How far can mods go?

[shiron222]

I've never modded before, but I've been wanting to start for awhile. Obviously as a beginner (and as one person), a complete overhaul of Skyrim is impossible, but I'm still curious. How much can be changed? How much can we add or remove? There are three major ideas I had. One is probably more viable seeing as it would simply be recreating a world with similar potential mechanics to Elder Scrolls' Tamriel, and the other two feel like more of a stretch.

 

These ideas are recreating the world of League of Legend's Valoran using the Skyrim as a base; the second is altering the basic mechanics of the game and creating new animations, textures, and pretty much everything to create a Poke'mon using the Skyrim engine kind of thing; the last still involves Poke'mon but rather than having it be focused on humans AND Poke'mon it would be kind of like the Mystery Dungeon games where it's a world filled only with Poke'mon.

 

All of these require time, effort, skill, and patience, I know. I would need to build up the skill and find people who like the idea who can help. Right now it's only a question of theory and putting forth the idea so that perhaps someone can pick it up and run with it (or not, who knows?). In case anybody was wondering I got this idea from the Skyrim mod Enderal, the Minecraft mod Pixelmon, and a love for the world described by the people at Riot Games.

[Ventus2111]

Take a look at Enderal. Look at how long it took to make it, how many people were involved, what kind of skills they had, how long it took, and so on. Then ask this question again.

[Kaz Aanh]

I've never modded before

 

Oh boy, ideas , ideas & ideas.

 

I don't think Skyrim combat system can be fixed and changed at all.

 

You can start now, by shaping the landscapes, using stock textures, then slowly replace with custom textures, add new meshes etc etc. Start with small and expand it slowly.

 

Everything is doable but it all depends on your will and dedication.

 

If you want start a big mod, i suggest to create a Chapter-system. Instead of creating 10years long project with 6 chapters, create Chapter 1 in few months-year.

[fernandojdb]

first thing i did when bought skyrim was to open creative kit and spent 20 hours trying to learn and get use to it, and modifying a follower face.

20hours to get use to it and modify a follower face.

[shiron222]

Take a look at Enderal. Look at how long it took to make it, how many people were involved, what kind of skills they had, how long it took, and so on. Then ask this question again.

 

I did a bit, before you posted. It took them several years with a multi person team in order to get it done...believe me I know the effort needed is massive...this was merely me coming up with an idea that more than likely will not work, or if it can work will need several people and several years. This wasn't a question asked with the explicit idea of doing it immediately or even at all. It was more of a "what if" or a "wouldn't it be cool" than a "I am going to do this even though I have no idea where to start." Certainly if I find that I enjoy modding and can do it with even a little bit of competence I will consider initiating such a project, but for now please do not act as if I am actively seeking to do something so hard alone with no experience or resources. Besides I was less asking about the effort required and more how far could the engine be pushed? Enderal, from what I've heard and read, is merely altering the given textures and changing around the landscape and story to something completely different. I'm asking about how far one can push the engine because the last two ideas listed would require even more alteration than the land and story of Skyrim.

 

Dagren, on 08 Dec 2016 - 12:29 PM, said:

 

I've never modded before

 

Oh boy, ideas , ideas & ideas.

 

I don't think Skyrim combat system can be fixed and changed at all.

 

You can start now, by shaping the landscapes, using stock textures, then slowly replace with custom textures, add new meshes etc etc. Start with small and expand it slowly.

 

Everything is doable but it all depends on your will and dedication.

 

If you want start a big mod, i suggest to create a Chapter-system. Instead of creating 10years long project with 6 chapters, create Chapter 1 in few months-year.

 

 

Thanks for the advice! I've heard the idea of segmentation before and certainly if I do end up trying this Herculean task I will do it this way (pretty much everything in my life should be done by this, lol). To be honest of the three ideas the "Recreate Valoran" is the easiest, and the one I would most likely do. Seeing as it's yet another high fantasy world with a variety of regions based on real world cultures it would be a bit easier to re-use already created aspects of the base game. I know ideas are cheap and pretty much meaningless unless they can be made into something, but you never know if someone with the time and willingness will be inspired enough to see this and go do it, or if I actually start it myself after getting some experience and realizing, "Oh wait, I really enjoy modding." For now though, I simply want to talk out the ass and come up with impossible dreams in between teaching myself the ropes...

