Hello everybody !!!

This post is adressed to the entire modding community. This is an support action for the TESV:Skyrim Construction Set. To all of You, talended 3d artists: we all wait for the new game and new adventures,
but we also wait for a brave new world, with new graphic capabilities to expand, enlarge and develop it. There was some worrying rumours about the new graphical engine used in TESV: Skyrim, and its suitability
for modders. We ask Bethesda Software for releasing of the Construction Set for the upcoming game TESV: Skyrim as soon as possible and annoucing any possible information about the new objects formats used in this game.
Please sign everyone, who supports this request.

Kindly regards
Modder

I think we should just wait and see what happens. Bethesda's games have a reputation of modding (Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas(i think)). Don't worry they will make a CS for Skyrim. Otherwise they are going to lose alot of supporters.

-AnImpatientFan

I am sure they will give us a CS. But if we know what engine they are using and what model format we can start converting our .nifs.

I'm pretty sure you would only need to upgrade the meshes to their later versions, or there would not be a ny need for conversion at all.

I'm sure I read Todd saying they have altered their current Game Bryo engine so much that you could call it a new engine.

So the new engine is their home brewed upgrade of Game Bryo., and it is possible that they change from .nif meshes to something else, but not much probable.

I think that's what they said about Fallout 3, not Skyrim. For Skyrim what I've heard is that it's a new engine entirely.

Yeah, they said at first that it was a heavily updated version of Gambryo. Then more recently they took back that statement and announced that it was a new engine. Confusing.

I bet my pants you will see nif format again.

Edit: if in this engine they upgrade the nif format and change it's extension to something else like .bmf as for "Bethesda Mesh Format" or something like that, then it still is an upgrade for nif, and my claim still applies.

And I hope they do upgrade it and add the option to change the coloring/texture of some parts of the meshes when defining items so they could define a shield like this:

Shield: [Clan Hruggrath shield]
Mesh: Adamantum Tower Shield.
Texture Overlay 1: Clan Hruggrath Banner.
Texture Overlay 2: Golden Rim.
Texture Overlay 3: Red Markings.

Shield: [Shield of the Zorre], unique.
Mesh: Adamantum Tower Shield.
Texture Overlay 1: Zorre Banner.
Texture Overlay 2: Zorre Rim.
Texture Overlay 3: Zorre Markings.

See that both shields use the same mesh, but with different overlay textures, they could become different things.

They already included that functionality in Fallout 3, so if it's an update of Gamebyro this'll almost certainly be in. But since it's been said it isn't an update of Gamebyro, and .nif is a Gamebyro-specific format, we may not see them reusing .nif at all. Depends how they created their new engine.

I definitely want them to include a Construction Set with Skyrim - I have serious doubts I'd purchase it if they didn't. I definitely wouldn't purchase it first day or anything. There's a whole lot of other things I hope they do, like allow people to define custom script functions, have proper string and array variables, have working lipsync software included in the construction set, etc., etc. Tons of stuff.

personally i believe they should do what crytek did with crysis - release the CS, see what people do with it, then choose 3 mods an offically provide support to produce those mods into significant features for the game

Where did you read that this new home-brewed engine is definitely not an upgrade/overhaul/evolution of GameBryo?

The CS will be available again as usual, and as usual will be unsupported, and as usual the community will rocket this series for the next 5 years.

havnt read it anywhere..but logic would dictate that they would have scraqed that old engine

I've been a developer myself and I know logic would dictate to stick to your formulas, as long as you can, and only improve them as much as you can, so, no, I'm sure that they have made a home brewed evolution of the previous engine, so much altered and refined that you could call it a new engine altogether.

Like a wooden puzzle, that you take each peace and make a marble copy of it and replace it with the new one and start to work on the next piece, and so on...

In the end the puzzle is a shiny marble thingy, totally new, but the patterns are the same old ones.

You can say that it is a totally new puzzle, especially if you have changed the image overlay as well, or you can say that it is a revolution of the old one.

Both sayings are correct.

Edit:

And this is not a bad thing.

Because you have the same old construction set, and all the development tools at hand.

And you can correct any problem that this formula previously had, if you put enough time into it.

And It would take a lot more time to start from scratch and add all the features that the old engine had, like construction set, modability mechanism, and so on...

Call me a cynic if you will, but I for one will be buying Skyrim just as soon as the CS becomes available. And not a moment before. I imagine many in this community feel the same and I very much hope Bethesda realise this. If for any reason a decision were taken to prevent modding then I would regretfully abandon the game series.

Would you rather have the development of new engines stalled, forcing old and very very outdated things in use, just so that you could keep use your "favourite models", or so that you wouldn't be unfamiliar and therefore forced to learn new stuff?
That's what it sounds like.
And to me, that sounds completely absurd and selfish.

I agree with hlvr's forward-looking approach. Personally I'm happy to rework all my previous development to keep pace with engine improvements, just so long as the great tradition of "moddability" continues. And the first step for that is a construction set - old and familiar or totally reworked: I don't care.

If the new engine were to prevent modding, though, then I would not buy the game.

I will throw in my knickers. Todd's comments definitely point to a substantially updated version of their current tech, still using Gamebryo for rendering. Pete's "brand new engine" remark sounds like marketing speak to me, which is what you'd expect from the guy in charge of marketing after all...

Let's not continue this, or this would become a strip poker, which would lock the tread.

I hope its more user friendly because I'm not good with technology :brokencomputer:

"To this day, I think what the modders have done with those tools [the construction set] has helped define the series." – Todd Howard

Almost 100% sure that it will return.

I think it's safe to say that if they can release a construction set, they will. Either way, I don't think a handful of signatures will have any effect on their decision. That being said, I know there are several modders out there who spend much more time in the CS than they do actually playing the game. It will affect whether or not some will buy it.

It is important to know what will the new models format be, especially for those programers who will want to write import/export scripts for 3d editors.



Maybe Bethesda should make some survey (some questionnaire on the ES website) to know how many customers are modders. I can be wrong, but I suppose it's about 25%.

its going to be a completely new engine

Agreed.Except i AM 100% sure.

They have nothing to gain and a whole lot to lose if they were to not release the construction set, it will be back, don't worry :foodndrink: