Full-Conversion Mods and How to Make Them

[AMVPh34r]

Hey, all!

First off, I'm new here, so hi!

 

Now then, to business...

I am fairly new to modding games. I've done plenty of mapping in Source games like Half-Life and L4D2, but never done any kind of scripting. So it goes without saying that I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to how much time/work your average mod actually takes to make. That said, I recently had the quite possibly way-too-ambitious idea of making a full conversion mod for Fallout 3. I'll give some more detail on said mod idea, but first I do want to clarify that I will obviously not be doing all of the work myself. I may not be much of a modder (yet), but I can recognize when a project is too large for one person (or two or three or six people) to handle. I will be gathering a team and making sure that we have enough people so that no one is overwhelmed with work.

 

Anyways, as for the mod itself. I'm not sure how much variability there is in the definition of a "full-conversion mod" but the idea that I have in mind is basically creating a new game using the Gamebryo engine. That is to say, new maps, new characters, new weapons, new items, new storyline, new dialogue, et cetera et cetera. Yeah, it's a HUGE project. But, should I find that I have time between school and various other life commitments, this is something that I would really like to do.

 

I've done a tiny bit of planning, but not too much, as I don't know exactly how much work this entails and how to go about it entirely. Here's what I know needs to be done:

• Gather a sizable team of idea people, design artists, 3D modellers, programmers, voice actors and people who have a good idea of F03 modding in general.
  
• Create a website or figure out some other way for all team members to easily communicate, share ideas and discuss the project's progress
  
• Start off the project itself with some brainstormign sessions; gather ideas for specifics on storyline and gameplay
  
• Draw up some concept art for the world map, as well as characters and items
  
• Come up with main and side quest ideas
  
• Write the dialogue script for main characters, followed by side characters and other NPCs
  
• Record sound files from the voice actors and compile/organize them
  
• Begin actual 3D modelling of characters and maps
  
• Script mods for variations in gameplay
  
• Script/program that actually puts everything together; that is, telling the game what to do when.
  
• Beta testing, make sure everything works
  
• Aaaaannnddd... Done?
  

 

Again, that's an extremely rough outline, and I probably missed/underestimated some things. So my question is, once I have gathered a team and possibly created a website, what is the best process of events? Does my outline follow basically what should be done when? And how much time can I expect each part to take? For the sake of argument, lets say that the people I gather are already fairly skilled in the areas they are working on (so as to eliminate time differences where they are learning how to do something, or something doesn't work).

 

As I said before, I realize this is a huge project, and extremely ambitious, but I would love to see this happen, and especially to be a part of it, so any help that anyone could offer would be very very appreciated.

 

Thanks! (and sorry this post is so long)

[xxfadingxsoulxx]

Okay i actually had a similar idea of creating a whole big quest with new areas, and some cool events. Im not very expererienced either, and heres the only response i got:

 

"Reasons you've not gotten many replies 1- don't start big, make some player houses first, a couple of dungeons, know your way around the geck before you actually start doing somthing big 2- the storyline is to vague, and not many people are going to join if they don't know what they'r joining 3- a team needs an experienced leader, and youre nor very experienced. and teams without a leader mostly just fail, even teams with leaders fail"

 

That being said, I would be very interested in helping you. I can help with the story line and script for starters. Thats something im very good with, writing. And ive already brainstomed some ideas for myself that could be adopted to yours

 

I read your outline and i see you have a very logical plan in place. I would recommend not having a goal of creating a new game, but creating something like a DLC. So you still create new maps, new quests, etc but if you want to create an original game i would recommend using the Unreal Development Kit or Crytek Engine source. Both free, and both i can help you on as well.

 

Im all for discussing this with you. I too have school and other commitments that get in the way, so i understand what youre dealing with. Once you get some interest, lets finalize the outline and begin writing the story. I look forward to developing this!

 

About time amounts, i estimate for your idea at least 200-300 hours for development and then probably about 50 hours for quality beta testing. Of course i havent done much complex modding, so thats only a guess. Depends on a lot of factors though.

 

Again, im definately interested!

Edited January 23, 2012 by xxfadingxsoulxx

[AMVPh34r]

Awesome, thanks for the interest!

 

I do understand the response you got, and it definitely applies to me too. Before I really get the project off the ground, I was planning on learning some basic modding and scripting myself. I was also thinking about not being the sole leader of the project. Maybe standing as the director or something, but working with someone who has more experience. As for the storyline, I do pretty much have a plan in place, but that's something I can discuss with you later.

 

I do like the DLC idea, but I'm not sure how well it would work, simply because the idea I had for this mod is pretty large-scale. But I'm sure we could work with it.

 

Again, thanks for the interest! My priority right now is finding people that are interested in working on this, so this is really helpful! If you want, you can add me on Steam and discuss it further (as there are some points that I didn't really clarify in my original post, that you'd probably want/need to know).

[xxfadingxsoulxx]

My point on the DLC is that if you want to make a whole new original game, there are much better options than using the GECK and gamebryo engine. If you want it to be made in GECK, then it would be better to make something like a DLC, a new land that has all new stuff but is connected to the world of FO3.

 

Whats your steam name? Same as ur user name?

Edited January 23, 2012 by xxfadingxsoulxx

[AMVPh34r]

Ah, gotcha. Well, with the story i'm basing it off of it would definitely be easiest to use the Gamebryo engine/GECK (since I'd be basing the whole mod off of this story, which in turn was based off of Fallout. It's kinda weird, I know). That way I wouldn't have to do any modification to the engine itself.

 

I linked my Steam profile in my previous post, but it's AMV_Ph34r, with an underscore. Same avatar too, in case more than one result turns up.

 

EDIT: Actually, no, it is set to "AMVPh34r" right now, without the underscore. But that's temporary

Edited January 23, 2012 by AMVPh34r

[xxfadingxsoulxx]

Sorry i didnt see the link cuz im on my phone. Will add you when i can. I understand what your trying to do, and if your going to be basing the story off fallout and connecting to fallout 3 then GECK is the way to go. I say try to use as much of the games resources as possible, and then only model and retexture where needed.

 

I think this will be very cool. A great way to learn modding! Although it is ambitious... :D