im an idiot that cant figure out how to create a mod

[furfur1974]

hi. im an idiot and cant figure out how to create a mod. ive downloaded any "how to mod" walkthrough i can find including the wiki. ive tried to do everything i read word for word. ive even tried watching stuff on youtube. i really would like to learn this stuff. does anybody know anthying that might help or am i just a lost cause? all ive been able to do so far is add a couple plates to the empty count at the waynet inn. if anybody knows anything please let me know. im the kind of person that learns best with "hands on experience" if that helps.

[David Brasher]

If you have successfully added a couple of plates to an inn, and you can load up your game and see them when you play, then you have created a mod and are succeeding. Just keep on doing what you are doing and your mods will get bigger and better.

 

I don't do well with tutorials either. In my opinion, many of them are rather poorly written because they make incorrect assumptions about what a reader knows and does not know. Many of them lack adequate illustrations. With no definitions for the jargon they throw around, and no pictures, they become really unintelligible really fast.

 

So what I usually do is just go to the modding software and try to build something. Then when I get stuck, I go to the tutorials and documentation and search for the one little detail I need to keep working. When I find it, I go back to work and keep working until I get stuck again. Then it is back to the tutorials and documentation. If the information cannot be found in the tutorials, then asking highly specific questions on these forums works great. Like you can't ask, "How do I build an inn?" That is too general and no one will want to answer or even be able to. But if you ask, "How do I make it so my inn is not dark?" then people will be able to give quick and precise answers that you can put right into practice.

[bben46]

Like David said, start with something simple. Put a single plate on a counter somewhere. Don't expect to be an expert in one session - or a hundred. Pick the aspect of mod making that interests you the most and concentrate on that alone until you get it down. Then pick another aspect. There are expert modders who create fantastic clothing or armors and don't know how to script at all. And there are expert modders that mostly do scripts and rarely if ever touch creating an object. They are both legitimate experts, and they complement each other. Very few modders ever master all of the various aspects of modding. :thumbsup:

 

My own introduction was in making changes to other peoples mods for my own use. Adding a stack of named chests to a mod house, Putting a wall of display cabinets in place of cupboards, removing a couple of statues and replacing them with mannikins from another mod. Changing the ambient lighting in a display room, and removing the multiple flame sources to improve fps there when I had over 20 mannequins on display, adding more display pedestals for the extra mannequins. Most of these are small mods made for my own convenience. However doing them allowed me to learn how to mod.

 

Then I started my own mod - still not complete after 2 years - a new kind of shop in the IC with 3 NPCs, several custom items created just for the mod, several other vanilla items modified for the mod, Custom schedules for each NPC, custom conversation topics, including a merchant selling topic. Another that leads into a quest. So far I have started over 3 times and I'm still not happy with it. As I come up with new ideas I try them out in my shop.

[furfur1974]

thank you guys. i was about ready to give up but ill take your advice and do the small stuff first. tinker with other mods i find.