New mod

[Wolfw]

I haven't made a mod before and would like to try my hand at it. I have an idea for a mod that I'd like to try. It starts as a basic collectors house mod, then morphs into a fairly large quest mod. This would be uploaded to Nexus and here. Then a final stage for LPK, to be uploaded here.

I've started building to basic structure and going through the tutorials at CS wiki in my "relaxing time" daily. Basically I'm looking for an experienced modder to point me in the right direction periodically on how to do things. I'm not looking so much for someone to do things for me as to tell me how to go about it "right", and to point out issues that I miss.

[DogOnPorch]

I haven't made a mod before and would like to try my hand at it. I have an idea for a mod that I'd like to try. It starts as a basic collectors house mod, then morphs into a fairly large quest mod. This would be uploaded to Nexus and here. Then a final stage for LPK, to be uploaded here.

I've started building to basic structure and going through the tutorials at CS wiki in my "relaxing time" daily. Basically I'm looking for an experienced modder to point me in the right direction periodically on how to do things. I'm not looking so much for someone to do things for me as to tell me how to go about it "right", and to point out issues that I miss.

 

 

A great place to start is the Wiki...

 

https://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

 

Try a few of the tutorials and see if you can get through them. Post any questions here.

 

Small steps...it really matters to start small.

[Wolfw]

Baby steps, k

I've been going through the tutorial there pretty slowly

[DogOnPorch]

Baby steps, k

I've been going through the tutorial there pretty slowly

 

Good.

 

Basic conventions regarding creating new things is the best thing to tackle firstly.

 

1. Deleting items...any item...can lead to problems. It's better to sink things far out of sight if they're in the way...rocks, trees, etc.

 

2. New items with unique names are the preferred way to go. Giving them all the same prefix really helps not only you but other Oblivion modders that take a look. Easy to find.

 

aaaaMyModNewItem01 (and so on)

 

If you follow those two basic rules, you're unlikely to 'break the game' with whatever mod you create. 

[Wolfw]

The CS wiki is hammering the second one.

But said the opposite on item one. Interesting

Btw the construction set seems to crash if I look at the face tab of NPCs, any ideas?

[TDA]

The CS wiki is hammering the second one.

But said the opposite on item one. Interesting

Btw the construction set seems to crash if I look at the face tab of NPCs, any ideas?

Enabled ENB? or custom races...

[DogOnPorch]

The CS wiki is hammering the second one.

But said the opposite on item one. Interesting

Btw the construction set seems to crash if I look at the face tab of NPCs, any ideas?

 

Try checking the head box then going to the face tab..

 

The CS crashes on odd things...save often.

[fejeena]

Hope you use CSE.

With CS Extender the CS almost does not crash at all.  I recommend version 51, it can do all you need. ( And has less requirements)

Links and how to start CS with OBSE, read my yellow Link below.

 

Yes turn of ENB.

But with custom races I never had problems. But I clean all mods before I install them. ( also the meshes)

[varenne]

Ditto on using CS/E as fejeena states above. Absolute must for the MOD you want to build over time.

 

Stick to 'vanilla' folder and file locations, see your core Oblivion BSAs if you are unfamiliar with that. Deviating from that can cause issues mid to long term of your development.

 

Absolutely avoid using numbers (integers) when naming resources in CS/E; always use letters; AAA or aaa etc.. (This can be fixed but it is just a pain in the arse for other users.)

 

Later on you may want to take a look at WB and tags, which gives you the ability to 'merge' and override stuff, but that is advanced development.

[Wolfw]

No ENB or custom races,

I have enter CS through Wrye Bash and think it's running some kind of OBSE with it.

Fajeena, I can't see the yellow link

Dog, I'll try that when I'm finished with yard work

[Vaelorian]

The yellow link is in fejeena's signature. You might have those disabled. Here is the direct link:

http://www.loverslab.com/topic/36443-oblivion-install-gametoolsbodiesbbb-load-order-sorting-espesm-cleaning-cs-cse-body-stretching/?do=findComment&comment=915257

 

The CSE is not just "launching the CS with Wrye". It's an actual mod. You need to download and install it separately.

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/36370/?

 

-V

[Wolfw]

I'm just installed CSE 51 and get a DragDrop registration did not succeed error,

Google was no help.

Any ideas?

Update, after reading fajeenas's post, I think that I might need .net. it's wasn't in the CSE readme

[fejeena]

Yes OBSE20(or higher) and .NET Framework.  And start it with OBSE.

 

EDIT:  and it is in the readme, right at the beginning

Name: Construction Set Extender
Version: 5.1
Date: 4/15/11
Category: Miscellaneous
Required: Patch 1.2.0416, Oblivion Script Extender, .NET Framework, Construction Set v1.2,

Construction Set v1.0 (Recommended)
Author(s): shadeMe

...

 

------------------

I have not installed Construction Set v1.0. You only need it if you want to create lip sync files.

[Wolfw]

I got it finally, my computer already has .net apparently.

But the files in the CSE download were in the wrong spot and needed sorted

[Wolfw]

Thanks the CS is hardly crashing now

[Wolfw]

I lost my oblivion crashed and I gave up, and now I'm back at it again. I am having an issue with the CS crashing when I try to add a response to a topic.  Any ideas?

 

 

Edit, The ole' microphone bug strikes again.

[fejeena]

And once again...

The CS crashes often.

Use CSE  ( best version 51), almost no crashes. And you can save esm/esp with OBSE scripts.

 

Read my Yellow Link how to start CSE with OBSE

 

[Wolfw]

So I have a quest topic with Wretched Aia that gets added to the filtered dialog, but never comes up in game

Here's my script to add the topic

Scn WWMainScript

Begin Gamemode
        StartQuest WWMain
        SetStage WWMain 1
    If (GetStage WWMain < 10 && Player.IsInInterior == 0)
        SetStage WWMain 10
    EndIf
    If (GetStage WWMain <11 && GetStageDone MQ03 100 == 1)
        SetStage WWMain 11
        AddTopic WWMainWretchedAia1
    EndIf
End

 

The "Conditions" for the topic is  GetIsID NPC BeggarBravilWretchedAia ==1 AND

 

There are no others, but I'm not sure if removing the "And" is possible
Most of that, as you probably understand better than me, just starts the quest at the beginning of the game and moves it along, and then bypasses things if someone starts the mod in an old game. the Stage 11 the player is supposed to find Aia, talk to her in a 4 stage conversation and get a package.  My problem is that The topic never seems to add to her ingame, I tried setting The priority to 100, but to no avail, I suspect that I'm missing something very simple.

Any ideas on what I might have overlooked?

[fejeena]

You have add the script to the quest.

 

The script is a quest script.

 

You must not start the quest. You set the quest to "Start game enabled"  ( or the script will not be read ! Only active quest scripts are used )

And in script

Scn WWMainScript

Begin Gamemode

    If (GetStage WWMain < 10 && Player.IsInInterior == 0)
        SetStage WWMain 10                                             ; Why?   Do you need stage 10? for other scripts?
    EndIf

    If (GetStage WWMain <11 && GetStageDone MQ03 100 == 1)               ;  Why not == 10  ?  And you can use Getstage
        SetStage WWMain 11
        AddTopic WWMainWretchedAia1
    EndIf
End

 

----------------------

If you don't need stage 10 your script can be

 

Scn WWMainScript

Begin Gamemode

    If (GetStage WWMain <11 && GetStage MQ03  == 100)              
        SetStage WWMain 11
        AddTopic WWMainWretchedAia1
    EndIf
End

______________________________________________

It will work with an old save/game.

 

Are your sure the Main quest 03 is stage 100 ?  Is it removed from your active quest?  Last stage with quest entry is stage 60, then you go to the  Weynon-Priory. ( I think when you arrive the quest 03 is set to stage 100 )

 

__________________________________________

_______________________________________

The "and" in the conditions is OK

[Wolfw]

It is Start Game Enabled, but I have a stage before 10, (first timer here). The Storyline explains why the player is in the dungeon and starts there, stage 10 is only needed for a journal entry to carry the story along and it goes good for when you first leave the dungeon. And yes on MQ03, but I wanted to wait until the mainquest progressed a little before advancing mine, on reflection it should probably actually be MQ04 50.  I was more focused atm on seeing if I could write a script that worked.  It didn't work ingame when I used Getstage.

 

[fejeena]

You can use the console to check the quest stage

 

sqv MQ03

and

sqv WWMain

You will see if the quest is running, the stage and quest script variables

 

______________________

And why you don't you use a greeting?

 

WWMain quest must be set to "Start game enabled" 

 

A Greeting with Quest: WWMain

Conditions

GetStage WWMain == 11

GetStage MQ03  == 100     

 

And Aia will say "What the heck do you want?"

And in the greeting you can set "AddTopic" WWMainWretchedAia1

Or you use WWMainWretchedAia1  as "choice" of the greeting.

 

[fejeena]

OK if you  need stage 10

 

Scn WWMainScript

Begin Gamemode

    If (GetStage WWMain < 10 && Player.IsInInterior == 0)
        SetStage WWMain 10                                           
    EndIf

    If (GetStage WWMain < 11 && GetStageDone MQ03 100 == 1)            
        SetStage WWMain 11
        AddTopic WWMainWretchedAia1
    EndIf
End

 

______________________

And the quest must be "Start game enabled" 

[Wolfw]

The quest is running, the stage is 11, as it is supposed to be, the journal entries are updating at the right times, the quest targets are working.

 

But the topic isn't showing up when I talk to her, I don't know if it's a prioritization issue of some kind.  I've typed into the console Addtopic WWMainWretchedAia1 and it still doesn't show up. Perhaps there's a command to show what topics an NPC could talk of in game . .

 

Update, I clicked on our poor wretched beggar and typed Addtopic WWMainWretchedAia1 and it worked like a charm. Aside from (Elys Silent Voices seeming to run way to fast, guess I'll need to check on that later)

 

So adding the topic directly to her ingame works, but addtopic in quest script doesn't, nor in result script on the quest stages tab.  I'm getting confused.

 

[fejeena]

Greeting can have priority problems  but no topics.

 

There must be something wrong with the Topic conditions.

 

Can you upload the esp?  Here or sent a PM.

[Wolfw]

I sent you a PM, please consider everything a rough draft