LE Any tips for working with super-modular architecture/statics?

[lazyskeever]

I am asking because I so often run into issues and stupid mistakes that may be so bad it may require me to scrap hours of work because of some misjudgement I made much earlier...

 

Trying to create interiors right now using a hodgepodge of different styles of statics, from Solitude, Whiterun, Castle Dawnguard, etc etc. These statics are typically much more divided into smaller pieces than what you usually find among dungeon statics and the likes, they require much more precision in placement and I have to set my snap-to-grid to 16, or sometimes even at 8. Usually I end up with stupid errors down the line because I'm awful at measuring distances properly and may be off by just a few grids, then subsequent statics will be placed according to that inappropriate placement which can really ruin the symmetry.

 

Hopefully there are some veteran house modders active here that can share some tips and techniques to avoid these headaches.

[eric31415]

When you place the first piece in a new interior cell, set it's position to 0,0,0. That way you will have a perfectly aligned foundation to build on.

 

The kit pieces in Skyrim aren't nearly as modular as Oblivion's were. You will have to play with the snap-to-grid values to find what works for each.

[Vagrant0]

Sometimes you may need to go to a grid of 8 or 4 depending on the static. Usually smaller stuff needs to be on a smaller grid. Try to construct things in an area you don't have anything else placed so that you can select many pieces at once to move groups together. If any rotation other than 90,180 is needed, make sure you do this last and rotate pieces as a group instead of individually. Some sets may have blending pieces, which are intended to hide seams between some elements, such as with doorways.

 

Mixing interiors from different sets however is usually a bad idea. Even if everything is built to a module size of 64 or 128, the internal geometry, such as changes in floor heights, spacing of doors, size of pillars, depths of stonework, ceiling elements usually makes even a slight matching difficult since it throws everything else off. In these cases, your best option is usually to leave these transitions few in number, and try to make use of blending pieces, other statics, or even custom made pieces to try and blend them together. Sometimes these custom parts can be little more than a rock , piece of wood, or pillar with the right texture placed on them. Other times it may mean having to rework the whole interior so that you can hide most of these seams with furniture, rugs, paintings, or other pieces of clutter. Generally though, you're usually best sticking to a single style of statics whenever possible.

[EnaiSiaion]

I find you can almost always fix the connection by using enough clutter around the edges. The HH tileset has two useful pillars and a horizontal beam which can easily be retextured. Find a bump or something to place on the ground and you're set.