[enya]

Started to learn "modding" three years ago. Create custom races, textures, mashups etc.. Don't want to slow down your enthusiasm but if you're a noob like me I would strongly advise to start with some simple things like retexturing etc..

 

Modding requires a lot of knowledge, experience, patience and perseverance. Many steps are stupid hard work. It's some kind of learning by doing. If you're stuck your goals too high at the beginning, failure is inevitable. Sorry, but that's the true.

[Ventus2111]

 

Take a look at Enderal. Look at how long it took to make it, how many people were involved, what kind of skills they had, how long it took, and so on. Then ask this question again.

 

I did a bit, before you posted. It took them several years with a multi person team in order to get it done...believe me I know the effort needed is massive...this was merely me coming up with an idea that more than likely will not work, or if it can work will need several people and several years. This wasn't a question asked with the explicit idea of doing it immediately or even at all. It was more of a "what if" or a "wouldn't it be cool" than a "I am going to do this even though I have no idea where to start." Certainly if I find that I enjoy modding and can do it with even a little bit of competence I will consider initiating such a project, but for now please do not act as if I am actively seeking to do something so hard alone with no experience or resources. Besides I was less asking about the effort required and more how far could the engine be pushed? Enderal, from what I've heard and read, is merely altering the given textures and changing around the landscape and story to something completely different. I'm asking about how far one can push the engine because the last two ideas listed would require even more alteration than the land and story of Skyrim.

 

Dagren, on 08 Dec 2016 - 12:29 PM, said:

 

I've never modded before

 

Oh boy, ideas , ideas & ideas.

 

I don't think Skyrim combat system can be fixed and changed at all.

 

You can start now, by shaping the landscapes, using stock textures, then slowly replace with custom textures, add new meshes etc etc. Start with small and expand it slowly.

 

Everything is doable but it all depends on your will and dedication.

 

If you want start a big mod, i suggest to create a Chapter-system. Instead of creating 10years long project with 6 chapters, create Chapter 1 in few months-year.

 

 

Thanks for the advice! I've heard the idea of segmentation before and certainly if I do end up trying this Herculean task I will do it this way (pretty much everything in my life should be done by this, lol). To be honest of the three ideas the "Recreate Valoran" is the easiest, and the one I would most likely do. Seeing as it's yet another high fantasy world with a variety of regions based on real world cultures it would be a bit easier to re-use already created aspects of the base game. I know ideas are cheap and pretty much meaningless unless they can be made into something, but you never know if someone with the time and willingness will be inspired enough to see this and go do it, or if I actually start it myself after getting some experience and realizing, "Oh wait, I really enjoy modding." For now though, I simply want to talk out the ass and come up with impossible dreams in between teaching myself the ropes...

 

I think big quest mods like Falskaar should be good examples for your idea. Generally speaking, yes, it is possible to do big worlds, but it is hard, even for a very skilled modder. Besides the usual bug fixing and updating of your mod, you should think about the engine limitations of Skyrim AND compare them with Skyrim Special Edition. SSE allows more memory to be used, allowing more things at the same time plus a better frame rate in such areas compared to the old Skyrim. And this is the point where making such a mod can become really hard: you can't place thousands of objects at the same time, the frame rate will either be horrible or the game would crash because it doesn't have enough memory. Do you know the Falkreath forest? Many people go there to test their frame rate because it is usually very low there because of all the trees, plants, stones, and so on. A place like a small room has a significantly higher frame rate because there aren't as many objects as in the Falkreath forest. More objects, less memory and FPS, remember that. SSE has improved stability, so once you get to the point of actually trying to start such a project, you should keep this in mind. Depending on when you start it, SSE may have improved even more over the old Skyrim.

You heard that right, a lot of things can be changed, but not everything. Skyrim's combat is one of those things, there are great overhauls available, but nothing that changes it to something completely different. Those mods that try to do that usually have incompatibilities with other mods and generally a few bugs, sometimes including some major ones.

If your idea is mostly about changing landscape, textures, meshes, animals, NPCs, items and voices (and some other things), all that is possible. In fact, a lot is possible, especially when using SKSE or scripts. However, too many scripts usually result in bugs and a lower frame rate, keep that in mind. I would suggest to use SSE because of better stability, but there's no SKSE for it yet, making scripting a lot harder and some things entirely impossible.

