Where to start?

[Drakevarg]

Not sure where else I would post this but feel free to move it if this is wrong.

 

Alright, so I'm setting out on an attempt to build a Total Conversion mod for Morrowind, a la Arktwend. Completely removed from Elder Scrolls lore and basically just piggybacking off the engine and assets to make my own game. The only roadblock being of course that I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

To be quite direct I've never made a mod before. I've played around with the toolset in the past, tried applying for a post with Tamriel Rebuilt that didn't pan out as my life took a different direction, but for the most part I'm a total rank amateur. This project is as much about the practice as it is about seeing my vision come to fruition. The main reason I'm going with a TC mod rather than just making a dungeon or something more low-key is that I'm incredibly picky. Every time I have an idea for a mod I start planning it out, then realize that for it to fully satisfy me I'd need to change aspects X, Y and Z around it, and it just snowballs until I'm contemplating a total game overhaul and scrap the idea for its overambition. So better to just throw out all pretense and make my own game from the ground up so I don't need to worry about stepping on anyone's toes but my own.

 

Of course, this comes with its own set of obstacles. While I'm no sure this is the case with the Steam version as I haven't tried yet, but back when I used a CD copy of the game I could never access the vanilla assets directly, as they were stored to disc instead of files on the computer. And by extension couldn't build new content from scratch without loading the master files and then creating a plugin that manually removed the entire game map, a rather Sisyphean task. So if anyone knows how to start a mod with access to the main game's assets without actually loading in the main game into the plugin, that would certainly be appreciated.

 

Aside from that, more to work with would also be nice. Are there any mods that would just be sensible to work into this project for their universal utility, such as MWSE, or would they just provide more obstacles to work around to get things the way I want them to? Finally I'm curious if there are any mods I should look into so I can just make use of their assets (credited, of course)? For example I've noticed a lot of mods seem to make use of the hood models from the Dark Brotherhood Armor Replacer, so I'm curious if I shouldn't just hoard a bunch of mods like that so I can lighten the load on my modeler, who is still very much in the learning stages.

 

Open to pretty much any and all advice. I think I'm a bit too early in the planning stages to try recruiting anyone; only have a basic map (222 exterior cells, for an idea of scale), a broad story concept, and a bare-bones equipment list so far, so I figure I should have something to show before I waste anyone's time asking for free labor.

[RubberMan01]

I was recently toying with this idea myself. My son and I discussed it at great length and decided against it. I am, I guess and experienced modder than can mesh and is quite proficient with the editor and how the dialogue builds for quests.

 

A project like the one you are describing would take humongous amounts of effort and time and without the proper resources it would fall flat on it's face.

 

The best thing to do is to start small.

 

I am currently working on a mod that has so far taken 3 weeks and I only have 7 quests completed...... (I must admit I have made over 30 meshes for it as well lol)

 

If you have a story board/ idea for a mod then it may be a good idea for you to supply that to a modder with more experience. I'm always looking for ideas! (See my WIP below this post)

 

 

As for your problem with the CD copy....You simply copy the DATA FILES from the CD onto your computer and tell preferences to search there instead of the CD.

 

As for assets you are always welcome to use any of my meshes (there are over 3,000 of them floating around the internet lol - NOT all for Morrowind)

 

If you were serious enough and had a decent story board then I would be prepared to help you out a little. If that be advice/ meshes/ dialogue etc so be it.

[Drakevarg]

I'm quite aware of the size of the workload I'm setting myself up for. I'm actually benching an even larger RPGMaker project to focus on this one for a while because it's somewhat smaller and more likely to garner public interest, and by extension more likely to attract people interested in helping. Network building ftw.

