» Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:47 am Okay. Let me, before saying anything else, say this. I have been around these forums since Oblivion came out. I have been modding and using mods since the same time. I have worked on a whole bunch of different kinds of mods myself in the past, and still do. I have seen what happens to total conversion projects, and I've gotta say, it's not pretty. But hear me out. I don't have grandiose plans. I am aware of all the limitations of the engine, and of a one-man work-force. So here's what I'm thinking.
Chapter 1: The Idea
I've been thinking, ever since I started FO3 really, that the Fallout series has pretty much reached the utmost limits of the post apocalyptic genre. I've been thinking, the logical next step now, would be to look back, to look at what came before. So I set out thinking about what this would mean, what this could be, what it had to offer. And I liked what I found. What if you could have a chance to be there when the bombs fell. What if you could be there as things went from bad, to worse, as store shelves were emptied, homes were ransacked, and people began to band together, for good, or for evil. What if you the player could be there and have a hand in laying the foundations of all that would be to come in the new world.
Chapter 2: The Mechanics
So I've had a lot of ideas for mods in my time. A lot of them have been stuff that add not only immersion but new mechanics to wrestle with as you play the game. For example, I have a mod that adds bleeding effects to all guns and sharp melee weapons. It's complete with a perk, and scripts to make sure that a knife won't be able to make you bleed if you're decked out in T51-B power armor, and bandages to be found, made, or bought. Others are less complete, aiming to increase the options at a player's disposal for interacting with NPCs and getting what they want from the wastes. But it's hard to have all these mods run separately and stay modular yet still use-friendly. So why not unify them? Make them once cohesive experience, so much more than they could be alone?
Chapter 3: The Wastes
These days you play a Fallout game and the wastes aren't really much of a wasteland anymore. They're full of towns and cities, all the remnants of the old world are mostly used up and re-purposed. Well, welcome to the wastes, the real wastes. After the bombs fall, you'll find yourself in a truly decimated landscape. Leveled buildings dot the horizon, and an inescapable stream of radiation seeps into your soft tissues, making your many obstacles even more difficult to overcome. Dazed survivors wander from shelter to shelter, the most ruthless seizing their advantage and turning into what will one day be the merciless raider packs, preying on the wary traveler. But even now, early as the hour may be, those few good people are realizing that the only way they'll stand a chance is if they band together, and form the first, of the wasteland's settlements, towns, and one day cities.
Chapter 4: The Plan
It sounds ambitious. I know. But it's not. Why? Because I've got a plan. I'm not going to draw up a bunch of grandiose plans. I'm not going to give myself an insurmountable set of tasks. No, my first and only goal, is to create a world space, generate a height map, do a little work in the region editor, and make a starting location. A lot of the game play mechanics I want to include in this are already finished in the form of smaller stand-alone mods, or have at least be started in some way or another. Once I finish this first phase, then and only then will I let my imagination free again, and give myself a next objective. In this way, even once the mod is only 5% done, it'll be a playable 5%, a 5% that is rewarding, and that will entice me to push onward. And essentially, using this model, it can't fail, because it's done once I've made a starting location and generated my landscape, everything after that is just add-ons, so even in the event that I drop the project for whatever reason, it'll be a working mod, and all the ground work will be laid for anyone who feels like adding on to it.
