Renee's Modding Thread Options

[Renee]

Mod-making thread basically, which focuses heavily on quest-making. The first two tutorials (How to make a fetch quest and how to make a kill quest) are very hand-holdy. They are designed for those who are just starting to learn the art of quest-making. Other tutorials get more advanced, as my wacky ideas have pushed their boundaries.

Just click on any of the links in the post below this one.


Bethesda Units. (How distance compares in-game to real-life).

Xpadder Walkthrough page. Xpadder is a site which allows gaming controllers to mimic the key & mouse functions. Xpadder, or similar programs such as Joy to Keys, are absolutely crucial to get the most out of older games such as Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion, for those who prefer controllers. They can also be used for newer games (Fallout 3/NV or Skyrim) to provide alternate controlling scenarios during times when a game's native D-pad arrangement needs to be shut off.




This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 16 2024, 06:27 PM

[Renee]

Skyrim Quest Tutorial (WORK IN PROGRESS, do not follow this one!)

So this one is sort of like an introduction to Skyrim quest-making. It rambles a lot, it's not very focused, but itintroduces a bunch of basic concepts, and shows how to use a lot features in the Quest windows. Because making quests in the Creation Kit is waaaaaaaaaay different sometimes than making quests in earlier programs. I wrote all this last year, so for me this is a refresher course, because I don't play Skyrim year-round, so I forgot a lot of stuff.

At the moment, I'm wanting to make a simple quest which gives Sir Vyvoor a horse, which will take place in Whiterun. I know he can just pay 1000 gold and buy one, but wouldn't it make sense that the Dragonborn, which is what Vyvoor is, should just get a free horse? I mean, c'mon.

Quests can vary wildly of course. In this one, I already know I'm going to need a note, a horse, and a new NPC. The note is what begins the quest, and the NPC is going to be who my character speaks to. Pretend I am making a note and an NPC therefore. I won't write it all up. Basic notes are pretty much the same as from previous games, they can be edited from premade examples, then placed somewhere in the world. NPCs however, are best started from scratch, especially if this NPC is going to participate only with our quests.

How to make a note and an NPC are described in posts above this one, and the horse will get discussed at the end of this post.


1a). Open Creation Kit. File > Data > open the mod you want, if you're already working on something. If you're not, just double right-click on Skyrim.esm.


2). Object window > Character > Quests. All those yellow icons in the right window pane are quests. Right-click > New into this window.

3). Give the quest a unique ID name, and Quest name. Priority is good at 60 for this tutorial, though it will vary in the future, for some other quests you might write.

4). Next to ID is a function called 'Type,' which is a scroll-bar. In most cases, we can just choose Side Quests or Miscellaneous. Miscellaneous quests will go into that bottom section of the Current Quests window once we're back in-game, and this is the place for lots of easy things to do, like Fetch or Kills. For this one I am choosing Side Quest.

*Note: to make an NPC who one-lines us with forcegreets (and that is all, this NPC cannot be spoken to more thoroughly) leave the scroll-bar at None. ...

5). Object Window Filter: leave this slot blank.

6). Event is another scroll down. We can leave this on NONE for now.

7). Toggle Start Game Enabled on if it's not already on, leave other toggles blank. In some cases, toggle Run Once on too, if it's not already toggled.

8). In the Quest Dialog Conditions window, select New, then GetIsPlayableRace == 1.00

9). Close the Quest page by clicking OK. This will allow more tabs on the very top of the page. Once it is closed, SAVE all work. Now re-open the quest.


10a). QUEST STAGES tab
In the Index window, make stages 0, 5, 10, and 20, 50, and 100. Always leave some space between these numbers (don't put 1, 2, 3, 4.... etc.). This way, if you need to add more stages later on, you can put them easily between the ones you've already go.

Stage 0: Left-click on 0. Right-click into the top Log Entry window and do nothing else. It'll say EMPTY. Leave it just like that. Toggle Start-Up Stage on.

