NPCs w/ wrong skin color

[Sithrazer]

I tried searching, but wasn't able to find anything on this.

 

Every time I add an african american NPC into the world with the GECK, it's head is black, and it's body white. I've tried creating a new NPC, copying and editing and existing african american NPC, swapping it's race and saving then swapping it back.

 

It's not just a display thing on my end, they show up that way in-game for myself and others.

 

Anyone know what causes this and how to fix it?

[pkleiss]

Mismatched Face/Body:

The mismatched face/body bug can be fixed by one of these two solutions:

 

1) On the NPC data page, select the 'Can be all Races" flag.

 

or

 

2) Turn your mod into an ESM via a tool such as FO3Plugin or FO3Edit.

[Sithrazer]

Thanks for the reply, I'll go give the 'can be all races' a shot. I'd really rather not make this thing an .esm if it can be at all avoided.

[pkleiss]

Often times, that is the only way to remove this bug that only seems to manifest in ESPs. At least AFAIK.

[Sithrazer]

setting to 'can be all races' didn't seem to fix it. Guess I'm going to have to figure out how to make it a master file.

 

If it's set to a master file and it gets fixed, can it be reverted to a standard .esp?

 

/edit

I've got body replacers installed, will that make a difference? (type3 and breezes male)

[pkleiss]

Ya, its actually quite easy, once you know how. I think FO3Pluggin can do it, but I use FO3Edit. All you have to do is change the ESM flag in the header record of your mod. To turn it back into an ESP, you just remove the ESM flag. FO3Edit can do it automatically for you if you are going to do it a lot by making two executable out of the FO3Edit.exe. If you copy that file and rename it to FO3MasterUpdate.exe and copy it again and rename it to FO3MasterRestore.exe then running those programs will turn your mod into an ESM and back into an ESP respectively without you having to edit the header record yourself. It works in conjunction with FOMM, so you'd have to have only your mod selected in FOMM then run either of those to executables. Setting you mod to an esm actually fixes a lot of bugs that are present in ESPs, though the others relate to NPC pathing if you've made your own cells.

 

Oh, and it should have no effect on any body replacers. I use them too and have no ill effects.

[Sithrazer]

Wait...it can fix NPC pathing too?

 

I've been having NPCs in that same mod that weren't using idle markers correctly and were having trouble navigating all the way to spots. Like they'd stop at the 'physical' edge of the marker rather than go to the center and animate, face the proper direction, etc. Like those kinds of pathing issues?

 

It was in a pre-existing cell, but I reworked a large part of the NavMesh to go up and around new static items.

 

Next you're going to tell me it will cure a hangover, male pattern baldness, and erectile dysfunction. XD

 

/edit

Unfortunately, seems the snake oil joke is more accurate than I find comfortable. Making it a master seems to have failed. This is starting to get aggravating.

 

/edit/edit

Upon opening the file in GECK while it is an .esm, it appears the issue is getting fixed when changed to a master file. So FO3MasterRestore must be reverting the fix when it is run to return it to an .esp. >.<

I've got the FO3Edit training manual and I'm going to start going through it, but any other suggestions to make this process work properly would be appreciated, and thank you for all your help thus far.

[pkleiss]

I am not exactly clear on what you are asking this time, so I'll ask a few questions.

 

Are you saying that after ESMifying your mod, the mismatched face / body bug was still there? In order for the fix to work, you have to play the mod as an ESM and not just turn it into an ESM and then back again. Also, you would have to start a new game or load a save from before the NPC in question was ever loaded even once for you to see the change. Save games store the state of actors, so even after ESMifying, your mod, loading a 'dirty save' can still show the old NPC.

 

Once you turn your mod into an ESM, you cannot edit it without creating a new mod as ESMs can't be edited. This is why you use FO3EditMasterRestore.exe - to turn your mod back into an ESP for editing. When I work on my mod, its always an ESP with Navmesh bugs and mismatched face/bodies. Then when I get ready to upload it to the Nexus, I turn it into an ESM. After uploading, I quickly turn it back into an ESP to continue working on it for the next release.

 

The 'infamous' navmesh bug in ESPs has to do with custom navmeshes that loop around themselves. For example, if you have a mod with a single room that you have navmeshed, the bug won't manifest. But, if you add a door at one end that leads to a hallway that loops around the room, the bug will then manifest. The bug manifests after fast travels, waits, and reloads of the game without exiting the game. If you exit the game and then start the game up again and load your save, the bug also won't manifest. What the bug does is cause your NPCs to loose all of their pathing and just stand still. If you have issues that are different than what I described, then you are not getting the 'infamous' navmesh bug, and have to look for other solutions.

[Sithrazer]

I'll start at the bottom an work my way up.

 

Different pathing/NavMesh issue altogether then. I've never witnesses that particular 'infamous' bug and was wholly unaware of it's existence until just now. From the way you had put it, I thought it would straighted out more mundane issues.

 

The mod I am working on I want to release as a standard .esp, not an .esm. The person I'm working with has little/no abilities with the GECK and other tools but will likely want to update and add new armors and weapons to the mod well after my part in the project is long done. For the sake of both of our sanities, I really, really, really do not want to have to release the mod as an .esm

 

No, it appears the bug is corrected when the mod is ESMified. I was under the mistaken impression that the bug would remain fixed even after returning the plugin to an .esp.

 

I think I'm just going to have to make all the NPCs caucasian. :/

[Agnot2006]

I'll start at the bottom an work my way up.

 

Different pathing/NavMesh issue altogether then. I've never witnesses that particular 'infamous' bug and was wholly unaware of it's existence until just now. From the way you had put it, I thought it would straighted out more mundane issues.

 

The mod I am working on I want to release as a standard .esp, not an .esm. The person I'm working with has little/no abilities with the GECK and other tools but will likely want to update and add new armors and weapons to the mod well after my part in the project is long done. For the sake of both of our sanities, I really, really, really do not want to have to release the mod as an .esm

 

No, it appears the bug is corrected when the mod is ESMified. I was under the mistaken impression that the bug would remain fixed even after returning the plugin to an .esp.

 

I think I'm just going to have to make all the NPCs caucasian. :/

 

Your friend can still modify the ESM with an ESP that uses your ESM as a Master