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> Mod restartitis, Cross-infection from the game itself?
ghastley
post Oct 20 2014, 03:48 PM
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I'm finding myself doing with mods what others do with their characters. I'm starting new ones, before I've finished work on the existing ones.

Bear Riders - I built Riders Lodge, added a couple of new NPC's, lots of skimpy outfits, and two or three quests. Got stuck trying to pair up recruits with their bears, and establish the patrols. I'm also having issues getting Unna to train more bears, because I don't know how to attach properties to an Actor.

Thieves Guild Continued - Created a number of new NPC's, the beginnings of the first quest, and added content to Riftweald Manor to open its doors once the Guild takes it over. Got stuck with quest conditions for executing Sibbi. I want to have him chopped by Svidi, but she may be dead, so I need Mjoll (who's essential) to step in for that situation. I just can't get the aliases to fill properly!

Orc Hearthfires - This was going nicely until it started crashing the game as soon as I created the small hut layout.

Elf Kids - I made a high-res head to generate the model-space normals, but can't get that process to work. The tutorial on it requires 3DS MAX and ZBrush, which I don't have. I figured out how to use Blender for the sculpting, but there's some subtle use of MAX that's eluding me. Stuck again.

Alik'r Dancer - still adding more content. It's released, but unfinished. I just made a modified Scimitar model, because I wasn't happy with the hilt on the vanilla one, and I'm working on a high-end one (probably ebony) for variety.

Diablita for Skyrim - She's OK apart from a kink in her tail when idle. It's a problem with one bone in the Bethesda animation, because I can see it in the Khajiit tail, too. It's just a lot more noticeable with a more slender tail. I downloaded the Havok tools to try and fix it myself, but again seem to need other software (like MAX) to use with it.

Hulk out - Actually finished that one! I just have to make myself leave it alone.

And all this is on top of multiple mods for my own use only, just to tweak things for one character. Drelka's getting a new dress like her one in Oblivion, for example.

I'm finding myself going back to my old characters and doing new quests with them. How do I get myself to go back and finish the mods I started?



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mALX
post Oct 20 2014, 11:57 PM
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QUOTE(ghastley @ Oct 20 2014, 10:48 AM) *

I'm finding myself doing with mods what others do with their characters. I'm starting new ones, before I've finished work on the existing ones.

Bear Riders - I built Riders Lodge, added a couple of new NPC's, lots of skimpy outfits, and two or three quests. Got stuck trying to pair up recruits with their bears, and establish the patrols. I'm also having issues getting Unna to train more bears, because I don't know how to attach properties to an Actor.

Orc Hearthfires - This was going nicely until it started crashing the game as soon as I created the small hut layout.

Elf Kids - I made a high-res head to generate the model-space normals, but can't get that process to work. The tutorial on it requires 3DS MAX and ZBrush, which I don't have. I figured out how to use Blender for the sculpting, but there's some subtle use of MAX that's eluding me. Stuck again.

Hulk out - Actually finished that one! I just have to make myself leave it alone.

I'm finding myself going back to my old characters and doing new quests with them. How do I get myself to go back and finish the mods I started?



I've got a lot of these too, start some and become so immersed till either I add one too many things and crash the mod or come to a stopping point because of lack of knowledge or ability to perform some obscure function that I really REALLY want in the mod, lol.

Attaching properties to NPCs in Skyrim - I've noticed an obnoxious lack of flexibility on modding character's abilities and personalities, AI packages, Factions, etc - it is like when they made the game they decided not to allow us to mod characters beyond a certain point - or I am missing something?

I would love it if someone would teach me what it is if I'm just overlooking something, because I don't want to make an NPC character unless it can have a unique personality and do something special or different from all the other characters in game.



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ghastley
post Feb 13 2015, 08:30 PM
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I'm doing it again, aren't I?

I looked on the Nexus, and there's already one mod that puts the Archmage's robe enchantment on a necklace. However, it uses a simple silver/sapphire model, rather than something unique, and it fails to prevent the player wearing both robes and necklace. Likewise, there's a mod to allow disenchanting the robes, but that get unbalanced with enchanting perks increasing the values, and the ability to enchant multiple pieces.

So I'll be giving you the Archmage's Amulet as soon as I have all the pieces working. Female and ground meshes work, script is in progress, and the male models are just a repeat of the same work I did for the female. You won't be able to wear both items at once, equipping the second will displace the first, as if they were in the same slot.




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mALX
post Feb 13 2015, 09:44 PM
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QUOTE(ghastley @ Feb 13 2015, 02:30 PM) *

I'm doing it again, aren't I?

I looked on the Nexus, and there's already one mod that puts the Archmage's robe enchantment on a necklace. However, it uses a simple silver/sapphire model, rather than something unique, and it fails to prevent the player wearing both robes and necklace. Likewise, there's a mod to allow disenchanting the robes, but that get unbalanced with enchanting perks increasing the values, and the ability to enchant multiple pieces.

So I'll be giving you the Archmage's Amulet as soon as I have all the pieces working. Female and ground meshes work, script is in progress, and the male models are just a repeat of the same work I did for the female. You won't be able to wear both items at once, equipping the second will displace the first, as if they were in the same slot.



Yeah, but anyone can get in the CK and attach any enchantment to a vanilla piece and upload it - You - You made that Awesome looking unique amulet! That amulet is a work of art!

Making models goes beyond modding, it is an amazing talent; one that I'd give anything to have! I'll never forget the amazing job you did making those awesome signs for my mod - they looked better than any other signs I've seen out there in any other mod or game!

I really appreciate that you are careful to ensure your mods aren't associated with being overpowered, too. It is an integrity that is fast diminishing in the modding community, sadly. I am afraid the advent and influx of so many younger modders from the Steam site has changed the tone of the modding community. There is a lack of gratitude, a lack of ethics, even outright mod stealing (not just of assets) going on now that was unheard of in the decade before.

Really, there is no comparison between your work and a simple enchantment of a vanilla piece (even I could do that without much instruction). Your work is realms apart in talent/skill required to make it (the amulet), etc. There is no comparison.


*

This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 13 2015, 09:47 PM


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ghastley
post Feb 14 2015, 04:56 AM
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Does that mean you'll try it?

See the other thread for a link. You can use the console to check it out on your character, even if you're not Archmage yet.


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mALX
post Feb 14 2015, 12:26 PM
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QUOTE(ghastley @ Feb 13 2015, 10:56 PM) *

Does that mean you'll try it?

See the other thread for a link. You can use the console to check it out on your character, even if you're not Archmage yet.



I always try out your mods, they are a blast!


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ghastley
post Aug 15 2015, 03:29 PM
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So I was getting tired of building homes, and I started a new game with no DLC's and a male Redguard character, which I hadn't done before.

Naturally Kemel Al-Satakalaami (the Nords call him Al) wanted proper Alik'r armour, and I had to make him some.

Alik'r Heavy

This could get cleaned up and released at some point. It's just a helmet and the breastplate and pauldrons from the Steel Plate layered over the Redguard outfit. The gauntlets and boots he's wearing are regular Steel Plate. I made the new parts equivalent to the Steel Plate equivalents, and tempering the same. Not yet craftable, and I don't have a ground mesh for the helmet.

I'm thinking that making the pieces should have a different recipe than the Steel Plate they replace, needing less Steel, maybe with leather/iron taking their places - iron for the mesh on the helm, leather for the body armour.



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SubRosa
post Aug 15 2015, 05:15 PM
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That looks good. Why not use the Blades shield? Those always had an Islamic/Moorish look to them in both Skyrim and Oblivion.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Aug 15 2015, 05:15 PM


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Grits
post Aug 15 2015, 05:20 PM
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ghastley, this looks fantastic! Your recipe ideas make sense to me. Have you released the scimitar design you made? Hint, hint.

I’ve always liked dual-wielding with heavy armor since there’s no blocking, but most heavy armor just looks too clunky. You made the perfect solution.

(BTW, Al looks hot even with his face partly covered up. I had to zoom in and check him out. laugh.gif )


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ghastley
post Aug 15 2015, 06:01 PM
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QUOTE(SubRosa @ Aug 15 2015, 12:15 PM) *

That looks good. Why not use the Blades shield? Those always had an Islamic/Moorish look to them in both Skyrim and Oblivion.

Only because he hasn't got that far in the MQ. He'll take a look at that shield when he encounters one. I don't let him get ahead of the game, so he had to wait until he could smith the Steel Plate before I let him have the Alik'r version. There's also a mod with alternative shields that I may try. No plans for a shield in this mod, as there's enough choice out there already.

Grits: I was considering putting the scimitar in the Alik'r Dancer mod with the white texture, but haven't finished that yet. His housecarl is wearing that, sort of. She has piercings instead of the bra and panties ( ohmy.gif ) which meant that I never got round to texturing those bits. I'll have to do that some time.

Now the scimitar, and making it at the forge, will probably go with this.

Edit: Here's a screenshot of Al and his housecarl Claudia. She replaces Calder in his game. I almost posted this in the Where Am I thread, but I'm not sure I can remember where they are!

Edit again: Al now has a Blades Shield and I like the look, but there's no perk for tempering it, so it's starting to lag behind his other Steel Plate gear. I remade the helmet using the top of the stormcloak/guard one, and I'll post screenshots once I have the female version of everything done.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Aug 17 2015, 04:23 PM


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ghastley
post Aug 20 2015, 06:40 PM
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I was just about to toss this one out for testing, when I remembered that the male meshes were both copies of the weight 100 version. I still need to produce the other end of the scale.

I'll also take the time to consolidate the helmet textures into a single file. Right now, because the mesh is a combination of guard's helmet, redguard hood, and a piece of chainmail, those parts are each pointed at the texture files for the donor parts. I'd prefer to put them all on one map, so there's less to load.

The body is the same, but that's only two, and they're hard to squeeze onto a single map.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Aug 20 2015, 06:40 PM


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Grits
post Aug 20 2015, 10:04 PM
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Oh, I just now saw the screenshot you added with Claudia! Could they have been at Dead Man’s Respite? She looks gorgeous in her white dancer outfit!


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ghastley
post Aug 21 2015, 12:40 AM
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Yes, that's Dead Man's Respite.

She's testing the new armour now.

I'm not sure if the change from a white sash to a red one has anything to do with the moons. biggrin.gif


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Grits
post Aug 21 2015, 02:03 AM
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laugh.gif The armor looks awesome! Thank goodness for Frost Resistance charms. biggrin.gif


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mALX
post Aug 21 2015, 05:26 PM
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QUOTE(ghastley @ Aug 20 2015, 07:40 PM) *

Yes, that's Dead Man's Respite.

She's testing the new armour now.

I'm not sure if the change from a white sash to a red one has anything to do with the moons. biggrin.gif



I LOVE this armor!





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ghastley
post Aug 21 2015, 07:20 PM
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Just got to get a good screenshot of him with the new helmet, plus one of the helmet itself for the wiki-page/icon. Now we've determined where the screenshots are taken, it shouldn't take long.

I spend most of the evening separating the armor mod from Claudia, giving it its own folders, re-pointing the nif's at those, re-pointing the esp at the new location of the meshes, re-making the recipes, because the scimitar stuff was in yet another mod.

Building the documentation is taking almost as long as the mod, too.


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ghastley
post Mar 7 2016, 09:35 PM
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With the Dremora Heathfires mod looking close to completion, I need to re-visit my backlog of half-done mods and see what's ready to move on a bit.

Now I know a bit more about re-using voice files, I may be able to pick out some relevant lines to suit the Bear Riders, but the patrol issues may still be a show-stopper.

The alternate College outfits don't need any dialog, but there's still the issue of getting the Psijic variants. I may have those provided when they collect the Eye, instead of earlier when Quaranir stops time. But that implies a continuation of the quest line, so that the player can eventually get a set of properly enchanted Psijic Robes. I'd need to come up with more things that the Psijics would like the Archmage's help with. My Archmages tend to wear just the Amulet, anyhow. biggrin.gif One benefit of the Psijics is that they're not in Skyrim, and so they can communicate non-vocally, with notes appearing mysteriously in the Archmage's quarters.

Post-TG quests such as re-opening Riftweald Manor might get released as stand-alone mods instead of trying to continue the quest line. The bigger picture would need extra dialog, with voice acting problems ensuing.

Markarth Arena is probably a bit too ambitious, and the mod I want to make (an architectural extension to Markarth where I can run a few extra quests) will not be what the general public expects. I had that problem with Hulk Out! where I made a "transform into a big Orc" mod, and everyone complained that the Incredible Hulk wasn't like that in the comics. Any Arena mod is going to be condemned if it doesn't pit the player against a set of victims, like the Oblivion one, because the word Arena just has too much baggage. I''l just use that for my own games.


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ghastley
post Oct 2 2017, 03:43 PM
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Just adding to my catalogue of unfinished mods:

Smurf Hearthfires: I have the home, the location, the "during growth" models, and some Smurfs. My only idea for a triggering quest required the player to go to Solstheim, which isn't viable until level 20+.

Altmer Hearthfires: To use the Elven furniture I converted for the Markarth Arena mod. I've replaced part of a copy of Orotheim with a crystal cave using the Azura's star pieces, but the transition from gloomy cave sections to over-bright crystal is too much. That may just be because it's empty, and it's all bare crystal in that area. The original cave already had smithing stations, and the missing ones can be added. There's also a cave dining area, so the crystal part is just bedroom. Conversion to BYO could be complex.

Conina and friends: The Ghenghiz Cohen, Rincewind and Nijel the Destroyer characters need to be added somehow as NPC's, maybe replacing housecarl, bard, carriage driver for Lakeview, where the Salon replaces the Entryway. But they'd really need some fun dialogue, which is always an issue, because of voice acting.

Dwemer Bot: Needs a minimal cover-up for Bzuumz, using some more Bikini Armor pieces. And some Hand-to-hand balancing for her as an NPC. I think I have some scripts to avoid her swapping outfit, but a unique race for her may make that moot, as other gear would not apply. Hiring her from Mzthlft will re-use room rental dialogue.

Orc Stronghold Wise Woman: Most of this is done, but I have problems with the scene where she destroys Hervik's cursed mask. It just hangs up and won't finish. The dungeon needs a manual re-work of the nav-mesh, too, which is tedious. Again, it needs dialogue with voice acting, but at least that's for unique characters, not addition topics for existing ones.

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On top of these, the introduction of SKSE64 means I have a backlog of porting to SE. I've done Hulk Out! but haven't uploaded it yet. I'm not sure I want the XBox1 users to start whining that it's not like the comics.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Oct 2 2017, 03:48 PM


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Sakiri
post Nov 2 2018, 10:05 PM
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Here I thought this thread was about constantly redoing your mod list like I'm guilty of. I mod more than I play lol.

I need to check out your mods, man. They look fun.


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mALX
post Nov 2 2018, 11:26 PM
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QUOTE(Sakiri @ Nov 2 2018, 05:05 PM) *

Here I thought this thread was about constantly redoing your mod list like I'm guilty of. I mod more than I play lol.

I need to check out your mods, man. They look fun.


Ghastley's mods are amazing! (and tons of fun!)







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