Total Conversion

[Deleted19761User]

So I'm working/planning out a total conversion for either Fallout 3 or Oblivion. Recently I've wanted to see a better Western themed game on the PC. Since Red Dead Redemption and a few other good titles were console releases only. I'm leaning more towards Oblivion, since there's already green environments(for texturing purposes) and Horses. However I'm really liking the idea of having "quick draw" (VATS) for shooting duels and the like. So its sort of a toss up. Pretty sure though with a little careful searching or a little reverse engineering, I can get horses into Fallout 3.

 

Before anyone says it, I know this is a pretty big under taking. Which is why I'm not here asking for people to do it for me. Merely stating I plan on working on it. I have a couple friends, as well as myself who are pretty good with model making. Ironically this whole idea started off with lack of vehicles in Fallout 3.

 

So the first thing we're working on is having Trains. Not quite a western without trains. The idea with them is to have them fully working, animated and running on a world schedule. Also I wanted to make the train cars accessible, without having to go through load screens to get inside them. Transparent windows, and working doors are part of the plan for these to, (easiest part.) But having them as a part of the world space while traveling around the game cells is the toughest trick, since traveling at speed and constantly crossing cells will cause a ruckus on slower computers, and just in general thrash the cell buffers. I'm pretty sure there's some tweaks or tricks though to get around that.

 

Some other things I'm aware of with just having moving vehicles like that, conversations usually pause or stop the game action. This may or may not become a pretty big deal. Especially if a conversation initiates on a cell crossing. Buggy at best no? Also figuring out how to make sure the Train engine and the train cars stay attatched without causing model tearing/stretching, AND not having to make the whole train one model. Since I'm pretty sure that would slam through the Poly limit, and make everything very laggy to boot.

 

Oblivion

Pros:

Horses

Green Environment textures available

Magic (maybe for more of a steam punk like game)

Older Gamebryo engine, less taxing system requirements (not by much)

Already a transportation system in place.

 

Cons:

No projectile data for guns. (Been a while since I played with the construction set but I remember there being a few complex things about doing custom projectiles. Maybe I'm wrong though.)

 

Fallout 3:

Pros:

Already guns and some western attire

VATS

Already a large assortment of animated and compatible firearms available through other mods. (with permission of course.)

More Desert like Environments (Available texturing. I know I could port Oblivions textures over but I think I read somewhere Bethesda would have a problem with that.)

 

Cons:

No horses/transportation available.

 

 

Also not planning to use existing game spaces, with what ever I choose to use. (Again leaning towards oblivion, could probably script a spell with the extender to emulate vats, no?) All new cells are going to be done for a full game world, hopefully the same size as Oblivion/Fallout both have. To do this production is basically going to start on one end of the intended zone and then patch/quilt together as I (maybe "we" if I recruit more help at some point) go along.

 

I want to balance the game environment between two specific kind of settings. Mountains and the open plains. Have foot hills and other various regions amongst them. A few canyon zones for sure, since it wouldn't ever feel really complete without a few adventures into a canyon or two. I mean real canyon's too. Not just some rocks that go over your head a couple feet.

 

I am posting here though to get a little feedback. I know I haven't thought of everything as far as working with the game engine. I know some people have good experience and can tell me just what I might be able to pull off, or not. So let me know here.

 

In a couple days I'll have some screens of a few buildings and maybe a few props I've been working on in Sketchup/Milkshape/GMAX/Blender.

Edited December 19, 2010 by Guest