brokefoot

We all know there are plenty of armor/clothing mods. Plenty of stat-change mods. Loads of settlement mods. And an ever increasing amount of weapon mods. But... What do you think we need more of? Perhaps there are a few mods out there you really enjoy, but wish to see more of or someone else version of it ? List them here so we can discuss. I'd start with an example of my own, but honestly I'm clueless... so that's also kind of why I'm starting this thread :)

I don't recommend either one. I get that they are 'optimized' in the sense of compression and/or lowering resolution. But I wouldn't want either improvement. Not only do those mods use up drive space (I'm running on SSD), they also don't allow the game engine to 'stream' from the texture archive. I had tried the more popular one (think its Tex Opt) a few months ago, but noticed zero performance increase. What I did notice, though, was texture quality degradation (due to compression artifacts).

I've uploaded two outfit mods so far. Have a look: Railroad Renegade - http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9460/? Outlaw Outfit - http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/9782/?

Planned: "Outfits of Pandora" -Athena -Maya -Lilith -Patricia Tannis -Salvador -Axton -Mordecai -Scooter *Using remodeled/retextured F04 vanilla assets

Think I might know why. Have you altered the meshes in any other program besides Nifskope and/or Outfit Studio ? I know that the SubIndex Segments for Dismemberment Partitions gets really messed up when exporting from 3ds Max, could also be the same for Blender. I urge you to visit TumbaJamba's mod tutorial page and thoroughly read through the posts in the comments section as well as reading the pdf download. It covers what needs to be done to the meshes for SubIndex Segments, which I'm betting is what needs to be done to your meshes. Skip through the pdf until you find the relevant info on partitions/segments. http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/7957/? Hope this helps. Your mod idea sounds cool, best of luck !

Likely you see black/grey retextures flood the Nexus upon game launch. Notice how most of them came really early. Not as many black rextures surfacing now that the game has been out a while. Its much easier to work with greyscale, than color. What I've noticed is the onslaught of camo retextures. Those showed up early, too, but are still being released on what feels like a daily basis. But, hey... that's what people like, I guess. For a while, my pessimistic side was telling me "if it ain't boobs, camo or guns then nobody wants it". Still feels that way, guess its just the general user base right now (?). Just my view, honestly. I hope Macintroll shows up to do a FO4 version of his New Vegas HiRes mod.

Would you stop, please ? Second post I've read of yours between two threads and all you do is yell at people (the other was the black retexture thread). Notice how I'm asking, not telling ? That is courtesy. Thanks for understanding.

I recently uploaded another ENB preset. You might try it out :) Rambo ENB

Ok, I've tried the method below with a little over 20 vanilla meshes and no failures. I'm sorry in advance for my poor explanation. I'm not very good at teaching, but here goes... The following method applies ONLY to 3ds MAX 2016 w/ latest Github release of Figment's tool and also Nifskope v2.04 (?) Alpha. The following method also applies ONLY to skinned meshes, not including body. I recommend using Outfit Studio to "zap" away parts of body meshes if you wish to remove certain areas and also use OS if you wish to alter size of parts of body meshes. Use TumbaJamba's tutorial fix for SubIndex Segments after all this: 1) Import nif into MAX keeping all Figment's import settings untouched. 2) Click outside the area of bones/meshes thereby deselecting all in scene. Any shapes you don't plan on keeping, select now and hit delete. 3) Select only the shape you wish to edit by clicking on it in the viewport and make your adjustments > "Modify" tab then "Editable Mesh". This WILL move your shape 'under the grid' but don't worry about that. Remove parts, scale parts or whatever. I'm not covering weight paint alterations here. 4) Once you're done with editing, click the "Create" tab bringing you out of "Editable Mesh" and back into the full scene. 5) Click outside the area of bones/meshes thereby deselecting all in scene. 6) Hit "Edit" > "Select All" and now "MAX Icon" > "Export" > "Export". Choose nif as file type and keep all Figment's export settings untouched except weld verts should be zero ( thats 0, not 0.001 or 0.010 or whatever... just 0). 7) Close MAX and open Outfit Studio. 8 ) Import any skinned vanilla mesh (doesn't matter which one, really) via the "Load Outfit" option. 9) In the same scene, import your MAX edited nif you just exported. 10) You'll notice your nif is much higher than the vanilla mesh. That's ok. 11) Delete any and all vanilla shapes, keeping only your edited meshes in the scene. 12) Export this as a new nif (we'll call this "A" for this tutorial). Close Outfit Studio (and BodySlide). 13) Open Outfit Studio, import your "A" nif via the "Load Outfit" option. 14) The following transform values are what I found to be the closest, but they are not exact. Play around with them anyway you want. - Select all shapes that make up your "A" nif and choose "Move Shape". - First do Z = -121 then hit "OK". Next again Z = +0.201 and also Y = +0.871 then hit "OK" - You might also try another method of transform found here (http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5622/?) look for jet4571's post made on Feb 10th. That's it, the rest is just updating materials/textures/etc and also SubIndex (partition segments) in NifSkope. You can now freely edit this mesh in Outfit Studio for clipping and such or renaming reordering shapes, etc etc etc.

