Recommendations for a newbie mod author starting out?

[marky0902]

Was thinking of taking up modding as a hobby. Gonna start binge watching all of the Creation Kit tutorials in youtube or whatnot. However, if it was that simple, im sure lots of folks would be modding like mushrooms by now.. and unfortunately, i dont have any programming background at all (is it a hard requirement?)

 

 

Any veterans out there who can recommend me the stuff/programs i need to study/practice before entering the modding scene?

 

 

Thanks in advance! :D

[Yulliah]

Only tip I can give you is start, try, fail, find out what you did wrong, try again, and fail a couple more times before it works...

I've been about to give up about 15 times now, and I still don't have a working mod that works the way I want it to...

 

But, to start out, depending on what kind of mods you would like to learn how to make, start out with finding a re-texture you like, and turn it into a standalone mod.

Work out what components an outfit actually has; What gives it it's shape, what gives it it's texture, how does the mash find the texture, how are you going to acquire it in the game, etc.

 

tutorials are awesome, but unless you are trying to find the answers to those questions, you will always be a monkey doing a trick, instead of a modder who understands what he/she is doing.

 

Don't get me wrong, if you want to be the monkey doing a trick, all the power to you... I was the kid turning her parents mental by asking 'why?' all the time, and I never seem to have lost that bit... ;P

[gunslinger6792]

It really depends on what you want to do. I always wanted to build things so I started off and still do house modding. Building homes or buildings doesn't require any modeling or programming skills so I'd say it's one of the easier aspects of modding to pick up on. Once you've got a handle on that it makes transitioning over to other things a bit easier.

[skubblebubble]

It really depends on what you want to do. I always wanted to build things so I started off and still do house modding. Building homes or buildings doesn't require any modeling or programming skills so I'd say it's one of the easier aspects of modding to pick up on. Once you've got a handle on that it makes transitioning over to other things a bit easier.

 

yup. That's kinda what I did.

 

modify a couple weapons. make a bag to put them in, put goodies in the bag. place the bag in the game.

(then keep adding stuff to the bag as people make requests) -- my cache mod.

 

Then it was stuff to build. Kitchen stove that's a cookstation etc. Start adding more and more items to the build list.

(kitchen/bathroom/living room stuff)

 

Then started changing the textures on some of said things. glowmaps, texture replacers etc. -- my buildables mod.

 

No programming/scripting, although getting the attachpoints for the bathroom stuff drove me nuts for a while.

Same for getting the texture replacements the right size (for the flags).

 

All done one small step at a time. Nothing spectacular (ok, I like my hat and my guns :D ) but slowly learning more.

 

Scripting I'm saving for last. (don't wanna start in on scripting/programming again, but will have to)

 

So yep, start small, learn the building blocks and move up from there. (even learning how to do what's already been done, is good learning. eg: how to you make the stove buildable, and a cookstation? from that, you now know how to make anything buildable, and how to add extra stuff. Mod a weapon? how to change bits about on what they do. Same for armor.

 

The BBQ was how to require a perk before you can make (the one picket fences mag) etc.

[marky0902]

Im interested in doing quest mods. But its to my understanding that its one of the most difficult mods to make, as it requires a general knowledge of all modding aspects (scripting, landscaping, interior navmeshing, npc creation etc.)

 

I may be wrong, but do people use JUST the CK in fallout 4 modding? or are there other programs that compliment the CK? (like for example: creating a custom NPC.. does that require a 3D modeling program outside CK?)

 

 

Thanks for the insights by the way.. Looks like i got my work cut out for me.

Edited August 3, 2016 by marky0902

[MasterMagnus]

Good advice going here. And yes there are several other programs you could be using, depends on what you're doing. But you could do a lot with just the CK to start.

 

I have audio equipment and experience, used to program years ago, modeling and texturing is a hobby for me. What I chose to do was start with my weaknesses rather than my strengths. I figure when I'm able to get to things like doing dialogue the audio part will be simple, and I'll already understand the CK.

 

I'm keeping things modular and small, and tasking myself with learning something new with each mod.

 

Get your hands in there, get messy, make mistakes and learn from them. Try making a mod for something that intrigues you about the game, but you may have little idea what is going there.

 

Don't actually release the first thing you make (unless you get it to the point you want). Task yourself with an 'experimental' mod to start. Something nobody needs to see, you can go crazy with it and just to see what happens. Don't put an absolute deadline/task in front of yourself when you're learning.

 

Just some crazy suggestions, your mileage may vary. And good luck with it all! This is a great place to start your exploration and ask questions.

Edited August 3, 2016 by MasterMagnus

[RattleAndGrind]

Just one more piece of advice. Start small. If you start with something to large, you may get discouraged with repeated failures and quit. Piling up a lot of little successes will instill some confidence and fortify you against repeated setbacks later.