Meshes Crashing my Game

[dazzerfong]

Hello everyone. I am new to using NifSkope, although I already picked up a few basics. However, when I tried to (for my use only) 'cannibalize' a scope from one gun and place it onto another gun in Nifskope, the game crashes whenever I load up the game. Please advise

[mechine]

LOLZ for days

 

 

 

yeah that never happens...

 

 

 

 

Okay so I take you you block/copied branch then went to the other window

 

an block/paste branch

 

 

 

 

Idk, uh..

 

 

 

Okay so if you copy paste in a new branch then nifscope flakes out an names it something stupid.

 

Something not animated like a scope or main weapon part, pretty much you can have it highlighted

 

which it auto highlights it in the block list when you paste something in, so it's a good time to do this when

 

you just paste it in, anyhow, once it's highlighted that way in the block list, or you just clicked it in the render

 

window which also will highlight it, all you need is to have block details checked in the view tab

 

the details come up with it highlighted which the top entry in the block list is the 3D shapes name

 

Main parts get funny names, but you can pretty much use this method for all multi entries of a name

 

it's a scope right, So what I would do is take the main weapon part Let's just say it's called sniperrifle:0

 

When I add the scope in I would name the scope sniperrifle:1, or if it had more than one part

 

sniperrifle:1, sniperrifle:2, sniperrifle:3 get it yet, works for all

 

 

pretty much you click the main weapon part in the window which will highlight it an also open up that branch

 

to show the main 3D shape rather than just the whole sub branch, then you know the name

 

 

 

To actually change names you right click that top entry of the block details at the bottom of the screen

 

then edit text string, which brings up the name interface, while creating new names is messy, it's better to

 

just use the names already in that interface which you can scroll down an select one, then change the :0 to :1 or :2 , :3, ect

 

Then compare to a known good vanilla mesh to find names or if you fixing someone else's mess up (messy mesh)

 

The numbered order is somewhat important, but not like crash causing important.

 

But there have been times I've had to move things up and down in the block list which is just the load order sort of

 

If you learn to copy paste clean than the numbers don't really become a issue, but sometimes you run into them changing

 

from a vanilla order.

 

 

 

 

What we mostly do is take vanilla meshes, the different types an animations, then cut an paste different weapon 3D shapes in

 

because mostly the animation is locked (hard coded) into the mesh.

 

 

 

 

Also there are times when you need to click all the shapes inside the render window an go to mesh, triangulate, stripifiy, triangulate, stripify

 

repeating the process will fix holes in the mesh if there are any, an also will fix one that's crashing sometimes, but remember to always

 

end with stripifiy, Then also it's a good idea to update all tangent spaces, right clicking on each shape in the render window

 

an finding whereever that update all tangent spaces spell is.

 

 

 

 

You didn't really specifiy if you were working on a Scope01.nif or a Weapon.nif

 

One of them is the screen overlay that makes it look like you are looking thru a scope,

 

while the other would be taking a weapon without a scope an pasting the actual 3D shape

 

of a scope on the weapon.

 

 

 

The names thing applies to both jobs, but the scope01.nif one is more difficult so you would have to open up

 

the vanilla scope01.nif an look at the names in there, to fix the ones in your version.

 

 

 

when you create the weapon in GECk it has the entry for "has scope" which you check an then point to your scope01.nif

 

but bare in mind that there are probably 20 different scopes outthere named scope01.nif, so maybe change the name

 

anyhow point GECK to look at the Scope01.nif, then compare the settings inside a vanilla sniper rifle for setting up the

 

field of view an scope setting, but you may want to edit it later after you get a working version, in order to fine tune it

 

if it zooms in a lot of just halfway, and to tell the truth I don't even know what the other number does.

 

 

20th century weapons an STALKER have a few cool meshes that have scopes, or scopes with more than one part

 

there's even one with seperate lens meshes for the scopes lens, which you could later retexture to suit your needs

 

like polarized sunglasses kind of, anyhow it looks cool, plus those mods have a lot of scope mounts in them.

 

 

You should download fullautopistolsV2test.esp I made a version of HerionZero's USP pistol which was super clean

 

an put a freaking huge scope on it, lolz, an then didn't even set a scope01.nif just made the field of view zoom way in

 

so it's like a sniper pistol that you don't have to bother looking thru the scope, great fun that one is.

 

 

 

Anywooo do something really cool so we can download it, :D

[dazzerfong]

Whoa, that's a heck load a good stuff there. Thanks! P.S it's a gun.

 

But, there's a strange twist. It doesn't always crash whenever I pull out my gun: it only crashes sometimes. Do you think it's because of a corrupt save? (I tried to make a new .esp for the gun, but to no avail).

