Mod Support for Fallout 3 Won't be Available at Launch

[The Vault Dweller]

Some information has come in on proposed mod tools for Fallout 3. Unfortunately it's not good news...<blockquote>In an interview with Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard we discussed Fallout 3's lack of a MOD support and this generation of consoles. While Howard admits the team wants to add support for user generated content he confesses adding the feature -- which was included in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- is a daunting task for a team eager to complete the epic adventure.

"We don't [have MOD support at launch], we want to but we have our hands so full with getting the game out and getting tools out there that work well for people and with the game is a pretty big undertaking," Howard told Joystiq.</blockquote>You can hear the whole interview at Joystiq.

Hopefully this just means that mod support will be offered after launch to download, but that will remain to be seen.

I thank Anani Masu of the forums here for bringing us this news.

 

[Beelzebud]

There's really not one reason for me to buy this game now.

 

[Matt K]

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Oblivion's cs was the same tools the devs used with some features striped out. I don't see this game being that much different that the tools should be such a pain to release. Then again, I have a feeling this is just to string people along so that months after release they can say "Oh it was too difficult to do so sorry."

Even on a positive note, devs tend to be incomunicato the month or two after release so I doubt it'll come within the first month or so. After that, the devs will be working on new projects (or expansion packs) so only a small staff will even be doing work on this game. Most should be working on patches so that leaves few if any to work on this. For those from Oblivion, we saw the quality of the work from those few left out of those processes in the form of poorly made DLCs. So even if they set those people to work, god knows what kind of end product we'll see.

That said, I hope I'm just being pessimistic but I've been burned too many times to have any other mindset (especially where BS is concerned).

 

[generalissimofurioso]

Odds are good that they want people to play this game the way they designed it.

I can't say I blame them for not releasing it right away, but the only thing I can see coming out of this is people whining until they do release it.

 

[Anani Masu]

I will remind people that Oblivion's CS had to be stripped from the release at the last second. Many people made the same noises about how it was never going to come out because x and y. It came out a few weeks later.

 

[Ranne]

Anani, this is BS. I am certain I downloaded Oblivion's CS before or almost immediately after the official launch of the game.

 

[Anani Masu]

Anani, this is BS. I am certain I downloaded Oblivion's CS before or almost immediately after the official launch of the game.

Ahh yes you are right. I did some google searches and it came out the day before release. I still think I remember people getting up in arms when they announced it wasn't going to be on the disc, but my memory was just proven pretty fallible.

 

[Phil the Nuka-Cola Dude]

Lack of mod tools has never stopped a community from modding a game before, and it isn't going to stop them now.

Should probably be worrying about whether or not the game is going to be trash before you worry about them making it easier for the community to mod.

 

[Matt K]

Lack of mod tools has never stopped a community from modding a game before, and it isn't going to stop them now.

Should probably be worrying about whether or not the game is going to be trash before you worry about them making it easier for the community to mod.

Well, since I'm pretty sure the game is going to be trash, I guess I can move on to #2 then

Ahh yes you are right. I did some google searches and it came out the day before release. I still think I remember people getting up in arms when they announced it wasn't going to be on the disc, but my memory was just proven pretty fallible.

I'm pretty sure the reason they gave in that instance was that by releasing the cs on the net, they could provide update if necessary (which they in fact did provide one update). So in that instance they did say it would be released, just not on the disc. Here on the other hand, they're saying there is a chance they may release it (or may not depending on how full your glass is).

 

[Quickstacc]

I hope I'm wrong but its probably a marketing scheme. The DLCs from Oblivion often paled in comparison to a lot of the mods released by the community. Their quality and actual significance was thereafter reduced leading to less people paying for them. By not releasing mod capabilities, they make their dlc 'shinier'.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

What's important to remember is that they've been being shifty about the CS for at least a year now, if not longer so I'm not seeing the odds as being real good. That said, I can see it being something that they make after an expansion or two or make as the first DLC for the game and charge for it. These are the folks who charged people for horse armor so I would not be surprised in the least if they charged for the most popular extra feature of their past two games.

