Help request: how to retexture animals

[Guinefort1]

I've been trying to figure out how to retexture animals for several weeks now, with no success. What I am trying to do it repurpose some texture resources from a mod to make new animal species with new textures, while relying on vanilla meshes. My idea is functionally identical to the Creature Diversity mod here:

 

http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/26634//?

 

I can retexture static items like weapons and armor no problem. Simple really:

 

1. extract desired mes .nif file

2. copy, rename, and place mesh into designated folder data/meshes/creatures/mymod

3. place custom texture into designated folder data/textures/creatures/mymod

4. link mesh and texture using NIfSkope

5. open CS, make a new entry derived from a vanilla item

6. assign new mesh-texture to new item, and add to world

 

When I apply the same methods to an animal to make, say, a gazelle, it turns out invisible in the CS. It seems that animals work by having their meshes attached to a skeleton.nif, often found in data/meshes/creatures. Consider an Oblivion deer:

 

In the data/meshes/creatures/deer folder:

 

skeleton.nif (and that's it)

 

In the oblivion meshes bsa meshes/creatures/deer folder:

 

skeleton.nif

deereyes.nif

skinbuck.nif

skindoe.nif

various animation .nif files

 

I have absolutely no idea how or where to start with editing these files, especially since they seem to be scattered over so many places. Feedback is deeply appreciated, but please do not direct me to a generic how-to-retexture-items tutorial unless it directly addresses retexturing animals. There is a good chance that I have already read it anyway, and that it hasn't helped. Regardless, thanks in advance. : )

 

Tools I have available:

 

OBMM v1.1.12

TES4Gecko v15.2

CS v1.2.404

NifSkope v1.1.3

[mhahn123]

There is really nothing special about re-texturing animals. Just make sure you rename the .nifs and .dds files so they aren't overwriting vanilla meshes and textures. Be sure the .dds files are saved at the correct compression and the normal maps correspond properly. For the deer texture the defaults are deer_buck01.dds and deer_doe01.dds while the corresponding normal for both is deer_n.dds. Because everything in the texture name after the underscore is ignored when read by the game, we can make simple changes to the texture name without having to rename the normal map.

 

Example: a new deer texture could be titled deer_buck01white.dds and the default vanilla normal map will still work with it just fine because the operating title in both texture and normal map is still just "deer". If you change the texture name anywhere to the left of the underscore the normal map would have to be re-named to match.

 

Creature skins (meshes) are associated with a skeleton.nif, and they have to be in the same folder. Meaning that if you were to install your new white deer.nif into a vanilla folder structure, that mesh would be associated with the vanilla deer skeleton. You can now use your new mesh to create a new deer rather easily. Assuming we have placed the new mesh in the correct folder all we need to do is launch the CS, click on Creature in the object list and find for example CreatureDeerBuck. Right click on it and select edit.

 

You should now be looking at a new window with all the info about our deer. In the top middle section locate and click the tab titled Model List. By default there would be four items in here. Antler8point.nif, deereyes.nif, skinbuck.nif, and skindoe.nif. Since this is a buck all the boxes except skindoe would be checked.

 

Our new mesh which my mind has titled skinbuckwhite.nif will also be in here. Put a check next to that and then deselect the vanilla skinbuck.nif. Now down at the bottom right hand there is a small box titled preview, place a check in it. You should be able to see a preview of your newly retextured deer in all it's glory.

 

Be sure to rename your creature's ID from CreatureDeerBuck to whatever you want it to be, make whatever other stat changes you want and then save it. Now place it in the game somewhere and go check it out. Hopefully this gives a slightly better understanding of how to work with creatures, but I can answer more questions if you have them.

Edited September 10, 2013 by mhahn123

[Guinefort1]

Wow! Thank you for your timely and detailed feedback! :laugh: This should give me plenty to think about. As you have probably guessed, I am completely new to making mods, so hopefully now I can start to make some real head way on my pet project. Even if this doesn't help me right away, I hope that it will be helpful to others with similar problems.

[Guinefort1]

--Update--

 

I followed what you said very carefully, and it worked beautifully! :laugh: One more question, as this method places the mod-related meshes and textures straight into the data/meshes/creatures and data/textures/creatures folders right next to the vanilla resources, this could quickly clutter up my data folder. As far as I know it should be possible to compress the mod meshes and textures into a bsa file using OBMM while keeping everything functioning. Assuming this is true, is there anything I need to keep in mind while doing so? Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks again!

[mhahn123]

BSA's can be helpful for packaging large amounts of material. But not strictly necessary. I've seen a lot of talk on both sides of the fence, but haven't seen any concrete evidence that BSA's are any more efficient than loose files. Or any better for organizing things. If you plan your mod resource files out they will be organized already...plain and simple. BSA's can be a hindrance also as I've seen numerous mods released with BSA related headaches, wherein the resources had to be unpacked and manually installed by mod users in order to get the mod working properly. Just food for thought...I personally don't use BSA's for that very reason.

 

In the end the choice is yours of course.

[Guinefort1]

I will keep that in mind. Thanks again for your help before. The mod work is running very smoothly now.

[mhahn123]

Fantastic! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[Guinefort1]

Unfortunately the mod that I put together is not meant for public release. The resources that I used come from the WAC overhaul. Its author Waalx released a statement forbidding that the resources from his/her mod be redistributed in any fashion unless permission is granted and the spin-off mod meets certain requirements. As Waalx has been absent from the modding community for some time, permission would be likely impossible to obtain. Even if it weren't, the changes that I have made would not have fulfilled Waalx's requirements anyway. While I can reconfigure a mod as much as I like for my own use, it cannot be redistributed in its current form. A link to the WAC overhaul is listed below if you are interested:

 

http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?/files/file/1318-wac-waalx-animals-creatures/

 

In the future, if the mood strikes me, I may start making serious mods for the public. In the meantime, I am content with what I have accomplished. I am sorry that I cannot share my work, but thank you again for you help mhahn, and I hope that this topic will prove helpful to aspiring mod developers. Ciao.

[mhahn123]

I'm familiar with Waalx mod already. I've done a few of my own personal creations using the resources...but never even considered trying to release anything public for the very same reasons you stated. You can still share a screenshot or two if the mood strikes you. No need to get permission for that. I would be very interested in seeing your new creations. Either way..good luck with your project.

[Guinefort1]

Just posted a few screenshots of my mod animals if you are interested. Can't vouch for their quality, but feel free to check them out on my account page.