Good to know, jet. Haven't had that issue yet, but I will add this info to my tips n' tricks doc I'm compiling.

I think I know the problem, had the same issue myself. Likely one of the additions you made to your ini was the "invalidateolderfiles" thing, right ? Well, what that does is allow the game to load loose files. And its likely one or more of the mods you use involve textures, correct ? Well, for whatever reason (not sure exactly the format) the new patch will cause your game to crash if it tries to load textures that have formatting issues. Just a few examples that have been confirmed by multiple people are enhanced blood textures, settlement flag retextures and laser beam retextures. You might look into this. I'm sure the mod authors of the few files causing crashes either have updated their mods or are working on updating them, so maybe a simple update on your end is all that is needed. Again, not sure but you might look into that.

I'm glad to hear you're doing the testing like you mentioned. This, sadly, is the only 'real' way to learn - trial and error. Many things I've learned through rigorous testing. It can be frustrating, but once you conquer something - even something as little as textures/materials - you tend not to forget and grow stronger as a mod author ! ;) No problem, glad you got things working for now. Oh and thanks for supporting my mods all these years. Much appreciated !

That is good info ! I did not know that. Honestly, though, I just copy/paste a working/similar vanilla shader property over to my new nif and then just update names/paths. But still, good info aloot ! :)

Yes, there is no need really for assigning texture paths in Nifskope if you are using a Material file. As to Nifskope doing this automatically (if that's what you meant) - no, the current state of Nifskope for FO4 does not do this. I can change the Material path for a specific trishape all day long and the texture paths (purple gear, lol - I like that term now !) for that trishape will not be updated within Nifskope.

I wouldn't focus on the 'dds' (texture) files. If textures are missing or your material/nif points to one that does not exist, you'll just get a bright purple color on the model in-game. That's FO4's way of saying it can't find the referenced texture. But your problem isn't with missing textures, I think. You're more likely getting CTD because as I mentioned in the previous post - its the shader flags themselves. Now, it could very well be another issue - but I know lots of folks trying to edit material files and nif settings end up getting CTD because of minor oversights (and I've been one of them!). Here's what I would do: Open Material Editor and keep the program visible on one side of your monitor, then open Nifskope and keep it visible on the other side of your monitor. Now look through the Material File check boxes, being sure to examine each of the three tabs (general, material, effect) and take note of the check boxes. While doing this, glance over in NIfskope with the appropriate shader property selected and review the shader flags. If between these two they do not match, something needs to give. Not sure what your end goal is, but you'd want the material settings to match your shader settings for the nif. Again, not talking about texture paths - just shader flags (i.e, environment mapping, two-sided, skinned). Repeat this comparison for each material and matching shape in your nif. Also, not sure what program you use to edit/create textures - but I know the latest Bethesda patch is causing instant CTD for some users and its partly because of texture formatting. I can speak this truth, because my source of CTD after the patch was a simple little laser beam retexture mod. And many were saying their source of CTD was the Enhanced Blood mod or a settlement flag retexture mod. So something has changed after the patch where the game is treating certain texture formats differently (likely the CTD is due to improper formatting, but I haven't investigated it much).

What version of Outfit Studio are you running ? I think the latest build supports 'loose' material files (ones outside an archive). Also, you can edit your nif to NOT use a material file and instead just update the nifs texture paths. Maybe you'd have better luck that way while working in Outfit Studio.

You know, it was amusing reading your replies. I do that all the time, its ok. Yes, the order from top to bottom for the texture assignments I believe (don't quote me on this) do indeed matter. There will be blank lines, because different meshes use different shader properties. Some might use glow maps or cube maps and so on. You'll almost always use a diffuse/normal/spec map though. Those are staples. Anyway, glad you've got it sorted out !

Its probably the shader flags. If the material file is saying 'use these flags' but the nif file's shader flags are different, then you can easily get CTD. As an example, if your material file has 'environment map' flag checked and your nif does not include this, you might CTD. Same if it was the other way around, where your nif had environment map flagged but the material file does not.

