Vault 99

Dev Info:

  • Game: Fallout 4

  • Genre: RPG, FPS

  • Mode: Single Player

  • Team Size: 1 Developer

  • Engine: Creation Kit

  • Development Time: 40 hours 

Level Summary

Vault 99 is a standalone mod made for Fallout 4. The level takes place early in the game, after the player’s just discover Red Rocket. They meet a creepy synth that asks them to help in their experiment. When the player agrees, the synth kidnaps them and has them participate in his death gauntlet. The player then gets to choose their route as the synth judges them for every decision. The player can either prioritize escape, or take the harder path and try to go hunt down the synth.

Responsibilities:

  • Level Design Document Conception

  • Quest Design and Implementation

  • Scripting

  • Balancing

  • World Building

  • Lighting

Design Goals:

We were given just over a month to complete a Fallout 4 level. My goal was to create a vault experiment level that offered branching choices and made commented on those choices. That way it felt like the level was learning and watching you. The combat was simple as to be accessible for new players and lower leveled characters with the hardest room offering a unique boss and two Mr. Handy’s.

  • Sult Kidnapping the Player

  • Explaining the Vault

  • Fight in the Lab

  • Confronting Sult

  • Lobby Environment

Post Mortem

What went well?

This level was super-efficient to build. Everything that was implemented I was already familiar with which allowed me to build quickly and focus on the aesthetic side early. This made for a much prettier level and also allowed for me to work on the smaller details like side stories scattered throughout the level to give the world-building depth. I also wanted to make these branching paths unique to offer replayability and exploration. The Easter eggs scattered throughout also make the exploration and backtracking unique.

What went wrong?

The original concept was for the level to be an homage to The Stanley Parable, but that quickly fell apart. The constant narrator talking over the player was distracting when not done by a high-quality voice actor (me). Without sound, the constant narrator’s voice (subtitles) got lost in the fight since the enemies take such a high focus. This caused the original concept of the narrator’s constant teasing and commenting on the player’s decision to be restricted to the intercom system.

Even better if?

If the narrator could talk through more systems to give the sense that he is watching the player. Also the intercom system is bugged so that you can’t skip dialogue which makes dialogue slow and tedious. This greatly depreciates the enjoyment of the snide remarks that the Vault Overseer makes based on the player’s path and choices.