TeeKayM - Mod Author Spotlight

June 7, 2015 by

The mod author spotlight is a series of articles looking at mod authors, what they are thinking, what they are working on and what have they done so far. We'll be approaching notable modders in the community to feature in their own articles.

In this article we chat with TeeKayM - TeeKayM's Mods | TeeKayM's Forum Profile

Who are you?

Where does your name come from?

It certainly isn’t a very well thought OUT name, but I like it. It all came from a person I met online called ‘TryKillMe’ who was a really cool guy. I was thinking of what to name my character once and I remembered of that guy’s name. So I took the initials ‘TKM’ and turned it into ‘TeeKayM’ because it sounded cool. Then I stuck with it in every game I played (including Trove).

I don’t like to say a lot of things about where my name comes from because I think its quite embarrassing but I’ll do it anyway because I love you guys <3

Outside of Trove, do you have any other experience with modding or art?

Not much. I have had some experience with modding and art back when I was modding Skyrim. I did make a few 3D Models as mods but I later got bored and abandoned modding. Most of the mods I made didn’t turn out like I wanted, which was mainly the reason why I left it. However, it really made me interested in modding other games.

What inspired you to start modding?

As I said in the last question, I was interested in modding something else after I was done with Skyrim.

When I came to Trove, I was really digging the whole ‘Player Creations’ system. I started to make a few weapons here and there, not really going anywhere since it was a really simple process. I then found out that Blestmist made some new mounts (or a new mount), and I was really interested to know how he did it. I mostly self taught myself how to make mods, after someone told me that I can use the tools to convert blueprint files to .qb files.

At first, I made mods for myself. My ever first mod was a Pemblock mod. It turned the Pemblock into a black Pemblock, and I was really happy that it actually worked and that it looked the way I wanted.

Then, after the Weiner mount and costume were accepted, I was shocked to see that player mods could be actually part of the game. I then started to make my 2nd big mod project (The Chaos Hunter) as hope for it to make it into the game. It turned out that it was a really simple recolour and that It probably will never be added. I lost motivation, but I kept making these mods and posting them. I then got more addicted to modding and It just kept going. I now have around 20 mods made and I am proud of every single one of them :D

Which modders work inspires you the most?

I’d say a lot of people do. I draw a lot of inspiration and ‘steal’ ideas from others’ mods and then make it into something else. But If I had to say who inspires me a lot, I guess It’d be these guys: Tribe;ScreamHeart;LippyLapras;FriedSushi and Aviarei.

They are all amazing people and I honestly think the game wouldn’t be the same without them. They made a significant amount of content for the game.

Current Modding

What mods have you made so far?

I have made a lot of things, for a lot of things. I have all sorts of crazy mods made, including fire-breathing reindeers and Hoverboards (both of these are very recent mods). I aim to expand my mod creation by taking people’s suggestions for mods.

What is the most popular mod you have made?

Definitely the Chaos Hunter. It is my first mod post on the forum and the most popular. I don’t know why and how it became this popular, but it just is. Also the Pembarrs I made are pretty popular too (the Ghost Pembarr and the Pirate Pembarr).

What are you most proud of making?

I’d have to say my TASA items. I loved making them and polishing them in terms of VFX and material maps.I had a tough time getting the right colour scheme and choosing VFX style and all

that boring stuff. But eventually it paid off for me. I really enjoy using them (especially the hoverboard)

And for any devs reading this: If they are ever going to be accepted, I’d be very happy, because I put a lot of work into those. ;)

What type of mods do you enjoy making?

I’m more of a mount collector than a costume collector. So I’d say I like making mounts more. However, this does not mean I don’t enjoy making both, because I do.

What tools do you use to make mods?

When I first started out I used Zoxel to make mods and items, but then I switched to Magica Voxel because it was much quicker and efficient.

Also, a lot of people want to know where to download a gif making program.

I use Gifcam, and a lot of other people too. It is a really simple program and you can easily upload the gifs to imgur and then embed them into your thread. You can find a download for it here

Can you list the steps you take in making a typical mod?

Firstly, I would think of something I’d like to do. Then I’d make some quick google searches to find reference images (if any). I normally find a lot of images for what I’m looking for, and I simply pull them out and save them.

Then I begin to make the mod. If its a mount, I always make the head model first. However, if its a costume, I will make the torso first. I don’t really know why I do this but it helps me get the hang of what I’m doing.

After I made some essential bits such as the torso and hands, I begin to test them by using them in the game. This helps me get the idea of what it would look like when it will be finished. I then do the other bits after.

Then finally I test them out in the game altogether, making changes as necessary. After that’s finished, I post them on the forums as an early concept and try to get some feedback. While that’s going on I begin to make some VFX for the mod. This takes suuuuuuper long because VFX is quite challenging and time consuming.

What is the most challenging thing about making mods?

For me, it’s making the item look the way you want it to. Most of the times you’ll have an idea in mind which you really want to make, but you have no idea how to do it. Or, worst case scenario you make it but can’t make it look good.

Take my TASA items for example. I spent 2 hours trying colour schemes for it till I finally gave up and decided on the colours when I was in the shower. Then, I had a hard time polishing it to a high enough standard until I released it.

Future Modding

What are you currently working on?

Right now I’m working on Hoverboards and costumes to go along with them.I always wanted to be able to make hoverboards in Trove and we now can. There are also not many of them so I guess its a good idea to make some, right?

Above is a sneak peak of Inferno. It is not finished in terms of VFX but I figured why not include it here.

What type of mods would you most like to see in the future?

Well, I can tell you what kind of mods I don’t want to see in the future. I don’t want to see anymore Radiant or Shadow mods because they are so unoriginal and the Mod Subforum is full of them.

But I do, however, want to see more mods like Screamheart’s. I want to see more of these new animals being brought into the game (such as the bulls) because I feel like they are really original. I’m all in for original stuff.

If you could change attachment and VFX points, what mod would you want to make?

I would love to make a bird mount of some sort. I know we are getting dragons which fly and while that’s cool, I feel like a bird hovering in the air with you on it would be cool as well.

What could the dev team do to help you create mods?

Accept all my current ones :D.

Just kidding!

I would love if we could make new or edit animations of mounts/costumes. I feel like we should be able to open the animation files in Maya or 3DS and just play around with them. They are all GR2 files (if I remember correctly) which can’t be opened in these programs but only on the devs’ end. I know it might be hard for the devs to do this, but it would broaden the horizons for us and really make things a lot more interesting.

Do you have any advice to give to new modders?

Hopefully it was an interesting read for y’all modders and non-modders.

My honest advice is to try to make something really unique and make it surprise people. Try to push the limits, and not just recolour items. Personally, I have been playing around with switching attachment points and It really does help you make your item better.

My 2nd piece of advice would be to not do it for the Credits. A lot of people do this but it just breathes bad mods and probably it won’t get accepted.