StayFrosty05 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) Hello.... I am hoping someone would be kind enough to point me in the right directions...seeing all these beautiful mods offered for Skyrim, I have been inspired and would love to learn this art myself, but am virtually computer illiterate, I consider myself lucky to know where the 'On Switch' is on the computer. I have been reading through various threads in this section of the Forums trying to get some idea of where to start...My first step I am assuming and from what I understand is to download NMM? I would like to concentrate on modifying Male Armor, would someone please point me in the right directions to begin this process? I have been informed I need Photoshop with the DDS plugin installed or GIMP....I am told I have this (brother in law downloaded/installed various files, etc...when we first bought the computer). Thank you for your time and patience, very much appreciated....Sincerely StayFrosty. Edited January 31, 2012 by StayFrosty05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rennn Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I suggest you start small. Gimp 2.0 will be excellent for textures. You'll also need Paint.NET (not the regular Microsoft Paint, it's special), to handle conversions. They're both free.You'll also want BSAopt for taking textures from Skyrim's .bsa files, but be careful not to change anything important without knowing what you're doing. Just make a backup of your Skyrim folder and you'll be safe. Use paint.NET to convert .dds files to .png or .bmp files. After they're converted, you can edit them in Gimp, or make new ones or whatever, and use paint.NET to convert them back to .dds format so that Skyrim can use them. Beyond retextures, you'll need other programs, like Blender for making meshes. It's free, btw. I don't suggest you get into something that complex until you're more computer and mod literate. You will almost certainly not need NMM. In addition, modding will become much, much easier once the CK releases. It was scheduled for tomorrow, supposedly, but it's been bumped back yet again based on rumors. We'll probably see it in a couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryuson2000 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I was in the same boat as you. I had no clue how to use blender but learnt real quick. There's only one thing holding me back. I have no idea how to get my nif files into skyrim. I completed a full set of armor but I can't convert it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StayFrosty05 Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I suggest you start small. Gimp 2.0 will be excellent for textures. You'll also need Paint.NET (not the regular Microsoft Paint, it's special), to handle conversions. They're both free.You'll also want BSAopt for taking textures from Skyrim's .bsa files, but be careful not to change anything important without knowing what you're doing. Just make a backup of your Skyrim folder and you'll be safe. Use paint.NET to convert .dds files to .png or .bmp files. After they're converted, you can edit them in Gimp, or make new ones or whatever, and use paint.NET to convert them back to .dds format so that Skyrim can use them. Beyond retextures, you'll need other programs, like Blender for making meshes. It's free, btw. I don't suggest you get into something that complex until you're more computer and mod literate. You will almost certainly not need NMM. In addition, modding will become much, much easier once the CK releases. It was scheduled for tomorrow, supposedly, but it's been bumped back yet again based on rumors. We'll probably see it in a couple weeks.Thank you Rennn...this is greatly appreciated...I have to admit I am somewhat bamboozled by the apprieviated terms here (just found out what bsa is though... :happy: )...but my brother in law would understand what your saying and able to demonstrate what's what directly in front of me and most importantly stop me in time if I misunderstand and try to do something I really shouldn't... :unsure: ...Though I am now thinking I should really be patient and wait for this CK to be released, just continue to do my homework on the subject and wait for CK before I attempt any practical applications. Thank you so much again Rennn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StayFrosty05 Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 I was in the same boat as you. I had no clue how to use blender but learnt real quick. There's only one thing holding me back. I have no idea how to get my nif files into skyrim. I completed a full set of armor but I can't convert it.'Can't convert it'....thats gotta hurt, are you getting any help on how to do so?...Will you be uploading in into the 'Skyrim Uploads Forum' when you do?...I will keep an eye out for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryuson2000 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'm waiting on the CK too see if it will make a difference. Still somewhat studying what I'm doing wrong. so close yet so far :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheElderInfinity Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My advice? Try your hand at some basic scripting. Read some tutorials when the CK comes out, come up with some ideas. If you produce something noteworthy, modelers and such will come to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingchris20 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My advice? Try your hand at some basic scripting. Read some tutorials when the CK comes out, come up with some ideas. If you produce something noteworthy, modelers and such will come to you. This is good advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StayFrosty05 Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 My advice? Try your hand at some basic scripting. Read some tutorials when the CK comes out, come up with some ideas. If you produce something noteworthy, modelers and such will come to you.Whats basic scripting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cchoay Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) I was in the same boat as you. I had no clue how to use blender but learnt real quick. There's only one thing holding me back. I have no idea how to get my nif files into skyrim. I completed a full set of armor but I can't convert it. Open the armour you are going to adapt in NifSkope First step is to edit the NiHeader settings: In the Block detais section, expand the NiHeader property You'll see that the User version property has a value of 12. Double click on the 12 and then change it to 11. Then go to the User version 2 property, that has a value of 83. Double click on the 83 and then change it to 34. Next step is to delete the BSLightingShaderProperty: Expand the NiTriShape node as shown in picture Deleting the BSLightingShaderProperty Select the BSLightingShaderProperty node and press Ctrl+Del or right click and select the menu option Block -> Remove Branch Do this for all the NiTriShape nodes the mesh has (if it has more than one) Save the modified nif file. This modified nif is the one you will be importing into Blender. Instructions that I got from SydneyB/Ashara. Hope this helps. Edited January 31, 2012 by cchoay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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