Quests Need Your Love!

[wizardmirth]

I love to make quest mods. And yet I tend to disfavor some modelers for lack of being conscious of this aspect of creation. No matter how high their art may be (and sometimes its pretty damn impressive) they tend to leave this ultra-lame auto-add script, or make it so that it's yet another merchant's problem or Testing Hall self-indulgent material.

 

My question is why can't they seek famed quest modders (and I'm no-one but surely there must be others friendly to the community) or leave it open so that quest modders can include their art without permisson? Why not start a thread, "I've Got some Great Art but I don't want to ram it down the anus of another?" Leaving it open with no question, just so you know, is extremely lame as well. I know my anus would be highly grateful. It is my hope that others join me in this great and noble cause. Thank you.

[Slawter500]

It's the modders choice. They will have spent alot of time on their custom weapon(or armour) and may not wish to create a new quest. Or the quest might simply not fit oblivion.

 

Personally I agree, that there should be a quest to go with it. But I don't think others should change how they do things. Moddings for fun, and adding something you don't want to do is never fun.

 

Why don't you create quest mods for these weapons. Offer them back to the weapon creator. If they refuse, then play it yourself :).

 

A nice idea.

[grmblf]

I agree that it seems that in general modders are reluctant to team up with other modders to mix their works, wich is a pitty because probably the resulting stuff would be better than the sum of it's parts (how does it go?), but as Slawter says that's the modder's choice. Do not disfavour moddelers who don't make quests, they could also disfavor quest-makers who don't add new stuff into the game and so on, but in the end people mod for fun so everyone does what s/he wants/likes to do.

 

People can release their mod as a modder's resources, but IMO those are good for generic stuff that you won't mind finding in several places but it's not for unique items as it could be quite weird finding them several times when they're meant to be unique. Moreover, I think it's quite reasonable that if someone has spent a lot of time making a damn cool item s/he wouldn't like it ends up being the award of a crapy, nasty, poorly made quest, so I won't blame modders for not doing so. So the remaining choice is to contact those moddelers and ask permission to use his/her work, maybe give them feedback while they're still developing the mod, and accept feedback from them for the quest, so the resulting stuff could be something both modders could say they're one of it's coauthors, and not that just their work is used in that other mod. I can't say for sure that you'll always get an affirmative answer but it seems to me that chances are you'll get it.

[myrmaad]

If I make an outfit or weapon for my own character, I want to go get it and use it immediately.

 

If later I think it's good enough to share or I have permissions enough that I can share, I will share what is already done. I have very little time, and while I have some quest projects I'm working on (s l o w l y), for the most part, I'll give you what I have and if you don't like it you should skip it.

 

Also I rarely actually download a quest mod. I'm just not that into what other people think is a good quest.

 

The upshot? It comes to down to personal choice.

[David Brasher]

I am strange, but to me it is all about quests, adventures, and dungeons. I seldom download a weapon or armor mod. I download most of the new dungeon mods that are released. I want exciting things to do in the game. To me it seems like dungeons are the easiest mods to make. (Time-consuming but technically easy.) Quests and adventures can be fairly easy to make, but very time-consuming and hard to completely play-test and debug. But is seems easier than modeling and texturing and more mechanical than artistic. So I can't model but I can make dungeons, quests, and adventures.

 

With most people, it seems that they can model but don't know how to do dungeons, quests, and adventures. I guess different people have different talents. Maybe there are more artists among the modders than Oblivion mechanics and engineers like me.

 

It is sort of a shame that all the cool custom weapons and armor are introduced into the game in such a slipshod fashion though. Maybe more cooperation among modders of different specialties is needed.

[myrmaad]

I am strange, but to me it is all about quests, adventures, and dungeons. I seldom download a weapon or armor mod. I download most of the new dungeon mods that are released. I want exciting things to do in the game. To me it seems like dungeons are the easiest mods to make. (Time-consuming but technically easy.) Quests and adventures can be fairly easy to make, but very time-consuming and hard to completely play-test and debug. But is seems easier than modeling and texturing and more mechanical than artistic. So I can't model but I can make dungeons, quests, and adventures.

 

With most people, it seems that they can model but don't know how to do dungeons, quests, and adventures. I guess different people have different talents. Maybe there are more artists among the modders than Oblivion mechanics and engineers like me.

