New to Modding DA:O and Having Issues With Dragon Age Redesigned

[afrosamurai3847]

As stated I'm new to modding this game and it has been an ordeal that I'm still not sure I've done right for reference I have the Ultimate Edition on Steam apparently the worst version to have if I want to mod or do much. Not sure most of my texture mods are even working but aside from that been trying to get Dragon Age Redesigned to work and currently Morrigan and Wynne I'm remembering had milky eyes for some reason. I tried to run the .exe in Non Companions to install the Dracomies textures and such but I keep getting an error  that the destination file can't be created or something. I only recently learned I had been using the wrong override path, from programs rather than documents just overall very confused on why modding this game is so obfuscated.

[BlickJustice]

Make sure you install the manual version of Dragon Age Redesigned, and just put the folder into your Documents/Bioware/Dragon Age/packages/core/override, that's where you should put all your mods. Choose one of the three versions: There are Lore, Aesthetics and Recommended ones, these names are self-explanatory. I suggest the Lore version, because it fixes characters' looks without altering the original Bioware's vision. Also check if you don't have any other mods that could change the same things, for example, the eyes of characters, use this tool to check for duplicates :Duplicate Search Tool at Dragon Age: Origins. 

[theskymoves]

Some general information on modding DAO:

• Installing Dragon Age mods
• Using Dragon Age Mods for Dummies
• Installing cosmetic mods for Dragon Age  (This is mostly relevant for mods that affect the player character's appearance; a merged chargenmorphcfg.xml file is not needed for NPC cosmetic changes.)

Dragon Age Redesigned is one of the very few mods that uses an executable installer, a method which has fallen out of favor. If the installer is not working correctly on your system, you could instead use the manual override version of the mod, which just involves copying the folders/files for the desired options to  the game's override folder. (The manual version download is missing the PDF documentation from the original installer version, so hanging on to that is a good idea.)

And  'milky' eyes is definitely caused by missing textures, so you are on the right track for solving the issue.

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My overly-wordy explainer for installing the manual version of DAR:

To install the manual version of DA Redesigned:

• Download 'Dragon Age Redesigned Manual Version 1.0' from the 'Optional' files area.
• Unzip that archive.
• Move or copy the Dracomies Textures folder into the game's override folder
  (Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override). Dracomies Textures must be installed, as omitting that component will result in issues with the morph files, like shiny silver/grey skins and milky white eyes.)
• To use one of the general NPC replacer morph options, choose one of the three folders inside the 'Versions (Lore, Aesthetics, Recommended)' folder, and copy or move it to the override folder.
• If either the 'Aesthetics' or 'Recommended' options were installed in the previous step, then download and install the tucked hair mod, which is required by those non-companion NPC morphs. (See below for a step-by-step on installing tucked hair.)
• If you want to use DAR companion replacer morphs, download and install any required mods for them. Copy or move the folders for your preferred companion morphs into the override folder. (There are either documents or image files in the folders with the companion morphs, that list any additional requirements.)

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Step-by-step instructions for installing tmp7704's tucked hair:

• Get tucked hair from the 'official' download location: https://www.moddb.com/mods/tmp7704/downloads/tucked-hair
• Unzip the downloaded archive (tuckedhair.zip). If you just want the hairs required for DA Redesigned, then unzip the tucked_hair.zip archive, and put that in your override folder. You don't need the earring hairs or the chargenmorphcfg.xml for the NPC morphs.
• If you want to use the basic 'tucked hair' styles for your player character, then you'll need to also install the chargenmorphcfg.xml file. If you are using any other cosmetic mods in chargen, you'll need to merge the chargenmorphcfg.xml files for all those mods... there can only be one chargenmorphcfg.xml file in override.
• If you want the earring hairs (for your player character), also place that  unzipped folder in override. The earring styles aren't included in the included chargenmorphcfg.xml. You can find my merge-able chargen xml for both the tucked hair and earring hair styles elsewhere on the Nexus: tucked hair chargenmorphcfg (including earring styles);  there may be other similar files from other modders. Again, if you are using any other mods for chargen, then the combined tucked + earring hair xml should be merged with the other cosmetic XMLs.

[afrosamurai3847]

Should I do a fresh install/clear the override folder so things don't conflict? I had been following a guide and was trying to stay low to the ground on mods mostly just fixes and qol and then was trying the aforementioned Dragon Age Redesigned to bring things up a bit to this generation of game. That video suggested a mod manager but should I avoid that?

So I had Dragon Age Redesigned
Theta HD (fix)
An HD statue mod the last mod mentioned paired well
Bashlock which has been working fine
A couple of awakening fixes which I'm not there yet to verify if they work
and then had recently heard about the general fix mods so I think I did Quinns' Fix or something like that. Are there others that mostly just fix the game I should consider again not trying to go super mod heavy but things being a bit nicer to look at and avoiding bugs like a Skyrim Unofficial Patch would be nice.

Also sorry for the late reply been at work all day but thank you guys and gals for taking time to point me in the right direction.

Edited November 14 by afrosamurai3847

[BlickJustice]

You know, modding Dragon Age Origins is quite easy once you get the hang of it, don't worry. @theskymoves wrote everything in much detail, I can suggest sticking to manual installation without any managers, and if you have a dazip file, use daupdater that is in your bin_ship folder (where daorigins.exe should be) to install it. If a mod isn't in dazip format, just throw it into override in your documents, and use the duplicate search that i mentioned, it's an amazing tool when you have a lot of mods installed in the override. If you find a duplicate, delete or backup one of them, so that the other file works for certain. There's also a load order method, but personally I prefer cleaning my override of doubled file.

Good thing you have Qwinn's Fixpack installed, it's quite essential, it fixes and restores so many dialogues, codex entries and quests. Qwinn's main file is to be installed as dazip and then throw his 3.52 patch into override, it's all you need to do with it. I also suggest Dain's Fixes at Dragon Age: Origins mod-it focuses on fixing the gameplay stuff more, broken abilities and such, it's in my opinion the second essential mod you need. Read Dain's mod page, because he describes every fix he posted and put his folder into override, you can also delete folders/fixes you don't need. Redesigned, Theta, HD statue-they are all texture mods, so it's only about having all the required files and making sure there's no conflicts (Duplicate Search Tool for that). Awakening fixes affect only the expansion. 

And also check the @theskymoves' mods, I've lost count of how many of her mods I've been using, definitely recommended, you'll have a great fun just from browsing through dozens of her mods  

And since it's a pure texture problem you've had, milky/white eyes, as priority you need to make sure you have Draconies Textures in override (with Redesigned's manual version you shouldn't have a problem with it). Then from the Companions folder pick carefully what version of a character you want, so there's no two Leliana versions in override, pick one. Lore/Aesthetics/Recommended has been already explained, choose one of these. 

And about the companions-take a look at Unique Face Textures for Companions DAO Edition at Dragon Age: Origins. Elise created detailed and unique faces for our party members and it doesn't require any additional mods. In case you'd like to switch for Elise's mod, just delete/backup Companions folder from DAR. 

It's all alright, check all the steps without rush and it's going to be working, if you had more questions, just ask and we will help you furthermore. Good luck.

[afrosamurai3847]

Think I have things sorted now will continue to play to see, my Morrigan has eyes now . Thank you two for all the help and insight, hopefully I have a good enough grasp if I wanted to add more mods down the rode but for now I'm happy keeping it mostly vanilla aside from the fixes and such you guys pointed out. Again thank you for taking the time to help my ignorance on modding this wonderful game and best of wishes to you both.

[BlickJustice]

I'm glad to see you managed to fix the issue  It's been a pleasure to help, I envy that you just begin your journey with Dragon Age Origins for the first time, it's an amazing game made by Bioware at their finest, one can only wish such games were made nowadays. Once you install a few mods, it's going to get easier, you'll know exactly where each file should go. 

And don't forget to check @theskymoves' mods, because she fixes many things in a lore-friendly way, her mods' descriptions are often enough to bring a smile, also browse through Bug Fixes category to find other useful modifications that fix the game. But to be honest, Origins is perfectly playable with Qwinn's and Dain's mods, the Awakening expansions has some issues with it, you mention you've already installed some bug-fixing mods for it, but I'll mention this: Awakening Fixes and Tweaks at Dragon Age: Origins, the author lists other Awakening fixes in the description. Thank you and I wish you the same, have fun, if you wanted to share your impressions on the game or ask a DA:O veteran about the lore, you can also write on PM.