Achievements: A Fallout Tale

[Blastaz]

Now I know that the upcoming addition of Achievments to the Paradox stable is a contentious issue. Personally I am in favour of achievments. However I have one warning.

In Oblivion's latest epic Fallout: New Vegas, which on the PC is delivered through Steamworks they have added some fierce protection. You can't earn Achievements if you have added any mods whatsoever to the base game.

I like achievments, I am a bit OCD about them, and so this is so frustrating.

I can't add graphics packs. I can't increase the difficulty. I can't add player hotfixes to the numerous bugs. I can't, when I want to, make it any easier to survive in the Wasteland. In short, I can't mod the game at all. (Ed: Duh!)

Now it has been said before that PI was considering adding simillar protection to their achievment system.

Please, please don't!

The ease and beauty with which simple bugs (looking at you no Muslim westernisation in out of the box HTTT!) can be overcome and silly hurdels reduced is what makes a Paradox game what it is. Please don't make me, and everyone else out there of course, choose between that and getting a shiny new badge...

 

[mpenny3]

I totally agree, I like to mod my game and I also love the OCD feeling of getting achievements so I would hate it if Paradox put that sort of lock on their achievements

 

[unmerged(64629)]

I disagree strongly, achievements are about proving you can do something others can't, if you allow mods, you cheapen the achievement system by making easy to achieve them.

There's no way to guarantee that mods don't make it easier, except by banning all mods.

Complete your achievement then after that you are free to change the game as you please or on the flip side ignore the achievement but I expect that when someone get a hard achievement they worked hard for it and did not cheat. Mod throw that guarantee out the window.

 

[Metz]

The game should at least allow graphics mods.

 

[Kalelovil]

Paradox could simply add some sort of icon next to achievements which have been achieved by the player while the game has been modded.
I remember GTA3 having a similar system to this in which there would be a message next to savegames in which cheats had been activated saying as much.
This way the player can still go through the challenge and enjoyment of completing the achievements (and justify it to themselves) but others will know the playing field may not have been even.

 

[unmerged(227863)]

I don't care for achievements, but I modify virtually every part of my game in some small way. I do have sympathy with people who do want achievements but also want to mod their games, though.

 

[midget_roxx]

PI have said you can make the choice between having mods or having achievements

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

In Oblivion's latest epic Fallout: New Vegas

You mean Obsidian, right? An easy slip to make

I have New Vegas but haven't spent much time with it yet.
Sounds like an absolutely horrible idea. Bethesda-engine games are all about the mods.

 

[StephenT]

It's obvious why you can't have mods and achievements at the same time. Suppose there's an achievement for having an annual income over 1,000 ducats. I mod the game to give Holland a base tax value of 1,000 and start the game as Holland. Instant achievement!

 

[unmerged(183166)]

I prefer Bioware's achievement system. It doesn't care if you use mods or whatever, because end of the day, they don't mean anything, they are simply there for the player to get some sense of 'achievement' out of it. If they wanted to simply cheat to get the achievement, it is their loss and it doesn't affect anyone else.

 

[unmerged(47360)]

Achievements are a warm hand to stroke the ego. As StephenT and alexender00 pointed out, modding a game obviously invalidates any sense of standardized achievement. If you feel so strongly about it, you could always keep your own record of achievements:

"Yay, I recruited my first cavalry!" ACHIEVEMENT!
"Yay, I annexed Avignon!" ACHIEVEMENT!
"Yay, I sailed outside the Meditteranean!" ACHIEVEMENT!

 

[unmerged(174602)]

I prefer Bioware's achievement system. It doesn't care if you use mods or whatever, because end of the day, they don't mean anything, they are simply there for the player to get some sense of 'achievement' out of it. If they wanted to simply cheat to get the achievement, it is their loss and it doesn't affect anyone else.

This.
Who cares if YOU cheated to get your achievements? People that actually appreciate the concept of achievements won't and they're the whole reason you're doing this. So what's the big deal?
At the very least you could give 'clearance' to the bigger mods out there like MEIOU and Magna Mundi.

 

[TheCheeseMaster]

PI have said you can make the choice between having mods or having achievements

mods. full stop.

 

[Captain Gars]

Achievements won't be available when using mods or console commands for all the obvious reasons already stated above.

 

[unmerged(25822)]

In Oblivion's latest epic Fallout: New Vegas

Man, it is OBSIDIAN not Bethturd

 

[DanubianCossak]

It's obvious why you can't have mods and achievements at the same time. Suppose there's an achievement for having an annual income over 1,000 ducats. I mod the game to give Holland a base tax value of 1,000 and start the game as Holland. Instant achievement!

Actually ure wrong, if u mod Holland to have 1000 base tax income, that would not give u "income" over 1.000 ducats, it would give u 1/12th of that, as game treats income as montly thing, not census tax

 

[l3illyl3ob]

Tax is counted twice, once annually where they take the total tax values of all your provinces and give it to you, and once monthly, where they take that previous value and divide it by 12 and add it to your monthly income.

 

[unmerged(174602)]

Achievements won't be available when using mods or console commands for all the obvious reasons already stated above.

See that's the thing, i haven't seen any reason why you would. Seriously, why the hell would anyone care if someone cheats to get an achievement? They're not getting anything out of it, just a badge on their steam account. I honestly don't understand why that is a problem.

 

[unmerged(184154)]

Then what's the problem if they don't get that badge?

 

[Johan]

Mods that doesnt affect the checksum won't be a problem.

And since we have the launcher, running a mod is not a problem, as if you want to go with achievements, you just start vanilla.