LE Tips you would give to a new modder

[sa547]

My advice? When writing documentation for a mod (and as a former programmer), it's best to know one's English, but has to be clear and concise as much as possible, with a little personality and style thrown in (Jules always said it best that personality goes a long way, and first impressions do last -- a modder will be sized for overall competence).

 

Otherwise, if English is too hard to do, write in your own native language, and then run the whole text through Google Translate.

[Natterforme]

It also never hurts to use translators. Whenever one of my mods does well, I usually get several offers to have the mod translated into various languages. For tutorials, you can post your google translated version and you can usually find someone willing to rewrite it in the desired language.

 

-Natterforme

[MotoSxorpio]

Clean your mod.

Compile full readme explaining the features of your mod.

Clean your mod.

Plan and stockpile resources...credit and get permissions for any resources/assets under another author.

Clean your mod.

If your mod is large overhaul type, please make a FAQ list.

Clean your mod.

Stick together with other modders, they might save your mod for you one day.

Did I mention....clean your mod?

[Shaydow]

My advice :

 

- Never release a mod where you know there is a "known issue". Don't say " I know this is an issue and I will fix it later". If you know something is broken, take the time to fix it BEFORE releasing the mod. Your only releasing a mod you made because you want the praise and recognition it brings. You won't get those if you release something with bugs you already KNOW exist.

 

- Take the time to play test your mod. Even something simple can lead to CTD's. If you just load the game once and see your change, it doesn't mean you can just say " it's working! " and release it. You never know when a CTD is around the corner.

 

- If your script fails to compile, don't just give up or try to find a "work around" to it. Take the time to learn WHY the script is having compiling errors. This will not only make your mod work the way you want, but also make you a better script writer.

 

- Replacer mods are not the only thing you can do to get into the scene. Take the time to learn how to make your mod a standalone. You will gain more knowledge of mod-making this way.

 

- Mods come from original ideas. Don't just make one small change to someones mod and release it and think " I did a lot! ". No one is really going to respect you for that.

 

- If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Your first few mods may not be a HUGE success, but who knows, that 4th one may be the next big thing. I.E : DON'T GIVE UP.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Peace,

~Shay

[Rooker75]

-Make mods for yourself!

 

This is a good one. I have a special esp I made called "Custom Changes" which includes random things such as increased vendor gold, essential dogs and various other stuff. Doing this sort of thing is good in terms of CK experience! More than that, you learn what kind of mods/changes are worth the effort. And, of course, if you discover how to do something awesome, share it! :D

 

I have about 45 active mods for Skyrim atm and half are things I did myself. I think it's better to separate changes into separate plug-ins. I went nuts with the FO3 and FNV GECKs making little changes here and there and stuffed them all into the same .esp. Eventually I just lost track of what I'd done, wanted to make changes or go back to default, bugs and glitches and conflicts with other mods started popping up and I finally ended up deleting the whole mess. I started over and recreated them with "armor changes.esp", "weapon changes.esp", "stat changes.esp" and so on.

 

It clutters the mod list a bit, but I think it's a good trade off.

 

As a tip to new modders in general, I'd suggest opening mods you like from other people in the CK and see how they did what they did. Don't COPY their work (obviously), but you can learn a lot by example by seeing how other people accomplished things.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Rooker75

[Deleted1234612User]

Advice i'd give a new modder?

 

"When it breaks, hit your head against the problem until it works."

That's about as eloquently written as I could put it.

 

I think one of the primary factors that drives away most new modders is the fact that the Creation Kit, like any other program, is not perfect and will at times result in hair-loss. After-all, the more you play with something the more likely you are to break it. But, there's more than one way to skin a Khajiit (so to speak) and if you keep working at the problem eventually you will find a solution whether that solution comes from the Creation Kit wiki, from help on forums such as this one, or just by playing around with the program until you discover a work-around on your own.

 

Another piece of advice I'd give modders is this:

 

"Consider the scope of your project!"

 

For example; total conversion projects will likely take the rest of your life if you work on them alone, start with something small and simple and expand it from there. For example, the mod i'm working on at the moment Wyrmstooth started off as a player home mod. Then I scrapped the idea of a player home and decided to make my own island in a separate worldspace. Once that was done I decided to add a storyline that took the player to the island to fight a dragon ( ... aaand now I'm adding the player home back in ;p).

 

Anyway, hope this advice helps.