Matth85

The models and textures from those mods are self made. It's quite simple: If everything you make is self-made, only using the concept of the other games, then you own the copyright to it. Since nobody owns copyright to an idea. It goes in the grey zone, but it is legal. I recommend reading up on the copyright law of your country, and what Bethesda has already stated, if you plan to delve into these kind of modding waters. Better safe than sorry!

Morrowind is still being modded. Oblivion is being modded. Skyrim will be modded as well. It's generally the same deal each time with these kind of games. They release - people panic if the creation kit is not released asap ( just remembering the panic with Skyrim...) - mods are made - years after the biggest mods get released - people get bored -- modding increases as a new title is being announced -- it restarts. So, the modding community will still be big. The best modders leave, new one learns the rope. The one in the middle helps out the new one. It's rather beautiful! Let me put it like this: When a game release, and the following year, you are most prompted to hit top 100 with a super mod, and get famous as a modder. This is the goal for the masses. In the end of a game's life is the practice time. You are not going to hit top 5 mods of all times out of nowhere. However, there are enough people for you to get feedback and feel rewarded for doing it. You are now prepared for the launch of new game, and the chance to get your name out there! The only downside to the late part, where we are now, is that getting huge projects going is quite hard. It's a lot easier to gather a bunch of decent modders in a team early, than it is now. Simply because every "good" modder is on personal projects, or perhaps doing some modding studies themself. You are then left with the newer people. These people are eager to learn, but don't know what it takes to do a huge porject, and thus most of them falls short. So yeah. the modding community will keep going for years onward. Just like every other game released with a kit. At this perticular time, it's also quiet before the storm. Before a new game is announced. A perfect time to learn and study. A time you can ask the veterans who scout the forums, but don't feel like modding. A time where the veterans can feel useful by helping the new guy getting prepped to enter this so enjoyable hobby: to mod! Ergh, sorry for the rant! I guess I lost myself a little bit there. TL;DR. The modding community will live on, like Morrowind and Oblivion is today. Don't worry about that. There will always be new, and cool, mods to come out -- but chances are none of them will reach top 100. Cheers, Matth

i havn't researched this, so take this with a grain of salt. It might not be true for all I know! You see, Skyrim is using a rather simplistic game engine. It's a static game engine made for huge sandbox games, while trying to keep some decent animations and flexibility going. It has changed over the years, and Bethesda editted their version, the creation engine, rather heavy out of it. However, at it's core it is not very flexible. Just look at the combat in the game. Decent, yes, but it doesn't hold up to any games build via other, newer, engines. There comes the problem. Jumping, or sprinting, activates a hardcoded script and animation. Let's take jumping. While jumping you are locked out of every keypress until you land. There is no way around this, as it is hardcoded. The only thing we, as modders, can do is to make a custom animation. Again, we are limited to strings of animations, as 1 animations blocks out everything. To put it simply: We can not "animation cancel" or mix animations together at the fly, as you would if you were to sprint - jump - slash - sprint. The engine simply does not allow it. We can try to work around it, but that would mean we need access to the hardcoded areas, or a godly good scripter and animator. It really is a bummer. Just image Skyrim with the same combat that we have in other big games. I certainly would love to combo enemies up in the air, then slam them down with my sword. Or to so the famous jump - stab in neck - land-move we see in movies. But, alas, we can not.

Well, you're asking a rather difficult questions. You see, modding is not one thing, it's a lot of things. From using the GECK to place a new NPC, to editting stats, to making new scripts, to modelling and texturing something. It all depends on what aspect you are going after. For instance, if you only want to work in the GECK, I suggest building a custom vault and add a quest to it. Perhaps a few new equipments and all. If you'd rather edit some models, then Nifskope copy/pasting is an option. Albeit it will take some work to get used to Nifskope. It took me quite a while at least :P But in the end it is understandable. For modelling/Texturing you better start somewhere else than here. It's not worth confusing yourself with import/export settings, riggings and all that nonesense if you can't make anything anyways. Personally, I make models and texture. Well, I used too at least. Now I spend more time trying to help others, and do the occasional retexture ;) If you need help, don't be afraid to ask! But remember to ask a little more specific :) Matth

