Difference between Mikoto and Anthony Ling packs

[Alceister]

Just wondering if there's any apparent difference between the two.

 

I know that Anthony Ling leads the endorsement vote but Mikoto has a far larger number of downloads (which I suspect may have to do with the additional add-ons more than anything else).

 

Also, this may not be related, but what can be done to improve the general appearance of faces?

[Moraelin]

Well, about faces the best you can do is download some race that uses a different mesh.

 

Failing that , edit your own preset in the GECK instead of the game's editor. FO3 and FONV have the same WYSIWTF editor that Oblivion had too, the biggest WTF being that it's non-orthogonal. Dragging a slider, e.g., for forehead also affects other sliders you wouldn't even expect to be changed, line for the nose and chin. Unlike Oblivion, though, here a bunch of sliders are hidden in the game, like the forehead-nose-chin ratio or the chin width. So for a start, once you start editing a preset you're sorta stuck with the values it had. The bigger problem is that only "sorta", because they're still changed in non-obvious ways when you edit some slider somewhere else. And as you insist to change something else towards how you wish it to be, you end up with a wide square male chin on a woman or a face whose base ratios are awful. And there's no way to fix or even see that, since those sliders are hidden. Well, you could if you knew what to screw up in the other direction, but even figuring out what is a mad science project. In the GECK the editor is just as retarded, but you see all sliders, and you see the numeric values, so if you put something at -5 and then see it at +7.63, you can know why it doesn't look like you wanted.

 

But, as I was saying, it's IS still the same retarded non-orthogonal editor, and you still have to hunt what it changed, and what was changed by fixing that, ad nauseam. Frankly, it was easier to get a handsome male dwarf in DA:O, starting from that crumpled cabbage skin, than it is to get what you wanted in FO3 and FO:NV.

Edited May 21, 2011 by Moraelin

[Alceister]

Well, about faces the best you can do is download some race that uses a different mesh.

 

Failing that , edit your own preset in the GECK instead of the game's editor. FO3 and FONV have the same WYSIWTF editor that Oblivion had too, the biggest WTF being that it's non-orthogonal. Dragging a slider, e.g., for forehead also affects other sliders you wouldn't even expect to be changed, line for the nose and chin. Unlike Oblivion, though, here a bunch of sliders are hidden in the game, like the forehead-nose-chin ratio or the chin width. So for a start, once you start editing a preset you're sorta stuck with the values it had. The bigger problem is that only "sorta", because they're still changed in non-obvious ways when you edit some slider somewhere else. And as you insist to change something else towards how you wish it to be, you end up with a wide square male chin on a woman or a face whose base ratios are awful. And there's no way to fix or even see that, since those sliders are hidden. Well, you could if you knew what to screw up in the other direction, but even figuring out what is a mad science project. In the GECK the editor is just as retarded, but you see all sliders, and you see the numeric values, so if you put something at -5 and then see it at +7.63, you can know why it doesn't look like you wanted.

 

But, as I was saying, it's IS still the same retarded non-orthogonal editor, and you still have to hunt what it changed, and what was changed by fixing that, ad nauseam. Frankly, it was easier to get a handsome male dwarf in DA:O, starting from that crumpled cabbage skin, than it is to get what you wanted in FO3 and FO:NV.

 

Argghhh.

 

That explains a few things at any rate.

 

Well with that in mind, should I wait a few more months before checking back to see if there's any new goodies on the mod front, or is this going to be as good as it will get?

[Alceister]

Bubbity-bump.

 

Just wanted to get the original question answered in some capacity. I know it's mainly a matter of opinion, but it would help.

 

Since I live in Canada, there are some ridiculously low download limits imposed on our internet usage, so I'm not all that eager to download the Anthony Ling pack just in case it breaks this month's usage cap.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Alceister

[ripple]

I've tried both. Used Ling's for months and then switched over to Mikoto's BP.

 

Mikoto's BP seems to have a bigger selection of hair and eyes. It's more recently updated than Ling's (Mikoto was updated to v4.6 in March, Ling's has not been updated since 2010).

 

However.

 

There are a number of problems with Mikoto's BP. Many of the hair exhibit 'bald spots.' Countless players have reported bald spots for a number of hairs. I've seen these in game, took screenshots, reported them. I've never had such issues with any of Ling's hairs (there may be a few, I've not seen them). So if you are one of those players who won't use a hair if it appears to be buggy (certainly wouldn't look good in a screenshot close-up), the number of 'usable hairs' dwindle.

 

However.

 

Most of Ling's hairs do not have proper egm's for headgears (a few do). This means that when you put a hat on your character, it will look like they have the bald hairstyle (which means there are only stubbles in areas not covered by the hat). Most of Mikoto's hairs, on the other hand, do have headgear egm's (if somewhat...crude looking ), although there are still issues with some of them.

 

I am not sure if I am explaining this properly. The "bald hair while wearing hats" issue for Ling is very different from the 'bald spots' issue with some of the Mikoto's BP hairs (where it looks like parts of the hair are missing). You really have to see some screenshots or in game to discern the difference.

 

Basically, they both have problems. I don't know when, or if, either mod will be updated. I know nothing about hair meshes but it's probably a lot of work to make these compatible with all races, all headgears, head shapes, etc. Basically, it comes down to whether your character will be wearing hats or not. If you are the power armour type who never bother with hats, I recommend you go with Ling's. The hairs look great and you'll never notice anything strange. If you like to accessorize, go with Mikoto's BP. You can probably find at least some hairs that works just fine with hats or without.

 

Eyes, they all pretty much look the same to me. In both mods, you'll get a range of colours beyond what is offered in the default game.

 

If by better faces, you mean higher resolution textures, there are quite a few floating around on the Nexus. I can't remember any of them but just look around in the hair and face model section. I use the default body and head textures of whatever body mods I install, as to minimize the "neck seam" issue.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited May 27, 2011 by ripple

[Alceister]

Hope this helps.

 

It does. Thanks a bunch.