There are pinned versions of words to this effect up at most forums, but the persistence of certain types of threads and mods seems to indicate nobody is reading them. This means there's not really much point in my making another one. My main intention here is to amuse those who are possessed of a constant desire to seize the attempted modder by the throat and scream "READ THE PINNED THREADS!"

I should add, by the way, that I've been modding for two years now (mainly models and textures), so this is not an instance of "Do as I say, not as I do."

Herewith, Things to Consider Before You Make a Mod:

1. Much as this may shock you, Oblivion is played by females of your species, serious roleplayers, and many others who do not play exclusively white human male characters. Thus, when creating companions and/or quests, do not have the dialogue assume that the player character is human, male, and romantically interested in females. This becomes very annoying when the player is, for example, female and undead, or roleplaying a demon custom race that thinks human chicks are ugly.

2. There are enough big castles now. New towns and arenas are also not in particularly short supply at the moment.

3. The glowing blue portal from the Peryite Shrine quest is now so common in mods that the average mod user cannot turn a corner without tripping over one. Consider using something else.

4. If you can't make custom content because "the tutorials are too hard," don't expect other people to do so. Cries of "I need ten modelers to join my huge total conversion because I don't know how!" are likely to net you either a. nothing or b.more people at your own experience level.

5. While I personally feel it is not possible to have too many new weapons, there is now no shortage of custom sword meshes out there. Consider making other weapon types as well. Bow and axe lovers will thank you.

6. It is now possible to obtain every conceivable skin color of girly elf with or without droopy anime ears. Similarly, cat girls of varying quality levels are now available to suit a wide variety of preferences. Trust me on this.

7. Color-tweak retextures are not a bad start into modding, especially as a way to learn your 2D program and the CS. Please consider whether such a thing has already been done before you make another suit of dark steel armor, however.

8. See previous remarks in re:many types of players and recall, when making armor, that it is nice for it to be wearable by male AND female characters.

9. Work with whatever body meshes you want. Let others do the same without criticizing their choice.

10. Know what you're getting into. Modding is hard and it takes a lot of time. Invest or move on.

Thanks SickleYield. I agree with this post. Modding is hard work and if you think that some/any aspect of modding is too hard to learn then you have already decided that you can't do it. Don't expect anyone to join you on a huge mod if you yourself aren't willing to do most of the work and learning.

Very Nice! SickleYield... You speak the Truth!
Thanks for laying these points out for all to see.

I agree on all points except number 2. Although there are plenty of them around, there aren't many that are very well done, and have quests involved with them. These sorts of mods also end up being rather useful for getting people familiar with working with larger projects. Think of it as an expansion of the "house mod" concept. There were already too many house mods being made 2 years ago, yet it is still suggested as a first worldbuilding project simply because of the number of different areas someone needs to be familiar with to make one. The only alternative I could see to this would be joining one of those large mods, and helping them make towns and such... But very few people are willing to do that when they can make their own small town, castle, and not have to make it any more complex than NPCs with wander packages. So yeah, although I would literally be willing to sell a minor organ to get a half dozen capable people helping with filling out a new worldspace, I still see the value in people doing their own projects as a means of learning, or being impressed with their own ability, even if there is no more space open in Tamriel where such things can be placed without conflicting with other things.

And yeah... Axes, maces, clubs, even daggers, or staff meshes would certainly be appreciated. There are too many freaking swords out there.

There's an old saying about advice - The Wise don't need it, and Fools won't heed it.
Here's hoping that at least one or two 'Fools' will at least Read it, and maybe grow wise in the process.

ok,I read it...anyone want to join me for a huge mod undertaking?

All kidding aside,nice article and indeed,many good points.

I agree with every single point.

Dont know if this is the correct place to request this but...

Im currently working on HUGE city mod complete with Arena. The Arena will have completely naked Cute female Elves battling to the death. Only problem is.. I dont own Oblivion, or know how to install a mod. Can 100 or so modders waste their time helping me out only for me to then give up a week later?

Thanks in advance.

Wrong place to post?



Seriously tho, not a modder myself but good points worth listening to.

I'm in!!!!!

