Allannaa

Okay so, I broke Skyrim. No, really! Okay maybe not and I just don't know what I'm doing. Here's the issue. Back in Oblivion, when I wanted to be sure an item looked like it was supposed to, I went to the "blank" holding cell I made for it by typing CoC AllaCell. I opened console with ~ key. I cursor-clicked the item in question to get its reference ID within the game. I typed player.additem <xxxxx> 1 (where the xxxxx = the actual alphanumeric for the "clicked on" item) The item appeared in inventory, along with the UI "Thing added" message. An alternate method was to pick up the item, leave the blank cell by typing something like "coc kvatch", then drop the item on the ground there, cursor-click, and type in the additem command. I tried to do that this morning in Skyrim, (though obviously I didn't go to Kvatch hehe) and it flat out didn't work. The message I got was "Item <xxxxx> not found for parameter Object ID". If I typed in 1397f, I got the usual iron arrow... However, dropping an iron arrow on the ground and cursor-clicking gave a different ID, which didn't work on the additem command. The unique item I made, and wanted to test, worked the same way -- It didn't work on an initial cursor-click, and it didn't work out in the "real" world on a drop and click to find the code. I haven't changed my load order -- I have SKSE installed; in NMM I have the game choice set to Skyrim now, I show the SkyUI as the mod, and the plugin order is still Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, and AllaTest.esp. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong, or what I've messed up? Was it always like this for Skyrim and I just never noticed it before? How *do* you additem something you've made to test it? Thanks!

And once again, Ishara is there with the goods! Thank you, I'll add these links up front shortly.

Here's a non-illustrated tutorial on how to make Ingredients, Food, and Cooking Recipes. I'll post it on my site later, with screenies. Click the Spoiler button to "unfold" the tutorial. Usual Disclaimer: This is how I do stuff. If it doesn't work, contact me. If you have a better method, please by all means share! If you see errors in this post, speak up!

Good plan, let me see if I can figure out how to do that. And thank you kindly for your defence of the written tutorial methods! An additional note -- Someone once gave me links to free or student or reduced-price versions of such modelling/texturing software as 3DSMax Blender Gimp and so on -- if anyone has links to these downloads, could you post them, and we'll add those to our list here, since those are some darned good resources. There currently is no free version of Poser (which is what I use most, and yes, indeed, it CAN BE a modelling program) or I'd post that.

I'm sorry I haven't updated for a couple of days, but I will get back on it... Relatives... who needs 'em! Here's a tute I found, by InsanitySorrow for turning OBJs into NIFs so that you can use them in Skyrim. It's very well-written and easy to follow. I'll add it to the top post when I'm not so sleepy!

I see a lot of stuff about making or altering armour, but I sure don't see much about items/objects. That is to say, suppose I make a butterchurn. It doesn't do anything, and it can't be interacted with, it's just "eye candy", much the same as a crate or a table would be. Let's pretend I used my fave modelling program and saved a successful NIF file. Let's pretend I used my fave painting program to make the texture and saved a successful DDS and n_DDS. Now what? (If you link to a vid on this, could it please be one that either is subtitled, or can be figured out by the deaf?)

All righty then, I now have a new question but it's still related to making one's own stuff. After several weeks of reading tutorials, going back thru my own work for Ob, and so on, I'm finally ready to play. I modelled a butter churn in Daz Studio (same as I would have for Ob) I painted textures for the churn in Photoshop (same as I would have for Ob) I opened Nifskope, loaded the item, checked to be sure textures were still correctly associated (same, etc) I saved "butterchurn.nif" to C > Steam > steamapps > common > skyrim > Data > meshes I saved "churnbody.dds and churnbody_n.dds to ... > Data > textures Again, mostly just like modding for Oblivion. I loaded the Creation Kit, clicked Skyrim.esm and AllaTests (okay so it's a dum name, but anyway!) and set Allatests as the "active" file. I opened my "blank cell" that I use to look at stuff. In the Object Window, I clicked a line, opened the dropdown, and clicked NEW. It popped up with a window to name the thing, and to add the NIF, which I did. However, that's where the headscratching starts. First, the butterchurn, which showed up nicely in the modelling program and in Nifskope, doesn't show up in the CK. Instead I get a pale translucent diamond with a ! in the middle of it. What have I done wrong, or what step have I skipped, in adding this item? Any answers, or links to tutorials, would be appreciated!

