Natterforme Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Ok, I have some simple problems with creating my own(and very first^^) mod. I am working on a series of masks that have been giving me many problems. I have created the model for my first one and I am satisfied with it. This is the list of things that I have gone through so far, and feel free to point out any errors: I have made the model in blender 2.49b. I then proceeded to select it and project it onto my image texture. With this image texture on, I then brought in a standard body, weighted the mask to the head bones and did all the proper parenting. After that, I aligned the mask to where I wanted it to be(out of weight mode) in front of the face. I deleted all of the extra body while keeping the bones, selecting everything that needed to be selected and exported it out into a nif. I have tried numerous times to bring it into the game by putting it in the area in a box. I have renamed and created an new box, as well as using the grey cowl as a base before importing the new nif file, removing all of its scripts and enchantments. These are the areas that I believe to have a potential conflict:1. the texture in improperly uv mapped somehow2. the model is improperly aligned or weighted3. the model is using the wrong space or is being told to be somewhere it is not So far my most successfull attempts have been when I get both the box and the item ingame in the arena. But the three times I have pulled out the mask and worn it this has happened: 1:loss of hair, 2:complete loss of head, 3: CTD. I know it is probably a simple problem but I cant figure it out from any tutorials I have looked at and I have been through many. Any help, feedback, comments, or words of encouragement would be very much appreciated^^. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fg109 Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 First of all, let me say that the only thing I really know about modding is scripting. That said, I don't see anything wrong with your first problem (loss of hair). You said that you brought it into the game by using the cowl as a base. The Grey Cowl is a helm, which means that when you put your face masks in the game, they're labeled as helms as well. When helms are equipped, they replace the hair. So, when you put on your face mask, having the hair disappear is normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natterforme Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 First of all, let me say that the only thing I really know about modding is scripting. That said, I don't see anything wrong with your first problem (loss of hair). You said that you brought it into the game by using the cowl as a base. The Grey Cowl is a helm, which means that when you put your face masks in the game, they're labeled as helms as well. When helms are equipped, they replace the hair. So, when you put on your face mask, having the hair disappear is normal. Ok, when I first put in the item I noticed in the cowl's menu that it had several placements on the body. Starting from the top it was something like head, hair, and so on, finishing at tail. When I tried it the first time I had it on hair and the hair disappeared. The second time was on head and it removed my head entirely. The third time was an amulet slot(at least thats what I think it did) and it caused a CTD. If I want a mask, what is the best place to put it? Head, cape, ammy, tail slot? I still havent been able to resolve the issue yet^^. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fg109 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 The best place to put it would be either the amulet or the tail slot. No idea why it caused a CTD when you tried to set it as an amulet though. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natterforme Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 The best place to put it would be either the amulet or the tail slot. No idea why it caused a CTD when you tried to set it as an amulet though. :unsure: I ve been tinkering with it and Im beginning to think it has to do with the textures. The problem is that I cant find out how to properly export a nif that has projected on textures. If this is what is messed up, that would explain why it isnt showing up. I am getting something into the game, but I cant see what it is yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natterforme Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Ok, Ive been looking it over since yesterday and I can get the item in the game and in my inventory now. The only problem is that when I put it on(amulet slot as a test) I still get a CTD. I looked around and found some information on my uv map and saw that it might have been incorrectly aligned. Im going to redo parts of my model to make it easier to uv map and then come back and try again. If ANYONE thinks they might know a solution, please let me hear your thoughts. I know that it has to be a simple problem. Question to anyone: if you use an image to create a uv map from, does it still need to be turned into a .dds file? This mod does not yet have one and I am curious. I think this could be the missed step and I could really use some kind advice^^. Thanks in advance to all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fg109 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 All texture files have to be .dds format. That still doesn't explain why it would cause the game to crash though. I thought missing textures would only cause the object to be bright green/pink/purple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natterforme Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 All texture files have to be .dds format. That still doesn't explain why it would cause the game to crash though. I thought missing textures would only cause the object to be bright green/pink/purple. I dont have any texture files lol XD. I used an image to uv map my mask using project from view. The texture shows up in blender when I switch to textures but I dont know how to turn them into .dds files to put into the game. Do I have to export them seperately or save them in a unique way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fg109 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Modeling and texturing is not my area, but I think you'll have to export the textures separately. All blender does (in this case) is tell the game where to find the texture when the model is being accessed, and how to layer the texture onto the model. So the texture file is not included in the model itself. And since the game can only read textures in dds format, you need to change your image file into a dds file. You'll need an image editing program to do this. Paint.NET is supposed to support dds files, while for PhotoShop and GIMP, you'll need to download some plugins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natterforme Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Modeling and texturing is not my area, but I think you'll have to export the textures separately. All blender does (in this case) is tell the game where to find the texture when the model is being accessed, and how to layer the texture onto the model. So the texture file is not included in the model itself. And since the game can only read textures in dds format, you need to change your image file into a dds file. You'll need an image editing program to do this. Paint.NET is supposed to support dds files, while for PhotoShop and GIMP, you'll need to download some plugins. I have Photoshop CS5, do you know what the plugins are? Is paint.net free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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