelming truth of his visage, cried out as one that the grotesque humanoid before them mirrored the perversion of innocence they saw in each and every one of their souls.'

or something like that

also it should have a cape

capes are awesome
 

sgc_meltdown

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2003
Messages
6,000
I think it should be an unicorn to symbolise the purity of individual inherent to the codex

also horses don't even wear capes only superman's dog wears a cape

be realistic
 
Self-Ejected

Kosmonaut

Lost in Space
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
4,741
Location
CCCP
Ok guise, i started this finally. been busy with all the spamming posts everywhere and stuff.

first draft, just to get the basics and check if the hive mind approves in generally.
-as i understand a multiheaded dick monster isnt strictly considered a sign of decline so... ?

Also i can make it hit head arms and ass easily - of the horse, apologies to our distinguished horsines although lately it just looks as someone else completely and not the horse we all know and love.

4z0TC.jpg


the horse will have all the cool shading and texture - as best as i can make it
and i think there is no point in adding too much of that to the troll itself.
anyway... your turn.

-edit- im also drawing personalized codex troll for 249,99 :p

-edit2-
I guess i can make the troll have the "stone" texture too... i just wanted to hear do you all approve of the concept generally before i spend a few days on it.
Quite honestly, it looks like shit. Peter's troll statue is way better.
 

Teepo

Scholar
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Messages
892
Why does anyone care about having a statue in the game?

For the codex I would think that a lot of dialogue content would be the priority: intelligence checks, the ability to complete the game as a mentally retarded person, having quests entirely unique to characters with low intelligence.

The other thing I think the codex would demand is an unreasonable amount of romance-able characters.

A statue doesn't interest me personally, but props to hiver, it looks like a statue made out of cum.
 
Self-Ejected

Kosmonaut

Lost in Space
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
4,741
Location
CCCP
I think that there's a lot expectations on Hiver capabilities, after all, he's the one to come with this piece of art:

c1Sxn.jpg

So I think that he's trolling us with that "pile of feces" draw, and he'll eventually make something better.
 

hiver

Guest
Teepo, every post you make makes you look as a complete dumbfucking internet retard.

Thought on this a little more. It's no surprise that we're having trouble agreeing on what we should do, but it's still early and we have enough creative people on the forums to make it good in the end.
Then I started considering the others funding this as well. Let's see how the kickstarter rewards are doing:

100 npcs all sold out (what are the fucking chances most of them will be heavily armed)
3 artifacts(says a lot about projected ego versus an item that references you at best)
7 statues
10 shrines

Now as skyway might say, that is 120 confirmed instances of banality by his reckoning and I'm sure we all make frowny faces at the kind of wank the other 116 are going to add to the game unless they are our cool forum buddies and there are no forum buddies with the codex.
In other words if we seasoned observers of the gaming community are going to sneer at the stupid shit they'll all make Brian Fargo add to the first turn based apocalypse game in 14 years, we should take the higher ground first and set an example or at least not look quite as bad.

Which now leads into my point:
1) The multifaceted spirit of Codexia should be manifest in our choice of creations here, certainly
2) The multifaceted memes of Codexia should not, unless they would be comprehensible on their own to a normally brained turn based gamer bro and if possible not completely wear out their welcome after the 2nd playthrough. this probably needs a useful or interesting function to the area/items/mobs
3) No internet names, perhaps normal names if they fit in, but individual personalities or quirks should be fine until they violate rule 2, which probably rules out quite a bit
4) The money is going straight to the people making Wasteland 2 anyway so the most important part is already done here.
Generally, yes.

-With low int/wis-
(You read from the Codex of Innovations Past. You simply cannot believe the stupid stuff these dumbasses had to do to have fun all those years ago. Wow. You chuckle and close the book.)

-With moderate int/wis-
(You read from the Codex of Innovations Past. Barely ten pages in, you are stunned. How could everything have gone so wrong? Greed, stupidity, human nature...it was supposed to be better than this. A bright and shining future, lost. intelligence and perception raised slightly, but charisma decreased due to fouled worldview)

-With very high int/wis-
(You read from the Codex of Innovations Past. Some things were lost, some were gained, and that's the way of the world. Nothing is permanent. Not even you. You sigh and close the book.)

So yeah if nothing else, at least our fair codex will not be part of the "I can't believe they let them add this circlejerk bullshit in, I guess money speaks loudest no matter the game" wasteland 2 purity ruined threads and "wow, the geniuses at XXX place sure spent their money well lolololololol rpg gamers" that will invariably be created after the game is released.

I like this concept.