 

Anyway, I did try the thing with the CD back in the day but never could figure out how to see the files on-disc. But in my defense I was an idiot teenager at the time. I have a Steam copy now, so is it safe to assume the relevant files are all where they're supposed to be and not hidden behind arbitrary walls? [Edit: Checking the backup file I made prior to trying out Arktwend, which is what I have currently running in place of vanilla Morrowind, it looks like most of the stuff is locked in .bsa files, which I dunno what to do with. Might be related to the actual act of creating the backup in the first place, I dunno, but I think this is more or less the problem I wound up hitting when I tried getting the assets from the CDs. I dunno how to unpack .bsa's.]

 

But yes, starting small is absolutely my plan, I'm not even opening up the Construction Set until I've got more of a plan under my belt and have taken the time to learn how to do things like "access assets without loading entire .esm files that I then need to delete the content of from my plugin." Once I do that it's just a process of slowly chipping away, learning as I go. I don't want to wind up like Arktwend with a strong opening segment followed by a gigantic but featureless map because I gave myself an arbitrary two-year deadline.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Drakevarg

[RubberMan01]

https://sourceforge.net/projects/bsaextractor/ <-- unpacks BSA files

 

You will find that most modders have their own little niche.

 

Scenery builders, meshers, internal clutter monster, book writers etc etc.

 

I do them all but meshing is my thing to be honest although I do like doing scenery.

 

The tutorial that comes with the editor is a good place to start. If I remember well it has you just make a house and place it in the world. The rest you can glean off others here. If you get real stuck then don't hesitate to PM me but not about super simple stuff that google would tell you!

 

Scripting is the one part that people fall down on because in Morrowind it is VERY sensitive. You can blue screen your computer by forgetting a , lol be warned.

[Drakevarg]

If I had to give myself a niche it'd probably be writer/director, but I'm picky enough to want to understand at least the basics of almost everything - I'm presently pursuing a Software Development degree with that in mind.

 

Part of the reason I'm so picky about my work is that I spend a lot of time analyzing and studying game development as an art form, so I look at some of the games I consider artistic masterpieces - Thief II, Metroid Prime, Dark Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, and yes Morrowind - and try to understand what it is that made them work, a process I don't think most people take as much time to appreciate. One aspect that I've really wanted to focus on with this TC mod is to follow the words of Miyazaki Hidetaka: "A well-designed world could tell its story in silence." I think to do that properly I'd need to be able to look at and appreciate game development from every angle, so that nothing is thrown down because space needed to be filled, but because it belonged there.

[RubberMan01]

Be careful. You must know what bad directors actors make rofl

 

Oh to be young! Software Development degree uh? They called it "Can't be bothered getting a real job" degree when I was younger lol

 

I had my own software company late 80's early 90's when things were very different. Two people could write and direct an entire game in a matter of months. Now of course it's like a movie.

 

Directing and managing a game now is as tough as actually having boots on the ground and doing the real work. Story board development is a tough old job but once you have the main idea the rest flows as it is written.

[Drakevarg]

Thankfully I'm not quite so ambitious as to ever want to make my own AAA game. I blame most of the problems of modern game development on a shallow money-on-the-table approach. We don't need three million dollars spent on realistic sweat rendering nearly as much as we need developers who actually understand intelligent game design, and narrative-through-gameplay. And indie games prove all the time that heart, intelligence, and luck can make games just as successful as blockbuster budgets. It's always kind of hilarious when upstart hits like Minecraft and Undertale make bank with a shoestring budget and word of mouth. Not saying I wouldn't do mercenary work on big studio games to pay the bills, but keep my IP away from such nonsense, I don't need some idiot in a suit telling me how to make a game that sells.

 

And to be fair, the times they've a-changed. I've been told that with such a degree I could easily make more than my parents put together doing "real jobs" in between my games.

 

I think trust issues are part of the issue for me. Unless I knew my team really well I couldn't trust them to do things the way I want them too without personally reviewing every single thing they did, which I'm sure would get overbearing after a while. Part of why I'm motivated to have at least a basic understanding of how to do everything, so I'm not just some ignorant schlubb asking for things that don't work.