It can have multiple texture files, as long as the mesh is split up and rigged correctly. Basically you split the model, and import it. Then set up the 2 textures within Nifskope. And you create a texture in Photoshop by using images, or drawing, and editting it to fit your model. By using difuse/color map, Normal map and Specularity maps you are able to get quite decent results. Texturing is all about knowing how materials act in the real world. It takes practice, but you'll get the hang of it! Google is your friend here! Cheers, Matth

Interesting idea. If done right, and given enough care, this could be quite the awesome mod. As a "druid" theme is broad, and can contain everything people look for in a mod. It could contain dynamic gameplay, interesting areas, cool new effects and perhaps even shape shifting -- as in custom animations where you can see the shifts. Parts of the body could change, as in Protoype, with a catchy effect that does not hinder the gameplay -- such as Prototype. There could be quests, scripts, weapons and armor with a very natural theme, and all tailored to run smoothly. I'd love to see this go far! And it could go very far given the right modding team, and giving it time. And consider we still havn't heard about TES6 yet, time is something we got. I'm willing to help out! As a modeller, texturer, particle fx and maybe even animations. Sent a message to Arcane about it, with images of my previous work. Cheers, Matth

Nothing?

Hey! I got a simple question, as I havn't been near Skyrim modding since.. well, since the Creation Kit was just released. As well as my skillset is in modelling and art, not in scripting :smile: Now, I am wondering if a certain mod exists, or if it is possible to make. I am generally thinking about proccs, on-hit chance and the kind of system MMO build on. This is aimed at a battlemage, or spellsword, kind of character. As it is quite clunky now, and you either become one off 2 kinds. 1) You are a warrior who uses spells at range. Pretty much overpowered. 2) You are a mage with heavy armor. Now, this does not fit the theme of a battlemage/Spellsword in my head. So I had this idea with proccs, and getting certain effects at certain times, with a certain chances. For instance: You got a 25% chance per melee hit to get 1 stack. At 10 stacks your restoration spells can: A) Become free of cost. B) Lose any kind of casting time ( master spell) C) Gain additional effects. D) Gain more effect. A few examples: Every melee hit have a 5% chance to give you a procc. The procc is called "Surge of Power". The effects: Your Destruction spells are free of cast, and gain certain new effects. * Flames: It sets the enemy on fire, dealing 100% spell damage over the next 8 seconds and the enemy explodes at death, dealing X damage. * Fire Rune: When the Fire Rune is set it summons a Fire Atronach/Fire Elemental which attack whatever enters the trap, in addition to the trap going off. * Fireball: Instead of 1 firebolt, it shoots out 4 fireballs at a 1s interval. * Flame Cloak: The AoE effects become bigger, and the effect is doubled. * Fire Storm: The cast time is gone As you see, just a few examples. But what this would do is make the destruction spells very usefull for a battlemage as you get "Surge of Power". It would make you be able to cast a master level spell instantly. Of course, this could only be gained at 100 destruction and perhaps after a quest. Powerfull, yet not overpowered towards the level 81. Effects like "Surge of Powers" For destruction spells, and perhaps effects like: - On-hit a chance to gain a movement speed of X%. - Near death all spells gain a X% improvement. - At low health you gain a shield, which is stronger if you are skilled in certain school. - When your spell hit you for a chance to gain X% magick back. - When your spell hits your weapon gets an enchancement, duplicating the spell damage to your weapon. What this would do: - It would make the game more fun, at least for the spellswords and battlemages out there. - It would make it unique and dynamic. Imagine you are charging in with your sword, you get low on health. You get a shield. The shield absorbs that fireball cast on you, since you got 100 destruction. It also heals you got a small ammount, since your restoration is at 100. And it absorbs the next few hits because your alteration is at a 100. Now, you gain "Surge of Power"! With a second you cast Fire Storm, removing all the lesser enemies. As the fight goes on, you gain a 10 stacks and get an instant, free, healing off, which also gives you a "Healing over Time" -- which is quite strong. You see? This could be fun. Instead of rushing in, 1-shotting everything, or running in and juggling melee - healing - melee - healing, you get a reason to change spells. So, is this possible to do? Cheers, Matth

When searching for tutorials on 3d, don't search for skyrim specific. Making a 3d head model is the same thing no matter what game it is for, so don't limit the search. The only Skyrim specific thing you ever need to search for is exporting. Now, do a "head modelling" or "head sculpting" search on youtube, and behold a million results. Make said head, fit it on certain body, and then start searching for export/skinning tutoruals which is aimed specificly at Skyrim. Matth

