UESPWiki:Modspace Project

The Modspace Project is aimed at promoting an open documentation style for Elder Scrolls mods that is aligned with how content is added to the rest of the site. The focus of Modspace should be on the content delivered by the mods, not the mods themselves.

Project Goals

Rewrite the modspace guidelines to be less restrictive to new content

Encouraging, not dissuading, participation in mod documentation.

Ensuring quality using processes in-line with the rest of the wiki, rather than heavy-handed policing.

Open documentation style for mods, the same as for any of the main games

Gamespace-style layout — except for content of New Lands mods, everything should be documented directly under the appropriate mod namespace, not in subpages upon subpages, to make it easier to navigate.

If you find something, document it! If it's from a mod we haven't started documenting yet, we can review as we go along.

Make our Modspace the best source of Elder Scrolls mod content documentation

We're already the best source of Elder Scrolls official content documentation; time to expand out remit!

Modspace Guidelines

The old modspace guidelines are quoted here for reference. Read them, digest them, then do as Boethia did to Trinimac with them:

There are a couple of other wikis and other information sources out there on mods, so we would like to distinguish ourselves from them in the way we approach mod information: Depth over Breadth: Cover fewer mods and mod subjects, but when we do so, do so in depth. No Stubs! Do not begin a mod page until you're ready to write an in-depth article. No Readmes! Do not post the readme here. No Reviews! Utility over Exhaustion In addition to the rules above, we also want to make sure that details should only be given to the depth that is likely to be useful to most mod players. I.e. the goal is not to exhaustively document every fact about a given mod, but rather to produce guides that are genuinely useful to players of that mod. In effect (combining this with the "Depth over Breadth" rule), this means that only fairly complicated mods should be documented here.

The guidelines that came before are too restrictive, discouraging participation for fear of poor quality and incomplete documentation of mods. These must be reformed, as Malacath was, into guidelines which champion the spurned and ostracized section of the wiki (i.e., modspace).

We will still want too distinguish ourselves from other sites, but not with "depth over breadth", "utility over exhaustion", or the extremely harsh "no stubs". That hasn't served us well at all, and has just stifled our modspace to the extent that we have proper documentation of exactly one mod for each game, out of potentially thousands. Depth, yes. Utility, yes. But no longer at the expense of small mods – their inclusion should be based on the quality of their content.

New guidelines for modspace are below. These were proposed on the Community Portal and implemented by support in absentia (meaning, only one person commented on them in the whole time they were there).

Proposal

There are a couple of other wikis and other information sources out there on mods, so we would like to distinguish ourselves from them in the way we approach mod information: Content-Focused: The main focus of mod documentation should be on the content that it adds to the game. If there's not much content, there's not much to write about! This however doesn't exclude "small" mods, as some small mods can still add quality content. The focus is on the content, not the delivery of the content, so download and installation instructions are not required. Link to the mod's Nexus page for delivery information. Completing Articles: There are likely to be significantly fewer players of any given mod than there are for an official release. In order to avoid pages being left as stubs indefinitely, try to collaborate with other editors who may be interested in documenting the same mod. Informing, not Endorsing: The aim of the wiki is to provide information for fans and players. The inclusion of a mod here is for informative purposes only, and should not be seen as an endorsement of that mod. Open Documentation Style: There are no specific style guidelines or restrictions for mod documentation that make it different from documentation of official content. Quests, places, characters, items, and spells should be documented in the same way as they are for official content. i.e., the goal is to follow the existing guidelines set out in the Style Guide. In effect (combining this with the "Content-Focused" rule), this means that modspace should be treated in the same way as gamespace when it comes to adding new content.

Mod List

Rather than a project "task list", given the scope of this project is around mod documentation, we instead have a mod list. This is the list of mods that project members have expressed an interest in documenting; while these mods will take priority within the scope of the project, it would be against the purpose of the project in the first place to exclude any other mods from modspace. So in that respect, it's not a list of "these mods and nothing else", just a starting point to get things going; if you have your own ideas for which mods you'd like to cover, go ahead and get started!

The initial list is taken from some of the top endorsements and top downloads on the Nexus, as these are likely to have the highest number of potential contributors, as well as be the most beneficial to the most players. In addition to drawing from Most Endorsed (all time), it also includes some of the top endorsements in the individual categories.

Can we document (x) mod? It's not on the project mod list.

