News from The Elder Scrolls Nexus

Today we are talking to Abstract Era Entertainment and the team behind [url=https://www.secondsfromsilence.com/]Seconds from Silence[/url], an upcoming, moddable MMORPG due for release in 2020. Seconds from Silence will take you to a medieval fantasy world reminiscent of Skyrim and Witcher 3, paired with MMO mechanics, factions, race-relations, empire-building and managing, and more. As of today, the team is recruiting alpha testers, so if you are interested, feel free to read through the interview and apply to become a tester (see below). 

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BigBizkit: Thanks for joining us today. To start this off, why don't you, David, introduce yourself and the team.
[/b]
David Wilson: My name is David Wilson and I am the Director of Marketing for Abstract Era Entertainment. Today I have with me our Lead Art Director, Jack Wayne, along with a member of our Character Creation Pillar who is well known as a mod developer in the Nexus community, who we will introduce a bit later in the interview. We here at Abstract Era Entertainment really appreciate the chance to tell your members about our title: Seconds from Silence. We’re sure they’re going to love it and they are specifically the type of gamers that we want to hear from during our ongoing development. Thank you for having us!
[center][/center][b]Could you tell us a bit about Seconds from Silence? What kind of game is it and what made you want to develop it in the first place?[/b]

David Wilson: Seconds from Silence is a moddable MMORPG being developed for PC and consoles. In Seconds from Silence players will embark upon their travels and decide what they want to be and what they want to do. Gameplay will simulate, but not be limited to, living a life in a medieval fantasy world where the laws of the land are governed by the players that own them. There are no specific roles that any player will be locked to but instead, players will decide what role they want to play within the world. Any player can choose to be a king or a commoner, mercenary or thief, adventurer or pirate, blacksmith or alchemist, vampire or vampire hunter, sorcerer or priest, trader or bandit, holy paladin or an assassin for hire… or whatever they want to be… that’s just to name a few. There will also be several epic storylines and endless adventures to embark upon.

We here at Abstract Era Entertainment believe that the best games are the ones that make you feel like you can make choices without limitation. Two good examples of this type of game model would be games like The Witcher 3 and Skyrim. These titles did have main storylines but they also gave players a sense of freedom. It is this sense to freedom that we wish to expand upon and take to the next level.

Take for example that in Skyrim, when you first step out of the cave, escaping the headsman’s axe and dragon’s attack at Helgen, there is this somewhat unexplainable feeling of awe and adventure that hits you. There were these chills that you got once you realized that you’ve really been set loose and were free to do whatever you wanted. To be able to choose to follow Hadvar, or Ralof, or neither of them! We loved that feeling of freedom of choice, to explore the unknown and dive headlong into an epic adventure, to do whatever you wanted to do and not be stuck into any linear storyline.

If that wasn’t great enough by itself, later, you discover that you can even create mods and share them with a community of passionate gamers on mod sites such as Nexus Mods to truly personalize the adventure. Now imagine being able to have that entire experience and much more, including mods, with your friends in an MMORPG. Our decision to develop Seconds from Silence wasn’t a decision at all; it was made as a result of that vision.

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Without spoiling anything, what sort of setting and story are we to expect from the game? What were some of your inspirational sources?[/b]

Jack Wayne: Seconds from Silence is heavily inspired by Skyrim and The Witcher 3, however, we have taken care to ensure that gameplay is new and unique while maintaining a sort of familiarity for those who loved these aforementioned titles. You might consider Seconds from Silence as a hybrid of the two titles but developed in a manner such as to complement them rather than be a continuance or copy of either. If you enjoyed the gameplay of either of these titles then we are certain that you will feel right at home in Seconds from Silence.

The setting for Seconds from Silence occurs within a medieval fantasy world known primarily as the Shifting Continents. Players will set out to explore vast lands spanning several miles and even set to the high seas to explore strange new islands and even more continents. Daring adventurers will venture into the dark depths to bring light to caverns, dungeons and long since lost ancient civilizations hidden deep under the ground. Whether across the ocean, around a mountain or beyond the horizon, there will always be adventures and quests to undertake.

David Wilson: I’d like to add that as Seconds from Silence is non-linear, players will go wherever they want to go and do whatever they decide to do. For those interested in a great story, they can set out to investigate a rumor of what evil they heard of from the local folk. If conquest is their ambition then they can establish a kingdom, battle their aggressors and lay claim to their divine right to rule over the lands. If they are more nefarious in deeds and have an eye for riches and plunder then a thieves guild, bandit camp or pirate vessel will be more fitting for achieving their goals. Through interaction with one another and with the NPCs within the world of Seconds from Silence, the adventure is truly never-ending.

[b]What would you say are the core mechanics of Seconds from Silence? What sets it apart from other MMORPGs?[/b]

David Wilson: Gameplay in Seconds from Silence will allow players to build the world around them. Players will build many different types of structures from cabins up to and even including entire kingdoms. If you are a king and you own lands, you can build whatever you can defend on them. As a king, you can also allow other players to build their homes in your villages, cities and even allow other players to farm on your lands, provided they agree to pay the king’s tax of course. But beware as other players can also establish thieves guilds in your cities and rob your people of their goods as well as stir up trouble. Otherwise, they might put together a raiding party and attack your villages to take whatever they want. As such it’s important for kings to defend their lands and that is where the guard and King’s law systems come into gameplay.

One key factor that is an issue with most freeform games is that anyone you encounter tries to kill you without warning or reason. This type of kill or be killed environment that is often the typical result of poor planning is due to there not being any consequences for such actions. That is why we are designing Seconds from Silence with two key factors in mind: The first is that due to how progression works, players will value their character and they won’t want their character to die. The second factor is that the actions you take in Seconds from Silence will have consequences and players won’t break the King’s laws without first carefully considering how to escape the King’s justice.

We are also designing the game so that attacking a city or village will not be an easy thing that just one or a few random new players will be able to do, provided the city has proper defenses set in place, its people will be able to defend themselves. Players will be able to establish city guards when founding any new city or to request the ruling king set in place some of his Royal Guard to defend the city from any attacks (guards can be NPCs that you hire or require your subjects to provide). Players can also assign guards to patrol and protect the lands they reside on.

In Seconds from Silence, you will have guards and soldiers that you can assign to patrol your lands. If someone breaks a law and anyone sees it, they will report the lawbreaker to the guards, they will, in fact, RUN to do so. As soon as the guard is notified they will do a few different things based on what the captain of the guard or king has demanded them to do upon such a report. If they are unable to capture the lawbreaker then a bounty on the lawbreaker can be set as a reward for anyone who brings them to justice, dead or alive (or required to be alive or dead specifically, as these are also options). Once a bounty has been set on a player, anyone with the means to do so, through alchemy, magic or tracking skills (among other methods), can use these methods to find the lawbreaker.

We could go on for a long time discussing the many unique elements of gameplay within Seconds from Silence but one of the big ones is that there will be King’s Law and depending on the king, it will be feared and well respected. When traveling in Seconds from Silence, be sure to respect the laws of whoever owns the dust beneath your feet, lest you become part of it.

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[b]Seconds from Silence will feature several different races and a friend-or-foe system based on race. Can you tell us a bit about the more obscure races and classes in the game such as Skin Walkers?[/b]

[quote]David Wilson: Just before he took our gold he swore he saw a mirror, but there was no mirror in that cabin… we killed Fredrick for his greed but then I saw him once more on the morrow… a Skinwalker had gotten the best of us! Oh, poor Fredrick, how will you ever forgive us now? - Anonymous[/quote]
Jack Wayne: The idea of the Skinwalker race came from Celtic, Irish and Native American lore of a mythical creature that could steal the appearance of those unlucky enough to cross their path. Skinwalkers are beings that take upon themselves the physical appearance of those they come into contact with. All a Skinwalker needs do is simply look upon another creature and by focusing on their prey they assume their form. A Skinwalker is considered a natural chameleon of sorts, however, it takes skill for a Skinwalker to take upon certain forms and maintain such foolery. It is wise to carry runes and also etch warding runes in place else you too become quite not yourself.

Pure blooded races are not the only options for players to choose from as they can also choose to be a mixture of two different races. In the world of Seconds from Silence, these half-bloods are known as Halflings. A Halfling could be either an Elvish Human or a Goblin Orc to point out a couple of examples. Racial enemies are typically incapable of producing off-spring and this - among other reasons within the lore behind each race - is why such creatures are considered abominations hunted and killed by all who become aware of their existence.

[b]In one of our earlier conversations, you pointed out that modding will play a big role in Seconds from Silence. What aspects of the game will people be able to mod and how? Do you plan on releasing mod tools?[/b]

David Wilson: It is our intention to make modding an entertaining and desirable activity in Seconds from Silence for anyone who wishes to truly personalize the whole experience. Knowledge of Unreal Engine will be helpful, however, it will not be necessary. Modders will be provided with the "SFS Modder Toolkit" to prepare their mods for integration in Seconds from Silence as well as for sharing on sites such as Nexus Mods. We are looking into setting it up so that modders will be able to use the Nexus Mods very own Vortex mod manager to install mods developed using the SFS Modder Toolkit. As we wish to promote modding in Seconds from Silence, the SFS Modder Toolkit will be easy to use and will have all the necessary functions for modders to develop mods compatible with Seconds from Silence.

We are developing Seconds from Silence to support three different general sections of modding:

Replacing skeletal aesthetics - This section covers the visual appearance of skeletal models as well as animations. Modders will be able to change how an existing skeletal model appears during gameplay. For example, they may develop a new model that replaces the "Leather Boots" model or a breastplate, etc. They will even be able to develop their own hairstyles and even replace the body model if they so choose. Modders will be limited to using existing skeletons within Seconds from Silence, however, this should not be an issue as there are different skeletons, each with their own hierarchies to choose from.

Replacing static aesthetics - This section covers the visual appearance of static models. As players will be able to build many different structures within the game, there will be walls, foundations, stairs, and so forth that Modders will be able to replace with their own models and textures. The SFS Modder Toolkit will allow Modders to import their custom asset and check the mod to make sure it meets the requirements of the asset they are replacing (this will be described in far more detail through the SFS Modder Toolkit documentation). Additionally, this section will allow modders to replace the visual appearance of existing weapons and shields, as these are considered moveable static meshes in Seconds from Silence.

Curation submission - This section covers assets that are submitted to our team to be provided as a new asset within the game. If a modder wishes to add an entirely new legendary sword within the game that other players can find and use or a completely new asset in general that is not a "replacer" of an existing asset, they would submit the asset through the SFS Modders Toolkit for review by our Curation Team. If the asset is approved then we will program the "asset slot" into the game, however, players must download the asset from a mod hosting site such as Nexus Mods and install it. Please understand that we will not host nor include the new asset in the default installation, however, we will add a slot for the asset to be installed.

[b]Regarding Abstract Era Entertainment as a studio, what can you tell us about your team and your various backgrounds in gaming and modding?
[/b]
David Wilson: Abstract Era Entertainment consists of people that not only enjoy working in the gaming industry but also enjoy playing whatever games they can get their hands on. Having just under 30 positions filled by highly devoted developers, we consider our team to be a fairly tightly-knit group. Developers working on Seconds from Silence oftentimes play games with one another and have worked together on past projects for other studios. Our studio may be small compared to some other indie studios, but we are always looking for talented additions to our Development Team and we intend to expand our team as often as development requires.

One key requirement during our hiring process is that any candidate that we consider must have a minimum of three years of experience having worked specifically on an MMORPG title. Our developers were also required to have a minimum of one year experience working within the Unreal Engine. Yet another matter that we consider a plus when adding any new member to our Development Team is that they have had past experience with developing mods for another game (like Skyrim), which did present some challenges. The majority of our developers have all had a love for modding the games that they play. It was, however, to our surprise, somewhat challenging for us to find developers that met our minimum requirements and also had experience not just using mods but also developing mods.

We were very excited when we were able to acquire a known modder in the Nexus Community who fit the bill for our team. Some of the members on the Nexus may be familiar with [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3076419?tab=user+files]Nightasy[/url] as he has developed and shared mods on the Nexus Mod sites for several years now. Nightasy has worked in the gaming industry for over five-plus years, using a variety of different engines. Luckily for our team, Nightasy also has been able to connect us with other talented mod developers who he has worked with in the past. The input we have received from Nightasy with regards to the development of the SFS Modders Toolkit has been quite innovative and we consider him an invaluable member of our Character Creation Pillar.

[b]What was the process of going from modders and video game enthusiasts to developers like (for those among you where this would apply)? What lessons did you learn from modding that you are able to apply now?[/b]

Nightasy: It was actually modding Bethesda titles that made me want to work in the gaming industry in the first place. I didn’t even know mods existed prior to that and one day I was just browsing the web and came across a link to Nexus Mods. It straight up floored me, completely changed my gaming interests and I haven’t stopped modding ever since. For me, a game that can’t be modded just doesn’t quite keep my interests anymore. Heck, I’ll still pick playing FO4 and Skyrim to this very day over a game that can’t be modded.

I was so passionate about developing mods that at one point I even wanted to teach other people how to do it and made an entire video series about modding. I was nowhere near as educated as I am now but I loved modding so much that I just wanted to help other people learn how to mod. It wasn’t too long before I found myself developing mods as well as teaching people how to mod, far more than actually playing games. One day I just decided that since I spent all of my free time making mods for games that I might as well go to college and do it for a living. So I did the whole college scene and set myself to task to learn everything I could about game development and I haven’t looked back. It was the best decision I ever made.

Modding is a challenging task for anyone to undertake, especially since most games do not support it. It requires a lot of testing, a lot of dedication as well as a ton of trial and error (and a hex decoder or two along the way). It taught me that where there’s a will, there’s a way and it taught me how to go about solving problems. One of the most important things that I learned from modding is that I love it so much that I hope everyone will someday get to experience the joy of creating mods themselves. There’s a sort of accomplishment that you can’t get anywhere else when you hear from other community members on the Nexus that they love using your mods.

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[b]How are you planning on coping with the balancing act between providing a fair and balanced MMORPG experience as well as the ability for players to freely mod their games?
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Jack Wayne: Rest assured that we have taken careful consideration during our development to ensure that mods will not provide any player with unfair advantages. Mods that are installed are visual only to the player that installs them. Player's will be able to request that other players also install the same mods so that they can see them in their game as well. Upon approving such a request, the mods will only replace the visual aesthetics on the original player’s lands and assets that the other player owns. The beauty of that is that this will allow players to create their very own unique culture and other players will be able to see it without having it affect their own lands. There are some restrictions in place for mods and we are taking measures to ensure that mods will not be capable of conflicting with fair gameplay.

David Wilson: To point out one example of what Jack is referring to is that we predict that certain concerns may arise in the community of people that will play as thieves or assassins. Asset materials (also referred to as “shaders”) have strict rules set in place to prevent mods from making your character glow on another person's client, there are also size restrictions and so forth. No worries, you will still be able to hide in the shadows. The SFS Modder Toolkit will provide a checklist for any asset that a modder wishes to customize. In order to export the mod from the SFS Modder Toolkit, the mod must meet those requirements. For example, if a wall doesn’t have a hole in the center of it, then the mod that replaces the wall can likewise, not have a hole in it.

Any new asset that is approved by our mod curators will be balanced within the game. The modder will be able to select from a list of defined options that will determine how the asset will be integrated once a player decides to install it. For example, if a modder releases a new legendary sword of old and this mod is approved, the modder will have to select whether this sword can be crafted at a forge or if the sword must be found within the world.

