Mod anatomy

[goranga]

This thread suppose to help modders to get an idea for a new mod and develop it.

 

This is two part question:

1. How did you get an idea for the mod?

2. How did you develop that idea into something interesting and popular?

 

Although important, we will leave modder's skills out of equation here. We will just assume that things can be learned along the way if someone has an idea of what suppose to be done.

 

These are examples:

1. Idea for a mod:

1.1. OBSE - If you read some OBSE functions, you can ask yourself what to do with them. That could be an idea for a mod

1.2. Modus operand - If you know how something works, you may try to create some kind of simulation.

1.3. Inspiration - You can be inspired by other mod, book, movie or something like that

1.4. Adult topics - Anything sexual

 

2. Developing the mod into something interesting / popular

2.1. Making the mod "heavy" - Adding nice looking meshes and animations. Addition to this is voice acting.

2.2. Options - If you have many options, configurations and things that player can do, the less predictable and more interesting a mod will be. Classic example of this is Vilja. You have option to give her strawberries. At first this idea seems a bit odd and superfluous, but it gives special charm to the mod.

 

These rules are a bit general and I gave them here only as examples. What we need here is some specific experience.

 

How did you get the idea for your mod? What happened, specifically?

What did you thought that if you put inside the mod, will increase it's value?

[MarkInMKUK]

I can't answer many of the questions, because the mod is currently not even at alpha testing stage, but...

 

Firstly, so you can follow the evolution of the idea... WIP Thread - Proper Khajit and Argonian bodyshapes / animations

 

(1) I was initially looking at the Argonians, and comparing them with the almost kangaroo-footed characters in Morrowind. I posted the first post when I also realised that Khajiit had been bodged in the same way. The post was, at first, a request for information on the feasibility of the changes.

 

(2) I'm no modder, but what I am is a fairly voracious reader. So I started looking at other work being done or already done which was related. I found assorted work for the Argonians, especially Drake the dragon's Argonian Beautification project, and his Scripted Argonian feet, not to mention his Anthro Dragon Race work.

 

(2a) At this point I (inspired by Drake's work) looked at what coverage would be needed to make the mod as near universal as possible. Drake's Argonian work allowed for ANY one body type to be used for the Argonian race, ignoring which body you had installed for other races. He had then worked to cover the main body variations (vanilla / HGEC / BAB / Roberts female / TFF) and I stated in a poist that I was aiming for this mod to cover the same range (I personally used the HGEC AA-cup variant for my female Arginisn, while running HGEC F-cup for other races - made a very noticeable change and helped a lot with the racial variation feel. I'll probably use the BAB body for the Khajiit eventually, as I think the lean marathon-runner look suits a feline race beautifully. Extra kudos there to Drake for working out how to do it :) ).

 

(3) It appeared that others were interested in working towards the same goals, and luckily some of them had already got some advanced modding skills. Razorpony posted a link to some work on the Khajiit paw types, and was obviously inspired enough to want to stick around and help (translation - do ALL the main donkey work). Drake the dragon also joined the thread, and offered his insight into the scripting needed, and two or three others have added plenty of help.

 

(4) More research followed, plus (my only real contribution) a few slightly tangential ideas which gave the experienced modders some food for thought, such as the idea of skeleton swapping based on Reneer's work for varied npc's

 

The mod is progressing well, and a first test release is darn close. Once that works, conversion to other body types will be needed before it meets my stated targets, if it ever does.

 

I'd say the stages needed for a team-based mod to reach this stage are:-

A. A reasonably inspiring idea. Originality or near-originality helps.

B. Someone to steer the mod, even if by suggestion only, and who is (even if not capable of the individual tasks themself) capabl;e of thinking what MIGHT be doable and suggesting approaches to handle it. Project management skills always help to make something end up where you started aiming for.

C. Clearly defined target(s), even if these DO evolve during the course of the mod. "Goalpost-moving" should be by sgreement with the mod team so involves discussion.

D. Dedication from the modders involved, as they have to want to see the end result at least as much as the originator of the idea.

E. Regular updates, even if it's in the form of a question to see how something is progressing, or an additional idea / photo / video.

 

And, of course...

 

F. Appreciation by the originator of the effort being put in by the team. If you don't appreciate theior effort, and SAY so, then expect the effort to fizzle out.

 

The team are (whether they realise it or not) Razorpony, Semtex, Ferryt, hellchosen, DrakeTheDragon, Rebel O Connor, schijnn, da mage, lidarian, and kiitan, with additional thanks to everyone who looked in and bothered to post a comment, whether positive, or critical, it ALL helps people to feel that they are doing something which people are noticing :)

 

PS Quick plug: Any mesh or body conversion experts who'd like to help porting the adaptations from HGEC to other body variants, I'm sure Razorpony would love offers of help.

Edited June 12, 2011 by MarkInMKUK

[goranga]

Thanks for this detailed description of your thought process.

 

Basically, you've got the idea in the following way:

1. You've got inspiration from another game (Morrowind) or mod (Drake's)

2. You were not satisfied with something in the original game and thought of something that you would rather put there instead.

 

You added value to the mod by:

1. You started the thread where you explained the main idea. Other people provided their own opinions for what annoys them regarding that thing and what would they like to see rather. The more points of view the higher chance that the mod will be interesting or popular.

2. With help of others, you found appropriate resources that other people made that you can use for that particular project.

3. Other people's ideas for how to solve something if you don't have necessary skills or appropriate solution.

4. Motivating all people involved into the project to give their best by publicly mentioning them being involved or giving them specific compliments for the thing you most appreciate in their work (not general compliments, like: "you dude are the best modder ever")

[MarkInMKUK]

Thanks for this detailed description of your thought process.

 

Basically, you've got the idea in the following way:

1. You've got inspiration from another game (Morrowind) or mod (Drake's)

2. You were not satisfied with something in the original game and thought of something that you would rather put there instead.

 

You added value to the mod by:

1. You started the thread where you explained the main idea. Other people provided their own opinions for what annoys them regarding that thing and what would they like to see rather. The more points of view the higher chance that the mod will be interesting or popular.

2. With help of others, you found appropriate resources that other people made that you can use for that particular project.

3. Other people's ideas for how to solve something if you don't have necessary skills or appropriate solution.

4. Motivating all people involved into the project to give their best by publicly mentioning them being involved or giving them specific compliments for the thing you most appreciate in their work (not general compliments, like: "you dude are the best modder ever")

 

Yes, that pretty much summarises it - but the bald summary wouldn't have given any idea of the work those poor souls have put in on my hair-brained idea!

 

I forgot to add another point - if you want to attract people to help, a title which piques their interest really helps - "gr8 l337 mod" is lacking in information AND gives (to me at least) the feeling that trying to translate the details into English will turn out to be one more uber-armor or uber-sword or mega-castle mod with no actual thought, just a demand to "make it NOW!". I ignore posts in txt msg or l337 spk.

 

One thing you may find is that there's a slight split in motivation, between people (like me) who want to try and improve the realism of the game world, and those who want to expand it with what I, personally, would class as extraneous and/or anachronistic items. I'd be interested to see how THOSE mods are conceived.

Edited June 12, 2011 by MarkInMKUK