[Games] Fallout Brainstorming 2B: Other Rough Ideas
Note: Images are NOT MINE, and found from Wikipedia and other sites.
Xanadu House -- Kissimmee
Real World: Built in the 1980s, partly as a response to EPCOT nearby. Dome-like construction was due to inflatable balloons being used to create forms, and covering in polyurethane insulation foam rather than concrete. This was billed as the "House of the Future," with computer automation. However, by the 1990s, many of the "futuristic" technologies were already painfully obsolete, and the Xanadu House in Kissimmee was demolished in 1996.
Since this is a product of the '80s, it may be a bit anachronistic for Fallout's focus on pre-'70s culture, but the concept of it just seems like something worth reflecting in a Fallout version of Florida.
Seaquarium -- Panama Beach, Florida?
Okay, the first picture was labeled as being from Panama Beach, Florida, but apparently there was never a monorail there, nor a "Seaquarium." Instead, this appears to be from the Seaquarium in Miami, circa 1967. Too bad. I was originally going with ideas of having a Seaquarium (complete with monorails and mutant sea life "attractions"/encounters) in Panama Beach City, since that would be on the panhandle and a decent place for the Nuka-Cola Truck to make a detour before heading into the Orlando area. (Ah yes. I must think of a different name than Lake Buena Vista. Originally the area was known as "Reedy Creek," I think, but with a name like that, it's small wonder it got renamed. But I digress.)
Apparently there is a "Gulfarium" in Panama Beach City, but I don't know if there was one in the 1960s. But ... who cares? What matters is inspiration. This is an alternate universe, after all. I might try going with something like this after all. I wish I could motivate myself to draw some period-piece posters or something for mood-setting.
Gatorland
It's down in Kissimmee, so not terribly far from the likely location of the Mimsyverse. I see this as a great excuse to fit in mutant gators, if they aren't already all over the place elsewhere in Florida.
Cape Canaveral
The role of Cape Canaveral here is a little hard to figure out. In Fallout 2, there is a Nixon doll with phrases such as "It's best to lie," apparently intended to be humorous, but it's unclear whether it should be taken to mean that in Fallout canon there was a President Nixon who served in office at the same time as our President Nixon did, whether his term in office played out the same way, or what, if he was apparently popular enough for there to be Nixon dolls lying about. I can't find any indication that JFK was president, or that he was assassinated. History in the Fallout universe seems to mostly be the same up through World War II, but as early as 1961 there are some major diverging points.
And then, even if we are to assume that Cape Canaveral played its historic role in Fallout's version of the moon landing, what after that? There's no indication that this version of America had a version of the space shuttle program, but rather it seems that Buck-Rogers-esque rocket-ships became the preferred mode of space travel at some point. By 2054, the "Delta IX Rocket" (more like a rocket-plane) is capable of launching into space without stages, carrying crew, and delivering a payload into space; it's also the rocket used for the last manned moon mission. By this point, Cape Canaveral wouldn't be necessary as a staging point for rocket launches.
I'm toying with the idea of Cape Canaveral still existing as:
1) A space museum.
2) An active launching site, but only for really BIG launches.
3) The site of a "space port" built in the fashion of 1960s airports, but intended for space travel. It might either have been used for such (though I'm not clear on just how much space travel there WAS in the Fallout universe), or else it was in the process of being built in idealistic ANTICIPATION of future widespread space travel.
For the campaign, I was thinking of it being some sort of objective after reaching the Mimsyverse. If the PCs decide to stay in the Mimsyverse and help establish some sort of base/settlement there, then perhaps a sidequest mission involves traveling to Cape Canaveral to launch a rocket to deliver a satellite that will help the base somehow: maybe a space array of solar panels that would "beam" energy down to the park to power its machinery, for instance. Or maybe there's just some tech there that would be useful.
I was also thinking that perhaps the wicked alien Zetans (basically "little grey men" in flying saucers with zappy guns -- archetypical 1950s-1960s-ish alien invaders) might have some interest in the site, and our heroes would get into a deathray battle with the aliens. Whee! (I actually have a flying saucer and several "greys" that would work perfectly for Zetans.)
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Random period inspiration pictures. Apologies to all I sourced these from. I'm just looking for inspiration here for signage and such.
I love orange juice as much as the next guy, but, boy, these kids look just a bit TOO excited about orange juice. (Plus, this first ad was used as inspiration for the Fallout "Sugar Bombs" cereal ads.)