 

[horse]

huh? that was mentioned in every second interview or so... with all that "we put all our energy in making it the best game evar!!1". since oblivion was kinda easy to mod, fo3 should be too (i have no experience on oblivion itself, a modding colleague from stalker mentioned that).

otoh: wasnt shivering isles a fan-made mod? before it became dlc or micropayment content or whatever? (or was it a full-blown mod?.. it does show i dont play oblivion too much, does it )

 

[SuAside]

was a long time comin' really.

not a big surprise. and a big fuck you from Beth towards their own modding community. kinda pissing off all the TES modders off at once, i bet.

 

[Brother None]

I will remind people that Oblivion's CS had to be stripped from the release at the last second. Many people made the same noises about how it was never going to come out because x and y. It came out a few weeks later.

I agree.

Look, Bethesda is used to lazily leaving their game unfinished and letting the modders fix their mistakes for them. If you look at the unofficial Oblivion patch, it has a change list that lists literally thousands of mistakes and bugs.

Bethesda never even had to properly patch their game. Thanks to the CS.

It'll come out eventually.

 

[taag]

Look, Bethesda is used to lazily leaving their game unfinished and letting the modders fix their mistakes for them. If you look at the unofficial Oblivion patch, it has a change list that lists literally thousands of mistakes and bugs.

Bethesda never even had to properly patch their game. Thanks to the CS.

It'll come out eventually.

Funny how things haven't changed since Daggerfall. But let's not forget Black Isle's/Troika's games weren't short of their bug lists as well.

 

[Brother None]

Funny how things haven't changed since Daggerfall. But let's not forget Black Isle's/Troika's games weren't short of their bug lists as well.

No kidding. It was an insult the state in which games like Fallout 2 and Vampire: Bloodlines were released, and it is unacceptable that they're still being fixed today.

It's unacceptable behaviour from BIS/Troika (especially from BIS, since Interplay had the money to fix it whereas for Troika it was more the publisher's responsibility) and it also is for Bethesda.

 

[Beelzebud]

Funny how things haven't changed since Daggerfall. But let's not forget Black Isle's/Troika's games weren't short of their bug lists as well.

No kidding. It was an insult the state in which games like Fallout 2 and Vampire: Bloodlines were released, and it is unacceptable that they're still being fixed today.

It's unacceptable behaviour from BIS/Troika (especially from BIS, since Interplay had the money to fix it whereas for Troika it was more the publisher's responsibility) and it also is for Bethesda.

Now now, this isn't good for stereotyping NMA!

 

[Phancypants]

Every in-house developer tool I've ever seen or used tends to be a hacked together 'ends to a means' piece of software. They have buttons that do nothing, buttons that have a nasty habit of breaking everything, few checks in place, zero documentation and error messages that are cryptic at best.

These are the tools that the SDK's and CS's get built from, but they need a lot of work before they can be shipped out to the public if that's the end goal. I'm not suprised at all that modding tools have been delayed (especially since Beth has been saying launch tools will most likely not be shipped for months). I'd rather have the game not ship with a CS than have the game delayed for a feature that only a small portion of the userbase is going to use. There's a finite number of dev's availble for Fallout3 (as with any project), and undoubtedly their time is better spent polishing the main release.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

I'd like to point out that they have said repeatedly that they don't have people working on making the CS for consumers but have said many times that they are already working on DLC. If they were serious about releasing a CS anytime soon after launch then they would have people working on it instead of some or all of the DLC. The CS is simply not a priority.

 

[Ranne]

Phancypants, as I said before, considering that the game's engine was virtually unchanged, adjusting the existing TES editor to support Fallout 3 shouldn't be a problem at all. They're either lazy, indifferent, or wary of volunteer competition affecting their DLC sales. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if it's all of the above.