If the sword can be forged, the strength of the sword would be determined by what is required to craft the sword. The more resources the sword requires in order to create it, the more powerful it will be and so forth. If the modder selects that the weapon is unique then it will have a soul in Seconds from Silence.

If a player finds the sword in a dungeon and then another player finds another one of them in a buried treasure chest, one of the swords is considered a reincarnation of the first. As a reincarnated weapon it will begin to drain the first one anytime they are near one another until one of them is destroyed.

Jack Wayne: The modder will select an existing model to be used as the default appearance of the new asset. Any curated asset will need to be installed by a player in order for the player to see the modder's visual version of it.

David Wilson: We will also be providing a server kit for modders that wish to make game mechanic changes. The modder will be able to host their own server, make changes to game mechanics (such as damage multipliers, arrow traveling speed, running speeds, unique skill trees, etc.) though players will still need to have an active account with Abstract Era Entertainment. Additionally, any characters and assets that exist on that server will not be transferrable to the official servers.

[b]You mentioned that your development process is based on a “four pillar” approach. Could you elaborate on that?[/b]

David Wilson: The Four Pillars of development are as follows: Character Creation, Combat, Building, and Ruling.

Developing Seconds from Silence is no small task and contains a ton of unique and interesting things that players will be able to do. As there are so many different elements of gameplay in Seconds from Silence we divided them into what we refer to as “The Four Pillars” of development. Each Pillar Team is dedicated to completing that pillar’s elements of gameplay. This allows our team to stay organized as well as focus on their dedicated tasks. The Four Pillar approach also allows our team to separate the various elements of gameplay into unique pillar testing clients for individual feedback.

Jack Wayne: The Four Pillar approach is essential in our efforts to complete the overall game and ensure that every aspect of gameplay is provided with equal attention to detail during development. All aspects of gameplay within Seconds from Silence are divided into the Four Pillars and overseen by our most experienced developers. As such, we ensure that tasks are always completed and quality standards are well maintained within the art direction guidelines that have been set in place.

[b]Regarding one of the pillars “Character Creation” in particular, is there any way for people to help you guys out with testing?[/b]

David Wilson: We are glad that you ask that as a primary goal for our having reached out to the Nexus is to recruit alpha testers for each of the Four Pillars of development. Each pillar maintains its very own alpha testing client for alpha testers to test that specific pillar of gameplay. We have just launched our alpha testing sign up page for members interested in testing Seconds from Silence. Anyone that wishes to participate in alpha testing and in doing so assist our team with user feedback may take the following steps:


[list]
[*]Visit [url=https://www.secondsfromsilence.com/register/]www.secondsfromsilence.com/register/[/url] 
[*]Register an account. (The account you log into the site with is the same account you’ll use to log into the alpha testing client if you are selected for alpha testing).
[*]Visit [url=https://www.secondsfromsilence.com/four-pillar-testing/]www.secondsfromsilence.com/four-pillar-testing/[/url]
[*]Sign up to test in each pillar that you wish to be considered for testing!
[/list]
[i]Note: It is possible to be selected as a tester in multiple pillars at the same time.[/i]

Alpha testers will be randomly selected once enough members have signed up for consideration. Upon being selected as an alpha tester, you will be instructed via email on how to begin your participation in our testing process. It is important to note that all alpha testers will be required to agree to the terms and conditions for testing Seconds from Silence prior to downloading any alpha testing client.

Upon being selected as an alpha tester, in any pillar of development, you will be given access to download and login to the alpha testing client released for that pillar of development. As an alpha tester, you will continue to have access to that pillar’s testing client until all alpha testing has finalized and the game is ready to be launched. You will be able to not only play Seconds from Silence but also provide us with valuable feedback during development!

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[b]Last but not least, is there anything else you would like to say to our community?[/b]

David Wilson: We here at Abstract Era Entertainment wish to thank all of you for your time and interest in our title, Seconds from Silence. As Seconds from Silence is officially being developed to support player modding, we highly value any feedback we can receive from the Nexus Mods community! Again, thank you and we hope many of you will join us in alpha testing for Seconds from Silence!

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Thanks a lot to David, Jack, and Nightasy from Abstract Era Entertainment - the indie studio behind Seconds from Silence. As always if there are any mod authors or mod projects you'd like to hear about, don't hesitate to send a message to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975]Pickysaurus[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597]BigBizkit[/url].

We've noticed an increase in support tickets recently related to payments failing when attempting to purchase Supporter or Premium Membership on the site. This issue seems to have only affected a small subset of people who have purchased membership through Pay Pal, but it's important I get the word out so these users are not out of pocket or out of membership they legitimately paid for on the site.

The issue was caused by a communication error between Pay Pal's services and our services. We've put a fix in place and will be monitoring the situation closely over the coming weeks.

If you've purchased Supporter or Premium Membership from us over the past two weeks, please verify that your membership is working properly. Similarly, if your payment "failed" for whatever reason, and you tried to purchase the membership again, please double check to make sure you were not double charged. If you find any issues or anomalies related to your purchase do not hesitate to [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?app=nexus&module=support§ion=new]contact me[/url], providing any pertinent details, and I will get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. If you already sent in a support ticket over the weekend, I'll be taking a look at them right now.

Our paid memberships are extremely important to us and the continued existence of the sites, so please rest assured any issues will be looked into seriously, reimbursed where necessary and compensated accordingly.

We've been chatting with the team behind Blade & Sorcery about the official modding support included in update 6 of the game and are pleased to announce full Vortex support for Blade & Sorcery. 

To start modding the game with [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/about/vortex/]Vortex[/url], you'll need 0.18.11 or above and Blade & Sorcery 6.0 or above. Then you just need to click the "Download with Manager" or "Vortex" buttons found on the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery]mod pages[/url].

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Vortex allows you to easily install and uninstall your mods, create profiles for different mod combinations and quickly check for updates. We've put together a [url=https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Modding_Blade_%26_Sorcery_with_Vortex]guide on the Vortex wiki[/url]. If you're having problems getting started, you can also watch the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/bladeandsorcery/videos/1]tutorial video[/url] by [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/63592656]TheBaronReviews[/url], Blade & Sorcery's Community Manager. 

For mod authors who want to make their mods compatible with U6, you will need to use the [url=https://github.com/KospY/BasSDK]Blade & Sorcery SDK[/url] to repack the files. Please ensure you mod also includes a manifest.json file to make sure it can be loaded by the game and detected by Vortex. 

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If you've not heard of Blade & Sorcery, it's a really cool VR hack and slash game created by former Fallout New Vegas modder, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/337717]KospY[/url]. The game sees you take on waves of enemies using an assortment of weapons and magic powers. We've had a lot of fun with it in the Nexus Mods office while testing modding support and if you want to give it a try it's available on [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/629730/Blade_and_Sorcery/]Steam[/url], [url=https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/2472374902778951]Oculus[/url] and [url=https://www.viveport.com/apps/a0ef3810-169c-4b13-ab62-22168842a918/Blade_and_Sorcery/]Viveport[/url]. 

A big thank you to the Blade & Sorcery team for working with us on the mod support! 

Do you like memes? Do you like the idea of winning one of 3 GOG keys for a game of your choice? Then we have great news for you: submit a fresh modding and/or gaming related meme and one of the three game keys could be yours!

With our last [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13986]Community Screenshot Event[/url] having been a great success, we thought it’s time to run another enticing event, this time centred around humour and fun in the form of modding memes!

[b][size=3]Modding Memes[/size][/b]

What we mean by that is, essentially, images depicting modding and/or gaming related content garnished with a humorous caption. 

Here are a few examples of what we are looking for:

[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561628168-184118888.jpeg][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561628609-1969476490.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561628172-227586564.jpeg][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561628612-744700389.jpeg[/img][/url][/center][center][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/edit/?id=93729&game_id=110&step=media#lg=3&slide=94][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561628172-46441003.png[/img][/url][/center]
These, however, are just examples and you are invited to get creative. You can use freely available tools such as [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=meme+generator&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB796GB796&oq=meme+generator&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2j0l3.1367j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8]meme generators[/url] or [url=https://imgur.com/memegen]imgur[/url] to create your memes from a template or from your own image (preferable).

[b]Please note[/b]: while we understand that there is a time and place for “edgy” or political memes, this event is not it. All submissions need to adhere to our site rules and be appropriate for all audiences. In other words: the memes would need to be something you could show to your grannies, little brothers, nieces etc.

[b][size=3]Prizes[/size][/b]

Our friends over at [url=https://www.gog.com/?pp=a120fe5cad51f0d0942d7c283478628047d6cfceA]GOG.com[/url] are running a "Created with Passion" sale (starting today 03:00pm CEST) with amazing discounts for loads of great DRM-free games and we got some pretty neat prizes from them to give away to you guys!

[center][url=https://www.gog.com/?pp=a120fe5cad51f0d0942d7c283478628047d6cfceA][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561977453-1086085678.jpeg[/img][/url][/center]
In total we will be giving away three game keys for [b]a game of your choice on GOG.com[/b] (excluding preorders). One key will go to a random participant, while two keys will be given away to two randomly drawn memesters from the jury selection consisting of 10 memes that our Nexus Mods jury will be choosing.

[center][img width=500,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561919855-1079657691.png[/img] [img width=500,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1561919860-1250779917.png[/img][/center]
[b][size=3]Jury Selection[/size][/b]

Humour is, of course, very subjective, but we will try our best to judge based on the following criteria:

[list]
[*]Humour
[*]Creativity
[*]Aesthetic appeal
[/list]
Bonus points if...

[list]
[*]the meme is related to modding in particular
[*]the meme is showing off mods
[*]the meme is extra dank
[/list]
[b][size=3]How to enter the event[/size][/b]

[list=1]
[*]Create at least one meme i.e. an image or collage of images depicting (ingame) modding/gaming content with a humorous caption.
[*]Upload your meme to the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/images/add]public image share[/url] ([url=https://help.nexusmods.com/article/28-file-submission-guidelines]site rules[/url] apply). Please use the "Funny" category - where applicable.
[*]Fill out the event entry form here: [url=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-kzBqgBfFldMqDCk-BD4Ocu30Cbtc91QgrZcu7Q6IRmKl3g/viewform]Click here to enter for a chance to win one of 3x Winner's Choice GOG keys.[/url]
[*]Make sure to provide your email, Nexus Mods username, and the URLs linking to your memes on the image share.
[/list]
If you do not fill out the Google Form, you are not eligible to win a prize!

The event will be running for [b]two weeks[/b] from today Monday, 1st July until Monday, [b]15th July 04:00 PM (GMT+1)[/b]. Make sure to submit your entries before the end of the event if you would like to participate. 

Please take note of the rules of participation as well as the general terms and conditions below.

With that all being said, we are all very much looking forward to seeing what memes you can come up with. Best of luck to all participants and feel free to share your thoughts and links to your memes in the comments below! If you would like to provide additional feedback, please post it in [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7779713-meme-mania-feedback-thread/]this dedicated feedback thread[/url] so we can keep track of it.

Best of luck, all!

[b]Participants - Entries - Memes[/b]
[spoiler]
[list]
[*]Participants are required to submit at least one (1) meme (i.e. an image taken in-game with a humorous caption) relating to gaming and/or modding in order to enter the event and become eligible for winning a prize.
[*]Submitting several memes is possible, however, only one (1) meme per user will be featured in either the jury selection or the community selection.
[*]All entries must be submitted between Monday, 1st July 2019 and Monday, 15th July 2019 04:00 PM (GMT+1).
[*]Within the context of this competition, a “meme” shall be defined as an image or a collage of images paired with a humorous caption.
[*]Memes must be uploaded to the public image share, and participants need to fill out the contest entry Google Form.
[*]Memes may depict game and/or mod content in combination with a caption and/or another image (e.g. reaction shot etc.).
[*]You must be the copyright holder i.e. creator of the image or be otherwise authorised to distribute it.
[*]Images must not include artwork from other creators without explicit permission.
[*]Images may be edited with external tools (GIMP, Photoshop etc.), or “meme generators”.
[*]Images must not depict content that would not be permissible to be hosted on Nexus Mods e.g. armours that were illegally ripped from another game.
[*]Featured content must conform to our site rules (inappropriate content) and must not feature adult content such as nudity, swearing, sexualised content, extreme violence and gore.
[*]Entries must not be provocative, divisive, discriminatory, or abusive towards any real-world individual or group, nor relate to the topic of real-life politics, religion, gender identity, sexuality, or social class. 
[*]Entries found to be in violation of any of those rules and/or our general terms and policies will be disqualified.
[*]Disqualified entries will be removed from the final selection and any awarded associated prizes will be revoked.
[/list][/spoiler]

[b]Prizes - Jury Selection - Community Selection[/b]
[spoiler]
[list]
[*]In total, three (3) “Winner’s Choice”* GOG keys will be given away as prizes during the event.
* A GOG.com key of your choice valued at $60 (or currency equivalent) or less, excluding pre-orders.[*]One (1) Winner’s Choice GOG key will be given away randomly to one (1) user who submitted at least one meme as a valid entry, and who entered the draw via the Google Form.
[*]One meme per user will be displayed in a final news post concluding the event.
[*]Ten (10) memes total will be picked for the “jury selection” by a jury made up of site staff / the Nexus Mods team.
[*]Two (2) Winner’s Choice GOG keys will be awarded to two (2) randomly picked users represented in the jury selection.
[/list][/spoiler]

[b]General Terms and Conditions [/b][spoiler]
By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.


