Modding Questions

[Logik729]

Good evening first and foremost i want to apologize if i opened this thread in the wrong forum i looked around and wasn't exactly sure where to do so which is why i opened this thread here.I am still learning my way around here.

 

Now that that's out the way the reason for this thread is for me to get some insight and assistance from the talented individuals here in this forum regarding a mini mod i am working on.

 

What i am currently working on is creating an Anubis race using a Khajit as a base model.This is my very first attempt at modding oblivion and my plans is to use this tiny mod as a small stepping stone to bigger and

grander things in the future.But alas one must begin somewhere and modding oblivion and creating mods for it is a whole different animal compared to creating a mod for Totalwarseries games i am used too.

 

So my thought process is to start small and gradually work and improve my way up the ladder maybe upload a few files let my fellow members here critique it gain knowledge from that and apply it to any future endeavors i undertake and build my skills up to the level where i can create huge mods with multiple game changing features etc.

 

I have browsed the forums and the web for all kinds of tutorials and downloaded some to help me along and been reading quite a few but most are very confusing and not very detailed.So i am hoping that maybe some kind soul here in the forums would walk me through a few things that i can't comprehend at this moment in time.And maybe answer any further questions i will have in the future.

 

Before i go any further i will post all the utilities that i am currently using and have installed on my PC.

Please if you have any other that you can suggest to me feel free to do so.

 

1) Gimp 2.6.11

2) Blender 2.56a

3)NifSkope 1.0.22

4)Tes4_contruction set 1.2.404

5)BSA Commander to unpack BSA files

 

The biggest questions i have are as follows :

 

1) I created my anubis character got his stats all the basics etc but now i don't have a clue how to edit his skin color i know that you have to edit the textures using gimp but i for the life of me cannot get the files to pull up

through gimp at all.I read the read me for the gimp tool but is really not that helpful.basically i am trying to make my character darker as most khajits are a light brown or brown color.Also the Anubis ears are very long and pointed while the Khajits are not so i have to edit and modify this as well.So how to i edit texture files and how do i locate the individual ones?

 

I want my character

to look kinda off like this this is just an example:http://healigan1011.wikispaces.com/Egyptian+Mythology+3. And scroll down a bit.This not my picture is one i seen on the web.

 

2)Khajits for the most part have a short snout while the Anubis is based more on a jackal which has a longer snout.I tried with TEScontruction to edit this but it doesn't go as far as i would like.My question is what utilities do i

use to edit this and what files are need and how do i find them?

 

I have more questions but i'll start with those two in particular as if i can figure those two out i will be well on my way to finishing up my mini mod.I will greatly appreciate any individual that decides to take time from there

free time to help a fellow perspective modder out.

 

I would like as i said to learn and grow my skills to the point that i can be a real contributer not just another member to the community here and by me taking this fist step and with a little help i am sure that i can reach that

goal.I am a pretty fast learner and just need the right guidance.

 

Thank you in advance and if there is anything in this post that you need clarified please let me know and i will be more than happy to do so.

 

Regards Logik..... :smile:

Edited April 10, 2011 by Logik729

[fg109]

In the construction set, pull down the Character menu and select Race. In the race window, there are six tabs.

 

General Data:

The race's stats, skills, spells, and voice.

 

Body Data:

Their height, weight, file paths for their texture files, available eyes and hairs.

 

Face Data:

File paths for meshes and textures of different parts of the head/face.

 

FaceGen Data:

The default face for someone using the character generator in the game.

 

Text Data:

The race's description shown in the character generator in the game.

 

Reactions:

Disposition modifiers between different races.

 

 

So to locate the texture files, go to the Body Data and Face Data tabs, and use BSA commander to extract the .dds files from Oblivion - Textures - Compressed.bsa (I'm not sure how to use this since I just use the BSA viewer that comes with OBMM). Then you can open up GIMP to edit the files (provided you have a plugin enabling it). After you save it, remember to change the file paths on your custom race to link to your custom textures.

 

I don't think there's really a way to edit the body (except through using body replacers) but you can edit the head mesh. You can find the location for the head mesh by looking at the Face Data tab. I really have no experience with messing with meshes, so you maybe you can take a look at this and figure out how it's done: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=20166

[Logik729]

Hello and thank you for the quick response.

A few questions in regards to your post above do i have to run BSA commander separately from TES because i can't access BSA from within TES itself and how would i go about extracting the texture files i need and to what location do they go too? BSA viewer wasn't much help for me as i have Obmm as well.

 

Also you mentioned creating a plugin for gimp how do i go about doing this exactly?

