Newbie's Guide To Modding For Silgrad [WIP]

[InsanitySorrow]

Well to start of Welcome to Silgrad Tower :banana: :banana:

This thread is where you will spend a good bit of your time, this thread will give you all the information you will need to start modding for Silgrad and maybe take all our jobs

Picking up a claim

Fist of all you should get yourslef familiar with the parts of Silgrad Tower that are being made like Reich Parkeep. Then after you have done that look down the main forum page until you find Claims & Coordination,



this is where you will find the claims for Silgrad Tower, well all except Dumac City which holds its claims in its thread. Go ahead and click on one of those links, for this i have chosen Reich Parkeep.



Now the thread will open and you will see a list of all the claims that are avaliable or have been claimed, you will know if they have been claimed because it will say in the claims name. Now go ahead and click on a Claim i have chosen a Soluthis claim for this guide.

the very first post is by the claim author in this case it's Razorwing, you will be given information about the claim i.e. the interior model to use(Explained later) and other bits like these.



Location: - Location on the map, with Soluthis a map is given
Interior model to use: - tells you what model is to be used for the claim
Model Nickname: Round Home - this is what the model is called in the CS
Northmarker Rotation: - I will get to this later in the guide
Neighbourhood: - what Neighbourhood the home is located in

Now to claim all you have to do is post a message that you would like to claim, only if it is not taken. Then the author or someone just as improtant will grant you the permission or decline it.

There you go you have claimed some work and know more about claiming.

One last thing to note is the claiming abbreviations, each board has there own and below i will explain by using the ones from Reich Parkeep. This is what TheImperialDragon wrtoe for the Reich Parkeep abbreviations.

For Soluthis (Dunmer/Dark Elf part of Reich Parkeep), the claim abbreviation is as follows:

Soluthis = Soluthis
## = District number
## = Claim number

For example:

Soluthis 0101 is Soluthis - District 01 - Claim number 01

Modders Abbreviations

What you will need to pick up some modders abbreviations yourself and they can be found at the top of each claim board.

You will use a StXX prefix when creating any new item. Whether you're re-ID'ing a static for a new purpose, putting together your own chest, importing a cool weapon made by someone else, or whichever may be the case.

What these are for is to allow the core team to merge your file with Silgrad and then when it is modded people will know who made each part i.e interiors.

[InsanitySorrow]

Checking Your Claim

Now an important part of claiming is that you have fun but also that you do a good job and what is asked. The first thing to do when checking yor claim is check what has been asked then make sure your mod does just that. A peristant problem that i have seen a lot and have witnessed is how crap the "F" function key is in the CS. You press the "F" key and the object you have high lighted will be moved to the ground, but this does not always work so you end up with items floating, so make sure you check each item, and i know it's tedious but when the claim has been checked this will be spotted so help yourself and make sure you check that the objects are touching the floor.





Another problem is "Bleeding", i hear you ask "What the hell is Bleeding, they have not blood", well maybe so but "Bleeding" in this term means that an object say a painting is actually passing through a wall or another object, this is what is know as "Bleeding". So check you objects for "Bleeding".



These two points are the main ones when checking a claim for the first time, but as you make more and practice you will learn to automatically check for these.

[InsanitySorrow]

First Steps into the CS

Downoad The Guide with images: Here

The First thing you need to do is boot up your CS, go ahead it?s easy. Once it is open you will need to select a plugin or esm file, you will need to first check the oblivion file as shown in Here



So go ahead and select it, if you have other esp files select them but don?t set them as active unless you want to change the esp in some way, the CS will prompt you to save any changes you make to the Oblivion.esm.

Depending on you PC?s specs and set up this could take a while so now would be a great time for a nap.

So now you have opened the CS and your wondering what the hell all these screens are for, well I?ll tell ya.

First you have the Object window, this is where you will add in new items or modify existing items or make some changes to the game.



Next up is the Cell View window; this is where you will create new interiors and exteriors.




The final window you see is the Render Window, this is where you will interact with interiors or exteriors, this will comprise of placing and deleting NPC characters or objects like containers.



There are many more options throughout the CS that are explained on the CS Website. The best thing for you to do is play around with it that is how I learned and ended up working with the Silgrad Tower Team

[InsanitySorrow]

What to Do after a Review

After your mod has been submitted by you it will be reviewed. This means the author of the claim will take you claim and test it, they will look for many things most of which were explained above. They will post a progress report and let you know what needs to be fixed. They do this with the aid of abbreviations. I will explain and show images of this below.



Abbreviations

These are the abbreviations that you will see when a reply is posted about your claim. When i made a claim for Steadhelm a while back i was confronted by this after Sandor reviewed my claim.

F= Floating / B= Bleeding / S= Look at Screenshot / PG = Pathgrid / th = tetrahedron, point / sh = the silhouette / R = Resize / Re = Reposition / A = Adjust

Now i know what you thinking seems confusing well know, you see the reviewer will list everyting that needs changing or fixing and place an abbreviation next to it. SO it is not confusing and is actually the best way of letting you know what to fix.

[InsanitySorrow]

Important things that Matter

I will list the most important things that you will need to know when modding for Silgrad Tower, just keep these in mind:

1) Most Important of all is if you need help don't be afraid to ask somebody, pst a thread or something, there is always someone that will answer and help you out, so if you get stuck just ask.

2) Modding Abbreviations, as i ahve mentioned above get ya self some, this means that you can mod and modding is what is god and problably what you are here for. Anyone is welcome to Silgrad.

3) When modding take your time and don't rush the work, no one is pressuring you so take your time and do your best.

4) Always keep yo what is asked of you when you make a claim unless the author says go nuts, an example would be when uploading your finished claim and it needs to be a certain name.

5) Don't take on more than you are capable of doing, there will always be claims so don't rush and overcrowed yourself.

6) Pay respect to every member here, show them the repsect that you desire yourself or put it better treat them how you want to be treated. This is one thing that matters because if you gain there respect they intern will help you and respect you more.

7) If you have an idea that might help either Silgrad or the Beyond Cyrodill teams then post it, if they like it then your idea will problably be implemented into the mod. Though the people here are always up for a good old discussion.

8) Introduce yourself, there are threads for just this sort of thing, just post and tell us a little about yourself and even find out more about us here at Silgrad.

If you follow these important rules and take them in and keep them deep in your mind you will be happy here at Silgrad and you should enjoy yourself all the time.