help with GECK and additional modding programs

[chrisinnyshotgun]

Ok, thanks to PyroJesus, I've gotten used to some elements of the GECK. After looking over the GECK wiki, I noticed that there are several programs required to make new items - something that I am not yet ready to tackle.

 

What I'd like to do is take an ingame item - for example, Maria the unique 9mm Pistol - and recolor it so it looks new but yet does not need to be reshaped. For example:

 

-change the handgrips to be, say black, and remove the little artwork on them

 

-make the bottom part of the gun black, so that it is two-tone

 

Or using a vanilla 9mm pistol:

 

-recolor the trigger to gold

 

-add a small gold plaque to the handgrips

 

Do I really need all of the programs listed in the GECK wiki for simple cosmetic changes like the above? If NOT, what programs do I need for what I wish to do?

 

Please forgive me if I'm using the wrong terms - I'm still quite the newbie with the GECK, modding and terms.

Edited February 17, 2011 by chrisinnyshotgun

[davidlallen]

What you are doing is called "retexturing", the only programs you need are geck, nifskope, and a photo editing program like photoshop. There are plenty of tutorials you can find at fallout3nexus in the mod talk forum. The same ideas apply to FNV.

[TheSaintJamez]

If need be i do have a tutorial page on youtube (Listed in my signature) that shows you how to retexture. Hopefully it helps

[WastelandAssassin]

as Davidlallen said, you only need the GECK, NifSkope and a photo editing program

however, the only program that you must use is a photo editing program

NifSkope and the GECK might not be necessary, depending on the mod that you'll make (i'll explain below)

 

for this to work, you need to extract the model and texture that you want to use (you said Maria, so go with it), from the BSA archives (you can find the model in the meshes BSA, and the texture in one of the texture BSA)

you can open the BSA archive with FOMM, if you have it installed

just make sure to only extract the specific items you need, not the whole BSA, to save time, space, and prevent problems

 

then you need to make the retexture

now, here is where you decide what you are trying to do

you can either just make a retexture, or you might want to make a new weapon

if it's a retexture that you want to do, then simply save the texture you made with it's own name (unchanged), and keep it in the folder where it is, and it should overwrite the texture from the BSA, so you will now see your retexture in game

 

if, however, you want to make a new weapon (like retexture the normal 9mm pistol, and make a new unique weapon), you'll need to do things a bit differently (and this is where you'll need both NifSkope and the GECK)

in this case, save the texture, but give it a new name

then you'll need to open up the model in NifSkope, change the textures to your new one, and save as a new model

and then you'll have to create the weapon in the GECK

 

i hope this will set you on the right track

good luck :thumbsup:

[chrisinnyshotgun]

Thanks guys - this is exactly what I needed to know.

 

And I'll check out your tutorial theSaintJamez - something tells me I might need it :P

 

Thanks again guys.

[Moraelin]

You don't even need NifSkope at all, actually. You can do retextures, even as new items, purely in the GECK. Everywhere where you can set a .nif, you can also assign new textures to the mesh parts in the .nif. You have a table with the list of parts and the textures. You do have to declare the texture records in the GECK first, then you just have them in a list when editing that table.

 

The advantage is that basically you don't have to distribute the .nif too.