You, sir, are amazing -- and FAST! Thank you for the quick reply. What you said was what I thought, if you know what I mean... I suppose I just wanted confirmation (or my hand held?) To completely clarify -- If I have SKSE installed, but "unclicked" in my NMM -- and I write a mod (for instance I add ducks and ducklings, based on the chicken mesh, or turned a bunny into a vorpal bunneh), then this *should* mean a person downloading WOULD NOT need the SKSE to download and install said mod? Or on the flip side, say I have it on and clicked, and loaded, and all that fun stuff, and I make a duckie or a vorpal bunny -- then a person downloading WOULD need the SKSE? The reason I ask is that there are people literally in Bumduck Egyppt right now, who can't get good internet access sometimes, but Skyrim's a taste of home for them... They just can't always access what we in the non-deployed free world can, in the way of add ons and downloads.

I want to be very sure of something before I install (or write) a mod of any kind for Skyrim. I bought the disk when the game went on sale in July 2012 and tried to install from that, but for whatever reason it failed. However, once I was connected to Steam, I got Skyrim installed and updated as far as it was done for July. It's in the usual place -- that is to say C > Steam > Steamapps > common > skyrim I played it for a day or two without looking at the installed folders and stuff to familiarise myself with them (I know, I know, bad wuffie), but then I got the NMM, the CK, a UI mod that required the SKSE, and then obviously, the SKSE. Now, my questions: First of all, how necessary is the SKSE? Do all mods these days rely on it, or only a few (such as the UI I downloaded) Second, if it's not all that necessary, how do I UNinstall it without rolling back Mr. Computer to 6 weeks ago, or without reinstalling Skyrim (not easy on a slow rural connection, let me tell you) Third, if a person had NO mods at all, to include NOT having the SKSE, would the only thing showing in NMM be "Skyrim.esm", or has there been an official update from Bethesda Yes, I know these are n00b questions; Yes, I'm well aware I should have checked my folder before I did so much as click "play", but I didn't, and that's all water over the bridge now, hence my questions. Thanks!

Sjogga -- That's exactly what I meant, and I like your tutorial so I won't post my own. Yours is nicer!

Here's one I found, by Goujosamma, on Texturing I'll add that on the OP tomorrow. As far as my instructions on, "Save your plugin before you do anything else", that's advice that was given to me wayyyy back when, for Ob modding. I got into the habit of it, and I still believe it's a good habit for most people, which is why I say to do that. Now, there *are* some people out there who don't make the same kind of silly goofs I do, and wouldn't even consider saving the plugin until it's totally done. It's all a matter of preference, in the long run. Besides, once you've learned to do something, you figure out your own workflow and habits anyway. I just believe in covering all the bases, just in case!

Actually, Ishara, that's a very good point and I should have realised that myself. I'll edit the tutorial accordingly, and thank you for pointing that out!

Oh, my gosh, ain't it the truth! Here's a website link to the Start-up tutorial I posted here. Here's a link to another tutorial, related to texture-templates (the first clump of stuff listed in the OP) As I promised earlier, I'll collect the links into the OP via editting as time goes by.

Read the original post. There's nothing at all wrong with a vid-tut -- as I stated very clearly -- and this isn't the place to debate that. It's a place to post non-vid tuts, for those of us who cannot, for one reason or another, use them. (I'm guessing you missed the implication that some of us are hearing-impaired, which makes most youtoob tutes unusable.) Is there some particular purpose to this magical ritual that you specify here, or is this advice just the result of some internet urban legends? I've already made myself many many mods, and have never once even looked at Update.esm, for example. Well, the purpose is to keep one's own mod separate, and to avoid goofing up gamefiles themselves. I'm aware not everyone does this, but I'm of the "measure twice, cut once" school of thought -- also known as "overly cautious old lady". I find this makes it easier to ensure nothing goes wrong, or that anything that does go wrong, can be fixed. As for the list in the checkbox, that screenie is just an example of MY Skyrim build -- I'm sure other folks have other things in that list. The one thing we'll all have in common, of course, is Skyrim.esm. If you have a better starter-tut, or a different one, please by all means! Link it or paste it for us! The more info the better, right?

