Matth85

It is not so much it takes a lot of time, it is more that it takes a lot of effort. The people doing character creation could bash you a set of armor, together with a custom elven human body, in a day. That said, the same people would most likely not be in Skyrim, since Skyrim does not support custom characters, or custom animals. I remember seeing this quote 5 years ago at the official Bethesda Foru,s. I forgot who said it, and I bet I got it wrong, but here goes: "Take the time you think it would take to make the model. Double it. Add 6 to it. Triple that. Then multiply it by 10. That's about half of the time it takes to make a mod" It's, well, not too accurate, but it is a way to explain people how much time it actually does take! I know the feeling! Personally I want to learn how to draw in 2d, and I want to get better at character creation. There is simply not enough houres in a day, nor days in a week! Best of luck! Matth

Which is because 9.5/10 people starting these projects are people with: A) No former experience B) Little experience. Most doesn't know how much work it takes, and too many times the guy starting the project got nothing to start with, and avoids all the responsibility. "I got an idea! So join me, and I will let you do 99% of the work while I sprout out ideas that helps no one!" Its been like that since Morrowind. The big project that's been done/is in progress got a team of modders on it already, and have had for a long time. They already had an alpha build before recruiting new people into it. Making a big mod, containing everything, required: Manager/leader/Dude deciding stuff Planners Storytellers Sripters Quest makers Modelers *Organic/Hard Surface/Animation-ready/Environment/Character/weapon Texturers *Must match the style of Skyrim. If multile texturers are used, their style MUST match a 100%. Concept artist Guy responsible for posting/collecting info from the community Beta testers Then add the fact the mod could take anything from a few months, to a few years. There is no money in the picture. So you can't "bait" people into joining with that. That's why it never works. The guy making the project, and getting the team, got no idea what it takes. It requires dedication and time above anything. If your main concept artist disappears, which is normal enough, you are at a severe disadvantage. To the point the whole team must wait, which increase the chance somebody else leaves, etc, etc My tip for anybody wanting to start some sort of long-term project: 1) Know what is required. 2) get involved. You need to be on top of everything, and be the most dedicated member. 3) Research the community. What modders ARE out there? The top modders are gone. The advanced modders are gone. What is left are new modders, and some random "feel like modding for a few days!"-kind-of-people.(guilty as charged). 4) Research your idea. Example. If I wanted to join you, I would ask you "What do you got?". If the answer is "I got this idea.....", I am leaving. Everybody got ideas. Ideas does not help. What you need, is information. What do you want? How do you want it? Why do you want it? What is the technical side of this? Best of luck! Matth

Glad you got the context of the matter, before jumping to conclusion. People can hate the game for all I care, I don't play, nor do I plan to play, ESO. The problem lies with a certain person who goes on every single thread that mentions ESO, bash it for no reason, and just act like some doomsayer running around screaming. Fact is: This is a SKYRIM forum. If the question "Is ESO worth it" or "How is ESO?" comes along, people answer it fairly. Not the bulls*** "I play 1 MMO(I wager WoW). And ESO is too much like it. And it cost too much. And I hate my life. And I ate a frog this morning.": Who needs that? The person asking how it is doesn't, I certainly don't and I doubt anybody else wants to hear how much ONE person HATES a game. I don't got anything against people saying their opinion. But for the love of god, behave, and know the facts. I remember before ESO people were raging because it wasn't F2P. The majority of those people had NEVER played an MMO, so they just vented their anger towards us, simply because they had no idea what an MMO is about. Now it's the same, people(Or one guy) bashes the game all over, with no backing, simply because he likes OTHER games MORE. It really gets annoying. I mean, check Kleinstaffs posts. All are about ESO. On a Skyrim Modding fourm. Say your opinion, be fair and get out. That's pretty much how you should deal with ESO here. if there are bigger discussions to be had, take it up on the official forums. Where people actually are interested in it. Not here, where we are interested in Skyrim, and modding. Yes, I get fed up about this. People never learn. Sigh

I'll give it a go!

