I want to be a modder!

[Ironwolf1974]

Ok so I want to mod, I know the creation kit is coming out but Id like to learn about textures and so on in the next few weeks.

 

Where should I go? What should I read? Download? ETC.

 

I have such great ideas and can never implement them because I dont know how.

[LukeSkyrimmer]

You should wait for the creation kit to come out. I hear Bethesda's going to release tutorials for it.

[Ironwolf1974]

You should wait for the creation kit to come out. I hear Bethesda's going to release tutorials for it.

 

So there will be texturing and other things like that? I want to create some new swords and armor, retexture some things.

 

ETC.

 

Like I want a whole new faction. But I would kinda like to learn a little at least about texturing before creation kit comes out.

[kirachaos]

I hear ya, I've been wanting to mod some weapons an armor too. Been looking all over the damn place. Seems like Google would be a good place to start but, apparently no one is broadcasting exactly HOW they've done they're mods. I found a pack that included Dragonbone weapons and they're stronger than Daedric and use Orc meshes. I just want to play with the numbers for now and wait till the Creation Kit launches. I'm not much a mesher but, I'm down to learn. I just thought it would be cool to have a hunter's bow be rated close in damage to Daedric. Have weapons and armor that appear simple but, still stay competitive with the more elaborate gear.

[Galacticat42]

I'll probably get spammed for posting this but here goes.

 

MESH/RIG/ANIMATION CREATION:

There are currently three leading tools for creating meshes in game. The first is a free tool called Blender, it's an open source project and lacks a sensible UI (imo). The second is 3DS MAX by Autodesk which is a beginner to intermediate - friendly tool to make meshes and costs some $1-2k. The third tool is Maya by Autodesk which is currently the professional mesh program used widely by most gaming industries which I am most akin to and use regularly which costs $3.5k. Get one of these and go to youtube and type in the program and a tutorial of some sort and you'll be on your way to mesh making in no time.

 

TEXTURE CREATION:

Currently the top two image customizing programs are GIMP and Photoshop CS5. GIMP is a free open source tool with a bundle of features similar to that of Photoshop CS1. Photoshop CS5 by Adobe on the other hand is the professional tool used by most gaming industries. Again, you can go to youtube and look up numberless amounts of tutorials for the programs.

 

SCRIPT CREATION:

Okay, so right now there are at least five main programming languages used in today's games, software, etc. Although Skyrim's scripts claim to be made from scratch, they're always based on a pre-existing coding language. The five current ones are Java, C++, C#, Lua and Python, the latter two are realtime compiler languages which can be used in coordination with the former three. The most used coding lingo is C++ so I'd advise you to buy a textbook or find some in-depth tutorial lessons in coding in C++. Once you have that down you'll have the basic idea of how all coding languages work. Java is rather similar in syntax to C++ and C# is Microsoft's version of C++. Lua has recently been changed in syntax to mimic that of C++ while Python tries to mimic regular speech (Oblivion used Python for its scripts).

 

Once you have those three areas down you can literally create any mod your heart desires, but this will take a good two to three years to master, assuming you have a photographic memory, a niche for complex puzzles, excellent hand-eye coordination, and a will like a steam locomotive running out of control.

[CampanaAliquanta]

Budz42 has already covered most of it, but here are some links to various tutorials relating to modding Skyrim:

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/471428-modding-faq-how-to

 

What I'd recommend is you unpack some of the models and textures already in the game, and have a look at how they are done.

 

And re blender, I'd say that it's UI is non-standard, but if you haven't used any other modelling program that doesn't matter at all, because it's actually very quick to use. Just follow a tutorial when trying to do something for the first time.

[Matth85]

MESH/RIG/ANIMATION CREATION:

There are currently three leading tools for creating meshes in game. The first is a free tool called Blender, it's an open source project and lacks a sensible UI (imo). The second is 3DS MAX by Autodesk which is a beginner to intermediate - friendly tool to make meshes and costs some $1-2k. The third tool is Maya by Autodesk which is currently the professional mesh program used widely by most gaming industries which I am most akin to and use regularly which costs $3.5k. Get one of these and go to youtube and type in the program and a tutorial of some sort and you'll be on your way to mesh making in no time.

 

You forgot one of the most imortant tools for next-gen modelling: Zbrush, Mudbox or Sculptris.

Sculptris being a free version, same publisher as Zbrush, and Mudbox is made by Autodesk as Maya and 3ds max is.

 

TEXTURE CREATION:

Currently the top two image customizing programs are GIMP and Photoshop CS5. GIMP is a free open source tool with a bundle of features similar to that of Photoshop CS1. Photoshop CS5 by Adobe on the other hand is the professional tool used by most gaming industries. Again, you can go to youtube and look up numberless amounts of tutorials for the programs.

Slightly ... odd. the CS line of Photoshop is standard. Plenty of industry artist uses CS 3. I can't stand CS5 personally, and I know a few artist within the industry who can't either. CS 3 works wonder!

SCRIPT CREATION:

I'll bet my hat we get a new TES scripting language. WHich is all we can use, since we are not allowed to dwell into hard coded stuff.

Also, do not try to learn C++ if you havn't learned any other language. It is quite a lot harder than the rest, and pretty useless if we get a new TES scripting language. Well, "Useless" is maybe the wrong word, but not reccomended.

 

but if you haven't used any other modelling program that doesn't matter at all, because it's actually very quick to use. Just follow a tutorial when trying to do something for the first time.

 

Just a tip to follow that: Learning a 3d software is about 5% of the job. Learning to see geometric primitive objects in complex objects, learning to see in 3d without a grid and get cofused, and learning the artistic part of it, is the other 95%. The techical is the easiest part of any artistic creation. It's the artistic that is hard!

