Really interested in learning to Mod.

[H4RDC0R3V1B3Z]

Hey guys,

 

After playing Skyrim, seeing and using people's creations and what can be done already before the Construction Kit's release. I was wondering what it would be like in terms of learning to use? I've always had an interest in Modding, but never really thought about picking it up until now.

 

My gaming interest is slightly waining (it's a sad time in my gaming career, I know) and I would really like to take up Modding as a past-time instead. Particularly for Skyrim, as most things that people have done so far just look amazing, so I can only imagine what can be done with the CK.

 

What kind of learning curve would I expect, and is it beneficial to jump right in at the deep-end or start out with something simple? I've no idea how the CK works and the only editing software I've used was a brief encounter with a map creator for Tiberian Sun, I think it was SUNedit or something like that. Many years ago now though, so I can't remember much about it.

 

I'm fairly "PC literate" and understand most programs having had to learn CAD, from scratch, in the past. Although those days are long gone, hence the now-elevated interest in Mods.

 

Apologies if I'm rambling, just trying to give people a good idea of what I want, just so you don't think I'm wasting your time =) Feel free to drop me a message with any advice that you might have found helpful.

[PaladinRider]

Depends on what you want to do, and what you can do.

 

That being said, you can do a whole lot and it's pretty simple, really. If you've had experience with a map-editor you should be able to pick it up in a fairly short time. I learned how to mod for Oblivion when I was 14, but I ended up giving it up. Just in March I started playing New Vegas and shortly after I picked up modding and released my first mod.

 

I'll break down some of the main parts:

Retexturing: You can use GIMP or Photoshop to edit the textures of existing models. You can re-colour a sword, or a house. Quite easy but it depends on your artistic ability to a pretty large degree. (And knowledge of GIMP/Photoshop).

 

Modelling: I don't know much about this, and I cannot do it but you can create unique items/furniture or what-have-you. I forget what program.

 

World-editing: Probably the simplest and easiest. Start off small. You only need the CK when its out, but you can experiment with the Fallout GECK (same thing but different game, when it comes down to it). Click and drag a well into the middle of a town, save and test it. Then you can take it further and build a small house, and learn how to do interiors. TONS of tutorials here: http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Main_Page

Again, that's for the GECK, but the tool for Skyrim will be very similar.

 

Scripting: My forte. The scripting language is really the simplest language there is. I'd say its simply than Python. Basically if you've never scripted before, you still shouldn't have too much trouble with basic functions. There are tutorials for a lot of things from setting traps, to various activators, and simple commands.

[jimhsu]

Depends on what you want to do, and what you can do.

 

That being said, you can do a whole lot and it's pretty simple, really. If you've had experience with a map-editor you should be able to pick it up in a fairly short time. I learned how to mod for Oblivion when I was 14, but I ended up giving it up. Just in March I started playing New Vegas and shortly after I picked up modding and released my first mod.

 

I'll break down some of the main parts:

Retexturing: You can use GIMP or Photoshop to edit the textures of existing models. You can re-colour a sword, or a house. Quite easy but it depends on your artistic ability to a pretty large degree. (And knowledge of GIMP/Photoshop).

 

Modelling: I don't know much about this, and I cannot do it but you can create unique items/furniture or what-have-you. I forget what program.

 

World-editing: Probably the simplest and easiest. Start off small. You only need the CK when its out, but you can experiment with the Fallout GECK (same thing but different game, when it comes down to it). Click and drag a well into the middle of a town, save and test it. Then you can take it further and build a small house, and learn how to do interiors. TONS of tutorials here: http://geck.bethsoft.com/index.php/Main_Page

Again, that's for the GECK, but the tool for Skyrim will be very similar.

 

Scripting: My forte. The scripting language is really the simplest language there is. I'd say its simply than Python. Basically if you've never scripted before, you still shouldn't have too much trouble with basic functions. There are tutorials for a lot of things from setting traps, to various activators, and simple commands.

 

Retexturing: yes. Also go read up on normal maps: i.e. http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php/Creating_detailed_Normal_Maps

 

Modelling: Student? Download 3ds max free, legally: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=17355061 , or use blender, but I hate blender (sorry blender fans). Prepare. To. Be. Extremely. Frustrated. Especially if you're delving into the mad world of animation.

 

World-editing: CK.

 

Scripting: The new language is Papyrus, a derivative of UnrealScript, which is a derivative of Java. Which is good, because the previous language couldn't support basic things like trig, arrays, or even loops. Brush up on some object-oriented programming and take some simple Java tutorials.

Edited December 10, 2011 by jimhsu

[PaladinRider]

Scripting: The new language is Papyrus, a derivative of UnrealScript, which is a derivative of Java. Brush up on some object-oriented programming and take some simple Java tutorials.

 

:ohmy: Really? :dance: Do you have a source? I've only heard rumors about the scripting language.

 

OT, OP there you have it. If you have the interest already just keep at it and you'll be making some good mods in no time.

Edited December 10, 2011 by PaladinRider

[jimhsu]

Scripting: The new language is Papyrus, a derivative of UnrealScript, which is a derivative of Java. Brush up on some object-oriented programming and take some simple Java tutorials.

 

:ohmy: Really? :dance: Do you have a source? I've only heard rumors about the scripting language.

 

OT, OP there you have it. If you have the interest already just keep at it and you'll be making some good mods in no time.

 

http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/34102/which-scripting-language-does-skyrim-use

 

Time to start turning this in to the "Skyrim Internal Technical Research Discussion" thread. This time around, it looks like we have two totally different scripting engines in the game. One is the classic system used in the previous games, it looks almost exactly the same from a very quick lookthrough. Command dump coming shortlyish.

 

The new one is much more interesting and appears to be called Papyrus or SkyrimVM. We'll probably need to wait for the editor to be released to get any idea about the syntax as the original source code for scripts doesn't appear to be in the .esm (unless they're compressed). However, here's a quick feature rundown from what I can tell. Please take things with a grain of salt for now, this is just a first look.

 

• 
   
  
• core variable types are float, int, string, and bool
  
• arrays of the above are supported natively
  
• scripts are interpreted as a list of simpler yet much more powerful set of opcodes
  
• if the conditional branch opcodes support negative offsets then loops are trivial to implement (and probably have been)
  
• the new system is object-oriented - all scripts are class instances (UnrealScript influence here)
  
• compiled scripts are stored as separate files, unpack Misc.bsa and look in the scripts folder
  
• classes support inheritance, and there appear to be vm-world classes matching the internal form types
  

Edited December 11, 2011 by jimhsu

[Galacticat42]

Scripting: The new language is Papyrus, a derivative of UnrealScript, which is a derivative of Java. Which is good, because the previous language couldn't support basic things like trig, arrays, or even loops. Brush up on some object-oriented programming and take some simple Java tutorials.

 

A Java based script? Huzzah! I was fearing the worst - something Python based like in Oblivion. I took classes in C++ and self taught Lua, ActionScript, etc and since Java is similar to C++ and ActionScript is really a crossover between the two, I'm fairly confident I'll be scripting in no time. Just don't ask me to script in Python - I just can't stand the poor structure of it.

[H4RDC0R3V1B3Z]

Thanks very much for the quick replies! :thumbsup: All of that is very helpful and I will get reading those links tomorrow after a good sleep as it's getting late now and best to be more awake when remembering things.

 

So the scripting is Java-based? I don't know much about Java, but my best mate is a Web Developer and deals with it all the time, so I'll prod him for some help should I need it. And I'll bug people here as well, of course :wink: lol.