Besides all that, you're definitely not the first person who thought about something like this. Have you looked for other threads like this? Maybe you will find something that interests you or gives you a better idea about the possibilities of such an idea. I think Skyblivion could also interest you, it's a big project that's still WIP, but most of it is visible for the public. And, as said already, finished projects like Falskaar could also show you the possibilities and limits of such ideas.

If you have some specific questions, you may try to ask a modder on either this site or on the Nexus. Many people are happy to help and answer questions if you ask them politely.

[shiron222]

Started to learn "modding" three years ago. Create custom races, textures, mashups etc.. Don't want to slow down your enthusiasm but if you're a noob like me I would strongly advise to start with some simple things like retexturing etc..

 

Modding requires a lot of knowledge, experience, patience and perseverance. Many steps are stupid hard work. It's some kind of learning by doing. If you're stuck your goals too high at the beginning, failure is inevitable. Sorry, but that's the true.

 

Mhmmm! That's what I'm doing. KISS is truly a the acronym of choice in this regard. Like I stated yesterday, these grand sweeping ideas are merely pipe dreams currently. For now I'm focusing on character editing. Starting with more static objects like weapons or armor might be easier, but the idea of adding other races and NPCs fascinates me, so I'm learning that first.

[enya]

 

Started to learn "modding" three years ago. Create custom races, textures, mashups etc.. Don't want to slow down your enthusiasm but if you're a noob like me I would strongly advise to start with some simple things like retexturing etc..

 

Modding requires a lot of knowledge, experience, patience and perseverance. Many steps are stupid hard work. It's some kind of learning by doing. If you're stuck your goals too high at the beginning, failure is inevitable. Sorry, but that's the true.

 

Mhmmm! That's what I'm doing. KISS is truly a the acronym of choice in this regard. Like I stated yesterday, these grand sweeping ideas are merely pipe dreams currently. For now I'm focusing on character editing. Starting with more static objects like weapons or armor might be easier, but the idea of adding other races and NPCs fascinates me, so I'm learning that first.

 

Three years ago my dream was a Bosmer-Khajiit-hybrid, some kind of a half sister for my main char. Just had tried some retextures before.

 

Started with Zzjay's tutorial http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/33106/? Downloaded a lot of custom races and took a look on their structure. This was one of my very first own attemps:

 

 

 

Worked on much other projects and could learn a lot by the way. Then I applied these experiences back to my hybrid.

 

 

 

And that's her meanwhile:

 

 

 

So, good luck!

[Guest]

 

 

Started to learn "modding" three years ago. Create custom races, textures, mashups etc.. Don't want to slow down your enthusiasm but if you're a noob like me I would strongly advise to start with some simple things like retexturing etc..

 

Modding requires a lot of knowledge, experience, patience and perseverance. Many steps are stupid hard work. It's some kind of learning by doing. If you're stuck your goals too high at the beginning, failure is inevitable. Sorry, but that's the true.

 

Mhmmm! That's what I'm doing. KISS is truly a the acronym of choice in this regard. Like I stated yesterday, these grand sweeping ideas are merely pipe dreams currently. For now I'm focusing on character editing. Starting with more static objects like weapons or armor might be easier, but the idea of adding other races and NPCs fascinates me, so I'm learning that first.

 

Three years ago my dream was a Bosmer-Khajiit-hybrid, some kind of a half sister for my main char. Just had tried some retextures before.

 

Started with Zzjay's tutorial http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/33106/? Downloaded a lot of custom races and took a look on their structure. This was one of my very first own attemps:

 

 

 

Worked on much other projects and could learn a lot by the way. Then I applied these experiences back to my hybrid.

 

 

 

And that's her meanwhile:

 

 

 

So, good luck!

 

Halo's Alicia got me into cat hybrids, but Rike is the gold standard, and I've spent indecent chunks of my meager free time obsessively tweaking textures in GIMP ever since. That's one example of "how far mods can go" - small in terms of scope, big in terms of influence. 

 

 Interesting NPCs is another great example, the mod equivalent of putting on a Broadway show. You have to admire the chutzpah. 

 

You're somewhere between those two bookends, decide where and have at it.