Good Thursday to you all!

Novel Idea here with your weekly GoE update! Today, we’ve got something special. While we’re keeping a vast majority of the immense Rock Farm under wraps until launch, I’ve decided that you should get to see one particular part of it…the Security Redoubt 43-A, better known as the Rock Farm Security Bunker!

Each major MWT installation had some sort of security bunker on or near the premises. These Redoubts were designed as a command and control point for Equestria’s military forces if one of the Princesses or Ministry Mares was caught in one of the facilities during a major crisis. Sadly, none of these individuals were at a MWT facility when the bombs fell. As such, bunkers such as the one in the Rock Farm remained uninhabited. While many of these places fell into disrepair as their associated facilities failed, the Rock Farm was unique. 43-A remained in fully operational status, though the communication lines, which were designed to go through the unfinished Stable 207 nearby, were never connected into Equestria’s military network.

As with all MWT Redoubts, the Security Bunker is outfitted with some of the most advanced technology developed at the Rock Farm, including a small dormitory, CO’s quarters, a dining mess and storage facilities.

Due to the Rock Farm’s liaison work with the Ministry of Peace, the Bunker was also outfitted with the powerful Autonomous Healing Booth Mark III and a fully stocked medical bay. This healing booth not only can entirely heal a body of radiation and crippling injuries, but even had the full cosmetic subroutines unlocked for reasons that are still not entirely clear.

Finally, no security bunker would be complete without a fully outfitted armory, complete with an Exchange Terminal tied directly into the Rock Farm’s arcano-tech fabrication grid. Through this device, anyone using the bunker will be able to buy and sell items as they would with any vendor.*

*(Please note that the MWT is aware of the current flaw in the Exchange Terminals that allows for bottlecaps to be used instead of requisition tokens. Exchange Terminal Mark IIs will rectify this design oversight. Any personnel found using bottlecaps instead of the proper currency will be required to pay the full amount in addition to a week’s pay. Repeated offenses may result in further disciplinary action up to and including termination and/or military sanction.)

Now that the tour is complete, let me tell you why I’m showing this to you! As you likely may have guessed, this is indeed one of two player housing locations available to you in GoE: This Coming Storm! Both the Security Redoubt 43-A and Stable 207 will be available as player homes. The Security Redoubt will also include a teleportation matrix talisman, allowing the player to return there at any time. From here, you’ll also be able to explore most of the Rock Farm if you happened to miss something inside. You’ll also find powerful upgrades for all of your companions within, provided as the spoils of war for helping end the threat located deep with the Maneframe Nexus of the Rock Farm, as well as special equipment for you and you alone.

Two last things. The first you may have missed above…but we now have healing potions in-game! That’s right! The mysterious changes have even swept through the medical supplies of the wasteland, turning all stimpacks into the familiar glowing healing potion we’ve come to know and love! (The Super Stimpacks haven’t yet changed…but rumor is that they will…)

And finally, some of you may notice a couple things. First of all, why does the Bunker look so different from the rest of the Rock Farm? Secondly, doesn’t the War Room look somewhat familiar? Well, all Security Redoubts were built with the same general design schematics, while each of the associated facilities were designed to the needs of the facility. So it’s not unusual for a Security Redoubt to have a different design aesthetic.

But you likely know the real reason.

That’s right folks…the reason the War Room looks so familiar is that it is indeed the bridge of the EHS Nimbus, back before GoE became GoE: This Coming Storm. I was very sad when this epic mission and epic ship got cut for time, so I decided that it needed to live on in some way. And considering how this was originally designed as the Enclave command center from Fallout 3, the idea just fell into place! So the Nimbus lives on in GoE, though in an underground, non-Enclave way…though the whole non-Enclave thing will change the moment you step outside of the Bunker!

A few other things to check out: we now have the Ministry of Peace and Steel Ranger Recruitment posters live and in the game, along with a brand-new MWT Master Control Console. We’ve also designed a MoP Master Control Console and are in the process of creating a MAS variant as well. (Bonus points if you can find the little “easter egg” in the MWT Control Console. 😉 )

That’s it for this week folks. I hope you’ve enjoyed your preview at the Security Redoubt 43-A…the Rock Farm Security Bunker, your rewarding for fighting through the harrowing depths of Installation 043 and making it through to the other side. But don’t worry, there’s still much more to come.

So we’ll see you next week!

-Novel Idea