[list]
[*][b]Promoter name[/b]. Black Tree Gaming Limited incorporated in England and Wales with company number 06360077 of 10 Southernhay West, Exeter, EX1 1JG  (referred to throughout this terms as the “Promoter”, “we”, “us” and “our”).
[*][b]Deadline[/b]. All competition entries must be received by the Promoter by no later than the Closing Date displayed on the Google Form. All competition entries received after the Closing Date are automatically disqualified.
[*][b]How to Enter[/b]. You may enter through the Google Form by entering your email address (for contact purposes). You must complete this initial entry to be eligible to win. You do not have to pay to enter the competition, however, you are responsible for any phone or internet charges you may incur when entering. If you are unsure about these charges, you should contact your phone or internet operator before entering. Entries will not be acknowledged and we do not accept responsibility for entries that are lost, delayed or which we do not receive.
[*][b]Eligibility[/b]. You must be aged 18 or over at the time of entry in order to enter this competition. We may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition. No purchase necessary. You must enter the competition yourself. Entries which are incomplete, removed, corrupt or ineligible will not be accepted. We reserve the right to verify any entries and winners and may refuse to award prizes and/or disqualify you if you make or attempt to make any entry to this competition which is in our reasonable opinion contrary to these terms and conditions or by its nature unfair to other entrants. This might include entries which are made by automated means, fraudulent, made in bulk, made on behalf of another person, or made by hacking, cheating or deception. You must comply with the laws that apply to you in the location that you access the competition from. If any laws applicable to you restrict or prohibit you from entering the competition, you must comply with those legal restrictions or, if applicable, refrain from entering the competition.
[*][b]Prize conditions[/b]. Prizes are subject to availability with no cash alternative. Prizes are not negotiable, exchangeable or transferable. The winner(s) will be contacted via Private Message on the Nexus Mods website or the email that you provided on the Google Form. You must claim your prize personally within 1 month of the Closing Date otherwise your claim will become invalid (you are solely responsible for this). The decision of the Promoter is final. We have the right to substitute any prize for an alternative prize of equal or greater value.
[*][b]Excluded participants and entries[/b]. Employees of the Promoters, its holding or subsidiary companies, its agents or suppliers or anyone else professionally connected with the competition, or members of their families or households. The Promoter will not admit entries which: are automatically created by a computer or bot or script or other automated technology, created in bulk, have been altered or forged or tampered with, are illegible or incomplete or which generally in Promoter’s reasonable opinion are inappropriate to admit.
[*][b]Selection of winners[/b]. The winner will be chosen at random. If you did not provide a valid email address when entering we will choose a new winner. If you did not complete the mandatory "Leave a comment" action, we will find a new winner.
[*][b]Ownership of competition entries and intellectual property rights[/b]. The Promoter does not claim any rights of ownership in your competition entry. The promoter is granted a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable license to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sublicense the competition entry and any accompanying materials for its marketing or other commercial purposes.
[*][b]Data protection and publicity[/b]. If you are a winner of the competition, you agree that the Promoter may use your provided information to announce the winner of this competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes without any payment to you. You represent that all of the information which you provide to us in connection with this competition shall be and shall remain complete and accurate. You represent that your entry will not contain anything (i) that is or could reasonably be viewed as harmful, harassing, defamatory, libellous, obscene or invasive of another’s privacy; or (ii) which you do not have a right to make available lawfully (including any material which infringes the rights of any other). By entering this competition, you agree that any personal information provided by you with the competition entry may be held and used only by the Promoter, its affiliates, its agents and suppliers to administer the competition.
[*][b]Limitation of liability[/b]. Insofar as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner(s) or runner(s)-up or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of the Promoter, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected. The Promoter will NOT accept responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit for any reason or in any way.
[*][b]Social media.[/b] You acknowledge that the competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Google, Facebook, or Twitter. You agree to release Google, Facebook, and Twitter from any responsibility to you in relation to the competition.
[*][b]General[/b]. (a) We may use the information which you provide in entering this competition to contact you for the purposes described in these terms and conditions. We will process and store your information in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found at: http://help.nexusmods.com/article/20-privacy-policy
[*](b) We may wish to transfer all or a part of our rights under these terms to someone else without obtaining your consent. You agree that we may do so provided that the transfer does not significantly disadvantage you. (c) If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition; (d) The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the competition where it becomes necessary to do so; and (e) These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of England and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
[*]For questions, Please contact support@nexusmods.com
[/list][/spoiler]

Last month marked the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/14022]launch of the fifth annual Morrowind May Modathon Modding Competition[/url] celebrating the 17th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and we are happy to say that the event has been a great success with a whopping ~[url=https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/?tags_yes%5B%5D=2594]230 new mods[/url] being uploaded by ~80 individual modders - veterans and newcomers alike!

To put this into perspective: not since 2004 have we seen this many mods being uploaded for Morrowind in a single month, proving once more that even 17 years after the game's initial release the Morrowind modding community is still going strong.

A huge "thank you" goes to all participating modders for their contributions! You can see a full list of all mod submissions [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7602730-morrowind-may-modathon-month-2019-celebrating-17-years-of-morrowind/#entry70590293]in this post the event host darkelfguy wrote up[/url].

Congratulations to everyone who has earned themselves one or several of the various modding achievements or got picked as a random winner of one or multiple game keys!

Stay tuned for the jury picks for the top 3 winners of this year's Modathon, which will be announced sometime in July - once the secret jury has had enough time to thoroughly play through all the submissions.

With that being said: we hope to see you all again for next year's Modathon.

Until then, happy modding!

Summer is here and our friends over at [url=https://www.gog.com/?pp=a120fe5cad51f0d0942d7c283478628047d6cfceA]GOG.com[/url] are having their Summer Sale Festival. They've given us 100 keys for a bunch of awesome games to give away to our community. 

If you're looking for something new to keep your appetite for gaming sated until the new E3 titles are released, here's your chance to pick up a new game for the low, low price of free!

There are a few rules you should be aware of before entering. It's pretty basic, but if you get it wrong your entry will be disqualified and we'd hate for that to happen. To put your name in the hat to win you need to:


[list]
[*]Leave a comment on this article. You can say anything you want, why not tell us what your favourite mod is? (Site rules still apply.)
[*]Log into the Gleam widget with your Facebook or Email account. 
[*]Click the entry action that says "Leave a comment on Nexus Mods".
[*]Enter your full Nexus Mods username (check your spelling!)
[/list]
If you forget to comment or include an invalid username, you'll lose your chance to win.

We've also put together our [url=https://www.gog.com/partner/summer_nexusmods?pp=a120fe5cad51f0d0942d7c283478628047d6cfceA]Nexus Mods Summer Collection[/url] including some of our favourite moddable games available at GOG. 

Good luck, we'll be closing the competition on Monday and contacting the winners shortly after.

[size=5][url=https://gleam.io/dn6gu/gog-summer-sale-giveaway]Click here to enter for your chance to win 1 of 100 Game Codes from GOG.com[/url]
[/size]
[size=1][i](Entries close at 09:00 GMT on  Monday 10th June 2019 - all prizes must be redeemed before Monday 24th June or they will expire.)
[/i][/size]
Here's a complete list of games up for grabs:

[spoiler]
[list]
[*]AquaNox 2: Revelation
[*]Banner Saga
[*]Caesar 3
[*]Darksiders Warmastered Edition
[*]Day of the Tentacle Remastered
[*]Dreamfall The Longest Journey
[*]Dungeons 2
[*]Earthworm Jim 1 + 2
[*]Fahrenheit
[*]Freespace 2
[*]Gabriel Knight Sins of the Fathers
[*]Giants: Citizen Kabuto
[*]Grand Ages: Medieval
[*]Grim Fandango
[*]Homeworld Remastered
[*]Icewind Dale
[*]Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Collection
[*]Jazz Jackrabbit Collection
[*]Myst Masterpiece Edition
[*]Oxenfree
[*]Pharaoh + Cleopatra
[*]Planescape Torment
[*]Police Quest 1 + 2
[*]Psychonauts
[*]SpellForce 2 - Anniversary Edition
[*]Sudden Strike 2 Gold
[*]Sudden Strike 3
[*]Sudden Strike Gold
[*]Syberia
[*]Syberia 2
[*]Syberia 3
[*]System Shock: Enhanced Edition
[*]System Shock™ 2
[*]The 11th Hour
[*]The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
[*]The Guild Gold Edition
[*]The Longest Journey
[*]Torchlight
[*]Vampire Redemption[/spoiler]
[/list][size=1][i](Disclosure: We are a member of GOG.com's affiliate program. This means if you use any of the links in the article above to make a purchase from GOG.com, we get a very small cut. It's another way to help us keep the lights on and we're always happy to promote such a great company!)[/i][/size]

Good news for our [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/sekiro]Sekiro[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/residentevil22019]Resident Evil 2 (2019)[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/vampirebloodlines]Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/dawnofman]Dawn of Man[/url], and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/survivingmars]Surviving Mars[/url] communities!

As of version 0.18.5, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/about/vortex/]our new mod manager Vortex[/url] now supports modding for all of the above games meaning you can use Vortex to mod 59 different games total.

Moreover, multi-variant mods - that’s mods that give you multiple options, such as different colours for armour replacers etc. - for many games, including the above (with the exception of Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines), can make use of [url=https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/How_to_create_mod_installers]mod installers[/url] when used together with Vortex.

In a nutshell, mod installers add a convenient menu to the mod installation that allows you to pick and choose the options you want. This is convenient for users, but also for mod authors because it means that you will only need to pack and maintain one file on your mod page, rather than providing, maintaining, and updating many different options.

Example: [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/sekiro/mods/244]Hat Pack for Sekiro by ZullieTheWitch[/url]
[img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1558952970-541783997.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1558952973-1717051411.jpeg[/img]

Mod installers are a viable option for many different games: from most Bethesda games (The Elder Scrolls and Fallout) to Monster Hunter: World, Sekiro, or Resident Evil 2 (2019).

For anyone who is interested in making their own mod installers, we have written up [url=https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/How_to_create_mod_installers]a brief wiki article[/url] covering the creation process which is simplified thanks to a [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/6821/?tab=files&BH=0]community-made tool.[/url]

With that being said, feel free to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/about/vortex/]try out Vortex[/url], view [url=https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Category:Vortex]our documentation[/url], or ask any questions you might have in our [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/forum/4306-vortex-support/]Vortex Support Forums[/url] directly.

Happy modding!

Following the announcement [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13921]3 months ago[/url], today is the day we'll be turning off our legacy modding API. This system has been fully replaced by the new Nexus Mods API and is therefore redundant.

[b]What does this mean?
[/b]Any applications using this service will no longer be able to log in, retrieve mod information or handle downloads from our site. We've been working with the developers who maintain some of the most popular modding tools to help them make the transition to the new API, so many applications that were using this API have already been updated. 


[b]Why are we doing this?[/b]
The simple answer is that the legacy API was no longer fit for purpose and had become increasingly hard to develop on and maintain. We made changes last year to move the legacy API to https only which addressed a number of security issues, but the codebase is from an old version of the Nexus Mods website which made it difficult to keep secure without compromising usability.

Another important consideration is performance and scalability. The legacy API was designed primarily to be used by Nexus Mod Manager when our user base was significantly smaller. Other applications reverse engineered this API as time went on, but we never released any documentation for it. Continuing to use this system would eventually lead to significantly degraded performance for applications using the service. We've designed the new API with 3rd party developers in mind, making it much more accessible to integrate Nexus Mods functionality into their tools and games and we’ve built on a platform that we can scale easily going forward.


[b]Which applications does this effect?
[/b]Any application that is still using the old API, examples include:


[list]
[*]Nexus Mod Manager v0.65.11 and lower
[*]Mod Organiser 2 v2.1 and lower
[*]Mod Organizer 1
[/list]

[b]Does this mean I can't use my mod manager anymore?
[/b]No, your mod manager will still work for any functions that don't require a connection to Nexus Mods until you update to a compatible version. You will still be able to download mods manually and import them into the application.


[b]What will happen to Nexus Mod Manager?
[/b]Users with the last official release of Nexus Mod Manager (v0.65.2) will no longer be able to log in and will see an error message (below). We encourage these users to [url=https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Migrating_to_Vortex_from_another_Mod_Manager]transition to Vortex[/url] or update NMM to the latest [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/site/mods/4?tab=files]community-maintained version[/url].

[img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1557756418-179188151.jpeg[/img]

[b]How can I update my app to use the new API?
[/b]We have [url=https://app.swaggerhub.com/apis-docs/NexusMods/nexus-mods_public_api_params_in_form_data/1.0#/]documentation for the new API[/url] available here. If you require additional support implementing the new API, please contact [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/site/users/64597]BigBizkit[/url] or [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975]Pickysaurus[/url].

It’s May and that means the annual [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7602730-morrowind-may-modathon-month-2019-celebrating-17-years-of-morrowind/]Morrowind Modathon[/url] is back to celebrate the 17th anniversary of [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind]The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind[/url] - and this time around there are not only achievements waiting to be unlocked but also a huge number of[b] keys for AAA and indie games[/b] to be won! [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/6591631-morrowind-may-modathon-month-2018-celebrating-16-years-of-morrowind/]Last year's Modathon[/url] sparked the creation of [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/?BH=1&RH_ModList=nav:true,home:false,type:0,user_id:0,game_id:100,advfilt:true,include_adult:false,page_size:20,show_game_filter:false,open:true,tags_yes%5B%5D:2106]many new and exciting Morrowind mods[/url] and we are all looking forward to seeing what our community will come up with this year.

The event will be running for one month - from 1st May until 1st June 2019 - and everyone is invited to participate: simply publish a mod for Morrowind and mark it with the [b]Modathon 2019 tag[/b].

[center][img width=600,height=728]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1556533024-1258680618.jpeg[/img][/center]
Every week, between two and three participating mod authors will be selected at random and awarded a game key for an AAA or indie game.

But that is not all, the grand prize of ~8 game keys (depending on a potential tie) will be awarded to the "Modathon mod of the month" which will be decided upon by a secret jury based on a number of criteria and even the two runners-up will be getting 3 and 5 game keys respectively.

All prizes are being given out by the Modathon host [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13682]darkelfguy[/url] who also runs the YouTube channel [url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiULQ_bcPRu_jMTZ86WO7A]Morrowind Modding Showcases[/url]. Learn more about the event rules and prizes in the [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7602730-morrowind-may-modathon-month-2019-celebrating-17-years-of-morrowind/]official announcement thread[/url].

Keep an eye on our social media channels ([url=https://www.facebook.com/nexussites/]Facebook[/url] and [url=https://twitter.com/NexusSites]Twitter[/url]) as well as the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind]Morrowind mod section[/url] for updates and, of course, new, spectacular mods! 

With that being said, here’s the man himself with a few words to launch the Modathon madness:

[quote]For the fifth consecutive year, the Morrowind May Modathon Month Modding Competition, the biggest annual modding competition in The Elder Scrolls modding community, returns on May 1st! Celebrating Morrowind's 17th anniversary, this year's Modathon Modding Competition will run throughout the entire month of May, and participating Morrowind mods will have a chance to unlock sweet achievements, win prizes, and compete with their peers to become the Modding Champions of 2019!

Last year's Modathon became one of the biggest modding competitions in Elder Scrolls modding history, with 89 mods submitted by over 40 different modders, and this year is shaping up to be even greater! We have some 80 achievements for you to unlock, for everything from releasing a house mod, to building an epic dungeon, to overhauling and replacing the game's graphics, and of course we have a ton of hidden achievements for all sorts of themes, gameplay additions, and much more for you to discover! Unlock as many as you can and become a modding master!

Participation is simple, any Morrowind mod released in May can be entered into the competition, just remember to include a tagline "Part of the May Modathon Month" near the top of your mod's description, or use the Modathon 2019 tag to enter your mod as part of the competition. You'll be automatically entered to potentially win one of our weekly random-drawing prizes, and of course unlock achievements!

Mod your way to fame and glory in the biggest modding event of the year, and help celebrate one of the greatest games ever made! The best games never die, so get out there, have fun, and build a ton of mods to make this great game even better than ever before!

The competition runs from May 1st through to June 1st, and you can find out more about how to participate, along with a complete list of achievements, [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7602730-morrowind-may-modathon-month-2019-celebrating-17-years-of-morrowind/]over on the official announcement thread[/url]!

- [b]darkelfguy / Morrowind Modding Showcases[/b][/quote]
Best of luck to all participants and happy modding!

How do you feel about the design of the Nexus Mods website? Since our sites current design [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13353]went live in 2017[/url] we’ve been listening to all the feedback, both good and bad, we've received from the community. Armed with that and having now filled our UI/UX designer position at the Nexus Mods office, our designer has been tasked with going through the current site layout and looking for ways it can be improved. 

[img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/2295/31179975-1555341825.png[/img]

We’ve spent some time looking at the analytics on our website, with a focus on the user's flow and how they navigate through the site. Although useful, this information can only tell us so much. To get a true measure of the user's experience on our site, we would like to give you the opportunity to tell us what you think about Nexus Mods. 

Initially, we’ll be focusing on the Nexus Mods homepage, navigation and mod pages. Starting out with a very short survey to gauge how our community feels about the experience we are currently offering. 

[line]
[b][size=4][url=https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHmbpYOUHcQ-UkCxkbSpS8rG72668pQWz3y4UGR9dVItlbdg/viewform]You can find the survey here.[/url][/size][/b]

The survey will run from [b]15th April 2019 to 26th April 2019[/b]. When giving your answers please try to be as constructive as possible. Honest feedback is welcome, but if you don't like something we'd love to know how you think it can be made better. 
[line]

At the end of the questions, you’ll notice we mention a Design Focus Group that will run a short time after the survey closes. Based on the responses we get from the community we’ll be hand-picking users across a wide demographic of site usage to participate in focused discussions about particular site features and functionality. 

