ASUP - Armor Slot Universalization Project

[Kiramin]

There appears to be a standard for which extra armor slots do what, according to these two sites:

 

http://www.creationkit.com/Biped_Object

http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Skyrim_bodyparts_number

 

There are lots of great mods out there, but many seem inconsistent when it comes to which armor slots they use. I am suggesting a concerted effort to bring these mods into that standard:

 

ASUP - The Armor Slot Universalization Project

 

Now, I'm not saying the authors should do the work. Others can contribute, if you let us. If anyone else knows of popular mods that use slots in a non-standard way, please post them here.

 

Peace.

[Kiramin]

Here is my list so far:

 

UNP Hmm What to Wear - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/22168/

Bandoliers, Bags, and Pouches - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/16438/?

Wearable Lanterns - http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/17416/?

 

I'm going to start by taking a look at these three and seeing if I can get them to play nice with each-other.

 

Please, don't interpret this as criticism for these mods and their creators. Modding is a messy and hard business and very time consuming. Its very nature makes it rife with conflicts. I have the utmost respect for these mods and their authors. So thank you to Chesko, Dragten, and Nightasy for these mods, and to everyone who puts up with with the fan base and toils to make good content!

[Kiramin]

Here is the standard slot list (with some thoughts and clarifications/interpretations of how they might be applied).

 

Standard Slot List

 

 

Head/Face
suggestion: these should be generally strictly adhered to. If it doesn't go on the head, it probably shouldn't go here.
44 - face/mouth
examples: glasses, veils, masks
55 - face alternate or jewelry
examples: earrings, horns, ears

Upper Body
45 - neck
examples: cape, scarf, shawl, neck-tie, choker, etc.
46 - chest primary or outergarment
examples: tabbards, bandoleer, sashes.
47 - back
examples: backpack, wings
suggestion: avoid putting anything here that should not prevent wearing a backpack, since many mods use backpacks for functionality.
56 - chest secondary or undergarment
examples: undershirt, bra, concealed holsters, and (suggested) belts
suggestion: also use for belts, waist, etc. (i.e. lower chest)
57 - shoulder
examples: pauldrons, left-only shoulder accessories (left-pauldrn)
(can anyone else think of things that go in shoulders?)
58 - arm secondary or undergarment or left arm
examples: stocking gloves, left-only arm/back/side accessories (left arm-band, left-shoulder holster, left bracelet).
59 - arm primary or outergarment or right arm
examples: bracelets, right-only shoulder accessories (right pauldron), right-only arm/back/side accessories (right arm-band, right-shoulder holster, right bracelet).

Lower Body
49 - pelvis primary or outergarment
examples: skirts, and (suggested) lower armor
suggestion: for mods that break armor up into upper and lower sections, this would probably be best for the lower section.
52 - pelvis secondary or undergarment
examples: underwear, genitals
suggestion: avoid for any other purpose. even if we aren't fans of adult mods, we should allow at least one slot that can be used without conflicting with other mods (for example in SOS, if you equip one of the pouches from bandoleers, it makes a hole in the male mesh when the underwear vanishes).
53 - leg primary or outergarment or right leg
examples: bulky leg armor, cuisse (thigh-guards), any right-leg only accessory (i.e. right only garter, cuisee, etc.)
54 - leg secondary or undergarment or left leg
examples: stockings, garters, any left-leg only accessory (i.e. left cuisse, garter, etc.)

No Slot
Suggestion: Many items are given slots when they don't need one!

When does something need a slot? If it:

a) is enchantable or provides in-game benefit (and hence equipping multiple copies/verisons would be game breaking)
b) has any significant size and will cause clipping with other items in that area of the body
If it doesn't fit into one of those two categories, we probably shouldn't slot it. Most earrings and other piercings, and many head accessories like horns and fake ears should probably not use a slot. Will you look like a moron if you equip horns that overlap, and two sets of ears? Yes. Then again, you might look really cool (equip like 3 different sets of horns that go on different parts of the head, and bunny ears, and elf ears; that might work for you).

Miscellaneous
Suggestion: Use for things that should be limited (i.e. enchantable objects or ones that provide some benefit), but do not generally cause any clipping with other items on the body. I would suggest each slot be given its own kind of theme, based on bonus/effect.
48 - misc/FX
suggestion: mundane items; things that provide a benefit that is explained in a non-magical way, or things that provide benefits that are relatively minor, but should still be restricted.
60 - misc/FX
suggestion: extraordinary items; things that are strange, mystical, and powerful (such as powerful off-hand rings?) items that grant magical auras, powers, etc.
But despite those suggestions, these two slots are the category modders should feel free to play fast and loose with.

Unsure
Lets talk about quivers and scabbards for a second. Does anyone know, are these tied to the weapon models? So the quiver slot is the arrow slot? And the scabbard slots are just the weapons?

 

 

Please feel free to post comments about the above.

 

 

 

About Me

 

My title may say newbie, but I've been around. I've had Skyrim since it came out, am a computer programmer, and have been modding various games for over a decade. I just tend to stand back and watch the forums in most games. But I really like the Skyrim modding community. I find it to be a very vibrant, exciting, and ingenious place. That is why I want to get more involved. The potential for the future of this game is amazing.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to participate.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2014 by Kiramin

[IsharaMeradin]

With the advent of MCM and a little extra work the player can be given the choice of which body slot to use for their various accessories and non-standard (read that as not following stock) armor. All it takes is a NIF file, Armor Addon form & Armor form per body slot offered. Then in the MCM a menu option where the player can pick which slot they want for which items. --- For those that are crafted there would need be additional recipes & tempering forms as well. None of it is too hard just tedious.

 

In my opinion this is a better solution than trying to limit what slot things can go in. There are some mods with a variety of pieces in many different slots that can be equipped simultaneously with minimal clipping. If they were limited to using specific slots then some of the mix-n-match would be lost.

 

My experience (locally) has been that if I wanted freely equipable items that did not remove other items, they had to have no NIF assigned on the Armor Addon forms. But that in turn means no visual when worn. To have a worn visual there needed to be a body slot assigned.

 

As far as your question regarding quivers (arrows & bolts), those come with the ammo weapon. They are not a separate object equipped at the same time, but rather additional mesh nodes (NiTriShapes) placed in the NIF file around the central arrow or bolt (the one used in the animation draw sequence). Scabbards too are part of the weapon NIF. They are again separate NiTriShapes which means that they can be equipped together but animate separately.

[Kiramin]

My experience (locally) has been that if I wanted freely equipable items that did not remove other items, they had to have no NIF assigned on the Armor Addon forms. But that in turn means no visual when worn. To have a worn visual there needed to be a body slot assigned.

Hmm. That's unfortunate. It seems like unintuitive that that would be a constraint.

With the advent of MCM and a little extra work the player can be given the choice of which body slot to use for their various accessories ... In my opinion this is a better solution than trying to limit what slot things can go in.

 

That might indeed be a good method. It would still be nice if mods did display some degree of consistency, but there is alot to be said for letting the player freely mix and match.

 

I had some trouble following your explanation of how to implement that though. I presume that those options would have to be added in the MCM by the mod? Or is this something that the end user sets up. Is there a post somewhere that deals with customizing item slots in the way you describe?

[IsharaMeradin]

No. There are no posts that describe how to set that up. It is something that the mod author would have to do. If the user wanted a different slot, well they can just edit the necessary files and records and be done with it.

 

I haven't used a lot of MCM mods so I have no idea if anyone else has devised anything similar. Only reason I knew to mention it was that I had successfully developed such a method locally. I may do a tutorial about it at a later date but not till after the mod it will be in has been finished and released.

[Guest Excinerus]

Hello, is this dead ! Noooooooo !

 

Anyway, I know the exact procedure, i've done it before and I have compiled a list relative to actual usage of slots making most of the mashup armors compatible.

 

However there's like more than a hundred Nif and records to be changed so i'll need a somewhat confirmation before going through :

 

Spreadsheet. feel free to comment.

 

 

Current mods i'll be editing their nifs as a part of a merge:

 

Travel Attire.esp

Raven Set v1.4.esp

NS_HuntingGroundsOutfit.esp

Northgirl.esp

MashupUNP.esp

FaceMasksOfSkyrim.esp

KKFur.esp

Elven Archer Armor.esp

GDElvenScout.esp

UNP Jewelry Variants V3.esp

TrissArmorRetextured.esp

Bandanas of Skyrim.esp

CraftableCrownHelmets.esp

Blindfolds_of_Skyrim.esp

ExpandedJewelryCrafting.esp

DreamBurrowPatchWorkMaiden.esp

combinationVanillaOutfit.esp

WestWindMisfit.esp

RegnFlowerCrowns.esp

Osare Culort Outfit.esp

Osare KneeSocks 2nd.esp

Osare Muffler.esp

zzArmormashups.esp

Edited September 24, 2014 by Excinerus