Global modders list

[42parsec]

Since the nexus forums are shurely one of the biggest modding communities of our time, i thought by myself that there should be a list where everybody can integrate himself into the community.

 

It should work like this:

 

If you want to, you can subscribe yourself to this list and describe what you are able to do, so others can easily find the people that are needed for solving current issues.

 

The list should be subdivided in professions.

 

It should be easy to access and managa, like a button directly on the different nexus pages, like the files button.. named: professions list or something like that.

 

I think this would give the community an enormous boost in collaboration and an even bigger team spirit!

 

What do you think of that?

[AlienSlof]

I like this idea. I am often asked for help with things I just can't do, such as scripting, most likely because I'm well known. A list where a person can look up modders with a specific skill might work quite well.

[Dark0ne]

I also like this idea. I like the idea of having a catalogue of modders, seperated by their skills (scripters, writers, voice-actors, modelers, texturers, etc.) with a list of the past projects they've worked on (linked), what projects they're currently working on and whether they are available to work on any projects.

[ScourgeBlack]

I like this idea so I guess i'm gonna be the first who signs up for this list. :biggrin:

 

Skills:

Mainly Writer

 

Past Projects:

[WIP] Bioshock (Cancelled because someone else was already doing a Bioshock mod.)

 

Current Projects:

[WIP] FEARout Click here for detailed description of the mod. (This mod probably won't be hosted on the Nexus because some of it is directly ripped from FEAR 2)

[LHammonds]

I worked on a help desk web app a LONG time ago and started to build a "skills database" into its feature list which would really work well for this. Since the code is ancient and unfinished (could add but not manage), I won't try to revive it but I learned a lot during the process and how it could work.

 

I'll see if I can dig up some old screenshots to give ya'll an idea.

 

EDIT: Here are some pictures:

 

The primary feature is the search option which looked like this:

 

 

 

Employees could add their own profile (Step 1 of 3)

 

 

 

Employees would pick which areas they have any kind of experience in (Step 2 of 3)

 

 

 

The final step would be the self-evaluation of how skilled they believe they are in each of the selected areas on the prior screen:

 

 

 

EDIT #2: Found an overview flowchart too:

 

 

 

EDIT #3: So, to get this in the general context of the above, one would need to layout all the different categories and skills in each one. As for the skill level, we could just use Oblivion terminology and define exactly what it expected at each skill level (Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, etc.)

 

Category --> Skill

 

Scripting --> Construction Set

Scripting --> OBSE

Modeling Tools --> Blender

Modeling Tools --> 3DS Max

Modeling Tools --> Maya

Graphics Tools --> Adobe Photoshop

Graphics Tools --> GIMP

Graphics Tools --> Paint.NET

Graphics Tools --> PaintShop Pro

Modeling --> Armor / Clothing

Modeling --> Characters / Creatures

Modeling --> Architecture

Modeling --> Weapons

Modeling --> Animation

Modding --> Oblivion

Modding --> Morrowind

Modding --> Fallout 3

Modding --> Dragon Age

Audio --> Sound FX

Audio --> Voice Acting

Audio Tools --> Audacity

Audio Tools --> Sound Forge

Writing --> Storyline / Plot

Writing --> Character Development

Writing --> Grammar / Spelling

Writing --> Tutorials

etc.

 

If the skills are well-thought out, it is conceivable that one could find people that know how to do certain things, use certain tools and mod specific games.

 

If anyone is interested, here is the database table structure I used with some modifications to be relevant to this topic:

 

tbl_skills_category

- skills_category_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- skills_category_name = VarChar(50)

- Active = Boolean

- DateCreated = DateTime (Default = Today)

- DateModified = DateTime

 

tbl_skills_level

- skills_level_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- skills_level_name = Varchar(50)

- skills_level_desc = Varchar(200)

- Active = Boolean

- DateCreated = DateTime (Default = Today)

- DateModified = DateTime

 

tbl_skills

- skills_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- skills_name = VarChar(50)

- skills_category_id = Foreign Key --> tbl_skills_category.skills_category_id

- Active = Boolean

- DateCreated = DateTime (Default = Today)

- DateModified = DateTime

 

tbl_skills_matrix

- skills_matrix_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- member_id = Foreign Key --> tbl_member.member_id

- skills_id = Foreign Key --> tbl_skills.skills_id

- skills_level_id --> tbl_skills_level.skills_level_id

 

tbl_member

- member_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- member_name = VarChar(50)

- member_contact_url1 = VarChar(500)

- member_contact_url2 = VarChar(500)

- member_contact_url3 = VarChar(500)

- member_availability = Numeric (hrs per week)

- Active = Boolean

- DateCreated = DateTime (Default = Today)

- DateModified = DateTime

 

tbl_rel

- rel_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- rel_name = VarChar(50)

- rel_url = VarChar(500)

- role = VarChar(500)

- DateCreated = DateTime (Default = Today)

- DateModified = DateTime

 

tbl_wip

- wip_id = AutoNumber, Primary Key

- wip_name = VarChar(50)

- wip_url = VarChar(500)

- role = VarChar(500)

- DateCreated = DateTime (Default = Today)

- DateModified = DateTime

 

I would envision that the application would work on a protected honor system...meaning, you don't have to login to the app to add or modify entries but there would not be an option to delete...only disable. So if somebody were to rampage through the application and disable everything, it would be easy to run a query to re-enable all inactive entries that were modified since a certain date. :wink:

 

LHammonds

[Pronam]

I support this idea! I know a friend who made a simple version on a MyBB forum, so it seems implementable.

