Part 7: Hobos, crazies and a mystery.

Hobos, crazies and a mystery.

Last time, we gave no fucks about animals, blew up a bunker and ran an awful fetchquest course.

This time, we will clear out the minor areas we have collected so far.

Casa Verde is the next major game area, but we won't be doing much there right now.


It's a pretty large map with two villages and the big ass Ratskull methlab.

I just drop Milton in the first village, and he will stay there forever.

What a cruel fate for him.

Also I give the UMP to Agnes because it has better damage than the Mp-5.

I make my way to the second village which is dominated by a large market area.

There's our final squaddie.

:"Hey, what's up?"

:"What are you doing here?"



:"Are you a sharpshooter?"

:"Sure, and a darned good one at that! If you've got an interesting job for me, just say so."

:"Do you want to come along with me?"

:"Why not? As long as you're not working together with the Seekers, I'm in."

Just like that we get a sniper for our team.

Keno comes with his Psg-1 sniper rifle, named "Sally". He's already familiar with it, and get's a +10 bonus to his shooting. He has high sniper and light weapon skills, and comes with the sniper talent "Night vision". It's not very useful as I tend to avoid night combat.
In terms of character, he is an easy going guy and a huge playboy. He will hit on most females, and will even sling his game on Agnes. He just won't accept that a girl can resist his charms. Victor also really likes him, because he is so cool and knows how to handle ladies.

But there is a downside to him. In general terms, sniper rifles, and other single shot guns, are not very efficient in this game. Soldiers with auto weapons will bag all the kills, while Keno will only do moderate damage. He needs like six shots to kill a guy, while auto weapons drop three guys in the same timeframe.
This can be helped a bit with some talents or a big ass gun. But having ammo for the big rifles is a problem, so he will use the Psg for quite a while. For the same reason, I've given him the Mp-5 so he can whip that out and get some kills. But I will probably be forced to feed him some ambush Xp along the line.

Before we move out, I pick up a quest here, for convenience.

:"Hello, I'm Myriam, the cartographer. You must be heaven sent! I urgently need someone to survey the land at a freight station nearby. I gotta finish up my maps, but my rheumatism's playing up again."

:"Why are you surveying the land around these parts? There must be a proper reason for it."

:"You're not the first to ask me that. It's really quite simple. I'm doing my bit for the reconstruction. I know, maps can't do a lot. But they're still important for us to get back to civilization. There are bound to be loads of people interested in my maps. The GNO, for example."

:"Hmm... That makes sense. Okay, I'm inn. Just tell me what you need."



:"Sure. Well, then gimme that theolibido.. thedildo.. ee.. theodolite. I'll take care of it."
Jokes!

Before we move out, I equip Keno as best as I can. Also I make a short visit to the trader and buy some ammo and stuff. Lastly I have Butch switch the M4 for the FAMAS. It's just a way better gun and I now have enough ammo to feed it's ridiculous rate of fire.

Our first stop is Fredo's old village.

He told us in New Safford that the Seeker's took the place.

It's a small map with few points of interest.


:"Over there is the settlement this Fredo guy was talking about. Still looks virtually intact. Might find something useful to trade."
This map is mainly designed to give less-nosy players some easy loot.

We immediately meet the first Seeker.

No problemo.

But then his corpse glitches out and stands back up.

He will stay this way for the duration of my visit.

A few steps further we steamroll over two more Seeker's

My weapon grind really pays off so far and shortens those battles quite a bit.
Also my team is now gaining reputation. This brings a small umbrella bonus to skills, which can be quite nice.

We find the last Seeker, rummaging in a trash bin.

Real easy stuff here.

Before I loot the place, I make my way to the only point of interest around here.

A lone guy.

:"You really showed them! Serves them right too, the scumbags!"

:"(eloquence) I hope it's worth your while that your nice neighbours have been eliminated."

:"Sure, I know what's correct and what isn't. Here, ammo's something you can always use."
Not if it's trash.

:"Who are you?"

:"People call me Wiggler. But this here is my house and you're standing on my property. So you tell me who you are!"

:"I'm from the new government. I'm really just passing through."

:"New government? That explains why you haven't put a hole in my head yet. I've heard of the GNO. You're fighting the gangs, huh? Good thing, but watch out that they don't whip your asses."

:"What are you doing here?"

:"I live here. Have done for more than thirty years. I was here before the crazies reduced the world to a pile of rubble."

:"These guys do anything to you?"

:"Me? No. They didn't even see me. No one knows the area here as good as me. I was already in my hole when those jerks were still a mile away. But they are still rats! Poking around in the ruins and robbing corpses."

:"Can you give me any more details about them?"

:"What's there to know about them? Thieves and murderers! Wander around the country and search the old ruins for electronic stuff, weapons and other junk. They don't stop at graves either, if they can find something there."

:"Why did the people leave this settlement?"



:"I saw the execution of a Desert Monk at the GNO headquarter. Are they really such a big problem? I thought the Ratskulls where the biggest gang around here."



:"Did I hear right? They sew their faces up?! Their mouths too? How do they eat? Ah, who cares... Southwest you say? I might just go and have a closer look at them."