Making armor is.. difficutlt. Just because it require almost all skillset within 3d. Hence nobody can casually pick it up and go. If people make armors, or rather high quality armor, they are character creators, and have focused all their time, and skill, in character creation. Most people modding are new to the art of 3d, which means they are making static models. The more advanced ones are making organic static models. And when it comes to payment: Rather than throwing out an extreme amount of money to pay what a proffesional would earn from it, choose to give a donation instead. Proffesional 3d artist don't sit on these forum and mod Skyrim, and the rest of us are hobby artists. That said, the armor you want is not very complicated, so don't empty your pocket over it!

Why are you so determined to bash on ESO at every possibe chance? We get it. You don't like it. But you now what? That is your opinion, and that counts for nothing. Just.. go away. Nobody wants to hear your whining about ESO anymore.

.Nif are the collected files, containing mesh information, texture information and other techincal game-engine information. The texture files are .dds files. You'll need the Nvidia plugin for Photoshop to manage these files. Here is a small run-down: First get the plugin. Then unpack the texture.bsa file, to get all the textures. Then open the texture you want to edit. Do all the changes you want, and save. Now, the rest depend if you want: A) All the armor to be recolored or B) Make a brand new armor which is a simple recolored version of another one. If you want A), you simply save over the original name, place it in your /textures folder. Find the .nif file, and edit the texture to fit yours. Now all armor tht used that mesh got that texture. If you want B), you do the same, but same the .nif as something else, place at Data/Meshes/YourMod, then go into the CK and edit the armor you just recolored, add your new .nif as the mesh and place the item somewhere in-game.

They go up and beyond and teach you the best way possible, with the best tools possible. They don't skip important stuff. Instead of pure anatomy lessons, they go into the skeleton, teaching you how to model that. If you feel that you "miss" something, you are simply tunnel visioning your learning. I have been a member for a year now, and I can tell you one thing: EVERYTHING is covered in great details. It's spread around different videos, but it is all there. It's not risky at all. You simply got to avoid going into the millions, which is very easy. And even if you do, you can simply add groups and hide/unhid groups as needed. Allthough you never need that kind of polygon count unless you high poly model a mechanical model. Organic is best for Zbrush.

Yes. You don't earn anything from modding, so you are not stepping on any toe.

No worries! If you hit a bump on the road, just PM me, and I'll help you out!

Well, there are a few ways to do it. If you got a 3d package, such as 3ds max or blender, simply: 1) Get .Nif plugin and Nifskope. 2) Extract the BSA mesh files from the Meshes.BSA. google that. 3) Find the helmet. 4) Load it up. 5) Select the horns. 6) Delete them. 7) Cap the holes. 8) Go into the UVW, google it, and tweak the helmet so the new capped holes aren't't black, or all weird-like. 9) Export the Mesh as a .Nif file. 10) Open the .nif file with your new helmet, then open the .nif of the original helmet. 11) In the original helmet, click on the model itself and delete it. If you are unsure how this works, look up on youtube. 12) Copy your new helmet, and paste it in the old helmet.nif. Save as something else. Place under /meshes/YourMod 13) Go into the Construction Set, find the helmet you wanted to change, change the mesh to your new .nif, and change the ID to something else. 14) Place in-game. Save the .esp. Load up. 15) Enjoy. Yes, this is a lot of steps. It is not that complicated once you understand it. My tip is to take it a step at a time. First get the model out, then do your changes, then mix the .nif files and finally add in game. If I was unclear, just holler and I'll try to be more specific! Matth