Our hope is to cast a wide net to capture the opinions of all types of users including new users, veterans of the site (who went through the last redesign with us), mod authors, image/video share users and those who like to engage with others in the posts section or forums. 

It doesn’t stop there though. In the future, we may ask the community for more feedback on different parts of the site or invite additional users to our focus groups. Eventually, we plan to turn the designer’s creative eye to more areas of the site and Vortex. Make sure you pay attention to our site news for more on this over the coming months. 

Thank you for participating! 

A [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13986]few weeks ago[/url] we launched our first Screenshot Community Event giving everyone the opportunity to submit a screenshot for Skyrim, Skyrim SE, Enderal, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 depicting the event theme "Conflict and Struggle" and potentially win one of three prizes which would be awarded at random to three different participants.

The turnout has been great with hundreds of screenshots having been submitted and we, the Nexus Mods team, as well as our co-organisers [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962?tab=user+images]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930?tab=user+images]napoleonofthestump[/url] have been stunned by all the amazing screenshots our community has come up with over the past weeks the event has run. We have since been hard at work looking through every single entry from each participant who filled out the entry form to pick our 15 favourites for the jury selection. Please note that while these are our 15 favourite shots, this event is more about having everyone participate and contribute - veterans and newcomers alike. That is why the three prizes (three £25 Steam Gift Cards) are awarded [b]randomly[/b] - two go to two randomly chosen artists from the jury selection, and one goes to a random participant from the event. 

You can find out who won the three individual prizes at the end of this news post.

[b][size=3]Jury Selection[/size][/b]

Naturally, judging a piece of art is a very subjective and difficult endeavour, so please keep in mind that these shots are not necessarily the "best" or "most beautiful" ones. I can speak for myself as well as our co-organisers that narrowing it down to 15 shots total was not an easy task, due to the amount of high-quality entries submitted. While we tried our best to be somewhat objective, in the end, it all lies in the eye of the beholder. You can read a short blurb about our reasoning for choosing a particular shot by clicking on the spoiler tag below a given image. With that being said, here are our 15 favourite shots in no particular order:[b] 

[/b][i]Note: All images can be viewed in their original resolution on the respective image page (click the hyperlink that says "full set").[/i]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807580-1859344356.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807580-1859344356.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807566-1860175998.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807566-1860175998.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by VictoriaG - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/99614/?force_view=1]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by radbeetle - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/145380/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]Sometimes the best way to face a conflict or a struggle is to use sheer brute force and then show any opponent who is boss! This shot is all about that and the dynamic movement of her kick and the raider going down makes it a fantastic action capture.

- Excellentium[/quote]
Right
[quote]You really don't need a bunch of fancy ENB effects, capital D Drama, SF genre tropes turned up to eleven, or sorta-but-not-quite photorealistic trappings to make an effective piece of digital art. This diptych tells its story perfectly effectively in a quiet, understated way that only adds to its power as a piece. The attention to detail here is worth noting: Observe the selective use of warm and cool color - especially in the lighting - the figure's mirrored pose, the unconventional angle of view, and the way that the background elements are framed and presented in soft - but still intelligible - focus. It takes artistic confidence to present such a subtle image in a public contest, confidence well earned.

- napoleonofthestump[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807542-591147256.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807542-591147256.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807577-1351149687.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807577-1351149687.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by Bennzoor - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144783/?force_view=1]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by Simboker - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729273/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]I'm very fond of portraits that are able to portray an emotion or feeling without being too obvious about it. The glimpse of something in the corner of the eye, the glance of a memory or a reflection of what the character is facing at the moment. This is what I see in this man's face - a torn struggle within himself before a decision has to be made, or a situation needs to be solved.

- Excellentium[/quote]
Right
[quote]Thinking of conflict and struggle in the world of Skyrim the Civil War immediately comes to mind. This shot gives us a glimpse of what the Civil War could have been like in the game. What I particularly like about this shot is the composition with the relatively large group of soldiers marching off towards a thick fog wall - obfuscating the view and making it unclear what they are marching towards. Victory? Defeat? The shot leaves us wondering, and that is what makes it great.

- BigBizkit[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807572-2042437407.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807572-2042437407.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807549-1886330349.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807549-1886330349.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by Reaper060389 - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144925/?force_view=1]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by defa23 - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729342]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]The first time I saw this shot I immediately thought "Wow, this is wallpaper material! It skillfully depicts a high stakes, fast-paced, and very dynamic conflict. The blue of the laser guns gives a nice contrast to the overall brown-ish tone of the barren scenery. 

- BigBizkit[/quote]
Right
[quote]Naturally, dragons are at the heart and centre of every conflict in the world of Skyrim. This shot beautifully depicts that with five horse-mounted warriors charging off into battle against one massive, upscaled dragon, looming in the background and menacingly staring at the protagonists.

- BigBizkit[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807602-1463883692.jpeg][img width=500,height=222]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807602-1463883692.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807607-1814453378.jpeg][img width=500,height=222]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807607-1814453378.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by EDCVBNM - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144568/?force_view=1]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by EDV120 - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144764/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]All good compositions require balance and consistency - even, perhaps especially, when the artist deliberately decides to create an unbalanced or inconsistent frame. Aspiring screen-archers could stand to learn a lot from the way this image has been framed. Strong diagonal lines predominate, clearly drawing the eye where the artist intends it to go. Notice the placement of background elements in relationship to foreground elements. The positions of the two central figures perfectly balance (follow the same angled diagonal along the raider's arm, the haft of the mutant's weapon, and the off-center dynamic lines that are created by their ever-so-slightly leaning, twisting poses). Quite a lot of mileage out of a subtle color palette. Very skillful use of depth-of-field and lens effects to emphasize, rather than distract from, the central image. 

- napoleonofthestump[/quote]
Right
[quote]There's a certain appeal to a series of delicately composed little images all together in one place. Compositions like this are a screen-shooter's Cornell Box (look it up, nerds). The bloom effects here are particularly well calibrated - grainy and full without that distracting 'blow-out' effect that heavy bloom often has. While I can't help but feel that the piece would have benefited from a more selective balance of spot color and neutral tones over the whole-image desaturated cool tones, the set is still much clearer to 'read' than it would be had all the colors been at normal saturation.

- napoleonofthestump[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807632-438497472.jpeg][img width=340,height=383]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807632-438497472.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807639-1164911045.jpeg][img width=340,height=383]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807639-1164911045.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by Hawkscr1mer - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144604/?force_view=1]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by Irstina - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729544/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]Conflict (as popularly interpreted here) mostly involved two parties - in this case two personas within the same individual - so diptychs of one sort or another were pretty common for this event. This one stands out, again for the display of confidence in the artist's own aesthetic sensibilities. It helps that the face on display here was sculpted with care and attention to detail - the figure is certainly stylized, but that style is restrained and believable. A muted palette is again used to good effect, though perhaps a range of neutral tones would have distinguished figure from ground more noticeably than the wholesale desaturation and bleaching utilized here. Again, the relative subtlety of the piece struck me as unique, interesting, and worth coming back to look at another time.

- napoleonofthestump[/quote]
Right
[quote]A struggle is just as much about making hard decisions and even more so when there are great conflicts at hand. This burden falls on the shoulders of generals and commanders, but even those need an encouraging hand from someone loyal and reliable at difficult times. The great expression of concern and comfort in lieutenant Rikke as she tries to boost general Tullius at the wartable in this shot truly speaks to me.

- Excellentium[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807614-1856245152.jpeg][img width=500,height=189]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807614-1856245152.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807618-175503159.jpeg][img width=500,height=189]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807618-175503159.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by Kazeii1 - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729787/?force_view=1]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by MagdalenaA - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144996/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]Out of all the contributions I've looked through today, and that's all of them, this one was the first I picked as a favorite. It simply describes the hard struggle against environment, predators, and the very survival with a remarkable sense. The cold has been bringing him to his knees for maybe hours, fingers and limbs going numb and frozen, the only warmth still around being that of his breath and the blood running through his veins... and that's something the wild animals of a harsh land are seeking out for prey - the conflict of survival, be it man, animal, or nature itself.

- Excellentium[/quote]
Right
[quote]I like the sense of grand scale that this image conveys. The depiction of a vast, inhuman, warlike architecture wholly at odds with nature and its forms conveys the feeling of 'Conflict' in a more deeply resonant manner than any number of simulated fisticuffs. These shapes are awful and dreadful - they inspire awe and dread - and the quality of the photography - dark, grainy, bottom-lit - picks this up and amplifies the feeling. You have to pay attention to this image to get something out of it, which is part of the reason I like it so much.

- napoleonofthestump[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807555-1749630604.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807555-1749630604.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807562-1388160493.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807562-1388160493.jpeg[/img] [/url]
Left: submitted by ImmotalIce - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/42226]full set[/url] - Right: submitted by polingc - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/43086/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
Left
[quote]The location for this shot with the eery, teal, glow is magical - whimsical even in a way - and thus the perfect stage for a clash between two masters of the arcane arts. The struggle of the two mages in the centre of the shot is the perfect depiction of conflict amidst beautiful and likewise intriguing scenery.

- BigBizkit[/quote]
Right
[quote]Struggle in the world of Skyrim can be about many things, and in this shot, we can observe the struggle of a character having lost a dear companion in battle. The pose really works to emphasise the despair and pain the character is feeling at the moment of realisation, conveying the emotions in a powerful way.

- BigBizkit[/quote][/spoiler]

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807591-1093667264.jpeg][img width=500,height=292]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/24904/24904-1554807591-1093667264.jpeg[/img][/url]
submitted by Zenson - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144576/?force_view=1]full set[/url]
[spoiler]
[quote]The panic is immediate in this shot and it makes the conflict feel close and real, the struggle as chaotic as it should be when stuck in a gunfight against uncertain odds. The pose is just as much a covering from stray bullets as it is a hiding from everything around the character at this very moment. He looks more scared than he probably should admit, and this makes the image even more interesting to me.

- Excellentium[/quote][/spoiler]

[b][size=3]Community Selection[/size]
[/b]
But that's not all - oh no! Almost 100 of you have submitted an entry - some of you submitted one shot of your choice - others entered entire sets into the event. The outpour of creativity has truly been astounding and, therefore, we would like to show off some of the work from every participant who entered the event by filling out the entry form:

[b][url=https://imgur.com/a/IftAbY6]Screenshot Community Event #1 - Conflict and Struggle - Community Selection[/url][/b]

You can view more from every artist via the respective category for [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/categories/101/]Skyrim[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/categories/106/]Skyrim SE[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/enderal/images/categories/100/]Enderal[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/categories/105/]Fallout 4[/url], and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/images/categories/100/]Fallout 76[/url].

A big thank you to everyone who participated:

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[url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729207]sagittarius22[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/42314]sevenpacer[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729273/?force_view=1]Simboker[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/images/626]slbrgt[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/42600]SpiderAkiraC[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/42532/?force_view=1]SpiderBob12[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144809]Stiffon[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/145095]tanque007[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/42383]TearOfTheStar[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144767/?force_view=1]teridactyl[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/729117/?force_view=1]TheGreatFalro[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/138737/?force_view=1]thorrulf[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/42621]Valor429[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/99614/?force_view=1]VictoriaG[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144753]wegas[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/145567]WhitePigeon[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/728680]xonedl[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144576/?force_view=1]Zenson[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/41601]ZMD78

[/url]Also thanks to everyone who contributed their shots to the event category, but did not enter the draw by filling out the entry form. In that regard: an honourable mention goes to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/728844/?force_view=1]SomewhatWindy[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/728940]sa547[/url] whose shots have been duly noted!

[b]Last but not least - the three £25 Steam Gift Cards go to...[/b]

Two randomly chosen participants from the jury selection:
[spoiler]Congratulations to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/145380/?force_view=1]radbeetle[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144604/?force_view=1]Hawkscr1mer[/url]! Please check your PM box for a message from staff.[/spoiler]

One randomly chosen participant from the entire event:
[spoiler]Congratulations to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144670/?force_view=1]chimichanga78[/url]! Please check your PM box for a message from staff.[/spoiler]

I hope you all enjoyed the event and we are looking forward to seeing you back for the next one! Stay tuned and happy modding!

Two weeks ago, we [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13986]launched our first Screenshot Community Event[/url] giving everyone the opportunity to submit a screenshot for Skyrim, Skyrim SE, Enderal, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 depicting the event theme "Conflict and Struggle" and potentially win one of three prizes.

[center][img width=500,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/64597-1552654489.png[/img] [img width=500,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/64597-1552655460.png[/img][/center]
The turnout has been great and we are happy to say that dozens of screenarchers - newcomers and veterans alike - have entered the event. We all - that is the Nexus Mods team as well as our co-hosts for the event: [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url] - have been blown away by the sheer outpour of creativity we have seen from our screenshot community over these past two weeks!

We thank you all for participating in the event and for your contributions - be it your entries or just encouraging comments and feedback in the image share.

Please note that as of [b]04:00 PM (GMT) today[/b], the contest entry form is now closed and that participants cannot edit their entries any longer.

During the next week, we will be picking 15 shots from 15 artists for the jury selection. Once that is done, keep your eyes peeled for a final news post concluding the event.

The three prizes will then be awarded at random: one £25 Steam Gift card will go to a random participant, two separate gift cards will be given to two different artists from the jury selection.

In the meantime, feel free to browse through the event related image category for [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/categories/101/]Skyrim[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/images/categories/106/]Skyrim SE[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/enderal/images/categories/100/]Enderal[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/categories/105/]Fallout 4[/url], and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/images/categories/100/]Fallout 76[/url] and take a look at all the amazing screenshots and sets created by the community.

Thank you all!

In this mod author feature, we’re joined by Dimonoider and gkalian who together make up [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/users/47591538]Haem Projects[/url]. The duo behind the incredibly popular [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/15996]Project AHO[/url] and the recently released mod [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/24351]Carved Brink[/url].

[center][youtube]YGxMtT0g3ag[/youtube] [youtube]rbh0SjCxCXI[/youtube][/center]

[b]Thank you both for taking the time to talk to us. Could you start by telling us a little about yourselves? [/b]

[b]gkalian: [/b] Hello and thanks for the invitation. My name is Alex, I am an engineer from Russia, who became interested in the Elder Scrolls series about 13 years ago. I made several mods for Morrowind and Oblivion during my early days of modding and finally after recording a series of video tutorials about the Creation Kit I finally started developing mods for Skyrim. 

[b]Dimonoider:[/b] Thanks for the opportunity! I’m Dmitry (or Dimon), a 22-year-old dude from Belarus (a small country between Poland and Russia). I’ve been involved in modding games since childhood. I dream to work in games (or cinema) industry.


[b]Project AHO, released in March 2018, took the Skyrim modding scene by storm. It was downloaded almost 20,000 times for Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition in the first week alone. Could you tell us about how this mod came to be? 

[/b][b]Dimonoider:[/b] I started working on it in 2014, it took a lot of time because I needed to find myself, my style, learn more about the Creation Engine and of course find Alex who became my co-author and a good friend. Then the idea of making an ordinary flying Dwemer house turned into AHO.

[b]gkalian:[/b] For me, it was never like "Hey, I’m making a mod, come join me." When I was doing Creation Kit tutorials I received such offers, but I always refused them, because I was either not interested, the author’s ambitions were beyond their ability or there was no knowledge at all. 

While I was working on “[url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/86758/]White River House[/url]”, Dima shared his suggestions with me regarding lighting and fx. So one thing leads to another, it doesn't take long to make friends. It took us some time to find the proper workflow because Dima likes doing locations, then re-doing it over and over again forever. 

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We went through several different ideas and versions - once we had thought it'd be better to do episodes and made mod even bigger than it is now. I do not want to go deeper in history but if you compare the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEXmql9Tfvk]first project teaser in August 2016[/url] and next one year later you may notice how we changed the story. 

The real development started in early 2017, Dima decided to do a cave with a tree in the middle and I realized it’s quite a good place for a Telvanni settlement. Our main focus was a ship, of course, but now there were no Dwemer so the Telvanni and their culture took the focus in the project. We recognised after the release some players had problems with this. No doubt, slavery is bad and we do not support it, but the culture of the House Telvanni was created by the Bethesda before us, we just kept things as close to the game's lore as we can. In some measure, this is the reason we did two endings. 

From the comments, it was clear that some aspects of the mod were not well received. But, in my humble opinion, this is normal for the first big project, and it is impossible to please everyone.


[b]You’ve recently released Carved Bink, a new quest mod based in the Faceted Stones. It features a number of interesting characters and mechanics such as vertical gameplay. Could you tell us more about the background of the mod and how it came to be?[/b]

[b]gkalian:[/b] Carved Brink started out as a small mod, it was initially going to be entirely different from how it turned out. I think I missed how exactly we switched from funny joke “mod about goblins” to something much bigger with Snow Elves, Daedra and other stuff. Creating mods is like creativity in its purest form (even if there are limitations within the established lore and universe). I just can say some moments from development started out with us saying things like “Let’s do a shell-follower! Yeah, sort of a pirate, chatterbox! Sure, cool” or “I did a cell with floating mushrooms, dunno why, but it looks brilliant. Oh yeeeah. Let me think”. This is how we work. 


[quote]“Let's go. In and out, a 20 minute adventure, you know“. ©[/quote]
[b]Dimonoider:[/b] This mod was supposed to be a little adventure for 10-20 minutes, not a project the size of AHO, it's so funny to me looking back on how the project started.

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[b]Do you do all the work on your mod projects or are there other team members involved?[/b]

[b]gkalian:[/b] Our team is really small - just Dima and I. But of course, we can’t do everything. We would like to thank these users who’ve been amazing in supporting our projects:


[list]
[*]Forhir, who composed all the music for Project AHO and Carved Brink.
[*]khobis is a voice actor, writer and helps with many other different things.
[*]r0ht, he designed many of our characters and wrote a lot of their dialogue, he also gave us an outside perspective on our mods.
[/list]

You can see the full list of skilled and talented people who help us in the mod credits including 2D artists, 3D artists and voice actors - all of the team did amazing and beautiful work. But it is a different group of people for each of our projects (Project AHO or Carved Brink).


[b]What would you say is the most challenging aspect of creating mods of this size? 

[/b][b]Dimonoider:[/b] For me - Voice Acting. Because I'm not doing that and can’t control what’s happening. Otherwise, we could release AHO/Carved Brink sized mods every year :D

[b]gkalian:[/b] Combine new locations and lore. Sometimes its really difficult to put all the pieces together. And when I think “Fine, that was the last one”, Dimonoider will share a new cell with me and then I need to change, move and play with the setting and lore to make it all fit into the design. 


[b]Are there any tools, tips or tricks you would recommend to budding mod authors?

gkalian:[/b]  [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQF_Z0U5A2w]Alex’s video tutorials (for Russian mod makers)[/url] about Creation Kit. Of course the [url=https://www.creationkit.com/]Creation Kit wiki[/url]. Then if you want to make locations - don’t forget about lighting. It is definitely the most important thing in the world after gameplay.

[b]Dimonoider: [/b]In addition, I will say the following - adequately assess your capabilities. Be prepared for the possibility that no one except you will be interested in your project. And most importantly, be patient. It’s not easy to create high-quality mods. 

[center][youtube]WbwD2agt4w0[/youtube][/center]

[b]With the release of Carved Bink, you’ve also teased your next project “Dyngir - A Las story”. It looks unlike any other mod I’ve seen before. What can you tell us about it?  [/b]

[b]Dimonoider:[/b] We’ve long been thinking about our own game and we thought it was a good idea to make it on Skyrim’s Engine. This is because I don't think we can produce some like this so fast on Unreal or Unity. Maybe a year ago, I made drafts in Creation Kit and sent them to Alex. As a result, it became the style for the game in the future.

[b]gkalian:[/b] It sounds really weird to say “a 2D game on the Creation Engine” but why not? We are still working on patches for Carved Brink and Project AHO before we focus on Dyngir, so it will be a while before it is finished. [url=https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/7499376-dyngir-a-las-story-%E2%80%94-game-on-skyrim-engine/]We have a forum thread with more information, for anyone who is interested.[/url]

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[b]Where do you take inspiration from when designing with these projects? 

gkalian:[/b] I get inspired by the things around me - music, books, films. I just need time to be alone (or at least not disturbed). But usually, I go somewhere without music in my ears and think, going through different versions and eventually I will come up with an idea. Imagination - it just works. 

Although of course there are some moments when I look at the location that Dimonoider made and immediately see what will be and what should be there. But it’s not often. Usually, I just need time. 
[b]
[/b][b]Dimonoider:[/b] From music and the depths of my mind. Sometimes these are images inspired by movies. I like films such as Aquaman, Avengers, Avatar for the amazing graphics and locations/worlds in them. Also, I'm learning how to build spectacular lighting from watching live concerts of Rammstein because they do produce unbelievable work with the lights and effects. I‘m looking forward to seeing them live this summer!


[b]Have you ever considered modding other games? [/b]

[b]Dimonoider:[/b] In the past, I made mods (only for myself) for Heroes of Might and Magic, GTA San Andreas, Freelancer (one of the Chris Roberts games). But for the future, I don’t know. I already want modding Starfield and TES VI. Todd Howard, if you read this - I want to do TES 6 with Bethesda!

[b]gkalian:[/b] Before the Elder Scrolls, I used to do maps for Heroes of Might and Magic III and Starcraft. Nothing serious, just for personal usage. But if I ever leave the TES Community, I think I’ll move on to the Half-Life universe (I made a map for Portal 2). I like this world, it’s a great place to create, plus the engine is very good for mods. The community is still alive and keeps making new mods.


[b]Do you aspire to create your own full game outside of Skyrim's engine one day? If so, what game engine would you use and why?

gkalian:[/b] Hard to say. I have done some work in Unreal and Unity because was curious to see how it worked. But which one to use depends on different things. One of those two is quite enough for our purposes.

[b]Dimonoider: [/b]I would really like to work in any studio and make locations, worlds. But if we are talking about something entirely of our own. Today I’m looking to Unity or Unreal engine because they are famous and rapidly developing engines with a strong community of game developers. And, of course, that’s a multiplatform engine.

[center][youtube]JoM5bQH1ZP8[/youtube][/center]


[b]How can users in our community support your work?

[/b][b]Dimonoider: [/b]Share it everywhere! Share it for everyone! We have [url=https://www.patreon.com/haemprojects]Patreon[/url] and PayPal. (I dream to replace my 10-year-old potato computer to something new and strong). You can also follow us on [url=https://twitter.com/HaemProjects]Twitter[/url] and join our [url=https://discord.gg/CBJZUme]Discord[/url].

[b]gkalian[/b][b]: [/b]Dimonoider covered it well, but I will say make screenshots and videos, share your thoughts and keep playing.


[b]Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers? 

[/b][b]Dimonoider:[/b] Play games, make mods, realize your dreams. Thanks to the community for trust in Haem Projects. Thanks to NexusMods for an excellent platform for creativity!

[b]gkalian:[/b] Keep playing mods, keep supporting Nexus Mods. And always read the descriptions of the mods carefully (It’s really important to install things correctly and get the best gameplay experience).

[line]
A big thank you to Dimonoider and gkalian of [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/47591538]Haem Projects[/url] for answering our questions. As always, if there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597][b]BigBizkit[/b][/url] or [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975][b]Pickysaurus[/b][/url]. 

Today we are talking to Dan Taylor, a professional level designer who has in the past worked for Eidos, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Rockstar (among others) on games such as Medal of Honor Heroes 2, Hitman: Sniper, or Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Dan - who started out as a modder for [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46384]Morrowind[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/96242]Skyrim[/url], and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/38662]Fallout New Vegas[/url] - has close to two decades of experience in the video game industry under his belt and his talk on [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNEe3KhMvXM]Ten Principles for Good Level Design[/url] at the Game Developer's Conference 2013 is currently the top hit for "level design" on YouTube. It is our pleasure today to talk to him about his journey from hobbyist modder to professional level designer, the video game industry as a whole, as well as his most recent project - [url=http://thunderboxentertainment.com/]board game apps[/url].

[center][b]If you have any questions of your own for Dan, feel free to seize the opportunity and ask away in the comment section below! Dan has agreed to answer questions (at his leisure) during the next few days.[/b][/center]
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[b]BigBizkit: Thanks for joining us today. To start this off: could you please tell us a bit about yourself, your background, and what you do?[/b]

Dan: You are most welcome, Stefan - it’s my pleasure! I’ve been in the games industry for about 20 years now, and have had a bit of an odd career trajectory, so I’ll start at the beginning… I used to work in London as a marketing “assistant”, stickering the streets and doing promotional graphics for games like Half-life and Wip3out. I worked my way up to be a European Product Manager at Sony, where I brought EyeToy and Killzone to market. Crazy days! Marketing teams work super hard on a game’s launch, and I really enjoyed it, but I wanted to have more influence on the product, so I started modding as a way of getting into Game Design (as there weren’t really any academic courses for it back in the day). In 2006 I left the UK to go and live in Vancouver, Canada, where [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46384]my mod work on Morrowind[/url] landed me a role as a Level Designer on Medal of Honor. Since then, I’ve been operating as a Game/Level Designer in various capacities on franchises like Max Payne, Hitman, Deus Ex and, most recently, Tomb Raider.


[b]In your own words, what is it a "Level Designer" does, what does level design entail, and how does it intertwine with the work done by others on a development team?[/b]

First of all, we need to understand what a “Level” is. A lot of people think it is a place… or a mission… but they would only be partially correct. I like to think that a level is the metaphysical medium through which gameplay is delivered. That is to say that the players receive the gameplay through the level, and it’s the Level Designer’s job to understand the game mechanics, narrative elements, artistic brief and technical limitations to create something that will evoke an emotion in the player. LDs have to work very closely with all the other disciplines (Art, Narrative, Sound, Tech, Gameplay, etc…) as the level is where all of their work is deployed – collaboration and communication are skills that are just as important as being able to create a well-flowing mission!

[center][youtube]iNEe3KhMvXM[/youtube][/center]
[b]Your speech at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2013 in which you lay out "Ten Principles for Good Level Design" is currently the top hit for "level design" on YouTube. Would you say these principles are timeless, or has your perception of what constitutes "good level design" evolved since then?[/b]

Well… I was actually pretty amused/humbled by the YouTube thing… particularly as the #2 hit is [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Romero]John Romero[/url]… who probably knows a bit more about making games than I do! The gaming landscape is constantly evolving, so it’s impossible to predict how long that particular set of guidelines will remain relevant, but I tried to make it super open-ended, so it could be of benefit to as many people as possible for as long as possible.  Its important for me that Level Designers draw inspiration from areas outside of games/movies/comics, so I try and route a lot of my thinking in classical disciplines (like ergonomics, psychology and architecture), so hopefully those particular elements will have a better sell-by-date, if you catch my drift.


[b]Looking at the ten principles, one of them that stands out to me is #5 - "Good Level Design is surprising". Presuming that we are talking about good, or pleasant surprises, what would you say is a game or maybe even level that really exemplifies how to get "surprises" right in level design and why? What makes a good surprise and what is your approach to crafting surprises in level design?[/b]

Surprise can be delivered in a few ways. Obviously, you can do jump scares… but you are right in thinking that those are not what I meant. You can surprise by being innovative… but that requires a dedicated effort across the whole project, from the very beginning, and can be quite tough. For a Level Designer the best way to surprise the player is to set an expectation, and then subvert it. Look at the patterns the levels in the game are creating, in both the micro (moment-to-moment gameplay loops) and macro (broad-brush gameplay across the entire game) and ask yourself “What is the opposite of this, and how can I make it fun?” This can empower you to suddenly deliver some crazy memorable gameplay in the mid-to-late stages of your game, once the patterns have been established for you to subvert.


[b]The ten principles all seem very sound and reasonable. However, do you have an example of a game and/or level that does not adhere to these principles, but is still great fun despite, or maybe even because of that? (If you don't have examples, do you reckon it is conceivable?)[/b]

Thanks! Those guidelines are… well... guidelines; they are a good starting point, but certainly not the only way to think about Level Design.  It’s hard to pick an example of a game that doesn’t follow at least one of them in some way as you can retro-fit them onto pretty much anything if you try hard enough!

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[b]Our community will be glad to learn that you started out as a mod author, creating your own mods for Morrowind, Fallout New Vegas, and Skyrim. What kind of mods did you tend to create and why? [/b]

Yeah – I loooove to mod! I always try and bring something fresh and unusual to a game, that still sits well in the overall experience in terms of lore and balance. I started off making very narrative/quest driven stuff but that takes a lot of time (I spent 2 years working on that Morrowind mod), so I looked at ways to be clever with less. [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/96242]My Skyrim mod[/url] is really the embodiment of “the level as a game mechanic delivery system” – not wanting to spoil anything, but it was developed specifically to use Dragon Shouts in interesting ways that players wouldn’t have seen in the main game. The quest and reward are only really there to provide a bit of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin]MacGuffiny[/url] context to the main gameplay.


[b]What drew you towards modding initially, how did you learn how to make mods, and what made you realise that you wanted to work on games for a living?[/b]

I always wanted to work on games from a very early age. I think the first thing I made was on the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum]ZX Spectrum[/url] when I was 10, using some kind of ancient platform construction kit. It had Transformers in it, which were the cool toy back then. Later I made stuff on the Amiga with [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot-%27Em-Up_Construction_Kit]SEUCK[/url], but the first playable thing I ever made was on the original Doom. Back in those days you had to FTP the technical docs and then print them out to learn how the tools worked! I made a level that used a rare bug called “[url=https://doom.fandom.com/wiki/Voodoo_doll]The Voodoo Doll[/url]” to create a puzzle for the player (you had to move your voodoo doll to safety by blasting it with a shotgun, otherwise it would get crushed and you would die!) I guess I just like entertaining people with weird stuff!


[b]What was the jump from modder to game developer like for you? How did it all happen?[/b]

It was pretty amazing, to be honest! My first design role was on Medal of Honor Heroes 2, which was a dream job because I love the historic setting of WWII and I also love FPS, and the Wii was super-hot around that time.

I applied for the job like anyone else, although I did have a recommendation from a friend who used to work at EA (contacts are very important, so always try to expand your network when the opportunity arises). In the interview, I presented a quick slideshow about my Morrowind mod. I didn’t think I would get the role, but apparently the Producers at EA were very impressed!

In my first week, the LD team had to come up with short, re-usable action scenarios for the levels that we called “Battle Moments”, so there was a lot of cool blue-sky concepting. My modding skills were put to good use, and by Friday I had stuff running in-engine that made it into the final game.