This brings us another map location which we will check out in a little while.

Also have an area shot of our short stint here.

The draw distance obscures another row of houses in the distance.

The loot here is nothing special, so I make my way back to Casa Verde and drop it on the ground. That's totally okay as items will persist on the ground for ever.
Also we trigger the first new interaction.

:"Agnes, Baby! Us two... you and me, me and you... we'd sure make a great pair, don't you think?"

:"Blurrgh *choking*"

:"Hey, what gives?"

:"Nothing. I just had this sudden urge to puke"


Our next destination is the freight station.

Gotta get in on this sweet map business.

The area is mostly composed of a large train station and a living area.

Instead of huts, the people live in re-modeled freight containers.

First off, I deal with the quest. Seagull will let you know which hills you have to stand on, and then you just use the theodolite. Three times and we're finished.


The normal player might look around a bit and then leave this area, but this is a mistake. When you talk to the villagers, they will mention the Railway God and use a lot of corporate terms as stand-in for theological phrases.

:"Until we have propitiated the Railway God we must live without the blessings of central heating."
They're completely nuts around here.

Eventually I find the leader of crazy.

Get ready...

:"I'm supposed to take land measurements in this area and just wanted to introduce myself."



:"Can you tell me when the next train is due?"



:"On the day of the big sale? What the hell are you talking about?"



:"I never realized the dangers I was putting myself in with my immoral lifestyle. Please convert me to the true Faith. Oh, all-knowing..."

:"Convert you? I'm sorry, but I'm not all-knowing in the least. You must be too full of disbelief to think that a simple preacher could be all-knowing. But I'd be glad to tell you what we're doing here. It's possible that the Railway God himself can convert you."

:"So tell me all about it!"



:"In the beginning I was alone. However, bit by bit more and more people came to find the true word - like parcels from the production line of the divine dispatching center. And so we were able to build up a small, but strong community of believers. The Railway God will reward us for our diligence!"

:"What is this reward going to look like?"

:"It will take the form of all those goods that the Gods have been withholding since the beginning of the great drought. Water from the holy bottles of the Auvergne, the heavenly meals of McKing and many other things that were sold to the unbelievers for much money."

:"I see. Perhaps I'll find my way to the true faith one day. But for the moment I have to be on my own way."



Yeah..right...I don't...what?

So there you have it, our first official crazies. Now you might think: Big whoop! I would have found that!
Yeah probably, but that wasn't what I was referring to. This map has a very sneaky quest. You will not get any hints to it, and have to read a guide or be damn lucky to stumble over it.

In the railyard is a fuel pump. If you happen to be near it around 11pm this will happen.

A villager walks up to the pump and fills a canister, then some other guys show up.





:"It's good that you have me to do your thinking for you. These screwballs are our cover! How soon, do you think, the place would have been swarming with looters, if word had gotten out that nobody was living here any more?"

:"So what? Then we would have just blown everyone away! In three or four weeks nothing would have happened that we couldn't have coped with."


Best covert op's ever.

:"People, stop lamenting! It doesn't matter any more now. We meet up again here tomorrow. And in a week at the latest we set off for the north. It can only be better up there than it is here."

:"It's very strange what's going on here. These guys are up to something..."
Oh, you think?

In the morning we talk to the preacher man.
:"I have bad news for you and your believers. Ashton doesn't seem to have much in common with your religion. He sells your diesel to a small gang from around here."

:"What did you say?! This rotten piece of production line garbage! How dare he! We took him in. He was almost like a son to me. And now it turns out that he's a traitor? I hope he rots in the hell of Cheap Imitations!"

:"And you think, I should help him to reach this hell of Cheap Imitations?"


The Railway God is vengeful!

The next night, we just wait at the pump.

And vaporize Ashton.

His buddies..

Don't fare better.

I rest till morning and report my success.
:"Has justice been done?"

:"Yes, I have settled Ashton once and for all. He's dead."


What?

Well, he suddenly turns the entire village on us.
But as there is only one gun around the results are predictable.

I grab that bastard by the collar, ready to yell at him.

Fuck you!

:"You mean, I shouldn't have killed Ashton?"
He was pretty clear about that.

:"Of course not! He was like a son to me. We wanted to see this through together, at least until the diesel..."

:"...is all gone. Now I understand what's going on here. You and Ashton were in this together. A fine preacher you are!"
We could spare him, but...

:"You deserve to be killed, if only for the fact that you sent your followers to their deaths!"




And that's that. I give the area a quick sweep and find the usual collection of garbage. But I also pick up plated gloves, which are better than the normal ones some of my squaddies have, and more explosives and some diesel. The latter can be used to craft your own explosives. It's a shame that they are not very useful in the game. Also I want to mention that only the adults in the village turned on us. So we have left a group of kids to fend for themselves in the wasteland.
Good guys wohoo!

As before I drop my loot in Casa Verde, and finish the map quest.

:"I've measured everything now. Here's the data."

:"Excellent! Now the basic data for the maps is complete. You've done a great service to the people. In return, I can only offer a small reward. But it comes from the heart!"
We get some giant meat chunks, which are a little hard to come by. But it's nothing great. Agnes levels up, maxes medic and I choose "Cooking" as her first survival talent. Victor also grabs a level and maxes explosives. I pick "Build explosives" as a talent so I can at least use all the crafting items from that line. And, to top it off, more interaction.

:"When this business is all over, we really have to spend a night in town together, Keno. You must introduce me to a few of your girls."

:"Sure, we will do just that! I know a few chicas in Mesa Verde. I sure will introduce them to you."

:"Cool! I can hardly wait."


Afterwards, we set out again.

To the Desert Monk's. If they are so crazy, it's probably a good idea to kill them.


We enter the map directly near the first camp. That's a beehive at the bottom. It's where Agnes gets honey for her ointments.
Let's get to work.

They actually can withstand some punishment. And if you come here with 9mm guns and shotguns they can fuck you up. Seagull also stumbles over a level but does not reach a talent.

There is another camp on the map, and it's not really hard to find. Just a bit south of here.
I try to be clever, but nope!

Butch get's rewarded with a level and picks the talent "Manipulate ammunition". This allows him to tinker with some of the smaller calibers, to give em more punch at the cost of penetration. I loot the camps and aside from 9mm guns and some stuff I also find a chainsaw and the next tier armor.

The chainsaw is the strongest melee weapon in the game.

The only downside is the large gap between swings. I'll hang on to it for some bonus fun down the line.

Seagull shows off the new armor.

I don't really like the design, but it sure looks post apocalyptic.

We also find two documents. We can't really look at the first but Seagull will tell us that it's a plan to attack the Ratskulls. Seems like we could have waited till they did our job, huh?

The other document can be looked at however.

It's a crude map, with the GNO, the Desert Monk camp and the Ratskull base marked by that water source. The other two places will be seen much later, so you're left to guess what they are about.

As we are done here, I drop my loot and move to the last area we have open.

The convoy which was mentioned in the diary we found in the bunker.

The map is pretty small.

Just a ravine with a convoy of Humvees. But Inspector Seagull is one the case!


When we investigate them...




:"He didn't even try to go for his gun. It's still in the holster."

When we investigate the other bodies...
:"It's the same with this one here too, I have no idea what he might have died from. And he still has his gun on him too."

We can also investigate the cars..
:"This thing has had it and there's no clue as to what really happened here."

Most of the bodies and cars also yield loot. I grab more 9mm guns, shotguns, ammo and some crap. But what about this mystery?
There are no clues from the convoy and the map is also barren otherwise...hmm. It seems like we have to put this aside for now. So I bring up the map and...

:"I have no idea what happened here. We will probably never be able to solve the mystery of the convoy."
WAT? *quest complete*

Well, that was dumb. To cheer you up again have a look at Lootpile Mk2.


As before, behold!

That's quite a lot of shit. But I'll hold on to it, as we will soon unlock a special trader with the best things in all of ever.

Now, normally I would end the update here but there is a small thing left.
See, I don't have a car right now. I could have one, but I made a small mistake when calculating my levels. Ivana is one fucking point short from being able to drive a car. But luckily I have a crafty plan to take care of that.

First, I hoof it over to Bowie Village again. If you snoop around the map a bit you can find something special.

A fucking Humvee. In perfect condition and gassed up. Now it's mine.

The game's quirks will work in my favor here. The first time every one of your mercs get's in a driving seat the game will award him 500xp, even if he can't drive!
Seagull levels, maxes speech and learns "Increasing morale". That talent will let him raise everyone's skills by 20 for five minutes. But it can only be used once in 24 hours, still pretty powerful. Agnes also levels and gets the next survival talent "Influence animals". This will keep wolves from attacking me and deer won't flee if I get close for hunting. Lastly Ivana...doesn't level!

She's missing like 100xp, so I abuse resting and micromanage the fuck out of the ambush to make sure she gets enough Xp. But then she can finally drive and picks up the shooting talent "Steady shot".

Watch me go on a short joyride.

Vehicles are controlled with W,A,S,D and drive pretty good. It looks very janky now, but that is due to Ivana's low skill. They will control much better with higher skill. It also reduces gas consumption. Also cars have an internal inventory for my good stuff.
But there are still downsides. Collision boxes of small trees or streetlights are huge and you can't drive over/through people or anything at all. It's still fun to cruise around on an open map. There are several vehicles in the game, and they all handle a bit differently. Also, you need to pick up talents ASAP. Cars will get damaged while traveling between maps, so you either need a vehicle repair talent or another talent which prevents the damage.

Well, that's it for today. You wanna have the last word Victor?
:"Keno really got what it takes when it comes to women, I reckon. Somehow he always seems to have the right come-on line."


Next time: We fuck with people, give love a chance and maybe get on with that methlab thing.

Authors note: That convoy quest is never explained. I assume it was cut along the way. Which is a shame as it is a cool hook. Also it's a pity that they didn't made more with the Desert Monks. The design and background could have been used much better. Ah, well...Roundup somewhere along the weekend.