It's great to have you here with us, Glitchfinder! To kick things off, tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm not really sure there's much to say about myself. My about page here sums it up well enough with just "I make mods," and that's the part that really matters, you know? We're all here because we play games and enjoy modding them. Or at least I hope we are. None of you are here against your will, right?
We'd love to hear about your journey into becoming a mod author for Fallout 4. What's your history with gaming and can you remember your first gaming experience?
I can't remember what my first game was, but I can remember that the first console I played on was an Atari 2600 and the first game I ever personally owned was Pokémon Blue. Confusing combination, isn't it?
As for Fallout 4, I got that as a present from someone who saw how much time I was sinking into Skyrim and figured I might enjoy Fallout 4 too. Clearly they were correct. Also similar to Skyrim, my first experience modding the game was purely out of frustration - my settlers simply were not doing what I wanted them to do at Jamaica Plain and I wasn't going to stand for that. A few things have happened since then, and here we are seven years and dozens of mods later.
What then led you to modding?
I think my first big "Wait, you can edit the game?" moments were with level editors in games like Sierra's Hunter Hunted and city builders/strategy games like Caesar III and Age of Empires. The idea that it wasn't just a one-way interaction was mind blowing.
And then I tried Creatures, and learned about these "COBS" that you could make for the game that would let you add new objects, edit existing ones, and even edit the world yourself. It was incredible, and I haven't looked back since.
Just as an aside, while I'm sure it's actually a pretty popular game series, I have never heard of anyone else knowing what Creatures is! Growing up I had Creatures 2 on PC but never really understood how it worked and it always scared me a little bit - what a throwback!
I have copies of the full series through GOG now, because they're great about that sort of thing. I also still have the original disc, box, and manual for the copy I was playing back in the 90s. I still have most of my old games, actually.
You've made nearly seventy mods for Fallout 4, do you have a favourite you've created, or a most challenging to design?
I wouldn't say I'm quite to seventy, though I'm pretty dang close. A lot of those are little bugfixes too, so it kind of feels weird to put the number out there like that. As for my personal favorite, that's kind of hard. So many of my mods are things I made because I want to use them while playing, and personally they blend into a better experience overall for me.
If I were to narrow it down to just one mod as my favorite, it would have to be Commonwealth Encounter Pack. I love running into those encounters when I'm playing or testing mods, especially with how much I put into making them unique and varied.
In terms of most challenging, that's an easy one. It's got to be You And What Army, which was so much of a challenge to wrangle that I rebuilt it three times and then discontinued the whole thing and rebuilt it again in a completely different way. I think it was worth the effort, but it sure wanted to fight back while I was doing it.
Can you give us a sneak peek as to anything you're working on next?
Mmmmm, I'm kind of having mixed opinions on this. I'm currently taking a break from modding, so it feels almost rude to show off and then chase that with "But I have no idea when I can post this," you know? Even so, there are definitely things I've already shared in various places, like some screenshots of replacement textures to make different holotapes unique.
I've also got a work-in-progress integration mod that not only covers all of the base-game DLCs, but also covers all of the new Creation Club add-ons that came free with the Next Generation update. Right now I'm partway through a complete replacement for the "Pyromaniac" quest from the Hellfire Power Armor add-on.
Aside from your own, of course, what's your favourite Fallout 4 mod or mods?
Oooh, this one's a super tough question. There's a ton of mods on this site, and so much work and love has gone into making the game a better, more enjoyable experience. Should I poke fun at my name and say the Unofficial Patch?
Really, I had a hard enough time picking from my own mods, I can't pick a favorite from the site as a whole!
So, what do you get up to when you're not gaming or modding? Any other hobbies?
I spend a lot of time reading, mostly fantasy and science fiction. I also spend time playing board games and card games with my friends. But that's still gaming, so, hmm. I don't really spend as much time watching television or movies as I used to, especially with how much time modding has sucked up as a hobby lately. I'm also currently in the middle of a Lord of the Rings themed D&D campaign with a few friends, but that's gaming again...
I guess for the most part I'm a gamer across all sorts of categories. I do have some hobbies that I've not spent as much time on lately, like a rock collection that's been slowly growing since childhood. And sometimes I'll break out my old Legos and build a thing or two with them.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with those reading, or any shout-outs you'd like to make?
Tough question. Plenty of things I could say, but with how stressful modding communities tend to get I think the best I can do is quote a classic at all of you: "Be excellent to each other!" and "Party on, dudes!"
A huge thank you to Glitchfinder for taking the time to chat with us and if you’ve got a favourite mod of theirs, do let us know! I’ll sign off by saying, as always, if there’s a game or a member of our community you’d like to see showcased ping SlugGirl a DM.
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What COBs did you (and Glitchfinder) make?