Here's a very basic quick-start of the Creation Kit, written by me, as I explored it. The CK is available for free to anyone with a Steam account, and Skyrim. Click the Spoiler button to "unfold" the tutorial.

I never said I hadn't bothered to search for things. If you read my OP, you'll see that I said I'd like to COLLECT things here, not for my sole use, but for others to use and for anyone who wants it to have a quick-reference that's as up to date as I can keep it. There's no need to be nasty. And I will not only be posting tutorials of my own, but also links that I have found. Also, as posts and replies grow, I'll edit the original post, to put the links in the categories I listed, and of course, will add categories as folks think of stuff they'd like to see or work on. Feel free also to write a tute in the thread itself, if you don't have anywhere else to host it. I'll do that as an example, though after today mine will be hosted off-site, to avoid bandwidth clogging and stuff like that.

I get that "youtoob" is all fun and whatnot... If you don't have hearing issues, or bandwidth issues... I can't begin to tell you how totally frustrating it is to look for tutorials, only to find that the one subject you wanted consists of nothing but unusuable "youtoob" links. I'm also well aware that there are probably fifty bazillion lists of tutorials on these forums, but they don't get bumped or replied to so they get lost, or updates to resource programs (including the CK for instance) render them no longer valid or useful. This is not a place to debate sound or hearing, it's not a place to recommend "voice to text" programs, it's not a place for "gee whiz how do you even play like that!" so don't clutter up the thread with that stuff. This is also not a place to "hate on" people who do use and enjoy video tutorials, so don't do that either. It's not a place for "help my mod didn't work", except in that troubleshooting tutorials may end up here too. If you do any of this stuff, I'll go whining to a mod to get your post edited or removed. DO NOT LIST OR LINK ANY TUTORIAL WHICH RELIES ON A VIDEO OF ANY KIND, whether or not said video is subtitled. The below list of "Useful Tutorials" will be updated appropriately, as people (including me) find or write such information. Use of the CK (Creation Kit) from download to finished mod Creation Kit Main PageAlla's Creation Kit Quick-startCleaning Dirty Mods (or in-thread link here.Forcing Saves As You TestThe SKYBRARYArmour ExplanationsTambo's Tutorial SeriesCreating Cells, Decorating them, and Linking them to the World Creating an Interior CellAlla's Acorns, Creating an Interior Cell (VERY basic)BookshelvesWeapons Racks and so on, Modder's Resource (Remember if you use a Resource, credit the provider.)Creating an Exterior (world) CellDoorsCell Grid Map of TamrielCreating Exterior World Cells by SpectralDragonCreating Exterior World Cells via HeightMap by salaa (This requires TESAnnwyn, but the author placed the download link right in the tutorial for you)Crafting and World Interaction Sit and Sleep including how to tie either of these to a new itemSjogga's Sit TutorialHarvest, including how to add a new harvestable item (for instance, why kill your neighbor's cow to get milk? You don't have to kill a chicken to get an egg, right?)Cooking including how to create and add new recipesAlla's Cooking TutorialTrigger Box Tutorial by ThatEscalatedQuicklyTalking Activators by MoonSweetsTentain's Interior DecoratingForging, Tanning, Workbench (Improving), Grindstone (Improving) including how to create and add new recipesAlchemy including how to create and add new "potions and poisons"Enchanting (and spells in general) including how to create and add new spellsMining and Woodsplitting including how to tie an ore vein (existing or created) or a log pile to the actionCreating a New Item, including making a texture map for it, texturing it, and getting it into Skyrim InsanitySoul'sObj to Nif LessonHelp, My Shorts Are Too Shiny -- Note, this is a GIMP tutorial. There are other methods involving Nifskope, the easiest of which is just to turn the emissive and specular colours to Black.Alla's Texture TemplateGoujosamma's Texturing GuideSaerileth's Real Reflective GemstonesMaking Scripts and Items that Do Things Sjogga's Dragon Claw Holders tutorialSjogga's Tutorials on Basic Scripting Part OneSjogga's Tutorials on Basic Scripting Part TwoSjogga's Tutorial on Scary Dragon Priest Mask BustsDrNewCenstein's Weapons Racks Easy TutorialCreating Playable Races Expired's downloadable tutorial for creating a playable race.Ishara'sCustom Character TutorialEditing and Moving Bones by lightningoTentain's Level Design TutorialsGeneral Neat Stuff Skyrim Modding BlogTake me to IsharaMeradin's tutorial on Using Plugins With PluginsTake me to Ishara's Useful LinksArmour (and clothes)Notepad ++ConTextGECK Papyrus Script EditorArmourMashing by GameFeverDDS add-on for GIMPAshenFire's Perks TutorialManually Set Up Lua Binaries on Windows by GarglionSkyrim MW (a great source for tutorials and so forth)Matthiaswagg's Tutorial LinksLd50365's Tutorial to allow adoption for player-made homes (Note, this is written for use with TMPhoenix's multi-adoption mod) If you think of something else you'd like to see a non-video tutorial for, please say so. If you've written such a tutorial, please feel free to post your link, or even your tute, if it's short. If you've found a link for a non-video tutorial -- and you have permission to link it -- please feel free to post it. (and one last note -- keep it PG13, there are kid-modders out there. If something's going to have adult content, warn appropriately!) *Ongoing edit to add links in the appropriate categories* (Special note: Tutorials on my own site seem to view best in Firefox. But, your mileage may vary.)

