Hints and Tips Part 3: (Continued from Part 2) 14) Name your scripts the same as the object that is using that script. If you have multiple items using the same script, use a variant of all. For example: If you have an object called HOD_Heart and it needs a script, make sure to name the script HOD_HeartScript. That way it's easier to find the script. Another example is if you have multiple Hearts all using the same script. So you have HOD_Heart1 and HOD_Heart2. If they share a script, come up with a close variant, like the above mentioned HOD_HeartScript. Just a hint to keep things organized. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15) If you can, NEVER do anything that adjusts the player's health. (Unless you want to kill him). SetAV and ModAV are very unreliable. I had what I thought was a simple gimmick. You put on a helmet, your health goes down. You take it off, your health goes up. Simple, right? Except sometimes the health stays down, sometimes it added health to the total... a total nightmare. So my advice is to use these very sparingly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16) Always start from scratch. Do not merge mods if you can help it, because the File IDs will be the same as the old file, which will cause incompatibilities with the old file. It's a pain, especially if you have a really cool mod that you'd like to incorporate. For me it was CM Companion. Great companion mod, and I just thought, oh I'll just merge them and everything would be fine. Uh... no. I ended up having to rename all of the scripts, dialog options, characters, quests, everything. Why? Because of conflicts between the two, and with CM Companions being really popular, those conflicts showed up a lot. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17) For those new to modding for Oblivion, I learned late in the cycle that the rotate point on all meshes are always ALWAYS 0,0. So if you have a square tile, make sure the exact center is in at 0,0 or else you get seams. Just a quick hint to save some time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18) The Dialog Exporter spits out the wrong fileIDs. The first two numbers of the FILE ID is a dynamic number that represents load order. So if your mod is third load order, your file ID would be 03XXXXXX. So your exported dialog will all be labeled 03XXXXXX. Simple right? Except for the fact that all dialogs are actually saved out at 00. So your 03XXXXXX would actually be 00XXXXXX. Doesn't really matter if you have no VO, but if you're planning on doing VO this could get messy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19) Make sure every trigger, every door, and every NPC always has conditions that check for the specific quest stage they are supposed to appear. If they should appear until your second quest, make sure they're disabled until then. You might not think a character can get to the top of the mountain and trigger a message before he's supposed to, but he could if he was using another mod that cleared the path for him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So that's basically it for the notes I had. There were probably others and if I find them I'll put up a Part 4. And expect one for Fallout 3 as I begin my mod for that one. Just remember that the editor is great, but not perfect. And if you get stuck, make sure to ask on the forums. They were a great help. And if you ever feel like giving up on a mod, remember the rewards are worth it. Oh, and always remember the good feedback. Bad feedback can ruin a day, but don't let it. You're doing this so others will enjoy it, and most will. Cheers! -B. Freyermuth aka Middark