Production on MOHH2 was about 18 months and I had a lot of fun, and learnt so much! I don’t think any other job I’ve had has been that much fun (with the possible exception of working with the lovely people at Square Enix Montreal).


[b]How has modding helped your career? Conversely, did you have to "unlearn" bad habits you developed as a modder?[/b]

When you are a modder, you have to work with what you’ve got; this means that sometimes you have to bend the rules to make the game do what you want. This served me well, as it meant that I got to know the intricacies of the game engines I worked with pretty quickly, and was able to get them to do things that a lot of people thought were impossible. On the flipside, your work has to be absolutely bulletproof, and on big productions there is often a technical process in place to make sure everything runs smoothly… especially with system-driven games like Deus Ex, where any exotic scripting had to be run past the Technical team.


[b]How much freedom are you given in the industry when it comes to designing levels? How does the fact that you have to work in a team impact your approach?[/b]

It varies massively from project to project – some games have given me total carte blanche to do as I please, while others have had me implementing direction with zero room for deviation (which is not much fun, unfortunately). Level Designers need to be aware of the constraints of a project (technical, artistic, time, cost, etc…), and design within them. Teamwork is super important, but the most critical thing is working with the Art and Narrative teams from the inception, so that everyone has an investment in the level’s core concept.


[b]How was the transition from modder (doing what you like, what you think is cool) to a more methodical approach to level design (doing what you know works)? What was the most unintuitive/hardest lesson to learn in that regard?[/b]

Great question! Everybody on a game team will always want to do what is cool… it’s just a matter of whether or not they agree and/or have the bandwidth. I think you have to be able to know why you are proposing something, and be able to put forward a compelling argument for your vision of the gameplay. Games, like all art, can be extremely subjective and sometimes people will have a different opinion. For example, a designer on my team pitched a vision to disrupt some of the crypts in Tomb Raider. Instead of being hard to reach the treasure, it was now very easy… but the trick was to get back out alive. He made a cool, grey-box prototype in a few days, and after that it was pretty easy to convince art and narrative to help create these disruptive “Honey Trap” crypts.

When you work on a large project, a level can have many stakeholders from multiple disciplines, so being able to process feedback and accommodate numerous directives is a valuable skill that you don’t really get to practice when you are a lone modder, which, as mentioned previously, is why it really helps if everyone is aligned from an early stage.

[center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/162/64597-1552473821.jpg[/img][/center]
[b]In one of our previous conversations you mentioned that, during your time as Lead Level Designer on Shadow of Tomb Raider, you actively looked for and hired good modders from the community as junior level designers for your team. What qualities were you looking for in modders specifically? What aspects of a given modder's work would you pay particular attention to?[/b]

To be fair, Tomb Raider was a huge game and there were multiple Lead LDs. I can only speak for myself but, aside from the obvious traits, I look for modders who not only have the creativity to bring something fresh to the table, but have actually released their work and got feedback on it. This is crucial for two reasons… 1) Many people can start a creative endeavour, like a mod, but it takes a very focused mindset to complete and release it; this mentality is crucial in professional game design 2) I think it was David Bowie who said that a piece of art is never finished until it’s in the public eye…a mod has to have hit a certain level of quality for it to be fit to release, and after that, there is a discourse with the players who will provide critique of your work. This is a really interesting part of the process, and a designer’s response to this is almost as important as the work in the first place.


[b]What advice can you give modders in our community who would like to get into game development? What is it you wish you had known about modding, level design, and the industry when you were younger?[/b]

If you build it, they will come!  Make a mod… and then, most importantly, release it! Having people play (and hopefully enjoy) your work is super rewarding, and, in lieu of direct experience, it’s a great addition to your CV.

Also, be careful of scope. Design your mod so that can be completed in a reasonable time frame (my first mod took me two years… [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/38662]my second one, for Fallout New Vegas[/url], only took a month).

And be able to show off your mod, and explain what makes it unique, and how you can bring that magic to the studio considering you for a role.

When you get into the industry, you can work on a game that you don’t like as long as you are learning from the team… and you can work with a less-experienced team on a game you are passionate about… but if you don’t tick at least one of those boxes then it is time to move on!


[b]What is something about the game industry that you particularly appreciate? What development in the industry are you looking at with suspicion?[/b]

Ah… I am going to answer that question in reverse, and tell you something I hate, and then something I am looking at with great pride!

I think the games industry is super young, and as a result of this, there can sometimes be this frat-house machismo that just makes it super unpleasant to be in… the hero-worship of overtime, the lack of women, the cult of leadership, a general absence of professionalism, etc…

On the plus side, more and more studios are taking the time to redefine their culture, and make the games industry more inclusive, balanced and equitable for everyone in it, which means that older professionals can have a more enjoyable time, and that the young blood coming into the industry won’t get taken advantage of. A win for everybody!


[b]You are currently the lead at Thunderbox Entertainment, a small team of seasoned developers who set out to bring the best board games from table-top to tablet. Could you tell us a bit about your work in regard to that?[/b]

Yeah! I thought I would see what it was like to be an indie developer and fuse my passion for board games with my passion for video games. My partner and I started this venture almost five years ago, and since then I’ve gone full-time and we’ve put out two games: [url=http://thunderboxentertainment.com/tsuroapp/]Tsuro[/url], and [url=http://thunderboxentertainment.com/rollforit/]Roll For It![/url] They’ve both been really well received and we are about to launch Tsuro VR, and then… well, I can’t tell you about the next game, but it is a style of game I have always dreamed off working on, so I have the serious HYPE! (If you want to find out more, feel free to join our [url=http://thunderboxentertainment.com/sign-up/]beta-testing[/url] list…)

Being an indie developer is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, you have to work super hard, and you are reliant on your success to pay your rent and put food on the table… so no pressure! On the flipside though, you get to make your own bad decisions, and work on what really fires you up. Like I mentioned, we’re doing a few VR projects at the moment, which is freakishly good fun, and would have been almost impossible to do at a major game studio… and the next two projects we have lined up are just going to be so much fun… I come to work with a massive smile on my face every day! :D

[center][img width=1000,height=557]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/162/64597-1552474043.jpg[/img][/center]
[b]Is there anything else you would like to say to our Nexus Mods community?[/b]

As a wise man once said, “[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0]Don’t let your dreams be dreams… just do it![/url]”.
Seriously… what are you waiting for? Get modding!

[line]
A big thanks to Dan Taylor for giving us an interview and as always: if there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597]BigBizkit[/url] or [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975]Pickysaurus[/url].  

The first Nexus Mods Screenshot Community Event is here! Submit your screenshots of [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim]Skyrim[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition]Skyrim Special Edition[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/enderal]Enderal[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4]Fallout 4[/url], or [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76]Fallout 76[/url] illustrating the event theme and seize your chance to [b]win one of three £25 Steam Gift Cards[/b] (~$33 depending on exchange rates).

As we announced [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13981]earlier this week[/url], we have been thinking about new ways to increase interaction with you guys - our community - for a while now. Thanks to two amazing members of the site - [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url] - who have been pioneering screenshot events based around [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/722579/?force_view=1]artistic themes[/url], we are now honoured to roll out the first Screenshot Community Event and to reveal the theme:

[center]The event theme is...[/center][center][b][size=5]Conflict and Struggle[/size][/b][/center]
Be it the civil war between Stormcloaks and Imperials, opposing factions like The Brotherhood of Steel and The Institute fighting each other, the red madness plaguing the world of Enderal, or simply player versus environment: conflict and people struggling are common themes in the worlds of Skyrim, Skyrim SE, Enderal, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. In your screenshot submissions, you are free to interpret this theme any way you like e.g. by portraying the internal or implied struggle of a character, or by depicting epic battle scenes. [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url] have been hard at work to provide you with some amazing example shots illustrating the theme.

[url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184735-1070221591.jpeg][center][img width=850,height=478]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184735-1070221591.jpeg[/img][/center][/url]
[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184792-386352263.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184792-386352263.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184808-1482379545.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184808-1482379545.jpeg[/img] [/url][/center]
[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184823-2008839088.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184823-2008839088.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184832-267253647.jpeg][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553184832-267253647.jpeg[/img][/url][/center]
[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185156-1499974862.jpeg][img width=1000,height=273]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185156-1499974862.jpeg[/img][/url][/center]
[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185185-882459936.jpeg][img width=382,height=750]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185185-882459936.jpeg[/img][/url] [url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185167-1106556370.jpeg][img width=415,height=750]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185167-1106556370.jpeg[/img] [/url][/center]
[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185148-2140128184.jpeg][img width=850,height=462]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185148-2140128184.jpeg[/img][/url][/center]
[center][url=https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185177-1716032669.jpeg][img width=1000,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/93729/93729-1553185177-1716032669.jpeg[/img][/url][/center]
Since we want this to be as inclusive as possible and encourage everyone regardless of skill to partake in the event, there won't be any "winners" per se. Rather, we will be giving out one of the prizes to [b]a random participant[/b] in the event.

[center][img width=500,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/64597-1552654489.png[/img] [img width=500,height=250]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/64597-1552655460.png[/img][/center]
The other two gift cards will be given away to [b]two randomly chosen participants from the jury selection[/b] consisting of 15 screenshots (one per participant) that we will pick together with [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url].

[b]How to enter[/b]:

[list=1]
[*]Create at least one screenshot illustrating "Conflict and Struggle" from [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim]Skyrim[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition]Skyrim Special Edition[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/enderal]Enderal[/url], [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4]Fallout 4[/url], or [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76]Fallout 76[/url].
[*]Upload your screenshot(s) to the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/images/add]public image share[/url] ([url=https://help.nexusmods.com/article/28-file-submission-guidelines]site rules[/url] apply).
[*]Fill out the event entry form here: [b][url=https://goo.gl/forms/eHLfzjotms6Ann8h1]Click here to enter for a chance to win one of 3x £25 Steam Gift Cards[/url][/b].
[*]Make sure to provide your email, Nexus Mods username, and the URLs linking to your screenshots on the image share.
[/list]
The event will be running for [b]two weeks[/b] from today Friday, 22nd March until Friday, [b]5th April 04:00 PM (GMT)[/b]. Make sure to submit your screenshots before the end of the event if you would like to participate.

To help you get started, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url] has written up a [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/144571/?force_view=1]composition tutorial[/url] suitable for both newcomers as well as veteran screenarchers.

Please take note of the rules of participation as well as the general terms and conditions below.

With that all being said, we are all very much looking forward to seeing what screenshots you can come up with. Best of luck to all participants and feel free to share your thoughts and screenshots in the comments below!

[b]Participants - Entries - Screenshots[/b]
[spoiler]
[list]
[*]Participants are required to submit at least one (1) screenshot (i.e. an image taken in-game) illustrating the theme “Conflict and Struggle” in order to enter the event and become eligible for winning a prize.
[*]Submitting several screenshots is possible, however, only one (1) screenshot per user will be featured in either the jury selection or the community selection.
[*]All entries must be submitted between Friday, 22nd March 2019 and Friday, 5th April 2019 04:00 PM (GMT).
[*]Screenshots must be uploaded to the [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/images/add]public image share[/url], and participants need to fill out the contest entry google form.
[*]Only screenshots depicting game content from the specified games (Skyrim, Skyrim Special Edition, Enderal, Fallout 4, Fallout 76) are valid entries.
[*]You must be the copyright holder i.e. creator of the screenshot(s).
[*]Screenshots must not include artwork from other creators without explicit permission.
[*]Screenshots may be edited with external tools (GIMP, Photoshop etc.).
[*]Screenshots may feature game content as well as mod content. Our site rules apply.
[*]Screenshots must not depict content that would not be permissible to be hosted on Nexus Mods e.g. armours that were illegally ripped from another game.
[*]Featured content must conform to our site rules (inappropriate content) and must not feature adult content such as nudity, swearing, sexualised content, extreme violence and gore.
[*]Entries found to be in violation of any of those rules and/or our general terms and policies will be disqualified.
[*]Disqualified entries will be removed from the final selection and any awarded associated prizes will be revoked.
[/list][/spoiler]

[b]Prizes - Jury Selection - Community Selection[/b]
[spoiler]
[list]
[*]In total, three (3) £25 Steam Gift Cards (~$33, ~€29 depending on daily exchange rates) will be given away as prizes during the event.
[*]One (1) £25 Steam Gift Card will be given away randomly to one (1) user who submitted at least one screenshot as a valid entry, and who entered the draw via the Gleam widget.
[*]One screenshot per user will be displayed in a final news post concluding the event.
[*]The jury consisting of the Nexus team, Excellentium, and napoleonofthestump will pick a total of 15 shots from 15 different users for a "jury selection".
[*]Two (2) of the £25 Steam Gift Cards will be awarded to two (2) randomly picked users represented in the jury selection.
[/list][/spoiler]

[b]General Terms and Conditions [/b][spoiler]
By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.


[list]
[*][b]Promoter name[/b]. Black Tree Gaming Limited incorporated in England and Wales with company number 06360077 of 10 Southernhay West, Exeter, EX1 1JG  (referred to throughout this terms as the “Promoter”, “we”, “us” and “our”).
[*][b]Deadline[/b]. All competition entries must be received by the Promoter by no later than the Closing Date displayed through the Gleam widget. All competition entries received after the Closing Date are automatically disqualified.
[*][b]How to Enter[/b]. You may enter through the Gleam widget by entering your email address (for contact purposes). You must complete this initial entry to be eligible to win. You do not have to pay to enter the competition, however, you are responsible for any phone or internet charges you may incur when entering. If you are unsure about these charges, you should contact your phone or internet operator before entering. Entries will not be acknowledged and we do not accept responsibility for entries that are lost, delayed or which we do not receive.
[*][b]Eligibility[/b]. You must be aged 18 or over at the time of entry in order to enter this competition. We may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition. No purchase necessary. You must enter the competition yourself. Entries which are incomplete, removed, corrupt or ineligible will not be accepted. We reserve the right to verify any entries and winners and may refuse to award prizes and/or disqualify you if you make or attempt to make any entry to this competition which is in our reasonable opinion contrary to these terms and conditions or by its nature unfair to other entrants. This might include entries which are made by automated means, fraudulent, made in bulk, made on behalf of another person, or made by hacking, cheating or deception. You must comply with the laws that apply to you in the location that you access the competition from. If any laws applicable to you restrict or prohibit you from entering the competition, you must comply with those legal restrictions or, if applicable, refrain from entering the competition.
[*][b]Prize conditions[/b]. Prizes are subject to availability with no cash alternative. Prizes are not negotiable, exchangeable or transferable. The winner(s) will be contacted via Private Message on the Nexus Mods website or the email that you provided on the Gleam widget. You must claim your prize personally within 1 month of the Closing Date otherwise your claim will become invalid (you are solely responsible for this). The decision of the Promoter is final. We have the right to substitute any prize for an alternative prize of equal or greater value.
[*][b]Excluded participants and entries[/b]. Employees of the Promoters, its holding or subsidiary companies, its agents or suppliers or anyone else professionally connected with the competition, or members of their families or households. The Promoter will not admit entries which: are automatically created by a computer or bot or script or other automated technology, created in bulk, have been altered or forged or tampered with, are illegible or incomplete or which generally in Promoter’s reasonable opinion are inappropriate to admit.
[*][b]Selection of winners[/b]. The winner will be chosen at random via the Gleam widget. If you did not provide a valid email address when entering we will choose a new winner. If you did not complete the mandatory "Leave a comment" action, we will find a new winner.
[*][b]Ownership of competition entries and intellectual property rights[/b]. The Promoter does not claim any rights of ownership in your competition entry. The promoter is granted a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable license to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sublicense the competition entry and any accompanying materials for its marketing or other commercial purposes.
[*][b]Data protection and publicity[/b]. If you are a winner of the competition, you agree that the Promoter may use your provided information to announce the winner of this competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes without any payment to you. You represent that all of the information which you provide to us in connection with this competition shall be and shall remain complete and accurate. You represent that your entry will not contain anything (i) that is or could reasonably be viewed as harmful, harassing, defamatory, libellous, obscene or invasive of another’s privacy; or (ii) which you do not have a right to make available lawfully (including any material which infringes the rights of any other). By entering this competition, you agree that any personal information provided by you with the competition entry may be held and used only by the Promoter, its affiliates, its agents and suppliers to administer the competition.
[*][b]Limitation of liability[/b]. Insofar as is permitted by law, the Promoter, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner(s) or runner(s)-up or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of the Promoter, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected. The Promoter will NOT accept responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit for any reason or in any way.
[*][b]Social media.[/b] You acknowledge that the competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Gleam, Facebook, or Twitter. You agree to release Gleam, Facebook, and Twitter from any responsibility to you in relation to the competition.
[*][b]General[/b]. (a) We may use the information which you provide in entering this competition to contact you for the purposes described in these terms and conditions. We will process and store your information in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found at: http://help.nexusmods.com/article/20-privacy-policy
[*](b) We may wish to transfer all or a part of our rights under these terms to someone else without obtaining your consent. You agree that we may do so provided that the transfer does not significantly disadvantage you. (c) If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition; (d) The Promoter reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend the competition where it becomes necessary to do so; and (e) These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of England and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
[*]For questions, Please contact support@nexusmods.com
[/list][/spoiler]

Do you like screenshots? Do you like the idea of [b]winning a £25 Steam Gift Card[/b]? If you do, then keep your eyes peeled for a [b]special event launching on Friday, 22nd March[/b].

