This week we’re talking with StarX (real name Dimitri), who has been hard at work on his new mod project for Oblivion, StarX Vanilla Vampires Revised. Born and raised in Amsterdam, Dimitri also enjoys spending his free time drawing and painting. Just recently, he moved into a new home with his long-time girlfriend.

On with the questions…

When you started playing Oblivion, did you fully intend to mod the game?
Nope, not at all. I didn’t even know what the CS was! It wasn’t until I discovered that mods existed and were very easy to install that my interest was born. I started with tweaking existing mods and learned a lot about modding that way.

For members of the community that haven’t heard of your current project, SVVR, can you explain what it is?
Sure! StarX Vanilla Vampires Revised tries to make vampires in Oblivion more exciting. SVVR’s main inspiration comes from movies like Blade and Underworld, mixed up with existing game lore to create a movie-like experience that is filled with special effects and fearful moments.

Admittedly, SVVR got a bit out of hand and the amount of work rapidly increased during the creation process. But the help and support and feedback I received from the community has made things a lot easier. SVVR eventually turned into a real community project in my opinion.

Some of the features that are in the current build of SVVR are: A Blade-inspired vampire death sequence, beautification of the vampires, custom races for the really creepy vampires, and a new faction system (players can join the vampires of House Serentin or join The Vampire Hunters Guild). It also contains tons of new custom armor, weapons, items, potions and new spells. Most of the existing in-game vampire dungeons have gone through a massive overhaul, making them like actual vampire lairs to represent their inhabitants. There are many more features, but I suggest playing SVVR to find out about all of them.

How has the beta process been going for you? Anything you wish you would have done differently?
Oh yeah! I think my workflow could use some streamlining. I am a chaotic person by nature, so even though I did my best to keep stuff as organized as possible I regularly screw up (new patch, anyone?). The constant feedback I received gave me the opportunity to squash almost all of the BETA bugs and other issues, so once again kudos to the fantastic peeps at the official modding forum!

What’s your experience working on FCOM been like?
FCOM is a complicated mod to install. In the early days when dev_akm was already working very hard to create this beast of a compilation (truly a what-seemed-like- impossible-experiment), I offered to help out creating an easy to follow instruction guide, set up like a FAQ. A mod like FCOM needs extensive documentation and it is very tricky to write it as clearly as possible, without using too much jargon, but also leaving in all the critical information. I haven’t had the chance to help him out recently due to my work on SVVR, but we will eventually work on a series of quests taking place in the FCOM world. Some groundwork has already been done: The Iron Fist Bounty Hunters will give the player a chance to become a real bounty hunter.

Are there any mods you think are missing from FCOM that should be there?
Not at the moment, but I’ve used my personal version of Waalx RealSwords for ages alongside FCOM. But it still needs a lot of tweaking.

If you could work at Bethesda for one week, what would try to accomplish?
I’d probably try to persuade them to include a fully working co-op mode for TESV, as I would have a blast playing this with my girlfriend.

So if you were here on cookie day, what would you go after?
Defenitely Jan Hagel!

What are your favorite games of all-time?
In no particular order: Microprose Soccer (C64), Mortal Kombat 2 (arcade), Age of Empires 2, Gran Turismo, Medieval 2: Total War, Doom 2, Battlefield Vietnam, Gears of War and Oblivion.

Can you pitch to me your ultimate mod or game idea?
The ultimate game would be a free to explore huge world (just like Oblivion, but bigger), filled with radiant AI, places to visit and interesting quests and storylines packed with moral choices. Large scale battles should take place in Medieval: Total War style, using less complicated mass AI to give the game a more epic feel. Imagine a full blown Daedric attack on Bruma with thousands of units to make the threat more present and visible! Also, I’d want a co-op feature for synchronized play. Who knows, one day….

Posted by gstaff on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm.