diff --git a/hih.md b/hih.md index 314e1a8..c4abaae 100644 --- a/hih.md +++ b/hih.md @@ -1,5 +1,10 @@ Hot in handcuffs ================ +tags: fallout, FO4, mod, ideas, lewd + +Permissions +----------- +This work is public domain, you can do whatever you want with it, even claim authorship. Preface ------- @@ -17,16 +22,21 @@ Tired to death of merry looter-shooter power fantasies, I imagine a very differe game play: a limiting but fair sandbox, proper role-play content, a setting that makes sense, and a real sense of achievement, should one manages to achieve something. +### Update +I don't think I'll be able to work on this myself. I've been thinking about all this +for so long it would be a shame just to let it dissipate into the ether, so I will +tidy this whitepaper up and publish it in hopes it serves any useful purpose. + Goals ----- * A novel way to immerse yourself in a post-apocalyptic retro-futuristic fantasy world. -* A lewd mod I myself want to play for extended periods of time. +* A lewd mod I myself would want to play for extended periods of time. * A project that's actually doable. Non-goals --------- * A railroaded cinematographic "experience" for players. -* Support for any platforms other than PC +* Support for any platforms other than PC. Limitations ----------- @@ -34,6 +44,7 @@ Limitations * I refuse to touch C++ with a stick of any length. * I have no experience with 3D, animation or any art at all beyond writing. * I'm not a native speaker. +* I did not find the TV show that great and dropped it after episode 2. Hard questions -------------- @@ -62,13 +73,13 @@ What do we lose? * Map * Radio * Vault doors -* Interaction with large amount of world objects - * Terminals (requires separate discussion) +* Interaction with large amount of world objects, in particular + * Terminals * Traps * Workbenches * Picking up and moving objects * Workshop interface -* Sitting down +* Sitting down (because of the clipping with many a chair) ### Systems * Combat @@ -77,6 +88,20 @@ What do we lose? * Crafting * Building +### Integration +So there are three existing mods that take your hands away. + +* Real handcuffs: mostly gets the job done, but is a bit rough around the edges +* Devious devices: gets the same job done in different (less optimal) ways +* Amputator: I don't think it bothers itself with such banalities + +We'd have to account for two different cases: + +* Arms bound behind back, but hands and free. +* No arms OR arms bound behind back, hands in mittens (or similar). + +Some actions (like smoking) are possible in the former case, but not the latter. + Core game play loop ------------------- ### Open world @@ -90,8 +115,8 @@ said that, let's explore said content. These go without saying. Repeatable activities tend to get old rather fast though. #### Exploration -The intention is to have the world mostly empty of anything that moves, but there is -still room for discovery. Maybe there's a magazine hidden under an odd bed somewhere, +The intention is to have the world mostly empty of lootable objects, but there is still +room for discovery. Maybe there's a magazine hidden under an odd bed somewhere, or a holo-tape with a new porn clip for the next time you spend a week behind bars. #### Building @@ -108,63 +133,238 @@ We have to come to peace with the notion that all games end at some point becaus the player stops playing. ### Captivity -* Listening to radio +Another hard question is how to keep a player entertained for an extended period of time +during which they can't change locations. Here's the list I was able to come up with: + +* Listening to radio (using stand-alone radios which can be tuned to stations) * Watching VotW * Reading smut * Smoking on a balcony -* ?AI? * Chilling in a nice place, watching the world +* It seems possible to integrate AI for dialogue and AAF scenes, but it's a complex task -Idea dump -========= +Some ideas (developed to different degrees) +------------------------------------------- +In no particular order: -Random ------- -* Corruption over time - * Player - * NPCs - * Settlements - * Factions -* Magic - * Arms behind back -> Picking up and moving objects - * Blindness -> Magic vision - * ?Gag? -> Combat magic - * Bound legs -> Magic jet-pack - * ?Deafness? -> ?Magic hearing? -* https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Pommel_horse -> use for lewd purposes +### Corruption +Over time the character's actions, or indeed mere presence, may result in the world +becoming more lewd in some aspects. The PC themselves, select NPCs, settlements or whole +factions may start acting differently depending on their "corruption". This is not such +a radically new thought that I need to explain further. -Vanilla quests --------------- -### Kid in a Fridge -* Billy is a teenager looking ghoul girl. +### Magic +In order to replace lost abilities, we may grant the player new ones. Here's something +that comes to mind: -### Confidence Man +* Arms bound behind back grants ability to limited telekinesis: pick up and move things +* Wearing a blindfold develops "magic" vision over time +* Similarly, being unable to hear may develop "magic" hearing +* Bound legs may grant a magic jet-pack +* Wearing a gag may lead to "combat magic" awakening. Now, this is a touchy subject. + +#### Combat