Arcane University:Software

This is the main page of the software tools being used for Beyond Skyrim.

Level Design & Quest Implementation

• Creation Kit
  • TES V: Skyrim Creation Kit: cannot be linked to, but can still be downloaded via Steam
  • Skyrim Special Edition Creation Kit
  • Papyrus Compiler (included with Creation Kit)
• Scripting tools (text editors)
  • Notepad++: (How to set up for Papyrus)
  • Sublime Text: (How to set up for Papyrus)
• xEdit: Editing .esm and .esp files with more flexibility, resolving plugin conflicts

Writing

Free

• [1] Google Docs (used by Beyond Skyrim teams by default)
• [2] Open Office
• [3] Libre Office

Commercial

• Microsoft Word (as part of the office package) [4]

2D Concept Art

• Graphics tablet with pen pressure
• Drawing program:
  • GIMP
  • Krita
  • Photoshop
  • Clip Studio Paint

3D Software

In addition to the following 3D-specific programs, generic image editing software such as GIMP, Photoshop, and Paint.NET are also useful for 3D artists.

This table is incomplete. If you have the knowledge to fill in information where it is missing, please do!

Software	Free	Modeling	Sculpting	Texturing	Rigging	Skinning	Animation	Notes
3ds Max	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blender	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maya	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mudbox	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Substance Painter	Free with a student license	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
xNormal	Yes	No	No	Normal maps only	No	No	No	Specialized software for creating normal maps
ZBrush	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
CrazyBump	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Specialized software for creating normal, occlusion, displacement, and specular maps
MindTex 2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

3D Implementation

• NifSkope: Opening, viewing, and editing .nif files
• NifUtilsSuite: Contains ChunkMerge for transferring collision, and other useful tools
• Sniff: Batch operations on .nif files

Music and Sound Effects

• Abelton Live 10
• audacity (free and basic)

Project Management

• xEdit: Editing .esm and .esp files with more flexibility, resolving plugin conflicts
• LOD Generation
  • xLODGen: Generating terrain LOD
  • DynDOLOD: Generating object and tree LOD
• Octagon: Batch operations on .dds files