New race makes NPCS into floating heads

[mm137]

I'm making a mod involving a new type of enemy and want them to have unique multi-colored face paints. I thought the easiest way to accomplish this was to create a new race and apply the paints as "complexions" (this is how Mart's Mutant Mod did it back in the day) but:

 

a) The new NPCs suddenly become bald, floating heads, in both the preview window and the edit window

b) In the preview window, the new complexions do not show up at all, and in the edit window, the faces just turn black.

 

My other thought is to try and apply the paints as tattoos (as the in-game face paints are all single-color), but I will have to remake 34 textures and figure out how to add them to the list of tattoos, which eludes me so far.

 

So! Any advice? Is there a simpler way to do this? Clearly the race system is different in FO4 vs FO3, but it's hard to tell what's going on under the hood here.

Edited May 16, 2016 by mm137

[mm137]

Hmm, tattoos don't show up in the GECK either, seemingly even vanilla ones on vanilla NPCs. I wonder if perhaps the face paint would show up in-game. I'm going to try spawning some of the new NPCs and see if results are any better.

[VIitS]

You would need to make it a tattoo for it to have multiple colors, unfortunately, unless you split them up into separate facepaints (since you can have as many as you want). The problem with applying them is either related to how you are doing it or due to the fact that you need to have different types of compression (or possibly just different alpha channels, I know very little about textures) depending on what type it is (face paint, tattoo, etc...). Really, the fact that they made the facial features list a part of the race record instead of having it actively generate it from plugins (like they do for hair and eyes) is just stupid in the extreme, and makes f4se and the Looks Menu (when it is developed to the point it can dynamically combine different mod-added textures into one menu) not just useful, but essential if you want to use multiple mods that add new facepaints or tattoos (or hair colors).

 

If you want similar patterns with a bunch of different colors, it might be better to break it into the component parts so you can use the color options with a few facepaints instead of a different one for each color combo, unless that would mean breaking it into 15 different parts.

 

I know how to add tattoos using FO4Edit (it's a pain in the ass, but I can do it). I took a glance at it in the CK, and don't think it will be much different. No idea how they actually assign it to NPCs (I think it is buried in the chargen data I don't understand), but the tattoos, facepaints, even skin tones are listed under tinting (and it separates male and female, so you often end up doing it twice).

 

One really useful hint for testing different .dds files: when you exit and re-enter the character creation menu (using slm), it rebuilds it in game. So if you have it set up properly in the plugin and your problem is with the texture itself, you don't have to close and relaunch the game, just exit and re-enter the showlooksmenu.

 

If you have any questions about how to add them to the game as an option (for the Human race record or for a custom one specific to the enemy you are making so you don't have to worry about conflicts), I learned a fair bit trying to figure things out in xEdit before they released the CK. If it is just applying them to your NPCs, I can't really help there.

[mm137]

Thanks, that's some good info. I think I can just add alphas to all the textures I have now to avoid re-doing them and make them into tattoos. I can add tattoos in the GECK, but haven't figured out how to add my modded ones to the list - I suspect it's either a FormID list or a keyword list. There must be some way to do it without editing the base Human Race record (hopefully).

 

I agree that the way they structured the face gen stuff is totally backwards - I'm wondering if I'm going to have to wait for F4SE to make this work without conflict since I can't get the new race to work yet. Still getting the floating head business after quite a bit of experimenting. Hopefully there are enough people poking around in this area that it will become a little clearer. I've had this mod on the back-burner since the game released and thought the CK would make it simpler.

 

Thanks again for the help. Baby steps...

[VIitS]

I'm fairly sure that the only way to add them (so the player/normal NPCs can use them) without directly editing the race record is using scripts, and I don't know anything about scripting so I have no idea where you would start.

 

How are you making the new race? Have you tried copying the Human race record (assuming they are humans, of course) using FO4Edit, changing the editor id, then opening it in the CK? It will almost certainly have more than it needs, but it should be easier than making sure you have everything you need using the CK. Seriously, is it that hard for them to make a basic instruction manual, even if it is just for the big stuff (like making a new race, for instance)?

[mm137]

Well, I tried just duplicating the Human Race in CK. Not sure if it would work differently in FO4edit or not, but it's worth a shot.

[VIitS]

I trust xEdit a lot more than I do the CK. Beyond the fact that it is made by Bethesda, every time I open a mod it warns me that a master to my plugin had a lot of errors detected, and that master is Fallout4.esm.

 

When their own f*#@ing tool says their main game file has hundreds of errors, there is something seriously wrong going on (either with the tool seeing errors that aren't there, or with you for ignoring the many, many errors your own tools say your software has).

[JonathanOstrus]

@VIitS, I whole heartedly agree. The fact that CK spits out warnings/errors about Fallout4.esm (and any referenced DLC esm's) is at best humerous and at worst horrific. But I digress. I know I've read in multiple places that copying a race record in xEdit was a no-no or at least problematic. I tried once and things just didn't work out. I haven't tried the latest version to copy a race record yet though so who knows.

 

To dupe the human race I would do so using the CK (open race, change name, hit ok and choose yes to new record), then save plugin.That way the base record was already copied/created and formed properly, at least I'd hope the CK can do at least that. Then editing the "known" sections in xEdit should be fairly safe.

 

@mm137, I got lost and confused part way through the thread and wasn't clear if you fixed the bald/floating head and such issues. Usually causes to some of that have to do with referenced parts (hair for example) being specified to only be compatible with certain races. For hair parts they're assigned by a FLST. See [HDPT:0001EEBC] and [HDPT:0009C29B] for example. So, say if you tried to use hairstyle1 on supermutants. Since supermutants aren't listed in hairstyle1's record as compatible races it won't show up. The same thing happens if you try to specify armor items as a default outfit on a race that isn't in the armor's arma record as compatible.

[mm137]

Aha, that might actually be what I am missing. Thanks, I will look into this tomorrow.

[mm137]

Hmm, no luck yet with the new race. I added the new race to all my new armors, and made new copies of the various hairstyles I want to use, but they still don't show up. I'm going to experiment for a while today but this might have to go back in the WIP file for now.