An argument can be made that Oblivion is still heavily played BECAUSE it is heavily modded. The TES was a brilliant marketing idea. We all keep sales up with no overhead costs to Bethesda.

Yet when I played "The Witcher" it showed me just how stilted the melee combat of Oblivion is,

Like most gamers and animation buffs, I'm always looking forward to improvements. How many people think that the Final Fantasy movie graphics are superior to Avatar?

Gamebryo may not be going anywhere, but in 5 years it will be over 10 years old. You are right though, it won't be what dooms this project.

But let's be real: of the people who read this thread who have modded for FO3 or Oblivion, how many have worked on a total conversion mod of this scope? Of those, if any, how many have worked to its completion and release?

We understand the number of pessimistic views in regards to the completion of the project. It is very ambitious, a very large amount of work and will take a long time to complete. Just for reference we've already been working on the project for a little over a year. Yes, there isn't a lot to show publicly at this point but that is changing quickly. Keep in mind, currently we only have one dedicated builder, one dedicated modeler, about 3-4 others who help out with data collection and small projects, and a scripter helping with the travel system.

In regards to the one to two year statement, if you read a little closer, I was not saying I think we will be complete in one or two years. I think it's very likely it will take us another 4 years or so to get a completely finished project. I was merely stating I would love to get help from talented community members so it only takes us 1 or 2 years. In all truth if we had 2 more modelers, 2 scripters, and another 2-3 level/NPC designers that put as much work into this as I am I think we could knock this out in two years. On our skeletal staff it will take at least twice as long.

In the meantime we'll be releasing pieces as we get them completed for public beta testing before we add them to the final mod. Additionally, as we learn new things we'll be writing guides and tutorials to help advance the modding community. Also keep in mind, the majority of work for us is level/npc design/development, scripting and new models. We already have the story, we already have the dialogue, we already have the quests, we already have very basic level layout. We just have to build it.

As to the point of the mod. The point as stated before is to re-create the original so that the masses of Fallout 3 players who have not and will not go back to play the originals, because of outdated graphics or whatever other reason, will have the opportunity to play the original with new graphics and an updated engine. There are a great deal of previous Fallout players that have also expressed interest in seeing the game they loved in a 3D environment. So while some may have no interest in playing it, there are many who do. (Personally, I go back and play the originals every couple of years because I enjoy the story and the game so if I weren't the one actually doing this mod I would be excited to see it done)

I'm not in it for the fame or the money as you put it. It's true I enjoy gaming and love working on this mod. However, game design is not the career path I am currently pursuing, it is however my most enjoyed and time consuming hobby . I love building things. I built sets for plays in high school, I built decks and basemants during college, now as my second major mod project I am continuing to learn to build games because I enjoy it. I want to bring the community, who hasn't experienced it or would like to experience it again, an awesome RPG that started a series in the late 90's that is still prospering 10+ years later.

I'm not poo-pooing your efforts. I think it would be neat to play a Fallout total conversion.

My own comments above regarding map layout were not meant as doom and gloom but as something for you to consider. You'll have to see as you playtest the areas you create, but I do suspect that changing layouts to suit first-person perspective and movement will enhance what you are trying to achieve.

As nice as it is to see a familiar overhead layout of Shady Sands, I imagine that such faithful map recreations will result in a lot of flat empty space.

Also, while the maps have their charm, I believe the core of what is loved about the first game is the choice and consequence, the quest design, the interesting NPCs and dialogue... Maps could change without losing the spirit.

gothemasticator

Ghogiel, I still know how to make new creature rigs and animate. Texture and mesh then import it into game etc.

After my job interview coming up this week I will see if I can maybe help these guys out.

All I can offer now is my lucky charms. Heart, stars, horseshoes, clovers, and balloons, life is a rainbow, and golden dabloons!! Good luck with this project.

As far as the maps are concerned we'll definitely be enhancing them while staying as truthful to the original as possible. Keep in mind that is only our .02 Alpha version there is still a lot of work to be done on it

I assume you're not doing anything related to the first Fallout's storyline?

Well as I’m sure many have been aware there haven’t been too much in the ways of updates.

Sadly there were some internal issues, staff not co-operating and work not getting completed. As such the project was tabled until a later date. Well we’ve finally decided upon that later date.

Currently the project is officially ON HOLD until at least a month after the US release of Fallout: New Vegas. The reasons for this are two fold. In the interim it will give us an opportunity to clean up the site/forums some and hopefully bring you a better webspace moving forward. In addition to that we are going to finalize an official design doc in hopes to provide a little more clarification around our intent. The second reason is we will very likely want to use some of the resources included in New Vegas. As such we want to wait and see what will and will not be available for us to utilize.

We are still looking for volunteers and are in the process of re-organizing our staff. So if you are interested please still let us know.

In either case, thanks for everyone’s support to this point. The project is NOT canceled, but is on hold until a month or so after the US release of Fallout: New Vegas.