_________________________________________________European Commonwealth : Paris__________________________________________________ __________
[Read this with the voice of Ron Perlman in your head:]
Mankind. Mankind never changes. After having claimed every foot of the world and depleting it's resources; after having pushed back the boundaries of science, and abolishing those of wisdom; Mankind is left with only it's self to face...
At the height of the Resource War provoked by the industrial nations in hopes of achieving perpetuation of the status-quo; the enduring allegiances of old proved transient, as foes who once called each other brothers, fight for the fat of the malnourished dieing lands.
All the efforts of the European Commonwealth governments to unite them selves proved a fruitless cause, as the E.C. became a commonwealth in name only. Mankind. Mankind never learns. West Germany achieved it's reunification with the German Democratic Republic, and it's more stable systematised economic system, while France and the United Kingdom quarreled over the last offshore resources in the North Sea. Threats and violence took precedence over diplomacy; borders were reinstated, only to be immediately contested. When the bombs of Word War III finally hit the ground, Europe was already reduced to ashes...
But a privileged few were able to enter the large underground shelters of the European Commonwealth Safeguard Program; it is in one of those shelters that you were born and raised, without any contact with the exterior world...
But the time has come to leave the safety of that shelter...
(the music is from Piaf)
We are also going to use the first minutes of the short movie "Bunker" made by Paul Doucet. Don't hesitate to check the whole movie (10min) here and leave a comment:
The World of European Commonwealth: Paris
Like the title says it is a mod with the particularity of being based in a part of the world other than the United States, namely the European continent, and since it's a French mod, it will be situated in Paris.
Since Fallout is a retro-futuristic universe, the first challenge of our team was to imagine how the 2070 France of the Fallout universe would have developed, if it was based on the spirit of the French fifties. Basically we tried to identify what graphical elements the devs of Fallout chose to create the retro spirit, then we tried to find the equivalent in our country, and adapt it for the mod.
We used what we know of the Fallout cannon concerning the EC, and then we built upon it (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/European_Commonwealth).
Warning! it is our take of what could have happened, and not the canon one. We only took elements of what has been confirmed in F1 and F2. We chose to transplant the problems facing western Europe in the 50s and transposed them into the 2060s.
[spoiler:e5c75c7cf1]1951: the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC or the CECA in French), established by the Treaty of Paris, was declared to be "a first step in the federation of Europe"; the founding member states of the ECSC included Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and West Germany.
1952: Creation the Pan European Defense Force, which launched the process of military unification among it's members.
1972: The European Central Council, the executive organ of the EC is created. The governments of the commonwealth are now integrated into a single state-like entity.
1973: The military forces of the EC members are now unified into a centralised command, and become the Pan European Army.
1988: Grobatchev secures Afghanistan through heavy repression, and at a large cost of in troops, sending a clear message to any country that would want to attempt secession. The police of the USSR members begin a massive elimination of opposition leaders.
1991: The August Coup succeeded in putting an end to the Gorbatchev Era, and brought the return to power of hard-line communists. While reinforcing the position of Russia within the Union, this doesn't change anything with regards to the economic situation.
1999: The Vienna Agreement; The European Commonwealth agrees to buy soviet products, and to never contest the sovereignty East European USSR countries. In exchange, the neutral countries (Austria, Finland, Norway, Sweden) are allowed to join the commonwealth. This treaty also marks the loss in influence of the USSR in the West, and the emergence of China as the new Red Superpower. The EC has reached it's highest number of members (12), and the armies of those new members are integrated into the Pan-European Force.
2010: A young team of developers start to make a game about an alternate universe, where the hippies would have made a coup in the 60s.
2027: In Austria, Gaston Glock's consciousness was somehow transferred into an advanced artificial intelligence. In this new form, Glock continued to design weapons, including the Glock 86 Plasma Pistol, and the Glock 54X Plasma rifle.
2032: Plasma Weaponry become the standard military equipment of the European Army.
