Official Q&A thread, Lead Artist and Writer for the Nightingales/NLTC

[CynicalBounce]

Hi! Following the fine example set by Sirick, I'm opening up a thread to answer any questions you guys might have.

Besides being the lead concept artist, I'm also responsible for the Nightingale questline, the final version of the Planet-X quest from chapter 1, and I act as the editor/ writing partner to the lead writer. Here's my dev spotlight page with links to some of the concept art from the previous chapters!

If you have any questions regarding the art, quests, or development, please feel free to ask

Rules:
1. I can't give spoilers, so apologies in advance if I don't reply to your question or if I can't show something that's currently being worked on.
2. I'm happy to answer questions regarding the main quest-line from my perspective as the editor for those characters/plots, but might point you to Sirick's thread if it feels like he's the better person to ask something.
2. Please be polite!

 

[Synystyr1]

Hello! Forgive me if you answered any of this on the livestream with Kinggath. My memory is not at its best at the moment (plus some people may have missed the stream).

I think the question for every writer on something like this is: did anything you wrote for the Nightingales get cut (that at this point you don't think will ever make it in), and if so, what? Anything for Planet-X? Are there any other story bits you have been involved in that you particularly liked that won't be making it in? I think we all like hearing the story details that might have been.

As an artist, what are some of your favorite pieces you've created for SS2? What are some bits that you created that didn't get used that you are still particularly proud of and/or enjoy?

 

[CynicalBounce]

Hello! Forgive me if you answered any of this on the livestream with Kinggath. My memory is not at its best at the moment (plus some people may have missed the stream).

I think the question for every writer on something like this is: did anything you wrote for the Nightingales get cut (that at this point you don't think will ever make it in), and if so, what? Anything for Planet-X? Are there any other story bits you have been involved in that you particularly liked that won't be making it in? I think we all like hearing the story details that might have been.

I can't think of anything quest-side that got cut, besides the things that get lost between the initial outline and the end result. Mostly it was minor dialogue lines that I liked or had gotten attached to, but that didn't serve the scene or made no sense to someone other than me on the editing pass.

One of the standouts that I regret not getting in during Chapter 1 was inter-NPC banter for the Powell family, which at the time I didn't know we could do. It might still happen in the future, buuuuuut at this stage is a little unlikely.

The Nightingales don't have any cut 'story' content that I can think of, but we did originally discuss having unique Nightingale doctors stationed around civilization points like Goodneighbor, Bunker Hill, and even Drumlin Diner. It was a bit of a controversial because of the possible balance issues with survival gameplay, so we ended up using the upgrading medical caches instead. Y'know, limited little supply drops rather than an all-heal button on every corner. We even tossed around the idea of using vending machines instead of caches for each faction (ala Borderlands or Bioshock) but couldn't justify the extra work for something potentially game and lore-breaking (though I'm told there's a concept like that in Fo76).

As an artist, what are some of your favorite pieces you've created for SS2? What are some bits that you created that didn't get used that you are still particularly proud of and/or enjoy?

By far my favorites are the magazine covers I did aaaaall the way back in RoTC (they made them glow in the dark, how awesome is that), and I really love working on character design. Seeing Jake's outfit and then the Nightingale faction uniforms in the game is pretty amazing.

We tend to be weirdly efficient when it comes to the production pipeline (by necessity!), so there's actually not a whole lot that I designed that didn't end up making it in. We try to prioritize stuff that we know for sure we'll need, as we discovered before chapter 1's release that having people 'work ahead' on stuff we're not sure we'll end up using tends to burn motivation quickly. There's always a lot of sketches being done first before we settle on the One True Design, but I don't count those as cut, just part of the process

 

[Cessori]

What an excellent idea @CynicalBounce !
The Nightingales Quests are great!
Love your creations.

I just want to point folks at Cynical Bounce's Dev Spotlight page which has some examples of her work and the magazine covers mentioned.

 

[GuardianMF]

Who is your favorite character in the Nightingale questline? Yes, you have to pick only one

 

[mostyn30]

Will the nightingales story line progress to some sort of conclusion in chapter 3 ( just a yes or no or dont know, so there are no spoilers) Thanks

 

[juniperjoy]

I posted this to Sirick's thread some time ago and he just redirected me here.


Personally, I'd love to know the ages (age ranges?) of the rest of the Nightengale crew. we get general things like Ellis being the youngest, but like how young? I imagine not too terribly young/inexperienced if Cassandra is fine with leaving him to operate without her.... in the same train of thought, How are we imagining medical training going in the fo4 world?

