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Fallout 4: A Ray of Hope

Version 1.0

Designer:	Ludi Dong
Document Date:	02072019
Intended Level Delivery Date:	05122019

Document Revisions Table

Version	Description	Requestor	Date
1.0	Initial Document	Professor	02082018
1.1	Update maps; update map description	Professor	04102019

Table of Contents

Table of Contents	2

Table of Figures	3

Level Information	4

Design Goals	4

Quick Summary	4

Background	4

Level Map(s)	5

Overall Map	5

The Rexford Hotel	11

Rexford Hotel Room	12

Dugout Inn, Diamond City	13

Boston Harbor	14

Longdale Island	15

Vault 18 Top Level	17

Vault 18 Middle Level	19

Vault 18 Bottom Level	21

Hook(s)/Gameplay Highlights	22

Development Schedule	22

Key Theme References	22

Vault 18	22

Longdale Island	23

References	24

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Overall Map	5

Figure 2: Hotel Rexford	11

Figure 3: Hotel Room	12

Figure 4: Bunk Hill Pier	13

Figure 5: Longdale Island	15

figure 6: Top Level of Vault 18	17

Figure 7: Vault 18 Middle Level	19

Figure 8: Vault 18 Bottom Level	21

Figure 9: Vault 18 Key Reference	22

Figure 10: Longdale Island Key Reference	23

Level Design Document

Level Information

Design Goals

The level, “A Ray of Hope” aims to bring the player a memorable experience by a suspenseful story with a plot twist, exciting interactions with NPCs and meaningful choices.

Quick Summary

The player was asked by the manager of Hotel Rexford to investigate the death of a ghoul in his hotel room. Clues lead the player to an island northeast of Boston. There the player was involved in the high tension between a human group and a ghoul group: meaningful choices would yield very different endings. The player had to make interesting interactions with objects and NPCs to dig out the truth.

Background

Longdale Island is a small, circle shaped island to the northeast of Boston, Massachusetts. Vault 18 was constructed in a cave facing the shore. The Overseer, Lee Johnson, an employee of Vault-Tech was carrying out a scientific plan on all vault residents: Vault-Tech wanted to see if they can control the process of human turning a ghoul by different amount of radiation.

After the Vault was sealed, with the help of his assistant, Harrow Garrison, Lee Johnson activated a small reactor in the bottom level. Soon afterward, the residents started experiencing symptoms such as a headache, cough, loss of hair, and loss of skin. Lee Johnson, as a well-respected doctor, explained to the residents that all symptoms were normal reactions. After 10 years or so, all residents, Lee Johnson included turned ghoul. Shortly before the sole survivor left Vault 111, Vault 18 was also unsealed due to water purification system defection.

Not too far from the cave leading into Vault 18, was a small human community, originally from Boston, seeking refuge on the island. The human community lived on making mentats (A Fallout 4 medicine), therefore established a friendly, professional relationship with Vault 18 residents as Brain Fungus, a critical ingredient of mentat, were planted in the middle level of the vault.

However, recently some sea currents brought barrels full of nuclear waste. To stay away from radiation, the lead of the human community, Bella Rahami proposed that all human moved into the bottom level of the Vault. Fearing that his secret would be exposed, Lee Johnson plotted to create tension between human and ghouls to stop Bella’s plan.

Level Map(s)

Overall Map

Figure 1: Overall Map

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
The player was asked by Clair Hutchins to investigate the death of a ghoul in her hotel room. The investigation led the player to Longdale Island.	Clair Hutchins is the manager of Hotel Rexford in Good Neighbors. She was complaining at the counter on the first floor about how a man died in his room when the player walked into the room. Clair Hutchins stated that as much as she wanted to get rid of the dead body, it’s better to make sure that the dead man had no affiliation with any dangerous groups. The player found a letter written to the dead ghoul, Greyshaper in his room. The letter mentioned “Longdale Island.” Talking to Clair Hutchins, she would tell that Longdale is an island not far from Boston. To go there, the player needs to talk to a trader in Dugout Inn, Diamond City.
The player talked to the trader in Dugout Inn and borrowed his boat in Boston Harbor.	The trader used to trade mentats from Longdale, foreshadowing the mentat business. The trader also told the player to find the leader of the human community, Bella Rahami.
The player used the boat in Boston Harbor to travel to Longdale.	Longdale Island is an isolated region from the commonwealth. The player cannot travel to Longdale Island on foot.
3	Near the dock of Longdale Island, the player witnessed two groups of residents aiming the weapon at each other: one group human, another ghoul.	The player needs first to pass the gate which was guarded by a human. A massive pile of radiant waste surrounded the dock. The player first inquired Bella about Greyshaper. During the conversation, the player heard the sound of gunfire shots. Bella took out a weapon and went to check what was the sound. The rest of the human community followed. The player sees two dead bodies: a feral ghoul body on top of a human body. It’s apparent that the human killed the feral ghoul after it attacked him. Three ghouls run down the hill from the vault towards the dead bodies. Bella accused the ghouls would turn feral, and this is the second attack in this week. One ghoul, Harrow Garrison claimed that the feral ghoul was his wife. She turned feral because humans poisoned the food traded to the vault residents. Harrow also claimed that humans’ motive was to eliminate the residents in the vault, so the humans can use the vault after the island was contaminated with nuclear waste. The Overseer of Vault 18, Lee Johnson came and asked two sides to take a step back. The player has the following choices when talking to Lee Johnson: Tell him Greyshaper’s dead, then Austin told the player that he would send someone to Good Neighbors to handle it, however, he had more urgent business at hand. Ask what is going on the island, then Lee Johnson told the player that somehow the ghouls in the middle-level garden turned feral a moment ago and started attacking humans. Lee Johnson suspected that there is a radiation leak somewhere. Ask why all Vault 18 residents are ghouls: Lee Johnson told the player that people experienced radiation shortly after the vault was sealed. This island was more radiant than other places, so it was not possible to get rid of it. They figured the outside world would be too dangerous. Therefore all Vault 18 residents stayed and became a ghoul. Leave.
4	A child ghoul, Clementine asked the player to go to the middle level of the vault to save her parents.	After talking to Lee Johnson, Clementine asked the player to help her save her parents who worked in the middle level. Clementine told the player that Lee Johnson forbade other ghouls to the middle level for it being too dangerous. Clementine also asked the player not to hurt anyone, even if they turned feral ghouls. Clementine then gave the player the keycard to the middle-level door, saying that it belonged to her parents.
5	The player gained access to the middle level.	Vault 18 residents were talking about now that the middle level was locked, they cannot harvest the celebrate two hundredth anniversary since their squad was stationed here. The player can ask what they traded with humans, and then the residents told the player that the human community lived on making mentats, and Brain fungus was a critical ingredient. The two guards were talking about giving love letters to a girl called Cherry in case anything happened to them. The player performs the following actions to gain access to the middle level Bribe the guards with 150 caps; Persuade them: high charisma check; Ask If the player can do anything for them If the player asks what he can do for them, they would ask the player to deliver two love letters to Cherry. Having talked to Cherry, the player would be able to pass the guards.
5	The player went to the middle level, battling against the feral ghouls. Eventually, the player found a small reactor which was the source of radiation.	The middle level is a level where the residents farmed. It includes several plant rooms, two shower rooms, a small cafeteria and a door leading to the bottom level. In the middle level, the player battled against some feral ghouls; The Brain Fungus room was locked; the player can either lock pick it (Expert Skill) or find a key in a dead body lying to the door. Inside Brain Fungus room there were several dead bodies of ghouls and feral ghouls. Notes in this room revealed that some ghouls hide in the room from feral ghouls. However one of them also turned feral. Therefore, everyone in the Brain Fungus room was dead. Clementine’s parents were among the dead bodies. The door to the bottom floor required Dr. Lee Johnson’s key card to enter. In the cafeteria, the player would find a bag of highly radiated of food. In the dead body of the chef, there was a note, detailing that he suspected the food traded from Bella Rahami was poisonous. Finding the note triggered event 6.
6	Player report to Clementine	The player can select one of the following options to tell Clementine: Bella Rahami poisoned the food; then Clementine would run to Dr. Lee Johnson and told him that Bella Rahami was responsible, triggering event 10 The player needs to investigate more on Bella Rahami and the bottom level of Vault. The player cannot figure out what happened, thus failing the quest; Farewell.
7	The player investigated Bella Rahami	Bella Rahami asked the player to bring her Brahmin back to the pens; The player is given 3 iguana sticks. When holding the iguana stick near the Brahmin, the Brahmin would follow the player. After the player brought back her Brahmin, Bella Rahami told the player that the human community had been cooking mentats on the island. As Brain Fungus was a critical ingredient, they had been trading with the ghouls. The human community and ghouls were getting along. Bella Rahami also revealed that as the radiation got worse on the land, she proposed to Dr. Lee Johnson that humans moved into the bottom level. However, soon after that, some ghouls turned feral and attacked humans. Now the human community was very fearful of ghouls.
8	The player got the key card to the bottom level.	The player witnessed Harrow questioning Lee Johnson has anything to do with what happened in the mid-level. Dr. Lee Johnson would tell the player since the middle level was dangerous; he would not grant access to the player. The player can tell him that he had already been to the middle floor; then Dr. Lee Johnson got angry and asked the player to leave. Harrow revealed that he had a theory; however it required the player to go to the bottom level. Then he proposed a plan for the player to get the keycard. Player waited until 10:00 p.m., after Harrow finished drinking with Nathan, the player follows Nathan to his bedroom. Then the player pickpocketed Nathan’s uniform and mask after he had unequipped. The player put on Nathan’s gears and mask. The player talked to Austin who was guarding in Lee Johnson’s bedroom. Harrow came and took Austin away. The player can pickpocket Lee Johnson now.
9	The player investigated the bottom floor	The bottom floor was a small room: the reactor in the middle, and some control panels standing against the walls. The radiation in this room is significantly higher. The player would be able to turn off the reactor through the panel. The terminal logs contained the following information: Dr. Lee Johnson’s experiments and observations over the residents turning to ghoul; How he turned on the radiation rate of the reactor to turn the middle-level ghouls feral with Harrow’s assistance; How he hired Greyshaper to buy radiated food, framed Bella Rahami, and killed Greyshaper in Good Neighbor, trying to prevent humans from moving into the bottom level.
The player accused Lee Johnson.	After finishing step 10, the player would find Lee Johnson giving a speech to Vault residents that he had concluded Bella Rahami was responsible for the poisoning. He declared that Bella Rahami wanted to kill all the ghouls so that the human could use the vault. The player can make the following choices: Accuse Lee Johnson of murderer and experiments on Vault residents, triggering event 14. Accuse Lee Johnson of murderer and experiments on Vault residents sarcastically, triggering event 13; Stay silent, triggering event 13; Tag along, tell them that Bella Rahami was responsible, triggering event 13.
The Vault residents started attacking the human community. The human community fought back, and this resulted in war.	Both sides suffered colossal causality and injuries.
Harrow confirmed that Doc was responsible for what happened in the mid-level before he killed Doc. Then he committed suicide because he felt guilty for assisting Doc.
The player returned to Good Neighbor, reported to Clair Hutchins and completed the quest.	Quest complete.

