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LBT: Future Wars Repository

Caustizer · 169 · 28525

Caustizer

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Here is something I have done as the 'ending' sequence for both the VDF and Claw Campaigns.  I have decided to edit my videos to amend the last mission, where Claw aprehends Styracus in the Great Haven to instead his secret base in the Sudden Mountains.  This change means that the storyline between the two factions remains continuous rather then a story with two seperate outcomes.


VDF Ending Mission:

** Note, VDF's Artificial Intelligence that cordinates the battle is the A.L.I stands for Artificial Linguistic Intelligence unit and is related to Ali in a surprising way (I'll reveal that later) **

<The screen fizzles and then comes into focus, showing a VDF news report live from the field.  The first image shows bullets flying in a ruined city, and the ground shakes as a massive Brontodon Walker trudges past.  Silver aircraft soar overhead making a screeching sound.  The screen shakes as the Brontodon fires it's Exo-Cannon at an unshown target it's archaic wail momentarily blocking out the microphone, and then it continues to advance forwards past the camera>

Reporter: After another few days of brutal fighting the VDF has secured Claw strongpoints in Vezza, Diremaw, and Spineglen pushing back the vicious sharpteeth from their holes.  As liberating troops advanced through the Claw Food Camps, they were shocked and appauled at the condition our brothers and sisters had been forced to live prior to their culling for feed.

<A Swimmer dressed in a medical suit is shown assisting a dirty and bruised longneck, sealing his wounds.  The image shifts to a Runner in Silver Thermic armour with his helmet off, giving his ration to another runner who was a Claw prisoner and looked thin and poorly fed>

Reporter: Although Claw unleashed their most hienous and inethical weapons, in battle our troops were more then a match for their cut-throat trickery and tunneling vehicles.

<In the background there is shown a burning Caustic Digger next to a field of sharptooth corpses, it's chemical tanks explode and immolate the surrounding area>

Reporter: It was even rumoured that Claw has developed the ability to ressurect it's own troops in combat, though this is niether been confirmed nor denied by VDF military sources.

<A team of runners is shown planting a VDF flag in the ground, against harsh wind and sounds of battle in the background>

Reporter: Regardless of this we stick behind our valiant sons and daughters as they take the fight to the enemy and rid the world of these carnivourous predators and avenge their cowardly attack.

...

<There is a small deep and the VDF logo flashes on the screen, before carrying on to the Control Room in High Command>

Lieutenant Ovius: I know what you've seen, but mark my words commander this war is far from over.  Claw's forces are converging on Claw city and entrenching themselves big time.  Even with these new weapons I don't think we have enough to root them out.

ALI: Incoming Call.

L. Ovius: Recieve.

General Longtail: Stand to lieutenant!

L. Ovius: <salutes> Yes sir!

Gn. Longtail: Ah Commander... congradulations on your promotion.  Your the best we've got, so I'm going to put you on the assault.  With you at the helm we are going to root out these Claw scum.  ALI would you care to brief us on the current situation.

ALI: Claw Forces are gathering near the city walls, and appear to be marshalling their entire population to stall our advance.

Gn. Longtail: Argh, these Claw bastards disgust me... sending their young and old to die with the rest of their soldiers.

ALI: Our forces have gathered on the city limits and our Construction Walkers are in position for deployment.

<The screen turns into a blue satellite map, with pictures of Claw defenses and vehicle scematics adorning the top right>

ALI: The plan of attack that has the highest chance of success would be to establish a forward base on this central plateau, to allow for the relocation of primary defences to the choke points shown here and here.  This should allow for a primary staging area to be established, which will permit a concentrated attack on Claw's central defenses.

L. Ovius: General, I'm picking up a transmission from the HQ!

Gn. Longtail: Oh for crying out... hold on a minute, it looks like you've caughten the attention of the big bosses.  The Council wants to speak with you before you begin the attack... good luck.

