Item modding question

T

Talisien

Still Mildly Glowing
I've been into Fallout for a long time now, and I have really enjoyed the many great (and some not-so-great) mods that are available, most of which can be found here at NMA.

I have recently become interested in making my own mod. I downloaded the map maker, and have the maps I want finished. I have a friend doing the coding; I don't know much about that, except to know I would screw it up a lot, were I to try my hand at it. It seems to me a thing best left to those who have patience, which I know quite well i don't.

The existing creatures work fine for my needs- the game has a very good variety, and my coder says placing them where i want them is not too hard, so that angle is covered.

But now I need some special items. That means I either have to mod existing items or create new ones. I'd rather not mod existing ones, as that will affect gameplay outside of the new area I am making. I don't want that. I just want a new area, with a few quests and a few new items. The basic game is great, I just want more to do after I've destroyed the Enclave, and that's where this mod comes in. It will be a new area that can be found after you beat the game. It will be mentioned by the Vault City computer where you get the exp boost, and by the priest in New Reno that gives you the Hint Book.

My problem is, I can't find a program/utility/whatever that will let me do what I want. I have one for Fallout 1, called FIC, but I can't get it to work for FO2. I keep getting this message about "Target out of bounds.(-1)" So I'm hoping the good folks here can give me some advice, since you all seem to have so much accumulated experience. Help a gamer out, would you? If anyone can tell me how to get FIC to run, or direct me to a good program/utility, it would be much appreciated.
 
Try my tool - F2wedit. This is editor for Fallout2 items, you can easy add new items too ;)
 
Thanks, I will. I saw it, but I didn't know it had a creation function-I thought it was just for modifying existing items. It should be pretty good, though- I've heard good things about your work.
 
Grr... I guess the items will be put on hold for a while as I learn how to do scripting and coding and crap. My friend who was to handle this excessive brain work for me just got his class assignment for his computer programming class. He has to create a website, and it has to attracts some huge number of hits by the end of the semester. As I said before, I really am not strong on patience, and now it looks like I get to do all the brain stuff too, as I don't feel like waiting until after the start of the new year to get this part of the mod done.

I guess I might as well put some info on the idea out there, and start getting some feedback and new ideas.

My idea is this:

Since you have 13 years game-time before you truly get a game over, that leaves most players with at least ten years of random wandering after beating the game. But you usually don't have much left to do, beyond hoping for those special random encounters. So I wanted to make a new area for playing in exclusively AFTER beating the game.

I want it to be mentioned in two different places:
1- The library mainframe in Vault 8 (Vault City) where you get the insta-level-99
2- Father Tully in New Reno after getting the Hint Book

Both places will give you hints that send you further along to still other places, which eventually lead you back to the tanker for a special trip to Alcatraz Island. In my mod, Alcatraz will have been used as a super-max prison where inmates were used as guinea pigs for various experiments (not FEV, other things). I think the inmates will have been mostly Canadian detainees (no knock on Canadians, it's just that the annexation of Canada by the USA before the war is well established in the game world.)

The map for Alcatraz is already done. It's a series of multi-floor buildings and an underground complex. Players will run into a wide variety of enemies, and find a number of goodies hidden in various locations. This will include some data from around the time of the war (whatever seems apropriate from the Fallout Bible, plus whatever I make up to fill in the blank spots in between).

I don't want to say much more, as it would take away from the fun of playing it once it's done, but I will try to put answers to any specific questions that are posted, and I will take any reasonable and/or serious ideas in to account. I am well aware that a great many of you have MUCH, MUCH more experience in the modding arena (since I don't have any, LOL), and I would greatly appreciate any advice, criticism, and encouragement I can get.
 
MIB88 and Killap have both given me some advice, and I already feel a little better about tackling this monster on my own. I really have to finish this. It will be, as far as I know, the only mod that centers around AFTER you beat the game, and I think that is something that quite a few people might be interested in.

Oh, one more thing- I've been calling this just "the Fallout mod" because it was just mine, but if I get this done and posted, I'll need a better name than that. I'm taking suggestions...(hint, hint)

Oh, and one other thing you may find interesting- I'll be including talking aliens in the mod.
 
Post some snapshots of the map you have created - you will find interest grows significantly when people have something to look at.
 
I kind of like the idea, Alcatraz does fit well into the timeframe (and if it wasn't closed in the 1960s, the top sec experiments might have as well been the reason.)

Keep up the work.

Oh, and edit your post if it's the last one in the thread.
 
I'd be more than happy to post some images... if someone would tell me how. I've spent plenty of time on my computer, but I've never really done much besides play games and surf the net. If someone would PM me or email be on how to put up some pics, I would be glad to.

On another note, as I said before, I've never done any scripting. I know that there are plenty of FAQs on the subject, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me which ones would be the most helpful. I'd rather not spend several hours of my limited free time reading some huge FAQ, only to find out that it really isn't helping me as much as I thought it would. Any opinions on that front would be much appreciated. I would rather spend a week deciding on one to read and reading it than spending a week reading ten that become a jumbled mess in my head when I'm trying to put the info into practice.
 
Well, as for the scripting, there are plenty of FAQ's you can read. Also browsing the forum for a subject you want to work on is a good idea. Speaking as someone who hasn't been scripting very long, a good way to start is to think of something simple you want to do and find an example of it in the game.

I also recommend reading through the information with the mapper, which had some key points to look at.

Finally, I assume you're using FSE to do the scripting? This makes life a lot easier and has information on what most of the codes are to get things done.

Hope this helps.
 
Actually, I haven't started any of the scripting as of yet. As I said before, I had a friend who was going to do it for me, in return for being able to use it for a class grade. I thought it best to get some advice on the matter and do some research before I just started tinkering with it.

And on that note, I have to say that the people here at NMA have been great in showing good will and sharing helpful tips. I really appreciate all of the supportive words and advice a lot.
 
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