Favourite Modding Tools

[Zorkaz]

Just wanted a thread where people post there favorite modding tools.

So people find new utilities they haven't heard about

 

1. Lazy Voice Finder

Enables you to search for vanilla Dialogue, extract or just alter it. The search function with filtering options makes it an essential tool

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/24309?tab=description

 

2. Champollion

A simple decompiler for scripts. Has a painfully klunky UI but it works

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3742

[DieFeM]

NifSkope - Let you do some edits to model files (.nif).

https://github.com/niftools/nifskope/releases/latest

 

xEdit - Complements CK functionality, you can do mods only with it tho.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2737

 

Bethesda Archive Extractor - Manipulate ba2 archives, I would recommend Archive2 but is less intuitive tho)

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/78/

 

BodySlide and Outfit Studio - I install it for Outfit Studio, basically to rig custom outfits, but also to convert from different model formats.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25

 

DirectXTex (texconv.exe & texdiag.exe) - command line tools that, texconv.exe, along some basic scripting, can be used to batch convert from/to dds and other common formats.

And texdiag.exe tell you what format, compression, etc... has an image.

https://github.com/microsoft/DirectXTex/releases

 

Face Ripper - This small application let you export faces from game saves to mods and vice versa.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3878

 

Material Editor - For texturing jobs. Editing BGSM and BGEM files (bethesda materials).

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3635

 

Texture Browser - Easily find where a texture is stored.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/2776

 

Yakitori Audio Converter - Convert sound files.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9322

 

ESP/ESM Translator - I use it for two things, translating small mods and searching for the editor id of dialogue lines (making use of its database).

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/921

 

hkxpack - Convert hkx (animation) files to xml and vice versa, I use it to find out event names of animations and make small modifications.

https://github.com/Dexesttp/hkxpack/releases

 

DDS Viewer - For fast preview of DDS texture files.

https://ddsviewer.com/

 

Pictus Image Viewer - For fast preview of TGA texture files

https://poppeman.se/pictus/

 

GIMP - Everybody knows Gimp :smile:

 

Mod Organizer 2 - I use it because it brings me the virtual filesystem, which allows me to keep the Data folder clean so I can work on my mods without thousands of mod files populating the folders, while I still have all my mods installed and ready to play on a separate folder.

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6194

Edited May 31, 2021 by DieFeM

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

I personally use the ESM translator tool to change a plugin from an ESP to an ESM, because it is faster with that tool then with xEdit.

 

Otherwise, the "standard stuff", like mentioned above, but I also use a few tools not mentioned above:

(Most of them are not really "modding related" and I use them for lots of other stuff, but they might be useful)

 

• SketchUp 2017 - (the last "free" non-cloud version) to create custom meshes. (a very simple, easy to use and free CAD tool)
• 3DSMAX 2013 for converting those meshes into nifs and doing things like UV mapping (and basic animation for custom doors).
• Elrich (or Elric) to get the custom meshes to work properly without crashing the game or the CK
• Photoshop 2019 - for creating (very bad) custom textures or editing (= "make them even worse") vanilla textures
• PaintNET - for doing the things that photoshop can't do (or that I can't figure out how to do in PS), like just drawing curved lines without having to mess around with paths
• Intel Texture Works plugin for photoshop to export DDS files form photoshop
• yEd Graph Editor - A tool that lets you create diagrams and flowcharts. I use that to plan how interior cells connect or how quests interact
• TiddlyWiki - "A personal, non-linear notebook". Basically like a personal wiki that I use for keeping all of my ideas and projects organized and documented.
• Notepad++ - A text editor that can dynamically highlight code and other useful stuff
• Sculptris - a free 3d sculpting tool. For doing "non technical 3d modelling" (things like "organic shapes")

(Just search the web for the name of those applications if you are interested, I am sure you will find them, I can't be bothered to add links right now. None of them are hard to find. Except 3DSMAX 2013)

[DocClox]

zEdit. Not quite the same functionality as xEdit, but I find the UI a lot easier to work with.

 

PyNifly Blender Export-Import. Next-Gen Nif import/export extension for Blender.

 

Also, ConEmu, and Bash, and Make from Cygwin. Because I do a lot of scripting, and I'm not a big fan of IDEs. And the CK script editor is awful.

 

And Inkscape for graphic design work, The Gimp for the bits that don't really lend themselves to vector art, and Paint.Net for loading and saving DDS files. There's a Gimp addon that works, but you need to change the extension to and from dds2 to get more recent compression formats to work, and it gets to be a pain.

[niston]

Imma put this here: Papyrus for Visual Code

[DocClox]

Imma put this here: Papyrus for Visual Code

Do you know if Code extensions work for Studio proper? I tend to assume not, but trying to google for it just brings up a mess of VS Code extension github pages.

[niston]

I don't think so.

But you can install visual code alongside vs with no problems.

[South8028]

I use mostly 3d max 2013 with official plugins. It has absolutely all the tools for creating models and animations, and only import nif is missing, so the models from the game have to be converted to fbx. Although, I need game models exclusively for proportions. I've mastered static meshes, animated meshes, physics, effects, glass, connection points. Further there is a dead end. Complete lack of tutorials, guides and articles.

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

I use mostly 3d max 2013 with official plugins. It has absolutely all the tools for creating models and animations, and only import nif is missing, so the models from the game have to be converted to fbx. Although, I need game models exclusively for proportions.

I made a "conversion table" fomr "in game units" to fractional inches and meters that I use for getting the dimensions right.

I might upload that as a modders resours at some point ...

 

 

I've mastered static meshes, animated meshes, physics, effects, glass, connection points. Further there is a dead end. Complete lack of tutorials, guides and articles.

 

Well, what else would you want to know / do?

I don't think that there is much else ;-)

[South8028]

A lot of everything. Firstly, I have no knowledge to use my animated meshes as furniture. Only as activators, doors, boxes. How to run them without scripts using in-game annotations depends on hkt. There are no such articles about hkt. Secondly, no animator has worked with bones with official plugins. Everyone has worked with niftools in 2015 max and up. Thirdly, there are dozens of tools and modifiers in the official plugins, the functions of which I do not know at all.