"Highly" moddable upcoming games?

[ghosu]

Hi

 

I'm not playing much so i'm not up to date all the time when it comes to upcoming games, especially projects of lesser known developers.

 

Atm i'm modding for Skyrim, but i might be interested in something else, want to try a different engine. I'm aware that there are quite a few current titles (like those listed in the Nexus modding section or source engine games, Doom, UT, Beth games, San Andreas,HL, Minecraft and whatever) and that you can mod many other games - some more, some less, some are easier to handle like Skyrim with CK and some harder without suited tools - but i'm curious if there is an upcoming game (lets say within the next 6 months) that is known for good modding capabilities (may it be because its prequel was known for it or the developers announced special tools or because of the used engine).

 

Mostly i'm interested in importig models (weapons,armor,vehicles,buildings...) and an open world system. My first guess would be GTA5 (though the release date is not reliable yet).

 

I'm grateful for recommendations,

greetings

[Vagrant0]

As far as I know, there aren't any big games planned out within that timeframe that are open world AND have reasonable modding capabilities (more than just UI changes, retextures, or putting together existing resources within the game). But there are a couple that I've heard about who might be close, but cannot really comment.

 

Really though, Skyrim will probably be the best that you'll be getting for atleast a year or two as far as moddable games goes. The new expansion which should be hitting the PC soon might breathe some new life into it and open up some new modding capabilities. You have to remember, Skyrim is only a year old now. It took Oblivion nearly 2 years for the kinds of mods, knowledge, and tools to really take off and get anywhere.

[Rennn]

Well, I don't know of anything new that's moddable.

 

You might want to look at Two Worlds 2. There aren't a lot of mods floating around for it, but it's open world, and it has an SDK as well as a couple fan-made modding tools.

[ziitch]

Personally, I think we're somewhat overdue for a moddable RPG that takes place in the modern world, in perhaps an urban to suburban setting. Mind you, it should be a RPG at its core, and not something like GTA V will be (or Fallout 3 where it's post-apoc), but lets you change or replace almost anything, yet not hand you with an overly complex editor like the CK has become. Edited January 3, 2013 by ziitch

[hoofhearted4]

i want something in depth. but not overly so. i wanna see skill trees and customization. perks and stuff. i wanna be able to customize weapons and armor the more i used them. i want things to become more proficient as i use them. but on the flip side, i dont want to see a skill three with 6732432 possibilities with hundreds of branches into branches. something like Borderlands. but maybe a bit more. give me several trees, that are several tiers deep that might branch off here and there but like the branch offs are like in DA2 where they just help the core ability. i dont wanna see a branch off become its own tree with its own branches and etc lol. i love RPGs but thats a little much for me haha.

 

idk im thinking as i type so i dont really have a coherent idea, but yea. maybe you guys catch my drift :P

[Vagrant0]

i dont wanna see a branch off become its own tree with its own branches and etc lol.

From a game mechanic perspective, that is usually not a good idea. Part of the fundamental aspect of "classes" or even Skill Trees is based around moving from a generalist use of that class, towards a specialist use (Eg, a fighting character with mostly defensive perks/skills becomes specialized towards a sort of tank style of combat. Even in games without a specific skill tree, this sort of specialization can be integrated with the equipment and statistics system. The reason why this works so well, and is the norm, lies primarily in the fact that it allows that feeling of customization, while still having upgrades that actually feel like they make a difference towards how you use that character while not making that character suddenly feel too overpowered. Since the nature of a "tree" or even a stat system usually involves spending multiple levels into a specific type of build, game makers generally put stronger abilities towards the endpoint of those builds since they require deliberate advancement. This core mechanic also serves to tune game difficulty, boss design, equipment types, and countless other things so it becomes much harder to take out, or tone down without making the game feel boring (due to mid-levels feeling just about the same as when at level cap).

[hoofhearted4]

no. i want to see skill trees and branches. but i dont wanna see those branches become another tree and more branches. there is such a thing (for me) as too complex. for example, Path of Exile (a game im pretty sure i heard of from you) is just way to much for me. it doesnt need to be as small or as simple as Torchlight or Borderlands, it can be several tiers long with several branches, but there is too much.

[Vagrant0]

no. i want to see skill trees and branches. but i dont wanna see those branches become another tree and more branches. there is such a thing (for me) as too complex. for example, Path of Exile (a game im pretty sure i heard of from you) is just way to much for me. it doesnt need to be as small or as simple as Torchlight or Borderlands, it can be several tiers long with several branches, but there is too much.

Path of Exile's tree is as complex as it is since all the classes use the same tree. Even if you took a less complicated game, like for the sake of referential understanding, Diablo II's, and put all the skills in that game with the same tree, it would instantly become a much more complex game due to all the new combinations you could make for any given build if class played no role, and skill dependencies became linked along themes. Even then though, it would be hard to construct such a dependency tree without creating sub-trees focused on a single group of skills due to how those skills work together (archery skills, or martial arts for example).

 

As far as skill systems go, the one used in Ultima Online (way back when) probably had the least complexity, while still being reasonably flexible. There weren't really enough skills, and the cap was set too low (forcing people to group up just to kill world spawns, reduce skills over weeks in order to get far enough along in something new), but if such a system were used within a modern environment, and properly balanced (gradual degradation based on total instead of a hard skill cap value, higher capability allowed to single players) it would probably make the skill system present in most games look highly inferior. But the reality is that most game companies would probably just screw up badly in the end for one reason or another due to the tendency of such a system either being too lax (not decreasing fast enough at maximum threshold), too strict (decreasing too quickly for depreciated skills), using it too much as a primary grind/difficulty component to pad out their game, or adding in extra features and gimmicks that just ruin the advantages of using such a system. But, technically, such a system could probably be rigged into Skyrim if someone felt like doing all the scripting for it.

 

Getting back to the main topic though... Open world games are as rare as they are since they almost always require years of development just for the art resources. Even a game with lesser graphics, like one that uses a faux3d world, 3/4 perspective, and 2d sprites/setpieces can require a ridiculous amount of time in just the drawing, placement, and tuning of environments (or generation algorithms). And often, all the other stuff can't even really start until you have a good portion of those assets produced.

[lonewolfkai]

And I'm willing to bet in today's gaming market that such games will become even more rare because of those same costs. Long gone are the days when the almighty dollar wasn't the only driving force of game developement.

 

And on a side note, I'm a fan of the "classless system, make what you want" type of game.

[hoofhearted4]

and even more rare as gamers either wanna play only CoD type games with an online competitive mode or iOS type games. Edited January 4, 2013 by hoofhearted4