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"Our new Mother Base. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'll make it bigger, better than before."
―Kazuhira Miller[src]

Mother Base was the base of operations for Diamond Dogs, a mercenary unit originally composed of surviving members of the Militaires Sans Frontières and later expanded to include thousands of personnel of various backgrounds. Like the MSF before them, Diamond Dogs' Mother Base was an offshore plant comprised of several connected struts. It was located near the Seychelles off the eastern coast of Africa.

History[]

At some point during the 1980s, Diamond Dogs managed to situate themselves on an offshore plant modeled after their doomed prior base. The government of the Seychelles gave the facility to Diamond Dogs (who at the time were Platoon-sized) after they halted an attempted coup by South African mercenaries, under the condition that if something similar happens again, Diamond Dogs aid them. In addition, the Diamond Dogs chose this spot largely because it was a good staging area for various global hotspots due to it being near Afghanistan, Africa, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and East Timor, among others. Ocelot aided in the construction of the plant, and returned after rescuing Venom Snake. He introduced Venom Snake to the base and supplied the latter with some Fulton surface-to-air recovery systems with the request that any soldiers, prisoners, materials or equipment he found during his missions he could send back to expand Mother Base to expand their operation. During this time, only one strut, the Command Center, was remotely complete. Even then, it was still under construction with white tarps. Ocelot later returned to the base again after sending Venom Snake to rescue Kazuhira Miller from the Soviets in Afghanistan to retrieve a lead regarding XOF. He also gave advice to Snake via radio.

Eventually, their Mother Base grew large enough to install several forward operating bases and act as a major player in the world. At some point, at least one of Mother Base's forward operating bases ended up invaded[1] by an outside party, presumably one of their competitors, requiring Venom Snake to go into the captured strut and kill the commander at which point there was an announcement to surrender or die. At one point, some soldiers got infected with the vocal cord parasite. Venom Snake found out that those who were infected all shared a certain spoken language and required isolation for all members that spoke that particular language so they couldn't infect anyone else. Once Code Talker was rescued from Skull Face, he gave Diamond Dogs a treatment that could prevent the symptoms but not remove the parasite. The medical staff took this sample and mass produced it. They then treated all the isolated patients. Staff who wasn't symptomatic were saved and released back to work. Diamond Dogs held a funeral for the members who didn't survive.

Eventually, Eli proceeded to cause an accident, also having one of his child soldiers, Ralph, killed, in an attempt to ensure the child soldiers left Mother Base and formed the Kingdom of the Flies. In addition, Mother Base also was subject to a second outbreak of the parasites, this time caused by a mutation of both the parasites infecting the personnel themselves and the wolbachia, resulting in Venom Snake being forced to kill the infected to prevent a global catastrophe.

The same general layout of the Base would be used as a model for all future Diamond Dogs FOB's as well as the FOB's of rival PF's such as Mosquito Stinger Force.

Functionality and development[]

Similar to the Mother Base in the Caribbean, the one in the Seychelles contained seven sections, each relating to a specific function for Mother Base. The following sections were: Medical, Base Development, Command, Intel, Support, Research and development, and Combat Unit. Each had their own strut and could each have 3 additional struts added to them to increase the total amount of staff that could work in that category, for a total of 28 struts, that were connected by long roads. Unlike Mother Base Caribbean, which had struts clustered together and ultimately made it very vulnerable to attack, Mother Base Seychelle's struts are spaced farther apart, making it easier to isolate them in the event of an attack. The animal conservative platforms were 4 connected struts that were for holding animals captured in the field, but these struts were separate from the main base. Most platforms contained some collectible diamonds, some contained collectible posters and audio tapes. The struts were occupied by surviving soldiers of MSF, soldiers kidnapped from the field, and soldiers that volunteered to work at mother base. The player Can travel to most struts by helicopter, mailing system, driving, or walking. Mother Base was also capable of monitoring and recording all communications in and out of the area through any method, including homemade radio devices, even being able to reach as far of a distance as America, which is how they managed to find out Huey's role in the outbreak and his motivation for causing it.[2]

Command Platform[]

Icon TeamWaitingRoom TPP

The center (both figuratively and literally) and proverbial brain of Mother Base and Diamond Dogs. Initially, it was the only element of Mother Base present during the 1980s, and was undergoing various development. It was marked with several towers with bridges as well as lifeboats. It had a maximum of four struts for the section, (each addition added to the staff level cap for this category), and required at most 240000 GMP, 10000 minor metals, and 20000 fuel resources to be developed to full capacity.

