Armor invisibility issue

[MadWizard25]

Well thats a new one, never heard of mod installations being done that way.

 

As far as I know OBMM can install mods if their file architecture matches Oblivions. No need to omod the esp and then manually install textures/ meshes. But its been a while since i used OBMM, so I may not be correct. Wrye Bash is much easier than OBMM imo.

 

In any case, I would recommend re-installing the mod the way you normally do it. If that does not work, use Wrye Bash to install. No need to turn anything into an omod, and WB can tell you if your missing files or if the mod is corrupt etc.

Also renaming the folders to something relevant with the mod to keep them all from being put into one Texture/Mesh folder.

 

Ok, normally you shouldnt have to rename folders. There is only 1 texture and mesh folder in Oblivion/ Data. The mod files should go into these folders. Im not really clear on what you mean here :/

Edited December 9, 2013 by MadWizard25

[BloodLordian]

I thought mods textures and meshes would get mixed up if I placed them all into one folder. Guess I wasn't thinking too well >.<

 

And if you're saying it is easier to use wrye bash and to not manually install the mods I'm going to give that a try. Do I need to use NMM?

Edited December 9, 2013 by BloodLordian

[MadWizard25]

Ah, i may not have been clear. You dont want to merge the textures and meshes folders. Never do that. I meant you should be placing the mods meshes and textures folders into oblivions Data folder. If you check oblivions data folder, inside you will see a textures and meshes folder. This is how it should be. Mods that have texture and meshes folders will work great if you drag the mods textures and meshes folders into Oblivions data folder.

 

Data

--- Meshes

--- Textures

 

Unfortunately the above is a "best case scenario" and it actually really depends on the folder architecture of the mod.

 

For example (when you open the mods winrar file);

 

x.esp

x.esm

Textures

Meshes

 

is a good example of a mod folder structure. If you drop this into Oblivions data folder it should work fine.

 

Now the tricky part is that some mods do not come structured in this way. I have no idea if the chest mod you are using is properly structured. In some cases, you have multiple folders to choose from for the mod, and you have to pick/ sort one and delete the rest. Even more confusing is that some mods come in omod format for OBMM, or BAIN format with/ without install scripts for Wrye Bash.

 

An example of a bad mod structure;

 

x.esp

1024x1024 folder

2048x2048 folder

 

In this case you have to check inside each folder, see if they contain meshes or textures. Then pick the resolution you want, and only extract the folders from that resolution folder.

 

----------

 

This is why unless you know what you are doing, and are intimately familiar with all the variations of mod structures, you can get easily confused and end up with a bad install.

 

Unfortunately, WB is easiest if you know how to use it. If you have never used it before its quite a lot to learn. It is the most complete installer for oblivion mods, but has a lot of options. I say 'easier' because it reports if mods are corrupt, or have missing files, bad installs, or are conflicting with other mods and files. But to understand that means learning Wrye Bash. And thats not so easy :smile: Takes a little bit of time. Its not technically difficult or anything, its just a lot of information and options to learn.

 

I would really really recommend reading this guide. It a well written guide on exactly this situation, and can teach you about folder/ file structures for oblivion (as well as many many other guides). It also has guides for OBMM and Wrye Bash (BAIN) if you look on the left side menu.

 

And no, do not use NMM, it has problems with oblivion installs.

 

Hope this helps :smile:

Edited December 9, 2013 by MadWizard25

[BloodLordian]

Thanks a lot man. :) I will check all this out.

[Striker879]

Also renaming the folders to something relevant with the mod to keep them all from being put into one Texture/Mesh folder.

There's a part of the problem at least.

 

When a mod maker creates a mod they use the Construction Set (CS) to add things to the game. Those changes to the game are saved as an .ESP file (whether it's new content or creating new items using existing vanilla game assets renamed and reconfigured). An .ESP defines changes from the original game, similar to the idea that save files (.ESS files) are changes your character has made to the original game world (you exited the sewer, then bonked that bandit on the head and killed her at Vilverin, then picked that flower etc.).

 

The mod author defines the exact folder structure that any new content uses (that shiny new shield will use a mesh located in Data\meshes\armor\JoesCoolMod\JoesCoolShield.nif and the texture for it was assigned as Data\Textures\armor\JoesCoolMod\ShinyShield.dds and Data\Textures\armor\JoesCoolMod\ShinyShield_n.dds). Even if the modder was sloppy and decided that the folder paths would be Data\meshes\armor\JoesCoolShield.nif and the texture for it was assigned as Data\Textures\armor\ShinyShield.dds and Data\Textures\armor\ShinyShield_n.dds (just dumping his new mesh and textures into the Data\meshes\armor and Data\Textures\armor folders) there's nothing you can do about it unless you use the CS to assign a new path to the mesh and NifSkope to assign a new path to the textures attached to that particular mesh.

 

If the modder Joe was a sloppy modder and just dumped everything into the armor folders (i.e. Data\meshes\armor\JoesCoolShield.nif and the texture for it was assigned as Data\Textures\armor\ShinyShield.dds and Data\Textures\armor\ShinyShield_n.dds) and then you decided when manually installing to "tidy" things up by installing the JoesCoolShield.nif in Data\meshes\armor\JoesCoolMod\JoesCoolShield.nif and textures in Data\Textures\armor\JoesCoolMod\ShinyShield.dds and Data\Textures\armor\JoesCoolMod\ShinyShield_n.dds you will break the mod. When the game looks for the shield mesh in Data\meshes\armor\ it won't be found (hence the missing mesh indicator) and the texture anomalies (purple, black or invisible) when it can find a mesh but the textures are wrong/missing (needs texture and normal map, and possibly glow maps etc if assigned).

 

Bottom line for manually installing or extracting and then creating an OMOD ... download to a folder you create especially for each mod, extract to that folder (default action with 7-Zip), examine folder structure vs your game's current folder structure looking for possible folder overwrites, copy and paste in a manner than maintains the correct folder structure and then activate the ESP (except of course in the case of pure replacers mods that have no ESP).

Edited December 9, 2013 by Striker879