Better to use custom meshes?

[Xaeyr]

Hi all. I'm fairly new to Oblivion modding and was curious as to whether or not those of you who add houses/castles/etc. to the game use custom meshes or just use buildings that are already available in game?

 

So far I'm enjoying putting various buildings down wherever I want them, but am concerned that my buildings are going to be boring since they will pretty much look like other buildings in the world, you know?

 

So does it really matter that I don't use custom meshes? Can a location be made to look "original" even if using content that's already used in other places?

 

Thanks!

[stars2heaven]

Hi all. I'm fairly new to Oblivion modding and was curious as to whether or not those of you who add houses/castles/etc. to the game use custom meshes or just use buildings that are already available in game?

 

So far I'm enjoying putting various buildings down wherever I want them, but am concerned that my buildings are going to be boring since they will pretty much look like other buildings in the world, you know?

 

So does it really matter that I don't use custom meshes? Can a location be made to look "original" even if using content that's already used in other places?

 

Thanks!

 

Personally I think that custom meshes are unecessary, though they do make things much easier as far as looking original. When using the vanilla stuff I guess it depends entirely on what yor own imagination can conjure up. For instance:

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/images/2...-1254785772.jpg

 

Is something Imade with purely vanilla stuff that youve probably seen a thousand times. But I think this looks fairly original and interesting. Im sure anyone could do similar things with houses.

[Tchos]

Creative landscaping can make a big difference. Although it does use some retextured buildings, I think the Willow Lake Village would look just as fresh and unique with the original textures.

[Vagrant0]

Ultimately, it comes down to what you are wanting to do. New meshes are not necessarily better, especially if your experience making new meshes and textures is not very good. Most of the more experienced modders only make new meshes when nothing else seems to work. And even then, it is usually a retextured mesh. Experienced modders try to do as much as they can with what is available instead of right away saying that a new mesh is needed for everything. Less time spent building a mesh means more time building the mod.

 

I would be less concerned about what other people might think of your mod, and more concerned about yourself being happy with the mod you have made. There is no law saying that you have to share your mods, and even if your intention is to make mods for others, you can certainly do that later once you are able to make more complicated mods. House mods are valuable for learning, but everyone and their dog has uploaded one. Town mods with a bunch of buildings placed around, a couple NPCs, and maybe a store are getting to be about the same. Fun to make, good for learning how to mod, but usually requires much more to be appreciated by anyone other than the creator. Sticking in a few custom meshes won't really change any of that. A house mod without much interaction still ends up feeling plain and sterile regardless of the meshes used.

[Xaeyr]

Thanks for the replies, all! They've been very helpful :)

 

I've never really been concerned with what other people thought about ANYTHING I did, lol. So that's not really an issue if I were going to share a mod. I usually do things more for myself and then share for the fun of it or if I'm proud of something I did.

 

But, even though I'm modding more for myself, I still don't want my "creations" to look like everything else in the world. I guess I've always been my own worst critic, lol.

 

I guess if I'm not going to use custom meshes, it will come down to creative use of what is already there (which I think I've read in other parts of the forums) to make things look fresh.