magic +It's easy to make the player an unstoppable deity. While fun, it kinda works against +the goals. Maybe "combat magic" means only support effects, maybe it should be balanced +in some interesting ways. One such way may be using an "arousal" stat to moderate power +and use it as "mana" for different "spells". + +### Indirect combat +While it's not very easy to reintroduce turn-based combat into Fallout 4, we may find it +worthwhile to untether combat results from skills of the player, instead making them +dependent on the skills of the character. As a trivial example, a pop up may appear when +the combat begins, detailing what happened, which is then scripted into the game world. + +### Take control away more often +In the similar vein, it can be useful to enforce the character's personality onto +the game-play, for example: + +* PC may run away from the combat unless brave enough (and can run) +* PC may surrender if the danger is imminent (there are several mods that do this) +* PC may faint under too much stress + +### NPC reuse +I would avoid adding any new entities to the game without good reasons. When it comes +to NPCs, one idea would be to resurrect and reuse NPCs that are dead from the start. + +### Prospect dominants +* Science! Center (playful and mischievous) +* Mysterious stranger (silent and service) +* 81 overseer (strict and chastity) +* Kellogg (PC as a pet, maybe a redemption arc) +* Maybe one of the many doctors has a medical kink + +### World alive +* make NPCs actually go out and do something, not just spawn generic patrols +* slave trade independent of the player +* make workshops populated +* make NPCs run away from losing battles +* hunting parties + +### Pony girls +It's a rich idea in and out of itself, but I haven't developed it too much. +It's possible to replace NPCs with other NPCs, there's already a mod that does that +to select brahmin in the world. + +### RPG: rationalize character actions +Just because the player wants to achieve something in-game doesn't mean the character +does the same. There needs to be an intermediate step that explains WHY the PC does +what she does. As an example, consider using internal dialogue to reflect on things +and arrive at conclusions. "What do I want to do in the wasteland?" can have several +options available depending on how the game went so far. This idea has parallels to +Disco Elysium's thoughts internalization mechanic. + +### RPG: playing as a lawyer +Being mostly useless in things that require hands leave us useful for things that +require running your mouth. SS2 pokes at the law already, this idea does the same +from a different perspective. + +### Game goal: opening a successful business +Once again, you don't need hands to be a shrewd entrepreneur. There is a clear market +niche for lewd enterprises, especially once corruption kicks in. Maybe some raiders +need corrective labor, maybe a new pony express can generate profit? Running a kinky +office can be entertaining on its own. + +### Helplessness as unique qualification +The PC being visibly helpless can be exploited in-game by a cunning party to different +ends. Infiltrating hostile environments? Straight up bait? In any case it's another +possible answer to a question "so you're in restraints, now what?" + +### Pre-war DNA +Another unique property of the PC is actually touched upon in the base game with USS +Constitution crew recognizing the citizenship. This can be extended to all robots, +making them non-hostile to the player. Feral ghouls can be given the same treatment, +hand-waved away as detecting the PC as non-mutated pre-war specimen or something. +Having less initially hostile factions opens the game up from just killing most of what +moves into a more thoughtful sandbox, given some additional effort to fill it with +meaningful content of course. + +### Just survival +If nothing else, survival can be a convincing motivator. This needs to be developed +way, way beyond the vanilla meters, but it can be done in an interesting way, having +the player involved with basic mechanics and feeling small achievements for fulfilling +immediate needs. Care should be taken, as it's extremely easy to balance poorly, making +it a source of annoying busywork instead. + +### Party adventuring +It could be fun to assemble a party to go on an adventure as a squad, the PC having +some support role as well, a packing mule if nothing else. This of course raises the +question as to why the party needs the player in the first place. Maybe as a guide? + +### Rogue-lite +Starting the whole game over each time you die is not what most people would do. Still, +it could be made to work to some extent, here's one example: + +* Upon death the PC wakes up somewhere with a semi-random explanation +* Depending on some previous run metrics she gets buffs or de-buffs, this is + the hard part to rationalize and balance + +The main benefit would be to make the game seamless, without ever loading a save. +Unlike the vanilla survival the game state isn't rolled back, the player doesn't lose +any progress and any decisions they made will persist. + +### Mini-metro +There's a whole genre of games that are about connecting dots on a map. It would be +fun to make use of this trope, especially given we already have the supply