Hello GUN family,

I'm back in town now and looking forward to settling into some more modding. I feel like I've been quiet for a while so I want to reach out to the community and let anyone who cares know that I'm hard at work.

I want to try an Ask Me Anything so let's have your questions! You can post all day Saturday the 29th (and what's left of this Friday) and I'll give my responses on Sunday the 30th.

(This post is in the Fallout discussion thread because I expect to answer questions primarily about New Vegas, but I will answers other questions too.)

Ah, that's nice to hear.

Do you have any ETA for your projects? Like the Boomers or Willhaven for example.

Are there any mods you want to make but can't seem to get working?

Hi Drag, love your work in New Vegas! Quick question that you probably get alot; are you planning to make mods for Fallout 4? I know there is a large community of authors for FNV and there have been a few that have already stated they have no plans to work on FO4, but are you a member of that crowd? Either way, love your stuff and keep it up!

Hows it going Drag, I've heard about you making a mod called willhaven which is apparently a quest mod that started as simply another armor port? How's that progressing?

Also, last time I heard you're trying to slowly make your way into remaking the visuals of the factions in fallout, how's the progress on boomers?

Also welcome back haha

Hey there!
My question: How long did it take till you became that good in creating mods? Do you have a professional background in that regard or is it all self-taught?

What were your first memorable moments when you first started playing New Vegas, like what parts of the game/story caught your attention?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by your projects? I know you're a member of the Frontier team if I'm correct, as well as your projects on the Boomers and Willhaven currently.

1. If there will be mods that overhauls Powder Gangers, Freeside inhabitants (especially Kings gang) and Followers of the Apocalypse?
2. And when Willhaven will be released?
3. After all mods of New Vegas you working, is there will be another mods?

Hi dragbody, thank you for your amazing work. Two questions from me:
1/ Do you intend to port more creatures into your Updates from the Commonwealth mod (Mr Handy/Gutsy, Yao Guai, etc)?
2/ A raider faction overhaul would be great... May I hope for it (mid-term/long-term)?
See you soon!

Having fun so far... keep them coming!

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@c4in and @lyca5259 - ETA’s are a tough thing because so much can affect when a mod is ready for release. It’s also disappointing to everyone involved when a mod release date comes and goes and there is no update. All I can say is that the Boomers will be ready sooner than most of my other mods and Willhaven is an on-again-off-again labor of love.

@rojok2 - No. I really only mod in areas where I can make things work.

@Linteater - I am indeed a member of the no-mods-for-F4 crew. I gave F4 an honest shot and really wanted to like it. I bought a new PC for it and took a week off work when it released. A few days into it, I realized I honestly wasn’t enjoying myself. I was disappointed and frustrated. I’m glad many people like it but I can’t bring myself to play it anymore. I went back to NV and found that my love for the game was still strong so I figured there was no reason to abandon it. I’ll bet I can stay busy enhancing my NV experience until the next Fallout title

@shadowshade - I have no professional background. I am mostly self-taught with some tips I picked up along the way from xshepardx for race creation and tumbajamba for the original blender tutorials that got me jump-started. I’ve also benefitted a great deal over the years from tips from weijiesen and tesvixen. This does not include the partnerships and friendships that have kept me motivated from a large number of people in the modding community that would be too many to list.

@LucianHector - Wow. Good question New Vegas was my first Fallout title and first real experience with a Bethesda rpg. I remember noting a few similarities to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series (which is set for a movie release in less than a week!) so I was instantly engaged. From my first playthrough, I remember the fun of character building up and down the west side of the map while exploring Primm, Nipton, and the Mojave Outpost. I remember the nervousness I felt while I wandered through open territory before finally making it to Novac. I remember the excitement of taking the train from Camp McCarran into the Strip for the first time. Of course, the most memorable part of the game was how the original cinematic intro hooked me. I was fascinated by the Strip and the conflict between the NCR and Legion.

@Mattafex - This might be the hardest question asked here! The final answer might depend on the day and my mood. The song I am most likely to put on a playlist is probably Axe to Fall. It hits hard and doesn’t bullshit around, but the same could be said of many of their other songs. (**goes to spotify**) I just made a playlist for my favorite Converge tracks and it was 21 songs. That’s with leaving off a large number of others I also enjoy.

@Corvo - No, I never feel overwhelmed. I work at my own pace and have no deadlines or “due dates.” That’s the benefit to doing this as a hobby. However, I do often wish I could use some of my vacation time and just lock myself in my room, order delivery for every meal, and mod for a week straight.

@Sentra - Yes, I do eventually plan to overhaul every faction of NV including all the ones you mention. For your second question, please see above. And for your third, I have a to-do list of about 17 different projects.

@Prosp3ro - There are a few more creatures I intend to add. For example, the ghouls are nearly done and I would like to replace the lakelurks with one of the models from F4. I also have completed the robobrains but not added it to the mod yet. I will eventually do the vicious dogs and add the FEV hounds too. As for a raider overhaul, yes, it will happen.

I'm just glad you're back, man. I've not been on GUN much because of work as well as problems with the new Windows 10 Creators Update [beware!] - but I've also not been around because you've not been around much either. I would come on every day to check to see if you or Cruz had posted any new screenshots of things in the works Damn, still have to make that Daryl Dixon video. Maybe I could get it done in time for the new season of The Walking Dead. We'll see. Currently, it's looking as though I'm going to have to format and fresh install Windows 10 though. :\

@TheHermit - Ah yes! I need to release the Daryl Dixon update. I have the Silent Hills model and textures in use and it's a big improvement.

@everyone else - I have opinions on paid modding, public vs. private mods, and a host of non-Fallout topics. Just saying

I'm sorry if you weren't looking for mod questions but do you plan on creating an overhaul for the other fallout:NV DLC like DMHO, great mod btw must have for my playthroughs

@LucianHector - Oh, you're so accommodating

Public vs. Private Mods - First, let me state that this is a decision every mod author makes for his or her mods. No one tells us mods must be public or private and there are no criteria to which we are held.

So, let me share my reasons for making some mods private. The bottom line for me is that it is an ethical issue. I consider myself an ethical person and I strive to look for ways to increase my ethical awareness. When it comes to gaming, I do not pirate games and I often buy games that I know I will never play exclusively to look at the models. However, when we are making mods using ported content, we begin to tread in ethical ambiguity.

Many game companies have stated publicly that they do not mind if their assets are used for game mods. Other companies have stopped short of giving explicit permission, but have acknowledged that mods increase the passion of the gaming community and open the possibility for the expression of fan efforts. Still other game companies have declined to comment at all (I know because I've written to them!).

Nevertheless, virtually all gaming companies have generic legal disclaimers that would put a dead stop on ported content if we took them at face value. I believe this is to allow them to have some recourse in the event that anyone tries to profit from their assets (such as selling them on turbosquid or re-using in paid mods) or from engaging in disrespectful activities that run contrary to their business efforts.

So, looking at the big picture, we are faced with a dilemma as mod authors using ported content. We want to make grand fan efforts, merge gaming universes, and enhance vanilla games but we also must walk a fine line with respect to the gaming companies whose assets we are using. We must recognize that we are stewards and we must, in my opinion, proceed with gratitude and respect.

This is why I choose to make some of my mods private. The process of membership approval is the only layer of vetting we have by which we can have confidence that a member is more or less a good person with good intentions. This is not about creating a class warfare (as some youtubers seem to think) or gaining some pleasure from denying mod access to anyone. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either misinformed, confused, or simply spiteful.

For example, I made my "Upgrades from the Commonwealth" and "Fallout 4 Power Armors" private because they used assets from Fallout 4 back when DLCs were still pending. Fallout 4 was still relatively new and some people may or may not have chosen to buy Fallout 4 if they could simply get upgraded assets in New Vegas.

Other mods, like the Ultimate NCR Overhaul, use assets from other games but they are heavily edited, some are from games that most gamers probably own anyway, and a ton of original work went into the modification of the assets.

In any case, I hope that sheds a little light on at least my reasoning when it comes to public vs. private mods.

Paid Modding: The sloppy roll-out and subsequent drama surrounding paid mods should be a testimony to the controversy and difficulty they present. I personally think the current system is broken. However, I believe that, conceptually, paid modding has great potential. In theory, it should attract talented modders--perhaps even professionals--to the mod scene with the potential for creating profitable and high-quality material.

If there were a review board and small staff of bug-testers, then mods that meet a certain criteria could be sold. For example, quest mods could cost $10 provided they offer a minimum number of gameplay hours and have professional quality voice acting. Custom weapon packs could cost $0.50 per weapon with a maximum cost of $5 per pack. Of course these are just examples.

The point is that such a system would not monetize the current efforts of modders, but would rather inspire and increase the availability of official DLC-quality content that might not exist otherwise.

I'm not saying I am definitely for such a system, but rather I'm of the opinion that it has potential and would be better all around than what we've got currently.

Martial Arts other than Jiu-Jitsu?: This is an easy one Muay Thai! I say this only because I know a few Muay Thai fighters and I am familiar with the effectiveness of the art as a form of self defense and striking. If BJJ were not an option, I would want something else equally effective in a different environment.

Countries I'd like to Visit: I'm not one with a strong sense of wanderlust. I usually enjoy seeing new places when I am there, but I am not motivated to go out of my way to get to them. Nevertheless, I would like to visit Australia and New Zealand plus various European countries.

@PsychicKaiser - I don't have anything like DMHO planned for the other DLCs. I would like to replace the tunnelers in Lonesome Road with the lickers from Resident Evil at some point, but the other DLCs feel fairly coherent and sufficient. Dead Money seemed to begging for enemy variation and the environment was so spooky a horror mod just felt natural.

However, I have been in discussion before about a mod that introduces a Virtual Reality pod that transports you to cells and worldspaces that would otherwise be anti-lore. For example, I think it would be great to hop into one of the VR pods in Nellis or Hidden Valley and be teleported to a farm where you fight a zombie apocalypse or a jungle where you fight dinosaurs. Then, once you complete the simulation, you're back in the Mojave

@dragbody drag im so excited your back and i hope everything is going well in your personal life i wish the best man.

im really looking forward to the daryl dixion update also i guess my question would be , will there be any new race mods that will be released ??

@famaine - There are race mods in virtually all of my mods So yes, there will be lots more.

@everyone - This thread will be closed in a few hours so get your questions in if you have any. If not, I'll see you around the forums

@dragbody thanks, but i have couple of questions left

1. Will you do more race mods for playing?

2. Are you plan to overhaul not only factions, but buildings?