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How to get started in modding?


JranZu

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I'm trying to figure out where to get started with modding ESV. I understand there are a lot of things we can't do yet until the creation kit is released, I am really looking for making direct adjustments to the graphics (meshes, textures, etc..) and sound files in the game.

 

What am looking for some links on how to open the master files and what I should be looking for inside. As I get responses (and mess around with modding) I will update this post and eventually attempt to create a user-friendly FAQ.

 

Any help the community can give me would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!!!

 

------------------------------ Summary and Links ------------------------------

 

Thanks LadyAubrie (& Kudos) for your suggestions!

 

Use the FOMM to extract files from the .bsa archives.

FOMM can be found here: http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=640

 

It looks like if you decided to user GIMP you will need to use the 32 bit version as I could not find a x64 dds plugin

If someone knows of an x64 GIMP plugin let me know and I will update.

You can download GIMP here: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

you can download the GIMP .dds plugin here: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/

 

If you use Photoshop a .dds plugin by Nvidia is here: http://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop

(If someone knows of a better one let me know)

 

This official thread for the Creation Kit: http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1255750-information-on-creation-kit/

 

-

Edited by JranZu
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Sadly, like you said, as of right now most of the resources we as modders need aren't available - the construction set, NifSkope plugins, Nif plugins for Blender.

 

But as for making mods without them (graphics, etc), a graphics program like Photoshop or GIMP will suffice, as well as a .dds plugin for your respective graphics program. (Going to Google and searching for "photoshop .dds plugin", for instance, will take you to the page where you can download and install it. It's easy!) Modifying basic textures in this way has already given us some amazing mods. :)

 

As for getting them out of the .bsa archives, I've found that the FOMM (Fallout Mod Manager, set to New Vegas) works great...and it's easy to use.

 

I hope that helps a little!

Edited by LadyAubrie
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I updated the original post to include the links that I think are most helpful to people... As I get further into modding I will update this with more information. If anyone has other suggestions or more information please feel free to share! Thanks again!
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I can't use the Fallout Mod Manager, beacause I dont have Fallout :-/

 

My understanding is that you would just use the FOMM and point it at your Skyrim directory. I will be trying this out in about 2 hours and will come back here and share what I find out. If you get to it before me please let us know!

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Download Fallout 3 Archive, it's a nice Java utility that you can use to extract files from .bsa archives.

 

Download Link

 

- This is only limited to sounds and textures at the moment, since NifScope has yet to be updated for Skyrim, so forget mesh editing or creating. What you can do at the moment is just editing textures in a photo editing program such as GIMP (freeware) or Photoshop (commercial).

- Watch out when you edit the .dds files of Skyrim, save in default, or save in DXT5 for textures lacking an alpha channel, or DXT4 for textures with an alpha channel. If you use DXT5 when DXT4 is needed, you'll most likely get a CTD when Skyrim is loading the relative texture in the cell that you are accessing.

 

Another thing that you should remember is to avoid adding bump maps on the normal map, since it'll cause a bug in the texture, darkening it by 0,45 in Photshop, and being fairly evident in the game. To counter this bug, light up by 1,00 before extracting in a DXT format. Also, when using GIMP, don't save it as a Volume Map. All layers must have the same size.

 

The format used by Skyrim is DXT5 32bit color and DXT4 32bit color (24bit alpha channel).

Edited by ImperialRM
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I updated the original post to include the links that I think are most helpful to people... As I get further into modding I will update this with more information. If anyone has other suggestions or more information please feel free to share! Thanks again!

 

I was happy to help...thank you for the credit! :)

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