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PSA To Anyone Interested In Modding Fallout New Vegas/New Modders


ToxicWhiteout

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I'm not sure if this will be very useful, but it may help at least help someone so I wanted to post this. I have been noticing a bit of an epidemic going on here on the New Vegas Nexus, and I wanted to send a PSA (public service announcement) out to anyone who is interested in modding or is new to modding. I myself am pretty new, but I have learned a few things.

 

Screenshots are usually necessary.

Be sure to have screenshots. Most people avoid mods that visually changes the game but don't have screenshots. A lot of people like myself have it set up so mods without screenshots don't even show up in their searches, and most people won't download a mod without screenshots showing what it does.

 

Modding Goodsprings. PLEASE DON'T DO IT (unless the mod is about Goodsprings mod or a weapon mod).

Goodsprings is the most heavily modded area in the whole game, and most people avoid mods that even have the word Goodsprings in them. I see at least one or two mods a day that are named something like "goodsprings house" or "goodsprings bunker". I want to keep this short, so I'll just do a quick explanation here.

 

A large majority of people like lore-friendly stuff. Having an enclave bunker in Goodsprings isn't lore friendly, and don't be angry when you don't make it to the hot files because of it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't post it, just that you should be aware of that.

 

Be careful about releasing WIP mods that are pretty much just an empty building. I see a lot of these, and it irritates me to no end. Just try your best to release a mod in at least a somewhat-finished state (or mark it as unfinished). Having bugs is okay, but releasing a public "alpha" release that doesn't really do anything other than put a new building with an interior taken from the vanilla game doesn't count as an alpha.

 

I won't point out any individual mods, but if you go to the recent section you'll probably be able to find at least a few of them really quickly.

 

This doesn't mean that you can't/shouldn't ask for help. There are a lot of areas on the forums that you can ask for help, and there is usually someone who is willing to help you out with whatever problem you have.

 

Be sure to spell-check your descriptions so that you look a bit more professional. Even if your mod isn't very big, people are more likely to help you out if you set up your mod to look like you care about it. It only takes a minute, and it can make all the difference.

 

Companion mods: PLEASE don't release alpha stage WIP companion mods unless you seriously don't have the time to finish them. There have been a lot of awesome companion mods out there that just get squashed because their initial release wasn't finished. If you are putting a lot of work into a companion mod, that's great. However, if you release it without a companion wheel and without at least some dialogue don't expect it to blow up.

 

If you're going to make a mod, feel free. More power to you. I honestly love seeing new people fall in love with modding like I did just a couple months ago. However, I see people make the same mistakes time and time again, and then give up because their mods aren't getting popular enough for their satisfaction.

 

In the end, all I can say is this. HARD WORK PAYS OFF. The more work you put into a mod, the more it'll show and the more downloads/endorsements you'll get. If you mod to get experience for a future job, you won't learn anything by placing a few objects in a house. It's a good start as a tutorial, but don't release it on the nexus calling it an "Awesome Goodsprings Bunker!" Release it saying "WIP House. Feedback Appreciated" or something like that. The best thing you can do is follow the Bethesda Tutorials and follow some tutorials on youtube before making a major project. If this has made you feel worried about making a mod, don't be! There will always be criticism, but that's something I've grown to appreciate. It helps you grow as a person and as a modder. No matter what you make, there will always be people who want to try it! The best part about modding is that your main power is creativity. Good luck!

 

EDIT: 10/17/13 I realized that this seemed like more of a rant than advice, so I tried to fix it a bit.

Edited by TheScout201
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Screenshots are really nice to have, but I disagree that all mods should have them. Something that rebalances stuff, changes a few settings here and there, renames stuff, or just runs some scripts in the background to do stuff doesn't neccessarily need them. For these I value a deep and accurate description more than screenshots. I agree on anything related to weapons, quests, new areas, followers, player homes, retextures and so on - you get the idea, visual stuff.

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1. Plenty of great mods do not require screenshots, and they should not be required to make a logo. I think this is a must for mods that add/change graphics such as armor/weapons/ENB/effects, but game play changing mods should not be forced to use the whole silly notion of "No pics no download" frame of mind.

 

2. Of course they can mod Goodsprings, if that logically is where they believe their mod should be then that is where it should be.

Keep in mind alot of people DO NOT like lore friendly stuff, I would say the majority of mods in any games are actually not lore friendly. Its not up to them to please anyone, if you want to make a pink pony and slap it in Goodsprings then you should do that. It is not up to you or I to judge them on releasing lore friendly stuff or not, each has a right to be released.

 

3. Releasing WIP can be useful if they are actually looking for input from the community, if they want feedback and people to assist them in bug hunting then releasing a WIP or a Beta is the only real way to go about it. There is nothing wrong with that, so long as it stats its not a final product there is no problem.

 

While you make good points keep in mind we ALL where noobs at one point, we ALL made mistakes and we ALL learned from them. Does it make them a better modder to not make mistakes that most the "great" modders made, its all about learning. If releasing a WIP of a pink pony placed in Goodsprings taught them something or made them feel something good, then it was worth it to release the mod. Yes its annoying as a mod user sometimes trying to find things, but keep in mind these can make them BETTER modders in the long run which I think is better then making things easier on users.

 

I think people should be encouraged to release things rather then discouraged, I see it alot lately hate towards new modders who release a "junk" mod. I dont like it because this is how MANY modders learned and now make great things, sure some of us did not release anything when we started because we where all ashamed or felt it was not good enough. But that does not make us any better then modders who did release a junk mod when they first started.

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Damn, I did not intend to imply that a logo should be a requirement. I should have worded that differently.

But yeah, I agree with nivea. It can be a bit intimidating to put something you've made out there for others to see. First time modders should be met with encouragement rather than being corrected right off the bat.