2040: The European Commonwealth Safeguard Program (or the" Reseau d'abris de la communauté européenne", la R.A.C.E.) is launched. It's goal is to ensure the survival of the EC in case of a global nuclear war. The construction of large underground shelters are commenced.
2045: The Commonwealth, not being able to sustain their consumerist society is in decline, and the population of the states tend to lean towards communism (In the 50s the french communist party had something like 25% of all voices in the legislatives election). The working classes allied with the left-wings intellectuals (the Compagnons de route) advocate a stable system that has proven it's stability behind the iron curtain, leading to a civil war within the states between the nationalists and liberals against the communists, while the states themselves try to secure as much of the resources left of the as is possible.
April 2052: The Resource Wars begin. Many smaller nations go bankrupt, and Europe, dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, responds to the Middle East's rising oil prices with military action. The long drawn-out war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle East begins.
May - July: The United Nations, already suffering, begins to collapse. In a series of heated debates, many nations withdraw from the organization as the U.N. tries to keep the peace. At the end of July, the United Nations is disbanded.
2053: The socially transmitted "New Plague" arises, killing thousands of people, but is finally contained through the quarantine of the infected.
2060: The Euro-Middle Eastern War ends as the oil fields in the Middle East run dry. There is no longer a goal in the conflict, and both sides are reduced almost to ruin.
The European Commonwealth dissolves into quarreling nation states, fighting over the remaining resources, the central council still exist, but has no authority anymore. All countries now reorganise themselves around their national government.
2064: West Germany 'joins' it's sister state and falls on the other side of the iron curtain. The soviet army secures the new borders, while, partisans and saboteurs oppose soviet rule in the Ruhr area. The European Central council protests against the breach of the Vienna Treaty to no end. Moscow assets that this is an internal German matter. Belgian and Luxembourg become French protectorates (at last!) and the Maginot line is reoccupied by the French army.
2077, October 23: Great War: Bombs are launched; who struck first is unknown. Other countries, seeing the missiles on their way, launch their planes and fire their warheads as well.
Zhe European Vault boy : Charles 2.0
Charles is a name common almost to all european community members, "Tcharles", Carlos, Karl. It is of course a reference to Charlemagne who was sort of the first european leader, and some of the people who have one use to call it lil' Charles, by opposition to Charles the big...
Zoe, zhe european most radioactive favorite drink will replace the nuka cola in the heart of the european consumer. In case you wonder, yes, it is a real drink...
Your Story :
When the bombs were flying over their heads, the population of Paris did the best they could to flee to safety. The luckiest entered one of the sealed shelters of the European Commonwealth Safeguard Program (one shelter for each arrondissement), while others had no choice but to seek refuge in the large underground networks of the city, in it's metro and Sewers, but also the deep caverns and labyrinthine tunnels that form the catacombs of Paris. But when the bombs stopped falling, many points of egress to the surface where blocked by the wreckage of fallen buildings; those that did find their way out, never came back, and those that settled too close to an exit... began to change... In the minds of the traumatized people, the surface became something as scary as the pits of hell. The survivors had to adapt to their new underground life, when the emergency supplies were finished, rats and mushrooms became the only substance on which to subsist, that is, if you are not into human flesh... The most courageous people improved their lot by hunting some of the new beasts that had recently appeared like apparitions in the darkness of the catacombs. Gangs of thugs settled in front of the underground doors of the EC-shelters to trade their scarce resources for the plentiful products of the hydroponic farms, and they protect this privileged arrangement fiercely against the others gangs.
It's 2167. Your were lucky enough to be born in the EC-Shelter under the 13 Arrondissment of Paris; but your shelter too is blocked underground, and without any contact with Abri Central or with any of the other shelters. As occurs more regularly in these times, the prefect has organised a lottery. Unluckily for you, your number was pulled out. You will have to enter the catacombs to find a way out, and ensure the survival of the shelter. Your secondary mission, is to renew contact with the other shelters and Abri Central.
Special thanks to Dude101 for correcting and upgrading my text.