What are some things you enjoy in a companion mod?

[IronAlpha]

Hey, fellow Nexus users.

 

I'm finally breaking ground on a mod I think I can actually finish. It's what I believe to be a pretty interesting and original companion mod. I already have the character figured out, and I've finished the basic scripts to make him work in-game. For lack of a better way to put it: he's a fully-functional, but very basic companion. I'm not comfortable with releasing that and being done with it.

 

I want to have a basic roadmap for what sort of features to include in the finished mod, so I'm asking you now: What sort of features do you, the community at large, want to see in a companion mod?

 

 

 

What I already have done:

1. Scripting
2. NPC creation
3. AI packages
4. Basic Dialogue
5. Companion Wheel

What I'm still working on:

1. Reactions to player actions
2. Reactions to quests.
3. Personal quest
4. Voice Acting (By me, unfortunately.)

Does anyone have any advice or input? I'd like to know what you'd like to see in a companion.

Edited July 25, 2014 by IronAlpha

[dangman4ever]

These days, the big gold standard in companions is voice acting. They really do add that extra bit of touch and allure to a companion mod.

[IronAlpha]

These days, the big gold standard in companions is voice acting. They really do add that extra bit of touch and allure to a companion mod.

Yeah, and I understand that. I'm certainly more likely to pick up a mod with voice acting than one without. This particular companion is supposed to sound like a somewhat creole ghoul. For that reason, I'm assuming I'll have to tough it out alone.

[maybenexttime]

Long detailed personal quest for the companion. This helps create bonds.

[jet4571]

List in no particular order...

 

Options in behavior. Such as drawing weapon when the player does or chatter pace. If something can be changed make an option for it.

Ability to set a new home.

Wardrobe system so you can configure outfits.(weapon system like a wardrobe system since nobody has done that before, drop ammo and a weapon in a container like you would armor and have the option to tell the NPC to use one.)

Romance or friend quest tracks to choose with equal benefits for choosing one over the other. Also equal amount of questing to complete them. (yes even same sex options either way. When I roll a female character I would be oput off if I couldn't romance Willow or Vilja. I imagine a female player would be just as put off if it was a male follower and their male character with no romance.)

Side quests the follower brings up while playing the game. The more the merrier here but not intrusive and faction neutral.

Combat style that is not focused on one type of weapon negating the need to tell them to prefer ranged over melee and a pistol is equally useful as a sniper rifle. Give them the weapon/ammo you want them to use and they excel at it.

Dialogue, have them make plenty of comments for every place entered and better the ability to discuss the locations.

[IronAlpha]

 

 

Options in behavior. Such as drawing weapon when the player does or chatter pace. If something can be changed make an option for it.

Ability to set a new home.

 

This sounds like a pretty good idea. I always like this feature since I'm always using house mods in my game.

Wardrobe system so you can configure outfits.(weapon system like a wardrobe system since nobody has done that before, drop ammo and a weapon in a container like you would armor and have the option to tell the NPC to use one.)

 

This is interesting. Kind of like what Wendy Gilbert does, then? This is a definite possibility if I can get it working.

Romance or friend quest tracks to choose with equal benefits for choosing one over the other. Also equal amount of questing to complete them. (yes even same sex options either way. When I roll a female character I would be put off if I couldn't romance Willow or Vilja. I imagine a female player would be just as put off if it was a male follower and their male character with no romance.)

 

This one simply doesn't work too well with the character I'm working on now. Maybe I'll do something like this in the future, or some similar feature. Maybe a 'trust' system of some kind. If you get him to trust you or whatever, he'll be more willing to share things with you, but if it gets too low, you might have a fight on your hands. Romance, while a feature that I have enjoyed in the past, simply would not happen with this particular character. But I do have another character that this might be perfect for that I'm planning on doing later. (Though I'm not too sure about having the same sex options for friendship and romance. I think I'd like it better if there was a totally different experience to each one with different quests/options with neither one outweighing the other. You know, to give it some real longevity for multiple playthroughs.)

Side quests the follower brings up while playing the game. The more the merrier here but not intrusive and faction neutral.

 

 

This has been on the drawing board since the start, as every time I see it done I tend to stick with that companion. Though, I might not make every companion completely faction neutral. This one will be, but others might not be. Though nothing annoys me more than a character that seems totally oblivious to the factions of New Vegas. They don't have to be loyal to any of them, but having nothing to say about them is just jarring and takes me out of the game.

 

Combat style that is not focused on one type of weapon negating the need to tell them to prefer ranged over melee and a pistol is equally useful as a sniper rifle. Give them the weapon/ammo you want them to use and they excel at it.

 

 

I have made a unique weapon for the character I'm doing now. (Not MADE as in new mesh, though. The boring kind of made.) However, I actually really like this idea and I haven't really seen it done before. It seems like every companion starts with a great weapon in the Guns category, and I never upgrade them. That includes the Vanilla companions as well. And this sounds way more involved and interesting. Hmmm... Combine this with your earlier suggestion about the weapon system, and you've got one heck of a cool companion.

