Wasteland is a computer based role playing game set in post-apocalypse Earth. It was produced by Interplay and published by Electronic Arts. Desolation is an LPMUD based off of Wasteland. ___ToC___
Story
It is the year 2087. More than nine decades have passed since the United States and the Soviet Union plunged into nuclear war, resulting in a total destruction of the earth, leaving humanity in ruins. A group of four Desert Rangers in post-apoc Nevada are assigned to set out to investigate a series of disturbances throughout the region.
Note: This is a fictional account.
The following is an excerpt from The History of the Desert Rangers, The Early Years, by Karl Allard, 2087, Allard Press, Ranger Center Hardbound pp. 293, $20 gold.
Tensions grew with the coming of 1998. The United States’ Citadel Starstation was slated to be fully operational by March. Soviet charges that the space station was merely a military launching platform alarmed a number of nonaligned nations. The right wing governments in the South and Central Americas, many of them set up by the U.S. during the Drug Wars (1987-1993), pledged their support to the U.S. The NATO nations, including the new African members, also declared their alliance with the US That move forced most of the remaining neutral powers to join the Soviet protest. In six short weeks, only Switzerland, Sweden, and Ireland continued to declare themselves neutral nations.
Two weeks before Citadel was due for full operation, the station transmitted a distress signal. Immediately after the message was sent, most of the satellites orbiting the planet were swept clean from the sky, leaving the great powers blind. In military panic, each sent 90 percent of their nuclear arsenals skyward. Although the destruction was tremendous, it was not complete. Pockets of civilization remained, some even oblivious to the military exchange.
On the same day that the US and Soviet Union were attempting to extinguish each other, a company of US Army Engineers were in the southwestern deserts building transportation bridges over dry river beds. They worked deep in the inhospitable desert valleys, surrounded by a number of survivalist communities. Located directly south of their position on that day was a newly constructed federal prison. In addition to housing the nation’s criminals condemned to death, the prison contained light industrial manufacturing facilities.
Shortly after the nuclear attack began, the Engineers, seeking shelter, took over the federal prison and expelled the prisoners into the desolate desert to complete their sentences. As the weeks passed, they invited the nearby survivalist communities to join them and to help them build a new society. Because of each communities suspicions towards one another, times were difficult at first. But as time nurtured trust, this settlement – which came to be known as Ranger Center – grew to be one of the strongest outposts. Ranger Center even proved powerful enough to repel the bands of rancorous criminals who repeatedly attacked in attempts to reclaim what was once “rightfully theirs.”
The citizens of Ranger Center, after first believing that they were the only ones who survived the nuclear maelstrom, soon realized that communities beyond the desert’s grip had also survived. Because they had such success in constructing a new community, they felt compelled to help other survivors and live in peace.
Toward this end, the Desert Rangers, in the great tradition of the Texas and Arizona Rangers a century before, were born.
Over the past few years, the Desert Rangers have seen many changes in both form and leadership. Ranging from the casual group led by Dagg, through the militaristic force commanded by Andyc, to the rag-tag faction of the present day, the Rangers have changed based on their leader’s view on the philosophy and aim of restoring civilisation, and the situation of New Nevada as a whole.
History
Much of Wasteland can be seen in Desolation. A vast majority of landmarks from the original game could be seen on Deso (Such as Quartz and Needles). Several of the NPCs are directly taken from the game or are referenced by others. The Desert Rangers are a playable faction though they are frequently ridiculed by the other groups.
Desolation is set several years after the events of Wasteland. Base Cochise, the primary threat in Wasteland, is left in ruins presumably by the same four characters from the original game. Citadel and Darwin are also left in ruins or altered by the actions of the four characters in the time of Desolation. There are few hints that the four characters may have been involved in causing the state of several landmarks throughout the map while none of the NPCs openly refer to them.
Enter Desolation
In the course of current day Desolation, the events of Wasteland are seldomly referred or explicitly involved in current roleplay events. There are almost no roleplay that involves guidelines following the events of Wasteland. Much of Desolation’s roleplay guidelines are based off of original ideas brought up by players and staff alike. It is uncertain as to whether or not further guidelines involving the Wasteland story-arc will occur in the future though it is highly unlikely.