infinitedice

Okay I have finally figured some of this out. I'm reposting my response as it's own topic here so it's more visible. If you can fill in some blanks in the process below it might be helpful. I couldn't find anything on the forum on how to do this so I spent like 6 hours messing around and my GF is pissed! 1) you need to extract a dds file from the texture or high res bsa. 2) Take that dds and open it in photoshop with the dds plugin installed. 3) Edit then save the dds, it takes a while for it to save so don't be in a hurry. 4) Using the same directory structure as was found in the source bsa... (textures/actors/dragons/xxxxxx.dds) <--- This is an example. Create the same path of directories under the Skyrim installation directory. Not sure if this is important or not but I'm doing it. In the Creation Kit editor: 1) Go under miscellaneous and click the TextureSet item. Look for an entity close to what you're making/editing. Open it, and change the name to something meaningful. Click save and it will generate a new item. Open it back up and change the path to your edited dds file. I clicked the Facegen Textures checkbox then assigned my dds texture to each element in the box. 2) This is where it gets tricky... 3) you need to make a new ArmorAddon Again I suggest doing the same way (open a similar creature, change name of item, save. Just like you did for the TextureSet above) name it accordingly. This is where you use the TextureSet you just made. click the select button beside the biped model inside you'll see a few items under 3dname double click each item and select the TextureSet you created earlier. close the window... on the ArmorAddon screen change the Skin Texture dropdown to your TextureSet. 4) You then need to make an Armor item... Call it whatever you want. This Armor item must be set up like it's worn so use the same method above, open, change name, save. This Armor item will reference the ArmorAddon and the RACE of the creature. 5) Under the Race of your creature, choose the Body tab and change the Skin dropdown to your Armor item. 6) Create an Outfit item (as you did for the others above) this should then contain the Armor you created above. 7) Under the Actor open your creature. Click the Inventory Tab. You need to select your Outfit file here. Click preview on the window and it should show the new skin. So the logic is... Texture --> ArmorAddon --> Armor --> Outfit --> Actor Armor --> Race I found it beneficial to open and duplicate every element of another creature which has a 3d model closest to what I needed, for a dire wolf... use a regular wolf. For a giant eagle use a Dragon.... etc. If someone knows the details of how these elements are handled more accurately (especially the TextureSet) please share with us! :)

Okay I have finally figured some of this out. I'm willing to share unlike the other people who keep secrets on the forum. :) 1) you need to extract a dds file from the texture or high res bsa. 2) Take that dds and open it in photoshop with the dds plugin installed. 3) Edit then save the dds, it takes a while for it to save so don't be in a hurry. 4) Using the same directory structure as was found in the source bsa... (textures/actors/dragons/xxxxxx.dds) <--- This is an example. Create the same path of directories under the Skyrim installation directory. Not sure if this is important or not but I'm doing it. In the Creation Kit editor: 1) Go under miscellaneous and click the TextureSet item. Look for an entity close to what you're making/editing. Open it, and change the name to something meaningful. Click save and it will generate a new item. Open it back up and change the path to your edited dds file. I clicked the Facegen Textures checkbox then assigned my dds texture to each element in the box. 2) This is where it gets tricky... 3) you need to make a new ArmorAddon Again I suggest doing the same way (open a similar creature, change name of item, save. Just like you did for the TextureSet above) name it accordingly. This is where you use the TextureSet you just made. click the select button beside the biped model inside you'll see a few items under 3dname double click each item and select the TextureSet you created earlier. close the window... on the ArmorAddon screen change the Skin Texture dropdown to your TextureSet. 4) You then need to make an Armor item... Call it whatever you want. This Armor item must be set up like it's worn so use the same method above, open, change name, save. This Armor item will reference the ArmorAddon and the RACE of the creature. 5) Under the Race of your creature, choose the Body tab and change the Skin dropdown to your Armor item. 6) Create an Outfit item (as you did for the others above) this should then contain the Armor you created above. 7) Under the Actor open your creature. Click the Inventory Tab. You need to select your Outfit file here. Click preview on the window and it should show the new skin. So the logic is... Texture --> ArmorAddon --> Armor --> Outfit --> Actor Armor --> Race I found it beneficial to open and duplicate every element of another creature which has a 3d model closest to what I needed, for a dire wolf... use a regular wolf. For a giant eagle use a Dragon.... etc. If someone knows the details of how these elements are handled more accurately (especially the TextureSet) please share with us! :)

I'm trying to figure this mystery out as well... it's easy to assign a texture from the bsa file that is already packed.... but if I want to tweak the texture then save it as a new dds file do I then need to import that into the original 'textures' or 'high res' bsa pack? If so how do I do that... Once in the bsa pack how do I reference that dds texture from within the editor? Anyone... please share some details on this.

That is a multiplier depending on the level of the player I think for scaling. Try messing with the options above it, turn off the level range and you should be able to set the health to a static number, by messing with the variables. Sorry I can't be more specific I'm currently not at my home pc. Look at other creatures to see how they are set up... this will give you some insight into how these variables can be set up for the desired effect.

I always choose a race/actor/item that is closest to what I'm making. Open that original to edit, then simply change the name to the one I want it to be... It will prompt to save as a new item, click 'yes' or 'accept'. You'll then have a new entry set up identically to the original, go in and edit that one. After editing check that the actor is viewable in the preview.