Where to start ?

[Deleted32200665User]

Hello!

 

So i want to start Modding Fallout 4. But i have liturally no Idea where to start. I have played around with Blender a bit but i couldnt even find a tutorial on how to move the damn Camera. Don´t know if its a good Program to make Meshes in. I´ve seen 3Dmax but that costs. Also don´t know where i would make Textures. Don´t really have Money to get PhotoShop or any kind of Program to make Mods. You can clearly see i have no Idea. I can work with the Creation Kit though. But it won´t work with me (crashes,selection sucks etc). At the Moment im standing in front of a Huge Wall blocking my Way called Knowledge. I also got plenty of Time at the Moment so i wanted to try this. It seems amazing to me what you can Mod and i got a lot of Ideas. But that damn Wall!

 

-Sanctuary :smile:

[SKKmods]

Depends what sort of mods. From the description I would infer new objects and items ?

 

You can also create mods through pure papyrus scripting at zero cost with the creation kit and notepad. OK its not tits or textures, but non arty folks like myself can still add creative value.

 

[kitcat81]

Even though I love to paint and sulpt in reality , i came to a conclusion that pretty every big 3d program has alien UI and is a huge learning curve. Zbrush was easier for me, but you can't create mods using only Zbrush and it also costs. Though in most cases you can get a trial version just to test and to learn a bit. I managed to get to the point of creating my first 3d model in 3ds max...But the process of applying materials made me so frustrated that I left it for another few months.

Gimp is a good free replacement for Photoshop.

It's important to understand what you would like to see in this game. What you are missing the most.

While I'm not a programmer and have no relative degree, I found Papyrus to be very enjoyable and fun. It's all about logic. And it has really simple very human synthax that is almost free of any odd punctuation (like curvy parenthesis). if only I could find some other languages like this, I'd probably change my profession.

 

Edit: if you can't choose, you can just try to do this and that to see what goes better for you. And it's very useful to look at game files and mod files to understand how it was made. For any 3d works, you'll need to learn working with Nifskope and possibly Outfit Studio (depends on things you want to make).

Edited February 9, 2018 by kitcat81

[Rynas]

I would start with getting to know the Creation Kit better and learning how to repurpose existing meshes/objects into objects that do or look like what you want.

 

Learning how to model, texture, and animate 3D art for games is a very long process. Many studios have full-time professionals for each part (modeling, texturing, animation, plus possibly others), so be prepared to spend a lot of time (a year or more) if you want to be good at all of them. So I'd start small and build up to it.

 

You can get Autodesk products for free if you're a student (educational license). I personally find Maya and 3DS Max much easier to learn than Blender. But there is still a very steep learning curve.

 

On top of that, Bethesda's Creation Engine is idiosyncratic and doesn't have built-in integration with basically anything else, so getting something into the CK isn't as simple as just exporting something from Blender/Max/Maya and importing into the CK. It's a complicated, poorly-documented process and some things seem impossible to do, which is probably why you don't see too many mods with custom objects out there. Many of the things that look like new objects are actually just mash-ups and re-textures of meshes that are already in the game.

[Greslin]

My best advice remains to start as small as possible and get to success as quickly as possible. Then get better. Too many aspiring modders-to-be leap right off into some grand vision that they have no chance of pulling off. They get started, get stumped, get frustrated, and get gone. Or even worse, they reveal their master plans here and get discouraged (or even offended) that an army of more experienced modders hasn't swarmed to lend their skills to the cause.

 

I've been doing this for about eight years now. My very first mod was an attempt to fix up someone else's broken FO3 project, a mod called "Banks of the Wasteland". I had some coding background but knew nothing about Gamebryo or modding in general. But that experience taught me GECK (what we used to call CK), some scripting basics, and how the game worked in general. My second mod was also a fix, and then I moved on to FNV with original stuff.

 

When I started modding FO4, I knew nothing about Papyrus, so once again I found a mod that almost did what I wanted, and tried to fix it up. It didn't take long to figure out what Papyrus and the FO4 engine were all about.

 

So if you're just getting started, that's what I'd advise: find something old and broken, and fix it. Then do it again. By the time you're ready to embark on number three, I promise you that you'll know enough to get a really promising start on your own project. Again, it doesn't take long. You just have to start and not set yourself up for failure.

 

My other advice? Ignore endorsements, downloads, praise comments, all that stuff. Focused on making your mod solid. Build it for yourself.

[Deleted32200665User]

Mh. This is really interesting. I have heard 3Dsmax but... if i want to mod mutliple years then the Student Version wont help me. Ive checked the price and 6000 bucks for 3 years. And Gimp ? I got that. Ill go take a look. Ill probably google some stuff maybe watch some tutorials etc. Thanks for the help i really appreciate the support.

 

-Sanctuary

[kitcat81]

Mh. This is really interesting. I have heard 3Dsmax but... if i want to mod mutliple years then the Student Version wont help me. Ive checked the price and 6000 bucks for 3 years. And Gimp ? I got that. Ill go take a look. Ill probably google some stuff maybe watch some tutorials etc. Thanks for the help i really appreciate the support.

 

-Sanctuary

You can use Blender. It's free. Outfit Studio can convert .obj to nif and then use Nifskope to clean it from undesired flags. There is no point to go with 3ds max 2018 unless you need it for professional purpose. Beth's nif plugin only works for 3ds max 2013. Maybe it also partly works for 3ds max 2014, but you can create collisions only in 2013..Otherwise you'd have to use existing game collisions. And I can guess that each game you can mod will have some similar limitations. It's really difficult to find so old software. Not even sure it can be legaly purchesed. Unless you have some friends who would share their stuff, I don't see how you can find it.

[FlashyJoer]

 

 

 

<snip>

 

My other advice? Ignore endorsements, downloads, praise comments, all that stuff. Focused on making your mod solid. Build it for yourself.

 

I would endorse/like the heck out of this if I could...

[vronykah]

I started trying to mod last year around July and released my first decoration mod at the beginning of October. It all started with a simple goal: Change the bed blanket texture to something I liked better. I think having a small goal helped. Do one thing and follow it all the way through to the finish to understand the process.

 

I use all free programs: Paint.NET, Gimp, Nifskope, Outfit Studio, FO4Edit and BAE to extract the meshes/textures/materials from the game.

 

So to learn and accomplish this basic process of changing the blanket (other people may have learned this differently)

Step 1 - Open up the files from the game to see how the meshes, textures and materials all connect to each other.

Step 2 - Make a new texture for the one you want to change, I literally opened the default texture and made a big X on it, just so I'd be able to see if it changed in game. (Don't overwrite game texture! Make a new save in your Data folder)

Step 3 - Take the mesh and material file for your item and create new ones, with links to your new texture.

Step 4 - Put it all together in an esp. Use FO4Edit and look at another mod to see how they "connect," similar to how you did with the default item. Do the same for your single item. Save in new esp named "test" or something.

Step 5 - Zip/archive your esp with your new texture, material or mesh.

Step 6 - Using NMM, add your zipped mod to your game.

Step 7 - Stand back in awe at your bed with an X on it.

 

I watched a few FO4Edit tutuorials to learn the basics, took a mod that did what I wanted to do and opened it up and reverse engineered how it all fit together in the esp. These are the basics, and there is some learning and more detail to each of these steps. This was a great way for me to figure out how everything connects together and ends up in the game. With this base knowledge I was able to move on to more complex items.

 

Anyway, my best piece of advice I'll repeat: Try one small thing and see it all the way through to the end. You're less likely to be overwhelmed or discouraged.

 

I wrote this fast and am still new to the modding community, if anyone has any corrections, have at it!

 

Good luck!