(Un?)popular Opinion Directed at Fo4 Modders

[warnhammer99]

Maybe people are in agreeance, maybe I'm alone, maybe I'm super late here as it's almost 2023, maybe I'm just an old guy yelling at clouds.

You put in all this work to create the 40th variant of a modular AK, or perhaps the 500th 1911, and you want to show off why YOUR mod is the one to download, want to show off why you deserve a hot ticket to the table, and take up one of my coveted ESP spots: You take screenshots, design photos, really go overboard with lighting, and character background, building up a plot and storyline to show off what the weapon looks like. You have 45 fantastically theatrical shots, all custom made with action poses and your favorite waifu pretending to be an operator.

But here's the problem.

 

Not a single one showing what I can expect the weapon to actually look like while I'm using the dang thing. Not a single player-view. You're too busy showing off your fallout-girlfriend, and the representation of the firearm is literally an afterthought in the photo.

 

Personally, while I can respect the time and energy put into adding so much detail and care;

I do not give one rat's butt hair about how "cool" you think your character in a video game looks. I don't care that you finally found, after days of customization, the perfect hair shade to go on to that A-symmetrical bang for your waifu, that compliments her new sunglasses you downloaded.

 

What I want, is to see the world model, sure; but mostly what the heck the player-view is. Most people don't play in 3rd person view, or spend alot of time fawning over their character in third person camera. Maybe I'm wrong, and alot of you weirdos do, but personally I'm too busy playing the game when I have time to sit and play. Why would igaf about what it would look like if I have my character posing like an Instagram thot?

 

tldr; images used for your weapon mods should be different than the images you make to get updoots on social media. Show me what the heck the gun looks like, thats all I need.

 

 

endrant

[fraquar]

TBH, you will be lucky to see screenshots of the weapon - they will most always be of the scantily clad female prop artist as the focal point - and the "high heel shoes - ahem the weapon" as an afterthought. In some cases the high heel shoes get more focus than the weapon they are holding.....

 

If you want to see screen shots done right - look at Niero's mods.

In fact a perfect example of that is the CROSS Ruger MkV mod.

The weapon and nothing but the weapon from the author.

Nothing but a catalog of "look at my scantily clad female" from the user uploads.

 

To be fair though a 1st person shot of a weapon is literally most of the time going to show you nothing about the weapon. All you will ever see is a very, very slim profile and maybe a sight.

Edited December 16, 2022 by fraquar

[RaidersClamoring]

Considering how jeopardizing every new mod installation is for your save file this is definitely a good point. Even if you of course can "go back to an earlier save" (the solution to everything), you may have made progress at the point where you realize the mod is trash and you are now one slot shorter for no good reason. Rarity of drops and eligible vendors will add to the problem if not make it inevitable.

[StormWolf01]

Considering how jeopardizing every new mod installation is for your save file this is definitely a good point. Even if you of course can "go back to an earlier save" (the solution to everything), you may have made progress at the point where you realize the mod is trash and you are now one slot shorter for no good reason. Rarity of drops and eligible vendors will add to the problem if not make it inevitable.

That's why you don't test out mods on an active play. Keep test characters for that ;)

 

If you don't want to take the time to create the test characters, (understandable! It takes some time to get them developed, and get the stuff you need, for testing some of those mods!) there is Name Forking. Which is where you take an established character, change their name, in game (I use cheat terminal, but there are console commands, if you trust those). Which will create an all new savegame, under the new name given the toon, and preserve the old character's saves.

You can then play either of them.

 

One of my really big complaints with gun mods, is that the mods from the big name modders, are being made with dependencies on other mod systems. For example: It requires see through scopes, or it requires whatever it's called that makes the gun use an offset sight. Or it requires the reload mod, or... whatever. Many of those systems then have to be patched, in order to work.

Granted, after testing, yeah... I go into Xedit, and make whatever changes I feel need to be made to the weapon. But... HAVING to go in, and patch ANOTHER mod, before even testing... that's CRAP. And then having to add a backup of that modified mod, to a folder full of PREVIOUS versions, so that I don't have to go back in and UNDO the changes, if I decide I don't even want the weapon, is DOUBLE CRAP.

 

As for promo pics. From the big names, I don't really see the whole bikini clad models that you're talking about.

I see a bunch of models wearing so much gear, that it's hard to tell at a glance, what is part of the weapon, and what's kit.

 

Presentation can break a mod's downloads. I hate to say it, but it's true. A visually well presented mod WILL get more downloads than one that isn't. Unless there's something about that mod that makes it staple-worthy.

However. Part of that presentation... IS... as you say... actually SHOWING what it IS that you're downloading and installing!