<The Control room fades, being replaced with the mighty span of the VDA council floor.  It is a sight that few leaf-eaters ever see, so it's a great honor to be addressed by the council.  Present are all 9 leaders of the VDA, with the most imposing being Topsy and Grandpa Longneck>

Topsy: See, this is that top notch soldier I've been telling you about Longneck, the one who has carried us through this Claw business.

Thuro: It is indeed, a privilage.

Grandpa Longneck: Commander... we have been made aware that many of our kind are trapped just outside the city walls, in a repository that the sharpteeth are using to prepare them to be eaten.  You are of great value to us as a soldier, but it is our firm demand that the rescue of these civilians be your highest priority.  We cannot show the world that we have become mindless killers like our enemy.

Misha: Councilor Longneck has a point, do whatever you can to save our brothers and sisters... that is what we ask.

<The screen fades out, and then the mission loading screen comes up>

TBC.


Serris

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Ah, you included Great Valley Guardian's character Longtail in there as well. Nice touch! And like I said, the entire scene reminds me of Tiberian Sun.

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Caustizer

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I get the feeling you liked the music bits quite a lot... do you want me to do more of them?  I have a few ideas that I think I could use.

Also, I've just realized now that Theta is actually a guy!  I have been writing up the entire plot thinking that Theta was a girl and that some of the other Commanding sharpteeth were viying for her cruel affection.  Do you mind if I do this for LBT: Future Wars?


The Chronicler

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All of this seems rather interesting so far. At the moment, there's only one missing thing that I think could be useful: a map. Are you intending to draw your own map, or can I provide you with a map of the world as it looked like at the time? When is all this supposedly taking place, 65 million years ago? Just let me know and I'll find a map of the world that you could then add the locations of each place of significance.

"I have a right to collect anything I want. It's just junk anyway."
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My first fanfiction: Quest for the Energy Stones
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Caustizer

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^ Excellant.  If you can pick up a map of Pangaea as it appeared at the time I could definately make a mark of all the notable locations.


The Chronicler

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I know of two sites that have excellent maps for what you could use. Out of all the maps on either site, here's the one I would recommend the most:


I consider the generation of the LBT gang being one million years before the extinction event, so this map is the closest I could find to the one I would imagine.

From the other site, here's the same time period shown in three different projections:
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/rcb7/065Marect.jpg
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/rcb7/65moll.jpg
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/rcb7/065_K_Tboundary_3globes.jpg

Let me know if you would rather have a map of the world from a different time period. (I wouldn't recommend the time of Pangaea for two reasons; it was a very arid place, and most dinosaurs didn't even exist until after it began to break up.)

"I have a right to collect anything I want. It's just junk anyway."
- Berix

My first fanfiction: Quest for the Energy Stones
My unfinished and canceled second fanfiction: Quest for the Mask of Life
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Caustizer

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Thanks for the maps, I like the first one the most.

I had some more inspiration for Claw's commandos Utah and Manhatten.

- Both fast-biters are immortal from what they describe as a "family curse".  Their exact ages are unknown, but Claw military records state them as being in active service for over 57 years prior to the beginning of the Twilight War.
- Service tallies show that Utah has officially died 34 times, followed closely by Manhatten with 26 recorded deaths in battle.  Each time though they came back thirsty for more, so much that Claw doesn't even bother to acknowledge their "deaths" anymore.
- Attempts have been made to recreate a set of immortal offspring through both artificial and natural means, but so far none of Utah's children have been immortal like their father.

- Manhatten is the more 'controlled' of the two brothers but he has a massive ego and a touch of bravdo that surprisingly inspires nearby Claw troops knowing that their sergeant cannot die.  
- He sounds just like this : Manhatten

- Utah is the typical mad killer so common amounst Claw ranks, but the difference is that no matter what you hit with he get right back up again (in game terms if Utah dies a digger comes up from the ground and scoops up his body, and you have to pay for him again)
- With his dual tungsten blade throwers, he can kill anyone he wants to in the blink of an eye which occassionally includes other nearby sharpteeth who 'displease' him.  Claw Officials sweep these incidents under the rug, as his proven record in combat more then makes up for his murderous tendancies
- I couldn't find a good set of sound bites for Utah, but if your looking for a reference he sounds similar to how you might expect a trucker to sound, with a bit of a hissing edge to his voice.



