I've always played around with minimal-sized mods, usually just items and equipment, some balance mods, ect. In FO3 and FO:NV so far.

But I have a bit of free time and I want to do something more substantial as a way of learning the parts of the GECK I haven't played with much like quests and companions.

So how do you go about organizing and starting work on a more substantial project than just guns and ammo or a short treasure hunt quest and a new perk?

My goal is to make a new location, I already have a basic idea as to the area's plot and location.

Where do you usually start? do you extensively storyboard the plot? or do you write specifics as you go? Do you do the map first? the NPCs? the items and equipment? At what point do you consider starting to record dialogue, ect?

I am doing just this right now for my Fallout 3 mod. (see signature) First I write the basis of the story, bad guy A is fighting good guy B, or something of the like. Then I outline the mod including all major happenings and events. Then I start building the mod, start to finish in order of the quests, leaving the areas blank that have yet to be filled in with specifics. I only usually write the EXACT details of the story as I get to making it in the geck. But thats because I am an incredibly visual person, so I HAVE to do it that way or I cant work. A more efficient way if you can, is writing the details far before you get to making them. With recording voice acting, only start voice acting parts you are 100% sure wont change. I am 11 months into making my mod (Almost done!!) and have only just started to do super heavy voice acting for it. So that can wait a while.

Awesome advice, thank you! I'm writing the storyline out right now. The main thing is it's sort of more of a sandbox than a specific chain: the idea is I loved the "community building" aspects of FO3 and the "earning trust" quests in FO:NV so much I decided to bring the two together into a mini-town that the player can become mayor of and guide to increasing prosperity and mold in their image.

So rather than being a set chain it will be more like the structure of Wild Card: Side Bets or Volare! where you have a number of little side objectives to complete and can do them in any order you want. Increasing their agricultural output, for instance, can be done before or after you stop the raider attacks.

So in this case I think I'm going to opt for writing the NPCs first, at least in the "design document" sense.


When do you start the actual mapping process? and when would you start implementing items that aren't related to the main quest chain? I'm tempted just to get my feet wet and jump right in implementing some of the new consumables and food items, just so I have an acutal esp file started and have something to show for my efforts already to get me excited about the project.

i suggest to get an idea of how your town is upposed to look, what shall be in it, etc
refine story
then start placing buildings and adjusting terrain (medium work)
refine your story
add interiors (lots of work)
refine story
create important npcs (easy and fun)
refine story
add quests (lots of work)
refine story
clutter the place like mad (incredible amount of work, very boring)
refine story
add effects (can be tideous.... emmission? wheres my batch option?)
refine story
add voice acting (fun and doesnt take long if you have a bunch of voice actors in your place and a record studio in the dungeon) - skip it if your only have a headset or medicore recording equipment, if it doesnt synch with the
vanilla stuff dont do it
add lip synch

i prolly forgot somin here but hey, thats a start

my recording equipment isn't professional grade but it's a step above a cheap desktop mic, I'll give it a go if it doesn't sound decent I'll delete the files and forget I ever tried lol.

Also fortunately it's all interiors, the city is more like Rivet City than Goodsprings. I guess I'll block out the rough geometry first then wait until I have it mostly fleshed in for a clutter pass.