What Kind of Mod-Builder are You?

[jamochawoke]

That's why I think this community is so important for us Lone Wolves.

 

We generally CAN'T do it all ourselves. So we come here for help from others and usually, thankfully, there's always been someone here. At least for me anyways.

[Deleted1848331User]

Lone wolf, of course... Although I do occasionally like working in groups, depending on what I'm doing.

[theuseless]

I tend to devour anything near me. Chips, computer chips, fingers...

[BlackBaron2]

I work better on my own or with maybe one other person, it means there is no pressure, and I don't have to worry about things not being passed on.

[Brittainy]

I've never worked in a team. I doubt I could.

 

Not actually sure how much of being a Lone Wolf is actually by choice. There's part of me that loves the idea of other people being able to fill in the HUGE gaps of all the things I can't do myself.

 

But I'd probably find it exceedingly difficult to work with others since I already put myself under extreme amounts of pressure about what I do. If I was part of team, I'd probably triple that pressure on myself. Too nutty to work in a group.

 

Unfortunately, there's so much I don't know about modding and can't seem to learn, even with tutorials and help. Can't even make a simple .esp file or a normal map. :confused: I think I'd be more of a hindrance in a team than a help, so that alone would put me off being part of a group effort.

 

Nonetheless, there are times when the idea of working on a major project with a lot of other people does seem very exciting... :whistling:

[RGMage2]

Lone wolf here. My philosophy on modding would make me a really bad team member. I wouldn't wish myself on anyone.

 

For me it is totally about me doing the things that I want to do, so its not likely that I would be willing to listen to my team mates. I also tend to change my focus a lot, and bounce around between different projects. Whatever I am doing today might not be what I want to do tomorrow, and as a result a lot of things never get finished.

 

But that's OK, it doesn't matter if things don't get finished, and it doesn't matter if they never get released. Of course I want to finish and I want to release, but it doesn't matter if I never do. All that matters is that I enjoy doing what I am doing, and I don't think a team would ever be willing to buy in to that.:no:

 

So I just go my own way, and it's not really a choice, it's the only way it can be.8)

[jamochawoke]

RG you make beautiful mods I hope you never stop!

[theuseless]

Can't even make a simple .esp file or a normal map. :confused: I think I'd be more of a hindrance in a team than a help

 

Making a normal map is fairly simple. The plugins for photoshop or gimp are a must. I prefer the Gimp version myself, as it has a color to alpha option, which is nice when making normals for shiny objects.

 

To make an esp file, I simply make a copy of a small esp. You can then load this copy into tes4edit and erase all the info, leaving it blank for your use. Also, I hear the construction set extender found here helps with that problem.

 

I can quite agree with you on wanting to stay away from team projects, but I have been very tempted in the past to participate in larger mods. I doubt you would be a third wheel, anybody can contribute to a large project somehow. I am loner by choice. I started a huge project which I will most likely never finish on my own. Nobody seems interested in helping me finish, which is fine. When Skyrim comes out, I will more than likely start a small project on my own for that too, but would be more inclined to help with a larger project for that.

 

Pm me if you want help with normal mapping. That part isn't so difficult for me. Also, I can teach you how to make stuff glow, in areas that you want it to.

 

Don't give up, this is a difficult hobby but can be very rewarding.

[Brittainy]

theuseless, thank you for the support and probably will pm you some time. I really do need to fix my awful grass normal maps :)

 

I prefer PS with the dds plugin. I'm so used to it, I don't like leaving my comfort zone with tools.

 

I've tweaked other people's esp files in CS, but never made my own. I tend to just tweak the ones from the mods I use all the time and slip in the things I want to change. I think I crammed in my weather changes to someone else's camera mod. That sort of thing.

 

I don't think I could stand starting a project I don't finish. I tend to work strictly within my limited capabilities. Once I come up with an idea, it HAS to be made somehow. I usually work all day and late into the night, every day, until it's done. I can't let a project go until it's complete.

 

If I really hit a stumbling block I'll give up for a little while and be grumpy :wallbash: But then it will keep bothering me until I can work my way around the problem.

 

Very single-minded. And stubborn :tongue:

 

Also - excuse the word but I can't think of another - heavily dyslexic in many ways. Tutorials just go in one ear and out the other with me. Almost everything I learn I just have to do by trial and error. Anything that doesn't click, I never seem to learn at all.

 

Got a very biased and fickle brain, it seems... :happy:

[jamochawoke]

The biggest thing I've seen that helps large teams work on big projects is they usually have a seperate forum where they keep updates to all the files and they delegate who works on what to avoid crossover problems. Then they usually have 1 or 2 guys leading the project who uses TES4Edit, Wrye Bash, and Gecko to merge everything into a single plugin.