[center][img width=1000,height=206]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/3060962-1517709575.jpg[/img][/center]
For a while now we have been thinking about new ways to increase interaction with you guys - our Nexus Mods modding community - through engaging and fun events that we can run (semi-)regularly on our site, and, moreover, support members of our community who are devoting some of their free time to engage other users.

In that regard, we have closely been following what two particular users, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url], have been doing for our Skyrim and Fallout 4 screenarcher communities. For those of you who are not aware, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] is the originator of a community event he began running in February 2018 inviting screenshot artist from the Skyrim community to create and submit images centred around a specific artistic theme.

[url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] has run over 15 of these events now featuring themes ranging from [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/712133/?force_view=1]Wildlife[/url] (theme #10), to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/713689/?force_view=1]The Riddle Of Steel[/url] (theme #11), and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/images/722579/?force_view=1]Silhouette[/url] (theme #15). His continued commitment has not only drawn many screenshot artist to partake in the events and submit amazing screenshots themselves, but it has also inspired another member of our community, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url], to pick up the idea and organise a similar event for Fallout 4 launching [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/images/127218/?force_view=1]his first community theme called Venture Forth[/url] in September.

[center][img width=1000,height=562]https://i.imgur.com/GOoB5Sp.png[/img][/center]
Inspired by their joint efforts to engage our community, we are thrilled to announce that we are going to support their work and collaborate with both [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url] on launching a "Screenshot Community Event" based around a theme that is to be announced soon.

The idea is to bring the screenshot artist communities of [b]Skyrim, Skyrim Special Edition, Enderal, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76[/b] together for a joint event under one theme. This time around, we are making the event exclusive to the aforementioned games - mostly because these games are somewhat comparable in terms of base graphics and engine. However, depending on participation and engagement, we are more than happy to run similar events for other games, or even site-wide!

For this announcement of the event, it is only appropriate to let the two users who inspired it address the community:

[quote]A wise man called Albert Einstein once said; "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution". I couldn't agree more, because I have always felt my imagination is my greatest power. I've also evolved tremendously since I started my screenshot hobby and I remember how inspired I was by others when I began. That's why I came up with the idea of doing themes here at Nexus - to give others, newcomers as well as veterans, different doors to open, strange paths to tread and new worlds to see... all while using their own imagination.

- [b]Excellentium[/b][/quote]

[quote]A hot minute ago the good folk who spend the limited minutes, calories, and attention spans of their lives supporting the Nexus that in turn supports all of our creative gaming efforts approached me and my esteemed colleague Excellentium about some sort of screen-shot contest thing. Putting our heads together and working in a fine spirit of collaboration, we polished the notion up as shiny as we could and present it to you here. Competition! Tension! Fabulous prizes! Random selection! If you prefer the original low-key, no-stakes version of the Community Themes, fear not, we'll still be doing that regular as you please as a by-the-community, for-the-community thing. We're just trying something new here. Come for the chance to win a sack of loot, stay for the community creativity.

- [b]napoleonofthestump[/b][/quote]
Last but not least, anyone entering the event by submitting at least one screenshot illustrating the theme is eligible to[b] win one of three £25 Steam Gift Cards[/b] as a prize!  

However, since we want this to be as inclusive as possible and encourage everyone regardless of skill to partake in the event, there won't be any "winners" per se. Rather, we will be giving out one of the prizes to [b]a random participant[/b] in the event.

[center][img width=700,height=350]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/64597-1552654489.png[/img][/center]
The other two gift cards will be given away to [b]two randomly chosen participants from the jury selection[/b] consisting of 15 screenshots (one per participant) that we will pick together with [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3060962]Excellentium[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31439930]napoleonofthestump[/url].

[center][img width=700,height=350]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/images/110/64597-1552655460.png[/img][/center]
That way everyone has a chance of winning a prize just by participating, but those who put in the extra effort to create exciting screenshots are rewarded with having better odds.

In the spirit of this very much being a community event rather than a competition, we will also be featuring one screenshot from every participant in a news post concluding the event as part of a "Community Selection". 

Stay tuned for the launch post coming up on [b]Friday, 22nd March[/b] revealing the theme for the event and covering the rules and requirements for participation in more detail.

With all that said, we are looking forward to hearing your thoughts and seeing what screenshots you can come up with once the event launches!

Today we are talking to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/2237521?tab=user+files]Scrabbulor[/url] who is most famous for his patrolling mods of the extra immersive variety: [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12977]Immersive Patrols[/url] and [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/718]Immersive Patrols SE[/url].


[b]BigBizkit: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. To start this off, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?[/b]

Scrabbulor: Thanks for the opportunity! Name's Ameer Mohamed. I'm a 28-year-old poultry farmer, born and raised on the sister islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

[center][img width=950,height=534]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/12977-5-1404623072.jpg[/img][/center]
[b]You are most well known for your Skyrim mod Immersive Patrols which has been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of users. How would you describe what the mod is and does in your own words?[/b]

It's a simple mod that uses the basic AI packages in the Creation Kit to create open world activity, specifically military activity.


[b]What was your inspiration for Immersive Patrols and what made you want to create and share it on Nexus Mods?[/b]

Every town, city and village mentioned the ongoing Civil War but unless you did Civil War related quests it was hard to tell. Like most mods I create, I made it for personal use but unlike most mods I upload, I uploaded Immersive Patrols very early in its life. I could tell the mod's scope and simplicity would make updating it as it grew manageable.


[b]Do you have a certain philosophy when it comes to creating mods? What are the things you pay attention to the most? [/b]

Simplicity and longevity, but mostly simplicity. Reaching a goal in the most self-contained manner is always my goal.


[b]How did you first get introduced to modding and how did you go about developing the skills to pull off a mod like Immersive Patrols?[/b]

I can't quite remember where exactly I started. If a game had a map editor or any kind of tool to change it I'd spend more time there than playing. I've always been unreasonably fascinated by the technology and techniques that are involved in creating video games so the motivation was always there. Once my country had tolerable internet, I'd say around 2004, I quickly learned the basics of Animation, Rigging, 3D modelling and C++ from free online resources and started creating small mods and eventually games in UDK for fun (shoutouts to geodav).

That being said, Immersive Patrols is a very simple mod. It only took a day of tinkering with the AI Package system to make the "skeleton" for the mod.

[center][img width=500,height=281]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/12977-1-1404624219.jpg[/img] [img width=500,height=281] https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/12977-3-1404623072.jpg[/img][/center]
[b]Are there things you wish you would have been able to pull off, but which were not possible either due to engine limitations or because you simply did not know how to do it?[/b]

Not particularly. For a while I didn't know how I'd go about disabling/enabling patrols based on questline progression without scripting but while using enable/disable parents to get rid of vanilla lights and add shadowed lights to Hearthfire homes without dirty edits, it clicked that I could do the same with the objects enabled and disabled during the reconstruction of Fort Dawnguard and destruction/existence of Civil War Camps during their respective questlines.


[b]What are some of the games you grew up with?[/b]

I played a lot, A LOT of video games as a kid but the ones that stand out are from the N64 era onward. Majora's Mask, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Shadow of The Colossus, Danganronpa 1 and Demons Souls captivated me the most without a doubt. Shadow of the Colossus, in particular, had a massive impact on me as a person. It taught a young me how to appreciate beauty in things I would otherwise take for granted.

It's hard to describe but when I try to remember Shadow of The Colossus, I don't remember a game but everything between. I see the landscapes, colossi, architecture, Wander, Agro. I can hear their footsteps and the wind. I feel a calm presence. Something dear to my heart.


[b]Have you ever tried your hand modding other games?
[/b]
I have! I've made mods for everything from Pokemon games to risque Japanese Imports, haha. As long as I start playing something or a character creator catches my eye, I'll start tinkering if I've got the time.


[b]Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of modding and/or gaming?
[/b]
I do! I practice line art, digital art, game design and natural bodybuilding.


[b]What advice would you give people interested in becoming a mod author?
[/b]
Think about something YOU want. What do YOU want in YOUR game? It doesn't matter how outlandish it is, just start reading and working towards it and you'll eventually make SOMETHING. Sure it most likely won't be what you set out to make but I guarantee you, if you're even mildly satisfied with the end result, someone out there will love it.

[center][img width=950,height=534]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/1704/images/718/718-1525564342-105240758.jpeg[/img][/center]
[b]Is there anything else you would like to say?
[/b]
This was genuinely fun. Thanks for interviewing me and thank you Nexus community for being consistently mature and inviting all these years!

[line]
A big thank you to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/2237521?tab=user+files]Scrabbulor[/url] for answering our questions. As always, if there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597][b]BigBizkit[/b][/url] or [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975][b]Pickysaurus[/b][/url]. 

We have been on the lookout for a dedicated Front End Developer for a while now and despite interviewing several individuals, we're yet to find the right person.

I know that lots of our users do not always see all the site news that gets posted so I am reposting the job information, just in case it catches the eye of the exact right person at the exact right time! Here is the job specification:

[b]Description[/b]
We are looking for an experienced front end developer to join our website development team at our offices in Exeter, UK for our main website, Nexus Mods.

Your role will be to work alongside our back end developers and dedicated designer to deliver high quality, responsive front ends using the latest frameworks and standards. You will become an important part of a team where every opinion is welcomed.

If you like implementing cool new features and making sleek user interfaces and want to showcase your work to a large and engaging audience then this is the job for you!

We are looking for someone who is keen to learn and flexible in their approach to problem-solving. You will need production experience working with HTML/CSS/JS (with at least one front end framework e.g. Vue, React, Angular) and working knowledge of version control.

Our ideal candidate is someone who has experience working with both a UI/UX designer and a back-end team to deliver exceptional sites and features, however, having the right attitude regarding learning and developing your skills is more important to us than your experience in this area.

This is not a junior role and so we are expecting to see a history of delivered and deployed projects.

[b]In short:[/b]

[list]
[*]Working with our back end developers to implement new features.
[*]Working with the entire web team to design new features and functionality.
[*]Participating in team meetings.
[*]Keeping track of your workflow using project management tools.
[*]Working with everyone at Nexus Mods to shape the future of our platform.
[/list]

[b]Other information:[/b]

[list]
[*]This is a full-time office-based position from our offices in Exeter, UK, to be worked Monday to Friday, 40 hours a week.
[*]We will offer a competitive market-rate salary dependent on your level.
[*]We will provide high spec hardware for you to work from in the office.
[*]For the right candidates, we may be able to assist with relocation expenses and logistics.
[/list]

[b]Requirements:[/b]

[list]
[*]Expert at CSS, HTML and JS.
[*]Production experience with at least one full JS front end framework.
[*]At least 2 years working in front end development.
[*]Strong communication skills both verbally and written (English).
[*]Right to work in the UK
[*]Experience or knowledge of video games not required, but you will enjoy the job even more if you like video games!
[/list]

[b]Benefits[/b]
Nexus Mods is an Alexa Top 750 website with a userbase of over 16 million users and serving over 1.5 billion pageviews a year. Working on such a popular site can be challenging, but rewarding, with a userbase that is very loyal and very vocal!

Due to the popularity of the site we try and work on the cutting edge of technology. If you are interested or excited by the latest advances in software and technology then you'll love working for us. We have a strong focus on researching new and upcoming tech and are always keen to explore new ways of improving the sites and services we provide through innovative means.

We are based in the heart of Exeter, a 15 minute walk away from Exeter Central station and 5 minutes from the main high street with all its shops, restaurants and the beautiful cathedral grounds.

We offer flexible working hours, provided you are in the office during the core hours of 10am and 3.30pm. The office environment is very casual, with plenty of lighthearted chat to break up the day, regular eating out, breaks that involve games and so on and so forth.

[b]Applying[/b]
If interested, please send a cover letter and CV to jobs@nexusmods.com

I'm late. I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's already the middle of February and I haven't done my usual yearly keyboard bashing session where I smash out a semi-coherent review of the previous year and talk about what we hope to get done in this year. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if anyone really wanted to read through my banal twitterings or not and whether I would do this, so let me know at the end if my time (and yours) was worth it.


[b][size=3]2018 in numbers[/size][/b]

In short, Nexus Mods continues to grow at an increasing rate. The exciting thing for us is that it's not just the Bethesda games we host mods for that continue to grow in popularity on Nexus Mods. The mods for other games not made by Bethesda have also exploded in popularity in the past year.

Nexus Mods averaged 4,996,242 unique users each month in 2018, up from 4,582,755 in 2017, representing a 9% increase in users. In contrast, the average pageviews are down from 132,500,000 in 2018 compared to 138,500,000 representing a 4% decrease. While this might seem odd, our site redesign came out in December of 2017 which makes more use of web technologies like Ajax that will reduce the number of registered pageviews (as full page reloads won't be counted). The average time a user spends on the site has increased by 5 seconds to 11 minutes and 46 seconds compared to 2017, so we do not think the site redesign has had a negative impact on user interaction.

2,313,857 new members joined us in 2018, up 43% from the 1,612,142 who joined us in 2017, meaning Nexus Mods now has over 16.5 million users. No doubt this number was bolstered by our change to the download system requiring all users to have an account to download (previously files less than 2MB in size didn't require you to login). This change was made in May 2018 to accommodate the mod author's Donation Point system.

136 new games were added to Nexus Mods in 2018, up 86% on 2017's 73 new games.

33,304 new mods were uploaded to Nexus Mods in 2018, representing a 19% increase on 2017's number of 27,891. Of which, 22,480 were mods for Bethesda games and 10,824 were for non-Bethesda games. This represents a 4% increase of new Bethesda mods on 2017's number of 21,647 and a 73% increase in new non-Bethesda game mods compared to 2017's 6,244. Frankly, this is awesome news to us. Bethesda mods continue to grow in popularity despite the respective age of the games while our catalogue of non-Bethesda game mods is increasing at a truly amazing rate.

