Any tutorial on how to port Oblivion mods to Skyrim?

[superpowermindo]

So I've been searching for a tutorial which describes how to port oblivion mods like Knightly Armory or any other armor or weapon mods out there for Oblivion to Skyrim. However I couldn't find anything but I've seen some Oblivion ported mods on skyrimnexus. How did they do it? I need a tutorial so that I can learn how to. I'll also use it personally to avoid any copyright things etc. I won't release it.

[Mason69]

Would love to know this too.

[TolarisOmega]

I would imagine that it'll be fairly easy, once the Creation Kit is released. All the file formats are the same. Locations are the sticky bit. If you don't want to use a console command or replace other items, you are going to need the CK to place them.

 

I'm itching for ports too. Illithiel's soul gem and Glamdring were my favourite weapons in Oblivion.

[leroy2u]

i'd love to have my cute elf back from that mod, and maybe the armor set from colourwheel or eyecandy, or someone make a hybrid, half-elf that just as cute to watch kick tail

[KageKaldaka]

things that i would like to see ported:

CW's Overhaul, though he would have to just make a completely new one for skyrim, so it wouldnt really be more of a port, itd be just a sequel i guess you would call it,

 

Apachii's goddess Store

 

Moonshadow Elves Race

 

the Shadow Armor from the apachii store

 

Exnem's Runeskulls mod

[A1x2e3l]

"All the file formats are the same."

 

I am not that sure: nif (all geometry) formats are different; Gamebryo animation formats kf/(kfm) (Oblivion) were replaced by Havok hkx files (Skyrim). Basically all game asserts are not compatible and cannot be used without tedious and unclear conversion work in 3D modellers. And, in case mod distribution - legal issues.

[TheElderInfinity]

Would it be possible to port certain segments of (scripting) code from Oblivion to Skyrim? I know Skyrim's script engine has different Syntax, but surely that could be corrected for without having to write new scripts from scratch?

[Sunnie]

Skyrims scripting is completely different, you will not be able to just "port" Oblivion/FO scripts.

[TheElderInfinity]

Well that sucks. I thought Creation was just a dolled up version of Gamebryo?

[jimhsu]

Weapons and especially armors are NOT at all trivial to port over, for several reasons:

 

1. Different NIF formats, and support for more texturing properties (e.g. environment maps, etc). Also, Niftools and Nifskope are not completely working yet. Also currently there's a lot of manual work involved in simply importing and re-exporting the same mesh.

2. Without a CK, currently making non-replacers for armors is not trivial.

3. Armors: skinning. The skeletons and bodies in skyrim are completely different (as expected). Simply copying weights over is likely going to result in horrible deformations, if not a total disaster. After trying to port over Alecu's HGEC Rogue Armor mod, I determined after a few hours that someone more experienced should handle that.

4. Bodies: Object normal maps are great, but are substantially more difficult to tweak manually than the tangent normal maps of old. (at least in my experience). E.g. fixing seams, etc.

 

Someone with way more experience can probably comment further, but these are just my current experiences with porting custom content.

 

Weapons are slightly easier, because of the lack of skinning work. So if you want to port stuff over, start with that, or make basic modifications to vanilla Skyrim armor.

 

To summarize: If you don't already know your way around 3ds Max, Nifskope, and hex editing, you should probably try to contact the original author, or put your requests in the Mod Requests forum.

Edited December 24, 2011 by jimhsu