The Rexford Hotel

Figure 2: Hotel Rexford

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
16	The player got the quest.	Clair Hutchins was complaining near the counter of the first floor about a mysterious ghoul died in his room. As much as she wanted to get rid of the body, she didn’t want to get into trouble if the dead man was affiliated with any groups. However, she was too busy to take care of it. Then Clair asked the player to help find out where the mysterious dead man belonged to and notify them. The dead body was in the room at the end of the corridor on the second floor.
18	The player asked Clair Hutchins about how to get to Longdale Island.	Clair told the player that Longdale Island was a secluded island to the northeast of Boston. She had heard that some traders travel there by boat near the riverside of Bunk Hill.
45	The player reported to Clair Hutchins and completed the quest.	The player told Clair Hutchins that Greyshaper was not involved with any dangerous gang. Quest completed.

Rexford Hotel Room

Figure 3: Hotel Room

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
17	The player found evidence showing this man was somehow linked to Longdale Island.	The dead man was lying on the bed in the blood pool. A knife lays next to him. On the dead body, the player found a letter written to the man, calling him “Greyshaper.” The letter also mentioned “Longdale Island.”

Dugout Inn, Diamond City

Figure 4: Dugout Inn, Diamond City

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
19	The player talked to a trader and travel to Longdale Island.	The trader told the player that Longdale Island had a small mentats production industry. That’s why traders went there. However, recently some sea currents pushed a big pile of waste to the island. Therefore, the traders stopped going there. The trader offered to lend his boat to the player. The player had to travel to Boston Harbor to use the boat.

Boston Harbor

Figure 5: Boston Harbor

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
20	The player used the boat and arrived Longdale.	The player got on the boat and was teleported to Longdale.

