Immersion, Realism, Compatibility & Artistic Freedom

[BadPenney]

I have only one mod for Fallout 3 that is available for download. Some people like it and others don’t. It was fun to make and it took a good several months. I learned new things while making it, and made mistakes too. Fixing those mistakes after uploading the original version was not so much fun. Mods should function as close to technical perfection as possible in my view, so complaints from users regarding technical mistakes that I made were discouraging. They were also welcome because they gave me feedback that I used to fix things up. It was my goal to make a mod that worked with the vanilla game and DLCs and wouldn’t cause conflicts for other user mods.

 

Some of the harshest criticism that I received which was not so welcome regarded compatibility with other user mods. It seems that modding a part of the Wasteland is dicey, I wouldn’t attempt it again. There are too many chances for conflicts there with other mods. I don’t want to make a mod that causes problems for other modders but at the same time I don’t want other modders to make my mod unworkable. That is the dilemma that has prevented me from seriously working on another mod for upload, even though some people have asked me for more mods.

 

I just saw the movie “The Road” finally. I thought it was very well done and believable. The absolute absence of any military or civil presence didn’t bother me during the movie because I was immersed. I can’t imagine telling the producer and director that they should add a column of soldiers or some albino radscorpions or power armored goons wielding laser weapons to improve the movie. Yet that is the sort of thing that you might be told if you release a story driven mod. People have their favorite user mods that they expect to be able to use concurrently with any mod that you make available. They can be quite vehement about their viewpoints… but frankly I don’t care.

 

In fact, I would like to make a mod in its own world space that deliberately is incompatible with the most popular mods. I want to be able to control my own image spaces and atmosphere. I want the character to die from a single gunshot. I want crippled limbs to never work again. You only get a weapon that the mod provides and only a clip or two of ammunition that you must save for the direst moment. I don't want you to have a whole platoon of bully boys to do your bidding. You must adapt to overcome, not overcome with previously obtained superior firepower. I want the player to be able to starve or die of thirst or food poisoning or bleed to death. So if you are bold and stupid you simply cannot complete the mod and have to start over. If I could I would cause all of your save games after starting the mod to be deleted if you die. If I could I would prevent your FOOK and FWE and FOIP and Fellout from working while playing the mod, because demanding that I accommodate them inhibits my artistic freedom. I’m not saying those are bad mods, I’m just saying that it is not unreasonable that I should be able to give a party that they are not invited to or ask you to leave your custom suit at the door if you want to attend. But I am not so impervious to criticism that I want to endure continuous browbeating for providing free content for download that isn’t compatible with all of the mods that people like. I do not have time to play them let alone accommodate them and provide updates to continue accommodating them. And most importantly, if I program a story then I would like it to be my own without a thousand co-writers. But if the inevitable result of attempting such a mod is lots of negative feedback then I would rather skip the effort and do something else with the time that I have left on the road.

 

So I am curious if I can work in such a way and still be tolerated.

[rickerhk]

The major overhaul mods are deliberatly incompatible with each other - in the sense that the authors have made them the way they want them to be. I see no reason why you can't do the same. Do it for yourself.

[Quetzlsacatanango]

Personally I'd throw away my beloved FWE for a while if it meant I got to play the Uncanny Valley Ranch... :whistling:

[Ez0n3]

Maybe do it in a Virtual Reality type scenario if your going to make new lands (like Tranquility Lane or Operation Anchorage). So when you enter the VR, all weapons/armor/other stuff would be taken away. You're stuck in VR until it's done, then you get all of your stuff / other mods back.

[Nihilisaurus]

Or do The cliche and have the player in a Helicopter/Plane/Vertibird crash and escape only with what you want them too...

[BadPenney]

Maybe do it in a Virtual Reality type scenario if your going to make new lands (like Tranquility Lane or Operation Anchorage). So when you enter the VR, all weapons/armor/other stuff would be taken away. You're stuck in VR until it's done, then you get all of your stuff / other mods back.

I like that idea. If I remember right the player's stats were even reset during Tranquility Lane. I like the idea of a survival training sort of VR mod that returns the player to his original condition when the mod is completed. It would leave no souvenirs, no weapons or armor and any perks or advances gained during the mod go away when it is over.

 

So far no one has been harsh. I will have to give some ideas more consideration.

 

Another mod concept I've had would try to operate regardless of how many other user mods were also enabled. I'm not convinced that I'm smart enough to make a universally compatible mod, but it would be more of an encounter mod. I picture a character from my first mod named Summer in a standalone mod independent of Return to Shady Sands. She could be encountered and interacted with at various locations around the DC Wasteland. It would have to be a mainly script driven mod, with only a few unique meshes and textures and little or no world building. Summer would be revealed as an android replicant, a sort of seductive female Harkness who stays on the move so that locals don't have time to notice that she never ages and Commonwealth Bladerunners can't find her (or jilted lovers either).

[Nadin]

I like both ideas. Go for it!

Might I suggest you do the VR in the style of the "Hazard Course" from Half-Life? I've always wanted to see something like that.

[pob255]

Go for it Penny :thumbsup:

 

Personally I'm not sure I'd like it as I'm not a big fan of high realisium, however I still would probably try it, as sandy shades is one of the best mods I've looked at.

Unlike a lot of mods that just change or tweek existing content you actually added a whole new town with quests and story of it's own.

 

Not sure how to go about creating scripts that override game settings, however it should be possible.

 

Doing it as a VR simulation would solve a lot of the compatibility issues and getting to the VR suite would requie only very minor changes to the game world which should reduce issues. (just need to add an entrance and some form of plot device to get the player to it)

[BadPenney]

I like both ideas. Go for it!

Might I suggest you do the VR in the style of the "Hazard Course" from Half-Life? I've always wanted to see something like that.

I've never played Half-Life. Is that in the first of the series?

[pob255]

He's talking about the very original one from back in 1998

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life_%28video_game%29

 

It was a game that pretty much redefined first person shooters, the hazard course was a seperate tutorial level to show you how to move about and interact with the game enviornment