lb10111

I think I figured it out. Apparently you can't choose Unisex for headparts? I don't know, but if I separate them to Male and Female the problem seems to go away.

A slight update maybe: When I first boot the game and start a new game I can see the correct eyes and everything. Sometimes I can even cycle through the presets and it works, but then inevitably it reverts to showing the wrong eyes and scars and whatever else. I can still see all the correct parts for a split second whenever I switch to another preset, but it instantly gets replaced by those damn gorgeous blue eyes. One more question before I go. Is there some important correlation between the preset NPC_ objects in the CK and the RaceMenu presets? I'm just trying to figure out why the correct presets get loaded and then instantly get overwritten. One more question: since I'm using a script to load presets, is there some debugging method that might help get to the bottom of this?

That was much easier than I expected. It helps to have other mods to look at and copy. However it has led to another minor problem (go figure). In-game, in character creation, when I load a RaceMenu preset, the eyes and scars are wrong. It shows the correct eyes selected, but the wrong eyes are being used. It's actually showing the eyes that used to be ones set in the corresponding preset in CK. I.e., I had eyes18 in Preset 0 in the CK, but eyes69 in Preset 0 in the SKSE/chargen/mymod/ folder, and it is showing eyes18 instead of the ones saved in the preset. The annoying thing is that for a split second I can see the correct eyes and then they immediately get replaced with the wrong ones. I even changed the eyes in CK to match the ones in the RaceMenu preset and it hasn't fixed the problem. I noticed that whenever I change the preset in game I can hear a bunch of ticking sounds like sliders changing, which no doubt has something to do with it. Here is the entirety of the script I'm using. Scriptname BRInit extends RaceMenuBase Race Property BlazeRace Auto Race Property BlazeRaceVampire Auto Event OnInit() Parent.OnInit() EndEvent Event OnSliderChanged(string callback, float value) int isFemale = _targetActorBase.GetSex() race myRace = _targetActorBase.GetRace() If callback == "ChangeHeadPreset" If myRace == BlazeRace || myRace == BlazeRaceVampire chargen.LoadPreset("BlazeRace\\Preset" + isFemale as string + (value as int) as string) EndIf ElseIf callback == "ChangeSex" If myRace == BlazeRace || myRace == BlazeRaceVampire chargen.LoadPreset("BlazeRace\\Preset" + isFemale as string + "0") EndIf EndIf EndEventAnyone have any clue as to what's going on here?

Turns out I might have to try my hand at scripting. It looks like RaceMenu provides scripts for programatically changing the preset. There doesn't seem to be another way.

It sounds like there's no reason to even use the SSE CK then. What would you use to convert the old CK mod to SSE?

First I used the SPF command and imported the face data into the CK. Then I realized that's not going to work for a face created with RaceMenu. Then I used RaceMenu's own export function and went through the process of merging the exported nif with the one exported from the CK(using Ctrl+F4). The merged mesh looks fine in NifSkope. When I copy it into meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\mymod.esp\, replacing the original file, as instructed in various tutorials, it does nothing. No change in the CK or in game. I'm not sure what that's supposed to accomplish. I am using NIF Optimizer to convert the nifs to LE nifs in order to use NifMerge, then I use it again to convert back to SE nifs. Maybe I'm using the wrong options in NIF Optimizer? Any ideas where I might be going wrong here? I looked at another Race mod and its presets look completely different in the CK than in game. In the CK it looks like a vanilla face and in game it looks like a face created with RaceMenu. Not sure how they pulled it off.

OK, thanks! I'm just glad I got to the bottom of this mystery. It's difficult getting into the CK when all information is scattered around the internet. Tutorials are always basic and incomplete and it's hard to know whether the things I'm reading are even relevant to me. But I finally managed to create a full-fledged custom Race with all custom assets, so I'm satisfied now. Now I can work on doing more interesting things with this.

I appreciate the reply! I guess you missed my edit just now. I suppose this is the normal way to do it, but is that the only way to do it? I'm a bit confused why another Race mod I have installed does not appear do it this way. In that mod the custom armor works for the custom Race despite there being no extra ArmorAddons in its single esp.

In case I wasn't clear, I created a custom race from scratch, which uses a non-vanilla body. I have a folder containing all vanilla armors already converted for this body, but I have no clue how to get my race to use this folder. I've looked at other mods and I have no idea how they do it either because there doesn't seem to be any reference in the CK to the armors or armor path they use. I do apologize if this is a dumb question with an obvious answer, but like I said I'm new to the CK. I've been trying to google this and now I'm at the point where every single search result is purple because I already clicked on it. Not finding anything relevant. I even tried search for reasons why armor would be invisible on a custom race with a custom body and none of it is helpful. If it makes a difference I did add SOS compatibility to my race as well. My race is working and looking great in game, I just need to get this armor thing figured out. Edit: I understand I can duplicate all of the armor addons, restricting them to my race and pointing them to the corresponding custom armor, then add them to their respective armor objects(along with the original vanilla AAs). This seems to be a solution, but I'm looking at a custom race mod that has all custom armor and does not appear to do it this way, so I had assumed there must be an easier/quicker solution.

I have a custom race and vanilla armors/clothing for it. How would I set it up in CK for my custom race to use those armors? Right now my custom race is always naked because when I equip something it's invisible. How do I tell the game where the armors for my custom race are? I'm very new to the CK. I was making this race just to learn my way around. I followed the "Creating a custom race in Skyrim" tutorial on tesnexus. Everything about my race is working except the armor.

Yes, I added it to my inventory via console and equipped it. It appears equipped in the pipboy and unequips whatever armor I was wearing.

I have attempted to create a chest armor from scratch using 3DS Max and it's not appearing when equipped in-game. I have a feeling it has something to do with the BS SubIndex modifier, which I have never used before and don't know anything about. I'm pretty sure subindex 3 corresponds to the upper body/torso so I made sure there were 3 and that only on 3 all faces are selected. Max crashed constantly while doing this but I eventually got it. In Max I selected my mesh & the entire skeleton that was imported with the body and exported. I then copied a BSLightingShaderProperty from a working mesh onto mine in NifSkope and pointed it to a material file I created using the material editor on nexus. The textures appear okay in nifskope and the CK. Using the CK I created the mod just as I would with Skyrim and chose slot 41/torso. Any ideas where I might be going wrong here? Except for the use of BS SubIndex and materials the process seems largely the same as for Skyrim.

As you see in the picture there are two identical parts selected, which I modeled with symmetry, but when I unwrap them they are not the same size. I just a did a quick pelt on each part, relaxed by face, and then used the "straighten selection". You can see in the left side of the picture they are not the same size. If I resize them manually the UV on one becomes larger than the other. I'm pretty new to this software still so I'm probably using the wrong method or something. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

So I reinstalled Skyrim and it seems to have fixed that, but now there's a new problem. The hands, feet, and head do not align with the body. And the body looks all glossy: Any ideas what's causing this? I can use the mod slots for the BSDismember and it looks just fine in game, but I want to eventually make full body armor.

Here's another screenshot of the body exported with my mesh. Another thing I noticed that never happened when I used to do this a few years ago, is that when I try to export my mesh from max I get "Failed to find suitable root node" error. So I have to select my mesh, the body mesh, and the whole skeleton in order to export. It used to be that I didn't have to select the skeleton. Perhaps I'm using the wrong version of niftools. Which is the best version for 3DS Max 2012 or 2015? Also, if I start a new scene in max, import the body and the skeleton, and then import my mesh it appears all stretched just like it does in the screenshot. I'm thinking the problem must be with the plugin or the weights somehow getting messed up.

I've been trying to figure this out for the last few days and I am out of ideas. Basically I am trying to create a piece of clothing in 3ds Max, and it appears fine in nifskope and the Skyrim CK, but in game I see what's in the screenshot below. I am using 3DS Max 2015 and the niftools plugin here: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/5622/? The workflow I am using is as follows: - Import the female body in to max with the \character assets female\female_skeleton.nif skeleton - Model the clothing as editable poly then collapse to editable mesh - Unwrap the mesh and collapse the Unwrap UVW modifier - Add skin wrap modifier, using the body as source and face deformation and weight all points - Convert skin wrap to skin and delete skin wrap - Add BSDismember modifier and select all faces - Select my mesh, the body mesh, and the entire skeleton and export to nif - The import and export settings I use are the same as in every Skyrim tutorial I have seen Obviously there is an issue with the weights or the skeleton, but I don't know how to find out. I would greatly appreciate any assistance with this!

The problem was the edit poly modifier. I was adding it after exporting the _0 mesh.

Would an edit poly modifier change the vertex order? The vertex count is the same in both meshes.

Using the Conform and Push/Pull tools I created the _1.nif. In game it looks fine with the weight slider at a min or max value, but anywhere in between causes distortions in the mesh. I didn't add or remove any vertices. So what else do I need to do to get this looking right? Any tips or tricks to make the process quicker would also be nice.

Hello. I am interested in creating custom armor and clothing for Oblivion and possibly Skyrim. I can already model and texture and get the objects in game but I can't shake the feeling that I'm doing something wrong along the way, or not doing something that I should be doing. Two things I've noticed about my custom clothing so far: sometimes the texture appears blurry and distorted in areas when zoomed in, and the normal map seems to have no effect(i.e., whether the alpha channel is dark or light it appears the same in game). So I thought maybe I could list the steps I take from 3DS Max to Oblivion and maybe someone could guide me on the right path... Here is what I've been doing: - Import Oblivion's body part(s) that my clothing will at least partially cover - Model the clothing to fit the body - Add a Skin Wrap modifier to the clothing, add the body parts to the modifier, convert the modifier to Skin - Add an Unwrap UVW modifier to the clothing - Spend two hours trying to make a decent UV map, saving the UV template for texturing - Select the clothing and body meshes and export to .nif - Copy a texture to the Data\Textures\... folder and the .nif to the Data\Meshes\... folder - Open nif in nifskope, add a TexturingProperty and point it to the texture - Open the texture in GIMP, draw the texture, export it back and generate mipmaps - Apply normal map filter to the texture and export it next to the texture, generating mipmaps Also I'm wondering how the smooth modifier works with Oblivion. I read somewhere that you're supposed to add the smooth modifier and select smoothing groups 2. However this causes my mesh to look like has dimples all over it. Not sure if it's just the way I modeled the clothing or what.

Ah okay, fair enough. Thanks again for responding on what seems like a dead board.

Hi Ghogiel, if you're still around. Well I took your advice and I'm glad I did. Not only is rigging a lot of fun but it makes animating so simple. I'm still pretty new at this though and I have just one question: why do you suggest to create an entire new skeleton instead of use Skyrim's skeleton? So far I have been practicing on Skyrim's skeleton and it's been working just fine. I even got the export to work so my animations show properly in game.

Thanks for your reply. I am a complete newb at this and I will take your advice to heart. Is it enough to learn character rigging and let the nif plugin take care of all translation between formats or is there anything I should keep in mind to make animations compatible with Skyrim?

I'm interested in creating my own poses and perhaps animations for Skyrim. There are a lot of tutorials on the subject related to Bethesda games but none of them cover the actual manipulation of joints on the skeleton, and none of the general animation tutorials I could find seem to be related to the type of animation Bethesda games use. So far I'm able to import the skeleton.nif and the body meshes, and I can move and rotate the joints. The problem is that when I attempt to make a pose the body ends up looking twisted and distorted. For example if I rotate the forearm and hand it just twists the mesh around. I'm trying to learn one step at a time so I have no idea if that behavior translates into the game or not but still I can't help feel like I'm doing something wrong. I'm hoping someone who has experience with this could share the techniques they use to create poses in 3ds Max or can point me to a tutorial that actually applies to Bethesda games. I'm using 3ds Max 9 Thank you!

How can I make an idle animation play once on an NPC before setting them back to their normal idle animation? So far this is what I've come up with: - Add the idle animation in the construction set with the condition that the target is an actor and has a specific item in their inventory - Add a script to that item with an OnAdd block that removes the item from the NPCs inventory - In game... Reverse pick-pocket item into NPCs inventory This has the effect of playing the new idle animation repeatedly and indefinitely, or until I use the PickIdle console command on the NPC. Obviously I'm going about this the wrong way... So what is the right way to make the animation play once and only once? Is it possible to detect via script when the animation is finished?