LE Tips you would give to a new modder

[demidekidasu]

Honestly, there is some absolutely fantastic stuff in here.

 

A shame it's in the Skyrim Mod Authors section though :(

[Grimoa]

I agree. That was my idea with the list and moving it to the Mod Talk for everyone to see.

 

The last couple comments are more advanced though and I (while beeing a "recognised mod author") still found them very helpfull! :thumbsup:

Plus the list is getting rather long... Maybe split it up? :huh:

[Natterforme]

I think categorizing the list based on relevant material would be best^^. Moving it into mod talk might get more feedback but the thread in the mod authors section has the benefit of being comprised of material from established mod authors with finished mods. The mod talk section might just get a lot of white noise but I dont see whhy we can have the thread posted there as well^^.

 

-Natterforme

[Grimoa]

That's a good argument. And with the way this thread is evolving we should definately keep it for... uhm advanced beginners. That's how I see myself. ;)

 

And hopefully any thread we start in the Mod Talk will not get crowded with nonsense too soon. I keep bringing the Mod Talk forum up because I want to help modders who did not make it here yet. I think they could profit from a lot in this thread.

[littleork]

That's a good argument. And with the way this thread is evolving we should definately keep it for... uhm advanced beginners. That's how I see myself. ;)

 

And hopefully any thread we start in the Mod Talk will not get crowded with nonsense too soon. I keep bringing the Mod Talk forum up because I want to help modders who did not make it here yet. I think they could profit from a lot in this thread.

 

 

Well it is mainly for them anyway, you can always just update the first post with pertinent information, if the first post is full of tips with a note saying that it is getting updated, they might stop right at that post.

[Ironman5000]

I cannot be certain but what I can say with a fair degree of confidence is that this kind of thread has been brought up in the past, perhaps like a handful of pinned threads this should be added as the number of aspiring newcomers is ever-growing and this info would be invaluable not to mention save troubleshooting help for author-to-noob communication in the future.

 

Just because the skyrim authors section has gained so much attention there is no reason a new thread could start where it may be more appropriate, perhaps with this thread posted as a link in the initial post for reference.

[Korodic]

A tip? Love thy neighbor... intimately...

 

This will help you tremendously in life, and creating house mods.

 

:teehee:

 

But really I think the biggest thing is being realistic in your goals and being able to achieve them as such.

[tg08096]

A modder is born when he or she is playing the game and they suddenly get a spark of an idea of something that would greatly enhance their gaming experience. First they search to see if this idea has been done. If it hasn't, or it hasn't been done according to their vision, they say "You know what? Screw it. I'm gonna give this a shot."

 

a lot of times I think their excitement gets the best of them, and they think they're going to spend a couple of hours checking out a quick tutorial to get the basics, edit the thing they want to change, and they'll be back in-game lickedy split with their totally awesome game. Couple hours later they're scratching their head in the forums asking for help and kind of not even really knowing what they're asking for.

 

So the advice I would give is this:

 

1. Patience.

 

Modding is like claymation stop motion animation on crack. Anybody can get some clay and a camera, make a little clay man, move some stuff a little at a time, pause the camera for every shot, and have a one minute animated film in about 12 hours. It's tedious, it takes a lot of time, sometimes (read as: often) you want to smash it and quit, sometimes you don't know where you're going with it, sometimes you forget where you started.

 

That would be easy.

 

Modding is like, you've never seen clay before, you have no clue what a camera is or what that even means, the pause button is in a different language and it's hidden among a thousand other buttons in an equally confusing language, the camera's manual is about 12,000 pages long, and you need a special apparatus to make a little clay man that has another language and another manual.

 

But. . . for some reason, it's totally worth it. You have to be patient, though. Take things slow, one at a time, and don't bite off more than you can chew. Otherwise you'll find yourself on extended hiatus.

 

2. I think this has been said, but choose a niche. Pick one type of thing you are mostly interested in to try at first, and stay away from trying to make quests. Quests are for experts.

 

3. Once you get a little experience under your belt, consider taking on some mod requests that seem simple enough that you think you can do. They're a great way to kind of take a break, but at the same time, you sometimes learn something new or find unexpected inspiration.

[ArronDominion]

Here is a tip I am going to give on large scripts (1500 lines+, or with a lot of planned functionality), make some sort of diagram that shows your variables and functions. Had to break out MSVisio to create a UML diagram of the Adoption system, just so I do not find myself lost at some point in the future for where I am at.

[Ketaroz]

Well,

 

I got some.... 3 to be exacly that I think its worths to share...

 

1- Play the Game first, a lot, before start to modding.

Go play the game before Mod, play till the end, win the game is diferent ways, become a expert in the game challenges and solutions, be a warrior, a wizard or a ranger. After you have accomplished those things and have the will to keep playing, that taste of "I want some more", you "maybe" ready to become Modder or a Mods User. I like to see my self as a modder, Im not a player, even have played Skyrim for 2 months intensely before start to mod, but Im quite sure now that I know some of the game mechanics, challenges, fun, flaws, etc. When you play the game as a modder till the end you start to make a WISH LIST of many things you would like to have, get, be, be able to, etc, etc..

 

2- Your mod has to improove something.

Belive me, whatever you mod, your mod will and has to improove one of those aspects of Skyrim: Fun, Challenge, Quality, Variations, New Game Proposals or Game Fixes. Whatever you do, when someone install your mods the must have the feeling "Now my game is lil better them before." That may seems obvious but everyday I see mods that only changes things in game not improoving anything, most of the time just changing things that not exacly need to be change or worst modding to make something worst. It can be part of a process, but is always good to ask yourself, whats my mod is improoving on my players gamming experience?

 

3- Have fun modding.

Remember, do that for fun. Modding is very cool part of several gamming communities, and it is supose to be fun also, my self as many other here have a lot of fun modding, Im sure about it. So if youre a modding to proove something for yourself or for someone else, instead of prooving that you can have fun, please stop doing it. If youre getting regulary angry, frustated, etc... Modding is not for you... If what youre doing is not giving you any recognition or praises you expected and thats making you sad... thats not the meaning of a modder, recognition comes on due time for people who modds with pleasure, fun and skill learned on time... and all that process has to be fun, so, dont push yourself too much. Life is to short. :)

 

Hope this contributes... :)

 

Ket