What Happened To Modding?

[Cipscis]

Here's what behippo, one of the members of the FOSE team, has said about v2:

We've started working on FOSE v2. I'll keep this post up-to-date with the current list of functions we've implemented for v2.

 

Current Functions:

• GetCurrentHealth
  
• SetCurrentHealth
  
• Rand
  
• GetNumItems
  
• GetInventoryObject
  
• GetRefCount
  
• SetRefCount
  
• Pow
  
• IsQuestItem
  
• SetQuestItem
  
• IsOffLimits
  
• GetParentCellOwner
  
• GetOwner
  
• GetOwningFactionRequiredRank
  
• GetCurrentQuest
  
• GetNthQuestObjective
  
• SetCurrentQuest
  
• IsPersistent
  

 

Areas of investigation:

• String Variables
  
• Expression Parsing
  
• Array Variables
  
• Inventory Reference Walking
  
• UI functions
  

 

This is not an exhaustive list. We may add other areas of investigation or additional functions to port from OBSE. Please continue to request functionality that you would like to see.

 

We have no timeline for completing v2 - but we'll likely focus on a small set of functionality and release sooner, rather than a huge list which comes out much later.

Cipscis

[Pronam]

Indeed one reason is that everyone is busy at the moment, as it's not just related to the game...

Next to all this, the majority of the oblivion community hasn't stepped over yet... That majority has played the game, but still aren't creating (that much) mods for F3. On the other hand, I do hear more and more people about planning to do so in the near future. So expect a little wave of OB-modders in a month or two. They'll have to get used that things are different...so who knows how long it'll take before they release their mods!

[ElijahHouck]

A lot of people are working on exhaustingly large projects like BF2142, Dynamic and Growing Town, or my own Alton, IL. I've been seeing more and more large mods recently. You've got to keep in mind that projects like these take a lot of time, patience, and effort. You've just got to wait a little while- you'll see some popping up soon enough.

[5ivexxxxx]

So in the mean time, modders like me make smaller mods that have a lot of content or are just plain fun to play.

 

So really, more modders should work on smaller mods. But really, you can't expect too much. Fallout 3 hasn't even been out for a year (well, in two days it will have), and Oblivion, a game with a still very active modding community, has been around for three years.

[Pronam]

You point it right at the thing. People should create more small mods as people usually want to start of creating a new world or additions that take a year or more. Then they'll realize it is impossible and quit modding at all. Everyone could mod, start off creating your first house, store, weapon and next thing you'll know you're capable of creating very good ones. So the first time you'll add another house to the 150 that are already have been made and that'll all look the same, you'll have to start somewhere!

[Cipscis]

I completely agree with that sentiment. No matter how many times experienced modders can give the advice of starting small, it still can't be stressed enough. Starting a project isn't enough if you're not actually going to complete it.

 

Cipscis

[Skree000]

yeh fallout3 is old news, time to mod hello kitty online adventures newest expansion pack. even comes with a simple mesh editor!

[ecksile]

Ive started big and I'm planning on finishing it. Got a lot done but still a lot more to do. But don't think i will be able to release it as there will be hella permissions to get. Or i will have to release with some stuff missing =/. But still don't plan on playing through the game till the mods done. Coming from Oblivion to fallout first time I played the game I cringed in agony. Just the run animation and repetition of weapons and items made me quite disappointed. It felt to rushed, But seemed as tho there was a lot of potential so i set off to fix that. Lots of work ahead. But lots of work accomplished. And yes recognizing the amount of work and time that something will take before you start to create can help to keep you on the right track rather then thinking its gonna be a breeze and finding out its not which seems to happen a lot.

[Xanorak]

You know, most of those 10 mods I would downlod every day were the small ones. Small and simple, but can make a huge impact on the gameplay. I don't see those anymore... :(

[3rdtryguy]

I am completely confident that before we know it we'll be up to our ears in mods. That's not to say they'll all be good ones, but we'll have them.

 

That reminds me:

 

When Fallout3 first came out and we were all excited about modding it, do any of you remember how we had all gotten together and vowed to not let ourselves make the same mistakes we did as Oblivion modders?

Well, things didn't work out quite like we planned, did they? I guess we were fools to ever expect anything otherwise, but good grief...

My case in point here is the continued habit of modders to add items to merchant's inventories. This of course renders the mod incompatible with any other mod which likewise alters the same merchant's inventories. Very sloppy, and very annoying. Yesterday I noticed a new mod which added something to EVERY merchant in the game, thereby rendering every other merchant mod incompatible. I don't suppose that any real effort will ever be made to contain this sort of thing, but I just had to rant about it. If we want to have a huge number of mods available, then it would really be great if we could actually USE them. That's all I'm saying.