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About this mod
Fight your way through an expansive underwater city and discover the story of its past. Featuring 100+ cells to explore, multiple tiers of leveled enemies, over 100 notes/terminal entries to read, and a mountain of loot.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Donations
What is this mod about?
The Arbor is a Bioshock-inspired mod for Fallout 3. I took some of the basic themes of the first game (underwater city, enigmatic founder, fighting mutated former-residents) and built a story around them which would fit the Fallout 3 universe. Unlike Bioshock, however, this mod is built to mesh with the vanilla Fallout 3 gameplay experience; there won't be plasmids to use or Big Daddies to fight, but you will find a wider variety of loot and have the ability to freely roam through the city.
What does this mod require?
This mod requires all 5 DLC packs: Broken Steel, Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta. It also requires the newest versions of FOSE and Fallout 3, and the following three modders' resources:
No other mods are required and the mod itself is only an .esp file; install it by moving it into your Fallout 3/Data folder. The modders' resources are installed by moving their mesh and texture folders into your Fallout 3/Data/Meshes or Fallout 3/Data/Textures folders. Should you get strange textures which change colors, make sure your ArchiveInvalidation is fixed and your textures are correctly installed; if you see red diamonds with white exclamation points in Arbor, make sure your meshes are correctly installed. Do not remove the meshes or textures for the modders' resources from their respective folders, or you will encounter these errors.
It is strongly recommended that you also use Prensa's excellent mod, Point Lookout - No more silent Doors with this one; there are many doors and cabinets from Point Lookout used in The Arbor, so having this mod will add to the experience. Additionally, it fixes the single door cabinets, so you will have access to additional loot that way. It is not absolutely required, but I cannot overstate how much I recommend you use it with the mod. If you use the Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch, I am told that Prena's mod is already included in that, so you won't have to worry about downloading a separate version.
Will this mod work with -x-?
As far as I know? Yes. I've tested this mod with DCInteriors, Shadows and Dust 1 & 2, A World of Pain for Fallout 3, MMM, FWE, Apocalypse Armory, and numerous other mods; all of them have gotten along swimmingly, and I didn't note any errors in my mod or in the rest of the game. If you use ENB and/or other lighting mods, you may find that some areas are quite dark/bright, and I apologize for that; I can only test the lighting on the mods/settings I use, so what may be fine for me may be too dark or bright for you. If you have a mod that alters the area just northeast of Anacostia Crossing, this mod may possibly conflict with that; if such a conflict prevents you from using my mod and/or the other mod, contact me and I'll see if a patch is possible.
How do I get started?
Once the mod is installed, a new map marker will appear near the Anacostia Crossing/Rivet City area. Fast travel or walk over to that area and you will find the Riverside Diner, your gateway into Arbor. Once you arrive at the city, you cannot return to the Capital Wasteland so make sure you have brought everything you need; as you play through the mod, eventually you will reach the end of this version's development and reach a door, not unlike the one which brought you to the city in the first place. That door will take you back to the Capital Wasteland, to the Riverside Diner specifically, and will disappear afterwards. Once you have returned to the Capital Wasteland, you cannot return to Arbor, so make sure you have not left anything behind in the city. If you have suggestions, ideas, or feedback after playing through the mod, I heartily encourage you to post it here and/or PM me about it.
What should I expect from this mod?
If you haven't played my other mods, I like to make buildings for you to explore, fight enemies in, and loot; sometimes, I even dabble with scripting neat little events and things to add to the experience. Don't expect ground-breaking new features/gameplay elements, an epic 30 hour quest with full voice acting (at least for right now), or a new companion to take on adventures. Do expect to have lots of backstory about the city and its residents scattered around for you to find, plenty of areas to explore and loot, and hordes of enemies to fight. This mod is intended to be a quest mod, eventually, but there's still more development to do before it reaches that point. For what the mod is now, be prepared for a lot of combat and a lot of loot. You can either bring a lot of guns and ammo, or scavenge what you can in the city, but there will be a lot of enemies to fight. If you're playing with FWE or another needs mod enabled, you'll find lots of food and water to sustain yourself with, along with beds to sleep in.