 

[CynicalBounce]

Who is your favorite character in the Nightingale questline? Yes, you have to pick only one

Predictably enough, Raphael is my favorite!

Will the nightingales story line progress to some sort of conclusion in chapter 3 ( just a yes or no or dont know, so there are no spoilers) Thanks

The Nightingales story is complete as is, but there is more content for them planned

I posted this to Sirick's thread some time ago and he just redirected me here.


Personally, I'd love to know the ages (age ranges?) of the rest of the Nightengale crew. we get general things like Ellis being the youngest, but like how young? I imagine not too terribly young/inexperienced if Cassandra is fine with leaving him to operate without her.... in the same train of thought, How are we imagining medical training going in the fo4 world?

Cassandra is 55-65
Fiona and Raphael are both in about late 30s
Circe is about 30
Ellis is 20, having joined the Nightingales when he was about 18-19.
Far as Ellis's doctoring skills, the way I see it wastelanders don't exactly have to do residency, there are no exams or degrees involved and even a novice attempt can be the difference between life and death. That said, Ellis is a natural at it and Cassandra was a good mentor (even if she didn't hesitate to throw him into the deep end), so he can hold his own already even if he's not at mastery yet. So far as his training, Cass would mostly teach by doing and having Ellis shadow her. (Raphael may or may not have served as a practice dummy for some routine procedures.)

 

[veelynnlove]

Fiona and Raphael are both in about late 30s

oh wow. I thought they were late 20s early 30s. What I’m learning from this and my gross underestimating of Jake and Aiden’s age is that I’m real bad at determining ages ahahaha

 

[Cessori]

I'd like to see more Raphael.

I'd also like to see what happens with the Nightingale's Hospital after the NLTC's investment/or no investment. Perhaps there'll be a C3 quest that answers those questions.

 

[Antoine Soverie]

While it's a finished story, it still feels like there's more to come. Like something important has to happen after that one meeting. Butttt, idk.
Love the nightingales! Cassandra kinda reminds me of Cassie Dalton, who might be one of my favourite NPCs outside the mod.
Speaking of that, any inspirations for the characters?

 

[yaugie]

I do have minor edge-case questions (as is my custom) and I'm not even sure if they're in the realm of Writing or Implementation.

Is it intentional that we can't read those books we brought back from the shipwreck in the first Nightingales quest, when we find them again later on? Or have I just missed some combination of stats/perks to successfully read it? (INT 10 + one rank in Medic still can't read any further than "yup, that does say Pathology alright"...) Not that I can imagine any purpose for being able to anyway, although it'd be a neat place to sneak in a minor passive Perk reward or something...
And the other thing we can choose whether or not to bring back from that shipwreck... I don't remember that actually coming up again in the rest of the Nightingales questline. Did I miss a line of dialog somewhere? I do have a bad habit of not doing all the "Ask more questions" dialog prompts.

 

[CynicalBounce]

oh wow. I thought they were late 20s early 30s. What I’m learning from this and my gross underestimating of Jake and Aiden’s age is that I’m real bad at determining ages ahahaha

In-game models don't help with judging ages, haha.

While it's a finished story, it still feels like there's more to come. Like something important has to happen after that one meeting. Butttt, idk.
Love the nightingales! Cassandra kinda reminds me of Cassie Dalton, who might be one of my favourite NPCs outside the mod.
Speaking of that, any inspirations for the characters?

Glad you enjoyed them! Funnily enough, Cassandra does actually have a line of dialogue referencing Cassie Dalton. I'm not entirely sure as to the state of those things, but it was intended as commentary on the player taking over Dalton Farm.
I didn't have any particular inspirations for the characters to start with, though I won't pretend like I didn't have a little Flemeth (dragon age) at the back of my mind when writing Cassandra. Except, y'know, less sus more science.

I do have minor edge-case questions (as is my custom) and I'm not even sure if they're in the realm of Writing or Implementation.

Is it intentional that we can't read those books we brought back from the shipwreck in the first Nightingales quest, when we find them again later on? Or have I just missed some combination of stats/perks to successfully read it? (INT 10 + one rank in Medic still can't read any further than "yup, that does say Pathology alright"...) Not that I can imagine any purpose for being able to anyway, although it'd be a neat place to sneak in a minor passive Perk reward or something...
And the other thing we can choose whether or not to bring back from that shipwreck... I don't remember that actually coming up again in the rest of the Nightingales questline. Did I miss a line of dialog somewhere? I do have a bad habit of not doing all the "Ask more questions" dialog prompts.

I was involved with the implementation, though the books were one of the trickier bits that were outside the scope of my abilities to do. You're definitely supposed to be able to interact and make use of the books in the last quest, and if you currently can't then I'll have to check up on that and get a bug report in.

