[Sky] Model Names. File Paths. And things that make my mod explode into a thousand burning fragments of shame. (advice please)

[reality001]

Hello,

On my first mod,I've been making static objects (Static = an item fixed in place for eternity in Skyrim), and have realised that the multitude of resources I've downloaded into my Skyrim Data folder for use in the mod is starting to look a little messy.

To tidy things up, I've started a new folder in my Data>Meshes>ModName folder to encompass all the items specific to my mod and, importantly, have started to edit the items in the creation kit to show the new mesh location to avoid the Big Red Exclamation Mark Of Failure.

All well and good and onsidering that I've only put an hour or so into the item placement job, things could have been much worse...

So.. My questions...

1,Is there a neater, cleaner, more resource friendly way of adding items to the data folder?

2, Does anyone know of a tidy way to access the new items I created in the Creation Kit? I'm having to search by 'All' as they get lost in the thousands of items.

3, many of the meshes that I'm adding to this folder are duplicated in the main Skyrim - Meshes.bsa file, only I've unpacked some of them, added them to my Data>Meshes>ModName folder, and are using them for static objects in my mod. I've got unique names for my actual objects but the meshes share the same name as the meshes in the vanilla game. Could there be any potential problems?

Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help.

Best regards

James

[Tigersong]

This one is no Skyrim expert, but he will try to help.

If you haven't renamed the mesh/texture itself, he believes it should be accessible to everyone via the BSA file. Simply renaming an object with a unique ID changes that particular instance, not the object itself. (Having no experience with the Creation Kit, this one asks that you don't hit him over the head if this is not so.)

[reality001]

Thanks Tigersong, I'll proceed with caution and appreciate your input. I guess the game should ignore multiples of similar meshes and textures..

Edited October 16, 2012 by reality001

[Hanaisse]

You're on the right track, reality001. Starting with a meaningful naming convention can make modding life easier. The first step is as you have done, creating the proper folder structure such as;

Meshes/ModName/sub folder names*

Textures/ModName/sub folder names*

* ie; architecture, armor, clutter for the external resources you use.

So on to the questions.

1. That's about as good as it'll get.

2. Using a naming convention in the CK is also a good habit to get in to. Take this example from the CK Basics Class Lesson #1;

In modding there are naming conventions when creating new IDs and they are as varied as the modders and developers who use them. Sometimes beginners think these names need to be uber technical, “Cause if it’s not hard it’s not modding”

This is a false assumption. Confusing names are just confusing, even for you later on. Your naming convention should have a purpose, be simple, and whatever you start with you should maintain throughout the entire project. This makes it easier to track parts of your mod when they are mixed in a load order with dozens of others.

In this case I chose aaDRTutorialInt01, - “aa” to take my custom adds to the top of every list in the CK. You NEVER want to start an ID with a number like 1 or 0 as it may confuse scripts and can cause issues later when trying to call the ID in a script. “DR” are my initials, but you might choose instead to use the initials for your project, that way all your plugins will be compatible with one another. “Tutorial” is the project name of the house we are building, “Int” stands for interior, and “01” indicates it’s the first of a series on interiors.

This keeps all your resources easy to find when they have meaningful names and a prefix that's easy to find.

3. Don't do that. Ever. Unless you've actually changed the mesh. People do not need duplicate/triplicate resources when they already have the vanilla resources. Instead, you can unpack the vanilla resources you want from the .bsa's into your Data folder, leaving the file path name intact. In the CK, create a New Static item (with the unique name) and point to the vanilla mesh. That's it. Before you pack up your mod go through and delete those vanilla files so they don't get included. People's games will know to find those meshes in the .bsa.

Welcome to TESA. Enjoy your stay.

[reality001]

Thanks Hanaisse, and thanks to both you and Tigersong for the quick responses. It's good to know that you folks are out there.

I'll press on from here with what I've learned :-)

Best regards

James

[WillieSea]

I make a lot of mods, so I prefer this naming convention:

/Meshes/ModAuthor/ModName/SubFolders/

/Textures/ModAuthor/ModName/SubFolders/

As you may notice, I put my username in there first.

So, if I had three mods, they would be easy to find and remove, since all my mods are in the same place. Not mixed into the main folders...

/Textures/WillieSea/LevelersTower/

/Textures/WillieSea/ClocksOfSkyrim/

/Textures/WillieSea/SmeltEverything/

[reality001]

Ah yes, I've seen a few mod authors do the same as you Willie. I guess it helps brand recognition for the downloader (if that makes sense?)

For this mod, I'm going to settle for the Mod name inside the mesh folder, although I'm going to have to pile into the textures at some point when I can make Gimp less... Er... Gimped... Something about the plug-in and 64bit vista from a cursory googling..

That's for another day though.. G'night all

James

[DsoS]

I do the same as WillieSea with my Folders. /Meshes/DSoS/MyModName/TypeOfMesh (then the same for Textures, Sounds,

When I first started modding, I also placed my files randomly, it got to be such a chore just to find anything.

the worse part about "cleaning up" is that if you have a custom mesh or texture path, lets say "Meshes/architecture/InteriorWalls/InteriorWall01.nif" and you move it to a new folder "Meshes/YourName/YourMod/Architecture/InteriorWalls/InteriorWall01" You have to update the file path in the CK or NifSkope. If you have just a few files its not so bad, but if its dozens or hundreds it can be tedious work, but the after affects will be great.

Have fun modding and remember if you need help, we are always here

[reality001]

Thanks DsoS,

I've just finished the job of re-pointing all the vanilla meshes to the correct folders for use by the main .bsa file, and downloaded a fresh copy of Skyrim onto my Mrs' laptop to test how it'll look to another player.

It was a good few hours work, but I enjoyed seeing a hundred or so exclamation marks slowly revert into objects... Okay, I didn't really enjoy it, I'm just saying that to stop me going on a shotgun rampage along the High Street.

Would have made the news, though...

Anyhow, my house mods Alchemy Station along with several shelves of carefully placed ingredients, bottles, jars and bowls should now be visable by all owners of the standard mesh .bsa.

Right. I'm off now to fill a little static emptyJar with little static Bees... Although, thinking about it, I'm sure when I get up to speed on NifSkope I could modify the empty jar to go on it's side with the lid off and I could place the bees like they're falling out onto the table!

Anyway. Thanks very much to all on this post for the help offered...