How would one get into making mods?

[Youwish1]

Hello oh great people of loverslab!. I'm new here and i'd like to open with, nice to meet you all !.

Generally speaking we all love mods right?, of course we do . Since my huge respect for this modding community won't let me rest until i myself contribute, i must ask. How does one get into making mods?.

 

I don't have a super computer, GTX 680TI, 2600k 16gb ram etc..is it still possible?. I'd really like to give something back even its it's something small like a port or new weapon designs.

All your input is really appreciated and i hope to be a long time member of this community!. Stay beautiful.

[TheDriedFinger]

Well, you have to figure out what you want to do... generally, it's better to start small because starting off trying to make complex quests for example can be very daunting. You're starting off at an odd time where so much is within our grasp. I started off when people were still making simple OP weapon mods (1 bajillion damage), and then continued to develop my knowledge from there - applying Vanilla enchantments, enchantments with edited magic effects, scripted magic effects, spells, perks, quests, more complex scripting, and so forth. Anyway, a similar path is what I suggest people who want to become familiar with the Creation Kit take, because it covers a lot of the important bases. Now, of course, you seem to be interested in other things besides just working with the Creation Kit, like meshes... Still, the principle holds. Start off with the simplest aspects of a project and grow your knowledge from there based on what you want to do, else you might find yourself no longer interested. And, it doesn't take very good hardware at all to really make mods.

[Youwish1]

Well, you have to figure out what you want to do... generally, it's better to start small because starting off trying to make complex quests for example can be very daunting. You're starting off at an odd time where so much is within our grasp. I started off when people were still making simple OP weapon mods (1 bajillion damage), and then continued to develop my knowledge from there - applying Vanilla enchantments, enchantments with edited magic effects, scripted magic effects, spells, perks, quests, more complex scripting, and so forth. Anyway, a similar path is what I suggest people who want to become familiar with the Creation Kit take, because it covers a lot of the important bases. Now, of course, you seem to be interested in other things besides just working with the Creation Kit, like meshes... Still, the principle holds. Start off with the simplest aspects of a project and grow your knowledge from there based on what you want to do, else you might find yourself no longer interested. And, it doesn't take very good hardware at all to really make mods.

Awesome thanks for the reply!. Yeah i can definitely see how this isn't going to be an easy task, however i've come across similar learning curves before like, Vegas photoshop, CS etc. It always interested me to the point where even if i messed up and didn't understand i would keep on progressing.

Learning is a fun experience that people take for granted nowadays so i think this will be a good little side project for me to work on.

Any idea where i could get some more info on the creation kit?, some links would help.

 

Thank you sir.

[Buddy Christ]

I felt the same way, I wanted to give something in return for all the great mods here on LL.

 

I started by making some books because it was something small and easy enough to get comfortable with the Creation Kit.

Then I had the idea to add a small house. I read up in the CK wiki on it, I watched several videos about it. One thing led to another, suddenly I was making my first Navmesh.

 

Then I got the idea of including some interactive stuff that uses SexLab and suddenly I was in way over my head with scripts. They are not the most complicated, but it was enough for me to tinker around with them for several hours a day.

I got a lot of tips and great help in understanding how scripts work and am eager to expand my knowledge.

 

So basically it is how TheDriedFinger said, start small, get comfortable with the CK and expand from there. Don't be shy to ask here on LL, because people are nice, helpful and patient with beginners in modding

 

 

ETA: The tutorial videos from DarkFox127 on youtube helped me a lot.

[Storms of Superior]

Your best way to start would be to, at least, attempt to make some minor adjustment to what already exists. I tried this and failed many times before I tried to watch any videos. Watch the videos first or be like for weeks (there are still things that escape me, but it seems like I should know).

 

A good step up from there is creating objects using vanilla resources. Among these are potions, poisons, weapons, and the like, all with different effects that are found in the CK; don't forget that you can tweak these original effects to your liking (I'm still wondering how to take the spell Candlelight, and turn it into an enchantment).

 

So this is just to start. When you see conversations about Nifskope, pay close attention; I managed to learn some simple things that made a certain couple of armors more pleasant, just by reading what was being said (learning how to use Nifskope beyond that still escapes me, even with videos).

 

I hope that helps a bit.

[Youwish1]

Thank you guys so much for your input and quick replies . I'm getting off now, but i cannot wait to get started tomorrow.

 

Have a good night/morning, wherever you guys are from!.

[Sarathis]

Creation Kit can be slow, frustrating, and confusing at first. Don't let yourself get overcome or discouraged too quickly by it. Speaking from personal experience, I actually learned more about HOW mods work by examining them in TESVEdit first. Load up all your mods and take a look at how they're laid out, what conflicts with what in your load order, how you can make minor adjustments to mods to fix them. I found TESVEdit much less daunting than Creation Kit and figuring out how things look through it I was able to use CK more knowledgeably once I did get around to making my own mods.

 

It never hurts to do some research before you jump into a new project. Get to know how certain mods work before you create them. Then, when you figure out what kind of mod you want to make, do a search for some tutorials to see how other people have done similar things. Knowing EXACTLY what you want to do and how you want it to look when you're done will make dealing with CK's limitations much less frustrating.

 

Good luck and have fun.

[Coopervane]

I'll echo the "start small" sentiment.

 

I'll add something to it though: Don't start on a mod ment for public release. Starting out your only real goal should be to learn, to gain confidence and familiarity with the tools, nothing more and nothing less.

 

 

Personally, i'd recommend starting with the armour mods you have installed, like most people you probably have a fair few from various different authors, maybe you have some that are a bit OP, maybe some you wish had a bit more armour rating, maybe some that don't have crafting options. Start personalizing them, change some stats here, add a crafting option there, maybe try adding a re-skinned variant if you want to get into 2D work, maybe try to merge some of the .esp's so you have fewer things in your loadorder.

 

 

At the end, you'll have something nice to play with, and perhabs more importantly, you'll have learned a bunch of stuff and probably have a much better idea how to get started on a new mod

[DorkDiva]

Maybe try out what I did years back. Texturing, recoloring, basic things first. Like clothes, armor, weapons, then gradually gong into 3D objects in blender and nifskope, editing... doing ones own sculpts and importing them in the game. You won't really know until you poke around in everything a little at a time to figure out what and how you would like to mod. Just get familiar with everything. Get comfortable, then dive in and get your hands dirty. There is loads of tutorials floating around, so information is readily available too. And if you need it, I can help out if I can, just PM me or email me, I will respond.

[prideslayer]

I started out the same way I started programming -- wanting to change something that already exists, and then figuring out how to do it. If you're not too ambitious with your goal, it's the easiest way to learn.

[ZaZ]

Hello oh great people of loverslab!. I'm new here and i'd like to open with, nice to meet you all !.

Generally speaking we all love mods right?, of course we do . Since my huge respect for this modding community won't let me rest until i myself contribute, i must ask. How does one get into making mods?.

 

I don't have a super computer, GTX 680TI, 2600k 16gb ram etc..is it still possible?. I'd really like to give something back even its it's something small like a port or new weapon designs.

All your input is really appreciated and i hope to be a long time member of this community!. Stay beautiful.

 

You dont Need A Super Computer to make mods ^^ , I can assure you that , although things would be a little on the slower side when doing some major work in 3d Programs . But One can get by slowly and with patience. 

Don't Believe me ? 

 

 

Intel® Core2 Duo CPU     E4500  @ 2.20GHz,  NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT (Oven Baked ^^ ), 3GB DDR2

 

 

 

Most of all you need to Fiddle about and practice and learn via examples, tutorials and You tube videos 

 

Cheers

[in54n3x3]

I believe you will start making mods If you played a game for ages and love it so much that you want to personalize it.

 

Then later you recognize that others may well empathize your efforts and you will one day maybe contribute to a mod you like or distribute your own.

[Headerman]

Your best way to start would be to, at least, attempt to make some minor adjustment to what already exists. I tried this and failed many times before I tried to watch any videos. Watch the videos first or be like for weeks (there are still things that escape me, but it seems like I should know).

 

A good step up from there is creating objects using vanilla resources. Among these are potions, poisons, weapons, and the like, all with different effects that are found in the CK; don't forget that you can tweak these original effects to your liking (I'm still wondering how to take the spell Candlelight, and turn it into an enchantment).

 

So this is just to start. When you see conversations about Nifskope, pay close attention; I managed to learn some simple things that made a certain couple of armors more pleasant, just by reading what was being said (learning how to use Nifskope beyond that still escapes me, even with videos).

 

I hope that helps a bit.

 

Thanks for this dood, i am looking into making some animated creatures in skyrim and i think i will start off small... just getting the moddeling and texturing right before i move on.

 

Eventually i do want to create some set animations in a similar vain as Estrus as well as some custom armour/clothing.

 

For that part i think i need to look at tweaking some existing armour and see how it crosses over between male and female chars... learn how it changes etc then move on to more advanced things like creating custom armour, texturing it and debugging it.

 

For the creature i think it should be a simple case of modelling it then the more complex task of a) animating it giving it triggers for when the PC or NPC approaches and so forth.

 

Lastly it would be marrying them up with the set animation ala Estrus type of animation

[Kendo 2]

To the OP:

The easiest way to cut your teeth on modding is to reproduce an existing mod you already like.  Open the esp in the appropriate construction utility and see how they did things.  If it is over your modding head then contact the author and be honest.  Show a level of commitment (modders do not like wasting their time) and be willing to learn the needed tools to script, mesh, texture, etc.  If you show real interest and are willing to put in more leg work than the person you're contacting you will get the help you need...or at least you should.

 

In the mean time. brush up on the 'pointless' tutorials available for whatever construction utility you'll be using.  Learn to add armor and outfits to the game, learn to add them to the world via containers and NPCs.  Learn how merchants/vendors work and have your new added items ready for sale.  In other words, learn the primary tool you'll be using; the game's construction utility.  There are plenty of tutorials available and there is no reason not to follow the instructions and get the job done, if you're serious that is.

 

And don't expect anyone to hold your hand through every step of the learning process.  Be prepared to spend hours on a project and it not work, be prepared for people giving you bad modding advice.  The only way you're going to sharpen your skills is by doing it for yourself.

 

OH! And never make a mod to please anyone but yourself.  If you're modding for the internet public be prepared to be disappointed.  Make the content YOU LIKE and fuck everyone else.  You need to be greedy and mod for yourself first.  Don't mod for kudos or recognition, since what a bunch of internet dorks think is worth less than a squirt piss (much like my advice and opinions in this post).  But most of all, have fun with it and when modding becomes like a second job, walk away from it.

[Youwish1]

To the OP:

The easiest way to cut your teeth on modding is to reproduce an existing mod you already like.  Open the esp in the appropriate construction utility and see how they did things.  If it is over your modding head then contact the author and be honest.  Show a level of commitment (modders do not like wasting their time) and be willing to learn the needed tools to script, mesh, texture, etc.  If you show real interest and are willing to put in more leg work than the person you're contacting you will get the help you need...or at least you should.

 

In the mean time. brush up on the 'pointless' tutorials available for whatever construction utility you'll be using.  Learn to add armor and outfits to the game, learn to add them to the world via containers and NPCs.  Learn how merchants/vendors work and have your new added items ready for sale.  In other words, learn the primary tool you'll be using; the game's construction utility.  There are plenty of tutorials available and there is no reason not to follow the instructions and get the job done, if you're serious that is.

 

And don't expect anyone to hold your hand through every step of the learning process.  Be prepared to spend hours on a project and it not work, be prepared for people giving you bad modding advice.  The only way you're going to sharpen your skills is by doing it for yourself.

 

OH! And never make a mod to please anyone but yourself.  If you're modding for the internet public be prepared to be disappointed.  Make the content YOU LIKE and fuck everyone else.  You need to be greedy and mod for yourself first.  Don't mod for kudos or recognition, since what a bunch of internet dorks think is worth less than a squirt piss (much like my advice and opinions in this post).  But most of all, have fun with it and when modding becomes like a second job, walk away from it.

Hey kendo 2, thanks for the reply!. Yeah i know & to be honest i was never going to make a mod that other people enjoy, however i'll make a mod that i personally enjoy and one that i THINK others will enjoy to. I  will always make a mod to my liking and if people don't like it?, so be it. Otherwise it wouldn't be fun right? . Just started learning how to recolour .dds files in photoshop so that will help a bit, haven't got around to working in CK yet but i will!.