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BigBizkit: Thanks, DeserterX, for joining us today: as always, we like to start the interview off by you telling us a bit about yourself.
DeserterX: Well, I am just a guy with a passion for computer graphics. Recently I discovered I can paint and design clothes and I am very happy that modding is giving me the opportunity to be part of something that I love.
Many people might be familiar with your Skyrim/Skyrim SE and Fallout 4 mods as you’re most well known for creating amazing armours! Would you say that’s your forte and do you have a favourite mod of yours?
Thank you! Yes, armors is what I love making the most. It is a great challenge every single time to take a nice idea, or a very well done 2D drawing and bring it to life as a 3D model that looks beautiful from every angle. Some times it works, some times not so much, but this challenge always excites me. As for a favorite, every armor I make is my favorite when it is completed. Until the next one that is.
Other than the technical execution of creating the models and textures, in your opinion, what separates a good armour from a bad armour?
Mainly I think a good armor has to fit the game world it is created for. For example if you make a futuristic armor no matter how good it is, it will fail its purpose if you use it in a fantasy setting game like Skyrim. Also a good armor needs to offer the player play time. A player has to have a role when he/she is wearing it. That being a thief, or a mage, or a vampire for example in a game like Skyrim.
You must be spending a lot of time on your armours as many of them are insanely detailed! Did you ever dive deep into the creation of an armour only to scrap it completely because it just didn’t work out?
Nope, it never happened. But some armors reached a dead end at some point in the past. When this happened I took a step back to think. There is always a way to turn a disaster to something positive. So I just kept the parts I liked, changed what I didn't and all was well after. Now I base my armor creations on some excellent drawings and real life models of some very talented artists, so the chances of this happening are very low.
What is your main source of inspiration for your work?
Since most of my armors are meant for a female character, it may sound weird, maybe it is, but mainly it's the woman's body. I like thinking of ways to hide or reveal parts of it to make it look sexy and beautiful. For some time now though, my inspiration comes from looking at the amazing screenshots from a very talented person, dianka33. We met through Nexus by sharing the same passion for beautiful outfits and now we live and work together for about six months. Just exchanging ideas and looking at my work through her eyes is the only inspiration I need.
How did you learn to do what you do and what tools do you usually use?
I studied design and multimedia a long time ago, after that I was making graphics for a television network, and after that I worked a long time in construction making virtual 3D presentations. So I had an idea of how 3D things work. When I started modding I had to adapt to a new age of software and learn it all over again for an entirely different purpose. Right now I am using Blender to create all the outfits, Outfit Studio to do all the weights and in short make them playable in a computer game, Photoshop for all the texturing, Crazy Bump for my height maps and finally Nifscope to put everything together and preview it as I go.
If you can remember: how did you start your modding journey and how did you find out about Nexus Mods?
There was this game, X-Rebirth. There was this terrible annoying voice saying "Show me your wares please" every single time you went to a vendor. It was driving me so crazy that I started looking for a way to shut this person up. With a little help from Google I discovered Nexus and downloaded my first mod that made it possible for me to enjoy one of my favorite games at the time. My modding journey started with X-Rebirth as well. Made a modification for the armor of the co-pilot (just a single edit to a texture) and after that I published an ENB preset for that same game.
We recently celebrated 1,000 Games on Nexus Mods. What would you say are your favourite games to play and/or mod?
Congratulations! It's so nice to see Nexus growing and supporting even more games. Nexus completely changed my gaming experience for the better and I am glad to know that more people can experience the same for their favorite games. My favorite games to mod are Bethesda's games of course. They offer us tools and they were very open and welcoming to modders. At least in the past. That is why in my opinion their games became so popular, and this is why I love modding them. Now to play, I enjoy Bioware's games mainly for the amazing experience of the Mass Effect trilogy.
Outside of modding, what are some things you like to do for fun?
Spend time with my girlfriend, see movies (with aliens), play computer games, eat chickens, and I like to do driving trips whenever I can.
Having been a member of our site for so long, you must have some other authors whose work you appreciate. Anyone in particular you’d like to give a shoutout to?
First of all Ousnius. Made all these amazing tools for modders to use and it is amazing how many things he knows and how much time he is spending helping everyone.
Docteure and Jeir because I appreciate attention to details and they never let anything slip by them.
Hype1 for all his amazing meshes and realistic textures.
Tiwa44 with his very elegant modifications to many vanilla outfits that inspired me to start my own outfit creation journey.
Is there anything else you would like to say to the Nexus Mods community?
To the modders just one thing, share what you make. Modding is based on sharing, most of us start by building on something someone else did before us, at the end, no matter what, helping others helps us all as a whole. To the community in general, ... stay awesome guys!
A big thank you to DeserterX for taking the time to talk to us! If there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to BigBizkit or Pickysaurus.
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