How do I add Hairs to Lings ESM?

[Auslander66]

I have tried adding hairs to Lings Pretty Things.esp, but the new hairs don't seem to show up in game when I try to edit a custom race, like Willow. Can someone tell me how to add new hairs to Lings so that it will register when I try to mod custom races? I know about going to character, adding the hairs to hair category, and dragging them into the hair section of the race in question. Everything looks ok in the Geck preview window, but in game Willow is sporting default hair. I read that an esp file won't work as a master, so how would I go about adding a hair to Lings.esm?

Edited September 23, 2013 by Auslander66

[Aonghus]

First of all, before you do anything I talk about here, make sure to make backups of your mod files. That way, if something does go wrong, you can revert to your current status.

 

Secondly, if you're using Lings, you've got quite a large selection of female hairs to choose from already. Try setting Lings.esm as a master to NVWillow.esp (Open Willow in the Geck, but also check Lings.esm in the "Open File" dialogue.

 

Finally, it's not enough just to have the hair in the game, you have to edit the custom race so it knows to use the hair you want Willow to have. Under the Character menu in the GECK, you need to open the Hair submenu (this will bring up a window) and then go and open Race in the same menu. Down near the bottom of the Race listings, you will see an entry for "WillowRace". Select this entry, make sure the check box is set to female, and navigate to the FaceData tab. Now, select the hair you want Willow to have from the List in the "Hair" window we pulled up earlier and drag it to the "Hair Styles List."

 

Almost done, now we need to assign the new hairstyle to Willow in the game. Close the Race and Hair windows out with the "Okay" button, and navigate to the Actors/NPC entry in the tree on the left of the object window. If you click the + sign next to the NPC entry, it will expand and show you all of the installed races. Again, near the bottom, you are looking for "WillowRace". Expanding with the + sign and selecting "Female" from the newly expanded list should show only one entry, Willow. Open her record by double clicking, and navigate to the "Head Parts" tab. Here there is a drop-box labeled "Hair" that should allow you to assign Willow her new hair style. (Clicking the "Head" preview box at the bottom of this window will allow you to confirm that she's now using the hair style you want her to use.) You can also change her hair color, on the "Face" tab. (Don't bother messing with the "Hair Length" slider, it appears to have no effect on the game.

 

Hope that helped.

[Auslander66]

First of all, before you do anything I talk about here, make sure to make backups of your mod files. That way, if something does go wrong, you can revert to your current status.

 

Secondly, if you're using Lings, you've got quite a large selection of female hairs to choose from already. Try setting Lings.esm as a master to NVWillow.esp (Open Willow in the Geck, but also check Lings.esm in the "Open File" dialogue.

 

Finally, it's not enough just to have the hair in the game, you have to edit the custom race so it knows to use the hair you want Willow to have. Under the Character menu in the GECK, you need to open the Hair submenu (this will bring up a window) and then go and open Race in the same menu. Down near the bottom of the Race listings, you will see an entry for "WillowRace". Select this entry, make sure the check box is set to female, and navigate to the FaceData tab. Now, select the hair you want Willow to have from the List in the "Hair" window we pulled up earlier and drag it to the "Hair Styles List."

 

Almost done, now we need to assign the new hairstyle to Willow in the game. Close the Race and Hair windows out with the "Okay" button, and navigate to the Actors/NPC entry in the tree on the left of the object window. If you click the + sign next to the NPC entry, it will expand and show you all of the installed races. Again, near the bottom, you are looking for "WillowRace". Expanding with the + sign and selecting "Female" from the newly expanded list should show only one entry, Willow. Open her record by double clicking, and navigate to the "Head Parts" tab. Here there is a drop-box labeled "Hair" that should allow you to assign Willow her new hair style. (Clicking the "Head" preview box at the bottom of this window will allow you to confirm that she's now using the hair style you want her to use.) You can also change her hair color, on the "Face" tab. (Don't bother messing with the "Hair Length" slider, it appears to have no effect on the game.

 

Hope that helped.

Aonghus, thank you so much. I had already taken every step you suggested, with the exception of selecting WillowRace from the NPC section to the left. For some reason, it always worked for me to click on All at the bottom of the object window, and choosing Willow from there. Now I know the proper way to edit NPC's and I thank you for the assist. Kudos for you. =)

Edited September 23, 2013 by Auslander66