General Questions About FO3 Modding

[NovaPow]

So I am a Machinima.com Partner. I'm sure most of the people on this board know what that means. I was hired by Machinima.com to make Machinima.

 

Usually, I make Halo 3 work.. It's an engine that I'm familiar with. I occasionally do work in Guild Wars, but for the most part, Halo 3.

 

I'd like to open to new engines like Fallout 3. Originally, I wanted to make Fallout 3 Machinima, since I was inspired by Drakortha's "The DC Chronicles" series. I have talked to Drakortha through Youtube several times, and he's a good guy. I would ask him these kind of questions, but he's usually very busy; I'd rather not bug him, plus I'm pretty sure he doesn't use the Geck, since that's what he kind of hinted at in the Machinima.com forums, where I'm a reg at.

 

Well, down to the point.. I had asked the people of the Machinima.com forums about Fallout 3 Machinima and they all recommended me to this site's forums.

I apologize, but my questions are very dumb. I'd appreciate it if you all can bear with me here and try to help me.

Remember, I'm new to The Geck and how it works, in fact I haven't even download it yet. I'm hoping to get it once I know for sure that I'm going to want to do Fallout 3 work. I'm new to modding, in general and how it works.

 

But anyway, here are my basic questions:

 

-(the biggest one) How do you get your new mod into the game? Do you use console commands to activate a mod you made?

-Is Microsoft Speech SDK required to do lip syncing?

-What kind of major mods could I make that would help in Machinima?

 

Those are just three questions that come to mind; though any helpful information you could supply is appreciated.

 

Thanks, in advance.

[Alastair91]

I can only answer the 3rd question for you. Well, it depends on what kind of machinima you're going to make and what would be involved, please briefly tell us about the story line/plot if you don't mind, then we can help you out by posting links to mods that you really require. But if you do plan on searching yourself, I suggest searching in gameplay changes section for mods then find the top endorsed files in descending order.

[NovaPow]

Well I don't even really have a plot/storyline in mind, since I haven't begun to work on anything. I was more or less waiting on seeing how I do at attempting Fallout 3 Machinima before writing some big story, only to find I won't be able to do anything in it..

Main reason I asked about Machinima mods is if any of you guys have seen/made any mods that you think could be useful in any Machinima.

 

The kind of mods, IMO, that would help, would be ones like a dramatic fall to hands and knees, a comedic dance, drivable cars/aircraft, changing textures (for chroma keying or "green screening" possibilities) or things of those natures.

[c2552]

But anyway, here are my basic questions:

 

-(the biggest one) How do you get your new mod into the game? Do you use console commands to activate a mod you made?

-Is Microsoft Speech SDK required to do lip syncing?

-What kind of major mods could I make that would help in Machinima?

 

Mods are "installed" by adding all their files to the "Data" folder of FO3. Almost every mod comes with .esp/.esm-files and by checking those files before launching Fallout (easiest way: Fallout Mod Manager) you activate the mod. The esp/esm includes all the coding done with the GECK.

Lip syncing is done with a little workaround, using the TES Construction Set (Dialog Tutorial) (but note that characters will always look directly in the camera if you use ingame dialog)

Mods you could download definitely include:

 

The Groovatron (Dances, Animations, Poses, Making NPCs followers)

Tailor Maid (A lot more options for clothing)

Fellout (Weather mod, removes the green tint)

 

 

I guess if you can specify even more for what kind of mods you're looking many people will be able to help you, there's almost a mod for everything :wink:

But there's one huge problem when filming in Fallout, you can't move your character while using the free roaming camera (console: tfc)

[NovaPow]

Well thanks for the reply. As I said, I don't have anything that I'm really looking for right now. I was just asking this for future reference when/if I do try Fallout 3 PC Machinima.

It'd actually be good for me to not move while using the free roam camera. Drakortha says he uses all the characters as mod and uses a separate mod to make his character invisible to the camera.

 

Though, if I ever do end up needing a mod, I'll be sure to come back!