Modding Skyrim's Mechanics: Attributes, Skills, Formulae..

[skaybestrog]

Please bear with me since I relatively new to the topic of modding. I would love a mod that changes what attributes do in the game: INT affects your potionmaking and enchanting, not just your mana pool. STR makes your character appear bigger and do more melee damage, absolutely essential things like these. I am talking simply about the mechanics: stats and what they do in game, especially the underlying formulae. Why are there so few mods that do this? How difficult is it to access these formulae? And for the mods that exist, like Third Era Attributes or Classic Elder Scrolls Attributes they all have to work with external menus, spells to improve your attributes, and the systems are essentially carbon-copies of older TES games (which isn't bad in itself! I would love to have Morrowind like attributes in Skyrim).

So, a few questions: Why are there so few mods that change the essential mechanics of the game? Is it simply too difficult? Can I not change what, for example, Magicka does in Skyrim? Is modifying the 3 attributes as they are in game not possibly, hence why all the existing mods create an additional menu instead of replacing or changing the big three? Why are there so few mods that introduce new (or old) abilities or schools, like reintroducing mysticism with it's own perk tree, spells and so forth? Is this doable? How much time/experience does one need to mod these aspects of the game?

I am overwhelmed by the amount of cosmetic/landscaping/roleplaying/combat/quest/race and sex mods and surprised about the complete lack of gameplay mods, safe for overhauls like Requiem or similiar. I would love to explore the world of (modded) Skyrim, but not without a proper attribute/class system :smile: Thanks in advance for answering my many questions!

 

 

(For an example of what I mean see this YouTube series. He explains in-depth what every single mechanic in the game does, and what I would like to do is modify these formulae, and by that change what attributes can and cannot do!)

 

 

Edited September 25, 2018 by skaybestrog

[gromulos]

To answer your basic question, which is "Why are there so few mods that change the essential mechanics of the game?"

 

I asked that same question when i first got Skyrim, specifically, I asked " Is there a mod that changes Skyrim to a Dungeons and Dragons based combat system? " I was told a mod like that would probably take at least 6 months to make and incorporate all the mechanics. So, yes, it would be a HUGE undertaking.

 

i think a good mod for you to try out would be SKYre - Skyrim Redone

 

It overhauls basically the entire game and may be just what you are looking for, please be aware that this one mod will change the entire game. It is VERY easy to be killed in one shot with this mod, or kill someone in one shot.

 

Also, please be aware that this is a "special" mod and installing it while is easy, requires some additional work to get it installed correctly

 

I will link you the best guide how to install it along with my own guide, you can watch the video and if you decide to use the mod, follow my guide on where the files should be placed

 

my guide - https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2235394-beginners-guide-to-modding/

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2018 by gromulos

[skaybestrog]

To answer your basic question, which is "Why are there so few mods that change the essential mechanics of the game?"

 

I asked that same question when i first got Skyrim, specifically, I asked " Is there a mod that changes Skyrim to a Dungeons and Dragons based combat system? " I was told a mod like that would probably take at least 6 months to make and incorporate all the mechanics. So, yes, it would be a HUGE undertaking.

 

i think a good mod for you to try out would be SKYre - Skyrim Redone

 

It overhauls basically the entire game and may be just what you are looking for, please be aware that this one mod will change the entire game. It is VERY easy to be killed in one shot with this mod, or kill someone in one shot.

 

Also, please be aware that this is a "special" mod and installing it while is easy, requires some additional work to get it installed correctly

 

I will link you the best guide how to install it along with my own guide, you can watch the video and if you decide to use the mod, follow my guide on where the files should be placed

 

my guide - https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/2235394-beginners-guide-to-modding/

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your answer. I will be sure to try that mod out since it seems to be close to what I am looking for. Do you have any pointers as to why these parts of the game are so hard to mod? I feel like any newbie can add an NPC or a Weapon to the game, so why is it so hard to modify what Endurance does?

[gromulos]

Those specific parts of the game are hard coded into the game engine itself, this is why mods like Skyrim Redone are so time consuming to make, and also why they are so HUGE lol

[skaybestrog]

Those specific parts of the game are hard coded into the game engine itself, this is why mods like Skyrim Redone are so time consuming to make, and also why they are so HUGE lol

 

So, in other words, for a complete layman like me, the most essential parts of the game are not available through the Creation Set? If that is the case it would make my dreams of modding Skyrim pretty much null, since I really don't have that amount of time nor knowledge :(

 

Is this the same for all TES games, does it ring true for Morrowind and Oblivion as well? If that is the case I will have to find a different game to mod. Looking towards Diablo 2 / 3 or something similiar. Anyway, thank you so much for your contribution!

[gromulos]

you can modify them using mods, but you won't be able to do away with them completely

 

For instance:

 

Naugrim made a mod called DUST for Fallout New Vegas. He added in a game mechanic called Insanity. What most people don't realize is that the mechanic named Insanity is actually the real game mechanic Karma lol. In DUST you have a chance of your character going insane, when i thought my character was getting to close to going insane i would just open the console and type the following - Player.rewardkarma 5000 . Insanity problem solved lol :tongue:

 

So like I said, you can add to it, modify it, or even alter it to be a negative, but you can NOT do away with it completely.

 

BTW, Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas use the same EXACT engine lol, just tweaked a little for each

Edited September 25, 2018 by gromulos