Quote Originally Posted by SurlySeraph View Post
One scenario that I've never seen done is that the aliens took over and created a nice stable society that everyone's content with. And then a few hundred years later the vault-dwellers wake up, the diehard resistance faction unleashes zombie plagues, and society collapses all over again - but it's our fault, not the aliens' fault.
It's probably not done because it does not quite have the survival aspect of most post-apoc settings.

Your post brings up another point: what is the current state of the world? Do all shelters open at the same time, causing a sudden world-wide restart of (a semblance of) civilization? Do some open prematurely, leading to already established settlements? Did some people outside the shelters survive the apocalypse?

Obviously, some of the answers rely on the chosen apocalypse. I personally lean towards the ice-nine idea, since I've had a similar thought (a supercooled stable crystal which self-propagates through ambient moisture - and inexplicably forms what appear to be jungles of ice).

I'm not so keen on the biological and nuclear weapons part, though, considering the motto of PrimeTech Inc.. In that case, we'd need to decide the exact place of PrimeTech in the order of things. We can get rid of PrimeTech almost entirely, too, but that'd mean getting rid of the "theme" of the first post (prime numbers).

The alien scenario can be rewarding if done well, but it would mean we'd have to establish two sets of civilization: a human one and an alien one.

Also, how do we decide on something in the first place? We don't exactly have the luxury of opening polls, so it'd have to be something that can be done in this thread. Anyone with more experience, feel free to pitch in.