SSE Paths -What Are They?

[Dustmo7e]

Hi!

What are "paths" and where can I see them? I would like to be able to view the path that leads from my own texture folder to the model in game, because it seems that some people get purple models, which means that even though the textures are published with the mod, the route from the texture folder to the model is somehow wrong.

 

Do I need SSEEdit to do that? I tried it but I could not see paths anywhere, even though I clicked everything open.

 

(I tried to search with keywords "skyrim"+ "paths" and "mod paths" and even "what is a path" but I did not get any page results explaning this. I am a complete newbie when it comes to all things scripting or even just using SSEEdit for anything other than doing a quick clean.)

[maxarturo]

- You need NifSkope to assign to the mesh the texture's file path

- Textures need to exists inside the game data folder: data / textures / folder with your mod's name and add to it your textures

* A folder with your mod's name is not actually required, but helps to keep things in order.

[Dustmo7e]

- You need NifSkope to assign to the mesh the texture's file path

- Textures need to exists inside the game data folder: data / textures / folder with your mod's name and add to it your textures

* A folder with your mod's name is not actually required, but helps to keep things in order.

OK, thank you.

Does this mean that if I am assigning a new texture set in CK to an existing mesh in game, I will still need NifScope to see the path? Because my textures are where they should be, but they are not showing in game.

 

Also, if you or someone could tell me if I'm doing something wrong: when I make a texture mod, I create the textures in Gimp and save them into the data/textures folder. Then I make the mod in CK and save. I create a folder for the mod on my desktop, and copy the plugin and the texture folder inside. I run the plugin through SSEEdit quick auto-clean and then pack it into a zip-file and upload to Nexus.

[maxarturo]

'TextureSet' is completely different from a 'Set of Textures' that a mesh has.

TextureSet

https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/Using_Texture_sets_for_Skyrim

The only thing that a TextureSet needs, if it includes 'custom textures' is to: All custom made textures need to live inside the game's data folder > data / textures

* If the textures don't live inside that folder the game can't see them.

NifSkope is only needed when we are assigning a 'Set of Textures' to a mesh, and then add that mesj as a new object to the game.

By 'texture mod' I assume that you mean a 'Texture Replacer' mod, textures that change a game's existing mesh appearance by changing the use of the original mesh's texture.

In this case the only thing needed after creating the textures in a graphic editor is to:

* We will use the 'Common Chair' as an example.

- Create a 'data' folder somewhere in your pc

- Inside that 'data' folder recreate the same exact folder stucture of the 'Common Chair' original texture you will be replacing.

For example:

If the 'Common Chair' diffuse texture address is: data / textures / farm / furniture

You have to create in your 'data' folder that exact folder structure

- You 'Replacer Texture' needs to have the same exact name as the game's original texture name.

- You add your 'Replacer Texture' to your 'data' folder that contains the folder structure of the 'Common Chair'. It has to live inside: data / textures / farm / furniture > The Common Chair's replacer texture dds

* If you are doing a 'Texture Replacer' mod there is no need to create an ESP and clean the ESP with xEdit.

* An ESP and cleaning the with xEdit is needed only if you will be creating and adding a new 'TextureSet' to a mesh inside CK.

[scorrp10]

A 'path' just describes location of a file or folder in a file structure.

A path can be absolute, i.e.: C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif

Absolute paths are generally a nightmare to work with, cause they can be quite long and offer no flexibility. So typically, relative paths are used.

 

In Skyrim, a path to any resource file is location of that file relative to 'Data' folder in the Skyrim Special Edition(SSE) folder.

So, for the above file, relative path would be meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif.

 

And now the real important part: For the mod to install properly, every resource file must have exactly the same relative path in your mod folder as it has in SSE\Data.

So if you want to make a mod that replaces meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif, you make a folder on your desktop, named, say, 'CoinMod'. In it, you create 'meshes' folder. Inside that , you make 'clutter' folder, and in there, you put your new 'Coin01.nif'.

So relative to your CoinMod folder, your file path is now also meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif.

 

How do you find a path(location) of a specific file? In CK, you need to look up the form of the item that interests you.

I.e. if you look up 'Gold' in MiscItem category, there is 'Gold001', and it references a model 'clutter\Coin01.nif'. Note that it does not have the 'meshes' part. This is because that field describes a model, and all models are under meshes, so that part of path is implied. It will be same with textures.

 

Now, about them textures. If you click 'Edit' next to Model, you can see that one can assign alternate textures to shapes in the model.

If in 'MiscItem' you look up 'GlazedBowl' you can see that GlazedBowl01 and GlazedBowl01Nordic use the same exact model (Clutter\GlazedBowl01.nif), but Bowl01Nordic uses 'NorBronzePots' TextureSet.

If there is an alternate texture, you can look up that TextureSet form. It will tell you the files. Otherwise, you need to look for that model file, potentially extract it from a .bsa, open it in NifScope, and check textures there.

[Dustmo7e]

 

- You need NifSkope to assign to the mesh the texture's file path

- Textures need to exists inside the game data folder: data / textures / folder with your mod's name and add to it your textures

* A folder with your mod's name is not actually required, but helps to keep things in order.

OK, thank you.

Does this mean that if I am assigning a new texture set in CK to an existing mesh in game, I will still need NifScope to see the path? Because my textures are where they should be, but they are not showing in game.

 

Also, if you or someone could tell me if I'm doing something wrong: when I make a texture mod, I create the textures in Gimp and save them into the data/textures folder. Then I make the mod in CK and save. I create a folder for the mod on my desktop, and copy the plugin and the texture folder inside. I run the plugin through SSEEdit quick auto-clean and then pack it into a zip-file and upload to Nexus.

 

Sorry for the late reply.

Thank you. I knew that the textures need to be in the game's texture folder but most of this was news to me.

[Dustmo7e]

A 'path' just describes location of a file or folder in a file structure.

A path can be absolute, i.e.: C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif

Absolute paths are generally a nightmare to work with, cause they can be quite long and offer no flexibility. So typically, relative paths are used.

 

In Skyrim, a path to any resource file is location of that file relative to 'Data' folder in the Skyrim Special Edition(SSE) folder.

So, for the above file, relative path would be meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif.

 

And now the real important part: For the mod to install properly, every resource file must have exactly the same relative path in your mod folder as it has in SSE\Data.

So if you want to make a mod that replaces meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif, you make a folder on your desktop, named, say, 'CoinMod'. In it, you create 'meshes' folder. Inside that , you make 'clutter' folder, and in there, you put your new 'Coin01.nif'.

So relative to your CoinMod folder, your file path is now also meshes\clutter\Coin01.nif.

 

How do you find a path(location) of a specific file? In CK, you need to look up the form of the item that interests you.

I.e. if you look up 'Gold' in MiscItem category, there is 'Gold001', and it references a model 'clutter\Coin01.nif'. Note that it does not have the 'meshes' part. This is because that field describes a model, and all models are under meshes, so that part of path is implied. It will be same with textures.

 

Now, about them textures. If you click 'Edit' next to Model, you can see that one can assign alternate textures to shapes in the model.

If in 'MiscItem' you look up 'GlazedBowl' you can see that GlazedBowl01 and GlazedBowl01Nordic use the same exact model (Clutter\GlazedBowl01.nif), but Bowl01Nordic uses 'NorBronzePots' TextureSet.

If there is an alternate texture, you can look up that TextureSet form. It will tell you the files. Otherwise, you need to look for that model file, potentially extract it from a .bsa, open it in NifScope, and check textures there.

Sorry for the late reply.

 

So much I never knew. I have looked at the folders when I download texture mods from Nexus but somehow I never noticed how many folders you need to create to put them in the right place.

Thank you for taking the time to help me.