What Inspires You to Create in FO4 ?

[Fkemman11]

I remember as a kid that I could sit for hours on end just drawing, or painting, or build with Legos. It is hard to explain the pleasure of creating something cool, beautiful, or fully functional -among other things. It used to really irk my mom that sending me to my room as punishment was something I might have wanted in the first place. :wink: But of course as you get older and responsibilities weigh a person down you have less time and possibly less inclination to express creativity.

 

Now while a game like this does nothing to help with free time - it does however give me reason to be creative again. Were I playing the "vanilla" version of FO4, probably I'd have spent some time building and such and then moved on to another game. Something keeps me in this game and I pretty sure it is you - the modding community.

 

My question to everyone is this; What inspires you to make mods for FO4? Were you just gamers at one time who saw something and decided to fix it? Or did you see somebody else "cracking the code" and decided you could do that too? As a gamer in FO4 what are some things you like to mess with and why? As I said I love to build with the right music playing (and no one bothering me). I love making characters look different. But that's me........playing with your mods. If you would like to talk about yours or someone else's work feel free.

 

A shout out to Doll13th for "making" me test her mod update. A shout to HeavenThere for commenting on a pic I had with her work (didn't realize ATT). A shout to Bernt for your pics and passion. Also a shout to the many talented authors of the nearly 400 mods I have used or am using. And a BIG shout to Nexus staff and everyone who answered my noob questions (you know who u are!) You are all deserving of the title Artist Magnificent. :D

[Moraelin]

Well, actually personally I've done relatively little modding for FO4, compared to FO3, NV and Skyrim. Seems less of a need, to be honest. For example one of my most downloaded mods for NV was a series of retextured suits, but FO4 already has some nice clean suits, so there seems kinda less of a need for me to make more.

 

Back in FO3 days, well, it was mostly impatience that got me started, to be honest. There was no CK, Snip was barely being converted, very few people knew how to do more than a replacer retexture, and, well, I was used to being spoiled for choice for mods in Morrowind and Oblivion. I mean, in Morrowind I even ran around with a rifle or in a Predator outfit for the lulz. So I decided to make my own tutorial on how to use a hex editor to make a non-replacer, just to, you know, help get the ball rolling. Then my next stunt was putting a silencer on rifle just to disprove the universally accepted myth at the time that you can't put more mesh pieces into a .nif than it originally had.

 

Essentially I got into modding to help get others into modding. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not an altruist or anything. I just wanted their mods ASAP. I wasn't going to wait half a year for the creation kit if I could help it.

 

Then it turns out I actually enjoyed having the power of the very gods themselves: the power of creation. If I wanted a lightsaber, I could bloody make one instead of keeping asking other people to make one.

 

Mind you, at this point, I had exactly zero experience with drawing or using Blender. So my first attempt at making my own mesh from scratch... well, THAT sucked royally. It was supposed to be a Star Wars style blaster, but the words "squirt gun" came up a lot in the comments. Also, "lol".

 

And from there, well, it was mostly the stuff *I* wanted to use. I used to play an *ahem* Akavir ninja in Morrowind and Skyrim, so I made a lot of swords. I wanted to play Alucard at some point, so I made his .454 Casull and some red clothes. Stuff like that.

 

I mean, literally it can get as whimsical as when I watched a Cossak girl on youtube twirl a shashka (cossak sabre,) so I made a shashka for my character in Skyrim.

 

And it's pretty much the same in FO4, really. For example my latest outfit was basically a case of me wanting to play as Frank Castle, and, well, the existing Punisher outfits didn't seem quite like what I had in mind. Mostly, they were dirty and torn, which I can see how it fits the post-apocalypse theme, but I personally like my stuff clean. Surely I could get Sturges to repair a washing machine if I bring him enough parts, right? So I made my own clean outfit.

[Bernt]

Well - I don't consider myself a REAL modder - as I don't know how to use Nifscope or Blender and thus never have created new stuff. Back in NV though I DID spend a lot of hours getting to grips with the GECK and I'm quite satisfied with what I accomplished by combining the work of others into my own mod.

 

I guess my REAL accomplishment is the story I have written - and try to get on with :confused: I've always looked at paintings, photos and sculptures really wishing I do such things. I've dabbled in painting but it came out awfful. In NV I started writing mainly to immerse myself in the story and - ultimately- finish the game instead of just starting over again and again and..... :rolleyes: Of course - this being the Nexus- I put up a chapter. And I was rather surprised that anyone cared to read it - and comment on it. But it really spurred me on. And that is something I am proud of :smile:

 

As for FO4..... Guess I just couldn't help trying out the fabulous Bodyslide tool - everyone does. I've got my own ideas. And of course I cannot keep them to myself. For better or worse......... The posing knuckles was born out of annoyance that weapons often would make decent looking poses look awful. I couldn't find anything that fit the bill so......... If you want it done - do it yourself! It was a quick search on the internet finding a guide to FO4SE.

 

I've got a stock of pics put up by other Nexians that I use for inspiration on how I can make my settlements look - and work - better. Nexus is a great source of inspiration.

