Thursday, September 27, 2012

Clear Bottle!

Problem solved.  Now I can apply the same technique to the Oblivion Beverage Replacer.

Monday, September 24, 2012

New Job and Modding Updates

Good news!  I started a new job today.  Everything seemed to go really well.  It is full-time, so no extra days during the week to mod.  Just evenings and weekends now.  But that's fine.  Working full-time means less worries for me, which means I will be more focused on modding in my free time.  The creative juices flow better when there is nothing to worry about.

Crafting Enjoyment Overhaul is going great.  Took the weekend off to get ready for the new job, but I'm ready to get back to modding.  Some fun developments in the works that I can't talk about quite yet.  Basically, some help from a few other talented modders.  Will announce that in the next month or so.  In the meantime, I'll continue to update on my progress.  Milk, Cream, and Buttermilk models are done.  Next on my list: new model for Butter, new textures for for metal shavings, new recipes for Mortar & Pestle, and whatever else feels good.  ;)

Also, I may have solved an issue that caused me to shelve my Oblivion Beverage Replacer.  There was a problem where the new bottles glowed ingame.  Everything was setup correctly in NifSkope, the emissive property was off.  I couldn't figure it out and neither could my forum friends.  Well, the glowing issue reared its head again in Skyrim with some new meshes!  I was hoppin' mad!  But after some fiddling around I did something different.  I imported the new models over models in an existing nif, replacing them instead of importing it into a new nif.  Somehow that did the trick.  I may revisit Oblivion Beverage Replacer in the future...

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Milk Drinker


Phew!  I am still able to model and UV map.  Here is the Milk Jug.  Almost done, next step is importing it into NifSkope.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Grind gems like a real alchemist!

Finished creating new ingredients, gem shards, for Crafting Enjoyment Overhaul.  Here is a screenshot of Amethyst Shards.  Note the bowls have a new texture too!  You will be able to make these with a Mortar & Pestle.



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Modeling and Scripting Tutorials

Lately I've been needing to refresh my memory or learn new things.  So I want to share some useful tutorials.

Modeling
This something that I've needed a little refresher on.  Both modifying existing meshes and creating new ones.  My friend and fellow modder, Vince Bly, created some lessons that are easy to follow and very informative.  They were originally created for Oblivion, but I have used the knowledge gained for Skyrim as well.

This first one, taught me a lot about how to use NifSkope.

The House Modder's Tool Kit by Vince Bly - The House Modder's Tool Kit (HMTK) provides a way to create new content for Oblivion without having to master a 3D modeling program like Blender.
I wrote a follow up, mainly to help with the math part of HMTK.
House Modder's Tool Kit Explained by Phaedra - This tutorial is a further explaination of how to use HTMK by Vince Bly.

With this one, I learned how to create new models, including how to texture, add collision, and import them into a game.
Wings3D for Oblivion by Vince Bly - Wings3D for Oblivion (W3D4O) is a tutorial that provides the 3D modeling and NifScope procedures needed to create new 3D content for Oblivion.

Scripting
Scripting in Skyrim is done using a language called Papyrus.  I've done a small amount of scripting in Morrowind and Oblivion, mostly modifying existing scripts to fit my needs.  But now I want to create my own scripts for Skyrim.  Here are a bunch tutorials that I've found and will be studying.
TES Alliance's Papyrus 101 forum - There are 3 Classes stickied at the top of the forum, the first teaches the basics of scripting.  You can also post questions if you need help.
Cipscis' Skyrim Tutorials - There are 4 Papyrus tutorials on his website.
Creation Kit Wiki, Category: Papyrus - A lot of information on Papyrus created and maintained by the modding community.