[Fallout: Project Brazil] State of the Mod for February 2017 news

Rolling along towards Closed ALPHA!

Our 3D art is currently at about 98% done. All that remains is a Battle Wagon, with interior and exterior models, and a cavern. I might do a West Coast style Vault 18 Cog door, but that's just fluff.

Last month we showed off the brand new Vault 18. The new art and layout is done for that, so you have a brand new starting experience to look forward to if you played Part 1 when Project Brazil first came out in May 2013.

The primary attractions and scripted fights are no longer fish in a barrel corridor shooters. The spaces are much more open and decorated.

Vault 18 still needs some collision geometry added to various new meshes, but it is playable again. Trigger fields and quests are replaced, navmeshes rebuilt, and it's far more engaging. Really sells a kind of "new game" vibe.

Ole and I spent several days completely overhauling Vault 18's battle balance, so now you can play from level 1-5 with weapons that match those tiers, rather than top tier assault weapons right out of the gate. It's still just as exciting, more so with the new art, but with more tense melee and pistol play.

Ole also rebuilt the health and armour of every NPC in the mod, which was a massive help for balancing out combat.

I also did a lot of art work on the final areas of the mod, where Project Brazil ends - where we finally answer, "why is it called Project Brazil?!"

I won't give away too much, but we have some cool biological horror going on in there with eyes that follow you, dangerous acid baths, and new enemies. Weijisen during our closed alpha has said he would like to upgrade some of our effects - giving the eyes destructible parts and an iris that contracts as you get closer/further.

The place is creepy as hell.

Fort Daggerpoint also is getting beefed up a little as Rick codes the missions that take you there. We already have the NCR and Raider versions of the quest through this base. They're a little rough around the edges, but it's fixable stuff. Nothing too serious - just managing some script triggers that are out of position, and me doing an overhaul on the first three areas you encounter.

If you played part 1 you'll remember exploring that place if you chose to venture into the wasteland after vault 18's story was over. It looks much better now, especially as NPCs have quests there.

The Wasteland got a little sprucing up as well at key areas that were a little barren. Not too much, just some additional plant life and Tribal art. Big stone heads and tribal tents - that sort of thing.

The Athens-Tec mine also received some extra art, as well as some of our NPCs. We're gradually fixing bugs that are game breaking, and resolving some spots that may be confusing to navigate.

I think you guys will enjoy the opportunity to actually join the bad guys and become one of them - not just as a temporary thing, but actually unlock the polar opposite side of the story as if you had become part of the Raider Alliance and used your Vault experience to help them towards victory, rather than the NCR.

It's nice seeing the various paths of the story unfolding with all the art and voice acting in. It really begins to feel like things are heading towards "done."

Those patches of Pink show areas of missing 3D art I need to take care of. Rick is currently coding the yellow fields, as this chart represents his work on the main quest scripts.

This is 100% written. We're just adding in supporting stuff now.

The Voice acting is about 96% finished, with lip sync and animations added. There are some patches of missing audio I need to address, and a handful of supporting characters I need to add to really prop up core gameplay mechanics that aren't currently supporting the plot - like venders and mercenaries.

The 3D art and textures are at around 97%. I need as I said at the top, just a few more pieces to replace temporary elements and we're a wrap on that. I've put in over 1000 hours on 3d art alone over the past 2 years. I don't even want to tally the thousands more on level art and audio editing.

I also have to address some bugs myself and then make the ending slideshow, trailer, and an in-game cinematic. And ending credits, holy crap - can't forget that.

After this chart turns green we will begin many weeks of QA. :p We'll do that as a by-invitation-only Closed Alpha. You have to be a modder who enjoys finding and fixing bugs, or adding content to join that.

Thankfully we won't be alone. I've talked with a bunch of fellow modders who agreed to come help tie up loose ends in the quest, combat, and environment. We'll get overhauled weather, more weapons, more armour, more diverse NPCs, and some extra craftable weapons & gear that will round out the experience of surviving in this far more harsh and desolate desert.

These last 3 years we focused exclusively on the narrative. Once that's done, Project Brazil will be ~20 hours of brand new content to explore and play through, on multiple narrative arcs and paths, tons of role play, and 13,000 lines of voiced dialogue. Adding a better plasma gun on top of that is just garish. :)

When that is done we will switch to BETA 200 and release.

When will that be? Dunno yet. But sooner than later!

You can read more about our progress on the Design Documents Found Here. In the mean time, you can keep track of us on ModDB, Fallout Nexus, or Facebook. We've got a thriving online community centered around each one.

Cheers

Brandan Lee
Project Leader