So I'm still trying to develop a rudimentary understanding of the creation kit, mostly because of time and other life issues, but I'm really interested in becoming a first-time modder. My background is in kinesiology, but I focused on music and recording a lot in high school and still pursue it as a hobby. I also did speech and debate, as well as acting throughout high school and college, which means, you guessed it, I've got a "taste for the theatrics." So I've got 2 ideas: The first is a simple one that I haven't seen so far on the net. It'll be called "AudioBooks of Skyrim." If I can ever figure out how to turn some of my recordings into a soundtrack/fx file and get the scripts to work (like I said, I'm still totally new to this), I'd love to create a mod that turns skyrim's books into fully narrated, realized adventures. The lore within the books would be slightly expanded, and there would be personal tales and additional journals. But they would all follow the same format: the books would open, and a voice would narrate the text as you read each page. When you pressed the keys for left and right, the page would turn, and the next page would start narrating. Obviously this would lend itself to some issues like vocal overlap, but I'd try to find a way to make it "cut off" like when you click during an NPC dialogue. This would be my first mod, and hopefully a simple one at that. So far I'd be the only one doing the narrations, and I know that nothing is worse than crappy voice-acting for a well-written script. Which is why I've already started reading all the books in vanilla skyrim so that I come up with the ideal "characters" to play for each one. Clearly, I need a female for those narrations. I don't wanna be the guy who narrates audiobooks poorly because he couldn't be bothered to adapt to the tone of the text. The second mod idea is "Skyrim Immersive PT." Ever noticed how trainers are a rather cheap ripoff, or an "easy way out" of developing skills authentically? I do. I find myself often falling into the trap of buying my way to level up and immediately regretting my decision afterwards when I enter a cave that can improve my sneak 5-6 points for free. Therefore, I propose an overhaul that allows (nay, requires) trainers to perform actions and give you 'quests' that are directly related to the skill set you have. As a NASM certified personal trainer, I find the value in the process of achieving results, and the understanding of WHY they were attained. (Ie, nutrition, sleep, the length-tension relationships and stablization of muscle groups, etc). Obviously, these quests would protect the player from the kind of harm (ie, 20,000 draugr deathlords) that would kill the player. Otherwise, why pay gold? This one I haven't honestly thought of how I would integrate it into skyrim's framework. As someone bugged by the concept of "microtransactions," a system that in my opinion ruined the immersion and horror of the Dead Space series (among others), I wouldn't want this mod to become a version of that. But it could possibly give a "level buff/faster leveling" effect that doesn't simply "buy results" with no appreciation for the process. Sorry to ramble. But I'd LOVE to hear feedback on these two ideas, as well as maybe help getting started on the modding process. I've made my game super stable, with about 250 mods, 187 esp's, and a tweaked personalized (performance heavy) ENB that rarely stutters, having once pulled my hair out constantly regarding the game's stability. So my understanding of skyrim's engine has developed a lot. My knowledge of the creation kit, however,... well, it isn't there. So far, I open it and can't seem to get anything to work, so I must either have it incorrectly installed or just don't know how to use it. Thoughts? Thanks again! -Patman