Is it off or on nexus? As I can imagine that you could be a significant sized database in terms of types of information.

If it would get implemented here than that would be awesome.

[LHammonds]

Is it off or on nexus?

This is just a discussion right now. If implemented on the Nexus, I don't think it would ever exist directly on the forum since that would be another hurdle to overcome when upgrading from version to version. However, if made into a php app, it could be integrated onto the *Nexus sites but ONLY if Dark0ne decides to take on that task. Anyone could create an offsite version of the web app. However, if the categories, skills and skill levels are standardized at the beginning, it could get its initial start as a simple google app that everyone can access and update.

 

Example:

 

LHammonds, Modder - Oblivion, Journeyman

LHammonds, Modder - Fallout3, Novice

LHammonds, DevKit - TES4 CS, Journeyman

LHammonds, DevKit - FO3 GECK, Novice

LHammonds, Modeling Tools - Blender, Journeyman

LHammonds, Modeling Armor, Novice

LHammonds, Modeling Weapons, Expert

LHammonds, Writing - Tutorials, Master

LHammonds, Writing - Quests, Journeyman

LHammonds, Graphic Tools PaintShop Pro, Journeyman

LHammonds, Graphic Tools Paint.NET, Journeyman

LHammonds, Graphic Tools CrazyBump, Journeyman

 

As I can imagine that you could be a significant sized database in terms of types of information.

If it would get implemented here than that would be awesome.

If it were a spreadsheet, yeah, it would be huge but if done in a relational database, it wouldn't take up that much space at all.

 

LHammonds

[42parsec]

jep, this does look nice.. but i would not like to see a skill level in this list cus if this is implemented, the people that have higher skills would have 100 requests while a novice has roughly 3 or something like that..

 

how good someone is, he should tell when asked by the respective project leader.

[Vagrant0]

jep, this does look nice.. but i would not like to see a skill level in this list cus if this is implemented, the people that have higher skills would have 100 requests while a novice has roughly 3 or something like that..

 

how good someone is, he should tell when asked by the respective project leader.

While you make a point, some mention about the depth of knowledge related to an area is important simply so that people can know who to ask for the more difficult questions. But, ultimately I would imagine that any sort of flooding with questions can be combated by allowing modders to mention if they are free to work on anything or even answer questions or not.

 

The real problem is that it's rather hard to define just how well you know one aspect when you have only your own self-impressions to work from. For just Oblivion there are many different types of knowledge just related to a single aspect. Scripting for instance can be broken into two main groups:

 

OBSE knowledge

Vanilla knowledge

 

There are some people who are masters with OBSE, but don't have a good handle on most vanilla scripting. There are also people who know alot about vanilla scripting who have not spent much time working with any of the more complicated OBSE functions. Additionally, scripting could be broken down even further by script type:

 

Control System - Scripting which runs in background executing actions

 

AI Facilitation - Scripting which focus on mitigation between various packaging and AI states

 

Menu Scripting - Scripting which makes use of multi-layered menus

 

Simple Spell Effect Scripting - Scripts which replicate other spell effects or cause minor changes to the target

 

Complex Spell Effect Scripting - Scripted spell effects which work directly in tandem with other scripts and/or effects

 

Advanced Spell Effect Scripting - Scripted spells which create new functions or features requiring the use of activators, outside scripts, and choreographed sequences

 

Basic Quest Scripting - Scripting which is used simply to progress a plot or adjust dialogue related with a quest.

 

Advanced Quest Scripting - Scripting which not only advances plot, but runs in tandem with outside scripting and shares information which is used within the quest

 

Basic Activator Scripting - Scripting which executes at a single source with small scale effect

 

Paired Activator Scripting - Scripting which executes at multiple sources by means of parenting with small scale effect

 

Single Case Scripting - Scripting which is designed to only work in one implementation of the object

 

Multiple Case Scripting - Scripting which is designed to work equally well on multiple instances of the same object

 

Scene Scripting - Scripting which is designed to enable/disable multiple objects, adjust lighting, weather, or otherwise transform an environment from one state to another

 

Basic Companion Scripting - Scripting for NPCs which allows them to follow the player and perform simple tasks

 

Advanced Companion Scripting - Scripting for NPCs which gives further interaction with the player and allows complex tasks

 

Combat Companion Scripting - Scripting for NPC companions which adjusts their combat behavior based on the situation and the player's actions without direct input from the player

 

Special Companion Scripting - Scripting that causes NPC companions to behave and interact with the environment without direct input from the player

 

Grouped Scripting - Scripting which is designed to make one or more objects work together based on remote states

 

And so on*... And that's just scripting. There are so many variations and specializations within skill sets that any definite listing would probably be bewildering to most modders, and entirely incomprehensible for any users of that listing. Although more simplistic rankings make it easier to use, it also increases the chance of error or inconsistencies. For someone such as myself or any seasoned modder, any listing would likely have me listed as an expert or master in many categories despite the fact that there are still many things which I'm not terribly familiar with or particularly good at. But again, the definition of being an expert or master is self-determined, so doesn't say much about the modder other than how highly he thinks of himself or is led to believe his capabilities are.

 

*This listing is intentionally overly detailed, but even something as simple as breaking it down into NPC, Object, Spell, Quest, Dialogue, Activator, System, Misc categories would have this problem. Those simpler groups would also lack several important distinctions which would need to be made up for somehow.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Vagrant0