 

Thanks for your time and patience

[mechine]

Well yeah I spend a lot of time making weapons, it's kind of my specialty, full auto pistols

 

 

But then also making funny faces at GSmanners is kind of my specialty :P :/ :-\ :O

 

 

 

 

Crash in geck with a mesh is probably just the mesh needs spells an other stuff applied like I wrote above.

 

 

 

Crash in game with a mesh, means the engine is probably freaking out due to either the names in the mesh block list

 

 

or that the mesh is missing parts from its vanilla counterpart (hard coded animations)

 

 

 

As a example, one time I found a really clean an great pistol, but the fire rate was messed up an really really slow

 

 

So not a big deal right, well I ended up turning the fire rate up to like 90 shots per second without it getting any better than

 

1 shots per second, it seemed locked at this crappy fire rate.

 

 

 

 

And also it would cause crashes

 

 

 

Then bam it kind of hit me while looking inside it doing those sillys spells

 

 

 

This pistol is missing a hammer.

 

 

 

 

So what I ended up doing is copy the branch on just the 3D shapes

 

 

 

easy to do by clicking shapes in the 3D window (which will highlight just the 3D shape part of the branch)

 

 

the part that gets highlighted is something like niftri shapes techno babble I forget

 

 

 

anyway that's the part I copy branch, with is usually the 3D shape an texture set only

 

 

 

then go to a known good vanilla mesh you just extracted , the 10mm pistol in this case for it's animation

 

 

 

When I first started doing these transplants, first thing I would do is click the shapes in the vanilla mesh

 

and move them up or to the side left or right in order to break apart the weapon (kind of like Dr. Manhatan does in watchmen)

 

 

then I can see each of the parts, say I just copied the slide, then I click the slide in the vanilla mesh

 

 

it highlights the main 3D shape, which I delete that part of the branch, then go up to the sub branch for slide

 

and paste in the branch from the broken pistol there. When you paste in though, nifscope gives it a funny name

 

so it's a good time since it also auto highlighted what you pasted in, to have block details checked in view

 

then at the bottom of the screen the top entry will be the name, which you right click an "edit text string"

 

 

this brings up the interface for names, there are some that are already entered inside the mesh, so I usually use these

 

If the main 3D shape for the slide had 3 different parts or 2 parts that I wanted to attach to the slide an have them animated

 

 

then I just name them Slide:0, Slide:1, Slide:2 and all pasted in that sub-branch, it's tricky doing more than one

 

 

 

it's more easy to discribe pasting in the main part of the weapon which isn't animated, called something like 10mmpistol:0

 

the sub branch is called 10mmpistol then the actual shapes kind of get the same name only it's :0 or :1 :23 depending on how

 

many different parts there are, also it's kind of safe to just paste in a main shape on the main branch of the tree

 

you know the one at the top of the block list, something that gets pasted there usually justs gets it's own sub branch added

 

an it pastes in at the bottom of the list, so you kind of remove/delete the whole sub-branch an 3D-shape for that one

 

also though you could just replace the main 3D shape for it like discribed above.

 

 

 

 

This does a few things

 

 

1. all the parts are displayed an inside the mesh rather than the other mesh where stuff is missing an who knows what else

 

 

2. you get the correct animation for the weapon type you are making, which should match the type you base it off in GECK

you know if it's a pistol double click the pistol in GECK an rename it to create a new form then point it to the model to check if it's going to crash

also set the 1st person model to none an save time cutting your work in half

 

 

3. The animated parts have the right load order an names

 

 

4. also rules out the mesh or something in the mesh as the cause, but you still have all it's main shapes which is all that really matters

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so now I have these extra vanilla parts I don't want

 

 

Like the hammer, not a big deal, but don't delete them

 

 

instead what I do is scale them down so that they are kind of small

 

then move them inside the mesh so that we can't see them

 

Also checking that the animated ones like hammer don't move outside the mesh

 

durring it's animation, so that we will never see it.

 

 

 

If it's a trigger then I either hide it, or make it a bit smaller than the trigger on the gun that's part of it's shape an doesn't move

 

so they kind of overlap a bit or one is hidden inside the other, if the broken mesh has a working trigger then I'll use it's main 3D shape

 

with the vanilla sub branch, or not use the broken meshes trigger at all, changing the vanilla trigger to match the weapon instead

 

 

After a bit of screw ups an practice it doesn't take long to do it well

 

 

 

 

They also kind of transport weapons from other games into our game via 3ds max an then paste the shape into nif scope

 

which is kind of the convert to nif, never done it though, but I have converted bad meshes into good ones

 

 

Then also there's always opening a known good vanilla mesh an comparing it to the broken one to see what the noob did to it.