What is The Biggest Reason To Make One Mod Over Another?

[Fkemman11]

There are so many ideas for mods that it must be difficult to decide which one to do first. I have heard people vowing to "donate" for the development of a mod. I have heard that some types of mods are perhaps beyond the ability of some authors. Then there are the things in the game that need fixing- that pretty much everyone agrees on. Is making mods for FO4 harder or easier than say Skyrim or FO3? What is it that helps mod authors decide to make one mod over the many others they might have planned for FO4? Just personal tastes? Or maybe the # of people that make request for something?

 

I have an idea for a mod I would like to start to develop.

 

You meet a very old Ghoul in the Commonwealth. He is one of the oldest that anyone knows of. He was a fisherman long ago and tells of a certain legend of an intelligent whale that inhabits the waters around the Boston harbor. After hearing this, you set out in search of this "Legendary Whale". You finally discover it after some clues and go to have a closer look. Well, not only is this whale intelligent- he can speak! And has a name. Now he cannot tell you much about the commonwealth ( as whales spend their lives in the sea) He does know of something he finds interesting in the Ocean. He explains that the only way he can get you there is to ride in his mouth! Because the place he wants to take you is very deep in the ocean and would kill a human. Being curious (and foolhardy) you agree to go.( the whale eats you. The End....just kidding.)

 

Somewhere in the deep, murky depths of the ocean you find yourself in what seems to be a facility. It is in disrepair and looks flooded in some places. But you can breathe and are reasonably warm. You explore some to find a few working terminals enough to discover that this was a top secret government research facility......and something (always) goes very wrong.

 

Now this would be the beginning of a two- part adventure. I would like to include elements from as much science fiction as I can remember or find. Sorta let others give suggestions what is there or where it goes. Eventually, I want it to end up in space. So if anyone would like to comment-feel free. I do want to include some mind**** elements like the Twilight Zone or something. :happy:

[montky]

another interesting question; you're on a roll fkemman11!

 

I think I see what you're getting at -

what determines which projects get who participating, and if folks could comptroller,

then project management could more effectively increase volume of mods?

 

I am interested in hearing about this from all other kinds of perspectives too, as this is something that

places like 'games-journalism' or FemFreq etc, they don't report entirely on.

I really wish there was more about these kinds of questions asked, instead of a hype-engine to hype-engine

or other asides.

 

Exegetically, what goes into making games and mods etc? 'how is the sausage made"

 

I cannot entirely answer the question "is making mods for FO4 more difficult than in other games",

as my FO4 and unity fu is fairly weak.

though, I can say that compared with XNA and FPS Creator 6 or 7 etc,

FO4 is a lot more complex and powerful. Yet, it is also in some ways, intuitive,

and is interoperable with a lot of different features.

 

-----

Turning to how mods are made;

I think it's a multivariate approach - there's a lot of potential factors in this.

 

Risk V Reward is a big factor -

for some, the risk of complexity or adverse negative concrit and negative outcomes, outweighs the reward of making someone's game more awesome and or getting spinoff opportunities from their project.

The scale is admittedly pretty stacked at present in favor of that risk side of Risk V Reward.

 

at the back of the mind, is that not all modders can work on all collaborations or projects.

YOLO TLDR - they physically cannot be involved (well, to produce quality they're happy with as an end product) in all mod projects.

people also don't want to 'waste their time' - why would 30 different modders want to produce duplications of efforts, and all make lightbulbs as a for-instance. so, that's a huge factor in the initial trepidation phase of a project: "can we do this?"

as most modders are gamers themselves, something of a "murphys law off" happens, it's a zugzwange and stalemate

from folks considering RoI.

 

speaking of RoI, it's a great segue to this.

until mods become like devart, 2ndlife, renderosity etc...

modding tends to be a voluntary exercise by a lot of folks.

It has to be, via the way the EULA and terms of conditions etc are presently worded and interpreted in many locales.

I would like to see that more clearly resolved and so as fiscal incentives etc can materialize.

Its about people who do not have some knowledge or social capital, though do have surplus in fiscal, and want to see the end-thing materialize, being able to help collaborate too.

I think this is mostly due to licensing conditions third parties allow access to their game stuff in, and IP infudgement considerations etc...

if that is a main factor, that needs to be discussions gamers have.

there is a reticence amongst modders under present frameworks which seem to imply delimitation over who retains what in relation to their work -

ie, effectively, modders become an outsourced/rightshored part of the production framework. anything they come up with, becomes the IP of the IP Originator, not retained mutually exclusively or GNU etc...

there is a feeling in many camps, be that the IP originator that the Modders mod, or the modders, and the gamer-end-user camps...

that whatever the present understanding is may not be fair to all concerns.

