Aspiring Mod Creator, looking for Learning Resources

[CredibleJoe]

Greetings fellow modders. I am a newbie in search of some direction, and would greatly appreciate some help educating myself in Papyrus, CK, simple model edits, and manipulation of vanilla resources.

 

I have a particular project in mind: Classical Staff Overhaul, which I posted to requests Here. All the details of what I wish to accomplish are there, and it is very ambitious, especially for a fledgling newbie like myself.

 

So, like I said, I'm mostly looking for some direction. Even with my blinding enthusiasm, the mod creation scene is daunting and I'm not sure where to start... Which is why I outlined a project to work on.

• CK Tutorials. These should be super easy to find on my own, but might as well start here.
• How to edit vanilla objects and resources-- Staves in particular. I really just want to scale them down and replace a word in their naming convention.
• How to add new objects using vanilla resources
• How to edit leveled and vendor lists
• Animation tutorials-- for polish, more than anything
• SCRIPTING. Need to alter them magic magnitudes

I would greatly appreciate any and all advice, and especially discussion. I've finally dug up the gumption to do this, and I plan on finishing it, one way or another.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Voltage_Joe

[Boombro]

 

CK Tutorials. These should be super easy to find on my own, but might as well start here.

What kind? What do you want to learn?

 

 

How to edit vanilla objects and resources-- Staves in particular. I really just want to scale them down and replace a word in their naming convention.

Can you read English words and numbers?

That all that is it needed.

Open the ck>object window and look for staves. There are a lot of versions that enchanted, but one without an enchantment. Change the base and all will change.

 

Exmple:

Iron dagger attc 10

Iron dagger fire. 10

Iron dagger ice. 10

 

Iron dagger 10>5

Iron dagger fire.5

Iron dagger ice.5

 

How to add new objects using vanilla resources

What kind of new object? Placing veggies in basket maybe?

 

 

How to edit leveled and vendor lists

You better know some scripting first, less head ache and cleaner.

This on how to add items to level list via run time. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/36756/?

 

 

SCRIPTING. Need to alter them magic magnitudes

No need for scripts for that. Just open the spells in the ck and type numbers. scripts are really useful, however.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Boombro

[67Stations]

I'm somewhat of a beginner myself and I started with the Bethesda Creation Kit Tutorials and wiki site. It is lacking in places but the tutorials, especially the video tutorials, are really helpful. It takes some time to get adjusted to the CK and how it operates but it's worth it in the long run.

 

There are tons of video tutorials online that are super helpful. I really like Antony Bellingham's videos, he has some specific topics that he covers but you might find what you're looking for.

 

Another great teacher is DarkFox127 , he's got a lot (and I mean a lot) of helpful walk-throughs, topics, advice, etc. From construction of worlds and new items to npc behavior, basic scripting, etc.

 

There are many helpful modders out there who offer videos, written guides, advice, help, etc. You just have to search it out. I've found that one aspect of being a modder is the research aspect. I spend much of my time just looking around on the web for anything that can help me with some particular problem or hurdle that I'm having. Usually I find it, after a bit of frustration :smile:, but then I move on to the next step.

 

I just mention video tutorials because those types seem to help me the most. Viewing someone else manipulating the CK helps me to learn the material and I can follow along step by step until it becomes an ingrained process for me. Perhaps I'm a visual learner as well.

 

One place to look for reference and help is at the official Bethesda forums. There's tons of archived stuff on the CK there but I've found it is time consuming to search out and find what one is looking for.

 

Just be prepared to spend a lot of your time and energy with this modding business. If you are willing to be patient and humble, your skills and knowledge will progress. The more you learn, the better your mod will be and the better your future creations will be.

 

I wish you luck!

Edited October 19, 2015 by 67Stations

[CredibleJoe]

 

How to add new objects using vanilla resources

What kind of new object? Placing veggies in basket maybe?

 

 

 

Staves. As I mentioned in my request thread, I plan on taking vanilla staff resources, and using them to add a new classification of staves entirely-- Staves that equip to shield or torch slot, won't prevent casting in the hand they're held in (default left), and provide enchantment effects like a ring, necklace, or other piece of clothing.

[CredibleJoe]

@67Stations

Thanks for the links. I'll look those over once I'm at home on my work station.

Are there any resources you know of for scripting and Papyrus? I think some light scripting will really make this project work, but so far I haven't been able to find any solid resources for that.

[Boombro]

Open the ck and look up staves.

In the window of the weapon, you can see a path file for a model.

Unpack Skyrim bsa meshes and look for the mesh.

Now you have the model.

[Boombro]

There is no resource for scripting per say.

Make scripting the last step of the mod.

[CredibleJoe]

There is no resource for scripting per say.

Make scripting the last step of the mod.

 

... Really? There's nowhere I can go to find basic syntax, at the very least?

 

I mean, I'm a novice programmer, but I know enough to make functions, methods, and classes play nice together in Java and C++. Basic stuff. There's gatta be somewhere for me to find the basics. I'd be astonished if there was nothing.

 

Edit: A quick google search yielded exactly what I was looking for. Now all I need to do is figure out what to apply it to, and how to apply it.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Voltage_Joe

[Boombro]

I thought you were looking for something else. Oh anyways. Look up the scripting tutorial on skyrim ck website, will tell you the stuff you need. What do you wanna do anyways?

 

BTW, why staves on back? Why not spell tomes on belts, back, left hand etc? There is a book holder with that bag mod that you can use as master. It more fitting I mean.

[BigBizkit]

Unless you have never seen a script of any programming language in your life, I don't think scripting tutorials are of much use to begin with (not that you would need them for what you want to accomplish). I'd rather check out the ck wiki + scripts from mods / vanilla scripts to see and learn what they do and how they do what they do.

 

That being said there are script guides which cover papyrus functions more indepthly which can be useful as there are occasionally some "hidden features" of papyrus which need to be taken into account when scripting.

 

On a related note, I have a hard time finding answers related to nifskope/mesh problems. More often than not, google finds me a post from one person having the same issue with no replies. -_-