Thank you, David! Yes, I found out the other day (when, oddly enough, the internet was down, go figure) that I can in fact play offline which was a great relief. Now that I know, I'm a lot happier. I have noticed some mods on the Steam site don't appear to work if you're not on, but then again, they're not mods I'd use much anyway. From messing about with the CK I do see that the interface is mostly what I'm used to, so that's a relief, and like you, I was glad to NOT crash when I wanted to preview things. And, I notice the "search" function in CK actually works, where it didn't always with the CS. The file path information you gave was exactly what I needed to know -- basically that this will work the way I'm used to, and that's a comfort. What the hell, as I said, I'm an old lady, I got no hobbies other than my games, and while I don't mind learning new stuff, I really am set in my ways. Thanks again for the info, it really helps! (and I still want to know who all the "they" are, that say all the stuff we hear! *giggle)

This has most likely been asked and answered before and I just can't find it. Any links to existing threads would be more than welcome if so! I want to be very clear on some things before I do anything. "They" (who are "they" anyway? all these people who tell you stuff or post stuff, ya know??) say that the CK is easier to use than the CS, but frankly I disagree, though this may just be due to mindset. I am a crotchety old lady, after all. But I knew how to use that TESCS in my sleep... The CK freaks me out some. First, I understand that the CK encourages use of already-made stuff, so that mods are smaller and easier to load and all that stuff. (Which wouldn't be as big a problem if we weren't forced to use Steam, but no one listens to me.... What the hell happens if someone's internet is down? That happens in the rural parts of the world, ya know!) I get that, but I make items and texture items on my own with the usual modeling programs, drawing programs, and Nifskope. For Oblivion and the CS, those files would have been in (for example): C: Oblivion : Data : Meshes : AllaMods and C: Oblivion : Data : Texutres : AllaModTex Now, should something similar be going on with the CK? For instance: C: Steam : steamapps : common : skyrim : Data Or what? Because I'm accustomed to seeing Meshes and Texture files under Data. Is Skyrim different since it's based off the online stuff? Should I be making a folder in the Steam directory for meshes? Should they be unpacked somewhere else? They're currently unpacked in a "Staging" folder I usually use: C : tesStaging : Skyrim: Data: Mesh Do I need to move that "Mesh" folder, and all its contents, into the C: Steam : steamapps: common: skyrim: Data folder? (and obviously the textures too) Once that's done do I also place my own meshes and textures (in the appropriate places) in that Steam directory tree? I realise these are probably eyeroll-type questions and that anyone who messed with Ob as much as I did should be able to figure this out, but... well... I can't! And because we *are* so rural, if I have to delete and reinstall Skyrim, it takes almost 72 hours on our slow tin-can-and-string internet connection, so I really want to avoid "breaking" Skyrim. (See now why I, and friends in this area, loathe being dependant on "online" for gaming? Seriously. 56k is not a fun thing to have, though it is better than nothing, amirite?) Any help or links would be appreciated -- particularly help and links that don't make me deal with Steam itself. Thanks so much, folks!

