Help! I'm failing at the construction set. . .

[Vhan Tiegros]

Hey all. I can't make mine do anything. It opens and runs just fine, and it all works, but. . . I can't make any custom spells, or birthsigns with it. The closest I've gotten to success was with my birthsign, which showed up on in the game, but not at all with the descriptive text I entered for it. It was called "The Bane" and had its own unique description, but got the apprentices description (and picture--didn't have an image for it).

Plus, even when I had the bane selected (Picking the BS at from the emp at the beginning), it would not let me click done. Meaning. . . Can't implement the birthsign. . . Odd. . .Anywho. . . I'm not a hardcore coder, and was just hoping to use some easy templates set out by the CS to mod a few things.

I also can't make any of my spells work, no matter what. I go into the CS, click spells, hit new, make my spell, and shows up in the CS lsomething like this after I've made it:



None of the other spells have that asterisk by their zero. . . So I'm guessing that's a sign from the CS that I've ****ed this up somehow. I looked at it, and thought, "Sweet, this can't be hard." I mean, it seems to lay it out pretty simple. Not working for me, though.

Overall problem. Game won't acknowledge my spells, and something is up with the birthsign. I set my test spell to PC start, obviously.

[galraen]

Adding a new birthsign is a little bit more complicated than just creating a new spell. I hadn't tried it until I read you post, ran an experiment and ran into exactly the same problem. Obviously some other things have to be changed too, maybe someone else can help, but you lould start by using this tutorial.

The asterisk that you refer to in you spell question is just an indicator that this is an item that has been changed in this particular mod, it's not an error message.

Creating a spell doesn't put it into the game, to do that you have to add it to a character's spell list, and to be able to buy it you need to make sure it's in the list of a spell seller. You can make it available at start by checking the appropriate box, the spell school for the spell created does have to be a major skill though for this to work.

[Magelord648]

Don't open the CS and expect it to be easy. The first time I actually opened it up, I closed it due to intimidation. I don't mod for Oblivion but I have used the CS and I've spent hours in the Morrowind CS.

It will take atleast 12 hours of (constant) use to find your feet and lot longer (about 6 months) until you'll be good enough to release a mod to the public. Practice with personal projects. Trial and error is the best way to learn the CS.

[Vhan Tiegros]

I suppose by now I don't expect this to be easy. But could anyone guide me in making new spells? I click the new option in spells, add the properties, and the game doesn't show them. And yes, I opened the datafile and activated my spell plugin. The test spell I made was checked as a "PC start spell." My guy doesn't start with it. And for the life of me I haven't been able to figure out why. My spell isn't even an original spell. The test spell was simply to summon a Draemora. I gave it a duration of one and set it to PC start. I start the game, it isn't there. I'm at a complete loss of what I need to do, as I've tried it so many times. I don't even know where to find the PC inventory, and I'd like to know more about the birthsign. Odds are my class wouldn't work either.

[galraen]

Is conjuration a major skill, if it isn't a summoning spell will not appear in you list at start even if you check the box.

Have you tried the tutorial I gave the link to?

[Vhan Tiegros]

Yeah. I hit that site about a thousand times before i got here, and i went through thwe whole tutorial. It was all about mapping and imagery and stuff. Told me nada about making new classes, birthsigns, or spells.

And wait wait wait. . . Are you saying that I need to pick my class before I get my PC start spells? If such is the case. . . I have some work to do. . .

EDIT: Next question. . . Is there a way to make it so summons stay there permanently?

[galraen]

You obviously didn't hit it enough the answers are here. The search function works wonders, as does a search engine.

Typing Oblivion construction set birthsigns into that search engine pointed me straight to the solution.

[Vhan Tiegros]

You might be right about that. I didn't look into birthsigns, but. . . I did look into spell making, and it hasn't been able to help me as much in THAT particular department. So if anyone knows how exactly to get rid of the duration on summons, help would be much obliged.

[xemnic]

the only thing i can think of for an infinite summon is to use an object. basically have an object constantly cast a summon spell on self, heres how you would do that.

in the construction set, create a new enchantment. in the object window, under 'magic' click on 'enchantment. then right click on any of the enchantments (doesnt matter which) and select 'new'. then in the window that pops up fill in the ID as XSummonEnchant and set the type to Apparel. then create a new effect for summon dremora and leave the duration as 0.

after that go to the clothing tab under the 'items' section in the object window and search for EnchRingFlame. double click on it to bring up its properties and whatnot. change the ID to "XDremoraRing" and change the name to "Dremora Ring". now the enchanting for the ring currently says EnAppFire.. click the down arrow and search for "XSummonEnchant". it should be the absolute last one in the menu since it begins with an X (thats why i started the ID with an X ). after that click the ok button and itll come up with some message to let you know that you "changed the forms editor ID and ask to create a new form. click yes (this basically creates the modified ring as its own object and keeps the original intact)

now all thats left to do is place it in the game... under 'world objects' in the object window, click on container, then click on clutter. then search for 'CrateClutterMiddleSame02' and double click on it. with the properties window opened go back under 'items' and in the 'clothing' section, find 'XDremoraRing' (again it should be at the very bottom of the list since we started it with X) and drag and drop the ring into the inventory list (under 'Object ID').. then save the plugin file..

now load the saved plugin file and start oblivion.. in the Imperial City Market District, outside the Black Horse Courier, there are two boxes (a small one on top and a larger one on the bottom). your ring should be in the bottom one

also the ring will show up in all boxes that are labeled as 'CrateClutterMiddleSame02' so you can just sell the extra ones you find as you play. (i would have had you make its own special chest and place it somewhere in the game but that takes a lot more time and editing in the construction set)

hope this helps you out, also, im sorry if it sounds like im talking to a 4 year old, im not trying to be offensive, i just dont wanna accidentally leave something out...

now. the main reason im at this forum is because im currently trying to add a third spell to the list upon starting a new game (basically get any new character to have flare, heal minor wounds, and the custom one i made).. if anyone can shed some light it'd be appreciated

[xemnic]

Oh and to shed some light about custom birthsigns, the only way to go about it is to alter one of the premade ones. making your own will get it added to the list in game but after you choose a birthsign a script effect takes place where the emperor says the name of the birthsign you chose. because of this, if you want to implement a custom birthsign you basically have to edit the script to bypass the fact that the emperor wont have anything to say to you about your birthsign because, due to the game script, the emporer is setup to not continue until he says everything he needs to. so the end result would be you stuck in the starter dungeon because the emporer glitched on account of the custom birthsign... so, in essence, your gonna need a bit of programming experience before you can make a custom birthsign... in the meantime though, just alter the effects of another existing birthsign (like the atronach)