I'm new to modding

[ginshell]

Well, I'm new to the whole modding thing for Oblivion, and or any PC game in general. So let's put it as, this is utterly my FIRST EXPERIENCE in modding (I capped that so ppl know, take it slow and make it easy to understand, I'm a newbie). Now, I have looked through guides as to what I needed, and I'm not sure what I truly need. Also, I am trying to mod without having to spend any money on programs, mostly because I don't have the funds :( . All I am trying to do, is mod with just enough programs to actually truly get into it, and get it done right, without having to deal with alot of programs to switch back and forth between, or shell out alot of cash for.

 

That being said, let me say what I do have;

 

1. Oblivion (The game itself) - Obviously I should have this.

2. TES Construction Set - I had downloaded that to play around with, and make some stuff in game.

3. Blender - This I downloaded to make models and animate anyway.

4. Gimp - I had installed this just to mess around with originally.

5. Windows Vista - This came with my laptop, I know it's not the best OS, but I'll try to work around it. (Don't count this into it unless I need to know some things about modding on Vista)

 

Well, that's what I have. I need to know, is this just enough? (Discluding Vista) Or do I need more than this?

All I am trying to do, is to make new armors, weapons, races. Also, I want to edit the male/female bodies, and armor builds. I also want to even try to make new creatures. I know I have a learning curb to pass, but I'm determined. Do I need any other programs to make this possible? Is what I have already, good enough? Should I consider anything else before I begin into modding?

 

I am looking for alot of feedback, help, and some pointers to get me in the right direction.

 

*Note

Try to make it "easy to understand" if your gonna get into using technical terms/directions, as I am not experienced in this. What is easy to a Advanced Modder, is, "WTF?" for beginners. Bear with me, I know I am a newbie, but so were we all at one time. This I hope can turn into a post for other newbie modders to read, so they know what to consider too.

[Jenrai]

I'm not the worlds most experienced modder either matey, in fact I've not released anything on here (mainly because I am by nature a perfectionist and therefore think all my stuff looks really, really naff) and have mainly only made compatability stuff anyways (most of which don't seem to work quite as I envisage).

You have the basics covered though, with the game and construction kit. That will allow you to play around a little.

What other programs you're going to need will likely depend just what you are modding. Scripting quests ect. requires a slightly different approach, and different set of tools, to making armours, but most of (if not all of) the stuff you will find is out there and its free. The only real way to find out if you are gonna need more than you have (from personal experience at least) is to take a "cross that bridge when I get to it" attitude and pick up stuff as and when you need it.

However, I have heard bad things about Vista and the construction kit (I don't use Vista on my games machine - too skittish - but theres a lotta damming evidence on here against it)

Not that I'm trying to dishearten you or anything... just thought I should pass on a heads up that I've picked up on since joining the Nexus community.

 

Jen

[Rhiana]

Im also just starting and not really a modder, but...

 

here is a page that lists usefull tools/utilities: http://cs.bethsoft.com/constwiki/index.php/Category:Tools

 

I use nifscope alot.

 

Also, Paint.net isn't on this list, but its free and can do dds files. I think I got that from cnet (downloads.com).

 

I don't have vista, but it seems that what i have heard is NOT to install oblivion into program files directory if you are gonna mod. use mygames or someother directory. And that if you have to uninstall it to move it somewhere else, there is a process for that, or else things go badly. There are forum posts around here you can search for that talk about the vista thing...

[bben46]

For Vista related problems such as UAC, Check here:

http://www.tesnexus.com/articles/article.php?id=262.

 

For making mods, I definitely recommend installing somewhere besides the default location.

Usually C:\Games. That gets you away from Vista's security restrictions.

Deleted duplicate topic - try to keep it all in one thread to avoid confusion. Bben46, Moderator

[ginshell]

Yea, I have read bad things about Vista, all the more why I am further confused. But all I wanna real do is make custom armor, weapons, creatures, items, clothes, and maybe even a race.

 

Any suggestions to what I'd need if I were to move more into this? Asides from what I have? And I have always had that, well let's just see what this does, and what's next attitude. Thanks for the input Jenrai, I appreciate it.

:biggrin:

[ginshell]

Im also just starting and not really a modder, but...

 

here is a page that lists usefull tools/utilities: http://cs.bethsoft.com/constwiki/index.php/Category:Tools

 

I use nifscope alot.

 

Also, Paint.net isn't on this list, but its free and can do dds files. I think I got that from cnet (downloads.com).

 

I don't have vista, but it seems that what i have heard is NOT to install oblivion into program files directory if you are gonna mod. use mygames or someother directory. And that if you have to uninstall it to move it somewhere else, there is a process for that, or else things go badly. There are forum posts around here you can search for that talk about the vista thing...

 

 

Yea, I didn't install it in the default, so I've not had problems making my things work from the CS.

Doesn't NifSkope help with editing the original models and textures from Oblivion into custom textures and models?

 

The link is definately worth a look, and I'll find Paint.net if I can. Thank you very much, but I would like to ask one thing. What would be the best thing for me if I wanted to edit Items, Races, and Creatures, or make my own?