I have a problem sort-of similar to this. I use a mod called SkyUI, which requires the SKSE (Skyrim Script Extender) in order to work correctly. I was accustomed to starting Skyrim (and heck Oblivion for that matter) from the Mod Manager -- and it will still start that way, BUT -- it won't use the SKSE for some reason, which in turn makes some mods load wrong, including the SkyUI. I have tried to add the SKSE with the NMM, but there's no way to select it or add it to the plugins or anything. What have I goofed up? Thanks!

Hmmm, not working. That's to say, worked on the tub, not working on the privy (toilet) But then again, trying to copy branches from Nifskope isn't working either.

*gives up sorting through 800 pages of posts with the words "furniture" or "marker" in them* I modelled a bathtub. I imported the file into NIFSkope, textured it as usual, saved it, and it works GREAT! as a static model. But then I thought, Hey wouldn't it be neato if you could get into the tub and sit in "water"? So I went into my Furniture tree in TESCS and clicked New, and named it Usuable Bathtub (so as not to get it messed in with the static for-show tubs, added the NIF, and then I got the usual popup "You didn't put in a marker, keep playing?" I told it "Yes", because usually what I do is allow it to get that item going, then I Edit it, and add the sit or lie-down marker. But this time when I clicked Edit, there weren't even any options for markers to click. So I thought, Okay, I go to NIFSkope and tell it to add a marker, right? Um, maybe not. I am not sure where to do that within NIFSkope, or how to do it, exactly. I did look on the NIFSkope site for info also but I couldn't find anything. So, in the end, the question is, How do I put Furniture Markers on items I modelled myself? Thanks in advance for any advice or links!

Drake, what on earth is Archive Invalidation and folder access? If it's a win7 thing, I'm running everything on lowest possible settings, as "administrator" for everything. Is that what you mean? The pink is utterly random and ... well, I expect I'd better suck it up and try it in game. I've been afraid to thus far because I was worried it'd mess up Oblivion. Is it obvious that I'm scared of my own computer these days?

Okay, so just to be clear -- the path in NifSkope's Rendering settings window is supposed to be: C:\Oblivion\Data And do I get rid of the other paths then? And, should that be the ONLY thing, or am I supposed to also have the ./ (which was changed to .\) ./skins/standard (which was changed to .\skins\standard) Do I let those alone or get rid of them? As to the pink and black, this is random in the TESCS. To be totally honest, since I've had all these goofy issues, I've been scared to load the ESP into Ob and try it for real, so I don't know what happens in game. I mean, what if I load it, and the world suddenly explodes into neon pink and flat black? Monsters would get me. I'm sure of it.

Okay I've just brought this object into NifSkope, corrected the texture paths manually, exported it as a NIF, and opened it in GMax (which will only open 3ds or NIF files) In GMax, it once again scrambled every single texture into unreadable garbage. GMax is supposed to work exactly like 3DS (which I no longer have; my child owned it and when she moved out, so did her computer). I'm starting to think this entire issue has to do with GMax. When I bring the OBJ into Daz and give it "fake" jpg textures (Daz won't read DDS), then load the proper textures in NifSkope, I seem to get farthest toward actually having what I want to happen. And, I did download and try Blender this morning -- I will admit, I can't even figure out the commands in the UI, the program completely frustrated me. But, from what you say, it IS safe to remove everything from that Render>Settings, except C:\Oblivion\Data -- If I understood you? And on another note..... I haven't changed one single thing in the ESP I'm using to work on this right now -- but every now and then, stuff I retextured is showing up either as pink or black -- even though I've done NOTHING to the item, and certainly haven't moved the NIF or the DDS and n_dds files. Have I got gremlins on my computer or something?