Modder's Interview: Lady Phoenix Fire Rose
How long have you been modding and what was your first complete mod?
I came back to Morrowind sometime around 2015, in the process of downloading, installing and playing the game I got inspired to try making my own mods. I got involved on the Bethesda Morrowind forums and started learning to use the Construction Set. The first mod I started working on was a quest-based travel mod to get between all the Imperial Forts, but that mod didn't make it very far. Then I started a Necromancer-themed house mod inspired by playing with tilesets in the CS. That mod turned into a massive project that stalled out. At the time I also got involved with Darkelfguy's Modtown 2015 project and did a lot of work there. Though again, I didn't actually manage to finish any of those projects either.
It wasn't until May of 2016 for the second Modathon that I actually finished my first mod. I spent the entire month making Cave of Wonders, and only just managed to finish building the dungeon in time. I'd still like to return to that mod and expand upon it at some point, making it the larger dungeon I wanted it to be as well as giving it a story that I initially had no time for. Perhaps even redoing and re-detailing the areas I already completed a bit.
How do you approach modding?
My approach to modding is really rather messy. Inspiration tends to come from poking around at things until it starts to lead me into something that seems workable. Sometimes I have a base concept of something I want, so I poke at that. Those actually lead to my more completed projects, more likely than not. Though equally as likely, I'd find that concept to be outside the scope of my abilities so it doesn't go anywhere.
As for a specific workflow, I do have a certain methodology when I'm working on cells in the CS. I basically view it as working in layers. The first layer is prepping the cell, normally creating the base layout of the cell I'm going to work on. The second is big detailing, placing things like furniture, or rocks and plants depending on the type of cell. Thirdly, I move on to smaller details, any misc items, books, weapons, armor, whatever small things I need to make it look used and more polished. I will go back and tweak things as needed regardless of my progress of course. Once all that is complete, only then will I do lighting. I never add any lights at all until this stage. I don't even tweak the cell's natural lighting until then. I prefer detailing with an obscured view, and I find trying to detail with placed lights in the CS to be rather messy, so I just put it off until near the end. Lastly, I'll do any final edits, such as pathgrids. NPCs and creatures I don't have a specific time I place them, it really just depends on when I feel ready for them so it could be at any point stage three onward.
What's your favourite thing about modding?
My favorite thing about modding is basically being able to do art. I rather suck at drawing and other such forms of art, creating an image from the ground up is just beyond me. But if I have pieces or ready-made things I can put them together into something that looks good, such as my interiors and dungeons. I really enjoy being able to do that.
What's your most challenging mod and what's the mod you're most proud of?
The answer to both those questions is the same, and for basically the same reasoning: Hla Odai. While Hla Odai was a team-made mod for Madness, my teammates didn't have a lot of time to work on it, so the exterior, most of the interiors and the dungeon were all completed by just me, in the same time frame of a month as my first mod Cave of Wonders. If you compare the two there really is no comparison, Hla Odai just really shows how much I grew as a modder and I think it's some of my best work to date. Plus I am pleased that I actually got to make a town mod, something that I always wanted to do just to see if I could.
You took part in various modding events, what makes them special for you?
There are a lot of things that make participating in events special to me. A big one is that it makes me feel involved in the community. Not only because I haven't been so active recently, but even when I am pretty active I'm not the most talkative person in large groups. So taking part in events, especially group ones like Madness makes me feel more involved.
Another reason is they helped me grow as a modder. Every event I participated in has helped me expand my skill set, even if it's mostly just cell designing skills. Especially the first time I participated in Madness, I was lucky enough to team up with Danae while still being a relatively new modder. That Madness itself was a crazy experience, being the two months four mods Madness. Danae taught me so much about polishing mods and making them more complete than I would have got to on my own.
For example, before that, on my own, I struggled with getting the minor detailing of misc objects in building interiors. At that point, I had completed Cave of Wonders, but none of my building interiors progressed that far successfully. Working with a team, helped me overcome that hurdle. Without participating in such a competition, I probably wouldn't have progressed very far as a modder at all.
The last thing that I appreciate about modding events is inspiration. Events often inspire to work on mods I never would have thought of before, or the kick I need to turn the vague concept I had into something workable. A key example of that last point is Hla Oad, it let me make a town mod I didn't know how to go about doing before. Another example is The Imperial Dwemer Society, the first mod I made with Danae in that Madness, I had the layout for the interior and exterior of guild hall just sitting around from some CS meddling I had been doing, but no real idea what to do with it. Madness allowed me to turn that into an actual usable mod.
Are you working on a mod these days?
No, not really. I have a few unfinished projects I want to get back to, the update for Cave of Wonders, my Unique Guards overhaul, and my merchant overhaul project, being the primary contenders. I just don't have access to a computer that has the space for me to mod as freely as I'd like anymore, so I've been limiting my modding to events. Mostly Madness.
How much do you play Morrowind, not counting play testing?
I used to play Morrowind a ton, but for the same reason that I don't actively mod, I don't really play it anymore. I want to be able to set up a proper modded install, but I don't have the space for that either, sadly.
How did you discover Morrowind?
My elder brother was gifted the Game of the Year edition way back when we were kids, and we just became absolutely obsessed with it. We played all the time.
What makes Morrowind special for you?
Well, probably the primary factor being nostalgia. Not only was it one of my favorite games as a kid, I have a lot of fond memories around it. My dad had been very into modding it back then and he modded the install for us kids to play as well. Children of Morrowind had been a favorite of mine, I loved being able to play as a kid. Then of course there was the time where I only really knew a handful of console commands, but I wanted to cheat myself a ton of money. I knew the add item command, but not what the ID for gold was. What I did know was the iron mace ID, so I cheated myself about 5k or so of those, and spent forever alternating sleeping and selling them to the merchant on the main floor of the Balmora Fighters Guild, as that's where I was when I did that, and of course I couldn't move with that absurd amount of weight in my inventory. XD
What are the mods you simply cannot play without? Are there any underrated mods that you really enjoy?
I don't really have any mods like that right now, mostly as I've been rather out of touch with the modding community and what mods have been released more recently. At this point I just don't know what mods I'll install when I can make a new properly modded install.
Do you play other games?
Yes I do. Some old classics that I also played a lot as a kid, and will always go back to are Wizardry 8, Diablo II, and Warlords Battlecry. I on/off play Minecraft from time to time. I recently binged a bunch of the Lego games. Most recently I've been playing Vampire Survivor, Stardew Valley and Spelunky.
Do you mod other games?
I add mods to other games, pretty much if it's a game I play that I can add mods to, I will. I haven't created any mods, mostly because none of the games that I have any interest in modding have a means for me to mod within my very limited skill set.
And by the way, what's the story behind your username? Anything else you'd like to share that we haven't talked about?
The story behind my username is really pretty simple, way back when my dad was setting me up with an email and he asked me what I wanted my username to be. As I was totally obsessed with Harry Potter I loved the idea of using lady as part of my name, as I was also obsessed with phoenixes because of HP, so I went with Phoenix Fire. Wanting to make it a little more unique I decided to add my favorite flower, roses. Fire Rose just sounded epic, and so Lady Phoenix Fire Rose was born. I decided after that that I just wanted to use that as my name for everything.