Thoughts on creating my 1st mod.

[greggorypeccary]

Hi,

My name on the nexus is greggorypeccary.

You may have seen some of my images or questions concerning my new mod "Novac Public Library".

After many, many, many and I mean Many hours of work I have finally dragged "NPL" kicking and screaming into the light.

I believe it is done.

I'm waiting for one author to finish up their story and that's all.

I thought I'd take this time to express some of my thoughts on creating it.

 

I am a carpenter. I have no training or experience in scripting or software usage at all. I am an artist though (pen and paper, sculpture, paint.... that kind). I have been playing games for a long time.

I got hurt. I won't go into details but suffice to say I was laid up unable to walk for 7 months. During that time I discovered that I would go insane if I watched television endlessly.

I had been playing FNV and using some great mods. I had recently discovered Willow and was very impressed. That's when it hit me that I'd like to make a mod.

Sounded like a good idea, how hard could it be?

 

I made a simple test version of what would become NPl. Inspired by Mike Hancho's Afterschool Special I centered it around a building. With some rudimentary story and very poor scripting I released it.

I got positive feedback and encouragement. I decided to continue.

 

I started working on The version that will be out soon. Eight months ago! There is no way I could predict how much work is involved in making a mod like this. I have gained so much respect for all the modders out there that I cannot efficiently express it. I couldn't even tell you how many hours I put into it. I know it is well over 1000. I had to wear may hats and learn a lot!

 

I ran into stumbling blocks early on. I came here to ask for help and was very happy to find that the community is very willing to help you if they think you are serious. One person that came to my assistance was Miidian13. She became an integral part of this endeavor and a friend. She advised me on technical matters and created textures for books posters and clothes. Through conversations with her I was inspired to do things that I would not have done. Because of her involvement the mod is much better than it would have been.

Martin Purvis contacted me early on and offered to do some voice work for me. It turned out that he is multi talented and his contributions to the finished product are many. He does three character voices and the narration over the slideshow. All excellently I might add. Original music and the mechanics of the slideshow (a lot more to it than you'd think) were all done by him. MP is now my friend too.

Brigand231 also got involved right from the start. He was there to offer encouragement and voice talent. Two voices done very well. He did most of my testing and offered valuable suggestions. Through him I met Mrs.231. She does 2 voices very well. They are both friends now. LlamaRca does the voice of Shelley. I had a terrible time casting Shelley. She was the last major part to be cast and I was getting worried. I had already been talking to llama and we were friends but she was busy doing other things. I know she is very careful about overexposure of Willow's voice on the nexus but I asked, the only reason she did it is because Shelley is a ghoul. She did an excellent job and brought just the right personality to the part. Chris 20855 does the voice of Vergil with zeal. So much so that I wrote a whole other part for him. He also wrote his own dialog for the last encounter with the hermit. He turned out to be a very talented individual. Thasic Does three parts all very different from each other. Again the work that he has put into this impresses me. Several people contributed voices that have never attempted anything like this before. They all did wonderful jobs and I am proud to be the first to bring them to you.

They are Brett Grau who's portrayal of Reader in the test drew immediate attention, Gardenmama who also wrote a story, TheFraz316 who does 2 voices, Wolfsong and MilitaryAaa who plays 2 parts very well. Arrekustorm, Bernt, bigblacktomas, Brigand231, gardenmama, Slikpik and Thesockannanator All contributed excellent fiction for you to read in the library.

 

So in the end it was a lot more work than I anticipated and I thought it would have been done months ago. It took up a tremendous amount of my time. I found that I knew nothing of the dedication it took to make all those mods that I downloaded for free. I do now though.

 

So was it worth it?

Look at all the friends I've made. Look at all the talented people I got to work with.

Hell yes, it was worth it!

 

G.

[dangman4ever]

Glad to see this mod about to come out!

 

And awesome that you enjoyed the modding journey.