Serris

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Hmm. I liked your choice of voice of Manhattan and Utah.

And yeah, continue with the musical bits. I may try to think of some but I am drawing a blank now.

Yeah, Theta as a female seems really weird.

I am thinking of a way to work Ms. Maia and Procella into this fic.

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Caustizer

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Two More Sound Bites:

LBT: Future Wars Main Menu Theme

This is the song that plays when the game first starts and loads up to the main menu screen.  Because of the file type I couldn't upload it myself to YouTube so I have decided to link to somebody else's video.

VDF Mission #6 - Toxic Frontier

I hope you like them.

Caustizer.


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Claw Vehicles:

Eviscerator:

- Claws primary anti-infantry vehicle, it fires a storm of steel blades that carve enemies asunder
- Crewed by Sickle Claws, which take the opportunity to leave the foot slogging divisions whenever the opportunity presents itself
- Hovers on three separate disks with one in the very front and two attached to the rear providing excellent speed and maneuverability
- Low cost and easy to produce, and so are quite common amongst Claw’s vehicle forces

Shrieker:

- Drone piloted motor bikes that fire armour penetrating grenades making them excellent versus enemy light vehicles and all types of aircraft
- Regular sharpteeth wouldn’t consider driving a machine like this purely because they are wheel driven and thus are perceived as being too noisy and rough however incorrect it may be
- Easily produced on mass and used very frequently in Claw’s terror raids against undefended positions
- Occasionally upgraded with Double Grenade Packs as authorized by Black Tech, which use microscopic needles to inflict additional damage with attacks

Dredge Transport:

- A medium sized subterranean transport that can carry up to two squads infantry and is capable of deploying instantly into a battle-bunker allowing garrisoned troops to fire out
- Dredges have been known to create Claw strong points almost out of thin air, and function especially well when combined with Dervish Drones or Firehounds
- A very lethal combo is to load up a Dredge with Utah and Manhattan and deploy next to an enemy base or force to take it out without endangering them
- Vulnerable to detection via Longneck Architects, Advanced VDF Defenses, or Sonicopters so watch out if one happens to be nearby

Executioner Walker:

- Claw’s main battle walker
- Crewed mainly by Fast-biters, it is useful against other armored vehicles thanks to its rapid firing autocannon
- In a direct fight, the Executioner are under matched against VDF’s Charger Tank but are faster and cheaper making them easier to use in a raiding role
- Executioners can be upgraded with Double Cannon Arms to increase their direct damage
- Come equipped with short range Stasis-rays which when activated can immobilize a nearby enemy… which comes in handy when Charger Tanks are about to ram you to death!

Caustic Digger:


- The subterranean answer to the Punisher, Claw’s digging chemical monstrosity specializes in dealing with massive swarms of infantry showering them in caustic flames that sear flesh from bone
- Visually it is a medium tank driven on two corkscrew treads compounded with two menacing sharptooth heads on the front that reveal the chemical throwers when they open their maws
- When retracted, the Sharptooth heads make perfect burrowing devices and can plow through most types of earth easily and effortlessly making them difficult to detect to know where they will be surfacing next
- Similarly to the Firehounds, Caustic Diggers can be upgraded with the Burning Bounty upgrade which gives a small amount of credits for every unit it kills

Stalker Assault Tank:

- Claw’s stealthed hover tank that is well known for fast and deadly raids both in their own territory and on VDF institutions
- Uses a set of coordinated laser batteries to unleash a torrent of flashy death on any ground or air target within range, before quickly fading back into the shadows while the power cells recharge for another attack
- The Boron lasers have no trouble shredding enemy aircraft or vehicles, but when firing the Stalker Tank is visible and since it is very lightly armored it is not likely to survive very long even versus the most basic of cannon and rocket attacks
- Somewhat expensive compared to other Claw vehicles, so they are best used in the hands of a skilled commander otherwise they are likely to end up as burning wrecks
- Can be upgraded with Double Laser Batteries to increase the firepower they can bring to bear while attacking


Tyrannotron:

- Claw’s ultimate battle mech that is design to be a combination of mobility and firepower that can flatten any lesser VDF vehicles.
- Designed by Black-Tech over two decades ago, it has been improved upon and upgraded ever since and hence is one of the most effective units in the entire Claw arsenal
- Visually, the Tyrannotron looks like a gigantic mechanical t-rex plated with red and black metal in addition to factional markings, combined with unique features such as two mechanical arms holding a Volcano Cannon on both sides and vast wings that fold in the back when walking on the ground
- TTs can switch between ground and air form, using its Volcano Cannons to either annihilate enemy vehicles and structures on the ground, or shoot down their air forces while in the air.  This adaptability makes this unit especially feared for it can swoop down from the skies at anytime and bring the pain on even the toughest of VDF armour
- As good as they are, TTs are not cheap and in a one on one combat will be easily cut into parts by VDF Brontodons as well as massive amounts of elite infantry such as Longneck Exosuits which are resistant to its attacks
- Usually piloted by Fast-biters with a reputation for loyal service within the Firehounds, as Claw won’t trust any lesser sharptooth with its advanced equipment

Doom Maw Artillery:

- Infamous artillery units that are fairly large, but stealthed and exceptionally mobile as the circumstances demand
- Piloted nominally by a drone computer system, but all artillery units are linked to Claw’s central command so they can manually coordinate all strikes from a safe distance
- On occasion DMAs are given to control directly by a Stalker Tank division as a method of clearing out defenses prior to a stealthy strike
- Equipped with a five-barrel Peridion artillery cannon that can unleash a volley of lethal caustic shells that can melt infantry, structures, and even vehicles given enough firepower
- Watch out for VDF Sonicopters and Longneck Exosuits, who can cut these relatively fragile units down in the blink of an eye were they to be discovered
- DMAs are extremely expensive to develop and maintain, and hence are only allowed to be built when a Black Tech Lab is built to ensure they are properly constructed

Resurrection Sphere:

- See above


Claw Aircraft:

Viper:

- Claw’s primary patrol craft, these sleek hover jets are armed with rapid fire spine cannons for taking out enemy infantry and light vehicles
- Cheap, but fairly lightly armored and vulnerable to surface to air missile strikes and gunfire
- piloted by Sharp beaks, who are native to Scythe Valley and close allies to Claw due to their natural tendency for shooting first and asking questions later making tons of easy meat for other Claw forces to feed on
-  Has advanced sensor arrays enabling it to detect stealthed units and burrowed units with ease making it handy when quelling rebellion of Claw sub-states
- Has enough ammo on board to carry it through even prolonged engagements without the need to return to an Air Beacon to acquire more munitions

Screamer:

- Deadly surface to air bombers that carry payloads of experimental and volatile plasma which it releases in a series of balls that decimate the target far better then standard bombs with pinpoint accuracy
- Piloted by the best Fast-biter pilots Claw can offer who can overcome their natural desires to hunt on the ground and take to the air to better serve Excidium
- Can only be constructed if a Black Tech Lab is present to oversee the installation of the Plasma Reactors needed to sustain such volatile ammunition
- Very expensive but very good against enemy armour and structures
- Unfortunately the Plasma Reactors eventually deplete themselves and require that the Screamer return to the Air Beacon to re-charge
- Is capable of traveling at supersonic speeds and can even pass through the stratosphere to swoop down on enemies unexpectedly to dodge defenses on the way, and the sound it makes while doing this is a high pitched engine scream whence it gets it’s name from

Omega Sphere:

-The only capital warship in the world, Claw’s mighty Omega Spheres are extremely expensive and time consuming to produce, but possess some of the strongest armaments in the world
- Directly authorized and supervised by Achilles, Claw’s AI who is arguably the only individual capable of coordinating the construction of such a complex aircraft
- Armed with 3 Soul Beam Batteries, which are positioned underneath  the sharptooth head shaped obelisks that adorn the outer rim of the craft and gain in power for every enemy they kill giving it almost exponential effectiveness
- Overall the craft is very slow and despite its toughness this makes Omega Spheres very vulnerable to sustained ground attack especially if the enemies are smart enough to dodge the streaking green Soul Beams
- Omega Spheres can drain all of their Soul Charge to heal all Claw forces underneath it in a nova of bright green light, but naturally this requires them to have killed some enemies first
- Requires not only a Black Tech Lab, but direct permission from Excidium himself  to use (through an expensive upgrade at the Black Tech Lab called “Excidium’s Declaration”)


Caustizer


Serris

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I love them main menu theme. Again it sounds like it was made specifically for Command and Conquer.

Theme for VDF Mission #6 fits real well too. However, the music is more reminiscent of Descent II than Command and Conquer.


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I just stumbled across this music track from Half Life that really fits more adrenaline-based parts of LBT Future Wars for me. I'm not sure which mission it would suit specifically, but I think of a fast-paced mission in Future Wars whenever I hear this music.

Clicky


Caustizer

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I would put that track as the VDF Victory Song, you know the one that plays after you win the mission and the stats graph comes up showing how good you did (Casualties, Income, Units Built, etc.)  Is that good with  you SPR?

Also, to match you could use this Half-Life track for Claw's Victory beat:

Here


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Yeah, that's perfectly fine. I imagined Hard Technology Rock as a very Claw-like song too... :)


Caustizer

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Hey SPR do you have any plans to do the Longneck Exosuit art like you said you could?  I would sincerely appreciate it as the current art is sorely lacking  :lol


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*ulp* I forgot about that. :p I'll see if I can do a bit tonight.


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And about an hour and a half later...



The armour didn't turn out as "heavy" as I wanted it to be. Oh well... maybe it could be the inner skin or something. That's just my opnion though...

What do you guys think?


Caustizer

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I love it, thank you so much SPR!

It would be perfect though if you could just make two small changes for me:

1) Can you erase the rivets on the helmet? Exosuit Armour is the most advanced in the world so having crude metal rivets makes it appear improvised as opposed to seamless and artistically curved.

2) The weapon nodules look too small, BUT that could be justified by saying you omitted the heavy Exo-Cannon assembly to work out what the armour looks like underneith. I failed to describe what the weapon looks like, so I'll explain it in more detail here:

- Unlike a conventional laser the Exo-cannon (EXperimental Oscillator Cannon) does not fire in pin-point accurate pulses but instead remains continuously active while sweeping over the target.  The effect could be compared to a medium range welder which uses a single continuous heat source to slice through metal

- For this reason Exo-Cannons (both on the Exosuit & Brontodon) have a low firing rate due to the tremendous power demands of maintaining a slicing ion beam. The result is a lack of effectiveness versus spread out infantry because it can't fire fast enough to take them down.

- The Ion Battery is contained in a massive backpack-like aparatus which attaches to the midsection of the quadruped soldier (they haven't designed a two-legged Exo-cannon yet) and links to the shoulder reflectors which direct the beam in it's course when it fires.


Once again thank you for making these drawings for me SPR it really pushes forward my somewhat backwards future wars idea  :smile

Caustizer


Serris

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Klaxon Beat (Half-Life) - Sounds good for the Cloud Island mission.

Main Menu Theme (Descent)

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I'm starting to wonder if full body armor would really be a good idea. If struck with enough physical force, wouldn't the metal or whatever material they use hit against the body, thus causing internal damage? That's what I've heard would happen anyway. The force of a blow would still travel through the armor, and the armor would likely slam against the skin with about the same force due to how close it is already to the skin, and cause internal damage.