Hey Urwy! I am sorry, but it is not skinned or animated properly. Mostly because I am heading for the army tomorrow, and decided to put that kind of hold untill the worse part is over. I.E. 1-2 months. That's Nifskope in general! My only tip is to break apart the .NIFs used by the 2 in-game crossbows, and learn from that. If you make models for TES game, I suggest also learning what most of the nodes means -- good enough that you can turn a mesh useable without the copy/paste method. It really does help in the length. Especially animations are tricky within Nifskope. I spent some time with animations, and particles, in Oblivion, and damn ... it's all akward. I am sorry I can't help more! Matth

It seem a few modders allready got their WIP topic up and running, so I decided to give my own a go. For a few reasons: 1) To show off my work, and get any kind of feedback back. 2) To see if the right peope bump into me, and I get into a mod project that is actually interesting and efficient. Now, I only got a handfull of images I will show. Basically the stuff that is Skyrim related, or modding related. My practice stuff and my personal projects are not shown. Image 1: Crossbow. Simple crossbow, based of a decent concept art. A little test for me to get used to the different part of a crossbow, and how it works. I think it turned out OK, despite some flaws. It's a little long, yes. As of not it would ifre bolts at the size of arrows. Easily changed. http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/9431/renders.jpg Image 2: A set of armor made for the Moonstone mod. I never finished it, basically because armor sets, and character creation in general, is not my strong side. I am a more hard-surface modeller. Which is also why I am no good with Zbrush, and the likes. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/196/renderip.jpg/ Image 3: A sword. Simple as that. My first test using Zbrush with my hard surface workflow. Turned out decent I think. Perhaps at one point I will fix the weird specularity of it, and do it justice. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/simplesword.jpg/ Image 4: I also made the Scabbard to the sword, using the same method. It fits like a glove! http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/simplesword.jpg/ Image 5: Another sword. This was just something I made after my final exams, since then I had been away from 3d for 2 months. Nothing special, and a "cartoony" kind of curved sword. Oh well. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/scimitarr.jpg/ I hope this wakes any kind of interest. Just note: 1) I do not take requests at the moment. Not for at least 1 month. 2) I do not do character design. So If you got a team and need a moddeller, don't ask me for characters, monster, armors or the likes. I do weapons and environment. 3) If you want a model from me, I want a concept from you. It's simple. I do not design my own concept art, as my drawing skills are horrible. I also do not spend time designing in my head. I need a clear idea of what I am making. Loose or not, I need something. Now, if you want one of the models, or got some feedback on what I got here, feel free to post here to PM me. I am online for the day at least :) P.S. Yes, only 1 of the picture is showing. It makes it all cleaner. Currently only my crossbow mode is showing as a image on this thread. I decided crossbows interest the most people now, and it will attract more people :) Cheers, Matth

You use the word "rape" a lot. Try to not use it that much, as it makes the whole thing .. eh.. weird. That said, go to Falkreach, or however it is spelled, and a orc will talk to you as you enter. He will mention joining the Dawnguard. I believe there is a level requirement, but I am not sure what it is. I want to say 10, but I simply don't know. Matth

If a mod don't update the same content as Dawnguard, it tends to be fine. I.E. Vampire overhauls, werewolf overhaul, stuff that edits certain dungeons specificly used for danwguard quests and so forth. Also, if you uinstall mods, do it properly. If you simply removee 30 mods, like some do, they get a corrupt game. This leads to crashes, and unnecessary rage against Bethesda. Matth

It isn't overly complicated, but it does take some work. Basically you'd re-model a little to add a magazine of sort. Then you'd take the crossbow animation. Then you take the animation of the player putting the bolts in, and loop it X amount of times. You'd tweak it so he put the bolts in required spots, like in a magazine at the side, or beside each other in a custom model. Then you'd tweak some more to make it look smooth, and bingo. Then comes the scripting of 3 arrows actually going off at a short interval, which might be complex. I don't know. So, doable: yes. Super hard: no. Require some tedious tweaking, and a solid skillset of modeling, animating and scripting: yes. Matth

Or because people have always wanted to change their apperance after a while, and using the console can give side effects on it. Also, xbox users can't use the console commands. I think it's a nice feature. A little weird, but nice.

