Making mods

[Drake the Dragonheart]

So I am looking at maybe getting into making mods for Skyrim.

What are some good mod-making tools?

I know there is the creation kit.

I am mostly looking to add on to mods I already have or work with what's already there. I figure retexturing and altering a few stats would be easier than to make an entirely new item.

Just some examples, there is clipping issues with a number of helmets
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/7084/? I want to apply this fix to some of the other helms, such as ancient nord, elven, glass, dragonscale, and
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24941/? the ancient nord and dragonplate style helms added by this mod also have the beast race clipping issues. Also I think the author intended for this to be the strongest or very close to the strongest armor, but the gloves and boots are the same as standard dragonplate and the helms are actually 3 points lower than their standard counterpart. How would I go about adjusting the values?

The other thing I wanted to do is add weapons completing/complementing these sets
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73007/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/17594/? thinking mostly adjust numbers on and retexture ebony weapons with a white coloration to complete the set.
and a full complement of weapons to go with
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71552/? since it is steel plate retextured with the ebony coloration, seems like the simplest route would be to apply the same to the steel weapons/shield.

 

[chrissx2]

For retexturing/altering items you'll need some 2d/3d packages like Photoshop/Gimp(for 2D) or 3dmax/Maya/Blender(for 3D). I know nothing about creation kit, so i can't help you with the stats editing.

 

[Joccaren]

Just some examples, there is clipping issues with a number of helmets
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/7084/? I want to apply this fix to some of the other helms, such as ancient nord, elven, glass, dragonscale, and

You will need a 3D modelling program like 3DS MAX, Blender, or Maya. You will also need to learn how to use these programs and do the 3D modelling side of it if you don't already, at least enough to modify the original items.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/24941/? the ancient nord and dragonplate style helms added by this mod also have the beast race clipping issues. Also I think the author intended for this to be the strongest or very close to the strongest armor, but the gloves and boots are the same as standard dragonplate and the helms are actually 3 points lower than their standard counterpart. How would I go about adjusting the values?

Clipping, again, 3D modelling. For the stats, that is dealt with in the creation kit. Been a while since I've looked at it, but you'll want to include that mod's library as a library for your mod, find the items in the creation kit, and alter their properties and stats there, which is where this info should be contained.

The other thing I wanted to do is add weapons completing/complementing these sets
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/73007/?
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/17594/? thinking mostly adjust numbers on and retexture ebony weapons with a white coloration to complete the set.

You'll need Photoshop/Gimp to apply a colour filter over the original texture, which shouldn't be too hard TBH. Adjusting weapons stats is the same as armour; done in the creation kit.

and a full complement of weapons to go with
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71552/? since it is steel plate retextured with the ebony coloration, seems like the simplest route would be to apply the same to the steel weapons/shield.

Same as above. Retexturing is Photoshop/Gimp, stats dealt with in creation kit.

When doing retexturing/remodelling, make sure you export the files into the correct format for Skyrim, and there may also be naming conventions to follow as well - I'm not 100% sure there. Since you're just modifying existing models and textures, this should be easier to do as you'll be able to see the file's format when you open it to edit, and its name, and can just export to the same name and format, replacing the old file. Note; don't change the base Skyrim game files in the Skyrim game folder, use the mod to do this instead.

 

[Jamash]

For the armour, if you simply want strong armour that already exists in some form in the game (or has been added to the game), you can use the console commands to spawn and custom enchant any item with any 2 enchantments of you choice:

playerenchantobject item code enchantment code enchantment code

For example, the command

playerenchantobject 00086983 000424e2 000424e2

would spawn a set of the cool looking spiked Stormcloak Officer gauntlets with a pair of Fortify Unarmed enchantments that would give a +100 x 2 to your Unarmed Combat skill (assuming your enchantment skill is 100) and allow you to kill anything with your fists and instantly trigger unarmed kill-cam moves on most enemies (suplexing and choke slamming enemies never gets old).

So you could custom enchant a good looking piece of armour (even a ring or necklace) with the Fortify Heavy/Light Armour Skill enchantments that would instantly boost your armour rating to the armour cap and allow you to solely focus on cosmetics for every other piece of armour.

All the relevant item codes and enchantment codes can be found on this website http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page on their relevant pages, but for external items that you've added via a mod, you'll need to look it up via the console to find its item code (as it won't be the same for everyone depending on how many mods you have installed and the load order), but the relevant console commands for looking up items can also be found on UESP.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

To alter armour parts like helmets, you need to be able to alter the meshes. This is called 3D modelling and you can use NIFSkope, Maya, 3DStudio Max and Blender. NIFSkope is a free and popular tool used by Skyrim modders. I used it myself a couple of times and I'm no expert.

For textures, I'm no expert here. There is a DDS plugin for Adobe Photoshop that will allow DDS files that the game uses to be opened and manipulated. You can do basic things like playing with Alpha layers and colouring and more complicated things too. Modifying textures and meshes are not the easiest thing to pick up but you can find many resources online. GIMP has also been suggested and is a free alternative.

For making actual mods, the Creation Kit is the best bet. It allows you to alter in-game values, change one model for another and everything else. My mods all needed the creation kit to work, mostly because they rely on scripts to function. You can find all spell effects, perk bonuses, weapon and armour values and NPC dialogue. Looking at an Iron Breastplate, you can see how it has all its stats (weight, armour value, gold value, what races can wear it, can it be upgraded, is it a quest item, etc), the model it uses for males, females, humanoids/khajit/argonians and more.

I suggest looking at a couple of items in the creation kit to get a feel for how everything works. Look at a couple of armours/weapons, find spells, look for some NPCs, examine the perks. Most importantly, have a good, solid idea for your mod and its scope. It needs to be a firm idea, with goals you can aim for. Start with a simple idea since at first, it will be a long process as you learn how to achieve it. After you've learned the process for altering a texture or model, it will be easier the next time.