To the OP: Its likely the user base. The game has only been out a few months, so a lot of younger folk are playing it. They'll move on eventually. Also, things like 'presets' for face or body are quite easy to upload as a "mod". Which brings me to a different point, not technically related but I think still relevant. The easier something is to accomplish, the more of it you will see. Let's use female body presets as an example. You literally download the Bodyslide/Outfit Studio program and use your mouse to move sliders back and forth. There is but one file needed to share and that's it. You're done. No need for any real skills. And so this simple procedure matched with a younger (dare I say immature) user base gives you the excess and sometimes extreme. Same can be said for facial presets. You play around with the character menu in-game, upload your save and then anyone can use the simple Face Ripper tool to add that facial preset to an existing character. Again, no real skill involved. Also to note, since we are referring to visuals - the current tools available. We are so early in the development stage for third party programs that allow the alteration/creation of 3d assets. And many of the tutorials found here or elsewhere use the female form as an example. As a person aspiring to become a better 3d modeler, you are not forced - but feel it necessary - to work with the same examples. It becomes difficult to translate the tutorials onto a different set of shapes. I can flesh this out more later. Need to eat pizza, getting hungry ! Imagine, though, if Bethesda FINALLY gave us a real program to use for their 'nif' mesh format. To anyone who knows what I mean, well I'm sure you'd agree. If we had simpler tools to work with, we'd see FAR FAR FAR more diversity in 3d assets. Yes, we'd see even more bizarre female rubbish - but I'd bet my wages that we'd see some extremely kick-hass mods. I know there are tons of talented artists who would love nothing more than a simpler setup to use for 3d assets and they'd share some really cool stuff. Just saying. That's all I got.

Q: What does each texture slot with the purple gear actually mean? A: Its a path you set for the game to use those specific textures. Not really needed if you use a Material file (which also has texture path assignments) Q: Can I just write a path in any of them? A: Well, yes you can write a new path to your own textures. Just compare which 'purple gear' icons to actually use. Not all are needed, just diffuse normal and spec for armors usually. Compare a vanilla mesh and you'll see what I mean. Also, remember that whatever material file is assigned to specific trishape will overwrite the 'purple gear' textures. Q: Since the leg armor meshes are cut from existing vanilla assets, will the stock vanilla textures work on them? A: Yes, so long as you did not alter the UV map in Maya or any other program. Note, though, that if you did anything other than just remove faces or move verts around then your UV map will get messed up. For example, if you welded two verts together that were not originally attached. That can sometimes make the UV map go crazy. Not always, but sometimes. Just be mindful of this. Hope that helps.

For many of us, we use mods that replace textures. And for many of us, we edit our ini files so that these mods can function in-game. But for most of us, the latest patch has messed up our game in some way. Why is this so and how do we fix it ? Well... You need to remove your previous ini files and use the launcher once to create new ones. -Why ? Because there are new additions and... Make sure any personal Fallout4.ini edits are moved to Fallout4Custom or your game won't load. -Why ? Because with the new patch, most if not all additional lines in the Fallout4.ini will lead to CTD. Look through your retexture mods, removing them one by one until your game loads. -Why ? There are a few mods out there that use 'bogus' texture formats and will result in CTD since the new patch. For me, the culprits were my edits to the Fallout4.ini instead of being in Fallout4Custom.ini and also a really old retexture mod that changed the color of laser beams. Yes, seriously. Just those two little things. I'm back to a fully functioning game w/ a total of 84 'mods' (28 of which are plug-ins).

I've had the same issues mentioned, where my exported nif from MAX is sort of invisible in-game. Well, its there I think - but it looks almost like its just an invisible mesh casting shadows. The workaround, sadly, is that your exported nif from MAX needs to be loaded into Outfit Studio>Export shape as OBJ>Import that OBJ back into OS>reskin (copy bone weights from a reference) in OS>Export as nif. The problem with doing that is the copy weights function isn't so great. As an example, I tried removing all but the vest from the Desdomna outfit using MAX. Mind you, I did no resize or shaping, just removed parts of the mesh in MAX. And when I do the Export/Import OBJ trick with Outfit Studio for that vest, even using the original Desdemona outfit as the reference for skinning - the weights are still a bit messed up in certain areas. You wouldn't think this should happen because the vertices are in the same damn place ! Really, really, really wish someone knew of a simpler workaround for the invisible/shadow bug with the MAX exported nifs. I'd love to keep the original skin/weight values of the mesh.

In response to post #33333440. #33337565 is also a reply to the same post. LMAO

My left foot has been broken 3 times in a few different places over the years (bad luck ?). It is eternally messed up, so.... I've got a mild limp when I walk. Nothin' too gangsta, though :P

@Double H: That's a really good idea, actually. I mean, let's face it. If the admins hack the image share coding all together, then what will happen is people will revert to uploading images from a series individually. So... rather than the uploaders putting up full-rez images one-by-one... do like Double H says and give an option for a mini-gallery in the description that internally hosts smaller rez images for the rest of the layout :) Good idea, Double H ! :D