NOTE: I've recently discovered Steam randomly deletes images from Guides. So I have put a copy of the guide content into a docx file on Google Drive. It is not properly paginated but may be of use if more images start dissapearing from this Steam version DOCX version of Steam Guide (Google Drive Link)[docs.google.com]

Most Starfield builders won’t need the Starfield Creation Kit ("CK") to expand their building options beyond the vanilla in-game outpost builder. Mods are available that add new structures and objects to the builder menus. The CK also has barriers and challenges:

• A PC or gaming laptop with 32gb of ram is needed to load and run the CK with stability (the executable and Starfield.esm alone are about 20gb), along with a mid-tier graphics card and 8-core processor for smooth functionality.
  
• Building with the CK is more complex and time consuming. In-game builders can just land on a planet, add an outpost beacon and position functioning habs. In the CK, locations have to be defined, positioned on a planet, landscape created and edited. Habs must be assembled with parts, and lighting, and the “navmesh” that creates NPCs pathing added.
  
• It’s a complicated program with many tools and functions and thousands of game assets to find, understand, assemble and position. It can sometimes crash or display confusing errors. Some issues may require modding community help to resolve.

However, learning the entire scope of the CK is unnecessary and the basics in this guide should help you start building and access a wealth of options unavailable or limited in-game even with mods including:

• Precision control of placement, including position, rotation and scaling of objects and ability to build in original ways by combining objects.
  
• Build kits that can be combined along with other assets to create unique hab complexes and installations.
  
• Custom landscaping options such as creating a base on top of a pinnacle, on a platform out to sea or in an underground cave.
  
• The option to add details that bring locations to life, such as grime and blood decals, greebles, pipes, switches, audio and visual effects.
  
• Environmental storytelling options such as encroaching infestation of alien creatures, the aftermath of battles or strange, mystical locations with new lore.

This is not a comprehensive CK guide; it focuses on the fundamental concepts, methods and tools for building and decorating a planetary location that can be added to the game and visited with a companion. However, it can also function as a general introduction to the CK and be used in conjunction with video tutorials, or as a quick reference. The guide has the following sections:

Navigating the CK

The menus, icons and tool windows needed for basic CK functionality and/or building.

Working with Cells:

The Interior and Exterior Cells that can be used in the game for build environments and how to create them.

Types of Objects and Markers:

A basic overview of objects and markers used to construct starfield.

Adding Objects to Cells and Editing Their Position:

How to move around in a Render Window after opening a cell, add objects and position them.

Building Custom Habs:

The use cases for exterior and interior build parts, using build kits and precise placement.

Adding Interior Structures to Habs

Adding interior structures such as floors, stairs and doors to custom habs.

Adding Further Detail:

Options to consider for adding detail to builds.

Containers, Displays and Workbenches:

How to add and configure them.

Environmental Storytelling:

Adding narrative elements to builds such as hab damage, blood smears and alien infestation.

Lighting:

Adding lighting fixtures and markers, configuring them, lighting areas and using Post Effect Volumes.

Adding Sound:

Vanilla sound options (without using Audiokinetic sound editor).

Setting Up Planetary Locations:

Setting up a planetary location, creating a location reference and adding essential markers.

Landscape Editing

Editing terrain, painting terrain textures and adding terrain objects such as rocks and cliffs.

Navmesh:

Adding navmesh to builds for NPC navigation.

Connecting Exterior and Interior Cells

Appendices:

A visual catalogue of the parts that make up the "Outpost" hab kits.

Bethesda CK documentation is presently unavailable. Builders are limited to searching forum posts for information or asking experienced modders. Forums include r/starfieldmods on Reddit and the nexusmods discord (https://www.nexusmods.com/discord).
There are some CK video tutorials, primarily on Youtube:

• JRamosWorks is new to modding and the CK, but has released many CK tutorials and livestreams on his JRamosWorks Creative Gaming youtube channel, which are full of useful information and guidance. This includes playlists such as Starfield Creation Kit Tutorial, a series of videos that range from installation and CK basics to more advanced techniques.
  
• Darkfox127 has released excellent tutorials for the Skyrim and Fallout 4 CK, and has started to release some Starfield CK tutorials in the past few months. His tutorial style is clear, informative and easy to follow.
  
• Art Toots has published a handful of Starfield Creation Kit videos, some building-related, with videos on autonavmesh and lighting very helpful.
  
• Elianora has only posted a couple of videos on basic CK building tools, useful for understanding working with objects in the Render window.
  
• Stan M's CK tutorials are mostly not building focused, though some (eg, activator switches) may be useful for building projects.
  
• Wicked Workshop has created several hab expansion mods and included tutorials for aspects of this process.

While there are differences between the Starfield Creation Kit and past versions for Fallout 4 and Skyrim, tutorials and documentation for earlier versions can be helpful. Many of the features, concepts, fundamental methods and tools carry over to the Starfield CK or exist in an updated or enhanced form. Earlier versions of the Creation Kit are well documented with guides, tutorials and wikis.

A good start focusing on the Fallout 4 CK is Bethesda Mod School series of videos by Kinggath.

Learning from the Starfield Creation Kit Itself
Once you get the CK running you can open any location cell in the game, click on objects and see how the developers used them to create the game. Next to tutorials, this is probably the best way of learn CK build techniques.

This section tours some of the key menus, icons and tool windows in the CK.

Menus

There are 12 menus in the CK with many menu features also accessible via shortcuts or tool windows (once toggled as visible in your CK workspace). The following are needed for basic CK use or useful for building.

“File” Menu

Mods start as "plugin" files. These can be saved here or loaded by clicking on "Data". The Data Window also allows plugins to be associated with "master" files - game data files essential for mod functionality. You must load the "Starifield.esm" master file into the CK before saving a mod plugin - it takes a while, it's a big file. If you need game assets from other master files, they must also be loaded before saving your plugin, eg, SFBGS006.esm contains the Empty Ship Habs update needed for mods that make use of them.

When loading your saved mod plugin it should be selected in the Data Window. Click on "Set as Active File" before selecting "OK". You don't need to select Starfield.esm after saving for the first time; it will be loaded automatically

Plugins can also be exported in this menu as master files for testing in game or use by players and finally the CK preferences are also accessible here.

”Edit” Menu

Allows copying of objects in a cell render window, their duplication in that cell and pasting of copied objects into other cells (once another cell render window is opened). Undo/Redo and Search & Replace for objects is also here. Most actions in this menu have keyboard shortcuts.

“Dock” Menu

Tool window layout management and toggling of visibility for the tool windows for manipulating objects in cell windows is here.

“View” Menu

Options for customising what appears in cell render windows and toggling the visibility of other CK features are accessible here. Some window toggles here also appear in the “Docks” menu.

“World” Menu

The “Worldspace” and “Cell” windows, used to select, configure or create new cells are accessible at the top of this menu, and most often used for building activities.

“Terrain” Menu

Access landscape editing tools and select blocks of various types of terrain for worldspaces you create.

Icons

There are over 60 menu icons and other tools in a strip below the main menus. Positioning the cursor over any icon will show a tooltip description (or consult the full visual guide in Appendix A of this guide to see them at a glance). The diagram below focuses on basic and building-related Icons.

Tool Windows

When first opening the CK, multiple windows will pop up around the CK workspace, some minimised and positioned on top of one another. The visibility of windows can be toggled (in the "View" and "Docks" menus), the windows can be resized, repositioned and docked with one another, so it is possible to arrange key tool windows in your workspace to form a “dashboard”. An example of this is in the screenshot below.
Layouts of tool windows can also be saved and reloaded (in the "Docks" menu), so once you find and arrange the windows in a layout you like, it can be saved and reloaded.

The following tool windows all have essential or useful build related features:

Search, preview and access all game objects here. Objects are organised into branching folders with sub-folders by type. This includes parts for building structures such as walls, doors and floors, furniture, weapons, armour, quests, and other functional objects such as "markers" that are placed in cells in the game to govern NPC behaviour, lighting, audio and effects. These are discussed in more detail later in the guide.



Any object selected in the Object Window can be previewed here (if it has visible properties). You can move and rotate your view and the “Focus” button resets this.

This shows a 3d rendering of the currently loaded cell or worldspace. Use icons in the strip below the menus to toggle various game engine lighting and other effects in the render. This is where you build; you can move around inside this window, add, move and edit objects. More than one render window can be opened at a time, but only one active at a time.

Search for and load cells (left hand side in screenshot). When a cell is loaded this window also lists objects that have been placed into that cell (right hand side in screenshot).


Create layers, assign objects in the currently loaded cell into them and make layers visible, lock them or assign a layer as active for adding new objects.



Show or hide types of objects in the cell render window. If you see objects unexpectedly or type of objects are missing check here.


Specify the types of objects that can be selected in the Cell Render Window, or excluded from being selected. Useful for avoiding mis-selecting and moving objects unintentionally.



Appears when you double click an object in the Render Window. Provides information about currently selected object(s) including their location in a cell. Very useful for building as it allows typing of precise values for location, rotation and scale.


Allows the selection of star systems and planets and moons in their orbitthem, providing a preview of the planet in a render window and information about its orbit, atmosphere and other properties. For building this is primarily used for selecting planetary location coordinates to associate with your build location and a worldspace you have created it within.

Everywhere in Starfield that players can travel to and move around in is constructed in a "cell" or across a space made up of multiple adjacent cells. Principally, a cell can be:

• Exterior: a "Worldspace" on a planet’s surface or a “SpaceCell” in the orbit above a planet or moon. Worldspaces are comprised of multiple cells in a continuous grid. Surrounding cells are visible to the player and the player transitions between cells largely seamlessly as they walk, run, jetpack or drive across a landscape.
  
  
• Interior: typically inside a building, an underground installation, tunnels or chamber such as a cave, or inside a ship or star station at an orbital location. Interior cells are usually a single cell space, with more areas in an interior environment created as separate interior cells connected by doors.

Although worldspaces include a textured polygon mesh forming landscape terrain, and you can build in them, they are not connected to the game world until you define a location reference and connect this with coordinates on a planet's surface. The steps involved are covered later in this guide.

Interior cells that will be accessible at a planetary location (eg, an underground level at an installation) also have no connection to the gameworld until connected to a planetary location via markers and reference links at points such as doors, hatches or airlocks. Players and NPCs can then move between them by being "teleported" from one cell to another upon door activation.

CK users can load any individual cells or worldspaces (which usually contain multiple cells) in Starfield created by the game developers into the CK and use a render window to navigate through that space. Edits can be made to those cells or new objects and effects added, but as mentioned earlier, just visiting different locations in the game without making changes can be an effective way of learning more how it was put together.

Cells or worldspaces are opened by using the Cell View window:

1. Access the Cell View window via "View>Cell View").
   
2. Use the drop down at the top of the window to filter cell types such as interior, spacecell and others (world spaces can be selected directly from here, "interior" needs to be selected here to see a list of interior cells). The "Cell Filter" search bar can also be used to find specific cells via a keyword. If you name any cells you create with a distinctive prefix, you can use that here to see them all.
   
3. Once the correct cell is selected right click on it and select "View"(for world spaces, which have multiple cells you will need to right click on one of them in the list below). It may take a few seconds to load.

Opening additional Render Windows allows multiple cells to be accessible during a CK session. This can be useful for looking at another game location while building as a reference.

Objects in cells you load into additional render windows can be copied and pasted into the cell you are currently working in if desired. This can save a lot of time, allowing you to select objects you are familiar with directly from the game world rather than trying to search for them in the Object database. However, care should be taken when doing this, as sometimes objects are connected to quests or have other references and copying these will likely cause in game issues with your final mod file.

Cells can also be used as working spaces for building structures and interior decoration within them or just to test techniques, ideas and methods. Anything built in such a cell can be copied and pasted into an existing or new cell once you are happy with what you have built (though building directly into a worldspace using its default grid makes part alignment much easier).

You can create several different kinds of interior cells, including Interior, InstanceableInterior and ShipCell. This guide section focuses only on Interior Cells, the type most often used to create interior spaces in planetary builds.
To create a new interior cell

• Select “Worlds>Cells” and
  
• Right click in the list of IDs below
  
• Select “New”
  
• Give your new cell a name. It is helpful to start any new cells you create with a word you can remember so you can search for it easily in the Cell View window.

An entire new interior cell will have no objects in it so there is nothing to provide a reference on the space you working with.Select View>Packin>Ground Plane to see a textured surface set at “ground level”. This will help you orientate yourself.

The process for creating new worldspaces differs from creating interior cells, requiring more steps and a choice of methods depending on your build purposes.

You will find - when opening the WorldSpace menu and right clicking on the list of worldspaces - that the option for “New” is greyed out. Worldspaces have to have terrain associated with them. There are three main ways of doing this:

1. Duplicating an existing Worldspace. Care needs to be taken doing this, as some worldspaces have quests and other references associated with them. For building purposes it is recommended to create a new worldspace using one of the other methods described below (unless you have already created a worldspace template for duplication purposes).
   
2. Terrain Cutting using one of the dozens of terrain blocks used across the game to generate planetary landscapes to create an “overlay”. Once you select planetary coordinates for your build that overlay (including the terrain you selected) will be imposed at those coordinates.
   
3. Terrain Cutting by choosing a location on a planet or moon and selecting a grid of of the terrain generated at that location to create a block of exterior cells that includes this terrain. (this is covered later in the guide|)

1. In the Object Window, open the WorldData\Block Folder. There are a wide range of landscape blocks in subfolders of differing sizes and geological nature, eg, eroded and sharp hills, mesas and fields.
   
2. Select Right-Click and "Preview" to see what a block looks like in the Render Window.
   
3. Select the Render Window and use SHIIFT W,A,S,D and Mouse movements to move and pan through the preview space to position the terrain you see so that you can see all area you want to use.
   
4. Select "Terrain>Landscape Cutting" to bring up a grid selection in the render window.
   
5. Adjust the x and y position and size either by dragging the handles in the render window or entering values in the Landscape Cutting Tool.
   
6. Enter a Editor ID name (make sure you do NOT use underscores when naming new overlays) and click on "Create Overlay".

Your new overlay will be accessible from the Cell View window and you can load it and build if desired. The overlay does not exist in the game world yet, you need to create a new location reference and select coordinators for it Galaxy mode. This will be covered in a later guide section along with the third method of creating overlays by creating landscape from scratch from a default block.

The Starfield game world consists of virtual objects made of textured polygons assembled into structures. The topography of planetary landscapes are generated as a separate polygon mesh, but details such as cliff faces, rocks, trees and clutter are objects placed on or around that mesh. Buildings are assembled from floor, ceiling, wall, window and door parts fitted together. Machinery, pipes, furniture and clutter objects are also either single piece objects or also assembled out of kits of build parts.

As an example, the screenshot below shows part of Cydonia. The landscape mesh is the light coloured topography in the foreground and some of the added objects such as rocks and containers and are selected (green highlights)
Each one of these parts, know as “forms” in the CK, have a base form in the Starfield.esm master (game data file) or in expansion masters. This base form functions as a master template with a range of properties, which might include visual aspects such as textures, colour and decals, effects such as animations or sounds for a container that can be opened, or game play properties such as weight or damage for ammunition.

In most cases modders should never make edits to the base form, as the changes made will carry through to every copy of that form in the game, which may be in numerous locations. However, you can make a copy of the base form in the object database and make changes to that copy without affecting the original base form.

When a base form object is added to a cell, a copy is made of the original form which has the same Editor ID as the original, but a different "Hex ID" (hex is short for hexadecimal). These copies can be positioned, rotated and scaled without affecting the original base form and in some cases the textures applied to that form can be "hot swapped". The example below shows a couch piece that has been duplicated three times with one duplicate rotated, another increased in scale and lastly one texture “hotswapped” with an orange variation

Form Locations in the Object Window Database and Editor ID Naming Conventions

Forms in the game data files are organised into a folder structure that can be explored and searched in the Object Window. Typing a keyword in the search box will filter objects matching that keyword. These search windows also have “wildcard” search functionality, meaning you can use "*" symbols before or after keywords or search text to refine your search.

Most of the build objects are in the "WorldObject" folder. The example below shows where one of the bathroom build kits is located in WorldObjects\Static\SetDressing\Furniture\Bathrooms.

Many objects have an icon next to them in the Object window that helps identify them. In the screenshot below Static (build part), Packin (assembled build parts), Door, Container and Light objects all have related icons to the left.

Form objects in the CK are named using keywords and comprised of 2 or 3 letter components. In the example below of a bathroom kit "Bathsink" is the main keyword "B" is the bathroom kit variation (there are two others, A, and C) and "Mid" or "Cor" indicate the type of build part, middle or corner, with the number being which variation of middle or corner piece. Some build parts may also including prefixes such as "Lg" or "Sm" for large or small, "Mid", "Win" or "Ext" for a core middle hab section and window and exit parts respectively.
The screen shot also shows how the bathroom build parts can be arranged together to create a bathroom fixture, with the assembled version on the left, and the individual parts separated on the right.

Static Parts and Packins

As seen in the case of the bathroom kit, many objects as seen in the game world are comprised of multiple related objects that have been assembled. The individual component parts can be found in the WorldObjects\Static folder in the Object window, with various categories located in keyword named sub folders. Static parts have a blue house surrounded by green shrub icon to the left.

In some cases assembled versions of these component static objects are also available as a "Packin". These are essentially pre assembled objects the developers might have used frequently in multiple game world locations, and have created to save time when building. These include interior and exterior build parts assembled as a whole, fixtures such as a light part on a particular height of stand part, entire collections of setups of clutter such as boxes, tools and machine parts, furniture with books and other objects placed on shelves and even an entire kitchen. Packins have a "9" inside a yellow square icon to the left in the Object window database.

Packins are located in WorldObjects\Packin in the Object window, with sub folders typically following a similar folder structure by type.

Markers

Another important form type is a marker. Markers are not visible in the game world when playing, but can be made visible in a render window in the CK in a Show/Hide window and arranged for different effects. They are distinguishable from build objects as most are in bright colours or are comprised of polygons without textures.

Types of markers include:

More information on some of these markers, including what they do, and when and how to use them, is covered in later sections of this guide.

Moving around a cell in the Render Window

After loading a cell, click on the Render window to activate it.

The initial viewpoint will always be from the top looking down into the cell. To help orientate yourself (especially if working in a new, empty cell), select "View>Packin>Ground Plane". This will add a textured “ground” surface that will extend at 0 height in all directions.

Press SHIFT to rotate your view around your current position.

Press SHIFT and use the W, A, S D keys to move forward, backwards and side to side inside the cell and use mouse movements to pan the camera up down, left or right.

The default movement speed is fast. You may overshoot and end up in a void, or below the ground plane; use SHIFT+F to reset. The mouse wheel changes the velocity of WASD movement; roll it backwards while moving to reduce speed.

Adding New Objects

If you are working in an empty cell you can drag an object from the Object window into the Render Window to start, eg, a floor piece such as “SciIntSegSmMidFloor01” (you can type “sci*Floor” into the search bar, the floor piece will be towards the bottom of the search results). Or you can consult the visual references in the Appendices to find Editor IDs for various hab build parts.

Selecting an object will highlight it (the default is green, but this can be changed in Preferences).

Press "D" to deselect objects.

Hold down CTRL and click to select multiple objects.

CTRL+D will duplicate selected object(s).

Holding SHIFT with an object selected will rotate your view centered on that object.

Moving, Rotating and Scaling Objects

There are three selection modes for object editing: Move, Rotate and Scale, each has a gizmo with edit handles. Shortcuts can also be used to constrain movement.

Move Gizmo

Select an object and press “E to activate or deactivate the move gizmo. This allows movement up, down, left, right and backwards and forwards.

Clicking on each of the arrows of the gizmo will move selected objects in that axis.

• The Blue arrow is for (z axis) up/down movement
  
• The Green arrow is for (y axis) forward/back movement.
  
• The Red arrow is for (x axis) left/right movement

Alternatively:

• Hold SHIFT and Z Constrain object movement to Up and Down.
  
• Hold SHIFT and X Constrain object movement to side to side.
  
• Hold SHIFT and C Constrain object movement to forward and back.

Rotate Gizmo

Press “W” to activate/deactivate the Rotate Gizmo.

• The Blue arrow is for rotation around the z axis
  
• The Green arrow is for rotation around the y axis.
  
• The Red arrow is for rotation around the x axis

Scale

Press “2” to activate the Scale Gizmo or press S and move the mouse to scale.

Positioning Objects Precisely

Objects in a cell are positioned on a Cartesian coordinate system, with a "x" value for left to right position, "y" value for depth (into the background or towards the foreground) and "z" value for height. Objects can also have an angle of rotation in some - or all - of these axes.
Double click an object to call up a Reference window. In the “3d data” tab you can enter precise x, y and z coordinate values for its position , rotation in the cell or scale.

You can also copy the position data of an object you wish to align with another object and paste it into the 3d data of the object to align.

Lastly, the size of most objects in the CK fits precisely into whole units of measurement, small objects being 1x1 units and larger objects being integer (or whole number) increments of this base unit (eg, 2x1, 2x2). This means objects can be positioned together on a grid for precise, seamless alignment

Switching on the "Snap to Grid" toggle will constrain object placement to whole number grid positions.

The default grid unit of measurement can be changed in the CK preferences, but should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Snap to angle will constrain rotation to fixed increments; these can also be changed in preferences.

Object transparency and hiding is useful when you have numerous objects placed in a cell and need to see areas they obscure more clearly.

After selecting an object and with render window selected:

• 1 (pressed once) Make object transparent in render window.
  
• 1 (pressed twice) Hide an object in the render window.
  
• ALT+1 Unhide all hidden objects in render window.

Transparent and hidden objects appears as pink text in the Cell View object list.

You can group objects together by multiple selecting them using CTRL, Right mouse click and selecting "Group References".

The Local to Global Translation toggle changes the axes of rotation for selected objects from the Global cell axes to the selected object;s axes and vice versa. In the screenshot below Global is used for the x axis in the first screenshot and Local in the second screenshot:




It is good practice to create layers in your cells and assign associated build parts to them. Layers could contain things like the main hab structural pieces, furniture, greebles, or objects on different storeys of a multi-storey structure.

Objects in a Layer can be made visible or invisible in the Render Window (by clicking on the eye icon next to the layer), can be locked from edit (by clicking next to them in the "F" column), and clicking in the "A" column designates which layer is currently active for adding new objects.

Layers can also be set up with parent and child hierarchies. Right-click on a layer see options such as selecting all references in the layer.

When you select an object you can press CTRL+SHIFT to cycle through a limited range of alternative textures for that object (when available).

Note: Use can also apply these changes to object that are grouped as part of a Packin by cycling through the selected packin using ALT+SHIFT until the particular object becomes green and then using CTRL+SHIFT to select an alternative texture.

Press "F" to drop a selected object to the plane below. This is useful for better object placement when decorating bujilds, as it is much easier to position objects on a 2d plane rather than trying to gauge its correct position in three dimensions at once. It is also helps avoid objects floating in the air unintentionally.

Activate a mode that applies physics to selected objects with the icon, World>Run Havok Sim or "Alt+H". Useful to settle placed objects such as potatoes in a container.

Select from Right-Click with an object selected and click on other objects to measure the distance between them. Useful for buliding and setting up things like the radius for a light source.

Interior and Exterior Build Parts

To reduce the number of polygons Starfield needs to render for the player at any given time (thus improving FPS), build parts are separated into external and internal pieces.

In cells only containing internal spaces the player will never see what is on the other side of a wall, ceiling or floor. Thus, only internal parts (which lack polygons on outward facing surfaces) can be used to build structures in that cell.

In a similar way, structures in a world space or situated inside larger interior spaces that the player cannot access (or see inside via a window) can be built using only external parts.

If building in a planetary environment (worldspace) where the player can move outside and inside a structure without transitioning into an interior cell (or see inside through windows), both the external and internal build parts must be placed together so players see polygons and textures from both directions.

Both exterior and Interior parts are designed to fit into the same grid space and should be positioned at the same exact coordinates and angle of rotation. Usually, both parts have the same name, with the exception of having "Ext" as the second prefix for external parts and Int "Int" for internal parts.
(The interior and exterior build parts that (combined) make up a science hab doorway).

In the guide Appendices internal and external part pairs for the “Outpost” hab kits are shown in diagrams, together with Editor IDs for locating them in the Object window.

Build Part Packins

The CK also has some build part in “Packins”, which combine internal and external pieces together. You can build with these to save time. They are not included on the Appendix diagrams, but their Editor IDs include the "Ext" build part in their name. For example, below the packin (on the right) for the Outpost Science WallB piece has “OpsExtPodSmWallB01” in both External part and Packin editors IDs.

Outpost Hab corner, wall and window packins are located in: WorldObjects\Packin\Outpost\ folder with sub folders for each hab variation.

Build Kits

There are many styles of habitation structures in Starfield. These are constructed using kits of compatible architectural parts. This guide focuses mainly on the “Outpost” kits but many POIs are constructed using the Science and Industrial Kits and there are also kits for building structures in the distinctive architecture of Akila, New Atlantis and Neon and specialised kits such as those for Starborn temples. The Outpost kits are outlined below. The Appendices provide a visual guide to the parts in each:

• Outpost Industrial: The “green” habs, which comes in rectangular and large and small hexagonal varieties. Forms in this kit are prefixed by “Opi”.
  
• Outpost Science: The "white" habs, come in two rectangular varieties, “WallA” with sloping walls, exit and window parts, and “WallB” with right angled parts. There are also round variations. Forms in this kit are prefixed by “Ops”.
  
• Outpost Hydroponic: The “glass” habs comes in two rectangular varieties, “WallA” with sloping wall, exit and window segments, and “WallB” with right angled parts. This kit also has round parts. Forms in this kit are prefixed by “Oph”.
  
• Outpost Military: Comes only in rectangular parts and has specific back, side and front parts that will only fit together with corresponding parts. Forms in this kit are prefixed by “Opm”.
  
• Outpost Colony: used in many civilian settlement POIs in the game. Comes only in rectangular parts in two variations, “WallA” with sloping wall, exit and window parts, and “WallB” right angled parts. Forms in this kit are prefixed by “Opc”.

This guide also includes information on the Science Hull Kit, although not an "Outpost" kit, has a modest number of parts that were easy to include and make for some interesting hab variety.

Working with the grid to place build parts

Build parts are designed to confirm to a grid and to fit together with compatible parts on the grid. Many parts are exactly 1 by 1 units in length and width and often 1 unit high as well. Compatible parts placed exactly on this grid will fit together seamlessly without any gaps, which is important as gaps break immersion in game.

Hab build parts are mostly 1x1 for corners, 2x1 for the smaller wall, exit and window parts and 2x2 for the smallest mid parts. Thus, for the standard small, square hab structure, all the parts fit into a 4x4 grid, though larger mids and some walls come in 2x4 or 4x4 variations (see further below).
Build parts have pivot points for axis of rotation. In the case of hab build parts, the pivot points are not situated in the centre of the part, but in the centre of a 4x4 grid (see yellow lines indicating pivot point for highlighted corner piece below). This makes it easy to duplicate and rotate them when building habs (but this can be confusing when first using the CK, its easy to rotating parts out of your camera view).

One method of quickly building hab structures is to use the Search & Replace function, eg, start with a wall piece, duplicate it (CTRL+D) and CTRL+F to replace with the Editor ID of the next piece you want to build.

Building Hab Layouts Larger than 4x4 Units

You can build habs using the Outpost kits larger than the standard 4x4 layout, or construct building with “wings” or extensions connected by walkways or corner pieces.

Start with a “mid” frame. There are different sized single and double storey mids in each Outpost build kit, all compatible with both "WallA" and "WallB" variants. The screenshot below shows mid parts for the Outpost Science rectangular habs.

Position he first mid exactly at a whole number x and y coordinate, eg, 0,0 or 10,-20. Double click the mid and enter x and y coordinates manually for precise placement. You can also turn on the "Snap to Grid ", which constrains movement to default cell grid whole numbers.


Once the mid part is placed, wall, window and exit parts can then be placed on the sides at whole number x and y coordinates. If you use packin parts, you can duplicate (CTRL D) the first wall part and rotate and/or move each new part into place and use CTRL+SHIFT+Mouse Wheel to cycle through other packins in that hab build kit (or search/replace).

In the screenshot below three mid pieces (one 4x4 and two 2x4) highlighted in green have been positioned together to create a "C" shaped custom hab. Corners and walls were added using the method described above.

After some practice it is possible to create custom habs quite quickly. The screenshot below shows a three storey custom hab built using combinations of WallA and WallB Outpost Science and Hydroponic hab parts. Double storey mid frames allow additional levels to be build.

There are multiple sets of interior build parts in the CK not included here as some have dozens of complex, specialised pieces that are difficult to catalogue. The following focuses on parts compatible with the “Outpost” habs, which are more uniform across habs variations and more limited in range.

Walls, Window and Door Interior Partitions

There are three sets of partitions for the Outpost Habs:

• Outpost Industrial: a set of shabby looking green industrial partition walls, doors and windows and three small caps.
  
  
• Outpost Colony: a set of equivalent partitions, compatible with the cleaner look of the Outpost Science, Outpost Hydroponic and Outpost Colony habs (though they can also be used in industrial habs)
  
  
• Outpost Military: a military khaki coloured set of partitions compatible with Outpost Military Habs, with pieces designed to fit the differing back, mid and front shapes of the Outpost Military hab walls.

Each of these partitions are designed to fit inside the proportions of the outpost habs so that as long as you place the mids, walls and corners of the hab on whole number x and x positions on the cell grid, combinations of the large and small partitions will fit together seamlessly on whole and 0.5 fractions of x and y grid positions.

An example of this is shown in the screenshot below, in an industrial hab (no external roof part has been added, so the interior is easily seen from the outside). Note that combinations of large and small wall, door and window partitions are used (and small cap pieces against the back wall and right-hand side walls). All of the pieces are positioned on whole or 0.5 fractions of x and y coordinates.
This screenshot shows what the walls look like when inside the hab.

Some build kits, such as the Science kit, have doorway parts that require a frame part called a “plug” to be fitted into the doorway. The door part is then positioned inside the plug. The outpost hab exterior parts come with a door fitting incorporated. Correctly sized doors will also fit directly into outpost partition parts.

Some doors suitable for Outpost habs are in “WorldObjects\Static\Door” and “WorldObjects\Packin\Door”.

Some doors have opening animations. Yellow markers show the direction doors open and doors should be positioned with the yellow markers facing in the direction you want doors to open.
Static doors with no animations and damaged doors can also be used.


Doors can also be used for transition “teleporting” between cells. This is covered in the Connecting Exterior and Interior Cell section later in the guide.

Additional Floor Segments

There are several additional floor segments for Outpost habs for use in the double storey mid parts.

Large Double Storey Hex Hab Floor Segments

The large double storey hex hab has 5 segments for upper level flooring. The largest consists of a triangle that fits into two of the six internal sides of the upper floor space. There are also two trapezoid and one small triangle segment that can be combined to form a small and larger trapezoid platform against one side of the upper floor space or a triangle taking up one of six triangles that could be fitted into the entire hexagonal space. The screenshot below shows four of these segments in a large double hex hab mid frame. The screenshot following shows the fifth, hexagonal centre piece.

These segments will fit if positioned at the same cell coordinates as the hab frame.

Double Storey Rectangular Industrial Hab Half Floor Segment

Double Storey Outpost Industrial, Outpost Science and Outpost Hydropnic Flooring

There is a set of floor plates in Architecture\Outpost\OutpostIndustrial\Exteriors\Addon\ for the Outpost Industrial habs that has the correct proportions to fit the atrium spaces in the double storey mids.

There does not appear to be floor parts specifically designed for the Outpost Science and Hydroponic double storey habs. However, (though the floor texturing is shabby and worn) the industrial hab floor plates are the correct proportions for them.

Double Storey WallB Outpost Science Hull Floor Parts

There are only two main floor pieces and three floor edge caps in this set. These pieces fit the curved corners of the SciHullIntRmSmWallBCorIn01 and SciHullIntRmSmWallBCorOut01 interior parts on one side and have straight edges on the other sides. Square floor pieces can then be used for all other upper level flooring.

Stairs

There are several options for adding stairs, either as a single part or building them out of segments. Stairs should be searched in WorldObjects\Static using "stair", ie, not plural. Not all stairs are in proportion for all circumstances and some require adding handrail parts.

The option below shows stairs built from three parts from the catwalks kit in WorldObjects\Static\Catwalks.
This next option is a single piece part designed for use in Neon (Neon_Ext_A_Catwalk_Stairs_B_01).
This cleaner option, from the Industrial Kit is comprised of bottom and top stair parts (IndIntSegSmMidStair_Bot01 and IndIntSegSmMidStair_Top01) and two handrail parts on each side (IndIntSegSmMidStairRail_Bot01 and IndIntSegSmMidStairRail_Top01). It is located in WorldObjects\Architecture\IndustrialKit\Addon

When looking at the POIs and game quest locations in the CK there are often hundreds of objects in these cells. These are often small details added to these locations by the developers that have no game play function, but contribute to the atmosphere and character of the game. Greebles, pipes, control panels, wiring, machinery and industrial and scientific equipment help give the impression of lived in or working spaces you might expect to find wherever human beings have travelled.

In-game, using the Outpost Builder, a lot can be done with furniture and decorations, and mods add non-vanilla assets to the builder such as clutter packins, extended console options and machinery. However, there many of these will likely difficult to add without using the CK or may never be made available by modders because its a lot of work for one small option not many players may use.

There are thousands of assets in the Starfield CK - way beyond the scope of a guide like. This section is really about showing few of the many options and an invitation to delve into the CK and find and get to know what is there and experiment with what you find.

Example 1: Fence Gen Kit

The Fence Gen Kit, a set of chain or heavy gauge wire fence parts that works well for areas such as locations of important or dangerous machinery, or a situation such as in the screenshot below - this shows a storage area in a mercenary base used to isolate flammable or volatile items in one area (something that apparently is a standard safety practice in military installations). There are straight and corner pieces and a door with an opening animation in the kit.

Example 2: Ceiling Girder Crane

The Ceiling Girder Crane kit is used across the game in industrial settings and is a good example of something that probably won't be added for players via modding. It always seems a bit odd for something like this to appear in advanced facilities constructed by a civlisation that has apparently has anti gravity technology, but it does add an effective heavy industrial feel to builds. The set includes a variety of girder pieces and four variations on the crane hook (shown in the screenshot in the bottom LH corner).

Example 3: Greebles and Machines

In this example greebles such as pipes, batteries and heaters together with machinery have been brought together from four different locations in the CK to create an artefact scanning facility.

Example 4: Furniture and Decoration Kits

There are many build "kits" in the CK, including those for consoles, machinery, servers, kitchens and bathrooms. Many are located in the WorldObjects\Static\SetDressing folder along with much of the furniture and decorations in the game. In the screenshot below some of the Kitchen kit pieces have been used. These parts have snap points, enable "Snap to Connect Points" (acessible via icon under the menu) to snapped part together precisely.

Example 5: PavGen Kit

This build kit has concrete block paving pieces, edges pieces, ramps and stairs and has two sizes of landing pad.

Environmental storytelling is any aspect of a build that provides - or hints about - what has taken place at a location. Non-dramatic examples can be as simple as dirt and staining, or clutter suggesting poor upkeep of an environment, or toys arranged in an area used by children. Dramatic examples might include claw marks, blood smears or corpses.


Projected decals are images that can be applied to object surfaces. They can be positioned on walls, floor or objects, rotated and scaled. Once placed in a cell, activate "Decal Markers" in the "Show/Hide" window to make their move handles visible.


Using the "2", "W" and "E" shortcuts will activated the scale, rotate and move gizmos for a selected projected decal

There is a large range of projected decals; a selection are shown below.

Projected Decals: Blood Smears

Projected Decals: Claw Marks

Projected Decals: Wear and Tear, Stains and Paint Marks

Projected Decals: Dirt, Dust and Sand

The screenshot below shows some of the decals that can be used externally to show encroaching aspects of the planetary environment around structures, or within damaged habs.

Although the range is limited, there are some damaged versions of hab build parts and other objects available. These parts have a "_Dmg" suffix and are mostly located in WorldObjects\Static with some also in_WorldObjects\Packin.

The example below shows a Outpost Science Round damaged wall part placed into a hab structure ... and separately.

There are a few other Outpost Science hab damaged parts:

There is a much better range of Science Hull Wall B damaged parts. In the screenshot below the undamaged Wall B parts are at the rear and cyan coloured. The Wall B damaged parts, frames and panels are in front of them.


Limited parts for other build kits are also available by searching "_Dmg". .

Damaged objects for interior use are also available in the CK and can be searched with keyword "Broken" in "WorldObjects\Static":

When creating a POI where some kind of conflict or attack has taken place corpses can be added to the build.

1. Select the "Actors\Actor" folder in the Object Window.
   
2. Right-click in the Editor ID window and select "New"
   
   
3. Give the body a new Editor ID and name and check "Force Starts Dead".
   
   
4. Add clothing by selecting a "Skin". Gender, weight and body proportions can also be adjusted in the Actor window.
   
   
5. Click on "Ok"
   
6. Drag the new Actor object from the Object window to the Render window.
   
7. Rotate the Actor to a reclining or face down position, and position them over where they fell ensuring they have some height to fall to the ground.
   
   
   
8. Turn on the Havok Simulator. The body will fall to the ground and settle.
   
   
9. You can adjust the position of parts of the body while the Havok Simulator is active by clicking "ALT" and selecting the body part. Use very fine, slow adjustments to avoid the body flying into a contorted pose or limbs sinking into the floor. Also take care not to have the "Snap to Grid" enabled.
   
   
10. For further effects, a blood decal can be added, or arrange scattered objects or upturned furniture around the body
    
11. Be sure to deactivate the Havok Simulator when done.
    

The CK has quite a few landscape object kits in the WorldObjection\Static\Xophile folder that can be added to builds to create an alien infestation or some kind of xenobiology research project run wild.

The Hive kit (screenshot below) is probably the goto for alien infestation; it is used in the game on the Colinder derelict starship and the dungeon at the end of the Operation Starseed quest. There are different sized floor, mound, ceiling, nest and cocoon parts.

Other examples include WhortlePods (on the left) and CaveFungus (on the right) in the screenshot below.

Decals such as staining, dust and dirt can be added for further detail and help blend parts into the environment.

Closed containers such as crates, medkit, chems and ammo boxes and safes, and displays such as backpack, helmet and suit stands, weapon racks and display cases are located in the “WorldObject\Container” folder in the Object window. They have a grey filing cabinet icon next to them.

They behave in essentially the same way, have the same settings windows and typically have opening sounds and some have opening and closing animations.

Containers can have random levelled loot items inside and containers with preconfigured common, rare and Legendary item options are available in the Object window with related suffixes.


Double click on a container to name as new object. In the "Reference" window the "Ownership" tab allows the container to be assigned to a particular NPC or faction (to flag taken items as stolen). The "Lock" tab has a drop down with lock level options or key requirements. Keys have to be set up as inventory items separately.
Click on "Edit Base" for further settings.

If you want to use the container (or a display item) for storage uncheck "Respawns". New items can be added by Right-click>New in the "Item List" and selected from the "Object" dropdown further below. Item count can be changed in the "Count" box.

Most weapons racks, helmet and backpack displays operate in much the same way as containers, with the exception of their contents in most cases being visible in game. Variations that will spawn random loot of different rarities are available and objects with new Editor IDs created from them, the "Respawns" check removed and items added to them. Display objects do not appear in the Render window however and must be viewed in the Preview window.
In the CK there is also no limitation to using vanilla game weapon racks or equipment displays, you can design and building your own using combinations of game assets as you please.
.


Mannequins function differently from other containers. They are actually Actors, or static NPCs, (see "Posing Corpses" in the "Environmental Storytelling" section earlier. They have an inventory tab where items can be added in a similar way to containers.

[TO COME]

Habs in the in-game Builder have preconfigured lighting, but in the CK they must be added, positioned and configured. A large installation with 2 or 3 levels with corridors and rooms may need dozens of lights with varying settings; it can be a lot of work. However, lighting is also an opportunity to create atmosphere and effect - brightly lit control centres, comfy living areas or creepy areas with flickering, broken lights or pits of shadow.

Lights in the game have two components:

1. A light fixture: A static object or packin: (visible in game) something that looks like a light such as a lamp, wall light or ceiling mounted flourescent light. This a cosmetic item that doesn't technically have to be added to a cell, but it obviously makes sense to players as the source of light they are seeing.
   
   
2. A light marker: placed near the fixture (but invisible in game) that sets the actual position, direction, brightness, colour and shape of light cast (in the game engine) . To see light markers in a cell, set markers as visible in the Show/Hide window, or select the Render Window and press "M".

Light fixtures come in ceiling, wall and floor varieties and variations like display screens. Generally there are "On" and "Off" variations of each, indicated by a "_On" or "_Off" suffix. The "On" models appear brighter, or have bright areas, but do not actually emit any light. Light markers need to be positioned near, above, or behind them.

Some lights come in parts which need to be assembled. Some assembled "Packin" versions are available in "WorldObjects\Packin\Light" and may include light markers as well.

Light Markers are located in WorldObjects>Light", though some are in other folders. They have an "LGT" prefix and three main types:

• Shadow Spotlight: creates a cone of light in one direction, only illuminating objects within the cone’s boundaries (set by FOV - the angle at the pointed end of the cone, and radius, the distance from the pointed end to the base). Casts shadows from objects in illuminated areas. Shadow spotlights do not bleed light through walls if set up correctly.
  
• Non Shadow Spotlight: creates a cone of light in one direction, only illuminating objects in that cone’s boundaries (set by their FOV and radius). Does not cast shadows. They bleed light through illuminated surfaces within their radius, so have to be used carefully when lighting interiors in worldspaces.
  
• Omnidirectional: illuminates objects in all directions around it, but are less intense than spotlights. They bleed light through surfaces within their radius, eg, reflecting in ceilings and floors outside of enclosed spaces they are placed in.
  

Spotlights can be non direct spotlights with a cone of light and Direct Spotlights with a cylinder of light (see Spot Settings below). This is reflected in the shape of the marker. Markers also change with colour of the light they emit.

Spotlight markers can be positioned in a cell on x, y and z axes and rotated in those axes. The base of the cone (with a thin line protruding ) shows the direction of illumination. Omnidirectional markers, emitting light in a sphere, only require x, y and z positioning.

Light markers can be copied and pasted from the game world, or dragged from the Object window. It is recommended to duplicate an existing light marker and create a new form (Right-Click the Edit ID in the Object Window>Duplicate and Rename). Lighting is usually specific to a particular location and aesthetic so most settings requiring adjustment (other than position and angle) will affect the base form and other instances across the game.

Open the light marker in the object window to see this tool window or double click on the marker and select "Edit Base".

• Type: The shadow and non shadow spotlight or omnidirectional options as described above.
  
• Luminous Power: how bright the light source is from 0 upwards. Examples of 1,500 and 8,000lm are shown in the screenshot below.
  
• Light Temperature: Checking "Use PBR Settings" will also allow a light temperature to be added to a light (There is also a drop down with some presets). Light temperature is a scale (in kelvins) ranging from 1,000k to 10,000k representing light the apparent warmth or coldness of visible light. 1,000k is a warm yellow (like a cosy interior candleglow); 5,000k a whiter, neutral light (eg, daylight); 10,000k is a cold blue (can be used for an industrial setting or warehouse interior). Light temperature can be used to change the mood or atmosphere of a scene.
  
• Radius: How far from the light marker the light extends in a direction (in a cone for spotlights and in al directions for omnidirectional lights.
  
• Falloff Exponent: Adjusts the boundaries of lights from hard-edged to soft and defuse. Use 0 for hard-edged and fractions up to 2+ or more to soften. "Radius Falloff Exponent" is the radius of effect of the Falloff Exponent. In-game lights the Radius Falloff Exponent is usually set to half of the light's radius.
  
• Colour: Select the colour of a light using a colour picker or by entering RGB values.
  
• Flicker Effect: Controls whether a light source flickers on and off or emits a rhythmic pulse of light.
  
• Lens Flare: Select a lens flare effect on the light, or create new form and adjust to your liking.
  
• Spot settings: "FOV" sets the angle at which a cone of light is emitted from the marker (in degrees), "Direct" sets the radius of a cylinder of light, setting how wide the circle of light will be when shone on a surface. Checking "Is Direct Spot" deactivates "FOV" setting, unchecking deactivates "Direct" setting.
  
  
• Barndoors: Spotlights with a low Falloff Exponent (ie hard edged rather than diffuse) still produce a corona around edges of the light cone on a surface. Barndoors effect the focus of this corona, with higher values producing an crisp edged spot.
  
  
• Area Lights:
  Area lights can be used for smaller boxes or sphere of light for things like display screens.
  
• Contact Shadows:
  
• Gobo: Adds a texture to a light such as mottled shape from dirt, or flashlight coronas. Can be animated, eg ,light shining through a rotating fan.
  
  

This video by Art Toots covers tools outlined in this section and was helpful with writing .
Starfield Creation Kit Lights and Switches

The following documents an attempt to light a meeting room in an Outpost Science hab. It is not meant to be a definitive or best practice example, but it shows the process and thinking involved and some useful tips.

1. A new layer is created for lighting. Double-click to asign a colour such as yellow colour and set the layer as active.
   
   
   
2. All of the lighting fixture static objects are added and positioned. They are needed first to help situated light markers in their proximty.
   
   
   
3. The main lighting is added, two Shadow Spotlights positioned just above both lighting strips, The markers (and their FOV) approximate illumination emitting from their length. In existing game locations the height of light markers above ceiling fixtures varies, depends on the hab or area (sometimes above ceiling level or just below the surface of the roof). They could not be higher here as they were casting ugly shadows high up the walls from struts in the ceiling.
   
   They are given a wide FOV (150º) to shine across the room and walls. Note: the main hab structures and furniture were created on layers, so the hab can be hidden while placing lights.
   
   
   These lights are Shadow Spotlights because these will not bleed outside the walls:
   
   
   These are the settings. The combinations of 8 radius, 2 Falloff Exponent and 4 Radius Falloff Exponent is used in interior lights in the game but can be varied. Typical game contact shadow settings are also used in these lights.
   
   
   Here is the result:
   
   
4. The main strip light static fixture is double-clicked and a reference added to the light marker above it by using "Select From Reference Window". Then select the light marker from the dropdown in the "Emittance" tab; light emitting areas of the fixture will glow.
   
5. With the main light source placed, new light markers are named and positioned at the remaing fixtures. For the three wall lights, Area lights are used. These lights are effective for lighting small areas and can be spherical (varying radius) or rectangular (varying height and size). These are spherical.
   
   These lights more aesthetics than functional and positioned to create a fan of light against the corners of the room that approximates the shape of the light fixture
   
   
   They are also less bright as the main lights and the PBR settings have been activated to add a "warm" colour temperature of 3,000 Kelvin in addition to the luminance of 5,500. This gives an orange tinge to complement the red wall art.
   
   
   This is the result.
   
   
6. Lights for other fixtures are also added. In screenshot below a shadow spot light is positioned just inside the fixture above the bar, pointing downwards. Another is added above the weapon display opposite.
   
   
7. A spherical Area light is used for the lamps. An omnidirectional light could be used, but the area light produced a better glow.
   
   
   This is the result of adding all lights. The remaining shadow will be fixed with a Reflection Probe. First a Post Effect Volume needs to be set up.
   
   
   
   
   Post Effect Volume
   Post Effect Volumes are objects can be added to areas to create further lighting adjustments within, including an "Image Space" - a lighting colour filter, a "Fog Volume" which applies a haze or fog to the volume and a Reflection Probe, which is important for filling shadow.
   
   Note: Separate Post Effect Volumes should be created for each of Image Space, Fog Volume and Reflection for best results. Large areas may need multiple volumes for complete coverage and volumes should overlap slightly to prevent light seams. (thanks to Architect for this info)
   
   To create a Post Effect Volume:
   
   
   1. Click on the "Create Post Effect Volume" icon below the menus, or "View>Volumes" and click on the same icon.
      
      
   2. A box with transform handles will appear. Adjust the handles to enclose the desired volume
      
   3. Double-click on the volume to view its reference window and select the "Volume" tab.
      
   4. Image Spaces or Fog Volumes can be applied to the volume. Use the "Image Space" drop down to select a lighting filter or "Fog Volume From" to select a fog effect.
      
      
   
   The screenshots below show some more extreme examples of Image Space and Fog Volume.
   
   
   
   
   
   Spherical or Cylindrical Post Effect Volumes can also be created, and all three types merged to enclose specifically shaped areas. However, merged volumes cannot be used with Reflection Probes.
   
   
   
   
   Adding a Reflection Probe to Improve Lighting and Shadow
   Reflection Probes have wider functions, but are very helpful for improving the overall illumination provided by the lights placed earlier. The screenshot below is a reminder of how the room has many areas of deep shadow.
   
   
   
   
   In reality even a small light source such as a phone screen or candle can provide some illumination to a room because the light rays reflect off off surfaces around the room. The lights in the Starfield game engine do not work this way. Reflection Probes are essential to provide a map of reflected light in a lit area and achieve good overall lighting.
   
   To create a Reflection Probe:
   
   1. Use the method above to create a Post Effect Volume and position it around the area to be lit.
      
   2. Select the Post Effect Volume (you may have to position the camera so you can select a corner of it) and use "View>Volumes" to bring up the Volume Inspector.
      
   3. Check the Reflection Probe as Active.
      
   4. Adjustments can be made to the reflection probe settings in the Volume window.
      
      
      This is the result:
      
      
   
   Reflection probe location can also be adjusted.
   
   1. Select the Post Effect Volume and Select "View>Reflection probes" to make the volume Reflection Probe visible.
      
   2. The probe should be in the middle of the volume. Click on it and press "E" to add move handles.
      
      

Adding sound to your outpost or POI builds will make a considerable difference to making rooms and areas feel more like real, immersive environments.

Sound design, editing and management for in the Starfield Creation Kit is handled by Audiokinetic, an external software programme from WWise. This is not included with the CK, but you can download and install it. Instructions will be included in this guide page in the near future. For the time being the process is covered in the following excellent, clear tutorial video by Joseph Russell :

How to Add Audio to Starfield Mods in the Creation Kit - NPC Voices - Installing WWise - Tutorial

If you want to add new sounds, edit sounds or set up sounds to play in particular circumstances, or relating to specific player actions, you will need to learn how to use this program and how to integrate its output with the CK. Fortunately the Audiokinetic launcher has clear documentation and video tutorials. However, given this is a whole separate program to learn, with new terminology, tools and methods it is not going to covered in this guide (and I certainly don’t yet have the knowledge to do so!).

Fortunately, if you just stick to using the Vanilla sounds that are already setup in Starfield.esm, and don’t need to alter them, you don’t need to use the WWise software platform. Some of the options available without WWise are covered below.


A default acoustic space and music can be set for a cell:

1. Select "World>Cell".
   
2. Click on the cell in the list on the list, or you can isolate it with a search parameter and do the same.
   
3. Use the "Default Acoustic Space" to set the default sound parameters for the cell. You are use acoustic volumes later to create specific acoustic properties for a room or area later.
   
   
4. Use the "Music Type" drop down to set music for the cell.
   
   

[To come]

Acoustic Spaces are 3d objects that can be used to enclose areas in cells. They are available in the same cube, sphere and cylinder variations as Post Effect Volumes and can be sized, moved and merged together in the same way. They are also invisible in game.

When the player enters an Acoustic Space area, they will hear ambient sound such as a background hum, and sound effects such as reverb. When they leave the enclosed area, these audio effects will cease.

While Acoustic Spaces have adjustable parameters including a drop down for how loud the ambient sound is inside them, and type of reverb, changes to these will have no effect without creating and configuring a soundbank in the AudioKinetic software and including the soundbank in the mod archive when creating a mod master. However there are a considerable number of Acoustic volume presets already present in the Starfield.esm data files, including variations for scenarios such as caves, industrial, domestic and scientific settings, and different sized spaces.

To add an Acoustic Space to a cell area:

1. Select some objects on or near the boundary of the area to be enclosed, eg, wall and floor parts.
   
2. Click on the "Acoustic Space Box" icon (or Acoustic Space Sphere or Cylinder icons if these shape better fit the space).
   
3. A selection window will appear in the Render Window with a drop down for all the available presents. Select the preset that seems closest to the type of space.
   
4. Click "Ok".
   
5. The new Acoustic Space object will appear in the Render window. You can use the Conical handles to adjust the sides, top and bottom boundaries of the object.

If you decide to build something in an existing game location (eg, a new house in Akila), a planetary location and worldspace is already set up, although a new location reference is needed for your new structure if you want a map marker and fast travel point for it. If building afresh on a planet you will need to create a landscape overlay, assign it to a point on a planet and create a location reference, map marker, landing marker and fast travel point.

You can situate your build on any solid planet or moon using Galaxy View.

1. Open the "Galaxy View" window.
   
2. Star systems are listed in alphabetical order
   
3. Click on the “>” next to a system to list its planets
   
4. Click on the “>” next to a planet to list moons and star stations in orbit.

Once you have selected the planet or moon it appears in the Galaxy View preview pane.
You may need to click on the reset icon if seeing a fuzzy image.
In the preview window you can use the mouse wheel to zoom and Right-mouse to rotate the planet. Click the "LightBrite" icon to better see areas in shadow.
If there are locations already on the planet they will appears as red dots. Left-click to mark a new location on the planet; a cyan dot will appear where you selected.


How you proceed at this point will depend on the method used to create your worldspace. If you have already created an overlay as described in the Working with Cells section (or created landscape from scratch - covered in the next section) you can skip the step below.

1. Select "Preview at Marker Location" icon to open a Render window to view landscape at your selected new location.
   
   
   (The render window may appear very dark. Click the Toggle Lights icon under the main menu to improve this).
   
2. Navigate in the Render window until all of the terrain you want to include is clearly visible.
   
3. Select Terrain>Landscape Cutting (or CTRL+H). A grid selection frame will appear across the landscape in your Render window.
   
4. Adjust the size (or click "max extent") and position the selection on the landscape, either by using the three movement handles in the Render window or using the "Pos X" and "Pos Y" selectors in the Landscape Cutting Tool window.
   
5. Type a name for the new overlay (do NOT use underscores in the name) and click on "Create Overlay".

With your overlay ready, you need to assign it to the selected point on the planet.

1. Select the "Overlay" tab in the planetary information area at the top left corner of Galaxy View window. Existing locations on the planet will already be listed.
   
   
2. Click on the icon with a cross within a circle
   
   
3. Find your overlay in the drop down and click on save.
   
4. Your new POI will now appear in the list of overlays. Check the "Is Unique" button to finish.
   

The next step is to define a location reference for your new POI.

1. Navigate to WorldData\Location and Right-click on any of the listing locations and select "New".
   
2. Give the new location an ID and a name (ie, a description of the location, in the example below "The Hab Complex").
   
3. Select the parent location using the drop down. Solar systems have an "S" prefix and list all planets and moons. You need the "surface" option for the planet.
   
4. Finally, you need to associate your location reference with your worldspace (the overlay you assigned to the planet). Select it by opening World\WorldSpace and selecting from the left list.
5. Click on "Location" and select the location reference you just created.
   

Three Markers are needed at your new location

• MapMarker - for the location to appear on maps
  
• ShipLandingMarker - Placed on top on landing pads or flat terrain near the location.
  
• XMarkerHeading - a fast travel point, the pyramid determines player arrival facing direction.

The MapMarker and XMarkerHeading markers must be associated with the location reference and configured.

1. Double-click on the map marker in the Cell Render Window.
   
2. Select the "Marker Data" tab
   
3. Check "Marker Data" and "Use Location Name". You can set the type of map marker in the "Type" drop down.
   
4. Check "Visible on Star Map", "Allow Grav Jump" and "Can Travel To".
   
5. Finally, click on the "Linked Ref" tab. Right-click in the blank list below and select "New"
   
6. Select "Select Reference in Render Window" in the Cell Reference window and double click on the XMarkerHeading and click on ok.
   

You will also need to connect any interior cells to your worldspace and set up markers and references so that players can "teleport" between worldspace and interior cell. This step does not have to be taken until the final stages of your build as cell transitions will not affect any work you undertake building exterior and interior cells and you will load the two separately in the CK.

Connecting interior cells to your worldspace is covered in the "Connecting Exterior and Interior Cells section" later in the guide.

Whenbuilding in the CK you are not limited to the landscape generated at an in-game landing location. Creating an overlay worldspace at a set of planetary coordinates imposes landscape you have edited. Creating an overlay by Terrain cutting from a landscape Block was covered in “Working with Cells”. An alternative method, Terrain cutting from procedurally generated landscape on a planet was also covered in the previous section.

This section covers covers Terrain cutting from a default block and building the landscape from scratch. However, the tools and techniques covered in this section can be applied to worlds space created using all three Terrain cutting methods.

A default overlay “Default14x14y01” is available in the WorldData\Block folder in the Object window. It is a largely flat section of terrain stamped with a "Starfield" logo.

As previously, the default block can be previewed and an overlay created by Terrain cutting. For this example a small (2x2) cell overlay was cut from a corner.

After saving the new overlay, activate the Render window and press “B” to add a cell boundary grid, making the centre of the overlay easier to see. It can be helpful to add an object such as a large Hex Hab part to the cell. This helps gauge scale while editing the terrain.

Start terrain editing by selecting "Terrain>Landscape Editing".

Brushes allow you to "paint" contours into terrain and are also used to paint textures onto these contours.

To affect the terrain the "Sculpt" button must be checked. Checking or unchecking the "subtract" button switches between adding or reducing height.

Select Brushes using the drop down at the top of the Landscape Editing Window. These determine the shape of the contours you add to the terrain (or take from it). You can also create your own custom brushes. Brush Adjustments have the following effects:

• Size: how much terrain a brush affects
  
• Strength: how fast it takes effect.
  
• Spacing: the distance between brush "strokes". High settings create a "stipple" effect.
  
• Height: how much terrain material is added with each brush stroke.

• Left-clicking with the brush adds or subtracts terrain.
  
• Right-click smooths terrain.

In the screenshot below repeated "c" shape strokes were made left to right with the "subtract" button unchecked (creating elevated terrain), and checked (reducing terrain height).

Once you are happy with terrain edits, ensure you save for these edits to become a permanent part of the overlay.

The "Stamp Mode" allows terrain creation from shapes determined by the current brush. In Stamp Mode the stamp shape (once defined), can be stretched, increased or decreased in height, rotated and moved by using corresponding gizmos. It is a quicker and sometimes more effective way of creating terrain than using brushes. Once the stamp shapes have been added to the terrain, they can be smoothed (Right-click with "Sculpt" checked) and further brush edits can also be madeif needed.

To use Stamp Mode

1. Select a brush; the "Oval brush" is used below.
   
2. Check the "Sculpt" button.
   
3. Check "Stamp" Mode.
   
4. Draw a square or rectangle
   
   
5. Use the mouse to increase height and Left-click to accept - transform gizmo handles will appear.
   
   
6. Use the transform handles to increase or decrease the length, width or height of your new stamp.
   
7. Prfess "W" to bring up the angle gizmo and rotate the stamp if desired.
   
   
8. Press "E" to bring up the move gizmo and position the stamp (or change height).
   
   
9. Press D to deselect the stamp once in position. You can then create another stamp to add more terrain, selecting different brushes to create different terrain types or shapes.

The screenshot below shows stamps created with the Oval, Square and organic flatten brushes. The square stamp is useful for creating sheer cliffs. Cliff detail can be added by placing static objects (see below), so it is not necessary to make the terrain editing too detailed.

The "additive" button in stamp mode can be used to add a new stamp's height to a previous stamps where the two stamps intersect.

By checking "subtract" in the Sculpt tool when creating a stamp, Stamp Mode can also be used to cut precise shapes into the terrain, such as circular forms for landscaping for a formal garden, or the rectangular walls of a mine shaft.


Textures and tinting can be painted onto terrain and provide an underlying landscape colour to define areas such as hollows, flat or inclined areas and pathways.

Textures vary considerably depending on the biome applied. To select a biome use the drop down near the end of the icon strip. The eye icon applied the biome to the worldspace:


To paint texture on your terrain:

1. Click in the square area under "Material"
   
   
2. Select "Open Full Pallette"
   
   
3. Select the texture type from the Palette
   
4. Select a brush from the top drop down menu
   
5. Check that "Sculpt" and "Stamp Mode" are not checked (otherwise you will edit terrain as you paint or be prompted to select a new stamp form)
   
6. Check the box next to "Material" to activate texture painting with your selected brush
   
   
7. Apply the brush to terrain to paint it with the selected texture and/or tint.

The screenshot below shows the terrain created earlier with Stamp Mode, with edges smoothed and some textures and tinting applied


Once terrain is shaped and textured, you can add landscape detail objects such as rocks, shrubs and trees. There are numerous landscape objects in the WorldObject\Static\Landscape folder under sub categories folders for type, including exotic options such as "Bonescape".

In the screenshot below, three static cliff objects have been duplicated, scaled, rotated and moved into different positions on the terrain created with the stamp method, to help create a more convincing section of cliff.


Terrain edits made to a worldspace do not automatically appear in-game when a plugin is saved as a master file and activated through the Creations load order. Terrain must first be exported as a terrain texture "btd" file. This process will be covered in the "Preparing Your Mod for In-game Testing" section.

Navmesh is a map of triangular polygons across surfaces in both interior and exterior cells in Starfield that tells NPCs where they can go, what obstacles are in their way and edges they can jump or jetpack from. Without adding navmesh to a build, companions and any NPCs you add to a cell will just stand around doing nothing. The AI controlling them simply has no data to interpret navigation options in the environment around them.

Navmesh also has to be added to interior environments such as inside habs or other spaces accessible from the exterior without cell transition, interior cell underground rooms or installations, on catwalks and platforms and to any cells comprising an overlay you impose at a set of planetary coordinates. This is the reason this guide section is placed after the object build and landscape editing sections. Navmesh should be added last, after you have completed build placement and landscape edits, because moving objects or editing terrain can affect navmesh, which is placed onto the topography of a landscape and around obstacles.

Navmesh can be added automatically by adding NavmeshSeedMarker(s) to each cell, and inside interior spaces in exterior cells, and running navmesh autogeneration. This works best for exterior cells lacking intricate spaces created by obstacles, but manual editing can also fix any issues and refine coverage produced by the autogeneration.

1. Open your world space
   
2. Press "B" to make cell boundaries visible
   
   
3. Search for "NavmeshSeedMarker" in the Object Window (it is located in WorldObjects\Static\Markers\editormarkers)
   
   
4. Drag the NavmeshSeedMarker into the Render Window (you may want to create a layer for these markers for easy selection)
   
5. Duplicate the NavmeshSeedMarker (you will need at least one per cell and likely quite a few more) and Position the copies on stretches of open terrain, surfaces atop rock outcrops and on top of habs. Use "F" to drop markers to the terrain surface.
   
   
6. Click on the "Toggle NavMeshMode" icon to bring up the Navmesh menu.
   
   
7. For world spaces select "Navmesh>Generate Worldspace",
   
8. For an internal cell you can click on the "Open navmesh generation dialogue (Ctrl-3)" icon (see diagram below).
   
9. Click "OK" and wait as the CK calculates and places the mesh polygons across the terrain.

The result will vary a great deal depending on the terrain and where you put the seed markers. The screenshot below shows the result of placing about 10 seed markers in various locations around the four cells in this worldspace. Turn off Navmesh mode to reposition the markers, add and subtract them and repeat the process if needed.
Select "Navmesh>Draw Traversal" to see the edges where NPCs can jump or jetpack from.
Select "Navmesh>Draw Cover" to see areas of generated cover.

Unless the terrain is very flat and free of obstacles manual editing of the polygons across the cells will be necessary to ensure seamless coverage. External areas with rooves, including objects such as tanks and machinery, or roof pieces with tall skirting and buildings surrounded by clutter may have to be navmeshed manually or with a combination of autogenerated and manual.

This video by Art Toots on Youtube covers the methods and tools outlined in this section and was helpful for writing it.
Starfield Creation Kit Auto Generate Navmesh

Placing navmesh manually essentially involves repeatedly defining the vertices of triangular polygons to draw them across surfaces NPCs can walk on, and making adjustment to vertices to accommodate obstacles such as furniture and fixtures. The goal is to create a seamless map of navmesh everywhere NPCs should be able to go.

In Navmesh mode the first three icons in the tool menu toggle the selection of triangles, vertices, and edges, or exclusion or inclusion of 1 or 2 of these options.


Navmesh is only visible when Navmesh mode is activated and when active other cell objects cannot be selected. There are three navmesh view modes:

1. Standard: other objects in the cell are visible and navmesh vertices (which appear as small pyramids) are on top of the red triangles that make up the mesh.
   
2. On Top: the navmesh triangles appear above the vertices.
   
3. Navmesh only: only navmesh triangles and vertices are visible - all other cell objects are hidden
   

Navmesh vertices are placed by CTRL+right click, when the third vertex is placed, a red triangle forms between them.

Select/deslect existing vertices with left click, use CTRL to select multiple vertices. When selecting two vertices of an existing triangle and CTRL-right clicking, another triangle forms.

If select edge mode is enable, edges can be selected by clicking on them, or CTRL-select the two vertices forming the edge - they will move together when vertex is selected.

Where triangles have gaps, CTRL-select vertices or Marquee select (them Right-click and draw a box), then click on the "Merge vertices" icon to merge them.

Vertices will sometimes move up above the navmesh plane when a new triangle is generated. Select and use "Drop vertices" icon.

Navmesh testing can be done in game, but can also be done in Navmesh mode.

1. Click on "Test Navmesh" icon
   
   
2. Click on "Choose Actor" and select in "Select from" window that pops up.
   
   
   
3. Right-click on any two points on the navmesh in the Render window. and check "Use traversals"
   
   
4. Successful pathing between the two selected points will show as a green line, with arcs for boostpack or jump traversal.
   
   
   
   
   
   Navmesh Edit Menu
   

Connections between exterior and interior cells are usually between doors, hatches or airlocks. In the case of a door, copies of the same door object are placed in both exterior and interior cell so the player perceives entering and exiting the same door. However, two different objects can be used.

For doors with windows, an opaque glass version is used to avoid players seeing missing interior/exteriors. The screenshot below shows transparent and opaque versions of the same door.

Opening animations (if attached to the door/hatch you want to use) also need need to be removed as they will reveal that there is no interior behind the door (ie, it is in a separate cell). To avoid the animation to being removed from the base form and affecting the wider game, a copy of the door/hatch base form should be made.

[add process for removing animation]

To create a cell transition with doors or hatches, open the exterior cell and:

1. Double-click on the external door.
   
   
2. Move the "Reference" window that opens to avoid covering the Render window (It may become obscured when you open the interior cell).
   
3. Check "Teleport".
   
   
4. Open the interior cell.
   
   
5. In the "Reference" window click on "Select Reference in Render Window"
   
   
6. Move your cursor into the Render window, it will change into a cross hair inside a circle. Double-click the interior cell transition door and click "Ok".
   
   
7. The interior cell and reference data will populate in the "Teleport" tab of the Reference window and a rectangular teleport marker with a small pyramid attached to one side will appear in the door. This marker determines where the player emerges when using the door. Position this marker a little way away from the door and so the pyramid is facing away from the door and Double-click it.
   
8. Click "Ok" to the message that pops up.
   
   
9. Open the exterior cell again.
   
10. Position the corresponding teleport marker that has now appeared in the exterior cell, again ensuring the pyramid is facing away from the door.
    
    The diagram below shows this process with the same numbered sequence and exterior cell steps in the upper half and interior cell steps in the lower half of the diagram.
    
    

[Add Teleport Loc Name process]

Note: This process also works for connecting two interior cells.

This section sets out a rough workflow or sequence of tasks, and an order they can be completed that could help with the build process. For example, you need floors in double storey habs to know where to place stairs and carpets .

In-game testing will likely be a process you undertake at various stages of an Outpost or POI build.

For example, after creating an overlay for a worldspace, it is worth visiting the location in-game to check whether the overlay has "stitched" properly into the surrounding cells of procedurally generated landscape. There can be a mismatch between a worldspace overlay and these cells. Some aspects of a build, such as whether containers are working properly, and what display items look like in situ need to be tested in game. Navmesh can be tested in the CK, but taking a companion and testing in-game is also helpful.

In general, the look and feel of both interiors and outside areas, placed objects, their lighting and the effect of Post Effect Volumes cannot be fully appreciated until seen in-game. The perspective of moving as a player through environments also provides information about how well they are working that cannot be obtained from using the CK Render window.


Terrain mesh and texture edits made to a worldspace do not automatically appear in-game when you prepare your plugin as a mod master file and activate it in the "Creations" menu in Starfield. The altered terrain must be exported and associated with the master file to make sure these changes appear in the game world.

To Export Terrain:

1. Open your edited worldspace and note the name you gave it
   
2. Ensure that the Biome is selected and applied.at the top right hand corner of the menu.
   
   
3. Select "Terrain>Export Landscape"
   
   
   
4. Give the "BTD" file you are creating the same name as the worldspace, but ensure you add additional info to the name so you can differentiate it easily from the original terrain file name. Do not try and save over the original terrain file (which will have the same name as the worldspace but have a ".btd" extension). This can cause issues.
   
   
5. Close the CK. (You will need to rename a file that is open when the CK is running).
   
6. Navigate to Starfield\Data\Terrain (this example shows the location in the Steam version of Starfield).
   
   
   You will see in file expl;orer that you name have the original terrain file with a ".btd" extension and the one you created with a ".BTD" extension.
   
7. Rename the original file with something like "_old" and rename the new terrain file with the name of the worlds space and ".btd" extension.
   
   

Before you create your mod master file for activating in game you need to to ensure that any mesh and texture edits you made in the mod are associated with the master file. In the case of building, this will usually mainly be the exported terrain file from your worldspace and this example is used below.

1. Select "File>Create Archive"
   
2. An archive window will appear. Click on "Add|" and navigate to the "Starfield\Data\Terrain" folder and clock on the file to add.
   
   
3. Click on "Pack Files" at the bottom.
   
   
   

To save a plugin as a master file for use in-game select "File>Convert Active File to". The option of "Small", "Medium" and "Full" master will be available. The CK shows whether the plugin requires each of these at the very top of the CK window.
You may get a message about compacting the file and its impact on game saves; compacted masters will break save games. However, this will not be an issue as long as you create a hard save before activating and the testing a mod. Return to the hard save after testing.

As long as you have created an archive of the exported landscape "btd" file before saving the master, the master file will be associated with the updated terrain file.

Your mods are activated in the game in the same way as those downloaded from Creations, in the Starfield Main menu. Go into "Creations" and press "T" to access the load order, enable your mod from the list of those available by clicking on it, or pressing "E". Finally "TAB" to return and start the game to use the mod.

There is a different process if you are on PC and using a mod manager; you can consult documentation for the mod manager for this.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mod plugins have a ".esp" file extension and masters have a ".esm" extension. Both versions of your mod will appear in the Creations load list., only .esm files are compatible with the game. If you give your master the same name as the plugin, take care not to put the plugin file into your load order as this will cause issues with your game.

It is possible to add Outpost Builder functionality to builds, give players access to vanilla and modded build modules added to their game - or allow you to build in your modded area more easily.

Note: outpost functionality you add to your mod will not include crew assignments or cargo links.

1. Ensure a location reference is set up for your worldspace and you have added a "MapMarker". This process is described in "13.) Setting Up Planetary Locations".
   
2. Navigate to your location. You can search using the name you gave the location, or clicking "Show Editted Forms Only" with the "WorldObjects\Locations" folder selected will quick isolate it if it is the only location you have created.
   
   
   
3. Right-click and select "Edit", or double-click to open the location window.
   
4. Right-click on the "Keywords" box, select "Add" and type "LocTypeOutpost" then "OK".
   
   
5. Navigate to the "WorldObjects\Activator" folder in the Objects window.
   
6. The form you need is "OutpostBeaconActivator", which is the same object seen when placing an outpost beacon in-game. You can create a new reference based on this by clicking "File>New" or just drag it into the worldspace.
   
   
7. Double-click on the OutpostBeaconActivator and select the "Linked Ref" tab.
   
8. Right-click "New" in the white box below.
   
   
9. Click on "Select Reference in Render Window" and double-click on the MapMarker.
   
10. The map marker reference will populate the "Ref" box. Click "Ok" to finish and "Ok" in the Reference window.
    
    
    
11. Select the beacon and duplicate it "CTRL-D". This step is necessary to avoid getting a "restricted area" message when trying to place Outpost Builder modules in-game.
    
    
    
12. You can hide the beacons below the terrain because the Outpost Builder can be accessed using the scanner in-game. Or one beacon can be hidden and the other somewhere it will not be in the way of building (the beacon cannot be moved in-game, only in the CK).
    
    
    
13. Lastly, double-click on the MapMarker and set the radius of the outpost building area, 150 is standard.
    
    
    Note that the yellow circle that was close to the middle of the marker has now expanded to the new radius. This shows the area ithat will be available for Outpost Building in-game.
    
    

You can actually use the Decorate activator form instead of the Outpost Beacon in a worldspace. Setup is easier, as only one Decorate activator is needed. However, the beacon has more build options; the decorator only allow module suitable for interiors to be built, eg, you cannot build habs or resource extractors.

It is also possible to add keywords to the decorate activator to add exterior modules, for example, if creating a very large cave interior there may be space to place habs. The keywords needed for particular types of modules can be seen on the beacon activator. Note that changing keywords on an activator base form will affect every decorate activator in the game - so a new form needs to be created if using this option.

To add a Decorate Activator:

1. Follow steps 1-5 of "Adding Outpost Building Functionality to a Worldspace" with the exception of needing a mapmarker - this is not required for an interior cell.
   [to come]

I can be contacted as u/BackGroundMost1180 on Reddit.

Work to be completed next includes:

• Adding Sound: I am working on this section at the moment as I am learning more by adding sound to my current WIP mod. As custom sound design and execution can become quite complex, requiring the learning and use of an external sound design tool (Audiokinetic, which is not part of the CK), I am looking to just add basic info on using sound options already in the CK.
  
• Completing "Containers, Displays and Work Benches".
  
• Build Workflow. The steps in planning and putting together a build using all the tools and methods covered in the guide.

Errors and Omissions
Please add a comment to the guide with any corrections or significant omissions.