Ideas To Expand the Camera "Weapon"

[simplywayne90]

Now recently on my new playthrough, I got the quest where you recieve a working camera in the weapon slot and take pictures.

 

Now I usually try to avoid making entirely new threads but since this hasn't been discussed yet I was forced to.

 

Now this camera could become a great way to add customization and fun items for the game.

 

I have a few suggestions: All may be impossible or next to it but I'm simply here trying to inspire you to think critically about an unnoticed route of possible mods.

 

- Maybe a script that forces a screenshot off your "photo" This may make new and iteresting screenshots and images.

 

- Possible Photo items, maybe when you take a picture in the game it forces a screenshot and the script puts a light texture (like dirt or sephia) over it and it spawns as a unique photo that you can place on walls and things, So maybe you killed some serious baddies, pull out your camera, take a pic, and hang it on the wall in your favorite house mod.

 

- Perhaps a bioshock like system where as you take photos of certain things you get bonus' over time,

 

- Photos can lead to items or blueprints, like a script reading the items in the photo somehow and after you photograph something enough times you can craft it on the workbench (This would need a talent "craft mod modder" and scripter, if its possible at all.

 

- To go with the daily jobs thread, maybe you can be a photographer across the wastes and get caps, legion money, NCR cash for good and bad photos.

 

- Perhaps script the camera to be a flash weapon, so it stuns your enemies if they are in a certain range and looking at you.

 

- The camera could be recycled as a way to find things like a "dead body" lens or thermal lens etc.

 

- An RTS add-on where you can photograph an object or static effect and copy it with the camera.

 

These are just off the top of my head, So please use them or say what you like to critize the ideas, I merely felt that since its an entirely new thing in Vegas it could be a good "flesh out" for modders willing to try something new.

 

Heres What Inspired me, it wasn't made in-game put I think this will clearly show the premise of the idea

 

http://www.newvegasnexus.com/imageshare/images/298355-1291179819.jpg

Edited December 16, 2010 by simplywayne90

[JimboUK]

I like the idea of using it to take screenshots, is it possible to have a script disable the HUD, take a screenshot and then re-enable the HUD when the camera is used?

[simplywayne90]

Well I'm not a modder in any right but in design and outline.

 

However all of my rather unorthodox ideas have been proven possible (If only in theroy)

 

Like Trackable Footprints (Thanks To The Great TallGeeseIV)

 

And Right Now we are developing Special Encounters, which is a lost and important part of the Entire Fallout series since the original.

 

Also given how popular screenshots are and how easy to take they can be, I would say that'd probably be rather simple.

 

While the idea I'm hoping for is more likely impossible, which is you can take a photo and have it in-game shortly afterwords looking like the example I posted.

[JimboUK]

Can the game display Bitmaps? if not then something would be needed to convert them in the background and it could all get very complicated.

[simplywayne90]

I have no idea,

 

I think maybe to make photos in-game without quitting and adding them yourself, would require some way to force a screenshot to save in the format that the game would need to make it viewable to the PC.

[simplywayne90]

While reviewing this for another topic I thought that perhaps the camera could force a screenshot, then a script forces the SS to save as a texture.

 

Now to make it work without leaving the game,

 

It'd require that you carry the photo items, and the script saves the screenshot as the texture file for one of the photos, so say you have 2 photos already.

 

1. 
    
   
2. You take the picture,
   
3. Script saves it as "photo3texture"
   
4. The new Texture will then, overwrites the blank texture file "photo3texture" with the texture of your screenshot.
   
5. Then hoepfully when you drop the photo wherever, you'll see your screenshot on it.
   

 

However this would limit the amount of photos you can take, but could be avoided by adding a line to the script that after like 20 photos it restarts, so the 21st photo texture will replace the 1st texture.

 

Of course that could all be wrong and stupid sounding, however It's the only way I could think up that wouldn't require leaving the game or using a second program somehow.

Edited March 17, 2011 by simplywayne90

[Fee510]

In theory you could make a camera take screenshots for you. It would require NVSE, but it would defiantly be possible. You could probably even get it to remove the HUD while taking a screenshot. You may even be able to apply a imagespace modifier to get an old photo look. However, it would just be an alternative to hitting Prt Scrn and the end result would be a screenshot on your harddrive.

 

As of right now, I'm going to say it's not possible to dynamically create photos that you can place in game. If NVSE gets developed to the scope that OBSE was... then possibly in the future it could happen. Right now, you can't dynamically create objects that persist through a save game, nor can you set textures. I know .nif files can use .bmp files as textures in nifscope, but I haven't seen it done Fallout, only in Oblivion, so it may work.

 

Edit: I'm not even sure if its possible to choose where your screenshots get saved. In order for this to work, they would need to be saved somewhere in the Data folder.

Edited March 18, 2011 by Fee510

[ita]

This is a very interesting idea.

 

Thanks to my awesome insomnia-induced powers, I found this old mod for Oblivion that does something similar. Apparently it runs a small program that detects whenever a screenshot is taken, then has a in-game NPC paint it as a portrait which you can then pick up and place in your house. The author made the code public and all, so maybe some tech-savvy Fallout modder could figure out to get it working in NV?

[simplywayne90]

Very cool, I'm glad to see that its not impossible, 99% of my ideas and methods are possible but I always thought this might've been the 1%.

 

One of the mod ideas that inspired me was an art gallery mod in Fallout 3, I'll post a link so any modders can get what I'm trying to convey.

 

An Art Gallery (Interesting Mod) -- Contact Author