Difference between revisions of "Developing Successful Mods"
→'''''Modding Utilities''''': let's... not get into "alternate" ways of obtaining Photoshop, Morroblivion, etc. etc.
imported>Gregbert m (→'''''Motivation''''': Bad Grammar.) |
imported>DragoonWraith (→'''''Modding Utilities''''': let's... not get into "alternate" ways of obtaining Photoshop, Morroblivion, etc. etc.) |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 67: | Line 67: | ||
'''''NifSkope''''' - What're you going to do with your new model without NifSkope? NifSkope acts as the conduit to allow new material into the CS, from lighting to particle effects. It can seem pretty complex to use at first, and I'm still no expert, but learning can be fun - especially with particle effects. Certainly a tool you'll want to learn to use fairly well, unless you enjoy frequent crashes and dirty models. | '''''NifSkope''''' - What're you going to do with your new model without NifSkope? NifSkope acts as the conduit to allow new material into the CS, from lighting to particle effects. It can seem pretty complex to use at first, and I'm still no expert, but learning can be fun - especially with particle effects. Certainly a tool you'll want to learn to use fairly well, unless you enjoy frequent crashes and dirty models. | ||
'''''Visual Art Program''''' - You'll probably want to learn how to make your own textures to suit your own models at some point, and these programs will let you! I'm not talking | '''''Visual Art Program''''' - You'll probably want to learn how to make your own textures to suit your own models at some point, and these programs will let you! I'm not talking Microsoft Paint, I'm talking Adobe Photoshop (If you can afford it) and GimP (which is free and aimed at professionals). Another program that is gaining popularity is "Paint.net" (not to be confused for Windows' default paint program, "Windows Paint") due to it's ease of use, and the fact that it is free. Learning to use these won't just benefit you in modding, but probably for more daily tasks as well. Having said this, it's a real pain to learn to use to an amazing standard, and can be pretty thought-intensive at times (Well I feel it is!), but I guess some people are born creative, and others may not be. Not necessary, as you can use the perfectly allowable and proven to work textures that come with Oblivion, and you're entitled to these, as long as you keep them within the game respectively. | ||
'''''BSA Unpacker''''' - This utility can be used for, apparently, quite a lot of things, but I've never used it for more than getting the textures, sounds, meshes and other data out of the Oblivion compressed files. This is... pretty useful when you want to make your own meshes and textures, and especially with NifSkope - They're key examples of how to make things tick, and what good examples of models and textures are. I'd search the Wiki for this BSA contraption though, I'm no expert, even though it's a really useful gizmo. | '''''BSA Unpacker''''' - This utility can be used for, apparently, quite a lot of things, but I've never used it for more than getting the textures, sounds, meshes and other data out of the Oblivion compressed files. This is... pretty useful when you want to make your own meshes and textures, and especially with NifSkope - They're key examples of how to make things tick, and what good examples of models and textures are. I'd search the Wiki for this BSA contraption though, I'm no expert, even though it's a really useful gizmo. | ||
'''''Oblivion: Shivering Isles''''' - Okay, fine, it's not a utility. At all. But! It is a really good example of how Oblivion should and can look! If you haven't got it, I'd | '''''Oblivion: Shivering Isles''''' - Okay, fine, it's not a utility. At all. But! It is a really good example of how Oblivion should and can look! If you haven't got it, I'd recommend buying it, it's not that expensive anyhow. The textures are pretty amazing, Nif files use some more advanced techniques, and with this and vanilla paired, you can find a file with just about anything you may want your own mesh to do. It's a good example of a well made, well thought game with rewards and motivation to continue play, immersive quests (to an extent), room for expansion via mods and some quality material! Note that mods using assets from Shivering Isles must be made dependent on Shivering Isles. | ||
'''''Audio-Altering Program''''' - These things don't really help too much, but can make your mod a mile appart from others. With these you can make your own music, edit and alter other sounds to fit your purpose, and basicly play with all the audio that comes with Oblivion. Even though they're not so great for making your own music, it's fine for altering existing ones. There's some really neat universal functions, so they can be fun to tinker in! I'd suggest Audacity. It's the only free one that I've found to be effective with what I want to do, and I haven't heard of any other good ones - Maybe ask around if you grow tired of Audacity, or need it for something more. | '''''Audio-Altering Program''''' - These things don't really help too much, but can make your mod a mile appart from others. With these you can make your own music, edit and alter other sounds to fit your purpose, and basicly play with all the audio that comes with Oblivion. Even though they're not so great for making your own music, it's fine for altering existing ones. There's some really neat universal functions, so they can be fun to tinker in! I'd suggest Audacity. It's the only free one that I've found to be effective with what I want to do, and I haven't heard of any other good ones - Maybe ask around if you grow tired of Audacity, or need it for something more. | ||
