Rewrites Lore Inconsistent Profession Descriptions

[DoctorBoomstick]

Summary

None

Purpose of change

As ilistrated within issue #71679, many in-game descriptions for things that are not designed to be unreliable narrators are, nevertheless, inconsistent with current game lore, whether referencing content that was dropped years ago or not reflecting that the Cataclysm was a long, drawn-out event that took place over several weeks rather than a few moments. Pr #71726 started by rewriting the more obviously incongruent scenario descriptions, but profession descriptions are, perhaps, the most conspicuous in the latter respect, with many of them insinuating that the player character was going about their normal day when, like my obese character crashing off the roof of a private resort, the mystical cataclysm happened. This does not properly represent game lore. This being said, in-game lore means nothing if in-game sources don’t abide by it.

Describe the solution

I will rewrite the descriptions that I deem to be out of place considering current standing lore, with many descriptions either requiring small adjustments, sentence removals, or complete rewrites. In addition, I will also be vetting the equipment that some of these professions start with, at least the ones that are quite nonsensical. Why is the novice martial artist wearing their sparring uniform despite several weeks of unrest, evacuations, and a plummeting sky? Why do the swimmer professions elect to keep wearing their swimwear despite monsters the size of skyscrapers idly walking over their houses and the sea boiling? Why is the office worker just lugging around an entire coffee pot filled with still-warm coffee? I am either far too stupid to answer these deep, deep questions, or something might need a bit of the old pen medicine. I have chosen the roster of descriptions to be edited based on whether they seem to indicate an end-of-world scenario that took place swiftly, like a classic zombie-style outbreak, or if they describe the player character going about their normal work despite the world literally eating itself and their jobs having been rendered untenable weeks before the game started. I have excluded professions such as the patriot, prepped patriot, food person, and hitchhiker because, while their starting equipment makes little sense, they are expressly meant to be joke professions: as apposed to bride Maggy, who was a normal, working person before the end of the world but decided to remain in her bride’s clothes throughout months of violence, an evacuation order, the sky splitting open, the government collapsing, and subsequent days of a literal elder god haemorrhaging the world. As of now, I’ve chosen to open up this PR on draft to keep track of which professions require work, as well as to leave the door open for actual lore people to strowl in and comment over whether the newly coming descriptions adhere to the lore: I am a simple man, not a loreman. I would also appreciate thoughts on whether I’ve left some offending professions off the roster or if particular professions not referenced here also have peculiar starting equipment choices. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the list of professions is as follows:

• [x] Basketball Player: Also updated to start with a varsity jacket.
• [x] Football Player: Also updated to start with a varsity jacket and renamed to the soccer player.
• [x] Police Officer: Also updated to start with a police-issue Glock 17 pistol and related 17-round magazines rather than an H&K USP-45.
• [x] Police Detective: Also updated to have a full pack of cigarettes rather than just one, a duster in place of a trench coat, no waistcoat, and a police-issue Glock 17 pistol and appropriate magazines in a shoulder holster rather than an S&W 619 revolver.
• [x] Motorized Police Officer: Also updated to have a new starting mission to go to a refugee camp, start with a Remington 870 Express shotgun, a tactical pouch of shotgun shells, a motorcycle helmet, a police-issue Glock17 pistol and related 17-round magazines in place of an H&K USP45, new skills in shotguns and driving, the driving proficiency, and a sports bra for the female version in place of a regular bra.
• [x] Hillbilly: also updated to only have a single can of beer rather than a hole 6-pack, and start with shotgun shells neatly packed in ammo boxes.
• [x] Trucker: Also updated to have their truck start with an assortment of trash items, empty bottles, food wrappers, tin cans, etc. to represent the days they’ve spent living within it, start with a proper trucker's cap rather than a generic baseball cap, and start with olive-green pants in place of a business-like stone grey.
• [x] Rideshare Driver: Also updated to have a starting mission to reach a safe holdout.
• [x] Paramedic Firefighter
• [ ] Serviceman
• [ ] Bus Driver
• [ ] Police Interceptor
• [ ] Park Ranger
• [ ] Fast Food Cook
• [ ] Electrician
• [ ] Backpacker
• [ ] Shower Victim
• [ ] Ballroom Dancer
• [ ] Blacksmith
• [ ] Otaku
• [ ] Groom
• [ ] Firefighter
• [ ] Undercover Assassin Convict
• [ ] Lawyer
• [ ] Novice Martial Artist
• [ ] Pizza Delivery Boy
• [ ] Archaeologist
• [ ] Paperboy
• [ ] Historical Reenactor
• [ ] Ahistorical Reenactor
• [ ] Juvenile Delinquent
• [ ] Naked and Afraid
• [ ] Zoo Keeper
• [ ] Urban Samurai
• [ ] Competitive Fencer
• [ ] Musician
• [ ] Frat Boy
• [ ] Undercover Operative
• [ ] EMT
• [ ] Paramedic
• [ ] Combat Medic
• [ ] Relief Volunteer
• [ ] Hazmat Unit
• [ ] Drug Dealer
• [ ] Bird Watcher
• [ ] Cheerleader
• [ ] Cowboy
• [ ] Tourist Swimmer
• [ ] Professional Swimmer
• [ ] Surfer
• [ ] Lifeguard
• [ ] Diver
• [ ] Ship Captain
• [ ] Urban Explorer
• [ ] Explosive Ordnance Disposal

Describe alternatives you've considered

Not opening this PR on draft but just frontloading all the new descriptions once they’re ready. I feel like this is a better incentive to keep me motivated, a good way to track progress, and a means to not waste anyone's time if I write descriptions that are nonsensical, dumb, lore-breaking, emersion-shattering, etc. etc.

