User:DavidJCobb

• Editor reference pages to create
  • Actor
    • head camera has a weird FOV, like a very mild fisheye effect; face modders might want to be aware of it??
  • Perk
    • Be sure to screenshot an example of the additional activate options in-game, so people don't assume it's the same as Skyrim's clunky menu-based implementation
  • Race
    • Nearly all character customization options are defined here, including presets; it's impossible to add your own customizations without blowing away all additions from other mods. Warn prospective authors of this.
  • Quest
  • Water
  • Weather
• Images
  • No blank dialogs! Try to find a recognizable and interesting example.
• More
  • Changes from Skyrim to Fallout 4
    • Dialogue
      • Skyrim mapped out all player dialogue in flowcharts called dialogue views. These organized branches, topics, and infos. Fallout 4 has scrapped that system in its entirety and expanded the scene system: every branch in every conversation is a scene, and any line of dialogue in a scene can trigger the playback of a new scene.
        • Could this allow conversations between NPCs to branch conditionally and dynamically?!
      • I guess "Scene Collections" are like Dialogue Views, but I have yet to find a quest that actually uses one...
• Advice pages to create
  • Add a perk or spell to the player automatically via a quest alias
  • Methodology for adding an item to the player at game start, without MQ101 getting in the way
    • Fragments are weird to work with, in terms of when the CK actually decides to compile them, etc.. Until we can map out that weirdness precisely, make sure to tell users to double-check that their code is actually compiling.
  • Publishing mods for Xbox -- tips
    • Double-check for dirty edits using FO4Edit
      • You should be doing this for every platform anyway
    • Set your mod to private the instant you publish it, and test it. Even if the code and methods work on PC, the mod may be packaged improperly for Xbox.
      • NOTE: mods appear on Latest the moment they're uploaded; mods aren't bumped onto Latest when updated or set back to public; your choice is between testing your mod and actually having it seen by console users, unless you do dirty server-unfriendly tricks like deleting and reuploading
        • TODO: bother Bethesda about this; uploads should default to private a la Nexus and appear on Latest after initial publication
    • CK offers to let you reuse BA2s when publishing; never do this. It's a great way to accidentally ship a BA2 that's missing files and updates. This feature kicks puppies for fun and should be avoided.
    • If you notice problems or are just feeling anxious, use an extractor to rip from your BA2; use Champollion to decompile the packaged scripts; compare to your source to ensure the published files are up to date.
      • IIRC Xbox BA2s are packaged before you actually pick a mod to replace; you can double-check your files before ever sending them to Beth Dot Net servers.
  • Creating custom 3D models: compiled information
    • Official exporter (3DS Max 2013 only)
      • harvest information from here; organize it
    • Unofficial tools
      • see that same thread for NifSkope deets
      • Blender -- how do you create normals? pro artists make a high-poly model and "bake" it down to low-poly with normals; can Blender do that?
    • Notes
      • Seems like Bethesda used the exact same workflow for modeling and just created a program, Elric, to serve as a shim. In theory you should be able to stuff any well-formed NIF into it and fire it up, but the definition of "well-formed" has changed slightly since Skyrim
      • Be sure to mention that convex shapes are more efficient than meshes because the separating axis theorem is reliably available; a reader will think it's cool... if they're a huge frickin nerd like you are, Cobb
      • Should dive into the Blender/NifSkope process myself and try to get a simple cube into FO4; speaking from personal experience is best
        • We really want to document this thoroughly because most modders can't drop $200 on Max, the 2013 version isn't even available anyway, and anyone using the educational license for modding is committing, like, fraud or something. While it was genuinely sweet of Beth to give us their exporter, in practice it's useless for like 90% of us. We need the reverse-engineered stuff to be easy to learn so that more people can use it and help perfect it
• Info to seek out
  • Armor and Clothing
    • Looks like we only need one model per gender now since body types are morphs, but how do you actually rig and weight it all? Are there any up-to-date tutorials on this?
    • What about head items that conform to a facegen face, like bandanas? Could you safely use this effect on, say, glasses?
  • Creating a new companion
    • Companion interjections are built into the relevant scenes; we can't edit or add them in an interoperable manner.
      • Scripts won't be an adequate method unless somebody builds a standardized framework. Fact of it is, mods that allow multiple or unlimited followers are going to get popular, and if the player uses multiple followers that each use scripts to interrupt scenes, then these followers could "pile up" trying to interrupt the same conversation.
    • Companion reactions ("Strong hated that.") also require scripts. There seem to be two systems for this, and it's impossible for a mod to extend either in a manner that's interoperable with other mods. However, because companion reactions don't actually interrupt a scene or otherwise conflict with each other, it may be possible for a mod to use remote event registration to hook the relevant scene events.
      • There is a core script that serves as a registry of quests, happenings in those quests, and companions' reactions, and this script is notified by fragments on lines that the player can pick. For an example, see quest BoSM02, scene BoSM02_ClarkeStage260_Main10, action 2, yellow dialogue option.
      • There is also a fragment script that has a Keyword[] property corresponding to a companion's reaction (e.g. CA_CustomEvent_CurieLikes). You could slip your own keyword into the list, but that change won't be interoperable; mods will blow away each others' changes. For an example, see quest RR102, scene RR102_100a_Hard_Sell, action 4, green dialogue option.
  • Hair
    • Is it rigged and weighted the same way as clothes? Even established modders aren't sure; one of the most popular hair modders from Skyrim uploaded their FO4 hair with the note that it doesn't scale to the head and you should mess with your character's forehead if things don't fit.
  • Workshop
    • Workshop decorations can transmit power through snap connections if they have the WorkshopSnapTransmitsPower actor value listed in their data?