As a result, 68% of new mods on Nexus Mods are now for Bethesda games, while 32% are for non-Bethesda games. 2017's figure was 78% and 22% respectively. This is pleasing to us, considering Bethesda modding continues to flourish rather than diminish and we continue to make inroads to supporting as many games as possible. The best of both worlds, as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, Nexus Mods served 226,582,588 unique downloads in 2018, up from the 207,582,827 unique downloads we served in 2017, representing a 9% increase. Similarly, we're now serving an average of 3.5 Petabytes (3,500 Terabytes) of bandwidth each month, up from 2.6 Petabytes in 2017.

That's a lot of "ups". Needless to say, I'm very pleased with the figures that have come out of 2018. Each year I take a look at the Bethesda modding scene and think "it's got to start declining now, surely people are going to get bored of these games eventually and move on to newer ones?". That hasn't been the case, yet, and it's truly impressive. It serves as a testament to all the modders, and to Bethesda themselves. On the flip side, Nexus Mods is now also one of the largest independent mod hosting platforms for non-Bethesda games. 2018 saw us surpass some of the bigger mod hosting sites even for non-Bethesda games based on raw figures. It's great to continue to shrug off the "just for Bethesda mods" moniker.


[b][size=3]2018 in review[/size][/b]

2018 was light on major updates to the site compared to previous years so you might have been fooled into thinking we hadn't been busy. Truth is, we've never been busier.

[b]Tweaks and fixes to the site[/b]

At the start of 2018 we had only just launched our new site design. There was certainly plenty of constructive (and not so constructive) criticism for us to sift through. Our team spent considerable time refining borders, paddings, margins, widths, fonts, sizes and all sorts to increase readability and respond to the relevant criticisms provided by users.

[b]Vortex released into Alpha[/b]

We [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13411]released Vortex to the public[/url] in February 2018 as an alpha release, looking for more users to help us test the software, report bugs and provide feedback to help us improve. The alpha was downloaded by thousands of users and we got exactly what we wanted. Plenty of feedback!

[b]We moved offices[/b]

In 2017 we set up our first office. A small box of a room in a managed office space that 4 of us worked from. Up until then, all the staff at Nexus Mods were working remotely in various countries in Europe and the US. The office was an experiment to see whether we could improve our workflows, efficiency and the general quality of our work by being in an office and working together.

The answer to that question was a resounding "yes".

Truth is, there are plenty of remote working and remote management tools out there that fill the gap, but I guarantee you nothing is better than working in the same environment as your colleagues, together, face-to-face.

With the experiment a success, we moved into a more appropriately sized office for our workforce and set about the long task of relocating current staff and saying goodbye to staff who could not make the move. That process is still continuing into 2019.

[b]Donation Points![/b]

In May [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13611]we announced[/url] and released the project we'd been working on for over 6 months. [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/modrewards#/faq]Donation Points[/url] is our way of giving back to, and supporting, the mod authors on Nexus Mods. In a nutshell, mod authors would now receive a monthly reward based on how many unique downloads their opted-in files received.

To date, we've given away over $81,000 worth of DP to mod authors. The overwhelming sentiment towards this new system has been extremely positive and we love hearing the stories mod authors tell of how even seeing a few cents worth of DP come into their account puts a smile on their face. Of course, there are many mod authors who are receiving a substantial amount each month as well. We're happy when the mod authors are happy, and 2018 probably saw the least amount of drama I've seen in my 18 years working in the modding community. So we're pretty happy right now!

[b]New community managers[/b]

In June we [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13657]welcomed BigBizkit and Pickysaurus[/url] to our Community Management team, working from our offices in Exeter. Our previous community team of Terrorfox and SirSalami sadly could not relocate to our offices for Visa related reasons and we said a very friendly goodbye to both of them by the end of 2018. As a parting gift, they did a great job training up the new guys and making them an integral part of the team. Our thanks and best wishes go out to both of them.

[b]Preliminary 2FA[/b]

With the addition of the Donation Points system, the prevalence of database leaks on the wider web (including our own, from 2013) and the knowledge that bad people are always looking for ways of getting into users accounts, no matter what site they're on, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13712]we released a rudimentary 2FA system[/url] for users to make use of in July. If you haven't enabled it already, [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/myaccount]you probably should[/url].

[b]Download speed increases[/b]

With the increasing trend towards adblockers on the internet, we decided to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13806]show our gratitude[/url] to those users who do not use adblockers or who have previously supported the site with Supporter or Premium Membership by doubling their speed cap on the site from 1MB/second to 2MB/second.

[b]Vortex moved into Beta phase[/b]

Following the February release of the Vortex Alpha, Vortex [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13816]officially moved into another important milestone[/url] in October, the Beta phase. 26 updates were made to Vortex during the Alpha phase, fixing bugs, refining functionality and responding to user feedback and criticisms. The Beta phase is more of the same process but in a much more polished state. Improvements and bug fixes continue to be added to the Beta on a regular basis.

[b]Lots and lots (and lots) of background stuff[/b]

Then there are all the unseen things.

For you tech nerds, we continue to work on upgrading and updating both our infrastructure and underlying codebase to bring it into the modern age. We're heavily moving away from the standard "LAMP" stack and heavily making use of more modern alternatives including all the latest buzz words; Kubernetes, Docker, Elasticsearch et al. We're slowly replacing the old systems with modern, containerised, alternatives in a variety of different languages and using a variety of different data solutions based on the requirements. MySQL has been shunned. PHP mocked. I've not got a clue! I was always a LAMP guy, and a poor one at that. So really, this is just me parroting things from our developer meetings.


[b][size=3]2019 and what's in store[/size][/b]

Still with us? Read it all? Understood some of it? Well done! Let's continue and look at what's happened already in 2019 and what we're aiming to achieve.

[b]Nexus Mods API[/b]

Just last week we released our [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13921]public API[/url]. This essentially officially opens up a lot of the data on our site to app and website developers for them to make use of in their software. For example, any mod manager that wants to integrate with the Nexus Mods site or make use of the site's data to populate the data in their own software will likely find the API useful. This API will continue to be updated and more endpoints will be added as and when they're needed. It's highly driven by the needs of Vortex, but we've got a friendly group of various software developers from the community in a Discord channel who are making requests of us as well.

[b]Front end team[/b]

We're currently in the final stages of hiring a new front end team, this time with both a designer and a dedicated front end developer. Our previous attempt at this in 2018 didn't go so well, simply because our predominantly backend focused developers do not have the time (or realistically, the willpower) for front end work. Hopefully our new team will prevent this issue from happening again and create very tangible changes to the site in 2019 that you all like.

[b]Vortex 1.0 release[/b]

The Vortex Beta was released in October. Since then, we've released several updates to the software that include bug fixes, speed and load time improvements and UI and UX tweaks to make the software less confusing. The aim of the Beta phase is not to add any major new functionality, but instead, to refine what functionality already exists and remove all the major bugs we know about (and hopefully all the minor ones too!).

Having said that, new game support continues to get added to Vortex on the backs of third-party developers making good use of the open source nature of Vortex. We're thankful to anyone who is helping us to improve or add to Vortex. More on that in a minute.

This month, Vortex surpassed the 1 million unique downloads mark. A great milestone to hit.

As we work towards a 1.0 release of Vortex our Community team are working on improving the documentation, including a full "How to mod your game and install 10 of the most popular mods" style guide for the very beginners, among other guides that should improve the built-in knowledge base and wiki further for users.

We do not have a set date for the 1.0 release, but we stand by what was said in the news release, that we do not want it to last any longer than the Alpha phase lasted.

[b]Mod Packs[/b]

Holy-moly, look at this little nugget, hidden away in the middle of my long-ass yearly review.

Mod packs are, quite simply, a system whereby a user's mod profile is turned into a "mod pack" in such a way that they, or another user, can download that mod pack and all the mods contained (or referenced) in the pack will be installed in the exact same way, in the exact same order, as the original profile. Use cases include if you get a new PC and want to transfer your working mod setup to another PC (i.e. a decent backup and restore system for your mod profiles), YouTubers being able to share their mod setups with their viewers or you simply wanting to share your cool mod setup with your friends.

It has caused some controversy in the past due to various reasons, including it taking downloads away from mod authors, the worry it would increase false support issues for mod authors caused by bad mod packs and because others who have attempted to do this have basically created a "mod piracy" platform that completely ignores (and breaks) copyright laws because they did not have permission to distribute the mods contained in the mod packs. Whatever we come up with will ensure none of these are a realistic issue.

Being honest, a large part of the work we've done over the past few years; modernising our processes, increasing our team, redesigning the site, introducing the Donation Points system and moving away from NMM and working on Vortex points to this much sought after feature in the community. All the above needed to happen before we could properly tackle this polarising idea.

We've already done our first proper sit down meeting with all aspects of the Nexus Mods team, whiteboard and marker pens and all, to drill out the high-level requirements for the system. There will be many more before we're done.

When we're ready to talk about it more then the mod authors and the software developers will be the first people we talk to. What I can tell you is that the system/framework will be open source and linked to our API, so this is not going to be a Vortex exclusive system. If Mod Organizer or any other mod manager wants to make use of the system in part or in full, they'll be able to.

I'm sure you've got questions, but we won't be giving answers at this stage. Just take this as us putting our flag in the ground and saying "Nexus Mods is going to tackle mod packs in 2019".

[b]Queuing downloads[/b]

As mobile phone and tablet usage of the site continues to increase and we acknowledge that a lot of our users browse the site when they're away from their main gaming PC (i.e. when on a break at work or at school), we plan to implement a system that will allow you to queue a download for later. The idea being you'll mark the file for download and when you get home, your mod manager will download any files you have queued on the site since you last used it.

[b]Donation Points[/b]

The Donation Points system has been a resounding success thus far. As mentioned earlier, $81,000 worth of DP has already been handed out and we're very happy with how it has worked out.

As we continue to increase our mod offerings for lots of games, we'd like to continue to incentivise and reward mod authors who make use of Nexus Mods, even when the games being modded aren't as popular as the Skyrims and Fallouts of the gaming world.

With this in mind, we plan to create a secondary funding pool set aside specifically for non-Bethesda games on Nexus Mods. This won't take out of the main pool that already exists, but instead will be used to supplement the Donation Points that get given out to mod authors for games outside of Bethesda's ownership.

As our new front end team get into their groove, we'll also improve our reporting on the Donation Points system for all to see, providing monthly breakdowns of how much was sent out, the split between all the games and any other pertinent information that doesn't reveal private data on individual users.

[b]Reworking the user database, registration and eCommerce system[/b]

To say our user system is archaic would be putting it lightly. One of the biggest tasks we'll be working on this year will be ripping out our current user database and completely reworking it from the ground up. The aim is to greatly improve server performance, reduce our server requirements and significantly improve security. In doing so, this will also allow us to completely overhaul our awful registration process that is tied into the forums along with our Premium Membership purchasing system.

This will pave the way for some more "fun" features down the road and into 2020, like gamifying the user experience so users who like and respond to that sort of thing can feel like their activity on the site is being more readily recognised.

[b]Bounty reward system for developers[/b]

Since releasing NMM in 2011 we've ensured the work we've done on any of our software has been open source for all the community to see, edit, tweak, copy and or use in their own software. We continued this "tradition" with Vortex, improving on the idea by deliberately making Vortex easily extensible. Essentially, modding Vortex is a thing much more than it was for NMM. Our open API compounds on this philosophy further.

We think that an open source philosophy is an extremely important aspect that all mod managers in the modding community should adhere to, so much so that we have, on occasion, requested other mod managers be open source if they want to be hosted on Nexus Mods.

One of the bonuses of releasing Vortex as open source is that other developers have been able to offer their own code to the project. Some of the games Vortex supports have only been added because members of the community have coded this functionality and provided it to Vortex. In the past week, I've been working on contacting these developers to provide them with a small, but not insignificant, financial reward for their troubles and as a thank you.

It is our intention to work more closely with third-party developers who would like to develop functionality, provide bug fixes or expand on or improve Vortex. To this end, we hope to create a "Bounty" system, listing functionality that we would like to add to Vortex but do not have the time to add any time soon. We'll happily work with and pay developers to create this functionality for us.

The cost of hiring developers increases every year and when you factor in office space, insurance, taxes and myriad other costs associated with hiring someone, setting aside £10,000 - £20,000 a year to reward people making Vortex better is a great way of both encouraging others getting involved with developing Vortex while saving us money compared to hiring a full time developer.

If you're interested in this system, or simply interested in helping us to develop Vortex, please get in touch.

[b]More game support[/b]

Vortex now has modding support for 46 games on Nexus Mods. For reference, Nexus Mod Manager only supports 24. Following on from the Bounty System post above, we're always keen to get more games supported both on the site and within Vortex. We're working on adding more game support ourselves, but we're also keen to work with talented developers to introduce more modding support to Vortex.


[b][size=3]In conclusion[/size][/b]

Well done if you made it all the way through!

The TL;DR to take away from all this is quite simple; Nexus Mods is continuing to not only grow but actually grow faster than ever before, we did quite a lot of stuff in 2018 and we've got lots planned for 2019 and beyond. Some of it is even quite exciting!

Thank you to all of you who are a part of this success, and I hope your 2019 is going as well as ours so far.

Since [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/news/13611]launching our Donation Points system[/url] last year we've given away over $81,000 worth of Donation Points (DP) to mod authors. Thankfully, the reaction to this system has been overwhelmingly positive and we're extremely happy with how it has turned out.

While mod authors can exchange their DP for straight up Pay Pal donations, we've also been very happy with how many mod authors have been exchanging their DP for video game keys that we've been providing in [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/modrewards#/store/all/1]the DP store[/url]. It's great to be able to provide games back to people who clearly love games as much as we do!

With that in mind, I've expanded the portfolio of games we now offer in the DP store. I specifically try and choose games that we have at least some mods for. The new list of games, on top of the games we were already offering are:


[list]
[*]7 Days to Die
[*]Battletech
[*]Borderlands 2 - GOTY
[*]Doom
[*]Dying Light
[*]Grand Theft Auto IV 4: Complete Edition PC
[*]Mad Max
[*]Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Game of the Year Edition PC
[*]Middle-earth: Shadow of War
[*]Prey (2017)
[*]South Park: The Stick of Truth PC
[*]Stellaris
[*]Tyranny - Deluxe Edition
[/list]
I hope you all enjoy the new selection.

On a semi-related note, we've been struggling to keep up with demand for some games in the DP store and I want to avoid having games out of stock if I can help it. I do not want to buy the games in considerable bulk simply because game prices can fluctuate wildly, with sales happening at any moment, and I don't want to be stuck holding on to a load of games that I bought for 50% more than they're on sale for now - that's not good for you or us!

I'm also aware that some mod authors are buying multiple keys of the same game to give to helpful users of their mods, for friends or as prizes for competitions they're running. I think that's a really cool idea but, unfortunately, this is causing me a bit too much admin work as I struggle to keep games in stock. Similarly, it's becoming difficult to source large quantities of game keys each month from suppliers. As such, we have changed the store system to only allow mod authors to receive one of each game key in the store. I apologise for this change but I feel it's necessary, not only for my own sanity but also to ensure every mod author gets a chance to get games from our DP store.

I want to say a big thank you and congratulations to all the mod authors who are enjoying our Donation Points system.