Stage 5: Enter an initial Log Entry for 5 (or whatever you put first) by right-clicking > New into the Log Entry window, and then type the first update into the Log Entry box below. Unlike the GECK, whatever we write into the Log Entry box is going to show in-game. In the Papyrus Fragment box, type SetObjectiveDisplayed (5)

The way this quest is going to work, the player finds the note written at the start of this quest. This note is what bumps the quest from 0 to 5. The lesson on how to do this is in the post above this one, so go follow those instructions (if this hasn't been done yet), then come back here.

So two stages are written so far. I will come back to this tab later.

DIALOGUE VIEWS and PLAYER DIALOGUE tabs
In that note, I wrote some dialog explaining who left the note, and to come see her. Again, this is Stage 5. When the player finds whoever left that note, my character will have a conversation with her.

Unlike the Construction Set and older versions of the GECK, in the Creation Kit there are two ways to structure dialog: the Dialog Views tab and Player Dialogue tab. Dialog Views introduces a very visual layout to see dialog (and how it can branch in different directions) as we're adding it. The Player Dialogue tab is a more old-fashioned way to lay out text, though it's also not laid out the same way as in the CS and GECK. Either tab can be used, whichever the modder feels more comfortable with.

11a) Let's start with the more-visual Dialogue Views windows. In the vertical left Editor ID window, right-click > New, then type aaaQuestNameDialogIntro. "Quest Name" can be whatever ID name was chosen in the Quest Data tab. Click OK. Now highlight that text in the Editor ID window, by left-clicking on it once.

11b). In the larger, blank window, right-click > Create Branch. Give the ID for this Branch name like aaaQuestNameStartBranch. Click OK. The CK will automatically add the word "Topic" after this.

11c). Click OK again. A yellow box should *POP* up in the larger window. If it doesn't, just click on another tab (such as Quest Data), return to the Dialog Views tab, highlight the topic name (aaaQuestNameDialogIntro) in the Editor ID window, and the yellow box should show up in the larger right window.

Note: Though I am teaching how to do this in the more-visual Dialogue Views page, keep an eye on what's happening in Player Dialogue as well, just in case you're more comfortable using this page. I actually prefer the older way of doing this, but for this very reason that's why I'm reminding myself how D. Views works.

11d). Double-click in the grey area inside the yellow box. Wait for it. Now a Topic page should open.

11e). The Subtype scroll-bar should stay as Custom, though in the future it is also make this dialog topic into a ForceGreet or Rumor.

11f). "Do all before repeating" is a toggle which works similar to the "Random" toggle in the CS; i.e. the NPC who says this stuff will say something different every time we click on their topic. Since I am writing a one-time quest which gives my toon a horse, I'm not toggling this on.

11g). Topic Text is similar to what is in the CS as well. This is what we can click on as we speak to this NPC in-game. Priority can be left at 50.

11h). Double-click in the large Info window so that a New Response page pops up. The Response Text is what the NPC will say when we click on that topic.

11ii). Script Notes is sort of like a "notes to self" sort of area, which has nothing to do with in-game stuff at all.

11j). Idle Animations has a scroll bar for Speaker and Listener. And this will cause the NPC or PC to do certain things (such as gesture, clap hands, etc.) when dialog is being spoken. In most cases, both of these can be left at NONE.

11k). Give the NPC an Emotion and Emotion value, and click OK. A larger Topic Info page now pops onscreen.

11l). Prompt was first used in the GECK, and now we've got it in the CK. It is an overwrite feature, which will replace the Topic Text above it. Prompt will railroad the player into a specific discussion, so if you choose to add a Prompt into dialog, you won't see Rumors or any other choices at this moment, once you're back in-game.

Again, those who are familiar with Prompts in the GECK already know how it's possible to use the same topic over and over again, merely writing up new prompts for the player to click on, instead.

11m). We can see the Response Text we added a moment ago, and we can add more Responses by right-clicking > New into this long horizontal window.

11n). Conditions is similar to the CS. GetIsId is the default condition for this small page, which makes things SO convenient, since GetIsID is the most common condition. We can also put GetStage and other typical functions for this area.

Now comes the weird part. To make the dialog show up onscreen once we're back in-game, a Sound File must be made for the dialog which was just typed, otherwise the text will remain onscreen for literally a millisecond. Now, this sound file does NOT need to have any actual sound, that's the good thing.

11o). Double left-click on the first Response Text which was just typed up, so the Edit Response panel pops up. There should be a Voice Type listed in the bottom window which corresponds to the NPC who says this dialog (MaleNord, for instance). If there isn't anything in this window, you'll need to go back to the NPC and make sure an appropriate Voice Type is chosen.

11p). Highlight this Voice Type. Now click the Record button. If you have a microphone, you can record your voice if you feel confident, but this is not 100% necessary. It is possible to just record silence. But there MUST be an appropriate amount of silence (while reading the text) so that the actor's mouth moves for an appropriate amount of time. In other words, if there's no actual dialog, press the Record button, then count to ten or whatever. Click Done.

11q). Click again on the VoiceType (MaleNord or whatever), and click the Save button. If a warning shows up saying this file already exists, it's because there is already a MaleNord (or whatever) file saved. Ignore the warning.

11r). If some actual voice was recorded, highlight the same Voice Type text, and click the Preview button to have a listen how awesome, or silly that voice sounds.

11s). Toggle the From WAV ON, and press Generate Lip File. Click OK.

11t). Toggle Has LIP File off, but Force Subtitle on.

11u) In Scripts End box, type GetOwningQuest().SetStage (10)


12). Click OK, OK, and OK, closing out all the quest windows, just to make sure everything is saved. SAVE. Reopen the Quest.


13a). DIALOG VIEWS tab:
Left-click the top of the EditorID name` (the top-yellow part of the box), and right-click > Add Topic. When the Topic page opens, the ID can be QuestNameYes if we want to make a Yes/No scenario. Add some text in the Topic Text slot, too. Since my character just got info about attaining a free horse, this'll say "You are giving me a horse?"

Tip: Once you're back in the Dialog Views tab, it's possible to click on the 'Show all text' toggle at the bottom of the panel if you want to see all the text typed up so far.

13b). Click OK. Again, the New Response panel *POPS* up. Write some Response Text that the NPC will say. "Oh yes, you've done many great things for us..." etc.

Follow all the steps from 13j to 14 for all dialog, to make sure recordings are made, even if they're silent.

13c): Back on the Dialogue Views tab, left-click into the first batch of NPC text. The cursor changes to a hand. Now, drag this hand over to the topic which follows the initial one. We can see how the conversation will flow now, right?

Have a look now in the Player Dialogue tab, at the initial topic. Note that in the Link To window (which is center-right) this initial topic ("Are you the one who left that note?") has been linked up to the topic which follows ("You are giving me a free horse?"). If you're not using the Dialogue Views tab, topics can still be linked manually by right-clicking into the Link To window, clicking Add Link and find the topic which follows. By doing all this, we do not need to make the quest SetStage as often as was needed in the CS and earlier GECK versions.

Click OK and OK, closing quest windows. Save.


Time to go backwards for a moment. I'm going to add an onscreen update into the game now, so that when the player finds the note, a message will flash onscreen.

14a). Quest Objectives tab
The Quest Objectives page works in a similar manner to the GECK. Right-click > New into the top horizontal window.

14b). Type the number 5 into the Index slot. And type some text into the Display Text slot. Whatever gets typed in there will be the onscreen update (and will show in the quest journal as well).

14c). Go into the Quest Stages tab, and select Stage 5. In the Papyrus Fragments box, type SetObjectiveDisplayed (5).

14d). Since dialog already bumps the quest up to Stage 10, let's go ahead and take care of 10. Right-click > New into the top Log Entry window, and type an update into the Log Entry box below it.

14e). In the Papyrus Fragments box, type SetObjectiveCompleted (5), and then SetObjectiveDisplayed (10). Go back into the Quest Objectives tab and type make and objective for Stage 10.

Click OK, and save. Reopen the quest window, with the Quest Stages tab showing.