| Line 99: | Line 99: | ||
Now you should be drawing a close to your mod. Try not to carry on adding more content, or it'll never get released! Try to get the core, but perfectly functioning and detailed, version of your mod out. Anything else you wish to add can come in an update or Additional Mod (Like an expansion pack, but for a mod | Now you should be drawing a close to your mod. Try not to carry on adding more content, or it'll never get released! Try to get the core, but perfectly functioning and detailed, version of your mod out. Anything else you wish to add can come in an update or Additional Mod (Like an expansion pack, but for a mod). Things should be drawing a close, and playtests should be becoming a lot more frequent. Iron out any bugs you find, replace anything of inferior quality and generally smoothen your mod. You want it to be perfect for the big day! Any Beta tests should now be closed, but feedback should still be taken into account. Beta Tests are an amazing way to gain feedback from the people you should be releasing it to, whilst raising the public awareness of your mod. | ||
Aim to secure a team of play testers, as play testing your own mod can be boring, as you know what will happen and when. make sure they explore every nook and cranny that seams reasonable, and just hope they find any major (and plenty of minor) bugs in the mod. You cannot ignore playtesting, even if you are to be the one doing it, or you can release a mod that will damage the game, thus giving your mod a bad image. It's like if McDonnalds started out serving food with Salmonella, then people would be discouraged from buying from them ever again, thus ruining their future domination of the fast-food market. Make sure your public relations and public image stays positive and happy, like a thriving plant. | Aim to secure a team of play testers, as play testing your own mod can be boring, as you know what will happen and when. make sure they explore every nook and cranny that seams reasonable, and just hope they find any major (and plenty of minor) bugs in the mod. You cannot ignore playtesting, even if you are to be the one doing it, or you can release a mod that will damage the game, thus giving your mod a bad image. It's like if McDonnalds started out serving food with Salmonella, then people would be discouraged from buying from them ever again, thus ruining their future domination of the fast-food market. Make sure your public relations and public image stays positive and happy, like a thriving plant. | ||
| Line 110: | Line 110: | ||
A few small notes; Depending on your operating system, you should call the shortcut "D:\Games\Oblivion\TES4Edit.exe" -FixupPGRD. Most changes will not be noticeable in the CS or Ingame. First time around to using this program, it may look fairly threatening, but don't worry. It's all safe and tested. | A few small notes; Depending on your operating system, you should call the shortcut "D:\Games\Oblivion\TES4Edit.exe" -FixupPGRD. Most changes will not be noticeable in the CS or Ingame. First time around to using this program, it may look fairly threatening, but don't worry. It's all safe and tested. | ||
So now it's ready; Or maybe you're just reading this in preparation to start a new mod. Either way, the thread should still help... But read this again when you ARE about to release. Kudos to you! You've taken on a big mod and won; something even the best of modders can falter against. Upload your Mod for download (I suggest ([http://www.tesnexus.com/ TES Nexus] or [https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=pages&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fpages.google.com%2F<mpl=yessignups Google's Page Creator] | So now it's ready; Or maybe you're just reading this in preparation to start a new mod. Either way, the thread should still help... But read this again when you ARE about to release. Kudos to you! You've taken on a big mod and won; something even the best of modders can falter against. Upload your Mod for download (I suggest ([http://www.tesnexus.com/ TES Nexus] or [https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=pages&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fpages.google.com%2F<mpl=yessignups Google's Page Creator]), then add several links to several mirrors for download. Make the info and pictures on the places where you can download the mod, such as TES Nexus, as flashy and exciting as you can; people will look at this in months coming, and still want it. | ||
All you have to do now is update the thread, open the gates and lett'em in! | All you have to do now is update the thread, open the gates and lett'em in! | ||
== '''''Publicity''''' == | == '''''Publicity''''' == | ||