Ben30NYC Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 (edited) What's up guys. Quick intro. Bored with console RPG's I've recently turned to PC platform playing DragonAge & Oblivion games.Oblivion Mod Manager is very neat. So, now I want to try my own race creation compatible with ALL Male Bodies & HGEC.I've downloaded other people's races to see how this work and have read a few useful tutoreals from several good sources here... http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Creating_a_new_racehttp://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Developing_successful_modshttp://www.tesnexus.com/articles/article.php?id=82 I'm good with 3D poly modeling in Maya and just about everything else in Photoshop. I have just a few beginner's questions to get started on the whole process. I'm NOT asking to tutor me.Just explain to me the steps (i'll learn myself) on how to generate a custom race folder and how to import/exporttextures/models into those. 1. Obviously I start by downloading TES: Construction Set and creating my own race.(Will this step create a folder from which I can extract files to use with photoshop/Maya?)(What utilities do I use to export meshes/textures from Oblivioni into Maya/Photoshop and back?) 2. Import my work into Oblivion and test-run it, if everything works well take a few screenshots and post them on the forums for comments and critique.(This this section, general Mod talk good for this sort of thread where I update others about my ongoing project,ask for help, listen to input?) 3. With above mentioned mods like All Male Bodies, HGEC, Xenious Race Comp, Apachi Godess Store etcwill my custom race automaticaly compatible with those? 4. After it's completed, I guess I'll be posting it on here for everyone to use. Any input small or large would be greatly appreciated. Edited January 15, 2011 by Ben30NYC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamcakes Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 1. There is a plug-in for Photoshop by nvidia, that allows you to open, view, edit, and save as .dds format. That is the format of textures used in this game. You may read about the plug-in, and download it here. c:http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html 2. There is no set place to put your files. As long as your files/folders are located somewhere within Oblivion/Data/Textures, you're good to go. When you create a race, replace the default paths leading to textures to the paths leading to your own, wherever they may be. If you want to test it in game, the easiest way to do that is to name your race one letter off of whatever your sewers save is. Or one letter off from Imperial, so when you start the game it doesn't take long to get to it. 3. I'm not sure what you mean by all male bodies. As far as I know, there is only the default male body, and Robert's Male. When you create a texture for your race based on a certain body type, all clothes and armour based on that body type will display your texture properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben30NYC Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Thanks a lot Yamcakes. You're very helpful. I got most of what you're talking about. What I was trying to say in regards to bodytypes is - if I installed custom nudemod like HGEC (which comes with re-designed mesh & texture) and then createa custom race in TES to be later used with Photoshop/Maya, will all my work becompatible with those installed mods, correct? Another question I had was about faces. Say I want to slightly remodel a normal imperial face to add some new elementslike wing-shaped ears, etc and apply new texture to paint those wings... 1. How would I go about extracting a head mesh into Maya, I assume I'll need the wholefacial muscle structure not to mess it up later. 2. Next, for my newly created mesh I would need a grid-map or whatever you call it in a2D format so I would know where to apply painting. I know I'm asking a lot for a beginner, I'll try not to spam with too many questions.Thanks again for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamcakes Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Anybody using HGEC or one of it's variants will be able to display your mods properly. Currently, only one body replacer may be installed per game, so your mod will be limited to the people that use the same body replacer. Often, authors make textures for each of the body types (UFF, Robert's Female, etc) in order to provide for more people. As for faces, head meshes are separate from ear meshes in this game, so it will be easy to modify ears to your liking.A really important tool you'll need is Nifskope. It's a program that allows viewing and rudimentary editing of the meshes used by this game. .Nif format. Polygons aren't touched upon in here, but this can be used for re-sizing, and given in-game properties. As for grid maps, they are more commonly referred to as UV maps, in case you'd like to ask around elsewhere. I don't use Maya, as I can't really afford it, so I can't help you out with that exactly. I'd say scour the manuals for an option to create and export UV maps. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben30NYC Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Ah, got it. I took a year of Maya in my school so I should figure out the whole UV mapthing after a few tutorieals. Once again, you're very helpful. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamcakes Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'm glad to have been of some use. Looking forward to what you'll create! c: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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