How do you change an NPC race with Construction Set?

[UncleBourbon]

I just want to change the servant girl Eiyja.... or whatever her name is, into a different race. How would I go about doing that with Construction set?

[NexusRanger]

Your best bet is to contact the author of the mod you're trying to edit and 1) ask for their permission to make the change you're talking about, and 2) request their assistance in doing so.

 

Assuming this will be for your own personal use only (i.e. you're not planning on turning around and uploading it to this or another site) and you make said request with respect and courtesy, the author of the original work will probably be kind enough to help you. That's no guarantee - but it'll earn you a lot more "street cred" by making the effort to talk to them directly. :)

[UncleBourbon]

Your best bet is to contact the author of the mod you're trying to edit and 1) ask for their permission to make the change you're talking about, and 2) request their assistance in doing so.

 

Assuming this will be for your own personal use only (i.e. you're not planning on turning around and uploading it to this or another site) and you make said request with respect and courtesy, the author of the original work will probably be kind enough to help you. That's no guarantee - but it'll earn you a lot more "street cred" by making the effort to talk to them directly. :)

It's the stock servant girl for Rosethorn manor D:

[Striker879]

Here's a couple of Construction Set Wiki links I have kicking around that may help (one for vanilla races and one for not so vanilla races):

 

Simple Companion Tutorial

 

Race creation tutorial

[UncleBourbon]

Nevermind, I figured it out. allo U gad to do was dl the Eyja.esp to make her prettier and then open and modify. Wow! this program is very similar to Milkshape!

[NexusRanger]

Oh, excellent! Thank you, Striker! As I'm just getting into modding myself, the articles you linked will be a HUGE help!

 

@ Uncle Bourbon - Rosethorn Hall... the manor you can purchase in Skingrad, right? Hmm... this could get tricky, in that she's a Nord - which is one of the races built into the game. So I'm guessing this means one of two things: Trying to edit the game's Master file to tweak this particular NPC - NOT a good idea - or using the above articles Striker just provided to make a "new" servant girl mod (with its own ESM file) to overwrite / replace the default one.

 

My best guess would be for you to make a copy of the Master Oblivion ESM file and open the copy in the Construction Set. Find the NPC in question by typing in her name, then copying & pasting her info and saving it as a "new" NPC. Then open that file in the Construction set, making your desired changes and finally saving your work as a new mod with its own ESM file. Then place that in your default Oblivion folder, check the new NPC's ESM file box via the "Options" section of the Oblivion launcher and start the game. With luck, she'll look like a new woman. ;)

 

Note: You might have to load a save game prior to your actually meeting the NPC in question for your changes to take effect.

 

EDIT: Whoops... seems I was a little too late in posting. Well, glad to see you figured it out! Congratualtions! :)

Edited October 29, 2011 by NexusRanger

[Striker879]

@ NexusRanger ... something to keep in mind is what esp files do. They change the records in a master file (esm). To change a vanilla record in Oblivion.esm you simple make your own (or edit someone else's) esp. For released mods this insures that your MyCoolNewMod.esp will be compatible with everyone else's game, as we all use the same Oblivion.esm (which is also the reason we all need to be patched up to version 1.2.0416).

[NexusRanger]

@ NexusRanger ... something to keep in mind is what esp files do. They change the records in a master file (esm). To change a vanilla record in Oblivion.esm you simple make your own (or edit someone else's) esp. For released mods this insures that your MyCoolNewMod.esp will be compatible with everyone else's game, as we all use the same Oblivion.esm (which is also the reason we all need to be patched up to version 1.2.0416).

Ahhh - I see... Look, Ma - I'm learning! :laugh:

 

Still VERY new to this mod stuff - can you tell? :biggrin: Pouring through tutorials and How-Tos to get a grip on the basics and obviously still have a long, long way to go. Thanks for continuing to follow this thread, Sir! :) Uncle Bourbon may already have his answer, but I'll take all the help I can get! ;)

[Striker879]

We all start from zero (or at least I did) and between the acronyms, the way the game is particular about certain details and how the Construction Set will let you do something (but not really) it can be a steep learning curve. I haven't even ventured into Wrye Bash, Blender, NifScope, TES4Edit etc. I guess when my brain stops hurting it's time to learn something new.

[NexusRanger]

@ Striker -

 

Yeah, I'll say! Just trying to sift through some of these tutorials makes me wanna break out the Tylenol. :biggrin:

 

But I've been thoroughly bitten by the modding bug this time around, so I'm in it for the duration. Already have a design document for my first mod - well, in my head, anyway - and will just keep poking at it until I get it right. I'm just doing an itty bitty Player Race mod for a start... which, between all the ones already out there AND the various tutorial pages, shouldn't bee too difficult to pull off.

 

In the end, this'll be more of an "edit" than an actual mod, I guess. But as you said, ya gotta start somewhere! :) And if I can manage to duplicate one of the built-in races and tweak it - or someone is kind enough to grant me permission to use their mod to experiment with - then I may eventually get brave enough to try an item... and then a creature... and finally an honest-to-goodness full blown quest! :laugh: