Very odd behavior - maybe related to how ground meshes work?

[kvngreeley]

Hi, everyone. I am hoping someone can help explain something very odd that is happening. I have noticed that some mods that add new content have ground meshes and some don't. I have never really noticed a problem until recently, because I don't usually test putting thing on the ground until I am in a real game and have a reason to do it.

 

I am testing a mod called Drow Priestess Armor v1.1 from MWMH. Everything seems to work fine unless you try to set the armor down in the game world. The Pauldrons always work fine. However, for the Boots, Cuirass, and Sash, they sometimes appear as floating or standing in the game or sometimes they disappear completely. If they disappear, sometimes if you put a potion down around the same spot, they suddenly reappear and can be picked up. I observed that with both the Cuirass and the Sash, but never the Boots. I have tested this on both the ground and on other objects in multiple spots.

 

For this mod, there are only 4 meshes, 8 textures, and 4 icons.

 

I vaguely remember reading a warning from another mod about only putting the clothing or armor in a container or it might disappear, but I can't remember why that might have been the case.

 

I am also trying to figure out, other than through trial and error, which items this might be a problem with.

 

If anyone has any insight into why this might happen (and why putting a potion down might bring the item back), I would really appreciate having a better understanding. More importantly, if there is something I can do in the CS to fix what is happening for my own personal use of the mod, that would be awesome too.

 

Thanks for any thoughts!

[theskymoves]

The modder didn't include or assign proper ground meshes to the items; rather, the 'ground meshes' used are the same as the equip-able meshes.

 

If you open the items in the Construction Set, you can assign ground meshes 'borrowed' from like items; they won't match the equipped visuals but they also won't do the floaty thing. (Note: Vanilla ground meshes can be identified by a '_GND' suffix in the file name.)

 

Image indicating the ground mesh field:

 

 

And of course the esp should be cleaned after the edits.

 

ETA I've no idea what is causing the disappearing item/reappearing with potion behaviour... I've never encountered anything like that. :-/

Edited November 29, 2017 by theskymoves

[kvngreeley]

Thank you so much! I will experiment with this and then keep this as a solution for if it happens again with another mod. I have added working ground meshes to my list of things to test now.

 

So, in theory, I could use any ground mesh, even if it came from another mod?

 

Thank you for the very relevant screen shot too! I am still trying to figure out the CS and how to tweak small inconsistencies as I find them in mods, for my own personal use. I want to learn how to make some mods less of a cheat, by changing the stats of items, like value, condition, attack, etc.

 

Thanks again! This is extremely helpful!

[kvngreeley]

Update: Thanks again! Your suggestion worked perfectly and I was also able to fix an inconsistency between the set values of the pauldrons. This is going to help me make many small fixes to mods as I am testing them, for my own use. However, I am creating a spreadsheet of all the mods I am testing and I will make sure to include detailed instructions on how to fix things and I will make sure to give you credit! Eventually, I want to share it in case it can help anyone else, since I am spending months on downloading, installing, and testing mods. I greatly appreciate the assistance!