Dialogue, have them make plenty of comments for every place entered and better the ability to discuss the locations.

 

Yum yum. Delicious dialogue. This is happening, no doubt about that. ANd I'll be honest: I've always liked the idea of your character actively having imput on your various quests. Think Dragon Age.

 

Example: The player is at Repconn HQ and they pass by a Nightkin corpse on their way to meet Jason Bright. The player's Nightkin companion is disturbed by this, and tells the player about it. Naturally, the player can respond in a variety of ways, i.e. supportive, dismissive, ect. And upon talking with Jason, the companion approaches the player and tells them that they want to avoid fighting with their own kind. Again, a few player responses, but for now let's assume the player agrees. Then, the Nightkin companion gives the player a stealth boy so that they can sneak past the Nightlkin in the basement and talk to Davison without killing any of them. Upon doing this, there is an additional reward for doing things the companion's way, like maybe a perk, an item, or trust points. Whereas being an ass and killing them all despite your companion's misgivings can lead to a loss of trust. I always liked that idea, but I've never seen it done, besides a rudimentary version of the idea being done with Boone.

[jet4571]

Faction neutral doesn't mean oblivious to the factions. Willow is a good example for that. She prefers NCR but will still be a companion no matter what you choose to do and has dialogue for choices you make like joining the legion.

[IronAlpha]

Willow is always a good example when you're talking about companions.

 

Yeah, that's kind of what I had in mind for mine. He has an opinion of the factions around the New Vegas area, but he honestly doesn't care much about who you side with. He's a pretty affable guy who only really cares about his own goals. He'll pretty much stick with you so long as you don't try to kill him or massacre his hometown.

 

Either way, your list was a huge help, Jet. It gave me more than a fe new ideas, and I'm ramping up production as we speak. Might make an official thread for the guy soon.

[jet4571]

Yeah having the follower locked to a faction sucks, but having comments about factions and a preference to one is great. If they prefer the one you chose to go against lots of sarcasm and banter is great. Another tweak to the faction issue is have weaker combat styles if you choose to go against the faction the prefer and a stronger one for if you choose the one they prefer. Standard combat styles for if you didn't take any sides. This would show he/she is halfhearted when fighting against who they like, all gung ho when fighting for them, and in between default when no sides are chosen. So you really only need 3 combat styles, just modify the default one to be weaker or stronger. This way you do not need to add a use ranged or Melee CS, they will use whatever you give them and what has the highest DPS and all equally as good. Use ranged or use melee is rather lame in Fallout 3 and FNV because of how the combat styles are done, do not set the weapon type and it is golden for everything unlike Skyrim's system where you have skill levels for each weapon type. (oh and play with the Misc and Explosive Weapons checkboxes. If fighting with the side the follower likes uncheck them all, the opposite for the other faction. in Misc. uncheck all when with the preferred faction and check all when with the disliked faction.)

 

If you have Oblivion or Skyrim check out Vilja for ideas. Skyrim Vilja has allot more to it than Oblivion Vilja or Willow so there's allot more examples of followers people enjoy. Another good idea is to check out the CM companion system for Oblivion, that's the best companion system I have seen yet and the loot feature was great.

 

Since you are not doing a romance track for that companion then you may want to consider giving him a girlfriend. A simple NPC using one of the default voices who lives at his home and will move if the player tells him to live in a mod home. Have her connected to his "trust" system and if the player gains enough trust with him she will offer some items. I wouldn't make her a housewife but a scavenger, so have her disappear a few days of the week and when she returns she has items she scavenged to give to the player once there's enough trust. Items like food, ammo, skill books, and random stuff. You can also make her a vendor of sorts, say 10k caps worth of goods but takes a week before she can pay you. Concept is like Skyrim Vilja you can have her go sell your stuff but with a caps limit. Ask her can you sell some stuff and a container opens then the player adds items to it for her to sell. A week later the player gets a message that she has sold everything so the player knows to go get the caps. Vilja's sell items feature is a good one that any follower should have in some form or another.

 

Anyway glad you have some ideas.

[Cactuspunch]

Maybe the follower asking where you went after returning from a DLC, and remaking about somiething from the dlc, like saying you smell funny after retuning from dead money, and wondering if that is indeed gold you have. Remarks on locations are always fun, and I have yet to see a companion outside of skyrims Inigo mod or Niner from FNV that made even an attempt to have quest based dialogue.

 

If you truly want to truly stand out though, Having a follower that commented on other popular mods that the player installed would make you the king of companion mods.

 

And magic companion ammo. I don't care that it brakes role playing, I am sick of giving niner a Light machine gun with 9000 5.56 mm serplus rounds, only for him to start beating people with a bat because he ran out, and wont tell me. or just wont use the gun.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Cactuspunch