Monthly Modder: Grooves_Games

Grooves_Games is a prolific mod author, creating completely unique locales in Fallout 4 such as those seen in “A Tragedy in Paradise” (PC, Xbox, PS4), where he displays his confident sense of scale and ambition also seen in his “Maze of the Underworld” (PC, Xbox, PS4).

With an ingenious use of existing art assets in his mods, Grooves_Games enjoys “trying to create art with limitations,” and as such he continues to impress with mods for Fallout 4 players on all platforms. He gives insight into his creative process, evolution as a mod author and what he hopes to do next.

You’re someone who always pushes the boundaries for what’s visually possible in your mods, creating player homes and original locations that are incredibly unique. Where do you get your inspiration when you set out to make one of these locations?

Most of my inspiration comes from Fallout, being my most favorite story in video games, the rest of my inspirations comes from my various science, historical, art and architectural studies. My vault tec questline is a 9 chaptered story that is inspired by the Fallout storyline. My Tragedy in Paradise mod is a 7 chaptered story that takes you to several ancient cities around the world. My GruV furniture mod was inspired by the art of HR Giger. My Lair of the Silver Shroud mod is inspired by my love for Batman and my desire to have my own Batcave.

Your world building relies entirely on creative use of existing art, rather than new assets. How do you approach working within these restrictions as a prolific mod author?

As an artist I enjoy trying to create art with limitations. I find it helps me progress into being a better artist. I also prefer using the existing assets, it makes my mods feel more like they are from the world better than a new asset would.

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Your mods have also gotten more ambitious and in depth over time. How have you been able to “level up” your modding skills through these projects?

I actually started modding ambitiously, I didn't have the skill set then to create what I was visualizing. I had never made a mod before Fallout 4, so, I had to dial it back and learn as I went. As my skill set increased, I was able to start making much bigger and better mods. Most of my first mods were created as I was learning how to make them. My GruV furniture mod is the best example of this method.

What is your favorite part of modding?

As a writer and artist, I see current video games as being another medium of art. Since I was very young, I have always tried to work in all mediums. Modding Fallout gave me the chance to work in that medium and create content for my favorite story and put it out in the world for others to enjoy.

What can we expect from you in future mods? Are there any areas where you’re hoping to continue to expand your abilities and push the limits of the Creation Kit?

I got sidetracked a few years back on a different project and haven't gotten back into modding FO4 yet. I was working on a big mod dealing with the origin of the Dunwhich family and the Salem witch trials. I'm getting ready to start working on that again. I'm also hoping to expand my modding into Fallout 76. Most of my mods are part of a bigger story. The main core of that story would be better told 30 years after the bombs fell instead of 200+ years after. The Vault tec mod is about hunting down the founders of the Enclave who started the events leading up to the Great War. I love building in FO76 and would love to create new items for the workshop. Some are current assets sitting around the world already, assets that a lot of builders are wanting to build with, we're just waiting for someone to add them to the workshop.

Lastly, what are your favorite mods (by other authors) or your favorite mod authors?

It is hard to list favorites by these authors, they have made so many great mods. My favorite Authors are Madrox (Bethesda.net, Nexus), he builds amazing works of architecture for settlements, Elianora (Bethesda.net, Nexus), she makes the most amazing outfits, Gazarts (Bethesda.net, Nexus has some really cool stories in his mods and Galejro's mods (Bethesda.net, Nexus) are on another level and are more along the lines of DLC due to their massive size and the amount of work that goes into them.