Tales of an Unfortunate Modder - *I have no idea what I'm doing meme*

[Liara7LF]

Hello everyone,

 

First of all, I would like to say that I am aware that there are many tutorials and threads that most likely relate to what I am about to ask however, I have no idea what my problem actually is (because I'm completely new to modding) so, I don't know what to look for to get the answers I need.

 

What I am trying to do:

 

Create a new book for Skyrim that uses the mesh from DanielCoffey and doccdr's Book Covers Skyrim and an edited version of one of the cover textures from the same mod.

 

What I did:

 

- First of all I downloaded the modders resources for book covers and meshes provided by DanielCoffey.

- I then extracted the zip folders to a folder on my desktop that contains files for the mod I am working on.

- I opened one of the psd files in paint.net and edited it.

- Saved the file as a dds (dxt1 though I'm not sure what other options need to be checked) in my mod work folder.

- Open nifskope and load the standard book mesh (from DanielCoffey)

- Open 34 BSSTextureSet,click the drop down menu at the bottom and change textures\clutter\books\BBM_BookTemplate.dds to the location of my edited .dds file

- Change the file name and save the .nif in my mod work folder

- Copy and paste the .nif to skyrim folder\data\meshes\clutter\books

- Open CK, find an existing book, change world art to my .nif and get the following.

 

The Errors;

 

Texture Set missing texture - my texture (location of dds in working mod folder)

 

Texture Set missing texture - textures\clutter\books\BBM_BookTemplate_n.dds (This is the file default in Nifskope.. I know this should be the normal map but I don't know what this is or how to edit it or anything)

 

BASE - (location of my .nif in skyrim data folder): Cover is missing a diffuse map. (A what?)

 

BASE - (location of my .nif in skyrim data folder): Cover is missing a normal map. (Why?)

 

The Result:

 

A book in the CK with a purple cover (I know this is the colour of missing textures) however, the paper textures work work fine.

 

Conclusion

 

Other than being completely useless at modding and completely confused by it, I think my problem lies with the file location of where I'm saving stuff. I've tried moving a few things about but I have still not succeeded.

 

Assistance would be greatly appreciated, even if I am being intolerably dense.

 

[Liara7LF]

Success! I've managed to get the CK to use my texture and render it correctly in game! (not sure why it works now and not before though).

 

I'm still using the default normal (height map?) so that is just about visible in game and I'm not sure how to edit that in paint.net

 

Also does anyone know how to select what I've created for the inventory art so it matches what is visible in game?

 

Thanks for any help.