Floating Heads despite only using one (armour) mod

[Rezer3n]

Hello. This mod (https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/6051?tab=description&BH=0) lets you install standalone resources from the mod Improved Atmosphere, infamous for its compatibility issues. I chose to download the pack that changes Irving's robes, but upon starting a new game, his body is invisible despite not using any other mods that alter or add armour or clothing sets. I HAD one, Viva La Orlais, but I deleted it before installing this one. Maybe there are residue files somewhere on my computer but so far I haven't found anything. The only other mod I have that deals with .gda files is FtG UI Mod - More Readable Fonts and Interface but I find it an unlikely culprit...

Notable mods I am using: DA Redesigned, Qwinn's Ultimate Fixpack, Large Address Aware patch, Redefine Your Hero's Voice, and some hair and face texture mods. I am playing through the EA launcher if that's of any importance, Steam made the game act funny sometimes.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and thanks for reading!

[theskymoves]

Usually troubleshooting an invisible body/floating head issue is a matter of tracking down some kind of mod conflict, such as a ItemVariation ID issue, conflicting UTCs, missing assets, etc. In this case, though, the issue lies with the Improved Atmosphere Standalone Resources Pack files, and the nomenclature of the GDA.

I removed all mods from my install,  manually checking all three folders for mod files for strays (\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override; \Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\AddIns; and \Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\data), so as to test with a vanilla base. (The 4GB Patch isn't a mod, so I didn't bother to unpatch that.)

Then I installed just the Improved Atmosphere Standalone Resources Pack - Dark Chantry and Dark Mage files. And in that vanilla + one mod install,  Irving had no body:

Looking more closely at the individual mod files, I could see that the GDA file names are very long... IIRC, the maximum length of a GDA file name (not including the file extension) is something like 27 characters. The GDA for the robe replacer has a 30 character file name... so I renamed the GDA to 'clothing_variation_cult.GDA' - 23 characters - and started another new game:

If you shorten the non-compliant GDA file names from 'clothing_variation_cultistmage.GDA' and 'clothing_variation_cultistchantry.GDA' to something like 'clothing_variation_cult.GDA' and 'clothing_variation_cult.GDA', then the model replacers should work as intended.

There is some information on GDA naming conventions on the DA Toolset Wiki, if you are would like some supporting documentation for making the edit. (See: Extending GDAs tutorial.)

[Rezer3n]

You're amazing, thank you for always helping out

[theskymoves]

I just realized that if the names of both GDAs are truncated as I suggested, then they will conflict. (It's not typical for a mod to use multiple GDAs for the same item classification; sorry for the stupid oversight on my part.)

Varying the the truncated names slightly would remove the conflict; i.e., 'clothing_variation_cult.GDA' and 'clothing_variation_cultc.GDA'.

Again, apologies for the flawed info.

[Rezer3n]

No hardship! Irving's new robes are displaying perfectly now - no need to apologize :P. But now it's Branka ('Paragon Armor and Longsword' pack from the same mod) whose armour is invisible even after truncating her Paragon armour set's .GDA files (armor_massive_variation_paragon.GDA -> armr_mas_vriation_par.GDA (25 characters), boots_massive_variation_paragon.GDA -> bts_mas_vriation_par.GDA (24 characters), gloves_massive_variation_paragon.GDA -> glvs_mas_vriation_par.GDA (25 characters), and lastly helmet_heavy_variation_paragon.GDA -> hlm_hvy_vriation_par.GDA (24 characters.)

Unlike Irving however, her weapon is also invisible and only her shield is visible (I renamed the longsword from "longsword_variation_paragon.gda to "sword_variation_para.GDA" (20 characters.)

Gah, modding DA has never felt so challenging lol

 

 

[theskymoves]

The only part of the GDA file name that can be changed is the suffix, the bit after the last underscore. The 'base name' of a GDA  (for example, the armor_massive_variation part) should never be be truncated or altered. That original part of the name is referenced elsewhere in the coding, and tells the game what the file does. The reason that the items aren't displaying in-game is that the game isn't even reading the incorrectly named GDAs, and so doesn't have any reference for the item appearance.

sword_variation_para.GDA isn't a valid file name. It must be longsword_variation_, to differentiate the type of weapon.  longsword_variation_paragon.GDA is only 27 characters. There's no need to shorten it.

The toolset wiki page I linked earlier addresses the issues with naming GDAs that extend files that have very long 'base' names, and talks specifically about armor_massive_variation.GDA, boots_massive_variation.GDA, and gloves_massive_variation.GDA.

You must leave the armor_massive_variation text unaltered. Follow that with a single underscore; that's 24 characters. That leaves a maximum of three characters for the suffix, so you could use armor_massive_variation_par.GDA.

The same is true of boots_massive_variation.GDA; 23 characters + underscore for a max three character suffix. boots_massive_variation_par.GDA = 27 character file name.

The suffix when extending gloves_massive_variation.GDA can only be two characters at most. (24 character base name + underscore  = 25 characters + 2 suffix = 27 total). Use something like gloves_massive_variation_pr.GDA

[Rezer3n]

My word. I look like quite the fool with all these stupid wee mistakes I keep making . Thank you for your preternatural patience haha.

[theskymoves]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Trial and error, making mistakes... it's all part of learning to mod, especially when the reasons for doing something aren't  obvious. (Or are even opaque, as is so often the case when modding DAO.)