Longdale Island

Figure 6: Longdale Island

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
21	The guard opened the gate for the player. Player entered the island.	The player arrived Longdale. A massive pile of radiant waste surrounded the dock. The player needs first to pass the gate which was guarded by a human.
22	The player inquired about Greyshaper.	The player first inquired Bella about Greyshaper. During the conversation, the player heard the sound of gunfire shots. Bella took out a weapon and went to check what was the sound. The rest of the human community followed.
23	The player witnessed two groups aiming the weapon at each other;	The player sees two dead bodies: a feral ghoul body on top of a human body. It’s apparent that the human killed the feral ghoul after it attacked him. Three ghouls run down the hill from the vault towards the dead bodies. Bella accused the ghouls would turn feral, and this is the second attack in this week. One ghoul, Harrow Garrison claimed that the feral ghoul was his wife. She turned feral because humans poisoned the food traded to the vault residents. Harrow also claimed that humans’ motive was to eliminate the residents in the vault, so the humans can use the vault after the island was contaminated with nuclear waste. The Overseer of Vault 18, Lee Johnson came and asked two sides to take a step back.
24	The player talked to the Overseer, Lee Johnson.	The player has the following choices when talking to Lee Johnson: Tell him Greyshaper’s dead, then Austin told the player that he would send someone to Good Neighbors to handle it, however, he had more urgent business at hand. Ask what is going on the island, then Austin told the player that somehow the ghouls in the middle-level garden turned feral a moment ago and started attacking humans. Austin suspected that there is a radiation leak somewhere. Ask why all Vault 18 residents are ghouls: Lee Johnson told the player that people experienced radiation shortly after the vault was sealed. This island was more radiant than other places, so it was not possible to get rid of it. They figured the outside world would be too dangerous. Therefore all Vault 18 residents stayed and became a ghoul. Leave
25	A child ghoul, Clementine asked the player to go to the middle level of the vault to save her parents.	After talking to Lee Johnson, Clementine asked the player to help her save her parents who worked in the middle level. Clementine told the player that Lee Johnson forbade other ghouls to the middle level for it being too dangerous. Clementine also asked the player not to hurt anyone, even if they turned feral ghouls. Clementine then gave the player the keycard to the middle-level door, saying that it belonged to her parents.
33	The player investigates Bella Rahami.	Bella Rahami asked the player to bring her Brahmin back to the pens;
34	The Player brought back Bella’s Brahmin.	The Brahmin was walking around in the farm; The player can place the cheese in front of the Brahmin and lure it to follow.
35	Bella Rahami told the player that the food she traded with the ghouls were safe.	After the player brought back her dog, Bella Rahami told the player that the human community had been cooking Brain Fungus mentats on the island. As Brain Fungus was a critical ingredient, they had been trading with the ghouls. The human community and ghouls were getting along. Bella Rahami also revealed that near the seashore recently a pile of radiant waste had been pushed here by the sea currents. As the radiation got worse on the land, she proposed to Dr. Lee Johnson that humans moved into the bottom level. However, soon after that, some ghouls turned feral and attacked humans. Now the human community was very fearful of ghouls.
34	The Vault 18 residents believed that Bella Rahami poisoned their fellow residents, therefore took revenge.	The Vault 18 residents started attacking the human community.

Vault 18 Top Level

figure 7: Top Level of Vault 18

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
26	The player created a distraction to the guards;	The two guards were talking about a girl named Lucy before the player talked to them. The player performs the following actions to gain access to the middle level Bribe the guards with 150 caps; Persuade them: high charisma check; Ask Lucy to lure the guards away.
30	The player reported to Clementine.	The player can select one of the following options to tell Clementine: Bella Rahami poisoned the food; then Clementine would run to Dr. Lee Johnson and told him that Bella Rahami was responsible, triggering event 10 The player needs to investigate more on Bella Rahami and the bottom level of Vault, triggering event 25 and 28. Farewell.
31	Clementine reported to Lee Johnson	Clementine told Lee Johnson that she hired you to investigate the third level. Even though Doc was mad, he was happy that someone found humans guilty.
32	Lee Johnson gave speech, then the vault community attacked human community.	In the speech Doc talked about the two hundred years the vault residents had spent together, how they need to unite. After the speech, everyone stood up and ran down the hills. The war only ends when one side was eliminated.
36	Dr. Lee Johnson denied the player's request for the keycard.	Dr. Lee Johnson would tell the player since the middle floor was dangerous; he would not grant access to the player. The player can tell him that he had already been to the middle floor; then Dr. Lee Johnson got angry and left for the cafeteria.
37	The player talked to Harrow and made a plot.	Harrow revealed that he had a theory; however it required the player to go to the bottom level. Then he proposed a plan for the player to get the keycard. The player put on Nathan’s gears. The player talked to Austin who was guarding in Lee Johnson’s bedroom. Harrow came and took Austin away. The player can pickpocket Lee Johnson now.
38	Harrow drunk with Nathan	Player waited until 10:00 p.m. by sitting on a chair or bench or sleep. Then he would find Harrow sitting at the bar with Nathan, drinking. Nathan tries to console Harrow for losing Lisa. During the conversation, Harrow revealed that he was guilty and found it meaningless to live.
39	The player pickpocketed Nathan’s gears and put them on.	After Harrow finished drinking with Nathan, the player follows Nathan to his bedroom. Then the player pickpocketed Nathan’s uniform and mask after he had unequipped and stored them in a locker.
40	The player pretended he is Nathan, and guarded Lee Johnson’s bedroom with Austin	Austin chatted with the player, asking why the player was wearing a mask.
41	Austin was taken away by Harrow. The player can get Lee Johnson’s key card.	Harrow showed up, asking Austin to help find sleeping pills for him. Austin left with Harrow. Now the player would be able to
42	The player gets the keycard from Dr. Lee Johnson.	The player can then sneak up to him and get the card.
44	The player either accused Dr. Lee Johnson or stay silent or tell the residents that Bella Rahami was responsible.	After finishing step 43, the player would find Lee Johnson giving a speech to Vault residents that he had found out who should be responsible for the incident in the midlevel. The player can make the following choices: Accuse Lee Johnson of murderer and experiments on Vault residents. Then Harrow would confirm what the player had said. When the vault residents are in shock, Harrow killed Lee Johnson before he committed suicide. Tell them Bella Rahami is responsible. Everyone stood up and ran down the hills. The war only ends when one side was eliminated. Stay silent. Everyone stood up and ran down the hills. The war only ends when one side was eliminated. Tag along, tell them that Bella Rahami was responsible. Everyone stood up and ran down the hills. The war only ends when one side was eliminated.