 

You also mentioned changing the file paths to link my custom character to my custom textures i didn't quite follow you there.Thank you very much for your help and suggestions i also did as you suggested and downloaded the mod your link provided looks very helpful. :smile: Regards Logik....

Edited April 10, 2011 by Logik729

[Logik729]

Okay through some trial and error i figured out how to use BSA commander and unpacked both the bsa compressed texture files and regular bsa texture files as well as the meshes file.And i got gimp to work properly as well now.So after i finish modifying the files i need how to i incorporate them so that TES can recognize it and how do i apply it to my custom character i created or do i have to start over from scratch using the edited custom meshes and textures?

 

And how do i create a plug in for gimp and also change the path directories to link my custom character to my custom textures?

 

I am sort of getting the hang of things but i still need all the help i can get.I greatly appreciate anyone who can answer my questions.Thank you Regards Logik....

[wetblanket]

Character textures are found at Oblivion\Data\Textures\Characters (if you don't have any body/texture mods installed you may have to create this folder structure). Create a folder for your race there and copy in the textures. fg109 has already told you where to link your new textures to your new character race. Edited April 10, 2011 by wetblanket

[Genzel]

If you are going to be editing the Khajit head with blender, for now you will need a version before 2.5

2.49 is currently the most recently supported for nifscripts: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12248

[fg109]

Also you mentioned creating a plugin for gimp how do i go about doing this exactly?

 

You also mentioned changing the file paths to link my custom character to my custom textures i didn't quite follow you there.Thank you very much for your help and suggestions i also did as you suggested and downloaded the mod your link provided looks very helpful. :smile: Regards Logik....

 

GIMP does not originally support .dds files, so in order to actually open one, you need to have a plugin that allows you to open and save .dds files. I'm sure you can find one through Google.

 

And I'm not sure how I can explain more clearly about the file paths... The file paths for each race's textures can be found in the Body Data and Face Data tabs. So once you finish editing your custom textures, you obviously want to make your custom race use those textures, right? So you go back to the Body Data and Face Data tabs, and change the file paths to where you put your custom textures.

 

I guess I forgot to mention that the files paths you see there are not the full file paths. I don't think Oblivion allows for textures to be outside of the Oblivion\Data\Textures folder or meshes to be outside of the Oblivion\Data\Meshes folder. At least the construction set doesn't. So these parts of the file paths are omitted, and when you try to change the file path, your custom files must be in these folders, or a sub-folder of these folders.

[Logik729]

Also you mentioned creating a plugin for gimp how do i go about doing this exactly?

 

You also mentioned changing the file paths to link my custom character to my custom textures i didn't quite follow you there.Thank you very much for your help and suggestions i also did as you suggested and downloaded the mod your link provided looks very helpful. :smile: Regards Logik....

 

GIMP does not originally support .dds files, so in order to actually open one, you need to have a plugin that allows you to open and save .dds files. I'm sure you can find one through Google.

 

And I'm not sure how I can explain more clearly about the file paths... The file paths for each race's textures can be found in the Body Data and Face Data tabs. So once you finish editing your custom textures, you obviously want to make your custom race use those textures, right? So you go back to the Body Data and Face Data tabs, and change the file paths to where you put your custom textures.

 

I guess I forgot to mention that the files paths you see there are not the full file paths. I don't think Oblivion allows for textures to be outside of the Oblivion\Data\Textures folder or meshes to be outside of the Oblivion\Data\Meshes folder. At least the construction set doesn't. So these parts of the file paths are omitted, and when you try to change the file path, your custom files must be in these folders, or a sub-folder of these folders.

 

 

Thank you Fg109 ,wetblanket and to Genzel as well for your responses.Hope everyone is having a great day. I made a mistake somewhere and ruined my game so i had reinstall my game from scratch.But hey you live

and you learn luckly i have all the major mods and patches saved to back up folders.

 

 

@ Fg109 so i got to get the plug in somewhere else i understand i'll look for one i am sure is not very hard to find.Thanks for the info on that.Regarding the file paths i see what your saying (Face Palm) duh i that should,ve

been obvious to me right ! my bad i must've been sleepy last night.But i understand.Thank you very much for all your help so far.

 

@Wetblanket yeah i figured that out thank you though :thumbsup:

 

@Genzel i appriciate the heads up regarding using an older version of blender I'll download it now.I thought i was squared away using the newest version.

 

 

I am off for now to apply what i just learned to my works and to get my wife something to eat before she kills me :laugh: and if i have any further questions which i am sure i will i'll post them here. Again thank you to those that have decided to take time from there freetime to help this newbie out.You gentlemen have a great day. Regards Logik.... :)