PanteraBread

Is it possible that I could import from Blender, translate the imported files to 3DS Max and model there, and then export from Blender?

Actually, there is a legitimate reason for the beast races (the Khajiit, at least) looking more human-like in the newer Elder Scrolls titles-- The Khajiit are subject to a birth cycle based on the position of Nirn's two moons, Masser and Secunda. The body type of the individual Khajiit is determined by the position of the moons at the time of their birth. There are seventeen known variations of Khajiit, but there are apparently more than twenty. There are four main groups of appearance, determined by the position of the largest moon, Masser, and more variations depending on the position of the smaller moon, Secunda. They can be quadrupeds or bipeds (bipeds can be either digitigrade or plantigrade). Some are barely distinguishable from Bosmer, while others look like large tigers that other Khajiit ride on as war beasts (apparently voluntarily). Still others look like house cats (these are commonly used as spies as they can blend in as pets and can not speak, but are still sentient). All are sentient beings. Don't believe me? Here is a link to the wiki page: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Khajiit The breed seen in Morrowind is known as the Suthay-raht, a digitigrade biped slightly shorter in stature than a man. The breed seen in Skyrim and Cyrodil is Cathay, a plantigrade biped roughly the height of a man. It is not a matter of Bethesda being lazy, but rather of the Khajiit being of different breeds. Although, who am I to say? Maybe Bethesda made up these stories to facilitate their laziness. No way of knowing. It is, however, an awfully elaborate excuse.

I've recently started editing meshes for a mod I'm making-- Thus far I have mainly been stitching together pieces of vanilla meshes to make new ones. However, I'm having a slight issue with 3DS Max... It crashes every other time I try to export a mesh. I've installed 3DS Max 2012 on my computer-- I have an educational license from school, so I get it free-- and the .nif import/export plugin from NifTools. The imports go smoothly, and half of the time, so do the exports, but if I make some change that the software for some reason doesn't like, it crashes when I try to export. There is no discernible pattern to what it will or won't export; it is entirely random. I've half a mind to ditch 3DS Max and migrate to Blender, but there's a slight problem. I hate Blender, especially the pre-2.5 versions. It is the least user-friendly software I've ever used. On top of that, I have neither the time nor the patience to learn Blender; I'm a busy high school student with a packed schedule. I know how to use 3DS Max, as I have taken a class based around it, so it is preferable-- it's starting to look differently if it keeps crashing like this, though. What should I do?

I have solved the issue, it's kind of embarassing how simple it was. I was neglecting to include the "FaceGenData" texture files when packaging the mod...

I've been having issues with the all-too-common "dark face bug". The bug is occurring in a simple .esp I made that modifies the facial features and hairstyles (note that I am using Apachii Skyhair) of several NPCs. When I load up the game, all of the affected NPCs have dark faces, no warpaint, sharp neck seams, etc.-- the typical stuff of the dark face bug. However, I have absolutely no clue what is causing this. I have looked at all of the common fixes, but as far as I can tell, I am doing everything right. Is CharGen Face Preset is not checked, and after completing each modification I hit Ctrl+f4 and saved. The dark face bug still occurs. Can anyone tell me why? Also, if necessary, I will include a list of other mods I have installed that might potentially contribute to the bug and their load orders.