Post by The Final Rune on Mar 12, 2008 23:36:55 GMT -5
[white]Does anyone play Morrowind?
I'm a big fan of it myself. I've been playing it on and off since it came out six years ago. For those that aren't familiar with it I offer the direct link to the Elder Scrolls website where you can learn about it. Most likely many of you know its newer version, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which has been made available for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 in addition to the PC version.
As much as Oblivion's visuals make me drool, my computer is much to gimp to handle it so I stick with Morrowind since I can run it rather efficiently.
I mention all this because Morrowind, and Oblivion, come with a piece of utility software called 'The Elder Scrolls Construction Set' or simply TESCS by the fans of the games. It's a powerful tool that essentially gives you access to the entire game engine (pretty much a RPG Maker as far as I'm concerned). This tool is the exact same tool that the game designers use to create Morrowind in the first place. Inside it are all the materials seen and used in the game in easy to use preset data format. Pretty much everything is drag and drop.
Morrowind and Oblivion have a huge mod community that have and still develop for the game even to this day. The shear number of mods that have been created using the TESCS is staggering. Truly, this is a real RPG Maker in my opinion. The only limitation is that you're forced to use the engine of the game (which really isn't too different from RPGM2 anyway).
Although the TESCS only offers you the use of preset data graphics, you can actually add new graphics and 3D models to the game. Of course, that's not to say that its an easy thing to do, but there are loads of free software available for doing so, including the popular open source 3D modeler Blender.
While I don't work on making graphics myself, there are tons of modders out that do. One of the community's biggest sites, Planet Elder Scrolls, a site run by Gamespy, houses the majority of the mods and modder made resources (i.e. graphics, models, textures, sounds, animation, etc.) out there.
Personally, I like to work with the drag and drop functionality of the TESCS to create new areas to explore in the game (a game that's already gigantic and extremely time consuming) since more is always better when it comes to exploring in a RPG in my opinion. Lately I've just started working on a mod of my own that I want to release the community about a kidnapping conspiracy that player will have to unravel. Thankfully there are lots of really great tutorials available out there to walk you through the various steps in mod making.
While most the mods for Morrowind are designed to build onto the existing framework of the game, it is possible to actually create all new worlds with the TESCS. I pretty much gave up on RPGM since its limitations were so annoying and the time involved in creating a game were so daunting. However, I find myself repeatedly working with the TESCS in an effort to make things. It's really a good a game and a great tool that comes with it. Not to mention you can pick it up for around 5-15 bucks now-a-days.
If you ever wanted to get back into making things in real 3D that don't look like a cartoon puked on them, I think you should give Morrowind a try.[/white]
I'm a big fan of it myself. I've been playing it on and off since it came out six years ago. For those that aren't familiar with it I offer the direct link to the Elder Scrolls website where you can learn about it. Most likely many of you know its newer version, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which has been made available for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 in addition to the PC version.
As much as Oblivion's visuals make me drool, my computer is much to gimp to handle it so I stick with Morrowind since I can run it rather efficiently.
I mention all this because Morrowind, and Oblivion, come with a piece of utility software called 'The Elder Scrolls Construction Set' or simply TESCS by the fans of the games. It's a powerful tool that essentially gives you access to the entire game engine (pretty much a RPG Maker as far as I'm concerned). This tool is the exact same tool that the game designers use to create Morrowind in the first place. Inside it are all the materials seen and used in the game in easy to use preset data format. Pretty much everything is drag and drop.
Morrowind and Oblivion have a huge mod community that have and still develop for the game even to this day. The shear number of mods that have been created using the TESCS is staggering. Truly, this is a real RPG Maker in my opinion. The only limitation is that you're forced to use the engine of the game (which really isn't too different from RPGM2 anyway).
Although the TESCS only offers you the use of preset data graphics, you can actually add new graphics and 3D models to the game. Of course, that's not to say that its an easy thing to do, but there are loads of free software available for doing so, including the popular open source 3D modeler Blender.
While I don't work on making graphics myself, there are tons of modders out that do. One of the community's biggest sites, Planet Elder Scrolls, a site run by Gamespy, houses the majority of the mods and modder made resources (i.e. graphics, models, textures, sounds, animation, etc.) out there.
Personally, I like to work with the drag and drop functionality of the TESCS to create new areas to explore in the game (a game that's already gigantic and extremely time consuming) since more is always better when it comes to exploring in a RPG in my opinion. Lately I've just started working on a mod of my own that I want to release the community about a kidnapping conspiracy that player will have to unravel. Thankfully there are lots of really great tutorials available out there to walk you through the various steps in mod making.
While most the mods for Morrowind are designed to build onto the existing framework of the game, it is possible to actually create all new worlds with the TESCS. I pretty much gave up on RPGM since its limitations were so annoying and the time involved in creating a game were so daunting. However, I find myself repeatedly working with the TESCS in an effort to make things. It's really a good a game and a great tool that comes with it. Not to mention you can pick it up for around 5-15 bucks now-a-days.
If you ever wanted to get back into making things in real 3D that don't look like a cartoon puked on them, I think you should give Morrowind a try.[/white]