 

We also need to consider the back-of-the-envelope 'golden ratio' -

the number of mod requesters relative to mod producers,

and even amongst mod producers, the number of modders who have the skillset to approach some of the more abstract or complex 'requests'.

lets say, its 10: 1, there is 1 modder for every 10 requesters (pigeonhole theory etc time!)

or, more likely from quantifiable data on just the FO4 sub board, ~38: 1...

 

then, of those modders,

it is 100 to 1 for 'complex'

and 1000 to 1 or greater for "overhaul/large scope" projects.

so, the law of averages starts to apply at scale.

 

Turn around time on the more ambitious and 'quality' projects is also different,

as I and others reflected in a previous "how are mods realized" thread.

quality and quantity, though quality will tend to win out over quantity,

and both will emerge with time.

The more features and the more we seek stability with other things...

then, the longer the playtesting period, the more potential installs we have to test etc...

 

Who will use what mod?

How likely are other modders in the short, medium and long term futures to make this same mod, to an equal or better standard?

how difficult will it be to attempt the mod, and what possible complications can be involved? (ie, will people cry infudgement or 'your mod which I improperly used bricked or made my machine vulnerable!" etc)

 

from a product lifespan and marketing lifetime approach -

yes, there is such a thing as 'peak mods' and different rates of mod formation with respect to time.

Games, like movies, books etc... have 'fashions' and 'seasons'.

While I'd contend that Fallout in general and FO4 in particular are 'cult classics in the making', that is also a large factor at play.

a saturated market of many different games and potential projects,

and not enough time within which to do them all hehe.

 

------

bottom line -

I think we'll see both the quantity and quality of mods for FO4 increase with respect to time.

We're seeing this with the FO4 VR mods which are appearing elsewhere too.

there are "mod-seasons", "mod-drought", "mod-flood", "mod elnino", "mod anthropocene?".

How this comes about - will likely be;

-more modders of all kinds, from all around the world (there are potentially other modders in languages other than english)

-more collaborative processes

-a tapering or consolidation of 'requests' for a period; ie, folks choose which kinds of mods to focus on within a given period, perhaps a random rotor etc

-the ability to legitimately fiscally incentivize modders and let them discover stuff in a win-win like DevArt, Renderosity, 2ndLife etc

which will alleviate real-world constraints on modders time to collaborate on more complex projects. (ultimately, that work-life balance is for modders to navigate for themselves etc). This extends the earning lifetime of games, and makes older games continue to be potential revenue streams to the companies who made them -

in turn, providing royalty fractional dividends to the original makers of the game, all the way through to the modder etc.

-continued interest in the subject Fallout 4.

 

thanks for reading.

I am interested to hear what other Nex-ites have to reflect on this topic!

[BlahBlahDEEBlahBlah]

Some people don't decide and just take all their ideas and put them into one big mod (which may or may not be the wisest choice they've ever made). ;-)

 

Really though, if I had to think of them as separate projects, I'd say that the only thing that dictates what gets done first is what sounds more interesting that day, and whether I'm in the mood/position for an easy/light day or a good hard thinking/problem solving day.

 

...and/or maybe a friend has suggested something interesting or I think of something that I think that friend would enjoy. =)

 

...but maybe I'm not the best example. =P

 

Point is, make what you want...you're more likely to actually finish it that way.

[Genamine]

Well, for me I like to design something, build it, test it, and get excited when it works just the way I want it to

Its not so much about catering to the modding scene for me, I like to make my own mods and use them myself, sometimes I upload them but mostly I dont

As such, the main deciding factor that makes me decide to make one mod over another is really just whatever feels more important to me at that given time

 

If I play for a while and come across something that I dont really like or something that gives me the feeling its not complete, thats usually said deciding factor

 

 

P.S.: From stepping into a whale's mouth to space?, sounds like a wild ride

[Athanasa]

The deciding factors for me (not that I've made any mods) would be the following...

 

1. Do I have the skills and/or software needed?

1a. Do I think I will be able to learn/acquire this?

1b. Do I have the time to learn / acquire this?

 

2. Might I be able to get other people to help in the areas I will struggle with?

2a. Do I have the time and energy to do the networking required, build relationships necessary to work together and communicate myself so I can trust these other persons to understand on work towards the same goal?

 

3. How long will the mod take?

3a. Do I have the time to make it?

 

 

 

 

Sadly, it usually falls down at the time/energy phases. Do I have ideas? Yes. Can I picture how they would work, and even describe them in pseudocode? Yes. Could I do mind-maps and flow diagrams for the mod ideas? Yes, and for some I have.

 

... But do I have the time and energy? No.