He actually enlightened me, never knew that the peryite portal was so over-used - and it doesn't make much of a difference if it's retextured too >_>

Will replace it with something more 'original' for my mod (which is coming very soon to a TesNexus near you)


Hehe, they always ask for the impossible without giving anything themselves. I've seen far too many [WIP/Req] total conversion threads than actual releases..

Heh heh... Midas...

I thought stuff like that was generally done by the more experienced modders... I've seen a couple of *requests* for moderately different elves, but I haven't actually seen any new elf/catgirl mods about since the niche filled.

I know the Peryite portal is used a lot, but for a new modder, it strikes me as the most practical thing. The alternatives for a magic portal seem to be a TrigZone that teleports the player or new models and textures.

bah... swords rock noone needs axes just orcs and noone plays orcs... swords ftw!! you wont stop me!!
no seriously you guys want axes and such stuff? i man bows ok but these ugly blunts are a waste of scenic views... well orcs with an axe prolly give a damn about looks though and would prolly even mate with a toad thinking its one of them...

Jaysus, a big sword (with an aura of perpetual faggotry +5) does get boring eventually. We need more swords AND axes, for the big hairy bearded men who for no reason scream battlecries in their sleep.

such people need to be locked away not given axes lol

Right, I'll help you with that, lemme cal the ambulance .

Nicely said SickleYeld.
Hmm...in my first mod that I created (never uploaded),after viewing several tutorials, I actually used "The glowing blue portal from the Peryite Shrine"
-anyway...it was a good mod for learning scripting and using the CS editor//but enough advertising


Thanks for posting this article ,that also made me remember my first steps in modding

@Vagrant: I'm not saying we don't need more well done large quests with new areas. I don't even think there are too many house mods (or enough). It's just that the number of people who can figure out the basics of the CS greatly exceeds the number who can come up with either a new way to use the old components or new meshes and textures to replace them.

@Jaysus: I think you've used the word "orcs" enough now, thanks. About half my characters use blunt weapons instead of blades, including a goat girl, a lich, a female undead, and a tarantula person (all custom races by me, all females). And blunt weapons do not have to be ugly - the Morrigan Equipment, for example, has some simply gorgeous axes, and FCOM has some very nice-looking blunts. Not only that, but many people whose characters have blade as a major skill will be using bows and blunts in order to level minor skills and boost stats.

And for those needing a new magic portal: I'm on a furniture WIP right now; maybe I can come up with some new particled doors for folks to use. I don't promise ten separately animating pieces like the Peryite portal. I'm only just learning to use the massive hierarchy setups like that and my animations still tend to be pretty simple.

All probably pretty true, except for point 6 regarding cat girls. Whatever amount there may be, but that genre just isn't complete until some facegen artist provides Natassja Kinski.

http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff31/Ti...ssja-kinski.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1300075264/tt0083722"

*scnr*

(and no, that has nothing to do with my nick, how dare you? )

Personally, I don't like magic portals or load doors even though the doors are a necessary evil. Swords are alright but I couldn't play without my bow. Marksman and armorer are the first skills I master

you play a "goat girl"? then you need no axe but sheers...

Sounds like a Draenei to me. Wouldn't mind getting that as a custom race, myself.

Rest assured that at least one read it.

I'm a long-time wannabe who actually learned to program years ago, even made some games with friends (Rampage clone, shmups, even a couple 3d, etc. for class) But I fell out of it, and haven't programmed seriously for years. Now i'm looking to get back into games, and I'm running through the gamut of options, and the thought of doing an Oblivion mod is admittedly fun one. At the very least it would be fun to crack open some modeling. I <3 a good axe.

/edit: And, for what it's worth, I'm happy to see Oblivion modding isn't devoid of interested parties.

While that may be true, it's still better that people learn to use the CS doing those sorts of unoriginal things in different ways than assuming that everything worthwhile has already been done and not learning anything. Yes, helping out a large project by working on their towns, which may have more unique elements would be a better alternative for those who want to learn, but do not have the ability to make meshes themselves, but there just aren't many people who seem to be willing to do so. Just like anything else, there will always be a disparity between those who are capable of doing something unique, and those who do not. However, just like Birthday clowns, hack comedians, emo quazi-poetic types, and cover bands, they have their place... However unfortunate.

You can't learn how to do something really well if you don't work on more basic versions first... That's really the ultimate trick to modding.