custom mod not pickupable

[Squale300]

im not sure if this is the right place for this question but i just hope someone can help

i created a 3d modle in google sketchup i exported it as a .3ds file and was able to put it in nifscope to make it a .nif

i was then able to create the mod in the construction set and put it in the game i now have a untextured weapon in the game that cannot be picked up.

 

also before anyone criticizes me this is my first ever atempt at a mod so yes i am a noob at this but you gotta start somewere.

[kastano]

well ,i use blender for making weapons,so i m not experienced enough to answer your question

but ,does your nif file has colission?if its a weapon the collision must be yellow-orange

and second does it have NiStringExtraData (Side weapon)etc?

[Squale300]

i am not sure how to make the colission and i do not have a NiStringExtraData file nor do i know how to make one

[DrakeTheDragon]

Hmm, it's been quite a while since I last played around with it, but I remember for beginner modelers you do not use the exported NIF from your modeling app itself already,

but instead you "copy-branch"/"paste-branch" the "NiTriStrips/Shapes" branches from your exported NIF into a copy of an existing weapon NIF best fitting your new weapon in shape and function

and "remove-branch" its original weapon and scabbard "NiTriStrips/Shapes" branches. This way you keep all the relevant extra nodes making it a functional weapon and quite fitting collision geometries as well.

 

I'm not saying it can't be done creating a new weapon NIF entirely from scratch inside a modeling app, but especially getting collision geometries created which will still work after export into NIF isn't exactly a simple task.

That's why unless it's really unavoidable most people usually stick to using existing collision geometries from existing weapon NIFs.

[Squale300]

would this replace that weapon or just use that weapons files sorry if im not understanding you right but im not sure what the branches are if you could give me a step by step process that would be fantastic if not atleast thank you for your input

Edited November 1, 2014 by Squale300

[TheMastersSon]

You take an existing item (in your case a weapon), give it a new name and the CS saves it as a new item. The original item remains unmodified.

 

For tutorial purposes I recommend starting backwards, i.e. with simple texture replacements in vanilla NIFs. Look closely at them, once you find and understand the file pathing, it's easy to point to your own textures and the game will map your textures onto the item's existing meshes. It's a foolproof (and for beginners, pretty much only) way to maintain working collision and other necessary details in NIF files. How well it works will depend on how close of a match you can find in the vanilla items to your custom items.

[DrakeTheDragon]

The approach I described is creating a copy of an existing weapon NIF and altering only some of its contents while keeping others, in order to create a new weapon NIF.

What I described only was post-export tasks performed inside NifSkope, taking the weapon models you exported from your modeling app and putting them inside a copy of an already functioning complete weapon NIF.

 

Let's take the Silver Longsword for example:

 

1. Create a copy of the file "meshes/weapons/Silver/Longsword.nif" and store it as, for example, "meshes/weapons/MyCoolWeapon/MySword.nif".

2. Now you have a functioning weapon of your own with the exact same looks and geometrical properties, collision, physics, etc. as the Silver Longsword.

3. Open the file "meshes/weapons/MyCoolWeapon/MySword.nif" with NifSkope.

4. In the left-hand panel you'll see an extendable tree of the NIF structure, like so:

 

0 NiNode : LongSword

- 1 BSX Flags : BSX (leave as is for now)

- 2 NiStringExtraData : SideWeapon (makes it a weapon worn where side weapons are worn in your skeleton)

- 3 NiStringExtraData : ... (a bunch of physics parameters and stuff, leave as is for now)

- 8 bhkCollisionObject : (the important thing you're going to re-use here, leave as is)

- 9 NiTriShape : LongSword:0 (the actual geometry of the sword, this we're going to swap with your new one)

- 15 NiNode : Scb (the scabbard branch)

- - 16 NiStringExtraData : ... (another bunch of physics parameters and stuff, same as above but for the scabbard, leave as is for now)

- - 17 NiTriShape : Scb:0 (the actual geometry of the scabbard)

 

The bhkCollisionObject is linked to the parent branch "LongSword" only, thus whatever happens to the things inside of there can't mess it up.

