Where to start modding

[Tulsa299]

Excuse me iv'e missed a similar topic.

 

I want to learn how to mod skyrim, I am a writer... of strange fiction.. and would love to see my stories in playable/video form...especially in skyrim... more for my self and my own accomplishment than anything else.

 

I don't really wish to over encumber myself and time is a rare thing for me, Iv'e tried this in the unreal engine with no prior experience but i had to ditch the project due to hardware/time limitations, but i learned a lot.

 

So where could i start? I'm going to start googling and would really appreciate and links, advice... anything, on the subject.

 

Thanks.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Tulsa299

[sonicadam132]

There is multiple things you can do. you can get Skyrim and get the creation kit, write about your ideas in the mod request thread, or join into a team of people and work together. A link for a tutorial for the CK from Bethesda is http://www.creationkit.com/Category:Tutorials

I hope you can do what you want to do.

[Tulsa299]

Thanks man, I already have the creation kit... dusty but it's there...and a long time skyrim fan

[Hoamaii]

Hey Tulsa,

 

Writer here too and I started modding like 6 months ago. I started with armor modeling for 2 reasons: 1. if I screwed up there were no risk it'd wreck my game 2. I found a series of great step-by-step tutorials (search Nightasy's pages on the Nexus if you want to try armors). That gave me basic understanding of how the CK works and enough confidence to go further. Now, I've moved to custom houses, which got me acquainted with how the Skyrim world works, and creating simple quests (none uploaded yet) which lead me to writing scripts - if you need tutorials for that, check here + look for DarkFox127 on YouTube (he is on the Nexus too). And I'm glad I started with armors because now when an item I want to use in my house or in a quest doesn't show up in game because of stupid texture issues, I know how to fix it.

 

If you don't have much time to yourself, one easy thing to do is to write your own books in the CK's books models and put them in game - you'd still need a quest for your users to be able to look for the books in game though. But that'd be a farily simple one.

 

As Sonicadam says, you could also offer your help to other modders, the thing though is (sorry to put it that way - but I was in that case too), it's not much of a help when one has not yet successfully created something that works.

 

The CK is a great tool and if you like to learn as you seem to imply it, you'll have fun seeing what's in your mind come to life.

 

Cheers,

 

Hoamaii

[Arimikami]

If you're interested in seeing your stories in playable form, I would suggest you start with learning how to do the scripting for adding quests and learning how to make custom NPCs as those are probably the two things you'll be working with the most if you're adding playable content.

[Xander9009]

Like Arimikami said, you'll need to make NPCs and set up quests to get a story going. But there were two other things not mentioned. Scenes and dialogue. They're both learned while learning to make quests (which is why they weren't mentioned), but they're important enough to making a story play out that they deserve a mention. For learning how scenes work, beyond what the creation kit website tells you, I'd open up the quest "BardSongs" and look in its scenes tab when you get to that point. They don't deal with multiple NPCs, but they're good for dealing with monologues. For conversations back and forth, possibly involving multiple NPCs, look at MQ102 and MQ103. They both deal with multiple NPCs. And remember, these are things that probably won't have the player actively interacting. Mostly just watching things unfold. Scenes can be a bit confusing, so make sure to look at these only after you understand the tutorial. Good luck. And if you have problems, make sure to post back here. More than likely, someone will be able to help.

[Tulsa299]

Thanks for all the advice guys it's very motivating

[Oracleofmoons]

For your first mod, you may want to avoid a lot of NPC interaction lol. I did it a while back, and found it SUPER frustrating.

 

Here is an idea.

 

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Make a basic Courier quest. Begin your story there, with a lost relative, or whatever.

 

The quest leads to a Cave, or Dungeon, where you fight some stuff. The story continues there, with books, notes, and other creative things you can thing of "that don't involve NPCs" and obtaining a key.

 

You then are led out in the woods, where you find a player home cabin.

 

Inside you find a bit more lore, books, and things to finish telling your little story, as well as just being a cool little player home.

 

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Courier quests are quite simple as I remember.

 

For your cabin, first Copy & Paste the exterior of say a Whiterun shack. Then find an interior that matches. Example "Collette's House"

 

Carefully, Duplicate the interior cell. Rename it, and then remove a few things. First Remove Collette. Then turn Markers on, and remove anything that does not pertain to you.

 

For Example, in Collette's little shack, there are markers for some quest. and a chest under the floor. It is important you delete anything like this.

 

You must be careful, obviously playing around with cells the game uses, but I say this because it is 1000% faster than creating a fresh cabin.

 

Same goes for your Dungeon/Mine. I would NEVER start fresh. just Dupe an existing one, and then delete NPCs and such. Change it as much as you desire, and throw in your own stuff.

 

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Also, I noticed I would get burned on the CK, then come back weeks later, and rather than sucking, I would be better than last time, and remember all I had learned.

 

Be ready for a long road friend.

[Oracleofmoons]

Oh and also unique weapons / jewelry / armor are very simple to throw in.

 

If your story involves a wicked fire mage, you could make a ring, that has "resist fire" and "+fire damage" with a cool name.

 

Another simple way to augment your story with gameplay.