Modding 101: The Basics, Modeling Programs & Textures
Sep. 17, 2016Iwas recently sparked by a question on theFextralife forumsof “How do modders do it?” when it comes to creating mods for video games, and not the kinds of modifications that hack and cheat, but the vibrant mods that games likeFallout 4,The Witcher 3andDragon Age: Inquisitionreceive. These types of mods have spawned thriving communities and their actions are increasingly being supported by the game developers themselves. As there is growing interest in the activity, I decided to put together a little guide and basic information tutorial on modding and how modders do their thing.
What is Modding?
“Modding” is short for “player made modification of a game file(s).”
A mesh is a specific item that is displayed in game that has two functions: static or moveable. A static item is a box or a tree or even a mountain, but a moveable is a character or animal. In order for meshes to “feel” solid in game they are given what is called a “collision” box. This “box” can be any shape, but the point is to make sure there is a contact with the environment to feel realistic. If you ever wonder why you walk through a person at times it is because the model does not have a collision box, or it is too small. In some video games we hear the term “hit box” which is really just a term for “collision.” Some models require bigger boxes, so the bigger they are, the more area there is to connect with.
Textures are your basic graphic, it shows your eyeball what you should see and what colour. Within the textures are several subgroups.
Also called FX or VFX, these are what make a fireball explode or a iceball freeze. They are usually moving bits of textures that are placed inside the game to give a realistic feel.
Next we will discuss modeling programs and good choices to look for.
Many 3D modeling programs do not have baked-in collision boxes or moving pieces. Basic meshes are usually imported to a second program for that, such as Nifskope for Skyrim and Fallout. Before beginning any modding project make sure you have the other programs necessary.
Next, we will discuss textures and all of their glorious nuances. There are 2 primary programs for texture work and they are as follows:
So which to use? If you have Photoshop already, that works. If you are just starting you will want to download Gimp unless you feel like paying for a Photoshop license. Photoshop is a tool for professionals and Gimp is for everything else. Many tutorials for one can be applied to the other, although shortcuts will be different so expect a learning curve.
A UV map is how a game projects a 2D image onto a 3 modeling surface. Look at this example:
The Diffuse texture is just a flat 2D image of the world. When added to the 3D sphere model it looks like a real globe.
That is the image file of a man’s head for Mass Effect 3. The image gets wrapped around the head model.
Here is a picture of one of the cupboards I did for Skyrim
See how the checkers all look nice and even? On left hand side you can see how the image will fit on the cupboard. The green lines are the seams and shows where the lines will meet up.
You can also see in this picture how armour will fit onto the body once it is imported into the game.
Most textures for games are saved in a DDS format. NVidia has a DDS tools. This is installed with your Photoshop or Gimp so you can view and manipulate the file. REMEMBER: You should always select “MIPS” when exporting unless otherwise stated in a tutorial. MIPS are used by the game engine for when an object is resized. Failure to do this will result in…well, shenangians. This tool also allows you to export Normal Maps.
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Tarshana
Not just a gamer, but also a modder. I cook like a mad scientist and read books like they are candy.
Variety in furniture and stuff is actually really important: what actually killed my stupidly ambitious expanded castles mod for Oblivion was “clutter fatigue”, and a major part of that was just seeing the same old stuff over and over again, even though Oblivion actually had a reasonably diverse selection of furniture and random tat.
I’ve seldom uploaded much of my stuff, partly I’m too timid, I’m too lazy, and I object too much when it’s inevitably stolen by someone else. Most of it is just accoutrements like shoes, jewellery and hairdos anyway, but I occasionally go on for full-on pointless like this pink vault suit with ridiculously impractical shoes. Blame Namira and her pink obsession for that one!
Pink vault suit
Edit: turns out including an inline image was a really bad idea: there goes this month’s bandwidth allowance. 😮
I think it was the sheer volume of things to choose from that was a big part of the problem! That, and I’m quite slow to grasp the basics: once I get going I generally do okay but those first steps can find me faltering.
I’ve never worked with Max3DS: isn’t that the one that requires parting with actual money? Whether it was that or something else I looked at a while back, it was commercial and required a sacrifice of quite alotof money at that. So while Blender may be, erm, “contrary” and not have as much support for certain things, I think I’ll be sticking with it…
I never did much with armour models, but I did recolour some of the in-game textures. Armour is a pain because of the bone structure to make sure it moves right in game, but I worked with statics.. it is not hard to make a box xD But yes, Skyrim has its own depth but I really love working with Max3DS. As for the Sims, I have done a few things with milkshape but not much. There are already thousands of player free mods out there
Yes I believe you were
didn’t I ask you that question?
Nice introduction to the subject. Modding kinda looks big and scary and has a steep learning curve… when you need to figure stuff out for yourself. This article is a handy step on the way to not end up having to wonder “is this actually possible?” and concluding “this is impossible.”
I must admit I found Skyrim particularly tedious to make mods for, specifically with regard to meshes. I guess that’s what gave birth to Bodyslide/Outfit Studio which takes away much of the pain, and also made 3D modelling accessible to Fallout 4 players even without Blender managing to import and export models directly (Outfit Studio does the legwork there, and even though it’s an intermediate step it’s very much less tedious than directly exporting NIFs for Skyrim and having to faff about with… well, everything. Skyrim modellers know what I mean.)
I still wish I’d learnt to mod Teh Sims 3. I doubt it’s any more complicated than Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3/NV/4, even Ego Draconis (which I only did because “it must be possible”: I don’t recommend it, though changing the models is actually possible). But it was another of those things where there’s seemingly eleventy billion tools one needs to learn, in other words eleventy billion options but few actually required tools, but the knowledge to work them always eluded me.
- sooo cool and very insightful
Squee! My first blog publish! Emergence you did a fantastic job of polishing it up with the graphics. Thank you!
Edit: I did not see Fex’s post above mine o.O Thank you Fex <3 <3 <3
Wow awesome article!!!
I helped with writing for some origins mods, but I’ve never had the time to try making my own. I like how you’ve made it much more accessible by providing simple basic differentiations. Thank you!
