Fallout: New Vegas is Getting a Multiplayer Mod
By Sarah Fields 26 January 2016
Game modder nvmp_corporal posts to Reddit, announcing a new multiplayer mod that will allow players to trek through the Fallout: New Vegas wasteland together.
Just because Fallout 4 is out doesn’t mean that gamers are done with Fallout: New Vegas just yet. One ambitious team is taking it upon themselves to create a massive mod for the title which will allow multiple players to play Fallout: New Vegas together.
According to the mod creator, nvmp_corporal or Mr. Mouse, the Fallout: New Vegas mod will actually be hosted on a single Europe-based server, creating a shared world for gamers to play on. The service will be free, though it will require gamers to own a copy of Fallout: New Vegas. Nvmp_corporal has explained that the mod has reached the point where they’re seeking gamers to help test it for bugs before releasing it to the public. Interested gamers can sign up, and if selected, they will be given access in approximately two weeks.
Converting a single player game – especially one that is so massive and heavily quest-based – carries a lot of potential complications with it. However, nvmp_corporal has come up with some creative solutions. For example, to match how Fallout: New Vegas traditionally paused when players accessed their inventory, the multiplayer version will still effectively pause the game for the player. However, rather than freezing the entire game world, the character will freeze and become invulnerable to damage until they’re finished viewing their inventory.
However, there are also some necessary drawbacks to make Fallout: New Vegas playable by multiple players. The modders have disabled VATS entirely, and the quest system is currently a bit awkward. While quests are clientside, other players can potentially alter the ability to complete the quest. Nvmp_corporal had this to say:
“…One player in a location will synchronise entities/NPCs to other players around them. This means that if you entered an area where a quest NPC should be, and someone has previously killed them in the cell (whilst someone is currently in it with you), then you will fail the quest on entry.”
Although these downsides may disappoint some gamers, it’s still an incredibly ambitious goal. Other attempts to turn single player games into multiplayer ones, like Skyrim multiplayer, often only allow players to explore a small portion of the world together, without the ability to access quests and sometimes even removing NPCs and monsters altogether.
While Bethesda chose to scrap Fallout 4‘s multiplayer mode so they could focus on the single player experience, this mod could be a dream come true for many Fallout fans. With any luck, the modding team and testers can quickly find and squash any bugs so all gamers will have access to it in the near future.
Fallout: New Vegas is available on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Source: Reddit
