castledoom.com

[ExarKun]

Not sure how many of you have ever paid attention to the previous Fallout games, me for instance have never paid much attention, but the new one got my eye.

Fallout for those that don't know is an RPG set in a Post-Apocalyptic world. This newest one is made by Bethesda, the makers of the acclaimed Elder Scrolls series.

Overall the game seems good, takes a page out of Oblivion with wide free roaming RPG, but makes the story much more gripping it would seem from what I have heard.

I am getting my copy tomorrow, it should be good, if not I have a friend who wants my copy if I dislike it and will pay my full price, he can't find the CE version, anywhere in stores and doesn't have a debit or credit card to buy online.

So it's kinda a no brainier, if I like it I get an awesome game, if not he get's my copy. He wanted me to buy him a copy and pay me back but at the time of purchase they went back ordered after mine processed so I couldn't.

I know many of you like the Elder Scrolls game, and while not a copy of that style by any means, if any of you have checked it out, or will, tell me what ya think.

[CharlieBrown]

Bethesda did a better job with this game than they did with Oblivion. It is a great game. Such grandscope and such a detailed and funfilled world. You can play through the mainstory and only see %20 of the entire world.

[JuntaJoe]

Lulz, I still have Oblivion parked on my shelf untouched.

But Bethesda is the right group for Fallout 3. The get the concept of creating a semi-limitless rpg shooter just right and that's the precise environment that the Fallout world was envisioned. Wandering the wastes to grow stronger and make a name for yourself.

In a couple years they will have cranked out a deluxe edition with xpacs and the community will have generate scads of mods for it.

Then I'll buy and lose a couple months to the game. :lol:

[CharlieBrown]

Yeah, the Bethesda fanbase has some really talented modders.

[JuntaJoe]

And yet Bethesda ignores them as a resource. I remember something called the Cyrondil Project where modders had made plans to create the entire continent that the Morrowind island resided. The island was already huge and detailed. The project would have increased the playable landmass by 30 times!

I remember packing the Morrowind island with a gig of mods and it took me almost 2 months during a work layoff to play it. If these guys had finished and other modders fully fleshed it out it would have taken a player years to play!

At some point a good company should realize a massive business opportunity when they see it. Find a way to officially incorporate the best ideas/mods/tools/quests to create a franchise that lasts years and offers something fresh every few months. The income stream would make the WoW craze look like petty change.


Fallout 3 is set on North America. That's a huge map to work with. The opportunity is staring Bethesda right in the face now. The modders will already try to fill the gap anyway. Creating a bridge to that community could be a bonanza for Bethesda and offer players insane amounts of content.

[ExarKun]

JuntaJoe wrote:
At some point a good company should realize a massive business opportunity when they see it. Find a way to officially incorporate the best ideas/mods/tools/quests to create a franchise that lasts years and offers something fresh every few months. The income stream would make the WoW craze look like petty change.

Sony is already trying it, but not in a good way. The new user based game Little Big Planet came out on the PS3, there is an official story to the game, but the unique aspect is it's the first, to my knowledge, console based game that gives you the modding tools in game.

So with that idea in mind, Sony has stated it basically can at any time take ideas that are very popular, repackage and sell them, here is the bitch slap though, if you accept the contract they don't have to pay you.

No word yet if Sony is gonna do it, they just have it on the table to be able to do it at anytime they wish.

Now as for Fallout 3, I beat it, took about 70-100 hours, lost count, and I think I only scratched about 1/4th of the surface, and man I did a lot I thought, but there was places I didn't even know of, towns you could barter with, quests you could take, just cool as stuff to do that I didn't get to see.

I'm playing again with all that in mind, I hope to get at least half of the map explored, and when they start getting good mods or ex pack's, I'll be in trouble. To much time spent on first try, now second, I basically got home, ate supper and played.

Not the most healthy, but the desire to know the ending drove me, now that I know it, I can take it more leisurely.

[CharlieBrown]

The industry knows the value of modders. The best way to break into the gaming industry is through modding pre-existing games and showing off your work. Getting a degree in the field really doesn't help your chances.

[ExarKun]

I only hope that is true for the people who created things for little big planet, if Sony does do what they have put into end user license agreements. If not I guess you could always feel the pride of knowing Sony liked your stuff enough to use it for profit.

There is a small flaw though thinking modding a good module is your shot into the biz, using tools some game developer gives you is one thing, but if that's the only way you make the mods in my opinion it isn't good enough.

You gotta know more than just how to use mod tools to make a game from scratch. Now there are some modders that can mod games without any game tools.

There is the rare bunch that can really do some hardcore modding out there, that know the C++ and VB and Java and such that these programmers use, either professionals or just people who learned cause they wanted to.

You are right though that degrees don't matter as much as they did in this job, if you have the skills that is usually enough, though if you have two guys with the same amounts of skills, one has a BS in Computer Programming the other is self taught, which you think they are gonna pick?

[JuntaJoe]

Paying modders in a mass project like this really isn't necessary. Most simply want the credit and a token. I brought up this topic back at the MW site a couple years ago and most of the best modders were quite willing to submit their mods for official use if they got their name on the jacket credits and a free copy of the expansion disc.

Another great part of this idea is the game becomes almost self patching. Balance issues are dealt with by the players. Only thing the developer crew is responsible for is systemic flaws. The players will balance the game out and add any missing features. The developer team simply keeps it compatible with hardware and keeps it from crashing.

[ExarKun]

I would let them, but doesn't seem any less rotten. The self patching part is a life boat though, made morriwnd so much better, and oblivion.

[JuntaJoe]

It's not bad if the company is clear about it upfront.

No one would be forced to enter their mods. If a mod maker said that his mod was to remain unofficial then it stays that way. The developer team could only use mods that were labeled that they could test and incorporate them.

Lots of mod makers, even the best ones, do it for the passion and prestige. Recognizing them with a byline and a token gift is all most of them want. Those that have professional agendas are serviced by this concept too. They are free to disqualify their mod for the program and if it still is hyper popular and shows great skill then the developers can approach the person individually to work out a better deal. Or simply having your mod recognized officially and added pads the resume.

Whether you think it fair or not I predict that the developer team will still be flooded with submissions and have to institute some kind of preliminary vetting system simply to staunch the deluge.