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Looking for advice from weapon mod authors on releasing first mod


N7R

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So I've finally come to the point in my first custom weapon mod that I am getting close to releasing it publicly one day (I hope). I am mainly looking for some direction/advice from any mod authors who have released weapon mods before for Fallout 4 and what to expect. I have over the past months read lots of comments that users leave on a mod author's page so I have a sense of the type of things to expect when it comes to releasing a weapon. I am not trying to 'pander' to every need or request that a user may want but I have seen a lot of common things some users seem to expect on a weapon or it gets continually asked if the gun supports it. Obviously I made my weapon for myself and am satisfied with how it releases (which is really the one and only important goal to me) but if there happens to be some small additions that makes users happy and won't take too much of my time to add then I wouldn't mind including said options now rather than later.



To start I should include what my weapon has (all scratch built by myself):


+ Custom meshes and textures


+ Multiple mod attachments (scopes, barrels, stocks, mags, foregrip, and other 'secrets')


+ Custom animations (1st and 3rd person views)


+ Custom sounds (auto and semi)


+ Multiple camo skins to choose from (currently working on the material swapping now)


- Clean script that injects weapon into level lists (Still need to do this, but I want it in LL)




Now onto the questions of 'extra stuff' I've seen users ask before but don't quite know if its stuff I need to add for my gun or not:



Damage modifiers: Is this essentially making the receiver have different choices in the workbench for damage output (like 50% more damage or 100% more damage)? Am I able to just have one receiver with base damage or does leveling up as you play not increase the damage enough for higher level players? I thought as you play the game your damage increases along with the base weapon damage so it's never too weak.



AWKCR: What is this and why/how would I add it to my gun? I seem to be able to create my weapon and craft all the parts fine at the default workbench. Is there a good reason that mod authors need to add AWKCR to their gun? I have seen this requested quite a few times by users on weapons that don't seem to support it yet. I'm not exactly sure what it does or if it is only needed for specific weapons and not something I should worry about.



Workbench mods requiring resources: I've noticed some weapon mods require resources to build each mod piece and some weapons all the parts are just free. Do users like having to build each piece requiring parts/perks or do they prefer that they buy/find the weapon and all the mod attachments are just free on the workbench? Currently for testing all my attachments on my gun are free but not sure if I need to require resources for final release.



Visible weapons: Is this essentially an addition where when I unequip my gun the gun appears on my characters back? If so does this require a lot of extra work to make possible or is it really necessary to include? I've obviously not used this type of mod before but have seen it requested a lot on weapon mod pages when a mod doesn't include it.



Different Calibers: Currently my weapon is set to use just one type of ammo. It is a semi-fictional gun so I shouldn't have to worry about any purists telling me the 'wrong' type of ammo is being used or whatever. However, are ammo conversions still something expected in a weapon or necessarily needed if it is using a common ammo type?



Flashlight attachment: This is one attachment I'd like to include as I know to make a scratch built lights to illuminate the weapon or area around it. However, the main question I have is it an expected mod attachment for guns these days? If so, I am not quite sure how I would make the flashlight switch on and off. I could make one just on all the time but not sure about the scripting side of things. I only make my own content from scratch so I probably could only make the flashlight stay on right now with the knowledge I have. I'm not sure if that would be 'acceptable' enough or I need to know how to make the light toggle before I would include it.



Extra Advice: I'm sure I might have forgotten to ask something else. Is there any other options/things I should consider before releasing my weapon? Thanks for taking the time to read all this.


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I have no experience of releasing a weapon mod but as a downloader and user of mods I can give some advice :)

 

the features you already have plus the LL injector should be enough for 99.999% of people.

 

AWKCR makes weapon mods play nice with each other

 

if you don't use Visible Weapons then maybe the creator of that or another modder might make a patch if there is a demand for it.

 

workbench resources; definitely have the recipes require resources. if people want it free in the game they can use console commands.

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I have no experience of releasing a weapon mod but as a downloader and user of mods I can give some advice :smile:

 

the features you already have plus the LL injector should be enough for 99.999% of people.

 

AWKCR makes weapon mods play nice with each other

 

if you don't use Visible Weapons then maybe the creator of that or another modder might make a patch if there is a demand for it.

 

workbench resources; definitely have the recipes require resources. if people want it free in the game they can use console commands.

 

Thanks for the reply :)

 

So with AWKCR when you mean it makes it play nice with other weapon mods what exactly does it make compatible? This is what has always confused me mostly about AWKCR and what it does. I've always been able to see modded guns at a workbench so not sure what the advanced keyword mod does to an existing weapon mod (or would do to mine).

 

For visible weapons mod sounds good to leave that to whoever runs the thing they can make the patch themselves. If its not something I can include with the weapon as an option already in the esp then I'll leave it for a patch. With the workbench recipes I'll make sure to include resources needed to craft them and balance it out so the more valuable attachments require a bit more time to craft.

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this is from AWKCR page

 


4) Adds a standard ma keyword for use by weapon modders, a set of OMODs for damage upgrades for blade weapons, and dn keywords for Tactical Light, Laser Sight, & Tactical Light/Laser Sight combo OMODs. The release of Weaponsmith Extended will demonstrate how to replace ma keyword filtering for mod weapons with a GetEquipped condition. This was set up so that people can use lots of mod weapons without using up a bunch of the very limited amount of ma keywords that we have available before hitting the cap and causing the mod menu category formlist cap/ invisible robot bug.
5) Adds sorting keywords for weapon calibers to make it easier for weapon modders to set up their gun mods for dynamic sorting.

 

hope that helps

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this is from AWKCR page

 

4) Adds a standard ma keyword for use by weapon modders, a set of OMODs for damage upgrades for blade weapons, and dn keywords for Tactical Light, Laser Sight, & Tactical Light/Laser Sight combo OMODs. The release of Weaponsmith Extended will demonstrate how to replace ma keyword filtering for mod weapons with a GetEquipped condition. This was set up so that people can use lots of mod weapons without using up a bunch of the very limited amount of ma keywords that we have available before hitting the cap and causing the mod menu category formlist cap/ invisible robot bug.

5) Adds sorting keywords for weapon calibers to make it easier for weapon modders to set up their gun mods for dynamic sorting.

 

hope that helps

 

Cool I'll have to look into it and see if its something I want to include. I might go the route of one esp that is compatible and one that has no AWKCR for users that don't use the mod.

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