Why the mystery? Options

[Renee]

I've hit upon what feels to be a rather sensitive area over at Nexus. I hemmed and hawed whether I should bring up this subject at Nexus, Beth, or here. I'm too new to modding to open up the floor at Nexus mods, and I don't know Beth's modding community very well. So now I'm here.

I find it odd, the lack of information some mod authors put on their pages. When I started at this 2 months ago, I was told by a friend "read the Read Me, always read the Read Me page". And the thing is, this is all good and fine as long as there is a Read Me. Many times there isn't one. Many times, there aren't any instructions at all. This seems rather dangerous to me, as a n00b modder.

The issue I've found happened with the Coolsims Hair Pack. The "Read Me" says this..

"This is a resource pack for those who know what to do with this."

That's it. That is all. I found this mod last week and it had the exact hairstyle I wanted. My character was all ready to go, all i needed was hair. So I get into the page and realize there's no esp. Hmm. Plenty of meshes, plenty of textures, but no esp. How do I activate this mod, then?

... I'm sure a lot you already know the answer: create your own esp. But from my perspective, I didn't know this yet. I am new at this. Everybody was new at modding at some point, now it's my turn. The thing that has me baffled is why doesn't the author of this mod (or several other mods out there I've seen) simply place this bit of information up front? Why the mystery?

It's a simple sentence. Instead of the vague, exclusionary phrase "This is a resource pack for those who know what do do with this", why not add "you'll need to use the Construction Kit to make your own esp". Or the author could have made a section called "requirements" and then put the words 'Construction Kit' in this section.

Luckily for me, I'm starting to get the hang of this; I'm getting good at figuring stuff out on my own without bothering any of y'all. I realized there's a second Coolsims page made by a different mod creator which only includes an esp. This mod leaves the following information:

"Lots of people complain about the mod because it not work.. it'll solved with this esp
This mod still require Coolsims Hair Pack."

The author of the esp isn't very good with English as we can see, but he or she still manages to make it sound like all you'll need to do is unzip this esp, place it in the Data folder, and you're done. Not so. When l unzipped the esp, I wound up with a file called Coolsims627.esp. I installed this and at first I could see (during character creation) that the game is trying to put some hairstyles in my game, but they weren't showing up. I threw a question up in my Crisis thread, but before I started using the instructions SubRosa gave me, I decided to see what would happen if I renamed the esp. Revmoed the 627 so it's now called Coolsims.esp and voila! The mod works.

There it is again. Why the mystery? Why wouldn't the author of the esp simply say "you'll need to rename the esp once it's installed in your Data folder." It really is that simple. It boggles me. If I ever get confident enough to make my own mods (and also publish them) you can bet my ReadMes will be incredibly detailed. Step by step. There will be no half-baked blueprints. I mean, c'mon.

Is it because some modders think they are 'too cool' for us n00bs? Is it because they only want to see their creations being used by those who they consider to be within their circle of friends? Why publish the mod publicly, then?

I open the floor for discussion. Thank you.

This post has been edited by Renee Gade IV: Mar 25 2014, 04:42 PM

[haute ecole rider]

Renee, wigs are like clothing, so they aren't technically part of your character the way the body or face mods are. For that reason when I found Apachii's Wigs, I liked it so much that I never got into downloading custom hairs for my games. It hasn't conflicted with either the vanilla hair or the hairs installed by Cobl Races (which I'm not using in this current install). I've noticed that some of the wigs are identical to some of the Coolsims hairs, and I think the same authors collaborated on both mods.

I hear you about the absence of consistent information/directions for many of the mods on the Nexus (and elsewhere). One thing I've learned, if you're having difficulty installing a mod or getting it to work, especially the ones that have been out for a while, you can sometimes find the answers by reading the comments in the posts. Or the mod author will post a link to another forum where you can find the answers you seek.

I think it's worth while studying a few of the tutorials on offer for Wrye Bash - it helps you understand how mods work and why some mods don't get along well with some other mods. For example, I've completed remodeling Gweden Farm's interiors for Julian, and am looking forward to taking her there to get her approval. It's a little bit bare, but that's because I want her to have room for the books she is collecting (yes, she's a bookworm, like me. Just finds it hard to read until she realizes she needs glasses. ) I think I may add a few trunks for the weapons and armor she has "earned" or been "rewarded" through the MQ but will likely never use (like the Champion armor, or the Kvatch cuirass and shield which have been retired).

[Renee]

Sorry h.e.r., didn't see that you posted in this thread til now.

I hear you about the absence of consistent information/directions for many of the mods on the Nexus (and elsewhere). One thing I've learned, if you're having difficulty installing a mod or getting it to work, especially the ones that have been out for a while, you can sometimes find the answers by reading the comments in the posts. Or the mod author will post a link to another forum where you can find the answers you seek.

Yup yup, I've been doing this. I've hit a few walls but then have found the answer by reading posts.

I think it's worth while studying a few of the tutorials on offer for Wrye Bash - it helps you understand how mods work and why some mods don't get along well with some other mods.

I do plan on learing Bash eventually. Due to my impatience to get some mods (after literally years of vanilla), I've been messing mostly with OBMM, but I think I will someday really need Bash for some reason.

At present, I've 'only' got about 35 mods, give or take. Each one of my characters uses a few mods different from the others, so if I switch from one to the next, this means I also have to sit there and activate or deactivate a small list of things. Eventually (of course) I'll wind up with 40 ... 50 ... maybe even more mods. I can't really forsee what these will be at present, but I WILL be adding to the list. So Bash will eventually be a good idea, as well as the Construction Kit (of course).