Testing

Work in progress.

Additional context

consult issue #71679 for the original issue.

[Montimorency]

I'm certainly not deep in the lore, but the mass of flyers, newspapers, and phone snippets would suggest that mainstream society tried to go on as normal until the very last days.

The lore and its convolutions over the years of development are even, I would say, largely bewildering to me, but it's also conceivable that if most old-school professions and scenarios reflect a 'cold water' start to the apocalypse, then that either entails that's what the lore used to specify and it was revised at the highest level at some point, or these details just aren't something people have really cared about.

[Vaskritaya]

It might be worth axing some professions if they wouldn't be notable after these adjustments. I'm mostly thinking of the bride/groom, since they have no associated skills or missions, and the only thing that makes them notable is their clothing which you plan on adjusting anyways. Otherwise, I guess they'd just be a Survivor with a ring instead of a pocketknife?

[Termineitor244]

Awesome! With this change and the scenarios change it should be more difficult for people to be confused about the time of the cataclysm happening, and less new professions/scenarios should have problems to with the purging of confusing text.

Now, about some professions...

The Undercover Assassin Convict description I don't really think needs much work, maybe a few more words to emphasize that, since the world was visibly coming to an end, you were sent to make sure a certain person did not survived in the prison you were sent to.

The cheerleader and beach related professions were mostly added for fun and to make use of new clothing items, so their descriptions were based in what was already there... So yeah, they need several changes to make sense... Sorry...

The cheerleader can be conceived the same way as the sport players, someone trying to keep a sense of normalcy by keeping to their keepsakes from before the end, that being their cheerleading costume, maybe add a bag for good measure and done.

The swimmers and divers are more difficult, they were added with a possible "Beach of the Dead" scenario in mind (That I never managed to start because of lack of inspiration) or a possible jokey/eldritch "Haunted Cabin" scenario (A "Terror Movie in a cabin on the lake" scenario) which I ended up scrapping by problems designing the location. I'm not really sure what would be appropriate for these professions...

And a personal opinion, but roleplay professions like bride/groom and others that are just people in weird clothing for rare occasions are really cool for playing around with your imagination about their backstories, something I particularly enjoy in all of my characters, it would be cool if most of them could keep some of their weird clothes/items, it would be easier if we just had optional sets of clothing for choosing at game start, and not just being limited to what a profession can explain wearing.

[DoctorBoomstick]

Thank you all for your thoughts so far. @Montimorency, I agree that, until the final days, mainstream societies tried to continue business as normal. The difference between the news paper, flier, and video snippets and the profession descriptions is that while the snippets don’t have a firm date of production—they could have been made before the evacuation order, after, during some other time, etc.—the profession descriptions describe the player right up until game start: set 5 days after the complete fall of the US government. I agree that the lore has convoluted a lot over the years and the descriptions for both scenarios and professions haven’t kept up, but at the same time they cause some confusion and further blur what lore is firmly set by virtue of being outdated. @Vaskritaya, I’m not generally a proponent of up-and-axing material without either updating it or salvaging it if it can be brought into line, and I believe that there are salvageable ideas within all these professions. With the bride/groom profession, for example, I would ideally envision it as an updated start where the player character had a bomb-shelter engagement during the end, before their spouse was killed, and the player would start with a mission to either avenge them or to try and find their significant other, only to find them zombified and have to put them out of their misery. This being said, I don’t wish to bloat this PR beyond its scope, and I know that I tend to lean towards elaborate ideas only to get burned out mid-way through, so I may, for this PR, simply update the descriptions and earmark certain starts for further development down the road. @Termineitor244, thank you for the thoughts on the particular professions; they’re appreciated. No need to be sorry for creating something that’s lore inconsistent; as already mentioned, the game’s story has been in paper limbo for so long that I can’t blame folks for straying from it sometimes.

[Montimorency]

Speaking of scenarios, isn't it past time for a refugee center start that bypasses all the tedium of mapgen-surfing, evac shelter or no, and plunges the player right into the collective survival loop. In the long-term, it would be nice too if factions acted like factions and expanded their bases with walls and facilities, as well as cleared buildings of monsters and loot within a growing radius. Depending on the emergent (instance-unique) prosperity and success of any given faction, and their natures, it should be possible to at least camp out on their periphery and indefinitely exchange menial labor for food in-kind and a safe place to sleep.