 

What I'd recommend is you unpack some of the models and textures already in the game, and have a look at how they are done.

I would not. I would reccomend you to doodle within 3d for a week, and start by making very basic things. When you get to the point you are confortable with the UI, know what UVW unwrapping is and wonder how stuff is done, you check it out. Why? Game industry models are NEVER optimized, or well done. They are decently done. Only because of the time constrain. Then I'd reccomend some serious 3d forums, like game-artist.net, and get some good tutorials. If you got the money, some are totally worth buying!

 

For texturing, I reccomend you get a sense of color and depth. Then you learn basic texturing, not using too many photos. Furthermore you can dwell into the important maps: DIfuse map, Normals map, Specularity map, Gloss map and Glow map. Any decent texture got a good DIfuse, a good Normal and a good Specularity. Forget 1, and the texture loses a lot of quality.

 

In I end I want you to know one thing, if you ever think about going 3d, or modding in general: You need time. You will not be good in 3d in a year, or two. Masterpieces are crafted from many years of experience. You can learn to script good in a few months, you can learn to work the CS in a few weeks, but you can not learn to model or texture in any short time. You need to be ready to waste houres away. Some fun, some horrible. In the end, you will sit with a finished product, and notice it was worth it!

 

Cheers,

Matth

[pixelGhost]

Regarding scripting...

 

I've never modded for a game before, but I am a student programmer (professional this summer) and I have a few projects I'd be interested in tackling. I essentially have no idea where to start, though.

 

I'd like to know how to define event handlers for keyboard actions so that I can extend the functionality of hot keys. Is it likely that the construction kit will give me this level of control? I like the idea of scripting quests, etc, too, but I can think of a few things that I really miss in the game (left/right hand binding, for example) that would increase my enjoyability tenfold.

 

I've noticed there's a decompiler that was recently released and that interface files can be done with flash builder, but I don't have much time to research right now along with finals. I (naively) get the impression that this kind of thing may require the full source code.

[Ironwolf1974]

MESH/RIG/ANIMATION CREATION:

There are currently three leading tools for creating meshes in game. The first is a free tool called Blender, it's an open source project and lacks a sensible UI (imo). The second is 3DS MAX by Autodesk which is a beginner to intermediate - friendly tool to make meshes and costs some $1-2k. The third tool is Maya by Autodesk which is currently the professional mesh program used widely by most gaming industries which I am most akin to and use regularly which costs $3.5k. Get one of these and go to youtube and type in the program and a tutorial of some sort and you'll be on your way to mesh making in no time.

 

You forgot one of the most imortant tools for next-gen modelling: Zbrush, Mudbox or Sculptris.

Sculptris being a free version, same publisher as Zbrush, and Mudbox is made by Autodesk as Maya and 3ds max is.

 

TEXTURE CREATION:

Currently the top two image customizing programs are GIMP and Photoshop CS5. GIMP is a free open source tool with a bundle of features similar to that of Photoshop CS1. Photoshop CS5 by Adobe on the other hand is the professional tool used by most gaming industries. Again, you can go to youtube and look up numberless amounts of tutorials for the programs.

Slightly ... odd. the CS line of Photoshop is standard. Plenty of industry artist uses CS 3. I can't stand CS5 personally, and I know a few artist within the industry who can't either. CS 3 works wonder!

SCRIPT CREATION:

I'll bet my hat we get a new TES scripting language. WHich is all we can use, since we are not allowed to dwell into hard coded stuff.

Also, do not try to learn C++ if you havn't learned any other language. It is quite a lot harder than the rest, and pretty useless if we get a new TES scripting language. Well, "Useless" is maybe the wrong word, but not reccomended.

 

but if you haven't used any other modelling program that doesn't matter at all, because it's actually very quick to use. Just follow a tutorial when trying to do something for the first time.

 

Just a tip to follow that: Learning a 3d software is about 5% of the job. Learning to see geometric primitive objects in complex objects, learning to see in 3d without a grid and get cofused, and learning the artistic part of it, is the other 95%. The techical is the easiest part of any artistic creation. It's the artistic that is hard!

 

What I'd recommend is you unpack some of the models and textures already in the game, and have a look at how they are done.

I would not. I would reccomend you to doodle within 3d for a week, and start by making very basic things. When you get to the point you are confortable with the UI, know what UVW unwrapping is and wonder how stuff is done, you check it out. Why? Game industry models are NEVER optimized, or well done. They are decently done. Only because of the time constrain. Then I'd reccomend some serious 3d forums, like game-artist.net, and get some good tutorials. If you got the money, some are totally worth buying!

 

For texturing, I reccomend you get a sense of color and depth. Then you learn basic texturing, not using too many photos. Furthermore you can dwell into the important maps: DIfuse map, Normals map, Specularity map, Gloss map and Glow map. Any decent texture got a good DIfuse, a good Normal and a good Specularity. Forget 1, and the texture loses a lot of quality.

 

In I end I want you to know one thing, if you ever think about going 3d, or modding in general: You need time. You will not be good in 3d in a year, or two. Masterpieces are crafted from many years of experience. You can learn to script good in a few months, you can learn to work the CS in a few weeks, but you can not learn to model or texture in any short time. You need to be ready to waste houres away. Some fun, some horrible. In the end, you will sit with a finished product, and notice it was worth it!

 

Cheers,

Matth

 

Thanks for the info and comments. I have plenty of time, I work 9 hours 6 days a week, but other then that have nothing to do but game and whatever.

 

SOooooo that being said downloading blender, trying to find a copy of CS. Ill go at it for a month, if I dont like it, or feel Im just not getting it then Ill hang it up. But I think Ill like it, I love learning new stuff. I "THINK" Im artistic, I guess well find out :P

[Ironwolf1974]

So anyone have a good link to a basic texturing tutorial for CS3?