Fallout 4
Buy GameMonthly Modder: 3lric
Fallout 4
Buy GameSome mods add new content to the game, and others adjust what’s already there or the game experience itself.
3lric has released mods that do all three. His latest is the team effort, Factories of the Commonwealth, which adds some impressive new features to Fallout 4. We spoke with him about his experience with modding and working as part of a team.
Your team has just started a new mod series, Factories of the Commonwealth. How did you go about designing this?
Factories of the Commonwealth was actually spawned from a combination of two separate mod ideas I had wanted to make a few years back. The first being a proper recycling plant, to break down all your junk items. The second being a settlement centered around an arcade. Once I finally started working on the recycling plant, I decided I wanted to include a Plinko machine, which turned into a huge project to work out. We couldn't decide where to put it, since it ended up larger than expected. Eventually Werty concepted the entire lower area of the factory on console using mods, and then created many videos for me to recreate the entire area piece-by-piece in the Creation Kit. Once we finished the lower areas, oddlittleturtle went back and added some more flavor, and she did all the lighting by hand. When it all came together it was a truly beautiful sight.
Since the area became so large, we decided to keep going. I concepted the coin pusher, and Werty worked out the ball toss and polymer labs. Some concepts sadly didn't make it into the first factory, but you'll get to see them further down the line. Thanks to tim-timman and his hard work creating a ton of workarounds for us, a lot of different arcade game concepts are more easily possible in the future.
What inspired the story?
Honestly the story started with us trying to figure out what to call the factory. We knew we wanted it to be an R&D plant, but in the vein of Fallout itself, we wanted to make some wacky and fun story behind it. So we combined the names Werty, oddlittleturtle, dimbass (tim-timman), JackDolff and 3lric, into 'Little Ric & Jack Dimwert'. Desslok, our tester, didn't fit into the name, so we made him the Dessglock instead, with its own story.
After that, Werty continued to weave this fantastic short story between the terminals to explain the goings-on in the factory as well as why these creations aren't seen in other areas around the Commonwealth. Initially we didn't expand on this, but right before release we decided to add a lot more to the story. This is where all the skeletons and the remainder of the story come from, as they each carry a note with a piece of their own story from what happened either during or after the bombs fell. Some of these are from people who worked in the factory, some from raiders, and a few are even from treasure hunters. These were a lot of fun to write and I had a blast finding a way to include the whole crew into the mod.
Any hints on what’s coming next for the series?
Well, I can tell you that the initial re-interest in the concept was sparked by someone requesting a Twinkie factory in Natick. Obviously, we have to stay away from branding, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few images and short videos of something along those lines in the next month or two. We also have a few games that didn't make it into the first factory that I plan to include here, and of course new reward machines to go along with the new themes we plan to use.
What is your favorite part of modding?
Hands down my favorite part of modding is the people that I get to meet and work with. I love collaborating on mods, and the folks that I've met while modding Fallout and a plethora of other games have been the highlight of my entire modding career. Without these other modders, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish half of what our mods are able to (honestly even less than that). I really cannot speak highly enough of my team and their ability to turn around any issues we encounter into something that just... works.
Any mods you'd like to recommend?
Of course I will always recommend anything by tim-timman, oddlittleturtle and Alkazare, but there are so many other awesome modders out there that we don't work as closely with. Seddon4494 and his tutorials are how I learned to do a lot of what I do now. They taught me to think outside the box when it comes to making things work. But really there are so many fantastic modders that it is hard to pick just a few, as I feel I'd be doing a disservice to the others. Thank you to all the modders out there! Keep up the great work guys!
