I have to agree wil Dol Guldur when it comes to making a 'good modder'

I am 100% self taught, with some advice picked up by asking questions on forums. The only resource I have found of use is the basic art of asking a good question so people who know the answers are prompted to reply.

Questions like 'how do I make a model' tend to get abrupt and unhelpful answers. Rightly so! The questioner has clearly not tried to do it, and isn't asking a quiestion worth answering. 'How do I attach my mesh to a bone' or 'how do I make the face look right without using 100's of polygons' are questions that show the asker HAS tried and got stuck. They know what they want to do, and have got to a certain stage and got stopped. That would prompt me to help. A good modder needs to be able to ask good questions to get help. You can't teach it.... but you CAN encourage it!

Now....Apprentices..... been there done it...won't EVER do it again.

In order to properly teach someone to model ( and I have done this more than once ) you have to put in a HUGE amount of time and effort. You have to go through things step by step, write lots of info down, check through their work, and generally try and help them develop not just the basic skills, but to do it in a way that fits with their natural style. There are lots of approaches to modelling, and not all fit with the way peoples minds work. It's very labour intensive.... and most of the 'recognised' modders never needed to go through this.

It also requires a lot of dedication from the pupil. For every peson I taught to model...3 gave up becuase they couldn't make the things they wanted to make before their enthusiasm gave out. They have to take criticism...have to be willing to keep at it .... work with an uncompromising modelling tool ( 3DS Max is NOT for the beginner! ) and be able to master some quite involved techniques before they can produce anything ...let alone a model in game!

If you look, instead, at the text editing side..the tools are simple and easy to master, but there is a lot to play with. Those who master this have done so by tinkering and running the game emdlessly to see what happened. A modder wanting to be any good should be doing this WITHOUT a mentor! Do they think this just 'comes' to a modder in some kin of divine inspiration. Nope. Hard graft. It's not easy...but it can be done and people will help a modder who is trying!

The last thing I would sa would be about a persons ability to judge their own limitations, and the limitaions of the game. This is what seperates those who will succeed form those who will fail. Look no further than those who tried to make WW2 or StarWars mods for RTW. They failed to evaluate the abilties of the game engine, and tried to do things that were doomed from the outset. Working on or for a doomed mod would nver make modders. Only disillusioned ones anyway!

Know what the game CAN do
Know what it CAN'T do
Work out what YOU can do
Work out what you NEED someone to do.