So I’ll try to be very specific here what I want to do, not some vague “plz help how make modss”.
My interest in modding came from seeing some of the best and most popular ones on the Steam Workshop being abandonded, mods that I would have liked to use. So, I felt perhaps I could take a shot making some simple ones and contribute to the workshop.
My question is, how hard would it be to do the following example: Basic weapons or decoration set:
A handful of swords, shields etc that are learned with new feats, and crafted at existing tables, using existing mats, using existing animation systems (Heck, I’d even be happy starting with some re-colors for the learning)
A few decorative placeables (kitchenware, rugs, paintings, chairs etc) that again, are learned in their own feat and use all in-game mats.
Important thing to specify:
I don’t want to do anything that involves scripting, animation, etc!
Integrate with base game, not tying into major Roleplay mods
Aka, so basic that it’d fit right into vanilla craft system that you wouldn’t know it’s a mod otherwise
What would be involved here? Is there a Conan editor available? Do I need Unreal Engine to make the base models? If I were to make a bunch of items in a 3D software and Unreal, how hard is the process from there of actually “making it into an item in the game that can be crafted?” I do have some experience in 3DS Max.
Any advice here would help a lot. Again, I’m intentionally trying to start as BASIC as possible, literally stupid-basic.
A quick followup question, I did find the DevKit page on the Conan Wiki, and it says it’s based on Funcom’s modified Unreal Engine. I wanted to get the very latest Unreal separately to learn just general 3D scene modelling (nothing to do with Conan)… what would this mean? Would I have two copies of Unreal?
Best place for answers is the modding discord. Very few mod authors look at the forums, and fewer still don’t like to post anything. I’ll do my best to answer your questions, but there is a good chance I’ll miss any follow ups.
Here is the link
There are lots of tips and such things that are pinned on the mod discord. Best way to figure out that stuff is to look at the available guides, videos, and how Funcom set it up themselves and go from there. This isn’t something you’ll figure out in a couple of hours, and not something where a person can walk you through steps 1-50.
Maya, 3DS Max, Blender, etc. Take your pick for 3D creation. As far as how to import those into Unreal, there are a million guides on the internet for things like that Including on Epic’s website.
The Dev Kit isn’t a full version of Unreal. It’s close, about as closest you’ll find in ANY game out there modding wise, but not the entire engine. But yes, to answer your question, you will need both the Dev Kit, and a different install for the actual engine. Stuff you create in the engine may not be compatible with the version of Unreal that the Dev Kit uses (modified 4.15). Though generally, 3D models created in your favorite 3D program will be the same in 4.20 + and 4.15 (the materials/textures will be different though).
In summary, you can definitely achieve your goals. And its a pretty decent starting point (a lot of new modders shoot for the moon on their first mod and get overwhelmed. Starting with the basics is good).
Thanks so much for that reply! I will certainly be looking through a lot of video tutorials. I was thinking just to start out, perhaps my first mod (not to release - purely as practice) would be just editing an existing item or placeable and building it back out into another named mod? Not sure if that’s a good way to start.
Regarding Unreal, so would I technocally not have to install Unreal Engine for basic modding, as long as I have A) the DevKit, and B), a 3D modelling app as you mentioned? (I probably would start Blender just to make things easier, then shift into 3DS which I haven’t touched in years)
Aka, is it basically 3D App of Choice —> DevKit? Or is Unreal still needed on the side of both?
If the DevKit and Unreal are nearly identical, I’m assuming the same tutorials on importing things into Unreal would work the same for getting stuff into the DevKit.
Not sure what you mean. Do you mean working with another mod author on adding something to their mod?
You don’t need the Unreal Engine installed at all to work with the Conan Exiles Dev Kit. Completely different entities.
Any 3D App of your Choice, followed by importing into UE4/the Dev Kit. You still need the Dev Kit installed in order to set up the mod.
Yes, pretty much any UE4 tutorial that is compatible with 4.15 will work (most of the basics like, how to import your mesh and stuff will work fine. It’s the more advanced tutorials that utilize things like, 4.25 or whatever that won’t be of much help).
Awesome, makes perfect sense now. Thanks for all the clarity. Seeing as how I won’t be upgrading my SSD’s for another few months, I’ll likely be skipping getting standalone Unreal for later anyways and just work with the DevKit.
Well not sure if I was even following it correctly, but the (very brief) modding walkthrough at the Conan Wiki showed selecting some base items from the game (I.E. a war axe) and then going into the transforms/scaling panel: Modding - Official Conan Exiles Wiki (gamepedia.com)
So I figured, just as a learning procedure, I could take an existing item and just tweak/change it. Recolor… rename, make it bigger etc. Then see if I can put my “new” item in the game with its own feat, stats, etc, make sure I can swing it around lol. Then if I could figure that out, I could start over by making a fresh 3D model and doing it up for real.
Idk, again just thinking out loud as a know-nothing lol
Oh ya, that’s fine. Good way to start for sure. Just remember, mod controllers and data table merges are your friends.
And like I said, the discord is the best place for mod questions. I try to stay off the forums, just happen to be around a little bit extra today. Way more people around on the discord too.
Ok yea that’s something I need to learn about lol. Those things sound familiar just from using Skyrim mods from Nexus years ago, some bug reports would say things like the data tables had conflicts etc… I could roughly understand what they were saying lol. From what I understand many things in the game (objects, NPCs, items etc) have attribute/stat tables and are all assigned an ID. So some mod authors will reference tables when introducing new items or even share stats for like-items. Tell me if I got that remotely right lol
Just as a small rant too…
There were so many cool weapons & armor mods at the workshop that looked to be abandoned. Stuff that seemed very much the equivalents of bundles back on Skyrim, like its “Immersive Weapons” bundle.
I know I’m shooting for the sky here but perhaps if I could figure this out, I could contribute some new working realllly cool lore-friendly and fantasy inspired weapon and bow sets… even look to Conan lore for ideas on armor from distant Conan lands and empires that it talks about.
Another one I wanted to do was take some of the plants, foliage & trees and make them into decorative placeables, solving the problem of foliage despawning when you build near it. Instead you could “re-plant” your trees as placeables lol. There was a mod that did this… but yea it’s dead lol
Including on Epic’s website.