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1* +25 Security
+30 other
-- -- -- --
2 +25 Security
+5 other
90,000 Minor Metal 1,000 Fuel Resources 1,000 2 hours
3 +25 Security
+5 other
180,000 Minor Metal 2,000 Fuel Resources 4,000 2 hours
4 +25 Security
+5 other
240,000 Minor Metal 10,000 Fuel Resources 20,000 2 hours

*default platform

Combat Unit Platform[]

Icon TeamCombat TPP
Icon TeamSecurity TPP

The home base for the Combat Unit and Security Team of Diamond Dogs, it comprised of various radio towers and communication arrays, cranes, and a variety of buildings. Staff assigned to the Combat Platform were considered to be the best soldiers Diamond Dogs had to offer and were often deployed in Combat Deployments for a wide variety of clients around the world, bringing in GMP or resources which would prove vital to the development of Mother Base. Combat Unit Staff could also be deployed in the field instead of Venom Snake, some of which had unique combat skills which gave them an edge while deployed. The Combat Platform also housed members of the Security Unit, who were charged with protecting Mother Base and the FOB's from hostile infiltrators who would attempt to steal staff, resources, and GMP from any of the platforms. It was located to the northeast of the Command Platform.

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1 Combat Unit +10 40,000 Common Metal 1,000 Fuel Resources 1,000 1 hour
2 Combat Unit +15 120,000 Common Metal 4,000 Fuel Resources 4,000 2 hours
3 Combat Unit +15 240,000 Common Metal 18,000 Fuel Resources 18,000 3 hours
4 Combat Unit +15 400,000 Common Metal 48,000 Fuel Resources 48,000 5 hours

R&D Platform[]

Icon TeamRD TPP
"Platform with facilities for the R&D team, which develop weapons, items, and other equipment. Higher grade equipment can be unlocked as you increase staff and unit level increases."
―R&D Platform description in the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Gamescom Mother Base/FOB demo

Home of the R&D team, used to develop new weapons and equipment. It was identified by a monolithic spoked building. The labs are where most scientists and researchers, including Huey Emmerich, can be found. One lab also includes a private research facility for Huey where he can develop various mechanized parts for large scale robots. It was located slightly southeast of the Command Platform, below the Combat Platform.

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1 R&D Team +10 40,000 Common Metal 1,000 Fuel Resources 1,000 1 hour
2 R&D Team +15 120,000 Common Metal 4,000 Fuel Resources 4,000 2 hours
3 R&D Team +15 240,000 Common Metal 18,000 Fuel Resources 18,000 3 hours
4 R&D Team +15 400,000 Common Metal 48,000 Fuel Resources 48,000 5 hours

Base Development Platform[]

Icon TeamBaseDevelopment TPP

Base Development Unit

This strut contains various buildings and at least one crane. It was the home of the Base Development Unit, which was relegated to the procurement and processing of various materials to be useful for Diamond Dogs in various ways, including development of ammunition, support weapons, vehicles, and food. However, its most important function was the further development of Mother Base itself. It was located slightly to the northwest of the Command Platform.

The amount of unprocessed material that is processed each time a processing cycle is complete is constant. However, the higher the level of the Base Development Unit, the less time interval will be in between each processing cycle. If the player's goal is to expand bases more efficiently, expanding this platform should take priority over other platforms, at least when they're on the same expansion status.

Largely because of its role in procuring various resources, it also has a far larger limit of unprocessed containers that it could contain and is the only platform of Mother Base to have unprocessed material containers on the first deck, having 30 containers of varying types and storage capacities, as well as the usual 10 for each successive deck, possessing twice the storage space as the other platforms for the containers.

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1 Base Development Unit +10 40,000 Biological Material 1,000 Fuel Resources 1,000 1 hour
2 Base Development Unit +15 120,000 Biological Material 4,000 Fuel Resources 4,000 2 hours
3 Base Development Unit +15 240,000 Biological Material 18,000 Fuel Resources 18,000 3 hours
4 Base Development Unit +15 400,000 Biological Material 48,000 Fuel Resources 48,000 5 hours

Support Platform[]

Icon TeamSupport TPP

The home base for the Support Unit, it was identified by a small building with a hangar inside, as well as two inter-connected struts. There were at least four support base struts in Mother Base, with the main strut acting as a supply warehouse containing a series of packages and a small agricultural garden being located below the warehouse. As the staff increased, and their unit level went up, they could respond faster to help Big Boss. There were support options like distracting the enemy by firing at them while Big Boss snuck through another side of the level, or even shooting missiles at a certain target. When leveled up enough, they could change the weather for the benefit of Diamond Dogs operatives, like creating a dust storm to give Big Boss cover. It was located to the south of the Command Platform. With increased levels, Venom Snake can extract enemies even during rains and sandstorms. They are responsible for extracting fultoned soldiers and increasing their level increases the chances of a successful fulton when the weather is not clear, eventually reaching 100% a success rate regardless of the weather in which the soldier was fultoned.

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1 Support Unit +10 40,000 Common Metal 1,000 Biological Material 1,000 1 hour
2 Support Unit +15 120,000 Common Metal 4,000 Biological Material 4,000 2 hours
3 Support Unit +15 240,000 Common Metal 18,000 Biological Material 18,000 3 hours
4 Support Unit +15 400,000 Common Metal 48,000 Biological Material 48,000 5 hours

Intel Platform[]

Icon TeamIntel TPP

The home platform for the Intel Team, some of the personnel with information or special skills were housed here. The main strut housed an highly advanced relay station which was used to intercept and decrypt any transmissions. When the intel platform reached a certain number of people, and a certain unit level, it would allow Venom Snake the ability to predict the weather while he's on a mission, and even mark all the enemies in a mission area before the mission begins. It was located to the southwest of the Command Platform.

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1 Intel Team +10 40,000 Common Metal 1,000 Fuel Resources 1,000 1 hour
2 Intel Team +15 120,000 Common Metal 4,000 Fuel Resources 4,000 2 hours
3 Intel Team +15 240,000 Common Metal 18,000 Fuel Resources 18,000 3 hours
4 Intel Team +15 400,000 Common Metal 48,000 Fuel Resources 48,000 5 hours

Medical Platform[]

Icon TeamMedical TPP
Icon TeamSickbay TPP

Doctors and nurses belonging to the Medical Team were located here, as well as most recovering soldiers. It was located to the north of the Command Platform. The main strut housed a medical facility where any injured staff could receive surgery, medical attention, and even therapy. At the top of the platform is the door leading to Paz's room. It also had a below level holding cell that was a room with a large cage dominating the space with one bed and a prison like sink toilet combo. After this platform was built, and Quiet was captured, she could be found here in a specialized cell. It was the only platform that wasn't created at Venom Snake's order: Miller created the platform shortly after forming the Medical Team due to the sheer importance of having such a facility at hand.[3]

Platform Add staff GMP cost Material A Material B Time
1 Medical Team +10 40,000 Biological Material 1,000 Fuel Resources 1,000 20 minutes
2 Medical Team +15 120,000 Biological Material 4,000 Fuel Resources 4,000 2 hours
3 Medical Team +15 240,000 Biological Material 18,000 Fuel Resources 18,000 3 hours
4 Medical Team +15 400,000 Biological Material 48,000 Fuel Resources 48,000 5 hours

Animal Conservation Platform[]

The holding place for various animals captured in the field. The platform was constructed when certain Animal conservation organizations employed Diamond Dogs to collect and guard species from combat zones. These organizations granted the mercenary company rewards for each animal rescued and also paid the veterinary and upkeep fees. It was one of the few Mother Base areas to not be directly connected to the main Mother Base. As such, it could only be accessed via chopper. The platform consisted of three prongs connected to a central strut. The strut also is an excellent place to harvest medicinal plants.

Quarantine Zone[]

A place to put soldiers into quarantine regarding potentially dangerous diseases. Unlike most other places of Mother Base, it only had one strut. In addition, similar to the Animal Conservation Platform, it was kept separate from the main Mother Base facility and was only accessible via chopper, for obvious reasons. This platform was also used to house the corpse of the Man on Fire, as well as members of the Parasite Unit that had been extracted during combat operations.

Brig[]

Icon TeamBrig TPP

The holding place for various soldiers who were rowdy and/or various captured soldiers who weren't initially willing to join Diamond Dogs. It was also the "home" of Quiet whenever she was not on missions with Venom Snake.

Mailing system[]

Mother Base had a mailing system where boxes would be put in small designated cargo holds on each strut, and mailing trucks would pick them up and deliver them to various points around the base. Venom Snake exploited this system by getting in his cardboard box when on a cargo hold, and having it mail himself instantly to the next cargo hold that he wanted to go to.