 

As for storyboard, I have a basic idea and a few details in mind beyond that, but I want to finish planning out the overmap (subregions, locations of main settlements, etc) before I get into too much detail there. Gameplay informs story and vice versa, so I want the realities of the setting in place before I worry about what happens once you're there. Quite a bit of the story is set to go simply by virtue of knowing the world around it. I know who is in play and why they're there, I think most everything else will kind of write itself once I know the island specifically.

 

That said, one factor still totally up in the air is the player character themselves. I don't want the faction war to be the main plot because a) it's just one tiny front of a fairly large scale war, so who wins ultimately doesn't matter much to the setting at large, and b) if the player simply opts not to care then all we have is a sandbox to muck about in. I need a story that either threatens everyone in the region equally, or affects the player character personally, making the story their problem and not just something they got dragged into. Sort of like comparing the Civil War questline to the main questline in Skyrim, if either of them felt actually finished.

 

Edit: Here's the map I have of the island, Puerto de Cenizas, just so it's clear I'm not all pipe dream.

http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l352/Drakevarg/Puerto%20de%20Cenizas_zpsldh3coe0.jpg

The lines crossing through it denote a square of 5x5 cells. (But geez that white is harsh on such a dark-toned forum. Might need to go color the water at least just so it doesn't blind passers-by. >_<)

Edit 2: That's moderately more tolerable.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Drakevarg

[RubberMan01]

Island of Ash uh? Think I would avoid the cliche Spanish title lol it's almost as bad as Isle de Muerta in Pirates rofl.

 

Also avoid that crappy square business. One of the beauties of Morrowind was the fact the regions seem randomly shaped like in real life (see map of England for example)

 

Knowing your team is one thing but trusting them is another. I've known some mates for 40 years but I wouldn't trust them to wire a feckin plug lol

 

The only way to get peoples trust in game development is to provide something they also believe in with the same passion. If not then they will just do their own thing (see supermarket staff for more details)

 

Never been a fan of universities as most that leave them believe that what their teacher has told them works in real life. It doesn't.

 

I also worked "for the man" when my company was doing ok, Ocean, Psygnosis and a couple of others you will never of heard have haha they didn't pay so well back then but still better than the job I had trained for for years......sad isn't it?

 

Offer still stands. Story board good, willing to help. Story board crap, good luck with that!

[Drakevarg]

Island of Ash uh? Think I would avoid the cliche Spanish title lol it's almost as bad as Isle de Muerta in Pirates rofl.

 

My setting stringently avoids gibberish words, Spanish just happens to be the proxy language for what's known as the "Sailor's Tongue," a sort of international maritime creole. Since the primary force attempting to settle the island is in fact pirates, that's the language they went with.

 

Also avoid that crappy square business. One of the beauties of Morrowind was the fact the regions seem randomly shaped like in real life (see map of England for example)

 

I have zero intentions of having the regions correspond in any way with those squares, they're just there to help me keep track of scale and divvy up workloads.

 

Never been a fan of universities as most that leave them believe that what their teacher has told them works in real life. It doesn't.

 

Part of why I'm working on projects like this in parallel with my studies instead of afterwards. Real-world knowledge to go with academic instruction. Besides, sometimes employers just want to see the paper.

 

Offer still stands. Story board good, willing to help. Story board crap, good luck with that!

 

I'll keep that in mind when I've got something more than a Star Wars opening scrawl to offer. :tongue:

Edited March 8, 2016 by Drakevarg

[RubberMan01]

Lol, well, Good morning. Wasn't expecting a reply (European?)

 

Actually....English is the pirates tongue :D The Spanish is just used in movies because it sounds mysterious to us (unless you speak Spanish of course lol)

 

If you're attempting to do practical instead of learning just theory then I'm behind you 100%. Had some terrible experiences with idiots from uni when I've employed them and I no longer trust them at all.

(liberal, wishy washy tree huggers as well lmao)

 

Good to hear that you have no plan for the regions (they need to go with the flow and not be set in stone)

 

And....

 

If you had quoted Star Trek I may have got it but Star Wars is way over my head >.< Always hated it!