 

It is sort of a shame that all the cool custom weapons and armor are introduced into the game in such a slipshod fashion though. Maybe more cooperation among modders of different specialties is needed.

 

You have made some of my favorite dungeons, but the problem here for me, is that "slipshod" not only has a derogatory connotation that's uncalled for under the circumstance, it's merely an opinion to boot.

 

I admit, when I download armor or weapons that have some sort of quest attached, I just ignore the plugin and add the stuff to my own thing, in the testing hall or in one of my own chests conveniently located. I don't want to go through the hassle of someone else's quest, I'm already ROLE PLAYING, I don't want someone else's input on my game: that would mean I have to stop what my character is doing and go do something else I haven't got any interest in doing, at least at this moment. And I don't have all year to play. I only have a couple hours a month if I'm lucky. I'd never get anywhere.

[Vagrant0]

Have to remember, most of the armor mods out there are left in whatever state the creator made them for their own usage. Modders don't want to go though a whole quest just to make sure their armor looks right (once the armor is seen ingame, changes to the mesh don't always register), and most doing that kind of work have limited scripting experience and lack the weeks it might take to throw a quickie quest together. Some people, who are wanting to download and use that clothing, weapon, or armor mod also usually don't want to jump through hoops or figure out quests in order to get it for their character. Many of the better looking vanilla armors don't get seen simply because there was some sort of quest involved with getting the pieces. It's a bad excuse, but a perfectly valid one.

 

Meshers don't usually ask others to make quest mods because there aren't many well-known people who can make decent quests, and often don't want to give the impression that their works are a resource to be used in other mods. Many of the things made are also either designed for themselves first, or are done by request, both of which usually falls into the situation mentioned above.

 

As I've been trying to keep a mod group going for 2 years now, I can verify that it is incredibly difficult to get anyone interested in working together. Often, you spend a week discussing a project with someone, only for them to completely vanish the next, lose interest, or suffer catastrophic system failure.

 

If you're a quest maker looking for something to work on, often, the best thing you can do is to either look for a large project to join, who needs people to work on quests (since they often have resources already, but don't have the manpower to implement them), or directly approach meshers who have created things that might work right in a quest mod. Provided that you ask them nicely, most meshers are willing to agree to some usage of their works, even if it isn't a modders resource. But really though, you might just try and work with many of the under-used, under-appreciated modders resources out there.

[stars2heaven]

Not much to add here I suppose. I would like it if more modelers would leave their great work open for others to use, atleast after asking permission first. But oh well. As Vagrant said, there are a great many underused and under appreciated resources out there.

 

Im currently working on a quest mod that I cant wait to finish and release, and Im making use of quite alot of these under used resource mods. If I come up with an idea for something Id like to have, I do a general search for it and read all the readmes for peoples mod. If they grant permission or seem like they would in the readme, then I download it. If not, I move on. There are alot more fish in the sea.

[kieranfoy]

Honestly, I can't understand your violent antipathy towards modellers.

 

When they spend large quantities of time and effort to bring you a beautiful, wearable work of art for no profit whatsoever, but don't make you a quest, they aren't 'ramming it down your anus' as you phrase it, they're doing you a kindness. I also fail to see how leaving a new armor in the Testing Hall for you could be construed as 'self indulgent'.

 

Youu might try a little more gratitude towards the modellers.

[L33Nexus]

so whats been said here you think that modelers should make quests to aquire the weapon/armor they have made?

 

It's a nice idea but some of us have had enough work making the models without having to do even more extesive work making a quest to aquire the weapon.

 

I think your also going OTT and having complete disrespect for the work that myself and others do.

 

I mostly make weapons by request of some anonymous person and they seem to be really glad that i have gone to the trouble that i have to get there weapon to work, like right now for example a stranger to me is requesting two sword that you dual wield and sheath onto your back... which means alot of learning and alot more work, but i do it so he's happy with my work and so i can look at ti while testing it in game and be able to say i made that.

 

All in all i think that's just having no respect

 

"is extremely lame as well"

 

whats extremely lame is we share our work with people who wouldn't have a prayer making a custom model themselves and saying where lame just for not making a quest to go with it thats lame mate.