We edit this post with the very freaking epic Fallout 4 Launch Trailer!













Good afternoon!

NaNoWriMo!

So the first question on your mind is probably “Did Novel actually start NaNoWriMo? Is he really that crazy?” Well, I’m 9,592 words in as of this morning. Which means I’m actually nearly 3,000 words ahead of the target.

So yes, I am just that crazy. I have to say that this is probably the most challenging story I’ve ever attempted. Having to figure out how much to inform our heroes about what happened in Equestria is difficult. I feel like I’m waking several tightropes at once. However, this is not my first foray into a pre-existing universe. I’m happy to say that I’ve won some serious awards for previous engagements in other people’s worlds.

It also helps that I am a devout fan of J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of the beloved science fiction epic, Babylon 5. And as many know, Kkat is as well. So interestingly enough, the stories seem to make sense to me.

Cool news for those participating in Equestria Daily’s NaPoWriMo (National Pony Writing Month): We are offering up three “beta keys” to people who pass the 50,000 word mark! So if you want to see GoE: This Coming Storm early, get crackin’!

(BTW, the picture for the cover is a temp version. I plan on totally redoing it).

Anyway, enough of the story (though expect update throughout the month!). Let’s talk GoE: This Coming Storm!

Staff Updates

First of all, I’m happy to announce that our former Technical Director, Red Kat, has decided to return to the Manehattan Project as a technical consultant. Thankfully, some of the real life assaults have lessened somewhat, giving her a bit more time. In addition, Wolfie will continue as one of our primary scripters, having moved over from modeling to help us make this game possible.

In addition, I’m also very happy to announce that we have yet another new member. This one is a personal friend of mine who’s decided to go under the name of Trench Broom (Trench Broom, in case you were wondering, is one of the nicknames for the famous “Thompson Machine Gun” better known as the Tommy Gun.). He’ll be joining us on the scripting side to help make this game happen, working directly with Wolf and myself.

Here you can find out a bit more about Trench Broom:

Trench Broom is a master of desenrascanço, his abilities honed over years spent in the trenches, cleaning up other people’s messes.

After being fed up with the war, he retreated to a stable (which one, he refuses to say) and spent his time in silent contemplation until he heard the call of the Gardens of Equestria crew.

He has been able to do a surprising amount of things, considering he has no hands or fingers, and the only magic he knows is “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”.

In his spare time, he likes to:

– Build things out of spare parts he has laying around. Widgets, gadgets, any kind of –dgets, really.

– Play games where choices matter; half playing and half reminiscing, but always thinking, “What could I have done better” either way.

– Read self-help books due to stress from his choices always mattering.

I have yet to update the Staff page as things have been a bit busy, but I’ll be doing it soon. We’ve decided to merge the technical team in with the design team, making things a bit easier. At the moment, we have two teams: Design and Audio. Art, modeling, scripting and level design all fall under design, while sound effects, music and voicework fall under audio.

I’d also like to officially introduce Clanky4’s bio, who I mentioned a bit ago as being the epic modeler and animator behind the FO:NV Pony Mod recently released.

I have enjoyed the Fallout franchise since I was first introduced to Fallout 3. I can honestly say after meeting Trouble Man of The Pitt, my life was never really the same. At least until encountering Mr. House. He is truly the single greatest character in the entire Fallout franchise. I have modded a few other games such as Fallout 3, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Civilization 4 (clearly the best one). Generally converting and rigging meshes onto various skeletons. Even if they obviously weren’t meant to be there.

Remember folks, we’re always looking for new talent. If you’re interested in helping out making GoE a reality, be it in scripting, voice acting, level design, artwork or PR, drop us a line at our Recruitment Page.

New Audiobook Chapter

Only one chapter this week folks. I’ve had a lot of trouble lately with iMovie not uploading correctly to YouTube (and making sure to take about an hour before actually erroring out). This week, Xenith enters the fray. I also apologize for the different pronunciations that I use instead of Crazed Rambling’s. You can find the latest chapter here.

Fallout 4 and GoE 2 Story

As many of you know this is going to be an eventful week. Many of us here at the Manehattan Project are huge Blizzard fans and several of us will be going to BlizzCon. (I for one cannot wait to see the full trailer for Warcraft. This movie is going to be freaking amazing). And you all know what happens next Tuesday: Fallout 4 is released!

Sadly, I had to get my PipBoy edition from France, so I’ll have to wait two weeks to play the dang thing. So I’ll be hiding in a “write-only” bubble to avoid spoilers. 😉

Speaking of spoilers, I recently discovered something about Fallout 4. It’s the only bit of information I actively sought out. However, I’ve decided to put it at the end of this post so (because at the moment, I can’t get the spoiler scripts to work right to hide it properly and the color trick isn’t working either). You’ll also get a little preview of some of the story planning for the end of GoE 1 and the beginning of GoE 2, plus Dances of Light and Shadow!

Tiny Fallout 4 Spoiler Alert: all it concerns is when the events of Fallout 4 occur in relation to New Vegas and Fallout 3. For those who are avoiding all spoilers, you should skip the next section.

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I was quite delighted to find a leaked photo of a PipBoy map from Fallout 4 which had the date on there showing as 2287. This means the events of Fallout 4 occur ten years after the events of Fallout 3 and six years after New Vegas. There were some comments earlier about it happening only six months to a year after Fallout 3, which meant it would occur before New Vegas. This of course led to some serious continuity concerns about GoE 1 and GoE 2.

Now it appears as if we have six years to get our heroes from Las Pegasus to Boston (or Buckston/Buckton). Now, according to Google Maps, if you walked at whatever speed Google Maps thinks you should walk at for 24 hours a day, you would arrive in Boston from Las Vegas in about a month and a half (It’s about 2800 miles, depending on the route). I think six years is plenty of time, especially with the advanced technology of the Rock Farm available to Littlepip and company (The Courier, of course, will be remaining in the west).

As for what happens during that trip…you’ll get to see some of it in Dances of Light & Shadow, but not all of it. But this gives us a lot of potential ways for GoE 2 to start. The events that changed the Equestrian Wasteland forever took a total of roughly two months from Littlepip leaving Stable 2. What would have happened if it had been years? Would they have all remained together the entire time? I’m sure you can imagine all the possibilities. That and more will be answered in “Racing Apotheosis” for Fallout 4. 😉

That’s it for this week folks have a great week. For those attending Blizzcon, have fun and for those getting Fallout 4 on launch day (namely everyone but me), I hope you have a blast!

-Novel Idea