 

End of rambling - having some difficulty sleeping at night. Now it's early morning. Guess I really NEED that holiday coming up in two weeks :smile:

[PoorlyAged]

I am a new mod creator, and the reason I started making mods is because I HATED some elements of the game. In Fallout 4:

• I am a real live firearms enthusiast and some of the characteristics of the various weapons were woefully inadequate or simply ludicrous. So I fixed a couple just for me.
• Some of the Perks where laughable. In particular, the Level 4 Fortune Finder perk; the one where a dying enemy bursts into a shower of caps. By the time you have leveled up enough to take that particular perk, the 20 or so caps is meaningless. So I fixed that with this mod.
• The Marine Armor from the Far Harbor DLC was underwhelming. It was too heavy for the protection it offered. So I fixed it. It is now lighter, stronger and actually better than T45 Power Armor.
• I missed the Enclave, so I kinda stuck them in and even made a set of Enclave Power Armor that starts after maxed out X01.
• I don't like the default jump height. I find I cannot jump over barriers that Raiders and Gunners and Rust Devils easily vault over. So I fixed a pair of boots that now allow what I call a "Jump and Scramble" jump height. It is for things like chain link fences and other barriers.

So I started Making Mods to make the game more enjoyable for ME. Oh, someday I might create a quest or add some story content. But for now, I mod just for my own satisfaction.

 

EDIT: I did the same kind of stuff in Skyrim, and am now looking at Skyrim SE.

Edited March 5, 2017 by PoorlyAged

[Fkemman11]

I would have to say thanks for those great responses from you three. It is pretty enlightening to hear the different reasons for why you do what you do and then share it with the community. I have noticed from my own limited experience that people in general do not seem to understand the work and talent needed to make some of these mods happen. Do each of you get pretty positive feedback on your work? I mean I post pictures sometimes and I have seen that the ones I think are pretty good don't do as well as the ones that I take that are just random. How much does peoples opinion matter to you about your mods? Do you feel that people just don't "get" your work sometimes? personally I think most people have meat and potatoes taste in anything related to Art. :D

[Moraelin]

Well, let's put it this way: one of the bits of feedback I got on my first version of the lightsabers for FO3 -- and mind you, at that point it was like the second mesh I'd ever done myself, so still pretty horrible -- was literally a "<BLEEP> YOU!" Well, except not bleeped. And that was the whole message.

 

Coming right on the heels of the "squirt gun" comments for the blaster... You can probably guess that if I were particularly influenced by feedback, I'd have quit a long time ago :tongue:

 

Edit: mind you, not all feedback is like that, especially lately, and I don't ignore feedback. I appreciate it in fact. Especially when it tells me about some problem I've missed. I'm just not feeling particularly bound to it. If someone makes a good case that some change or some addition would be nice, and I like the idea, I might even do it. If I think I like my version better, well, they can find another modder to do their request.

[PoorlyAged]

Until recently I was a cherry as I had not shared any mods. I shared one at the request of a friend and the response has been lackluster. But that is OK because I made it for me and it meets my need. Besides, it is a simple mod and I brute-forced it to make it work. I realized a week ago that it is exposed to a conflict.

 

As for the rest of my mods, they are even more crude and ugly so I kinda keep them to myself.

[Greslin]

I've written a number of mods for FO3 and FNV, released a couple (including a backbreaking physics addon for FNV), and have learned a heck of a lot about modding and the Fallout universe in the process. Now I'm starting to mod FO4.

 

So I can tell you what inspires me. Two things. First, finding a mod somewhere that's 99% awesome and just needing that one.. little.. fix.. to make it perfect for my needs, and figuring out how to fix it. I did that with an FO3 mod called Banks of the Wasteland a long while back, which taught me the basics of scripting in Gamebryo. Fixing broken mods is a great way to crack into the scene.

 

In terms of writing completely new mods, I can only point in one direction: Arwen_Eve, author of the Arwen's Realism Tweaks overhauls for FO3 and FNV. I remember test driving her kit on FNV and being blown away by the utter transformation she wreaked on New Vegas. She completely rebooted my entire idea of what a Fallout game could be, and ruined me on the vanilla experience forever. It actually kinda breaks my heart a little to hear that she's left the Fallout scene for greener pastures - I would have loved to have seen what she'd have done with FO4.

 

Arwen led me to Imp's Power Armor overhauls, as well as other highly complex immersion kits. So now when I play FO4 and hit some issue where I'm like, this just isn't RPG/immersive/tough/realistic enough for me, my natural instinct is to fire up FO4Edit/CK to see what I can do about it. Usually, it turns out, quite a bit, if I'm willing to do the detective work under the hood.

 

TL; DR - I'm inspired by other great modders, and do my best I write stuff that may hopefully inspire others to mod as well.

[Bernt]

What drives me....? Well - my story is an urge to put words down. As simple - or complicated - as that. Now I understand the artist saying that he can see the face/animal/abstract inside that huge chunk of rock/marble etc, just waiting to come out. When it hits me I just can't stop. The story writes itself. That people read and comment on it is a much appreciated bonus :smile:

In NV I ported a gun from FO3 because I thought it had a place in the Mojave too. It turned out to be much more complex than I thought. But I learned a lot. Even though I never managed to get into the leveled lists.

As for "my" muscle girl I happened to take a liking to her -and I'm not into muscle bound girls normally- by reading another Nexian's story about such a woman in FO3 and NV. The assetts had already been made and uploaded by a very kind creator. But I thought it wasn't really user friendly so I set about making it easier to the average player to incorporate her into their game. As a companion or a player character.

Both the girl and the gun are small fry in an ocean of pretty girls and top notch weapon mods. But I did get to learn a lot as I finally managed to accomplish what I set out to do. Got some rude comments on the girl along the way. But.......... :rolleyes: