Why do some mod-added items float when dropped?

[DitzyDez666]

Why do some mod-added items float or hang in the air when dropped from the player inventory? I'm just curious so I can know what to look up for fixing this specific issue with some mods. It seems to be rare. Like Urban Raider items and some HN66 items. What is this phenomenon exactly and why does it happen?

Edited August 5, 2023 by DitzyDez666

[niston]

Most likely the item has either no, or static collision.

There are several types of collision in the game, and not all support full physics interaction.

[DitzyDez666]

O okay, so when someone makes a mod item, they sometimes just give it no collision or static collision, so it just stays in mid-air when you drop the outfit or what have you! I get it, thank u very much

Now how in the world do I change something's collision? It sounds like a fairly easy xEdit edit I guess. Maybe it's not tho? Can I even do that in xEdit?

[showler]

I think that's done in the nif file, the mesh, using nifskope.

[DitzyDez666]

I think that's done in the nif file, the mesh, using nifskope.

Awesome! I do have Nifskope i just don't do anything with it really. lol. So I'll look into that! Thank uuuu!

[84Cronos]

 

I think that's done in the nif file, the mesh, using nifskope.

Awesome! I do have Nifskope i just don't do anything with it really. lol. So I'll look into that! Thank uuuu!

 

There is a decent tutorial on how to do collision based on convex hulls(this nifskope version can also render primitive boxes afaik) for movable statics/misc items which are supposed to have physics. If you want to have "somewhat" real static collision, the one without any physics simulation, you will need to change/add a couple of values, but other than that the tutorial also applies. Here is a link to the video(keep in mind that the guy in the vid is using a specific version of nifskope and an updated XML file which he is linking to in the video description).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISRcNifg_R8

 

 

There is also the possibility to get another nifskope fork which would allow you to also do primitive cylinders in nifskope, but that isn't really required most of the time.

 

Edit: Since another person had a similar question I decided to write a quick summary on how I personally do collision right now with nifskope. My tests have been positive so far but I can't guarante that this will be 100% proper collision. The link the to post is here: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/13140207-help-with-finding-tools/

[RoNin1971]

O okay, so when someone makes a mod item, they sometimes just give it no collision or static collision, so it just stays in mid-air when you drop the outfit or what have you! I get it, thank u very much

 

Now how in the world do I change something's collision? It sounds like a fairly easy xEdit edit I guess. Maybe it's not tho? Can I even do that in xEdit?

Guess again.

Collisions are a a challenge with FO4.

Especially if you want to add physics your only real option is 3D Studio 2013 + official Havok plugin. (you can get it to work with 3DS 2014, it seems, but that's it)

 

So, no xEdit and no Nifskope*. No Blender either.

 

There is an UNofficial dev 2.8 version which lets you do some collisions, BUT the ORIGINAL Nifskope creator does not support it or recommend it. On the contrary. He disabled the option because it does not work properly & somebody enabled it again ... So, to avoid problems, do NOT use dev 2.8.

 

edit:

Another much used way is to copy the collision from a similar object. (Just keep in mind that collisions do not scale! you can set a scale, but it is ignored by the game. You can move & rotate it though (by moving/rotating the parent NiNode)

Edited August 17, 2023 by RoNin1971

[84Cronos]

There is an UNofficial dev 2.8 version which lets you do some collisions, BUT the ORIGINAL Nifskope creator does not support it or recommend it. On the contrary. He disabled the option because it does not work properly & somebody enabled it again ... So, to avoid problems, do NOT use dev 2.8.

Could you please elaborate on this? I'm using said Nifskope version right now to do collision and seems to be working fine but I would like to know if there is something that I'm unaware of.

[RoNin1971]

I'll have to look it up. I used it for a time but had some issues. Then i found some heated discussions between the 2 'authors' and stopped using it.

 

I'll see if I can find that thread again.

[84Cronos]

I'll have to look it up. I used it for a time but had some issues. Then i found some heated discussions between the 2 'authors' and stopped using it.

 

I'll see if I can find that thread again.

Thank you. That would be quite interesting, because I went to the NIFtool or whatever the name is discord and asked for them advice regarding collision for Fallout 4 and of the devs who is still working on forks just pointed me to a certain version that can also render primitive cylinders and he wasn't having any concerns as far as I can remember.