lines +mechanic we can hook into. + +### Clicker game +If all else fails, it's still fun to make numbers go up. This is a rich idea, but I +didn't explore it too deep, because ideally I would strive for something more +meaningful than that. It can work on the side of anything else though. + +### Sub-personalities +I like how they are done in Defenestration. There are many ways in which the PC's +mind may start hosting some guests that can take over from time to time. Need +to clear a location from enemies? Become the death incarnate, watch the screen go +black and observe the results of a battle you didn't fight on your own. Something +like that. + +### DREAMS +Maybe the base game is boring, but a girl can dream. This gives an ability to make +the game play a sharp contrast between phases where you don't necessarily control +your environment and have to adjust, also giving room to role playing, as you get +a license to not making much sense and not even caring about the lore consistency. +Wanna play Skyrim inside your Fallout? Go nuts. + +### REVERSE DREAMS +The same idea, but the base game is a persistent dream you have. You wake up in +a completely different world you may craft however you please, completely +independent of the established lore. + +### Miscellaneous +* Given that the weather is hot, maybe PC can get a tan. Bonus points for tan lines. +* Use https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Pommel_horse for lewd purposes. + +Modules +------- +I realize it's not that easy to cut clean across the mod lines, but I would try anyway. + +### Clothes gone +Even if you can hand-wave away no industrial capacity of the wasteland, where does +the cloth come from? I would eliminate most of the clothing from the game, only leaving +it for factions that can be explained to have some, and items that can be made from +the animal leather. + +### No loot +Remove most of containers and loose items from uninhabited locations. + +### No ammo +Remove most of the ammo and fusion cores from the game, guns from NPCs. Removing guns +themselves would also be immersive, but is less obvious than ammo. + +### Main mod +Clear inventory and handcuff PC after leaving 111, set up global variables. ESP may +provide necessary overrides and new forms should some be required universally. + +### Vanilla quests made kinky +There are so many ways in which vanilla quests suck... It would stand to reason to try +and salvage something. Here are some ideas: + +#### Kid in a Fridge +Billy is a teenager looking ghoul girl. + +#### Confidence Man * Scarlet turns into a dom and runs the bar, having V.B. sweep instead. - * ?Gunners boot camp? -* Moves in with Travis, who gets to enjoy being her pet from now on. +* Maybe she gets her confidence boost from a gunners boot camp or something. +* She moves in with Travis, who gets to enjoy being her pet from now on. * Travis never gets the confidence boost. * Maybe some new radio bits. * Maybe adds to DC corruption levels. -Prospect dominants ------------------- -* Duff+1 -> playful and mischievous -* Mysterious stranger -> silent and service -* 81 overseer -> strict and chastity -* ?Kellogg? -> -* ?Curie? -> ?medical? +#### Initial BoS quest line +P.D. died earlier and is replaced by a synth, covertly working on making BoS stay out +of Boston. The whole quest line can be made into painful puns, as well as providing +a reason to leave PC armless. -Modules -------- -* Clothes gone: replace vanilla clothing with skimpy multi-slot items -* No loot: remove most of containers and loose items -* No ammo: remove most of the ammo and fusion cores from the game, guns from NPCs -* ?: remove items and handcuff PC on startup, set up global variables -* ?: overhaul vanilla quests -* ?: commonwealth ethics committee? -* additional quests +* Fire Support can be made about letting the other two go. +* Call to Arms can be made into chopping off PC's arms to make them be able to wear + power armor again. +* And so on. +### Commonwealth Ethics Committee +The wasteland doesn't make sense. Maybe there exists a shadow committee that aims +to reconcile the factions in order to make it a place people can actually live in. +The PC would be a useful asset in this project. +This idea is quite far-fetching and deserves its own detailed investigation. +For example I would make most raider groups non-hostile and give them believable +backstories and individual agendas. The gunners deserve the same. The institute is +written so poorly it needs a complete overhaul, but maybe 80% of work can be done +with 20% of effort. +### Additional quests +The sky's the limit. Here are some ideas: +* Actually go out and find mysterious stranger with Nick. +* Vault 81 has a reproduction crisis. Overseer is ready for desperate measures. +* Science! Center might be able to help with RH collars. +Conclusion +---------- +I realize that people who can mod are already busy with their own ideas. My only hope +is to some day see a game I enjoy playing, and as much as I appreciate the modding +scene and the wide variety of existing games, adult or otherwise, I always want more. +In this document I have outlined some of my mind map, having thought about things +for quite a while now, and I hope someone would be -- if nothing else -- entertained +by its content.