 

5. Right-click the NiTriShape "LongSword:0", the actual geometry of the sword we're going to replace, and select "Block > Remove Branch". This will delete the original sword's geometry from the NIF.

6. Open your own NIF exported from your modeling app in a "2nd" instance of NifSkope and search the respective NiTriShape or NiTriStrips branch for your weapon.

(I can't know its exact name, as you're the one who named it inside your modeling app, nor can I know anything about the structure of this NIF, other than it's likely similar to the one I posted above but lacking some parts.)

7. Provided it's already 'ready for use' and won't need any further post-export sanitizing or clean-up tasks first, right-click the branch and select "Block > Copy Branch".

8. Switch back to the 1st instance of NifSkope, right-click the top NiNode 0 "LongSword" and select "Block > Paste Branch". Congratulations, you just transferred an entire geometry from one NIF file into another.

 

Now you replaced the geometry of the Silver Longsword with the geometry of your own new weapon, and the NIF file still contains all parts vital for a side weapon with proper mount point, collision data closely fitting your new weapon, and everything else required.

 

If the scabbard's in the way, you can of course remove it the same way you removed the old weapon's geometry. I think even the "Scb" NiNode branch itself can be removed, if the weapon has no scabbard at all. But it won't hurt only removing the "Scb:0" NiTriShape instead either. And in case your own weapon also has a scabbard of its own, remove the old scabbard and "Copy Branch" -> "Paste Branch" over your own just like above, only this time right-click the "Scb" NiNode branch for pasting, as you want the scabbard geometry to go "inside" of it, not outside into NiNode 0 "LongSword".

 

The NIF file created that way should be fully usable already. You just need to put it into the game as a new weapon in a mod plugin of yours. TheMastersSon explained an approach for that task quite appropriately already. But going by your OP you're already aware of how to get a NIF of your own into the game anyways.

 

I hope this makes sense and helps in understanding how it's rather easily done in most cases.

If anything, you'll at least see what exactly it is a proper functioning weapon NIF needs, and what it is that's lacking when you export your weapon into a NIF yourself.

For some reason the bhkCollisionObject cannot be copied over from one NIF file into another, and due to the many other important parts of a weapon NIF we're instead copying over the weapon geometry of your new one only.

[Squale300]

thank you for the above info it was very helpful i got the weapon in game i can now pick it up but when i try to use it the model dosent apear in my hand other than that im not having any other problems

 

 

 

 

also as a side question will this methed also work for armor or is that a whole nother thing

Edited November 2, 2014 by Squale300

[DrakeTheDragon]

Hmm, it shouldn't do that, if the NIF tree structure's still similar to the above. Does your weapon still display when not unsheathed, or not at all? Is it a 'render' problem, as in the model isn't displayed, or is it rather a 'mount' problem, as in the weapon remains in the sheath/sheathed position and just won't move along with your hands when drawn?

 

I'm not exactly an expert, but I did play around with several weapon models like this, combined the sheaths and sheathed weapons so no matter what weapon I equipped or drew all my favorite weapons but the drawn were displayed sheathed at once, and I didn't yet manage to mess the structure up to the point of weapons disappearing.

 

 

Well, technically it will work for armor just as well, removing the old model from an existing NIF and copying the new one into its place. But in the case of the NIF that's used by the game to display the armor while worn on your body it makes no sense to do that. There's almost no other stuff to be kept inside those NIFs. If you remove the armor model to replace it with your own, almost nothing else, if at all, will remain.

 

Of course, if you mean removing only parts of an armor and/or adding others into it, then yes, this method works just as well for these so-called armor "mash-ups", and in fact is the usual way to do them, unless there's modeling work needed to make things fitting and not clip, of course.

[Striker879]

Do you have the textures and normal maps properly installed and your new NIF points to the correct location?