When is the next update coming out?
Right now, the mod is Version 1.0, and that alone took me over a year to make; it is little more than a glorified dungeon mod at this point, since the overarching story and quests have not yet been implemented. I cannot say when exactly the next version will be coming out, but I know that there will probably be a few small updates to 1.0 to fix bugs/improve things. Version 1.1 will be the next "big" update, with new content and areas to go through. Please understand that modding is not the only thing on my schedule; after as much work as I put into this first version, I'm determined to see this project through to the end, but I can only devote as much time to this mod as real life will permit me. For that reason, PLEASE do not ask me in the comments or through PMs when I will be releasing the next version. If I have one close to release, I will make a sticky post in the comments with the ETA on that. Otherwise, I will not be responding to such queries.
I have a bug, what should I do?
Firstly, get as much information about the bug as you can; troubleshoot it if possible. I can't help you if you don't give me enough information, and just saying "After I installed your mod, my game crashed" won't help me help you. Also, check your mod list for anything that might be causing the problem; if you have a mod that alters the area around Anacostia Crossing and/or the buildings northeast of the station, that may be the cause of your bug. If your bug happens in more than just Arbor, it may not be my mod that's causing the problem. Post a comment with the details and, if it's a serious issue (my mod specifically causing the game to crash, for instance), PM me about it. Please post a comment, however, because, in the event that I don't know what's causing the bug, someone else might and perhaps they can help. Mod-specific bugs, that is to say, bugs that are present in my mod, will be worked on in smaller updates between the main ones.
I have a suggestion/recommendation/idea, what should I do?
It depends on the idea, but you can always PM me with your idea; even if I won't use it, I don't mind reading about it. If I like your idea, and you consent to let me use it, I may try to implement it into the Arbor. However, if I can't find a way to effectively implement it, or I feel that implementing it would detract from the mod, I may not use it after all and will notify you of such. Ideas which I do end up implementing will be credited to whoever suggested them. I will do my best to read all the ideas/suggestions which are sent to me, but please DO NOT post your ideas/suggestions in the comments section and expect me to get back to you posthaste; I check my inbox far more frequently, and while I do read my comments, a PM is the most reliable way to get a quick response from me.
Who do I have to thank for this mod?
Me, obviously, though I don't like to brag. Here's some other people who are just as deserving of praise, thanks to their help in bringing about this mod:
Gribbleshnibit8 - For looking into the automat script I had cobbled together and graciously rewriting it from the ground up. If you are a fan of the New Vegas mod, Vending Machines of the Wastes, you may recognize that the Arbor's automats work in a similar way (though not the Nuka-Cola machines, as I scripted those and they're noticeably less fancy compared to those in the other mod). Regardless, whenever you use an automat in Arbor, you know who to thank.
Nimboss - For assisting me on troubleshooting the exterior cells, none of which you will actually see in this version. While his help is greatly appreciated, I have been finding out the hard way that exterior cells are a totally different beast than interior cells. Hopefully I can cobble together a working exterior in the next update, but for now, you can thank Nimboss for convincing me that exterior cells are quite the undertaking and therefore enabling me to focus elsewhere and not delay this mod any more than I already have.
Deathmint - For tireless moral support and encouragement as I slogged through the rougher parts of development, graphic and creative advice, bugtesting, and just generally being a sweetheart. Seriously, folks, this mod may never have seen the light of day if not for her eagerness in giving me feedback and advice. With any luck, this page may have some nice graphics for the future updates, courtesy of her.
Prensa, Kalten1979, HugePinball, and Jounk23 - These superb modders all contributed to The Arbor in their own ways, namely through releasing mods and/or modders' resources on the Nexus which added to the experience in the city. I am very grateful for their uploads, as well as their generosity in releasing those uploads as free-use resources.
You! - While it is true that I don't make mods to be popular or win over people, it is still great to have feedback and support from the community; if it wasn't for people like you downloading mods like these, I doubt I would have bothered to release any mods at all.
