Stealing a Fragment of the Player's Soul news - Autumn Leaves mod for Fallout: New Vegas

We all remember, at some point in our lives, that one game that changed deeply the way we feel about gaming. Whether it's the adrenaline-pumping moment where after a hard battle, you finally triumph over your opponent in a versus match, that one moment during that impossible platformer where you finally beat that excuciating boss...or that one moment where you discovered that a game - of all things - could make you cry.

There have always been at least one game that made you feel like you would never be the same ever again.

I had a few of those, personally. Street Fighter II, Megaman, Planescape : Torment, and countless others. When I began working on Autumn Leaves, my only ambition was to provide that same unique feeling to the players. Whether I succeeded or not is up to them...but I gotta admit that after 2 months of feedback, I'm pretty optimistic about it.

So, what's Autumn Leaves about? Autumn Leaves is a quest mod for New Vegas, where the Player discovers a forgotten - centuries-old - library in the Mojave. This library is inhabited by sentient machines who developped their own personalities, quirks and quandaries during their decades of seclusion. And during those decades of seclusion, something happened.

It'll be up to the player to find out what happened, exactly, and what is happening inside of these robots' "brains."

There are moments where Autumn Leaves is funny and lighthearted. Because, hey, it's a game and we're supposed to have fun with typical and quirky Fallout humor.

Other moments where you will have to face facts with disturbing implications. (Notably during one quest where you can undertake your own therapy.)

And others, where you will have to take a stance.

And all the while, nothing in this matters as much as YOUR OWN opinion. Never will Autumn Leaves chastizes the player for having his or her own opinion. Autumn Leaves has least 5 different endings, quests and worth more than 20 different subslides detailing the ramifications of your actions and choices. All of the 8 quests have alternate routes and resolutions, and some of your most innocuous choices may still have repercussions in the long run. You will shape the future of the Library, of these robots, and - most of all -your own opinions about questions you may or may not have considered before.

At this point, I must admit that - yes - this is another article to win some vote on the Mod of the Year contest. And I feel absolutely no shame doing that, as I feel it's "part of the game". And I want to be upfront about what Autumn Leaves is about. I think that many players do value intricate plots, deep characters, and non-conventional themes, and Mod of The Year is somewhat the occasion to take a stance about what you value in video gaming.

For once, I wanted a mod to deliver different values and ideas, different topics worth delving into - not because they are better than the themes we usually find in traditional RPGs, but because they are often less represented.

I wanted to invite the players into a quest of self-discovery and mutual enlightment.

So, if you vote for Autumn Leaves, I will be incredibly grateful. But if you download it, and PLAY IT, I will be even happier. Nothing is worse for a modder than having his mod unplayed, after all.

So, it may or may not be your cup of tea, but at least I can tell you this, Autumn Leaves will value your personality, your choices and your intelligence.