Now comes the part that's really different. Once the player speaks to the quest-giver, she's going to ask for "tacking fees" of 150 gold before the horse becomes ours. So this horse is not really free. Plot-twist. In the CS and older GECK, all that was needed was to use a GetGold condition so the game could see if we've got enough to afford these fees. But getting the game to see our gold is now more complicated than it was.

14f). Select Stage 100, which is the final stage, so toggle Shut Down Stage on. Click the Properities button (this is right under the Papyrus Fragment scripting area).

14g). Click the Add Property button. For the Type scroll-bar, look for MiscObject. In the Name slot, type Gold001. Click OK, and click OK.

14h) In the Papyrus Fragment box, type Game.GetPlayer().RemoveItem (Gold001, X) , with "X" being whatever you think is fair. Also type...

SetObjectiveCompleted (10)
stop()

..........That is it! "Stop()" is what shuts down the quest. Now, to make sure the horse becomes ours.

15. OBJECT window > Actors
Type EncHorse into the Filter, and duplicate one of the horses which show up. Note that there are saddled and unsaddled versions to choose from.

Put into world somewhere (near a stable, usually). Give horse Ref ID. Click the horse's Ownership tab and make this horse belong to the NPC added earlier, the one who's giving all the dialog so far. Make sure the horse stays onscreen.

16a). QUEST window > Quest Aliases tab
Time to add some aliases to this quest. This is one of the huge differences between the Construction set and Creation Kit: we can create references to objects much more specifically in this latter program. References are going to be made for the player, gold, the horse, and the quest-giver. These references will make more sense later.

16b. Right-click > New Reference Alias. After the Reference Alias panel pops up, fill in the Alias Name slot with the word "Player" (without quotes, of course). Toggle Unique Actor on, and find Player in the scroll-bar. Click OK.

Note: Chances are the OK button for the Reference Alias panel will be off-screen. If so, single left-click on the Alias Name (so a cursor appears next to the name you typed earlier, which should be Player) and press Enter. This should close the panel, saving everything just added to it.

16c). Do all the steps in 16b, but this time type Gold into the Alias Name. Toggle Create Reference to Object on, find Gold001 in the scroll-bar, and leave everything else as-is. The entire string of information should be "Create Reference to Object: Gold001, Level: Easy, Create: at Player. Close the panel, again using the method from 16a, if the OK button is not onscreen.

16d. Follow all steps from 16b again, this time type Horse into the Alias Name slot. Toggle the Specific Reference on, click the Select Forced Reference button, then click the Select Reference in Reference Window button. Double left-click on the horse, and click OK. Close the panel.

16e). Last one. Follow 16b again, but this time, type QuestGiver into the Alias Name slot. Toggle the Unique Actor on, and find the NPC who speaks to us during the quest. Close the panel. Click OK. save.


17a). DIALOGUE VIEWS or PLAYER DIALOGUE tab
Whichever is preferred. Go back to the last bit of dialog added, which is "You are giving me a free horse?" Add a GetIsId and GetStage into the Conditions window. The stage so far is 10.

17b). In the Scripts: End box, type GetOwningQuest().SetStage (20). Click Ok, but leave the Quest window open.

17c). From here on, I'm going to be working in the Player Dialogue tab. Right-click > New into the gigantic window on the right, and type some text. "Well it's not exactly free. We'll need to charge some tacking fees..."

17d). Now, notice in the Topic Text slot, the same text from the first entry ("You are giving me a free horse?") is still in this slot. Do not change this. Instead, type something into the Prompt slot. "You want to charge me for this horse? How much, then?" All of this is similar to the way the GECK from earlier Fallout games works. We can keep the same topic going, substituting different prompts for the player to click on as the conversation commences.

17d). Follow steps 11j through 11t to add voice or silence, animations, facial emotions, etc.

17e).. GetIsID and GetStage can be pasted from the previous bit of dialog, but change the GetStage to 20. Now, if the player backs out of conversation early, he or she won't have to go through all that text about a horse being offered again.

17f). TBC

This post has been edited by Renee: Mar 4 2024, 06:13 PM