Is it possible to continue to work on a new location indefinitely?

When do you say enough is enough with the clutter and the lights and the FX etc etc etc... ?

Furthermore, do you think each environment you make *needs* something distinctive? Be it a new texture or new object you've made. Is it enough to stick with the default objects/items and just try and be creative or do you feel the need to go above and beyond by making new textures and new models to replace existing and otherwise, (seemingly) repetitive, things.

Wow, what a good question, so good that I don't even know if there is a "done". I say this cause there is always something new that someone is making, release and then other people want you to add it to the mod that you released. If you do that for them, there will be other people that don't want it added, and want you to make an option to either disable it, have a quest for it, or it just plain won't work for them.

Distinctive is a good thing, cause it lets your mod be noticed. I guess it is like comparing a cardboard box to a cardboard box wrapped in wrapping paper...which would you want to open? It is perfectly fine to stick with the default objects and items, but think outside the box with them, be creative. Do things that will grab the eye.

I guess the only way for something to be done, is when you say it is done

Doesn't it depend on what your mod is intended to achieve? I'm in the process of creating some interiors at the moment, but their purpose is to tell a story, or part of a story. Once I have enough NPCs to allow the player to investigate the story, and to provide a bit of atmosphere, and once the interior contains all of the necessary clutter to match the story, it's finished, and I move on to creating the dialogue and quest elements. The story, in other words, defines what I need that location for and what I need it to contain. I'm adding some new objects, like re-textures, to spice it up a little and catch the player's attention, but I don't think they're vital to my mod (which is just as well since my artistic abilities are limited, to say the least), they just add a little colour to the story. On the other hand, if the location you are creating is the actual purpose of your mod - like a new player house, say - then new elements are probably more important as you'll want to make it stand out from the crowd of other house mods.

Interesting question. I was thinking this myself the other day and realised it was not the mods themselves but the visual stimulation of the art work which comes with them that had me adding more and more. Vanilla FALLOUT 3, MORROWIND, OBLIVION they all had more then enough to satisfy this visual graphical artistic craving which i didnt realise til the other day.

Now am pretty much playing all my games modless except for some dungeon mods by Blockhead for MORROWIND and KBAT RADIO for FALLOUT 3. The games run slick as babies sliding down a baby oiled drenched park slide and i dont have to worry about conflicts and starting the games over due to bugs which seem to always pop up down the road.

I've learned when my graphical art lust kicks up instead of adding a new mod i just go look at some art work and screenshots of the original games which always get me worked up with their "YOU GOTTA PLAY THIS!" advertising angle or i'll go check out some totally unrelated work at some art site.

So thats what kept me adding and adding til bugs and reinstalling got sickening along with the disrespectful tone of some modders when they ask for bug reports and then act as if the fan who is taking time to report the bug(s) is just making it up to annoy them.

Now maybe i'll finally finish all these Bethesda rpgs or at least get to the ending a few times like i did with TES 2 DAGGERFALL :toughninja: