”A Tale of Two Attorneys” - A Fallout 4 mod

Refresh - Version 2.0

Project Overview

Engine: Creation Kit
Game: Base Fallout 4

“A Tale of Two Attorneys” is a single player DLC mod for Fallout 4. The quest tasks the player with helping two attorneys solve a recent murder case whose outcome could tear the peaceful town apart.  The level focuses on players using their environment to investigate the possible location of the murder, find clues around the means, motive, and opportunity, and talk with residents to learn the truth behind tensions in the town. 

Refreshing an Old Project

“A Tale of Two Attorneys” was originally completed during my second semester at SMU Guildhall. I was very proud of my work, but after a year of working in Creation Kit and other engines, I knew I could improve it to better fit my original vision. I made the decision to go back, evaluate the level, and come up with a plan to improve and better realize my original vision.

Check out the original project overview to see how quest was set-up originally.

Refining my Complex Narrative

The first step to refining my narrative was to analyze what I wanted to keep and what needed to be updated or changed. I used Miro and Google sheets to do a full audit of my level, critically looking at every piece of it and analyzing what should change and how.

Once I felt my story was solid and I had a good plan, I went into engine to begin refactoring my clue system and how players could track what they had already found.

The Story of “A Tale of Two Attorneys”

• The narrative of “A Tale of Two Attorneys” takes place in Kuran Town where Super Mutants and humans live in relative peace.  The setting allows for:

• Interesting dynamics and tensions between two factions that do not normally get along in the Fallout 4 universe.

  • Allows for a variety of architecture and NPCs.

  • Perfect for a non-conventional quest like a murder mystery.

The introduction of Kuran Town is simple and the basics of its founding are mostly glossed over. If a player explores deeper, they can find more detailed clues about the history of Kuran Town and how it found itself near the boiling point with this one court case. Players can understand the basics of the story by completing the quest or dig deeper and understand both the history of the town and how its complex history plays a major role in the crisis it is currently in.

There is a lot of intrigue and nuance within the mystery of the murder of Miles. While investigating the one murder, the player has the opportunity to uncover hints of other nefarious acts that have been committed for the “greater good”.

By the end of the quest, the player has uncovered that the suspect in Miles’ murder is innocent, but has murdered others before.

The player must now make a hard choice - do they give the evidence to Nick to prove that his client - who is guilty of other murders - is found innocent and may never be forced to pay for his crimes or do they give the evidence to Kristoph - who is involved or guilty of murdering Miles - to ensure that the accused has some consequences for their earlier actions.

Either choice will result in violence and change for Kuran Town. It is up to the player to decide which is more important - “justice” even under false pretenses or looking for absolute truth no matter the cost.

Better use of Papyrus scripting to help players feel like a detective.

One of the most important goals for “A Tale of Two Attorneys Version 2.0” was to better utilize Papyrus scripting and global variables to track my player’s progress through the space.

Scripting Additions:

• All clues were given a global variable - either with CC (Critical Clue) or NC (Non-Critical Clue)

• Created a mostly generic “Clue” script that could be utilized by every clue the player found.

• Created a holotape that acted as the Investigator’s Journal - a terminal that linked to other terminals that updated based on what items were found and what NPCs were interacted with.

• Using new scripting infrastructure, require players to “prove” which suspect is guilty based on clues found while exploring the level.

The Investigator’s Journal

• A holotape that contains a terminal that links to other terminals.

• Allows for players to check their clues and info found at any time from Pip Boy.

• Makes narrative easier to understand and follow.

• If players leave and return to quest after a long period of time, easier to jump back in.

Presenting evidence to prove your case

At the climax of the level, the player is asked to declare if the main suspect Karma is innocent or guilty. The player can choose whichever they want, but if they did not find the right clues, they will not be able to prove their case. Three different endings (with multiple slight variations) can occur based on this.

Further polish all spaces to truly feel like they belong in Fallout 4

For my refresh, I did another clutter and lighting pass to better give each room its own distinct personality and to fit more with other spaces in Fallout 4.

While Kuran Town is much cleaner than many other areas of the Commonwealth, it still shows the signs of its age and the nuclear war.  There is still plenty of clutter, holes in walls, and other signs that this is a world healing after a nuclear attack.  The Super Mutant side of Kuran Town still has its characteristic blood bags and gore while the human side has plenty of trash piles and knick-knacks.

Each office in the courthouse tells mini stories about the different people involved. Miles’ office is tidy and put together, Kristoph’s office has a lot of baseball memorabilia, the judge’s office has an air of importance, and Nick’s office is more run-down and haphazardly decorated.

Conveyance

• Heavy use of landmarks for each office within the courthouse so player can tell difference between each quickly.

• Decoration of space with unique items to help identify one from another.

Quest Flow

• Player can visit Nick between clues to get summary of what has been learned so far and what they need to do.

• Kristoph will give slightly different hints if player talks to him between clues.

• Player explores courthouse and then returns to central area where both Nick and Kristoph discuss clues together.

What Went Well

• Got to better realize my original vision for my level. When I first conceived “A Tale of Two Attorneys”, I was still very new at designing levels. Now that I have more experience under my belt, my level better matches what I wanted it to originally be.

• Experimented with more complicated scripting.  Scripting was something I struggled with the first time I created my level; refreshing it gave me the opportunity to experiment with less-known scripting techniques and really stretch myself as a designer and learn new things.

What Went Wrong

• Refreshing something old is very hard and complicated.  While I knew that there would be plenty of pains refreshing an old level, I did not realize exactly how complicated it could be until I started deleting and moving things around. Keeping my quest stable while updating it was a large task, especially when I had to track down where I put things a year ago.

What I Learned

• There’s a fine line to choosing between refreshing and starting over.  Naively, I assumed that refreshing an old level would be easier than starting over. While sometimes you can find good things to keep, it is important to truly analyze what you need to cut or re-do before deciding to refresh a level. In the end, it all worked out, but I think “A Tale of Two Attorneys” could have benefited from me starting over rather than refreshing old assets. Either way, I was able to learn a lot from it.