The Arbor is a Bioshock-inspired mod for Fallout 3. I took some of the basic themes of the first game (underwater city, enigmatic founder, fighting mutated former-residents) and built a story around them which would fit the Fallout 3 universe. Unlike Bioshock, however, this mod is built to mesh with the vanilla Fallout 3 gameplay experience; there won't be plasmids to use or Big Daddies to fight, but you will find a wider variety of loot and have the ability to freely roam through the city.
What does this mod require?
This mod requires all 5 DLC packs: Broken Steel, Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta. It also requires the newest versions of FOSE and Fallout 3, and the following three modders' resources:
- US Coins Modding Resource by Jounk23
- Whitefang Grand Piano model resource by HugePinball
- Animated Aquarium by Kalten1979
No other mods are required and the mod itself is only an .esp file; install it by moving it into your Fallout 3/Data folder. The modders' resources are installed by moving their mesh and texture folders into your Fallout 3/Data/Meshes or Fallout 3/Data/Textures folders. Should you get strange textures which change colors, make sure your ArchiveInvalidation is fixed and your textures are correctly installed; if you see red diamonds with white exclamation points in Arbor, make sure your meshes are correctly installed. Do not remove the meshes or textures for the modders' resources from their respective folders, or you will encounter these errors.
It is strongly recommended that you also use Prensa's excellent mod, Point Lookout - No more silent Doors with this one; there are many doors and cabinets from Point Lookout used in The Arbor, so having this mod will add to the experience. Additionally, it fixes the single door cabinets, so you will have access to additional loot that way. It is not absolutely required, but I cannot overstate how much I recommend you use it with the mod. If you use the Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch, I am told that Prena's mod is already included in that, so you won't have to worry about downloading a separate version.
Will this mod work with -x-?
As far as I know? Yes. I've tested this mod with DCInteriors, Shadows and Dust 1 & 2, A World of Pain for Fallout 3, MMM, FWE, Apocalypse Armory, and numerous other mods; all of them have gotten along swimmingly, and I didn't note any errors in my mod or in the rest of the game. If you use ENB and/or other lighting mods, you may find that some areas are quite dark/bright, and I apologize for that; I can only test the lighting on the mods/settings I use, so what may be fine for me may be too dark or bright for you. If you have a mod that alters the area just northeast of Anacostia Crossing, this mod may possibly conflict with that; if such a conflict prevents you from using my mod and/or the other mod, contact me and I'll see if a patch is possible.
How do I get started?
Once the mod is installed, a new map marker will appear near the Anacostia Crossing/Rivet City area. Fast travel or walk over to that area and you will find the Riverside Diner, your gateway into Arbor. Once you arrive at the city, you cannot return to the Capital Wasteland so make sure you have brought everything you need; as you play through the mod, eventually you will reach the end of this version's development and reach a door, not unlike the one which brought you to the city in the first place. That door will take you back to the Capital Wasteland, to the Riverside Diner specifically, and will disappear afterwards. Once you have returned to the Capital Wasteland, you cannot return to Arbor, so make sure you have not left anything behind in the city. If you have suggestions, ideas, or feedback after playing through the mod, I heartily encourage you to post it here and/or PM me about it.
What should I expect from this mod?
If you haven't played my other mods, I like to make buildings for you to explore, fight enemies in, and loot; sometimes, I even dabble with scripting neat little events and things to add to the experience. Don't expect ground-breaking new features/gameplay elements, an epic 30 hour quest with full voice acting (at least for right now), or a new companion to take on adventures. Do expect to have lots of backstory about the city and its residents scattered around for you to find, plenty of areas to explore and loot, and hordes of enemies to fight. This mod is intended to be a quest mod, eventually, but there's still more development to do before it reaches that point. For what the mod is now, be prepared for a lot of combat and a lot of loot. You can either bring a lot of guns and ammo, or scavenge what you can in the city, but there will be a lot of enemies to fight. If you're playing with FWE or another needs mod enabled, you'll find lots of food and water to sustain yourself with, along with beds to sleep in.