Hello, newcomer! As Rovielius said, use 3DS Max. Blender is all right, but why go for anything but the best? Also, get Photoshop and Zbrush. If you can't afford them, or can't get a student version, get GIMP and Sculptris. I would not recommend running out and snapping photos. Simply because you need a really good quality camera, and know what you are doing. Get some light on it, or at a wrong angle, and you waste your time. Instead, get an account at CGTextures.com and get your textures there! It's hard to tell you what to do, since 3d is a broad subject. You got to learn: 1) Low poly modelling. - Plane modelling - Box modelling - Spline modelling 2) High poly Modelling. - Hard surface - Organic 3) Optimizing - Quads, tris, endgons, holes 4) UVW unwrapping 5) Baking - Inside 3ds max - Inside Zbrush - Inside any other package 6) Texture - Difuse Map - Normals map - Specularity map - Gloss map - Environent map - Glow map 7) Zbrushing - Importing and exporting between 3ds max - Polypainting :cool: Nifskope - Exporting models - Getting the models working in-game 9) Animations maybe? 10) Particle effects maybe? BUT, to give you a priority list: 1) Learn 3ds max and Photoshop. Zbrush can wait. 2) Have fun in the start! Learn the UI, the shortcuts, hotkeys, what each button does. 3) Set up reference image in 3ds max, learn how to manage multiple objects and how to work with materials. 4) Learn how to work with Tris and Quads, and how to really work with an object, 5) Make stuff! No matter how bad it looks, just make stuff! Start simple though. Famous models are the crate and the barrel. Get used to the primitives! 6) Learn UVW unwrapping. Youtube it. Learn to work with it efficiently, learn to hate it! 7) Repeat step 5, but unwrap everything decently. :cool: Texture time! Learn how to manipulate images, how layer effect works and generally how you can get whatever effect you want in Photoshop. Youtube it! 9) Repeat step 5 - 8 a few more models. 10) Learn to export into Nifskope, and get it in-game. This is the most frustrating part in the start! After that you should: 1) Doodle in Zbrush. 2) Learn High Poly Modelling in 3ds max. 3) Learn how to make a high poly model low poly 4) Learn how to bake details from high poly to low poly 5) Learn to bake. This can be either frustrating, or smooth. Depends how much effort you spend on it! I know this seems like a LOT of stuff to learn. But trust me, I started learning a few years back, and I do not regret it! It's such a good feeling working in 3d, and even better seeing a finished model! If you want pure tutorials, check: 3dtotal Eat3d 3dMotive Digital_Tutors (HIGHLY recommended if you can afford it. A month is all you need!) if you have any questions regarding anything in 3d, don't hesitate to ask.

Wrong forum, try "Skyrim Mod Talk". That said, the reason Jyggalag is not present, is because chances are he has not had enough time to regain his strength. So he is either non-existing for the time being, or he really got nothing to show off with. Lets also not forget Sheogorath is up and kicking, and evidently looks like the champion from Oblivion. An artifact from him could be nice though.

I don't understand why you guys care? ESO has no impact on any future TES games, and is merely ZeniMax who is trying to milk the MMO market, which means they must compete with WoW and the upcoming WoW expansion, which is.. well.. yeah. Why carea bout things that does to affect you? Why get mad it is a bad game, when it is not related to Skyrim AT ALL. Here is a little comment I found, and it's what will happen to ESO: But yes, ESO has no effect on TES, and should not be compared, or even talked about, in the same sentence -- heck, they belong to different libraries. There is no logical way to connect them, and no -- nobody cares if anybody hates, or love, ESO. This is not the place to talk about, This is a forum about SKYRIM, not about ESO.

Going to keep it short and simple: - If your mod contains elements from other mods - you require permission. - If your mod contain only your work, but is linked to other mods - it does not require permission. Basically, the whole reasoning behind permission is so that you won't take credit for what others have done. So, if your mod require another mod, but have nothing from those mods in itself, you are in the safe zone.

