Help with Nifskope and normalmaps please

[Thistlebear]

I select NiTriShape just like every tutorial tells me to. However, I cannot find BSShaderTexture or BSLightingShaderProperty after that. The little blue flower next to the texture file path is attached to NiSourceTexture instead. I can still change that to a new texture, but I'm not seeing a place to add a normal map. What am I missing? What is going on?

[Oblivionaddicted]

Except if I'm wrong you don't need NifSkope to manage the normal maps, as long as the normal map is in the same folder and has the same name as the associated texture + _n everything is alright.

[glowplug]

Confirmed...

The diffuse map(main texture) is the file path to the NiSourceTexture with the format of...

textures\YourFolders\FileName.dds

 

The normal map (not declared in the Nif) is implicit as...

textures\YourFolders\FileName_n.dds

...Oblivion will find this.

 

The glow map (lighting, not declared in the Nif) is implicit as...

textures\YourFolders\FileName_g.dds

...Oblivion will find this.

 

In short, we set each NiSourceTexture to the Diffuse and Oblivion finds the Normal by _n and the Glow by _g

 

Points to note...

• NiMaterialProperty (material) is child of NiTriStrips or NiTriShape (mesh)
• NiTextureProperty is also a child of NiTriStrips or NiTriShape.
• NiMaterialProperty is not unique by name.

...I don't know why but certain names, such as EnvMap2, seem to be hard coded to evaluate certain things such as reflection and lighting.

 

Using EnvMap2 for lighting requires setting 'NiTexturingProperty > Apply Mode' to 'Apply Highlight'. This applies reflection mapping which seems to be based on environment.

[Pellape]

The stuff you do mention sounds like settings and properties in Skyrim Meshes, so in those we must point out every texture, not in Oblivion as it do that per auto in the way GlowPlug did describe. I use Nifscope a lot and I have never seen any BSShaderTexture nor BSLightingShaderProperty inside an Oblivion Mesh, but I might missed something too. I usually edit everything except creatures and NPC, but that happens as well. Still, I cannot recall seeing them in an Oblivion mesh. Opening a Skyrim mesh makes me get NightMares really. :D Oblivion and MW meshes are simple compared to Skyrim ones. Well Skyrim CK gives me Nightmares too, even if I do understand it better now than ever before. But I do guess to have been fiddling with Skyrim meshes as well as I am convinced those settings are used in that version of the Net Immerse Engine and its files (NIF's). I cannot check right now as I am not in my flat, and have no access to any Skyrim meshes, so it is just a speculation and wild guess.

 

I do plan the export the Requiem sword and some of my 17 year old shields later for Skyrim, loading them in Blender, + any weapon and shield from Skyrim to get the right size and position and export them as Skyrim Meshes, without collisions, and copy the NitriShapes or NitriStrips or whatever are used in a Skyrim mesh, to meshes that only has the Ninodes and Collisions. Cheating... :wink: Unless The nifexporter for Blender is able to export a complete Skyrim mesh without issues? The exporter I use for Oblivion does not.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Pellape

[Braggi]

Been modding Oblivion since around 2007 and I can confirm what everyone else here is saying - you don't need to specify a normal map in Nifskope, just the basic texture itself. Have the normal map in the same directory as the texture and the Oblivion engine will load it automatically. I know that other later versions of the engine (New Vegas is one example, I believe) allow you to specify normal maps in the nif's model path. However, Oblivion is older then that convention.

 

 

Texture naming conventions for Oblivion:

Basic texture for the nif: mytexture.dds

Nomral map for the texture: mytexture_n.dds

 

Hope some of that helps.

 

Cheers!