Winter Break Modding Project

I'm thinking about working on a Skyrim modding project over winter break. Unlike my previous projects, this one would involve storytelling and quests rather than gameplay recoding. Are there any of y'all that would be interested in working with me for a few weeks between semesters to create an interesting and unique modification to Skyrim? I am looking for people with any of the following skills:

Story/quest writing
Character design
Art/3d-modeling
Programming
Level design
Voice Acting
Fictional worldbuilding
Game testing

The concept for the project has already been developed some, but I would like input while developing the rest of it and help with creating the actual mod. For those of you who have played Skyrim but do not have a PC copy, I may consider PAYING to get you a copy of the game for your PC.

Obviously, you will need to have a PC capable of running the game if you are going to work on the coding, modeling, or level design. You would also need to be willing to work with me and any others on the team, as well as be able to devote some time each week during the break to the project.

If you are interested, then please message me and I can give you more details on the project. I can guarantee that you will find plenty of interesting work if you do join. :-)

Once the project is complete then it would be released for free online for players to download. A donation link would be available for fans, and any donations would be split with you.

If you are interested in my previous modding work, you can check out the following pages:

Skyrim Nexus: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/users/1266423
Steam Workshop: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198008458024/myworkshopfiles
Modding Blog: http://tesmods.blogspot.com/


My mods have been downloaded over 40,000 people and viewed by likely 300,000.

Need Voice Actors For Your Mod?

Are you creating a quest or follower mod? Do you need voice actors? This post gives a number of tips and links to help you find voice acting talent.

Doing it yourself:
First off, you may simply be able to do it yourself. Now, there's the possibility that your voice may have a different sound or be a different gender than your mod's characters. However, if you voice does fit a character, here are some tips to recording:

1. Turn off all fans, air conditioners, and cell phones. Get rid of or turn off anything that could add background noise.
2. Place your microphone at the very least an inch (I suggest 2-3 inches) from your mouth. That is to eliminate the small staticky sounds that may come from a dry mouth or from the mic rubbing against your skin.
3. Keep a glass of water nearby to make sure that your mouth does not become dry. A dry mouth will make your produce a static-like sound in your recording.
4. Sit up or stand up. Breathe with deeply, with your stomach expanding rather than your chest. This will provide a good airflow through your vocal chords, and provide your brain with the oxygen it needs.
5. Sing for a while before recording. It doesn't matter if your singing voice is awful enough to kill cats, sing for a bit.  Doing so will loosen your vocal chords and get your lungs moving right for recording.
6. Download Audacity. It is a free audio editing and recording program that is powerful enough to be used in professional settings. If you want to you can even learn how to add effects to your voices, but that won't be neccesary for simple voice acting.
7. Along with the recordings for your lines, record a 5-6 seconds long file that is nothing but silence. Make sure that you do this with the same mic and in the same setting that you used for your line recording. This silence sample will be used later with Audacity to remove background static and noise from your audio files.
8. Record your lines in the .WAV format. This can be done with Audacity. There are only two audio formats that the Creation Kit (for Skyrim) uses, and those are the .WAV and the .XWM formats. If you have the time, I would suggest converting your files to .XWM. They are not as large as .WAV files, but they will work fine. The decreased file space means that you will be more likely to pack your mod into the 100 mb limit of the Steam Workshop. Use this guide to convert the files. As far as I know, this is the only guide in existence that teaches you how to convert .WAV files to .XWM.

Recruiting others:

1. The Voice Actors' Guild - The VA Guild is a part of the broader Engineering Guild, which is a modding community createed by the modder Giskard, who is well known for his Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Oblivion mods. I have used them before and they are a great group. Very friendly, quick, and professional. While you're there, you can also download some of the fantastic mods that they have produced.
2. Post a thread in the Skyrim Nexus, Bethesda, or Steam forums asking for a voice actor. You are less likely to get someone with voice acting experience, but they are likely to be more eager to help.
3. Take a look at the list of voice actors that helped with the Interesting NPCs mod for Skyrim. The mod author supplied links to their Nexus Pages, so you can contact them if you like their voice or are looking for any voice actor. With this specific group, I would suggest going into Skyrim and listening to their voices. That way you can choose the actor you want based upon their voice. Keep in mind, though, that they do not have to work with you if they do not want to. The likely get plenty of requests and do not have time to help everyone.

Once you have the lines:

Even once you have gone through the work to find voice actors, you will need to add them to the game. Below are a number of tutorials for adding voice files to characters in Skyrim.

1. Deck16 - Adding a Voice Follower
2. Creation Kit Wiki - Bethesda Tutorial Dialgoue
3. Voice Acting: A Complete Guide
4. Creation Kit Tutorial: Quest Dialogue [1/4]

Character Profile: Glosthiem

 Character Profile

Character profiles are introductions to characters that will be added by Way of the Monk

Name: Glosthiem
Race: Nord
Gender: Male
Class: Commoner
Age: 42
Skills: Unarmed, Unarmored, Archery, Restoration, Alteration
Associated Factions: Cult of the Way
Rank: Wanderer
Background: Born in Helgen to a Talos worshipper, he heard of the Cult of the Way when he was young. When he was 22 years of age, his father gave his hard-earned wages to send his son to the Temple of the Cult to train and study their way. Though Glosthiem was two years older than the normal age, the Elders decided to accept him as an Initiate due to his aptitude and knowlege of Talos. It was there that he trained for 20 years under the Elders until the time came for him to choose his Path. He was given the choice of becoming either a Wanderer or an Elder, as all Initiates are. He choose the Path of the Wanderers in order that he might bring justice and the enlightenment of Talos to those that he encountered. It was also his wish to return to his family and to take them to the Temple to live in safety from the Empire and the Thalmor. When he arrived at Helgen, however, he found the town in flames and his family dead. Above, he could still hear the shouts of a dragon flying from the ruins. In despair, he passed through the town and came to the Pillars of the Way. The Pillars were a sacred place for the Cult, and it was there that he planned to meditate and consider his next steps. Until he saw a battle-wearied adventurer accompanied by an officer of one of Skyrim's armies coming down the road, that is...

Voice Acting Samples

The voice acting samples are lines of dialog that you the character will have in the game. If you want to try your hand at voice acting for this character, then contact me with recordings of these lines. The files should be in the WAV of XMW formats.

Filename: WoM01MeetingGlosthiemIntro                                                                      Mood: Surprised

Text: "Are you from Helgen? What did you see? What happened there?"

Filename: WoM01MeetingGlosthiemIntroYes                                                                Mood: Surprised
Text: "A dragon? Gods save us! I arrived after the town had been torched. I thought that I heard the cry of some monster in the distance."

Filename: WoM01MeetingGlosthiem02Why                                                                  Mood: Sad
Text: "I was born in Helgen, and sent to the Cult of the Way at their Temple to train. But I recently completed my training and was returning to my family."

Filename: WoMGlosthiemCombatInjured01                                                           Mood: Hurt, Excited
Text: "Gah! Justice will prevail!"

Filename: WoMGlosthiemCombatCryApostate01                                                  Mood: Angry, Excited
Text: "Heathen Apostate!"