This week’s interview is with Oblivion modder Reneer. Currently studying psychology at the University of Michigan, Reneer enjoys modding Oblivion when his schedule permits. I thought I’d ask him if he was in the running to become the next quarterback for the Wolverines, but when he explained to me that he’s blind in his right eye, I figured he’s better off modding in his spare time.

What do you like most about modding Oblivion?
What I like most about modding for Oblivion is the community — if it wasn’t for their suggestions and encouragement, I certainly wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have. I am always astounded at how supportive and appreciative they are of the work that modders do.

What other games do you mod?
None, currently.

Within our forums, you can see plenty of mods that you’ve worked on. How many completed mods do you think you’ve done?
I think I’ve done around 8 user-oriented mods. Only a few of them are truly complete — those are the ones I either don’t have the time to work on, or I consider them feature complete. Though I am always willing to go back and fix older mods if there is a bug.

On the projects you work on, how many would you say actually get completed…or at least completed enough that you’re satisfied.
I have a handful of derelict mods sitting on my computer that were never finished either because I lost interest, or the mod proved too complex. Though I occasionally revisit old ideas to see if new insights can be brought to bear to help complete them. On my released mods, I try to work on them as much as I can, though classes get in the way a lot of the time. Ok, most of the time.

If you was just one mod of yours that you’d recommend members of the community download, what would it be?
In terms of pure features, I would say my Guard Overhaul Mod, but in terms of overall stability and usefulness, I would recommend my Training Mod.

Do you have anything new in the pipeline that you’d like to announce?
I tend to dislike announcing any of my upcoming mods before they are at least working in-game… but I do have a few neat ideas that I’m tinkering with that could really change the way people play Oblivion.

I was just reading about your corpse mod…do the corpses get infested by bugs and other animals? If so, that’s cool!
Corpses currently don’t get infested by bugs and other animals, though that would be pretty cool.

If you were to do a total conversion mod with Oblivion, what type of universe would you put it in?
Oh wow. I’ve always been a fan of Sci-Fi universes, so I think it would be something along the lines of a Firefly-esque universe.

What are your favorite games of all-time…both to play and to mod?
One of my all-time favorite games to play is probably the Starsiege: Tribes series, along with Team Fortress 2. I did a bit of modding for Tribes 2, but it never really took off. Oblivion has been the real eye-opener for me in terms of what support a great community can bring towards encouraging the use of mods.

Can you pitch to me your ultimate game idea?
My ultimate game idea would be something along the lines of a peer-to-peer MMO, with a focus on living and interacting in a social role rather than the more combat / conflict oriented MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft and EVE.

Posted by gstaff on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm.

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