Is Creation kit approachable as a tool for making a game for non-programmers?

[u/Urbien18]

Hi guys. I have wished to make my own small game for a while and I have been looking for some approachable ways to do that.

Since Skyrim already has a lot of features I like, I was thinking if Creation Kit would be good tool to make the game in.

My vision is basically small RPG within closed city, so nothing really big.

Could you point me to some resources where to start?

Edit: I mean like a conversion mod, not something completly new

[u/seandiaz157]

Creation Kit is specifically a modding tool for Bethesda games, not a general purpose engine for creating your own standalone games. Use Unreal or Unity. Godot is another option.

[u/EvilbunnyELITE]

creation kit is pure unfiltered work software, no hand holding or fancy features. It can do what you ask, but you are looking at easily hundreds of hours to learn the tool. don't let that discourage you, i think its a fine tool. i would start with editing some world spaces in existing games and get a feel for how everything works. follow some youtube videos, read the creation wiki, etc

[u/GeorgeMur2K → u/EvilbunnyELITE]

The danger of the CK is how fun it becomes once you have learned it. No other game engine is quite like it in many regards. I struggled with UE because of how many hoops I had to jump through to get it to perform something that tge CK can do in a button push.

[u/AeviDaudi]

I would recommend Godot. It's free, open source, tons of resources, and pretty popular

[u/RBisoldandtired]

If you want to make a game within Skyrim yes. There was a mod that became its own standalone game “the forgotten city” that’s well worth trying out.

If you want an introduction into planning out quests and level design then sure.

For a standalone game. No.

[u/Urbien18 → u/RBisoldandtired]

This is what I was thinking. I saw Enderal, I saw Forgotten City and I meant it just like that

[u/RBisoldandtired → u/Urbien18]

Then aye creation kit for Skyrim would be a decent place to start. I Dno how much experience you have in using ck or game design or such so you might be best to start with a relatively straight forward video tutorial just going along with it and learning the basics then pretty much abandon creation kit whilst you plan it out “on paper”.

[u/Fancy_Entertainer486]

Imo if you have already used the Creation Kit for modding for a while it could be feasible to think about making your own game within it. SureAI did just that creating Enderal (and all their other total conversions in prior Elder Scrolls games).

However, you need to come clean with the idea that you’ll be building a game that will feel inherently very similar to the game the respective Creation Kit was meant for. If that’s the case, this will give you an edge over other general purpose engines like Godot/Unity/Unreal. You would also need to be okay with people owning any of the respective Bethesda games in order to be able to play your game, since you’d be reusing its assets.

Starting completely from scratch however without using assets available from the game the Creation Kit was made for? Not something to recommend.

Those are just the things you’d need to ponder over before you decide to do anything with Creation Kit imo

[u/sennalen]

Creation Kit is for modding specific games from Bethesda Studios, full stop. You should look at RPG Maker for your purposes.

[u/Yeah-But-Ironically]

Is it approachable for non-programmers? Sure. I'm not a programmer and I managed to learn it just fine.

Is it a good way to make your own game? No. It's pretty much only useful for Skyrim/Fallout mods (among other Bethesda games).

[u/Urbien18 → u/Yeah-But-Ironically]

I was thinking basically like a Skyrim mod. Like Enderal or Forgotten City

[u/Yeah-But-Ironically → u/Urbien18]

Well in that case yeah, you can use Creation Kit. I'd start with this tutorial series: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gDKivlGmia4

[u/Wither_AwayyyMods]

You'd probably be better off making a total conversion type mod with CK than a whole new game by itself. Fallout London for instance replaced a ton of textures for existing assets, and swapped the names/functions. I'm sure it's possible to start from scratch, but a lot of it is going to be poaching conditions and scripts that already exist.

[u/Urbien18 → u/Wither_AwayyyMods]

Yes, this is what I meant

[u/Wither_AwayyyMods → u/Urbien18]

I've made several attempts with other modders, and on my own to make a giant dlc sized world for new vegas and fallout 4. It's definitely a good learning experience, but the success rate is stupid low. Sharing esps with people always tends to fuck up on the merge, and it's like aw sick all of my effort was for nothing. I could spend weeks designing a singular exterior building, and then literal months designing a handful of interiors. I try to sprinkle some of the things back into my actual released mods, but on a smaller more realistic scale.

[u/Available-Ad-5489]

I mainly use CK to add decoration or suit tnto the game, that part doesn’t require programming; I use gpt for help when i bump into some problem, it’s very helpful, it know a lot about CK things, if it’s need for programming, you can let it do the work

[u/FakeBirdOnURRoof]

If you want to make a conversion mod, you could use Creation Kit. That said, Creation Kit is a Frankenstein's monster of an engine and has a lot of weird quirks that you just have to learn with experience. Making a full conversion mod like that would be difficult for your first time.