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1. Plenty of great mods do not require screenshots, and they should not be required to make a logo. I think this is a must for mods that add/change graphics such as armor/weapons/ENB/effects, but game play changing mods should not be forced to use the whole silly notion of "No pics no download" frame of mind.

 

2. Of course they can mod Goodsprings, if that logically is where they believe their mod should be then that is where it should be.

Keep in mind a lot of people DO NOT like lore friendly stuff, I would say the majority of mods in any games are actually not lore friendly. Its not up to them to please anyone, if you want to make a pink pony and slap it in Goodsprings then you should do that. It is not up to you or I to judge them on releasing lore friendly stuff or not, each has a right to be released.

 

3. Releasing WIP can be useful if they are actually looking for input from the community, if they want feedback and people to assist them in bug hunting then releasing a WIP or a Beta is the only real way to go about it. There is nothing wrong with that, so long as it stats its not a final product there is no problem.

 

While you make good points keep in mind we ALL where noobs at one point, we ALL made mistakes and we ALL learned from them. Does it make them a better modder to not make mistakes that most the "great" modders made, its all about learning. If releasing a WIP of a pink pony placed in Goodsprings taught them something or made them feel something good, then it was worth it to release the mod. Yes its annoying as a mod user sometimes trying to find things, but keep in mind these can make them BETTER modders in the long run which I think is better then making things easier on users.

 

I think people should be encouraged to release things rather then discouraged, I see it a lot lately hate towards new modders who release a "junk" mod. I dont like it because this is how MANY modders learned and now make great things, sure some of us did not release anything when we started because we where all ashamed or felt it was not good enough. But that does not make us any better then modders who did release a junk mod when they first started.

I even addressed most of the points you brought up. I completely agree that everyone was a noob at one point. I am still terrible at scripting. What I was trying to say is that if someone is new to modding and they want a few tips on how to get some more downloads or how to get generally 'better' feedback, they should at least try to follow some of these points. I am still sticking with my screenshot point. Ladez made a great point with the Alternative Repairing mod. That mod got a massive amount of downloads in a small amount of time, and if it didn't have those fancy pictures I can't imagine that it would have. It is a great mod either way, but from the average modder's perspective a mod looks a lot more enticing if it has some nice pictures with it.

 

Like I said I'm fine with people making "junk mods". However, if someone releases 10 different mods in a day that are all misspelled, all in goodsprings, and all are player house mods or quick retextures, everyone can see that they didn't put much work into it. I usually don't download mods in Goodsprings unless it's a weapon/armor mod. I am fine with people making goodsprings mods personally. However, it will definitely conflict with lots of other mods that will in the end hurt your download count and get generally worse reviews than if you had put it in Primm or Novac. Most mods that are in goodsprings are not really high-quality. Not to say that there aren't any high quality Goodsprings mods (there definitely are), I'm just saying that when you title something "Goodsprings House" it's not going to get more than like 20-30 downloads or so.

 

I also said that WIP's are okay. I've seen a lot of WIP's that are amazing (take the NCR armor mod by dragbody at the top of the hotfiles). However, I specifically said that when you make an empty building that you took an interior from another building in the vanilla game and mark it as a WIP, I feel like that is just lazy and shouldn't be marked as a WIP.

 

You took a lot of my statements out of context. I never said anything about pink ponies or the fact that something like that shouldn't be released. All I was referring to was all of the house mods in Goodsprings which I feel have been done in every way, shape and form.

 

I wasn't looking down on people who don't have much of a modding ability. I'm still very new to a lot of things, and I learn something new every time I work on mods. I was just saying that good work takes time, and to make a popular mod you need to put some work into what you do.

 

EDIT: Added to my goodsprings point.

Edited by TheScout201
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I know you didnt say anything about pink ponies I was simply using it as a general term for anything not lore friendly, since alot of people give great amounts of hate to anything dealing with ponies. They have a right to be there to silly people.

 

I suppose you came off as discouraging about releasing mods that are not perfected enough, and I have been seeing ALOT of newer "successful" modders (now I am not saying its YOU, but modders like you that are doing well but still new to the community) coming around and posting hurtful or highly discouraging things to people who are just starting out. You wanted to vent some and I think that is fine, but some people can see what you said as perhaps a reason to not release mods. Maybe its one of those times where the tone didnt come off right to me, harder to tell on the net.

 

I just wanted to post that people shouldnt be looked down on or should not post something just because someone else says they shouldnt (not including illegal stuff of course), if its their work they should release what they feel is right for them.

 

When you hit the 1000 download mark (if you have not already) you will gain access to the General Mod Author Discussion forum, this is a great place to put any "rant" or upset threads. Because its where modders can go to vent and talk about things that affect modders and not users, its a really nice addition to Nexus. :)

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As i understand it's all about popularity, right?

Sometimes you can spend years on one mod and it will not get more than 5 endorsements.

And sometimes very early WIP mod made in a few days can become insanely popular.

It's all about mod users, if they like your mod - you're the king. If they don't like the mod - sorry man, maybe next time.

So let's see. New NCR armor mod is very popular. Why? Because most people like a) NCR; b) high quality armors.

Good old Vertical Recoil mod. It's not popular at all. Why? Most people don't like a) Hard hardcore mods; b) First Person Shooter style mods.

ref Mod
ref Nexus
int decision

Begin ModMode

	set Nexus to Site
	set  mod to YourWork
	set decision to Mod.InspectPossiblePopularity ;return 2 High, 1 Low, 0 Very low
	if decision == 2
		set  mod.Upload Nexus
	endif
	if decision == 1
		set mod.ChangeSomething
	endif
	if decision == 0
		removemod
	endif
end

xD

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