The 'other' thing you get the option of bringing back had twofold intended effect (again, not sure if it's currently broken or not): in the 2nd quest, recovering that stuff helps get Yorks and his men on their feet immediately (if you opted to convince them to stay), Fiona and Ellis both have dialogue referencing it. Secondary effect was in the HQ system or the Science Department's research. Not a 100% sure on the status of that one, either!

 

[Antoine Soverie]

You're definitely supposed to be able to interact and make use of the books in the last quest

Unless it's broken it still works. My medic skill was trash the last 2 times but still. Very nice to have that there! Not sure about Yorks and HQ, haven't noticed but that could be one of the newer things.
(It would also be cool to be able to actually read the books, but how many of us masochists are there? Reading science stuff in a game?)

 

[yaugie]

I was involved with the implementation, though the books were one of the trickier bits that were outside the scope of my abilities to do. You're definitely supposed to be able to interact and make use of the books in the last quest, and if you currently can't then I'll have to check up on that and get a bug report in.

The books can be interacted with, but I've never found the right perk to get any more than "Like Raphael, all you can make out is Pathology" out of them.

The 'other' thing you get the option of bringing back had twofold intended effect (again, not sure if it's currently broken or not): in the 2nd quest, recovering that stuff helps get Yorks and his men on their feet immediately (if you opted to convince them to stay), Fiona and Ellis both have dialogue referencing it. Secondary effect was in the HQ system or the Science Department's research. Not a 100% sure on the status of that one, either!

Oh! Yeah, I noticed that Circe conditionally has some guards with her when she goes to that meeting with the NLTC sometimes, hadn't put two and two together that that was why - I probably just skipped through dialog and missed anyone saying that was why.
EDIT: I stand corrected, Ellis did mention it in his dialog during the next quest (Patient Troubles), and I spotted Yorks just chilling out in what looks to have once been the staff break room.

Additional note - love the "ambient conversations" they have at Mass Bay Hospital once they're there, those dialogs are firing correctly now. Just overheard Cassandra telling Raphael he needs to get his Reading skill up a bit more, the "moonshine" he drank last night was not the best idea.

 

[der_drakken]

Absolutely love the Nightingale's quest and the custom magazines available from the Printing plot. <Checks notes, looking for question> CynicalBounce, will you be making more magazines for a future unnamed chapter?

 

[CynicalBounce]

Absolutely love the Nightingale's quest and the custom magazines available from the Printing plot. <Checks notes, looking for question> CynicalBounce, will you be making more magazines for a future unnamed chapter?

I can't confirm nor deny that one, sorry!

 

[Antoine Soverie]

O I have another one. Who made the sunken ship? And were there different plans to get Nightingales aid for the big thing? I kinda assumed Raphael would join in, unlike the others he's fine with killing a bunch of gunners.
Oh and their origins. Even though I guess if someone really wants to learn something in the wasteland, they'll find some books and terminals... Maybe raid Medford for stuff before it was overrun with mutants? Maybe a bookcase in Diamond City?

 

[CynicalBounce]

O I have another one. Who made the sunken ship? And were there different plans to get Nightingales aid for the big thing? I kinda assumed Raphael would join in, unlike the others he's fine with killing a bunch of gunners.
Oh and their origins. Even though I guess if someone really wants to learn something in the wasteland, they'll find some books and terminals... Maybe raid Medford for stuff before it was overrun with mutants? Maybe a bookcase in Diamond City?

1. The sunken ship was created by Business Vulture! Most of the level design is his purview He does a really awesome job!

2. The Nightingales' particular idea of ethics prevented them from openly aiding one side or the other in MQ22. We considered having them assist as medics, but mechanically that would've added unnecessary actors for little practical benefit so we settled on them sending medical supplies instead. Far as Raphael, narratively it made more sense to me that his priority would be the Nightingales, so if they're staying out of a conflict then he is as well (and if you get the ending in which he leaves, then, well... he's gone!)

3, Nightingale origins are more or less hinted at or explained by dialogue. There was no official 'founding', just people gradually coming together, with Fiona eventually giving them an official name. If you meant the question as 'where did they learn how to treat wounds/disease', then it's varied. Some of them trained under other doctors before joining, were trained by the Nightingales themselves, learned as they went, or pooled/exchanged knowledge during travels. It's a communal effort, overall!

 

[WetRats]

I've been playing a dry run of Chapter 2 while sorting out my load order for a full playthrough once Chapter 3 drops.

I had turned off the disease mechanic (it still hits too close to home), and never got the beginning of the Nightingale quests. Are they linked?