Behind the scenes[]

Development[]

The Mother Base mechanic returns in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Although similar to the base building mechanic from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, it is far more extensive in The Phantom Pain.[4] Specifically, the player can assign staff during a mission via the iDroid and actually visit Mother Base and interact with it. In the latter, it more closely resembles the Mother Base minigame from the Ground Zeroes companion app. In addition, the player can also customize their own Mother Base's colors, with orange, sky blue, and hot pink being color choices for Mother Base.[5] Although both the Mother Base/FOB Gamescom 2015 demo and various press releases stated that the player could make Mother Base in their own manner, a leaked map that would have been included in the Italian version of Piggyback Guides' manual for the game revealed that it would have been pre-designed, like in Peace Walker.

The player can assign staff during a mission via the iDroid as well as visit the base in person and manage the base with a greater depth than was offered in Peace Walker.

During the main story of The Phantom Pain, it was planned that Mother Base could be attacked in retaliation to the player's actions during the missions, such as shooting up a hostile base instead of sneaking into it. The player could then personally defend the base themselves or ignore it. This feature was showcased in the E3 2014 demo, but later removed for unknown reasons. [6]

Hideo Kojima stated during interviews after the 2015 Taipei Game Show that Mother Base in The Phantom Pain would feature a zoo to house recovered animals. He also revealed that the Mother Base infiltration game mode was entirely optional and Mother Base could be enjoyed offline if the player wished.[7]

Like the previous Mother Base, this Mother Base shared similar design details to the Big Shell from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. During a Live IGN demo for The Phantom Pain at Gamescom 2015, Sean Eyestone and the IGN interviewer even directly compared the base to Big Shell.

Journalists covering gameplay of The Phantom Pain confirmed that, besides the Mother Base in the main game, the online version had a similar mechanic called the Forward Operating Base. A promotional pamphlet for The Phantom Pain implied that the Forward Operating Base was the only part of a player's Mother Base accessible during online mode. The Official PlayStation Magazine and Official Xbox Magazine confirmed that the Mother Base was near Africa, more specifically around the Seychelles archipelago. It also revealed that certain actions by the player could cause lowered morale among the troops, particularly if Quiet was among the members of the base or if the player was gone from the base for far too long. Both sources also implied that similar to Dark Souls, the invasions on Mother Base could be switched off by the players.

The site JunkerHQ implied on their Twitter account that Konami was working on a gameplay demo relating to Mother Base development.[8] This was later confirmed by Konami on July 30,[9] and also revealed to be shown on August 5.[10]

Layout[]

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As the headquarters for Diamond Dogs, Mother Base was equipped with various armaments and defenses.

The Mother Base has the following components:

  • Unlike the previous Mother Base, it was built from irregular-octagon shaped struts.
  • At least one (two simultaneous confirmed possible) Command Strut (of which two varieties are known), plus a variety of Regular Struts connected via bridges, some of which can stretch for great distances with bridge columns or smaller struts along them. Struts under construction are not always connected, however.
  • Cranes (which in the Ground Zeroes app were used to salvage resources from the seabed). Multiple cranes can be seen attached to a single strut.
  • Large storage tanks, silos and other buildings on top of Regular Struts. These assets appear to be mix-and-match in placement, with tanks and silos taking up 1/4 of a strut, and an unknown grey building taking up 1/2 of a strut.
  • Space for at least five helicopters (including Pequod).
  • One helipad per Regular Strut, two per Command Strut.
  • One unknown custom colored building on the edge of each Regular Strut.
  • Security measures such as cameras (static, rotating, gun), laser barriers, mines, spotlights and combat drones.
  • Jeeps and APCs can be found: there are always jeeps located near the long walkways, even if the player does not own any.
  • Some anti-aircraft weapons can be found on the base. While this might seem to be linked to recovering them in the field, the number of weapons on Mother Base has no actual correlation to the number of AA weapons the player owns.
  • Shipping containers, obtained via Fulton (which can be stolen by other players during the Mother Base multiplayer infiltration mode).
  • Some of the struts also contain enclosed lifeboats.
  • Shooting Ranges located on the upper and lower decks of Struts, where the player and NPCs can train. Shooting ranges are determined by the shape of the strut, and so vary from normal firing ranges to rather bizarre assault courses.
  • Recovered non-player characters (such as extracted soldiers and even wildlife) populate Mother Base, but as the base gets filled to capacity new struts will be needed before more non-playing characters can be added.
  • Critical non-player characters such as Ocelot can be found in Mother Base (Ocelot in the Command Strut), and will interact with the player at times.

It is unknown if the interior of Mother Base is accessible during multiplayer game modes. However, three interior locations have been confirmed so far:

  • Hangars - Where many scenes from trailers have been set, such as the torturing of Huey Emmerich and Quiet.
  • Paz's Room - Upstairs on the Medical Platform. Unlocked once the player finds a wandering soldier.

There has been no mention yet as to the new Mother Base's capacity to hold Metal Gears. However, Mother Base can hold weaponry with nuclear strike capability as the player can obtain nuclear weapons throughout the game. In addition, the E3 2015 trailer briefly featured a yet unspecified Metal Gear model at the base, as well as what was presumably Sahelanthropus.

  • Possible photos of the Animal Conservation Platform can be seen onboard Snake's helicopter in the beginning of the E3 2015 gameplay video demo.

During the game, Miller will tell Snake to start fultoning weapons from the field such as mortars, mounted machine guns, and anti-aircraft guns to better defend the base. However, there is no consequence if one doesn't obtain the weapons.

Customization[]

Customization is a setting that only appears on the iDroid menu when in the Aerial Control Center. Upon selecting this option, the player can change the following things:

The base has 8 "plain" colors, orange, blue, gray, red, white, green, pink, tan. Changing this option changes the main color of the base.

Unlike what was previously advertised, the players cannot change the layout of the in-game Mother Base and FOB's. However, they are able to build the platforms in whatever order they wish and the orientation of them (but not the position or type of platform) can vary.

After the December 2015 update, the player can also be allowed to customize their Mother Base to include camouflage patterns. Unlike the plain colors, the "camouflage" colors aren't available at the start, as they require that the player do specific Event FOBs and earn enough Event Points to gain them. The base colors cost 8000 EP. At least six colors have been confirmed via datamining the PC version,[11] with four having been released to date. After the May 2016 update, the camouflage pattern list was expanded, with at least six new colors being confirmed via datamining the PC version like before.

  • 001: A sandstone-based pattern;
  • 002: Blue wavy pattern mirroring the colors for the United States Navy.
  • 003: Gold, Blue, Red, White, Green, and Black colors.
  • 004: A leaf-based pattern.
  • 005: Rusted appearance.
  • 006: Lichen.
  • 007: Squares.[12][13]
  • 008: Tiger Stripes
  • 009: APD.[14]
  • 010: Wetworks
  • 011: Zebra
  • 012: Wooden. Note that unlike the other base colors, this covers the entire base and not just the buildings.

Gallery[]

Signs and posters

Videos[]

How to get to the Zoo in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

References[]

  1. ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Gamescom demo), Kojima Productions (2015).
    Shalashaska Ocelot: [Big] Boss, we've got intruders on our FOB. Get back to Mother Base as soon as you can!
  2. ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015).
    Kazuhira Miller: Emmerich. We record all communications on Mother Base. That includes radio transmissions to and from homemade devices. You've been in frequent contact with people in America. A private biotech company. A client of which is DARPA. And they are connected to Cipher. You made a deal with Cipher. You offered them a new parasite in exchange for your safety. This is the only place in the world where the vocal cord parasite still exist. And you used it as a testing ground. Tried to resurrect their bioweapon. But your plan to obtain the parasite has failed. Your bullshit ends now. And don't think you're leaving here alive.
  3. ^ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015)
    Benedict "Kazuhira" Miller: More staff from each of your teams are active in the area of operations now. That means some will be wounded, get sick, or suffer PTSD. That's where the Medical Team comes in. I've taken the liberty of commissioning the construction of a new Medical Platform. Having proper medical facilities for the men is a matter of life or death, so I've put up the resources this time around. You can check up on the platform's progress by selecting BASE FACILITIES under the iDroid's MOTHER BASE menu.
  4. ^ Eurogamer: Managing Mother Base in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
  5. ^ http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=18213
  6. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seCnZifeI7k
  7. ^ http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=17784
  8. ^ https://twitter.com/JunkerHQnet/status/618277554353516544
  9. ^ http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=20978
  10. ^ http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=21025
  11. ^ http://imgur.com/a/OrFM2
  12. ^ https://twitter.com/HEITAIs/status/888021037287301120
  13. ^ https://twitter.com/HEITAIs/status/888017450515615744
  14. ^ https://twitter.com/HEITAIs/status/887699119782862848

See also[]

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