Modding Skyrim: Modders Edition

Modding Skyrim is what I intend to be a series of guides regarding modifying the game of Skyrim. There are plenty of guides that cover the practice of installing mods successfully, some of which contain some great information and some of which contain misinformation. But, there are quite a few of them. While I am relatively experienced at installing mods, my expertise lies more in creating mods. I'm not one of the great modders of Skyrim or prior games - I don't have the massive amount of experience that Arthmoor, Elianora, Hothtrooper, Gopher or any of those have. However, I have published some of my own mods. I know what it's like to publish a mod, to create it, and to deal with those that like and do not like your mod.

Now, there are a couple other guides such as this one, both of which I've gained quite a bit of information from. There is the http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/35567 by TheThirdRace, which details publishing your mod (specifically on the Nexus), as well as several other things of note. The only other similar guide I've been able to find is the http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/6882 guide, published and written by headbomb. Both of these guides are written by rather well-known mod authors, and both cover aspects of mod creation that I will certainly go over in my own guide. headbomb's is more technical than TheThirdRace's, but they both talk about some very important things.

Now, you're probably bored of me talking about other people and guides by now. Modding Skyrim: Modders Edition will be a document that details everything from mod creation to publishing to dealing with the inevitable suggestions, bugs, and demands regarding your published mod. This particular guide should cover things EVERY modder needs to know, not catering to a specific type of modder (i.e. scripter, quest designer, etc.). As such, I won't go into tools like 3DSMax, but more into the Creation Kit and TES5Edit. Certain parts may end up not being as useful to some types of modders, but I'll try to keep it as general as possible by only covering topics necessary for all modders.

The Contents

Order and content may be subject to change.

All of that was a bit vague, if longwinded. Here's a current index of what my mod will include. It is divided into 4 parts, which, in turn, are separated into various chapters with subsections. It's all very organized, and will include an index with hyperlinks within the document for easier navigation.

Anything denoted in red I would like help with.

Introduction

What Is Modding

Why Am I Writing This

Content Overview

Part 1: Mod Creation

Overview

Resources

^{Creation Kit Wiki}

^{Skyrim Mod Talk}

^{Creation Kit Forums}

^{Other Websites}

Organization

Naming Conventions

Saving and Backups

Mod File Management

Creation Kit

Object Window

Render Window

Cell View

Other Notes

Team Modding

^Recruiting

^{Managing a Team}

^{Version Control}

^{Merging Plugins}

Part 2: Mod Aftermath (Needs a better name)

Overview

Cleaning With TES5Edit

^{Explanation of Features}

^{Automatic Cleaning (includes video by gopher AND written explanation)}

^{Manual Cleaning (includes video by gopher AND written explanation)}

Testing

^{Testing Procedures}

^{Testing Yourself VS Others Testing}

^{Getting Feedback (only if others testing)}

^{Fixing Problems}

Part 3: Mod Release and Publishing

Overview

Mod Packaging

^{Gathering Files}

File Structure

BSAs VS Loose Files

File Type

Where to Upload

^Nexus

TESAlliance

Dark Creations

Steam Workshop

Planet Elder Scrolls (never used, need your guy's opinions and thoughts)

Crediting and Permissions

^{Checking Permissions}

^{Asking for Permission}

^{Proper Crediting}

Publishing Your Mod

^{General Guidelines}

^{On the Nexus}

Part 4: Mod Post-Release

Overview

Updating Your Mod

Using Feedback

Fixing Bugs

Publishing Updates

Compatibility

Do You Need to Make a Patch?

Creating a Patch

Others Creating Patches

Translations

Allowing Translations

Linking VS Uploading on Page

User Feedback

Bug Reports

^{Suggestions VS Demands}

^Trolls

What Modding is About (basically a peptalk, because we all need one at one point or another)

Credits

Additions and Suggestions

If you've got any additions to that list, such as a new chapter or subsection, I'd love to hear them. Specific things are great to - something in particular about making a patch you'd like to tell me? Go ahead. If you've also got a tutorial on a subject that you think makes some good points, feel free to link that as well.

You may also have noted the red text in that list. It means I need some help with something, so if you feel you can, go right ahead. And even if something isn't denoted with red text, and you have a suggestion, still post below about it.

And yes, I realize that this is a large undertaking. I just started this up again a little while back, after finding a few pages of it hidden in a backup folder. I've already got 9 pages done and I just started recently - so you can tell it'll likely be a bit long-winded. However, I hope that'll be a good thing - I'll try to be as clear and concise as possible. It's more the variety and multitude of subjects I'm covering that will make this a long project.

I've got free time in between my other project, Immersive Quests, which is when I'll work on this. So wish me luck!