Modders of TES: when is it time to take the next step?

[morrowmouse]

Yes you could mod oblivion forever and indefinitely. But, isnt there a time when doing so has reached a limit?

Bethesda is leaving us behind in the long run. Fallout is a place some of us can go, but that only buys more time. The fact is, the era we enjoy has an end. There will be no followup release for us. The next step for bethesda is mmo land. A place where mods and cs will not follow. Oblivion may be the last fantasy game engine we have to tinker around in and have our fun. I am not aware of anyone else in the industry planning to release something like oblivion in the near or distant future. These games are at an end, for at least a few years. Or maybe I am wrong? Show me a worthy replacement.

 

I tried asking this question briefly about a year ago but didnt get any response. Have any of you considered the next step? At some point, those who enjoy modding and building their own creations must start to at least think about what it would take to move into a different game engine. I've been looking at it on and off and wishing there was a next step. There are alot of candidates in the open source realm. Ogre for instance could be a nice beginning point for building a successor to oblivion, but done so in a way that maximizes extensibility.

 

A solution like this could use all the base assets that tes mods use, models, skins, animations, but in an engine that is open source and accessible for more extreme effects. Meaning that mods could have hooks into the core engine to pull off a larger range of possibilities. The ability to create a world from scratch that has no main quest, no specific lore, just a general theme. A solution that allows a completely open ended gaming platform. Unlimited access to menu creation. For tes mods that require menus, the typical work around is using items in inventory to fire off popup menus. An open source game system could be built to allow any amount of additional gaming menus created directly instead of doing work arounds. Easier to extend network support, possibility for creating personal server with persistent world.

 

With so much capability and talent in this particular modding community, it doesnt seem like the idea is that far out of reach. Building a game engine capable of accepting, with some translation, everything that has been done to make oblivion great, but done so in a way that allows it to move forward and be enhanced toward future hardware. Using a game engine that is open source means its core development moves forward of its own momentum separate from what others do with it. We could build a replacement for oblivion, move all our work into it, keep up with the latest hardware, be safe from bethesda and their new mmo direction, and have something we can call our own. Any of this making sense? Does anyone else think about trying this next step?

[JimboUK]

Have I missed something? No TES5 or TES5 console only? I really don't take much notice of what Bethesda says after the lies in the build up to Oblivion release.

[Vagrant0]

TES5 won't be an MMO (last evidence of anything happening on that front was 3-4 years ago (when WoW was still good)), and Bethsoft gives no indication that it will be, or that they will stop with the series they created (they wouldn't be pushing the books otherwise). All of this is speculation and hearsay. As the company is working on two games at the moment, Brink and FNV, it'll probably be another 7-9 months before we hear anything official about the TES series.

[JimboUK]

Aren't Bethesda only the publisher on those titles?

[morrowmouse]

The other thing to consider about building an open source solution to this is the game world itself. Right now we are HOPING for a tes5 to come out. But with every release, the previous worlds are left behind. There is no legal morrowind to be found in oblivion, and they will likely take us to a new location in the next release, IF there is a release. I would be alot happier if these new releases maintained the original worlds in the new game engine and expanded on them into the new game. An open source community built game could work this way without the legal restrictions that get in the way. Upgrading the engine would occur independent from the mapping of the game world. And once it builds momentum, there would be no rumor mill about omg whats coming next, just a list of updates and work in progress by the people involved.

 

I am alone maybe, I guess its really just me. Sitting around and hoping and wondering and waiting, and at the same time seeing all these other tools out there that could solve alot of problems, and knowing the community has so much talent, seems like something amazing could be done here.

[Skotte]

Aren't Bethesda only the publisher on those titles?

 

That's what I've heard as well

 

TES 5 is being made in-house & is supposed to released this year & FO4 (not to be confused with FNG) might come out in 2011-12

 

IMO Bethesda game (it's not just Elder scrolls anymore) modders need not worry about running out of games to mod

[morrowmouse]

Ahhhh, yeah ok nevermind, someone just directed me toward openmw and crystal scrolls. Nice to see others are having some sort of success with this idea already.

[JimboUK]

Aren't Bethesda only the publisher on those titles?

 

That's what I've heard as well

 

TES 5 is being made in-house & is supposed to released this year & FO4 (not to be confused with FNG) might come out in 2011-12

 

IMO Bethesda game (it's not just Elder scrolls anymore) modders need not worry about running out of games to mod

 

I remember them saying they wanted to get one more out on current consoles, if so I would imagine they're already working on it.

[LHammonds]

I remember a talented modder in the TES community once that developed relationships with many other talented people, then went off to create his own game and pulled many modders out of the TES community for quite some time...built an interesting web site, had great ideas and so on. It eventually tanked.

 

The problem with grand ideas is that they are extremely difficult to accomplish by yourself or with part-time / free help...at least in a timely manner (even for professional game companies).

 

Unity Game Engine is another option for a community to utilize...it is free although not OpenSource, it has an excellent development pipeline.

 

LHammonds

[bben46]

I have looked at the Ogre engine (some time ago), but not the Unity (yet). When I looked, Ogre had potential, but was not yet suitable for the typical Oblivion modder. It would probably do for the more advanced. But again, the user base and existing resources are not quite there yet. I have great hopes for a true open source game engine that is modular enough to use for diverse type games from space war to medieval and black powder. And RPG as well as FPS games. I will have to take another look, and at the Unity engine as well.

 

One of the problems I saw, Ogre needs more support for beginners who are not already programmers. Simple tutorials for creating simple objects, and a set of base games to put them into.