When is the next update coming out?
Right now, the mod is Version 1.0, and that alone took me over a year to make; it is little more than a glorified dungeon mod at this point, since the overarching story and quests have not yet been implemented. I cannot say when exactly the next version will be coming out, but I know that there will probably be a few small updates to 1.0 to fix bugs/improve things. Version 1.1 will be the next "big" update, with new content and areas to go through. Please understand that modding is not the only thing on my schedule; after as much work as I put into this first version, I'm determined to see this project through to the end, but I can only devote as much time to this mod as real life will permit me. For that reason, PLEASE do not ask me in the comments or through PMs when I will be releasing the next version. If I have one close to release, I will make a sticky post in the comments with the ETA on that. Otherwise, I will not be responding to such queries.
I have a bug, what should I do?
Firstly, get as much information about the bug as you can; troubleshoot it if possible. I can't help you if you don't give me enough information, and just saying "After I installed your mod, my game crashed" won't help me help you. Also, check your mod list for anything that might be causing the problem; if you have a mod that alters the area around Anacostia Crossing and/or the buildings northeast of the station, that may be the cause of your bug. If your bug happens in more than just Arbor, it may not be my mod that's causing the problem. Post a comment with the details and, if it's a serious issue (my mod specifically causing the game to crash, for instance), PM me about it. Please post a comment, however, because, in the event that I don't know what's causing the bug, someone else might and perhaps they can help. Mod-specific bugs, that is to say, bugs that are present in my mod, will be worked on in smaller updates between the main ones.
I have a suggestion/recommendation/idea, what should I do?
It depends on the idea, but you can always PM me with your idea; even if I won't use it, I don't mind reading about it. If I like your idea, and you consent to let me use it, I may try to implement it into the Arbor. However, if I can't find a way to effectively implement it, or I feel that implementing it would detract from the mod, I may not use it after all and will notify you of such. Ideas which I do end up implementing will be credited to whoever suggested them. I will do my best to read all the ideas/suggestions which are sent to me, but please DO NOT post your ideas/suggestions in the comments section and expect me to get back to you posthaste; I check my inbox far more frequently, and while I do read my comments, a PM is the most reliable way to get a quick response from me.
Who do I have to thank for this mod?
Me, obviously, though I don't like to brag. Here's some other people who are just as deserving of praise, thanks to their help in bringing about this mod:
Gribbleshnibit8 - For looking into the automat script I had cobbled together and graciously rewriting it from the ground up. If you are a fan of the New Vegas mod, Vending Machines of the Wastes, you may recognize that the Arbor's automats work in a similar way (though not the Nuka-Cola machines, as I scripted those and they're noticeably less fancy compared to those in the other mod). Regardless, whenever you use an automat in Arbor, you know who to thank.
Nimboss - For assisting me on troubleshooting the exterior cells, none of which you will actually see in this version. While his help is greatly appreciated, I have been finding out the hard way that exterior cells are a totally different beast than interior cells. Hopefully I can cobble together a working exterior in the next update, but for now, you can thank Nimboss for convincing me that exterior cells are quite the undertaking and therefore enabling me to focus elsewhere and not delay this mod any more than I already have.
Deathmint - For tireless moral support and encouragement as I slogged through the rougher parts of development, graphic and creative advice, bugtesting, and just generally being a sweetheart. Seriously, folks, this mod may never have seen the light of day if not for her eagerness in giving me feedback and advice. With any luck, this page may have some nice graphics for the future updates, courtesy of her.
Prensa, Kalten1979, HugePinball, and Jounk23 - These superb modders all contributed to The Arbor in their own ways, namely through releasing mods and/or modders' resources on the Nexus which added to the experience in the city. I am very grateful for their uploads, as well as their generosity in releasing those uploads as free-use resources.
You! - While it is true that I don't make mods to be popular or win over people, it is still great to have feedback and support from the community; if it wasn't for people like you downloading mods like these, I doubt I would have bothered to release any mods at all.