I tell you guys, we should just collect all the lulzy stuff, especially that of CK (just get rid of the fuckin white armor, have it atleast be stained and rusted if not just gray ffs... have the girl offer the player both closed hands as if she is hiding something in one of them and add slurping forests somewhere instead of what is there now for you know who) - and throw it all into the "Codex" as a section of it.


Then you limit the access like sgc_meltdown suggests here, based on intelligence and related skills level, with pretty much same consequences.
With the difference that its actually showing these weird and various parts of Codex lost tribe of "monocled gentlemen" great and ultimate plans for world domination and obliteration of Great Decline.
It can show all of it, but just say "You manage to decipher small parts of the codex while others remain beyond the reach of your stunned mind almost making your int/wis balk and run in fear".
Or, if its possible, we can make it just show parts of it like "easter eggs of the Great Plan" or other sections.

Characters with incredibly high Int or Wisdom would have just the third option sgc_meltdown wrote above but they would get all the clues or codes to get the mysterious ultimate weapon from the statue.

Then we have the cake and eat it too, as i see it.


And dont forget the RPG, which the Codex book could lead you to, if you have good enough skills - otherwise you dont get the clue to it - or you can get just a partial clue telling you a particular skill is too low to understand the glorious codex fully - so you know you can return once you improved that skill or skills - VOILA gameplay.
It would be just mysteriously described as "the ultimate weapon against the Great Decline and its drones." Could be hidden in the statue but not accessible until you managed to unlock appropriate parts of teh Codex.

And the monocle artifact - which would work only with this ultimate weapon increasing chance to hit or similar stat.
The RPG itself could bear the name of : "Hard core" RPG engraved into it. Limited ammo though.

Have a few different grenades as ammo, all having a stun effect, some being armor piercing, others being gas grenades that make enemies cry or laugh maniacally, reducing some of the stats they have (morale, APs, precision or similar).
Works best against low and moderate intelligence-wisdom enemies maybe?
 

Teepo

Scholar
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Messages
892
Characters with incredibly high Int or Wisdom would have just the third option sgc_meltdown wrote above but they would get all the clues or codes to get the mysterious ultimate weapon from the statue.
Sounds about as subtle and well thought out as Bethesdea's Fallout 3. But I bet you liked that game. That should indicate how fit you are to make decisions about the content for this game.

In one word, it sounds derp, which is ironic since the 'dex is so critical about games that contain derp. Next he'll suggest that we'll be able to blow up Megaton.

Maybe I'm overly critical though. What the game needs is quantity, imo. Lots of weapons, lots of skills, lots of abilities. I don't particularly care for fluff.
 

hiver

Guest
Well the fuck make a better suggestion ffs..
It is done based on sgc_meltdown post. Its just bloody simple.
- besides reflecting the actual level of things and being a bit self ironic.

or are you suggesting that even a genius couldnt figure out the codex? or that we should force every player to go through all the "lulz" we can come up with?
or do you think its enough to go around and just say : "Shit, shit, shit sucks, shit i dont care anyway" and imagine a monocle, like skyway?
 

Teepo

Scholar
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Messages
892
I don't have a better suggestion. And I was serious when I said the statue you designed is good, it's just cum colored.

I can't pass judgement on your suggestions if they're good or bad. We surpassed $5,000 so the statue is going in, so we should take this opportunity and make the best of it. Your version of the statue looks good particularly the codex bro with the spear.

What I want is a Fallout 2 style unarmed combat system where as you progress in skill in unarmed combat you unlock jabs, hooks, hip kicks, roundhouses, maybe even judo throws. Really I want an expansion of the concepts in Fallout 2 and their logical extension. It would be simpler to add a statue though.
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,012
My humble suggestions:
A NPC dressed as monk as DU suggested, only name him the key holder.
From him you can loot , steal, acquire as reward for a quest the Codex Proverbii, that contains a map and a password, the map will lead to the statue of Maximum Caesar Augustus , the password is BSN.
When you found the statue, there will be a panel for entering the password.
In this way you will gain access to the Sol Invictus shrine.
For what to find inside the shrine I don't know.
What do you think?
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
What I want is a Fallout 2 style unarmed combat system where as you progress in skill in unarmed combat you unlock jabs, hooks, hip kicks, roundhouses, maybe even judo throws. Really I want an expansion of the concepts in Fallout 2 and their logical extension. It would be simpler to add a statue though.

Er... the donation reward is for a statue/shrine... not your choice of combat/character progression mechanic added to the game.
 

Teepo

Scholar
Joined
Jun 24, 2011
Messages
892
I could not care less, Metro.

To clarify, I'm simply voicing what I think would make a better game in general, and also what aspects of those are Codexian in nature.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom