Fallout 3 - No out-of-box mod support

[zatoicchi]

A handful of Fallout 3 updates from PAX. First, Joystiq has an .mp3 interview with Todd Howard that confirms no mod support at launch. Here's the relevant bit on mods support transcribed:

We don't [have MOD support at launch], we want to but we have our hands so full with getting the game out and getting tools out there that work well for people and with the game is a pretty big undertaking.

Over at Shacknews there's an interview with Pete Hines (and, refreshingly, someone different) artist Istvan Pely. They discuss DLC, getting the feel of the wasteland right and the Oblivion-with-guns comparisons:

Shack: Sometimes it takes a long time before you find any enemies. I assume you guys have carefully balanced their placement so that it feels just right?

Istvan Pely: Yeah, and we try to find the right balance, so that it feels like I'm not running into something every minute, but it doesn't take long before I come across something.

And our encounters, there are some very creative encounters. You may come across a hit squad going after some guy, or a melee fight going on that has nothing to do with you--you can just watch them, let them kill eachother, help one side or the other. There's a lot of neat little things to discover there that are unpredictable. It's not always going to be, "Oh, Radscorpion coming at me." There's some of that, but there's a lot more to it.

Fallout 3 - No out-of-box mod support

[anon]

They could implement a scripting system like in Oblivion, and make modding easy for both professional modders and normal gamers that just want to change some of the game's settings alike.

[MrPeelo]

I think the DLC is the reason. Bethesda probably wants us to get the magnificient Dogmeat armor for $3.99. With Oblivion there were already quality mods made that were far better than the ridiculous horse armor they were selling.

I think this time they might want to delay the release of mod tools (if they're going to release them at all) to get the DLC sales.

[Aurion]

I guess the mentioned some important key factors to lead that game to success,that's why I guess it would be a decent game tho...it's just that statement "but we have our hands so full with getting the game out and getting tools out there that work well for people and with the game is a pretty big undertaking" which I don't think it's a good reason for not applying some extra cool features to the main core engine...anyway,hopefull we will see a real release with our own eyes some time soon this year