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Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Steve

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Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Hi,

I have big plans for Fable 3 modding when the game is finally released for PC. I completely missed out on the Fable: TLC modding scene and I feel like a proper idiot for that. However, I'm really eager to do some brainstorming with you guys - especially the veteran Fable: TLC modders.

What I have:

1. A super-speedy, high bandwidth server with which to allow for huge mods to reside.
2. A superb downloads script which isn't too dissimilar to the sort of download system that's in place at L4DMaps.com.
3. Money to fund this.

What I need:

1. Well... modders. Sadly, the last game I seriously modded and seriously got stuck into .inis, voxels, .shps, and all that other junk was the archaic Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Yuri's Revenge, and a little Generals. I'd love for - when Fable 3 is released - modders to come forward and want to have their work hosted here. That means I want to reward you guys who help build mods for the database. And I'd really like to discuss what sort of things you guys would rightfully deserve for your hard work.

Basically, if you build a genuinely interesting mod which would interest others, I'll host that sucker for you for free. I'll pay the bandwidth costs, you just come up with great content whenever you feel inspired.

Now, I'll be honest, I don't know how much room Fable modders will be given to breath, what with F3 being a Games For Windows Live game, but even if you're just limited to simple GUI alterations or character re-skins then I'd still be eager to run with that. Devil May cry 4 and Resi 5 were both games that were constrained by the limitations imposed by Games For Windows Live, but talented modders were still able to come up with some absolutely stunning creations.

Anywho, I realise my post doesn't really have any direction to it, but I basically want us to start bouncing some ideas off each other regarding how you think our downloads section should be. I basically want to see what we, as a community, can come up with. And I'm really excited about it. I'm also a huge fan of the fabletlcmod.com website and if I'm able to contact the owner and run some ideas by 'em then it'd be great to get some kind of joint website collaboration going and put both of our energies toward distributing some great mods. Who knows.

I'd also like to create a new usergroup dedicated to Fable 3 modding with perks and perhaps even staff-like abilities. We'll just have to see where discussion takes us.

Well, anyway... discuss, I guess. :)
 

Cain

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Modding has always interested me, but I never got round to learning how to do it. Will Fable 3 modding be similar to TLC, with files and such, or will it be different due to technology gaps. Sorry if this sounds stupid, I just want to know if I can just read a TLC modding guide and apply it to Fable III. Again, sorry if its a bit stupid, I am new to this.
 

Relinquished Reality

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

With all the new textures Fable 3 will provide, and also all the new meshes and animations, the game would be hard to navigate though to mod meaning that things will be harder to find. There, just stated the obvious.

The game to me seems that it would be pretty hard to mod. I will have to give it a try eventually tho. I might get the game for xbox first and then later buy F3 for the comp. If anyone would give me some interesting textures for the game to meddle with, i would really appreciate it :)
 

Steve

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

I don't have an answer for you, WK, I'm afraid. Fable: TLC modding completely skipped me by and so I couldn't comment on how similar or dissimilar modding Fable 3 will be. I can only imagine that certain limitations will be imposed upon Fable 3 because of the way that Games For Windows Live validates games before they are launched. I believe that 'Total Conversions' will be completely out of the question; I also can't see custom levels or additional weapons being an option either - as they might in some way conflict with future DLC plans. I mean, Microsoft wouldn't want some independent coder creating and giving away additional content for free.

However, my knowledge of the matter is limited at best.
 

Purple Nurple

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

I know for certain John has contacted several veteran modders, hopefully collectively they'll be able to sort something out.

I would love to get into modding, but unfortuneately my PC is awful :(
 

Steve

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Despite my lack of knowledge and involvement towards Fable: TLC modding, I have noticed several names crop up from time to time and I've taken notice. JohnDoe is one person who I would greatly love to bring onboard in a staff or managerial capacity and have a greater influence on the Fable 3 Mods Database (not the final name by the way) - should he be interested, of course - as I understand his modding talents are very recognized among the Fable communities.

I was looking to get in contact with a few of the veteran modders a little further down the line and really get some creative juices going. What kind of things would you guys like to see? Do you guys happen to visit any websites that have a pretty comprehensive downloads system that you might like to see introduced here?
 

