Those interested in tinkering with the tools used to make Bethesda's just-released
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will soon have the opportunity, as the company says it will make these available to the public next month.
As
noted on Bethesda's blog, the game's official "Creation Kit" will become available for PC users in January 2012, alongside a Bethesda-organized Wiki intended to help modders become familiar with the new toolset.
In addition, the Creation Kit will include support for Valve Software's Steam Workshop, making
Skyrim the second game to support the service after
Team Fortress 2.
The Steam Workshop will help users mange their in-game mods within Steam itself -- modders will be able to upload their creations to the service, after which other users can browse, rate, and flag mods for download using any web-enabled device.
When players boot up
Skyrim on their PC, Steam Workshop will automatically install any flagged mods, without the need to go to external websites. Of course, Bethesda says users can continue to use the existing sites if they prefer.
In addition, Bethesda promised to release a small update to the game to fix issues introduced with this week's 1.2 patch, with further updates to
Skyrim to come "after the holidays."
