Category Archives: Modding

Star Trek Legacy Tools Released

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We’ve released the beta for the STL Mission Editor for Star Trek Legacy, along with the source code. We also plan to launcha STL Wiki page to give modders online documentation that can be expanded on easily. Our experience with the Elder Scrolls modding community tells us that fans love making their own stuff. Legacy has a small but vocal modding community and I hope this helps it grow even more.

A few caveats – the source code is only for the Editor and NOT the game. The toolset is a beta and not officially supported by Bethesda Softworks. We’re hoping there are programmers in the community who can take over maintenance of the Editor and source.

Special thanks to Ryan Lea, Jason Hammett, and Shannon Bailey (pictured above). This effort was entirely on a volunteer basis done in their own free time because they wanted to help and get this tool released. So kudos to those guys for stepping up and helping out. Following is a post mortem that Shannon wrote up. Good read if you plan on modding Legacy, or if you are interested in development, in general.

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Oblivion Offers New Opportunities to Architects

About a month ago, Pete made a post revealing how Dr. Andrew Hudson-Smith’s blog, Digital Urban, featured a two-part tutorial on how to create 3D models using 3D Max and then import these models into Oblivion. In the most recent online issue of The Escapist, writer Allen Varney discusses how architects have been using game engines for experimentation with architecture, in an article titled “London in Oblivion.”

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Interview with Akatosh Mount mod creator – Saiden Storm

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The modding community is an important part of The Elder Scrolls, especially for Morrowind and Oblivion. I am in awe of modders who are able to build amazing things on their own. Some of the talent out there is just phenomenal, and the members of the team who we’ve hired from the fan community continually exceed our expectations.

One of our designers emailed around this incredible video of the Akatosh Mount mod that lets you summon a dragon that falls from the sky. And, as if that wasn’t cool enough, it lets you get on the dragon and fly around. Very impressive. The creator of this amazing mod – Saiden Storm (AKA Kevin Tolbert) – agreed to answer some questions for us so we could find out a bit more about the mod and the modder. The way he created this mod illustrates how strong and collaborative the Elder Scrolls modding community is. You can see videos of all his mods on YouTube.

UPDATE: Updated post with a picture of Saiden. Cheers!

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Lead Level Designer Interview

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Sliver Rose Studios, a community devoted to modding for Oblivion, put up an interview with Lead Level Designer Joel Burgess. For the interview, community members on the site compiled questions for Joel to field. In the interview, among other things, Joel discusses modding, downloadable content and Bethesda office culture. Here’s an excerpt: Continue reading full article ›

Domino Art Using the Construction Set

A while back before launching the blog, I asked Rob (our IT guy for the blog) about some issues I was having with posting YouTube videos. I was looking to post the Perlman intro from the original Fallout. When Rob finally got videos to embed on our blog, he replaced the Perlman video with this video. Even though the video has been out there a while, it’s still worth mentioning for those that haven’t seen it before.

Pretty funny use of the Construction Set if you have ask me. I especially like how the books speall out “LOL” near the beginning of the video. Secumfex, if you’re out there, I’d love to know how long this took. And if anyone has cool video similar to this, send them over!

It’s a Mod, Mod World

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With the poll question relating to Elder Scrolls mods, I thought I’d mention some notable mods I’ve come across this week.

The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Files have uploaded a new mod, Martigen’s Monster Mod 3.0. The mod offers plenty of new stuff to fans, including:

“Over 800M in 150+ brand new creatures and NPCs, 1900+ variant creatures and NPCs, unique encounters, advanced behaviour AI, advanced combat AI, tailored loot drops and more!”

Sounds like a really impressive mod. For more details on all the features of MMM 3.0 (and there’s plenty), visit here.

Another cool mod comes from Planet Elder Scrolls member Coleen. This mod adds the ability to cook food and brew drinks, and it even adds a farmer’s market to the game. As noted, the mod combines food items from the Salmo the Baker from Tarnsman and Ravida’s hungry scripts.

Thanks to Coleen for making this (and making me hungry)…LUNCH TIME!

Oblivion Mod Wiki Support Picks Up

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As Planet Elder Scrolls reports, the Oblivion Mod Wiki has received a long overdue update. With updates to the site made over the last few days, the site now has a more user-friendly format for finding mods. As you can see here, they’ve been pretty busy adding new mods over the past few days.

Good to see the site being updated, and remember, anyone can edit this Wiki. So if you have a mod that the community would enjoy, I’m sure they would be grateful if you added it.

Zelda Inspired Mod

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Over the last few weeks, Christian of CCRE over on Planet Elder Scrolls has been working on this cool Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time-inspired mod for Oblivion. From the look of the screenshots, I think he pretty much nailed the look of the Master Sword and Hylian Shield from the game (a game that nearly cost me a failing grade my freshman year of college).

So now that we have The Ocarina Oblivion of Time. Does make me want to play some Zelda, or maybe just practice my Ocarina playing like this guy.

Star Trek Legacy: Aftermath Mod

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Within our Modding Forum for Star Trek: Legacy, I came across a new mod that’s showcased over on ModDb.com. Created by one of our forum members, tjoz, it’s described as a hybrid mod serving two purposes – to help other fans learn about how to mod Legacy, and also to help create a unique gameplay experience each time you play the game. Here’s a few more details:

“The tutorial half of the game has been designed to offer up and coming modders the info and encouragement they need to set out on their own mod. Whether they wish to create new game modes or add to the growing list of Historical battles they could create; the know how is there for them to go about and create their own gaming experience.

The mod half, with enhanced AI, challenging scenarios and much more push the foundations of Legacy to make it a different experience each time you play. With many new maps each with their own perils and wonders will see the Legacy engine in a different light. The re-designed interface that carries through every menu throughout the game is to provide a change of scenery to the generic look of the old stock look.”

For more on the development of this mod, check the development forums for the game, as well as our forum for the game