This topic is me asking how a person with no modding experience can learn how to. If you don't have a helpful suggestion, or don't enjoy newbs asking questions, please click back.

If anyone is still left after that and has a helpful suggestion, please continue.

I have no experience with modding or anything, and when I look at files I've downloaded, my jaw drops and I start hyperventilating.
I see all these cool mods, and I want to learn how to make them too, but I haven't the slightest clue where to start. If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would be grateful.

We have several tutorials about modding in these forums, your best off looking at a template and experiment with it from there on. Find out what some things do and then once you think you understand it enough then go ahead and try to make something for yourself and you have trouble then your more than welcome to ask the community for advice..

Anything specific you want to start on?

I don't really have a preference on what to start with, and I tried a basic tutorial where you make a gun. I guess I could start there, with making actors and guns, I suppose, but like I said I don't have any idea about what to do.
If all else failed, I figured I could download simple things, and then mess with it and see if I can't learn anything, but that's something I'll do if I can't find any other way of learning it. I did do that with one mod that wasn't working properly after I downloaded it, and I think the index wasn't right, and I tampered with the index by comparing it to other mods, and I think I got it right, but then there was a problem with a sound file I think, and I hadn't the slightest idea how to proceed from there, so I gave up on that mod.
Either way, I'm back where I started. With only a vague understanding of using an index, I will gladly start at any point more experienced modders deem fit for me.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14594
Posting this just in case you havent seen it, it have everything a starting modder would need.
I recommend you figuring out how indexing work and then start by making a simple gun.
Good luck.

I believe you missed the part you prefer to work, common actors, vehicles, special effects...
Geti likes zombies, Shook likes flames and lasers, LFOW worked common dummies.

And also Everything you need to know about modding in CC.

Trial and error, thats what did it for me. The weapon tutorial usually kick starts things. You gotta learn the basics: An MOPixel to a Round, a Round to a Magazine, and a Magazine to a HDFirearm, stuff like that. It's practice and patience too .

Here's a properties list from Mehman:

And a random unfinished tutorial thing I never finished:

I started by recoding the SMG until I knew what the variables did, and looking at other people's work. You should probably start from the tutorials though, now that we have them.