Purple Nurple

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

projectego;390394 said:
JohnDoe is one person who I would greatly love to bring onboard in a staff or managerial capacity and have a greater influence on the Fable 3 Mods Database (not the final name by the way) as I understand his modding talents are very recognized among the Fable communities - should he be interested, of course.

I was looking to get in contact with a few of the veteran modders a little further down the line and really get some creative juices going. What kind of things would you guys like to see? Do you guys happen to visit any websites that have a pretty comprehensive downloads system that you might like to see here?

Yeah, JohnDoe is the man. Out of all the veteran modders on here, he knows the new members well enough to offer advice to anyone I reckon.

Personally I'd like to see similar stuff to the TLC mods, ie. New weapons, clothing etc. but also more quests. I realise scripts are harder to do than retextures, but I reckon if we set them a challenge that'll be fun. New areas in game, etc.

As for downloads.... I'm not too sure tbh. I'm not sure, are torrents only for like media files etc.? Or can you use torrents to download anything? (Also, many apologies if this is against the rules, but could a program such as uTorrent be acceptable to use in given circumstances?)
 

Steve

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Torrents are cool, man. Torrenting, BitTorrent and Torrent clients aren't bad per se, but when you're talking about seeding illegal do-dabs then it's kind of frowned upon here. Also, I didn't say anything about torrents. Any Fable 3 mods would be available via direct FTP download from a super fast server. Potentially expensive as hell for me but it's just something I'd love to implement.

L4DMaps has an excellent system in place; I love how the community is tied into it, as well as watchlists, changelogs and user-submitted reviews.

If you've download a map from there then you'll have a good idea on what to expect when our system is launched. The one I have in mind is similar, but will be much more tailored to our needs.
 

Purple Nurple

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Lol I have no idea what the difference between a torrent, FTP downloadymajig or anything to do with PC stuff. Man I'm a bad kid.

Could torrent's theoretically work though? Surely you could P2P share the mod? Have no idea.
 

Steve

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

No worries, mate. The only reason I know the difference is because I used to be enough of a sadcase to leave my computer on 24/7 torrenting/leeching, eDonkey'in (lol) and downloading all kinds of junk off the webernets. That was many, many moons ago, though. ;)

If you wanted to download a mod from the database it would be as simple as right click > save as.

Yeah, P2P would work too. I can't imagine it being all that useful though unless tons of people were seeding it or if projectego.net was temporarily down.
 

cheezMcNASTY

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

this all sounds like a great idea! hopefully the games code allows.
i may not have a very powerful PC, but if it permits i'd love to get involved with modding again... though my last experience is with a game that's a decade old...
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

JohnDoe;390440 said:
They're taking their sweet as time finding their way home. And my PC is a piece of junk as well. It has served me faithfully for many, many years, but I think it is time for me to retire it. I'm an absolute believer that there is an afterlife of paradise for good computers.

Yeah, but my PC isn't even powerful enough to run TLC :s I pass on all the tests on Can You Run It, apart from the GPU. I always suffer from a rubbish GPU, and my PC is using a chipset (I think) so I can't change it :(

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you Cheez except without the previous experience, I would love to start modding, but I lack all expertise and technological control. In other words, I'm useless :p.
 

Steve

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

You won't necessarily need battle-hardened Fable modders for that one. Everything about Fable 3 will be different, so even the veteran modders will be at square one until the game is released. Aside from that, many Fable modders have no idea what a modding community is supposed to look like because they've never seen one.
This much I already know. I'm familiar enough with modding (although, I haven't really been serious into for about 10 years) to know that with every new game (unless it's an expansion pack, and in some cases not even then) you can expect an entirely new engine.

I don't expect casual Fable: TLC modders to know the first thing about Fable 3 modding, but I'd still love to work with those who have shown an interest in learning.

An idea that I'll throw out there is this: Emulate Oblivion communities and download centers. Oblivion has had a massive following, and their modding has been every in-depth, which means that they absolutely needed a good system for managing and distributing downloads. But you'll also need some people familiar with Fable, at least enough so as to know what the needs and wants of an upcoming Fable modding community. For this, morerunes would be a good start. He's a sharp guy, good head on his shoulders.
Bethesda definitely did good by making Oblivion relatively easy to mod. It'd be awesome if Lionhead released an SDK during the launch or shortly after. If not, then it'd be a shame but I don't really expect them to, to be honest. Aside from Valve's recent efforts, I can't think of any high profile games which have released an SDK. That's also why I'm reluctant to say that anything other than re-skins will be do-able. And I can only speculate that much from my limited experience with modding Games For Windows games.

I'd love to be wrong though!

Whoa, hang on there Steve. You know I like you and would support you in just about anything, but I don't want you to break the bank before we know what we're dealing with (or even after), for all we know, we might be able to distribute mods in 4MB packages making an extensive system unnecessary and fiscally unsound. The game won't be out for another four months at least, and even then, we don't know what we're going to be capable of. It's not an investment I'd be willing to recommend.
It would take an awful lot for me to 'break the bank', as it were. :ninja:

I would not be renting this super-speed server per se, I'd only be paying for the bandwidth. So, unless I'm hosting a number of 1GB files that are being downloaded 10,000 times a day, then I'm golden. I have a few other ideas regarding sponsoring, too, which I can always fall back on.

I personally would have thought that the majority of mods - or mini-mods - will consist of simple .ini or .cfg file changes (or the Lionhead equivalent) which will only change basic game behaviour and should come in at no more than a few megabytes. I'm also prepared for the re-skins which I'm sure will come in at anywhere between 50-200MB on average. I can't really give a realistic estimate though.

I also want to make it easy for modders to actually be able to get their mods online at projectego.net. I mean, I can't really hand out the login details to my private server. But for mini-mods, I would imagine they could easily be sent as an email attachment, or uploaded as an attachment to the forum, and then I'g go offer an include them in the database - with full credit to the user who submitted the mod, of course. Larger files might require users to upload to rapidshare or one of the other billion file hosts. It won't be a problem though.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Hopefully some of you can tell I'm very eager to get a Fable 3 mods system in place. :)
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

I can't wait to give this a shot. I haven't been as active as I could have been when modding Fable 1, as most of my skills reside in helping others with software and issues etc. But with this, I can't wait to put my potential to work!

I'd love to be a Fable 3 modder.
 

Steve

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

fable3modder.gif


DO WANT.
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

That looks like a sexy title, it does it does! Too bad I'll be of zero help with this whole F3 modding that hopefully will happen. :lol:
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

projectego;390508 said:
That title matches my soul. PLEEEEASE LET IT BE!!
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

I also plan on modding Fable III, even if it's not possible. If we're insanely lucky, Lionhead might even externalize a bunch of the files so that their easy to mod.(Doubt it though)



DarkenedSoul;390554 said:
That title matches my soul. PLEEEEASE LET IT BE!!

I agree with this statement.
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Hey, yeah, I'm completely ignorant, but I always kinda wanted to get into modding TLC. So... I'll keep an eye on this.

With the usual caveats: I applied to the CG Academy, if I get in on the waitlist, I won't be here. And: I'm poor, and I prefer my games on the console. Meaning that I wouldn't be buying F3 for PC for quite awhile after it came out.
 

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Re: Building a Fable 3 Mods Database

Walker;390649 said:
Hey, yeah, I'm completely ignorant, but I always kinda wanted to get into modding TLC. So... I'll keep an eye on this.

See, I'm really looking forward to hopefully seeing plenty of articles and 'how-to' guides being shared and helping newcomers to learn the basics nice and quick. There were some excellent articles written when we opened the Fable: TLC modding forum and they've been read, like, a bazillion times- I'm sure helping a ton of people understand how the different mechanics work and how to get started.

I'd love it if we could get some even better rewards for users who share their knowledge of Fable 3 modding, too.

With Fable: TLC, I just sort of made a couple of forums then stood aside. I really want to get my hands dirty this time round; failing that, I'd at least like to make information easily accessible for everyone.
 
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