Vault 18 Middle Level

Figure 8: Vault 18 Middle Level

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g., Challenges, Actions)
27	The player found a note of the chef on his dead body. (Parallel to event 23)	The middle level is a big indoor garden including several plant rooms, several restrooms, a small cafeteria and a door leading to the bottom level. In the middle level, the player battled against some feral ghouls; In the cafeteria, the player would find a bag of highly radiated of food. In the dead body of the chef, there was a note, detailing that he suspected the food traded from Bella Rahami was poisonous. Completion of event 21 and 23 are essential to trigger event 24.
28	The player was denied access to the bottom level of Vault.	The door to the bottom floor required Dr. Lee Johnson’s key card to enter.
29	The player found the dead body of Clementine’s parents.	The Brain Fungus room was locked; the player can either lock pick it (Expert Skill) or find a key in a dead body lying to the door. Inside Brain Fungus room there were several dead bodies of ghouls and feral ghouls. Notes in this room revealed that some ghouls hide in the room from feral ghouls. However one of them also turned feral. Therefore, everyone in the Brain Fungus room was dead. Clementine’s parents were among the dead bodies.

Vault 18 Bottom Level

Figure 9: Vault 18 Bottom Level

Map Label	Event Description	Key Info (e.g. Challenges, Actions)
43	The player found a running reactor and a terminal belonged to Dr. Lee Johnson.	The bottom floor was a small room: the reactor in the middle, and some control panels standing against the walls. The radiation in this room is significantly higher. The player would be able to turn off the reactor through the control panel. The terminal logs contained the following information: Dr. Lee Johnson’s experiments and observations over the residents turning to ghoul; How he turned on the radiation rate of the reactor to turn the middle-level ghouls feral; How he hired Greyshaper to buy radiated food, framed Bella Rahami, and killed Greyshaper in Good Neighbor, trying to prevent humans from moving into the bottom level. Reading the logs would trigger event 32.

Hook(s)/Gameplay Highlights

Meaningful choices in the quest. The player needs to be careful when making choices as a result might not be something he expected.

Interaction with NPCs or objects.

Development Schedule

Milestone	Date
LDD	02/10/2019
Blockout	02/18/2019
Whitebox	02/25/2019
Initial Gameplay	03/08/2019
Complete Gameplay	04/12/2019
Aesthetics	04/26/2019
RTM	05/09/2019

Key Theme References

Vault 18

Figure 10: Vault 18 Key Reference

Longdale Island

Figure 11: Longdale Island Key Reference

References

[1] Fallout 4 Creation Kit, Bethesda Game Studio, 2015

[2] Fallout 4 Creation Kit, Bethesda Game Studio, 2015

[3] https://pixabay.com/en/abandoned-alley-building-dark-1850087/

[4] Fallout 4 Creation Kit, Bethesda Game Studio, 2015

[5] https://www.pinterest.com/pin/425449496046700466/

[6] https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0356-fresh-discoveries-of-ancient-mans-bone-in-altai-mountains-cave/

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3YlC_kuOAY