Hey everyone. When you play a quest is New Vegas(or any game really), what is your favorite part of it. If you wanted to have a quest focusing on one of the areas above, what would you want?

1. Do you like having to talk to many NPC's? Possibly convincing them to help you, or do something. Or having to help them to get what you want from them?

2. Do you like quests that say "Go kill all of the people in this place.", then you go and slaughter them?

3. Do you like quests where you have to grab special items from places and bring them to back?

4. Do you like 'assassination' quests where you must kill one person, possibly in several unique ways? (i.e. the NCR leader if you side with Caesars Legion in NV, or the Dark Brotherhood quests from Oblivion)

I am trying to plan out a short quest mod that I will make once I finish my current mod for Fo3. That I can make easily in like a month or less but will still have what people want and entertain them. So please, tell me what you like to do during quests. Tell me what you don't like doing in quests. Tell me what kind of a short quest mod you guys would like to see.

Gunmaster95

I like quests that harken back to older RPGs, where quest markers don't exist and the player is required to either gather information for a quest or explore a bit, without a minimal amount of hand-holding or guidance. Except that in a series like Fallout, with such a huge and open world, using a general area type of marker is perfect, because it gives you a location without being more accurate that the best gps systems.

For an explanation of my vote:

Having to kill one or many things that are either incredibly difficult to kill through ordinary means(possible if you're a badass or are just good at game) or that requires a different way of approaching the situation. Think of any boss battle in a zelda game, exploiting weak points etc. The best times this is implemented is when the change cascades to mobs outside of the quest area, so then you find this mob that you had to learn to kill and now it's either "oh jeez this is gonna be one tough mother" or "let me just explode em this way...ah there ya go".

Vote = I like a little of all of that.

However, I also like rewards -- a lot. I am a total loot [censored]. I don't care if it's crap, but someone better give me something more than karma, rep and or caps if I'm playing gopher all over the friggin wilderness. Unique is always good, for armor and weapons, but really anything is fine. Chems, gear, craft supplies, whatever, just something tangible.

1. Talking to NPCs is fine. Talking to a dozen NPCs and running all over the Mojave doing inane fetch quests for them to convince them to help me do something is bad. If I need to convince more than two people, I'd appreciate different methods of convincing some of them- perk/skill/karma check, having a certain follower in my party, etc.

2. That depends on the quest and the people. I played a quest that had me mindlessly slaughter an entire town. It wouldn't have fit in a regular game but that was an alternate main quest mod so it was fine.

3. I like grabbing special quest items if what I go through to get them is fun and interesting. If there is good combat or interesting places to explore, it's great. What I don't want is to run around in circles, trapped in a room for two hours unable to get past some ridiculously difficult opponent or puzzle nobody can solve.

4. Yes!

And like Mythgaard, I am a loot [censored] too. I also am a game-hoarder so if there are not a bunch of empty bottles, tin cans, cups, empty jet inhalers and other crap for me to haul back to the house, I'll be really bummed.

I think the story behind it is important, what kind of quest it is isn't that important to me. You can have a very basic 'go there, talk to this person, then fetch me an item from this dungeon filled with raiders' quest, which is made interesting because of the story around it. Especially if you can 'choose' different outcomes somehow.

these choices weren't on the poll:

continuity and out-of-the-box solutions/outcomes to a quest.

having to sneak into a casino, either with a stealthboy or by stealing a guards uniform (disguises), killing the guard means he goes missing, and will be missed, rendering the guard unconscious means an alarm will go up eventually, but the'll start with non-lethal respons because the guard wasn't dead.. otherwise it's guns blazing..

Setting up trade connections -or whatever, and watching the surrounding environment benefit for it

That sort of divergent thinking always tickles me in a quest because it shows that the quest scripter was being thorough.

Gunmaster making another mod? Ohhhhh Quests that are like Morrowind quests are the best. They gave you directions, and a description of the place you needed to go to. Not just a map marker. There was mystery in everything, and most quests found in towns were nice and unique. So lets see, there's got to be some weird unique thing somewhere...Uh no map markers...Good dialogue...Hm...Oh, and multiple paths. Stealth, violence, preparing (i.e. setting traps) or whatever. Knowing you, the quest will be epic and long. But I ask you to do some small quests and ship it out as a quest pack, to see what people really think. And for the love of God, don't read the comments on Nexus. It's like Xbox Live and Chat Roulette rolled into one.

I love to collect "trophies" from my quests, preferably of the unique kind. It adds alot for me, and even if its not a weapon or armour or w/e, it still finds its way to my house, where is has its own shelf or such so that it can be displayed.

I like tough choices, with consequences, and grey areas. One of my favourite parts of New Vegas is that terminal deep in Vault 34, and anyone who's been there knows exactly which one I'm talking about. Protect what might potentially be the only viable source of food in the Mojave wasteland, whilst condemning an innocent family to a slow, painful death in the dark, or sacrifice that food source in favour of saving the family, and getting them out of that hellhole.

It's a really tough choice, I must've stared at that terminal for an hour, and either way, there are consequences. That's what I like best when I'm questing, it makes me feel as though the world is real, and that I'm a very real part of it. Part of what makes it better, and perhaps part of its problems, either wittingly or not.

Edited: Another example of this is Lily. I like things that really challenge my personal ethical code, which is important to me, I do appreciate knowing that my heart is still in the right place. With Lily (spoilers), you can either decide to tell her to take full, half, or no doses of her medicine. She tells you that her medicine is an anti-psychotic, but it also makes her forget things that she wants to remember.

Her memories are important to her, she values them as part of her identity, but when she takes her medicine, she gains clarity of mind, if she stopped taking it... she'd go bonzo, of course. Anti-psychotics and all that. So what could I do? What should I have done? It took me so long to decide what to tell Lily, but eventually I decided on half-doses.

Why?

She values her memories so highly, I can't tell her to throw them away, nor can I let her become some mindless psycho, the only ethical thing to do was to try and help her as she continued at half doses, and believe that eventually Doc Henry would come through with a solution that would help all Nightkin, including her, without erasing her memories and her identity. It would be tough, yes. But Nightkin are long-lived, she'd last, and then the day would come where she'd finally be herself again.

Stuff like that matters.

More than mindless, trite kill quests.

More than shallow loot whoring.

More than repetitive, grindy mail deliveries.

More than just about anything else a game could have to offer.

To me, at least.

Yes I am planning more for New Vegas. Though, I am going to make these few mods a quest pack, since its taken me 11 months so far on Project Genesis and thats just too long. I would like to be able to make a good quest mod in a few weeks tops. So your wish will be granted. Small quests put together into a quest pack.


So it appears overall you guys like the following:

1. Having to kill lots of people if theres a good story behind it and/or its fun balanced combat.
2. Assassinating one single target if there are many ways to go about doing so.
3. Rewards other than karma or bottle caps like random junk or unique weapons.
4. Dialog with NPC's, but not too much.
5. And most of all, CHOICES. You guys love to be able to make the outcome of the quest change, and see the effects of what you have done.

So far these will really help me improve my quest making! In my current mod (note, its my first mod ever) I created it in the wrong manner. There is one blatantly 'good' character, who you cannot kill, and cannot side against. Ever. You also dont get many other random rewards, since he does not have any to give you due to the circumstances.

So I will plan out several short quests, without a designated 'good' or 'bad' guy. Just a few people. You can choose who you want to help when, or where, and how. That should give you guys plenty of choice.

Keep replying here! This is some really helpful information and it will really improve the outcome of my future mods.

Gunmaster95

I just re-installed Call of Pripyat since 4Aces joined this circus show we call a forum and realized it has a great bunch of quests. Even on my first or second playthrough I didn't realize the routes you could take. So, Gunmaster, take a look at that. Backstabbing and double backstabbing is fun. And make sure some quests are funny. I was disappointed when I created a 1 INT character and found out NPCs don't talk down to you, NV needs moar funny.

Oh I most definitly agree. I love nothing more than a game that lets you get into a room or too an objective is 6 different ways. I also love good dialog. While Obsidian did ok and had a few jokes here and there (many more than Fo3), they really didnt have that much other than bland talk. I still found myself skipping large chunks of dialog just to go shoot more stuff. So hopefully I can make mine interesting.

And it makes you feel like you've actually made a difference, accomplished something. When I kill the leaders of the fiends, yeah I know that that'll make things easier for the NCR but it's mostly about the caps, fiends are just generic bullet fodder and you don't really feel like you've accomplished something when you kill them, it's just another days work.

Thourough quest scripting is essential for a good quest, when scripting a quest you need to think "How would I solve this?" Then "How would I solve this differently, how would someone else do it?" find any possible outcome you can and if you get all that in there then you've got an enjoyable quest with a lot of replay value.

I really like assassination missions, so I voted for #4. If it allows me to get creative on how to approach and kill my target then I'm sold. Guess what my favorite questline was in OB! XD

lol. im the only person who voted "i like to kill things"

Indeed. I cannot wait to get started on this. I'm stilling finishing up my current quest mod, in which I fear more and more I did backwards. For that, I made a really really long quest, though not very thouroughly scripted. You have little to no choice over anything at all. So I shall make these much shorter but you have a choice at every turn!

A little bit of all that works for me.

I agree with alot of what's been said already as well

1. loot, loot, loot, loot.....yes damn it! even bent tin cans

2. (In my best Comic book guy voice) I am the Collector, give me interesting things to collect

3. I will always endorse anything from me buddy Old Andy :twirl:

4. Who doesn't enjoy the go in and saluter away,bullets flying,NPC's dieing :gun:


bigcrazewolf

Haha. Well good. I suppose I always overlook adding 'pointless' loot as rewards. I dont really collect things like random tin cans and other junk, so I never think of it as a reward. But it has become painfully apparant that a large majority of players do, so I will make sure to have plenty of that in there. I am already planning some mods, though my focus remains with my current WIP, to be done within like 2 weeks. Then I will start modding NV.

I expect to be a gopher or be attacked and defend myself and am a little disappointed if the loot isn't a bit special or needed but it's not about the loot. What I really love is good writing. An emotional, meaningful, compelling story that grabs me is the absolute best. Also, feeling that you achieved a worthy outcome for another character. It just leaves you with a good feeling. This isn't easy to do but if it touches me, I'll remember it forever.

I'm not an assassin though so I have to have an alternative outcome or I can't do it.

My favorite quest so far has been the one where the quest marker bugged out so I had to think for myself. Think it was the one where I had to recover a stolen laser pistol for the Brotherhood. As a mod maker, remember that a LOT of us gamers are past our twenties, we've got functional brains and so on. Since you don't have to sell as many copies of your mod as possible, you can focus on making it good instead of accessible. Though if you can do both it's a win of course.

Well, I never considered myself creative. I was always the 'math and science' kid. But as the last year has progressed I think I am flipping. I have managed to do alot of really creative things and suprise myself, so hopefully I can write entertaining quests, with great dialog that everyone will love playing. I too love feeling/seeing/living the outcome of my choices, so this is something I will make sure to work in there.



I do also enjoy quests that are 'generic' or dont tell you exactly where to go. I will be sure to do a mix. I will probably have certain elements where it tells you exactly where to go (I.e. go talk to this guy in the new vegas strip. The quest marker would point right to him) and some more 'figure it out yourself' stuff, where I give destriptions or surrounding map markers or landmarks as reference. It does always appear the overruling demographic in gamers is somewhat stupid 14-17 year olds, but there are alot of you older (I use that term very loosly) folks out there, I will try to make it entertaining for everyone. Perhaps I can try working in two routes to a quest. One where the NPC spills his guts and tell you exactly what to do, and one where you have to figure it out. Then if I make it obvious which is which, but disguise it in a good way so I'm not just saying "Would you like me to tell you what to do?" it would make the quest accessable and challanging, for all to enjoy.

I just want to say thanks again for everyone who voted, this is a great gathering of data. I plan to begin my mods over winter vacation. I'll see you guys in Vegas.

Gunmaster95

At times, there are some amazing human stories right in the news. They've been used for a long time to inspire artists to create songs and movies, etc. I can see a quest(s) being interwoven into an amazing story that fits with characters of your creation that come to life for you and involve something engaging in the Fallout world. We're going to encourage you to stretch that creativity, right? I just learned how to mod and I look forward to yours. Have a great winter vacation and lots of fun creating.

Hey, glad to be of assistance Gunmaster :goodjob: and if you need any help with the junk cluttering just give me a shout.


looking forward to your work


bigcrazewolf