[KittyTac]

Speaking of scenarios, isn't it past time for a refugee center start that bypasses all the tedium of mapgen-surfing, evac shelter or no, and plunges the player right into the collective survival loop. In the long-term, it would be nice too if factions acted like factions and expanded their bases with walls and facilities, as well as cleared buildings of monsters and loot within a growing radius. Depending on the emergent (instance-unique) prosperity and success of any given faction, and their natures, it should be possible to at least camp out on their periphery and indefinitely exchange menial labor for food in-kind and a safe place to sleep.

Late, but you can use the Safe Place scenario and select the refugee center at the last screen of character generation.

[github-actions[bot]]

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[github-actions[bot]]

Spell checker encountered unrecognized words in the in-game text added in this pull request. See below for details.

Click to expand

• After witnessing the riots, the dead rising, and living by the skin of your teeth, you''re overdue to find some safety in this world of nightmares. Hit the roads and track down a surviving human holdout that weathered the cataclysm, where you can rest your head and muster some hope.
• During your evacuation, when your fire brigade had been in the process of loading its heavy emergency vehicles with as many wounded as could fit, your colleagues had wondered what they''d do if the monsters outside breached the station''s barricades. They needn''t have wondered for long. You''d fled, foot pressed to the accelerator of an empty fire truck, as the windows stained red. Now, days later, the screams of friends and patients alike begging you to 'WAIT' haunt your mind.
• Soccer, rugby — whatever you term it, you'd played it extensively before the Cataclysm and were quite the sportsman. Now, your trade has left you with a set of football armour that you'd packed along during the evacuation, a strong throwing arm, and experience in pitch-side tussling. With your ball at your side, the only keepsake you'd been able to hold on to through the end of days, you suppose that it's time to hustle.
• Soccer, rugby — whatever you term it, you'd played it extensively before the Cataclysm and were quite the sportswoman. Now, your trade has left you with a set of football armour that you'd packed along during the evacuation, a strong throwing arm, and experience in pitch-side tussling. With your ball at your side, the only keepsake you'd been able to hold on to through the end of days, you suppose that it's time to hustle.
• Whether a professional athlete or a casual hoop-shooter, you were pretty handy at dribbling a mean ball — a skill that, unfortunately, has little relevance to the cataclysm. When evacuation had been declared, you'd packed your old jacket and favourite B-ball, and, now, all you can bank on is that your athleticism might give you a leg up in the coming days. Hopefully, your sentimental keepsakes are enough reminders of the life you've left behind.
• You once ruled the road in your big rig. Long-haul deliveries had grown scarce by the riots'' height, and when nightmares had joined the mix in strength, you''d conveniently assumed ownership of your vehicle and scrammed, taking it to the remotest location possible and using it as a makeshift mobile home, hiding away from the madness. Now it's just you and your truck against the world.
• You''d loved driving and had decided to start making some extra money doing it; when the end reached its zenith, it seemed only natural to use your skills to ferry yourself out of harm''s way. Since the government, military, and nation collapsed, you''ve been doing just that; though, with every failed strongpoint you''ve passed, one question has gnawed at the back of your mind. Is there even a safe place to drive towards anymore?

This alert is automatically generated. You can simply disregard if this is inaccurate, or (optionally) you can also add the new words to tools/spell_checker/dictionary.txt so they will not trigger an alert next time.

Hints for adding a new word to the dictionary

• If the word is normally in all lowercase, such as the noun word or the verb does, add it in its lower-case form; if the word is a proper noun, such as the surname George, add it in its initial-caps form; if the word is an acronym or has special letter case, such as the acronym CDDA or the unit mW, add it by preserving the case of all the letters. A word in the dictionary will also match its initial-caps form (if the word is in all lowercase) and all-uppercase form, so a word should be added to the dictionary in its normal letter case even if used in a different letter case in a sentence.
• For a word to be added to the dictionary, it should either be a real, properly-spelled modern American English word, a foreign loan word (including romanized foreign names), or a foreign or made-up word that is used consistently and commonly enough in the game. Intentional misspelling (including eye dialect) of a word should not be added unless it has become a common terminology in the game, because while someone may have a legitimate use for it, another person may spell it that way accidentally.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions. Please do not bump or comment on this issue unless you are actively working on it. Stale issues, and stale issues that are closed are still considered.

[TheAthenaCabin0]

I am interested in helping with this concept, should I pull against your branch?

[DoctorBoomstick]

I am interested in helping with this concept, should I pull against your branch?

To be honest, I was thinking about up and resolving any remaining conflicts and presenting this PR as part 1 of a line of changes, as I’m in university exam season and the time I have to budget to touch this branch is limited until the end of June. I’ll probably be around for any discussion or modest-scale work, but if you would like to work strait on this branch with the 40 odd professions still left, you’re more than welcome.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions. Please do not bump or comment on this issue unless you are actively working on it. Stale issues, and stale issues that are closed are still considered.