You make it sound like it is a bad thing, and Bethesda are the bad guy for doing stuff like that. Which makes no sense. Saying "Bethesda is taking stuff from modders", is like saying "ESO is just WoW with different models", or "A plane is just a flying car". It makes no sense at all. Bethesda draws motivation from different sources, which EVERYBODY does. None of your ideas, or thought, are original and your own. You draw them from different sources, and form something which then become yours. The same happens in games. Bethesda never goes onto Skyrimnexus, download your mod, then use it in a new game. That is the only time you could draw some sort of negative conclusion. They do, however, follow the most basic of marketing techniques. They see what people like, then they add that to new games. Which is how it has always been, for every single business in the world. If I make a product, and it is well received, I am going to want to improve it. Now, what better way to improve it, than to see what the masses like the best? What better way than to see the TOP 100 user made additions made? It is the perfect secondary source of marketing information a business can dream of. There are no questions, no guesses. People downlaod what they feel lack, and if it fits the lore, and the feel of the game, Bethesda work on it. Marketing, and business, management 101. It's how the world works, even game companies rely on it.

Hey! I am a 3d artist. Just returning from a break from 3d! https://imageshack.com/user/matth80 (Ignore the first 4 pictures, eh..). The further down you go, the earlier the work. Enjoy the journey! My sword mods, which is the 2 models I have ever bothered to release. At least under my name. Tiamat and Anghelm. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46905/? http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/46707/? Now, before anything else: I am a little on the fence here. This is a lot of work, and it requires strict chain of command, and a plan. I also require that people know how much work is required, and what dedication is required. It also require some sort of "leadership", for lack of better word. One could say it need to mimic the setup that is used in game industry. 1 person calling the shots. 1 person in charge of certain aspect(modelling, storytelling, etc, etc), etc. That said, here is a little summary about me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 years old. From Norway. Using 3ds max 2012, Zbrush 4R6 and Photosho CS3. Currently trying to get rid of my gaming addiction, so I need to transfer my spare time to something else. I haven't been modelling in the better part of a year, so I need some warm-up. So this looks like a decent place to look! Specialty: Hard surface modelling - most of my models used to be hard surface. Such as weapons, guns, static objects. Its where I am most comfortable, to be honest. Organic - The last times I did 3d I focused on organic modelling. Especially anatomy and human body. I am shifting from "Environment-hard surface"-modelling to "organic-character creation" modelling. Just because of the flexibility it gives. Skillset: Modelling - My models are decent all around. Nothing overly fantastic, but I can reach a good quality level. I always produce 3 different models, and name everything: 1) The sculpt. 2) The clean model. 3) The optimized model. This makes life a lot easier for re-models, or for other people to do changes to my models. Texturing - My textures have gotten a lot better the last years. I can easily reach today-level texture quality. I work within Photoshop, and work very non-destructive. I name all layers logically, and in groups. Again, makes like a lot easier for anybody else, even non-experienced people, to dabble with the texture. Particles - During the end-period of Oblivion, I spent a lot of time on particle effects and static animations. I talked to the highly skilled SaidenStorm, and learned a lot from him about it. Basically, I can make effects. I can not, however, script these effects, which is why I never made custom spells, even though I had the magic effects added. Heck, I even tried to reverse-engineer the Midas magic pack, but those scripts are way beyond me! CK work - I have made lots of different stuff within the CK. I have no problems making different things. Nifskope - Our .nif modelling plugin. I have spent houres upon houres, both in Oblivion and in Skyrim, to find out how to work with it. The whole "copy-paste" technique is something I do not like, so I learned how to actually make my models work without it. Lore - I am a bif sucker for game lore. I could name you almost all of the lore in any of the games I ever played. I find it.. amusing. Hence I got a good grasp of the lore. That said, this mod could potentionally step one some toes, so be careful! I have played Daggerfall(played about 80 houres), Morrowind(Played about 20 houres.), Oblivion(Played about 1000 houres, lol) and Skyrim(2 saves. 1 on 250 houres, other one 140 houres). Currently I am spending some time learning anatomy, again, and also learning to draw concepts. I can't draw at all, so that's quite the challenge. Hence I will not be making any armor-models any time soon. Cheers, Matth!