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Does the mod add content? Does it take at least two paragraphs to explain? If the answer to both of these is "Yes", then there's a high chance that we can document that mod. If the answer to either or both is "No", then that doesn't mean we can't document it, just that we'd have to have a discussion first about what exactly we would be documenting. (SkyUI, for example, doesn't add any content, but is certainly a mod we would want to document – we just need to discuss how to document it.)

How do I get started?

You will know best how you like to write content for the wiki, so just load up your mod and start playing. Document the mod content as you come across it in the same way you would document official content. Most mods should be documented directly into the appropriate TesXMod namespace, without the need for a subspace; however, if it is a sufficiently large mod (or part of a mod series), it may be worth discussing whether the mod needs its own subspace like Tes3Mod:Tamriel Rebuilt or Tes5Mod:Beyond Skyrim. As a general rule, if the mod includes an esm master file, a subspace may be needed, and a discussion should be started. If the mod only includes esp plugin files, a subspace is probably not needed unless the mod is significantly larger than others.

I came across this thing in-game that I want to document, but I've got 120+ mods loaded and I don't know which one it's from…

Open the console (default key `) and click on the thing (only works for objects in the world). An eight-digit hex-number will appear, which is the Form ID of the thing. The first two digits of the Form ID are the Mod Index for the mod that the thing came from. You can look this up in your mod manager of choice (e.g. Mod Organizer, LOOT, or Wrye Bash).

• For reference, assuming you are playing either the Skyrim Legendary Edition or Special Edition, with the Unofficial Patch, in standard load order:
  • 00xxxxxx is Skyrim
  • 01xxxxxx is Update.esm
  • 02xxxxxx is Dawnguard
  • 03xxxxxx is Hearthfire
  • 04xxxxxx is Dragonborn
  • fexxxxxx is from a Creation Club or ESL-flagged file
  • ffxxxxxx is a dynamically-allocated ID for a world event

• If you are playing Morrowind, you can simply open the console (default key ` or ~) and simply type ori, which will show you a lot of information including which plugin the targeted object is from.

Skyrim

• SkyUI
• Immersive Armors
• Immersive Weapons
• Cloaks of Skyrim
• Alternate Start - Live Another Life
• Convenient Horses
• Falskaar
• Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim
• Interesting NPCs
• Helgen Reborn
• The Paarthurnax Dilemma
• Cutting Room Floor
• Expanded Towns and Cities
• JK's Skyrim
• Moonpath to Elsweyr
• Undeath
• The Forgotten City
• Moon and Star
• Wrath of Nature
• Thunderchild
• Skywind
• Skyblivion

Oblivion

• DarNified UI
• Midas Magic Spells of Aurum
• Better Cities
• Alternative Start Arrive by Ship
• Kvatch Rebuilt
• Immersive Weapons
• Glenvar Castle
• Better Dungeons
• Knights of the Nine Revelation
• Frostcrag Reborn
• Companion Vilja
• Morroblivion
• The Lost Spires
• Nehrim: At Fate's Edge

Morrowind

• Morrowind Rebirth
• Sotha Sil Expanded
• Welcome to the Arena
• Rise of House Telvanni
• The White Wolf of the Lokken Mountain
• Epic Balmora/Epic Sadrith Mora/Epic Ald-ruhn
• Wyrmhaven
• Balmora Underworld

A Note on Modding

Having more information on modding and how to create mods is definitely something that we need in modspace as well, but is not the initial focus of this project. However, if anyone would be interested in taking the lead in expanding the "modding" side of our content, I'd be happy to include it then, and add them as a co-leader with that focus.

Project Progress

• Modspace Portal with sidebar link
• Discussion, approval and adoption of new {{Modspace Guidelines}}
• Namespace Overhaul
• Discussion on the layout of the TesXMod:Mods pages for easy navigation
• Mods documented as part of this project: 0

Project Members

If you are participating in the project, please add your name here in alphabetical order (keep Project Leaders at the top). Next to your name, provide some information on what types of tasks you are working on or would like to work on.

If there are specific mods you plan to focus on, please list those too, whether they are from the project Mod List or your own personal load order.

• Enodoc — Project Leader
  • SWIFT
  • Cutting Room Floor
  • Interesting NPCs (with a focus on quests)
  • Agent of Righteous Might
  • Open Civil War
  • Spectraverse
  • The Forgotten City
  • Wrath of Nature
• Dcsg
• Dillonn241 — Tamriel Rebuilt/Project Tamriel
• Endify
• Fullerton
• Legoless

Project Ribbon

Anyone taking an active part in the project may use the project ribbon:

{{Ribbon|Modspace Project}}