True, true. However, if one actually got the required scripter, modeller and animator to do this, there would be more than 1 variation. I know for my own part that if I had a team with a concept artist, a scripter, an animator and a quest maker, I'd make multiple variations of it. In the end it could cause some problems. It would require animation tweaking, which in turn could make it a problematic mod to work with others. Generally just a big mess. A possible mess -- but still a mess.

Tell that to the Revered dragon who killed my vampire lord without a problem. Yeah, my spells doing about 25 damage is not helping at level 68... On the other hand, the dragon died within a minute of my warhammer. Even on my other save it died within 2 minutes with my Enchanced Dwemer Crossbow and some exploding bolts.

My opinion? We just got a DLC dedicated to improving Vampire and Werewolf. We don't need more useless beast races. If anything, a new DLC should be on adding some kind of spell making, or more on the Falmer, or finish up the Thalmor-in-Skyrim problem.

Yet, majority of the races in TES are Mer. I.E. Elves. Just as Dwemer. They are no different than the rest, exept less magic based, and more technology bases, and they lived underground. So the crossbow schematics were made for them to use, which means anybody could use it. As long as they could figure out the mechanism of it. And to the OP: This request comes up a lot, and by all means, the models are simple to make. However, they require new animations and some good scripting to run with. That is quite a lot of work and debugging. Scripting the crossbow itself will be rather easy, but tweaking the animation of the player, remove clipping and get it all to run with scripts, is a lot of work.

But when it is under 10 USD you are guaranteed you will enjoy it? What is it I don't even... That said, it might be vampire oriented, but there is so much more it gives. I'll give a rundown wihout spoiling the fun parts. Armored trolls to help you fight. Some more story on the Falmer. Using the sun as a weapon itself. Cool puzzles. A few new armor sets. Crossbows, which are awesome. New areas, including a new realm, where you see a familiar face from an older TES game, and get to do some fun stuff. New shouts. New random encounter with vampires in cities, to break up the boring city visit. More fun with Elder Scrolls. New spell effects. Frankly, I forgot it was a vampire mod halfway into the Dawnguard part. Matth

The tuorials learn you the basic core of scripting, and the setup. You don't need anything else. There is a list of functions to use, and if you got some specific questions you as around here, or at the official forums. It's pretty much how you learn yourself anything. Tutorials for basic setup and/or understanding. Then you dig yourself through the meaty part of the learning.

Great, getting trolled by the damn forum, forcing me to lose a wall of text -.- Now, what I was saying before I got so rudely intterupted by the forum. This request is rather simple. It got 2 hardships, however: 1) As said by the poster above me, the animations. It requires a set of animations -- custom animations. Not something a lot of people know how to do, and those who do, does not mod Skyrim. Perhaps if SaidenStorm is still active with his animation work... There is also the problem with the scripts. You'd have to script each animations to work flawlessly. 2) The logic of it. Diablo III gets away easy because you never get a close look on the crossbows. But if you did, you'd notice there is no mechanism to pull up the string. Now, to get a small mechanism to pull up the string, without using your hands, and without using today-level-technology, you'll have to be an expert dwemer engineer on NASA level. It could be cheated, but the human brain will notice the flaw quite quick, and any observant person will find it looks weird. Here is an example of what I mean. THese 2 crossbows are by Jeremy Gritton. I quote: "I worked on the modeling and texturing for 2 Current Gen crossbow assets for the Diablo III Demon Hunter Class Reveal. " http://www.jeremygritton.com/images/SC2/crossbow1H.jpg http://www.jeremygritton.com/images/SC2/Crossbow2H.jpg In general you will need: 1 decent modeller. 1 decent animator. 1 great scripter. There is less than 10 good modellers active on this forum, and I know of no good animators. Scripters I assume there is a few, since it requires less time to get into scripting than the rest. Not trying to be pessimistic here! Just realistic. Matth

Why would a small-step-tutorial on basic use of cheat commands need a video? .... I am sorry, but this is allready known. With the console open you sit with all the power of the developers. Of course you can be both Vampire, Werewolf and whatever else you may feel like being. That said, there were multiple threads about this earlier. Mostly right after release of Skyrim when certain people went around cheating as much as possible.

Oh, another one of these topics. There are equally many arguments for and against. The only reason to argue over it, is boredom. If that's the case, there are more productive things to do. Drop it. Just drop it.

Do you got the specularity set up correct? If you don't know where to find it, look under the alpha channel of the normal map. If by chance it is all black, it's the problem.