If you got a model done: Import an existing dagger, example: Iron Dagger Line up the grip. Make sure the pivot (0,0,0) is at where you want the hand to hold. Delete the imported dagger. export your dagger as a .nif Open your newly made .nif, and the same dagger you imported into max. Click on the mesh of the existing dagger(Example: Iron dagger) and delete it. Copy the mesh from your new dagger. Paste it into the existing, iron, dagger. Make sure you copy it to the exact same place where you deleted the existing one. Save it as "Yourdagger.nif" Put the .nif under "Meshes" Put the .dds textures under "textures" Make sure the texture are linked to the mesh. Open the CK. Open an Iron Dagger. Change the mesh to your new mesh. Change the ID and name. Drop it somewhere. Save the .esp Load the .esp There you go. Sorry for the.. well.. weird explanation. I havn't modded in close to half a year now, and do not got any of the softwares. If you need more help, just youtube/google "Skyrim weapon import" Cheers, Matth

It's all good. Id rather have them take their time, and make their game as good as they possible can get. I enjoyed Skyrim, and New Vegas, but both could have used some refinement. A few things that could've been fixed if they had a year, or two, longer development time: Skyrim: - the magic system was downright terrible. No scaling, the msater spells didn't feel "epic!". - Archmage, yet NPCs keep telling me to visit the college. I mean.. what? - Perk system felt unrewarding. You can max everything, yet have no benefit from it? - Crafting unbalanced and rather poor. - Unique weapons not really worth their attention. Look at Fallout --> A unique fun is actually unique, and worth more than anything else. - Unmemorable generic sidequests that sent you do dungeons. - Storylines were generally very small. You barely entered the college, and you were Archmage, for instance. - Direct port from Xbox360 to PC. Even with the texture pack: The texture looks bad. Fallout: New Vegas: - Ended with a too big "BANG". You barely get to see the final boss before you got to fight him. Could easily have pushed that further down, and make the ending more epic. - Too much ammo. I for one had way too much sniper ammo in the end. - To many generic locations with no rewards. I am an explorer, and hate finding an empty location. - Better travel system. Sure, fast travel is okay. But damn, why can't I repair a broken car, or bike, find some fuel and get some speed? - Short questlines. Brotherhood of steel ended all of a sudden, then no more mention of them. So by all means, if they can polish their games, and get rid of that damn static-game engine --> let them take their time. I'll wait.

300 houres in the game, never gotten halway through the mainquest. *shrug* Even at level 81, I have yet to do it.

Modding is a hobby and is fun. I say: Go ahead. Learn! Enjoy! Then maybe one day we'll see your stuff on the top 100, hm..? You never know!

A weapon in simple design, such as 90% of all weapons, does not require any sort of "skill", in artistic sense. All it requires is understanding. A set of armor is a part of character creation. Now we need both understanding and artistic skills. So, since we are there: If you request a weapon, static game mesh or general clutter: You got plenty of people that can make it. If you request organic modelling, armor or some micro-detailed model, you got about 3 people that can do it. Note: A good set of armor does not take weeks to complete. It takes a few work-days. Learning to make a set of armor, or having little experience with character creation, it might take a few weeks. Note 2: To put things into perspective. Looking at both freebie and proffesional level: Weapon/static mesh you get about 48 houres. It generally takes 30 min - 2 days per weapon. Depending if it is a generic real life sword, or a detailed one. Armor/Characters/Important models: Given 5 work days, so a week. For us, it takes between a few houres, to weeks. Now, this is for proffesional level, and experienced modeller ( 3 years + modelling). You will not find these people on this forum. For you, you will have to use new modellers. So count between 1 week - never for the latter. Matth

Are the map linked correct? As in Name_n.dds? Is the normals map correct? if you changed some meshes, does the UV fit? There is a lot of things that can be the reason.

It's not that people don't do all the wonderful things you mod requestors ask for. It's the part where maybe 2-3 people left on the forum CAN do it, and they got their own projects. My suggestion? Learn to do it yourself. Almost no mod request that requires a skillset in 3d, or 2d, will be done. Might as well learn youself. It's a fantastic hobby!

Talk to Lachdonin when it comes to lore. The guy is a walking TES encyclopedia. He knows more about Aedra than everybody else here collected.