Construction set: Change NPC into custom race

[eend123]

Title says it all. I downloaded and installed some custom races and I'd like to change some NPC's into these races.

However, when I edit NPC's in CS I only seem to be able to change into vanilla races. Custom races don't show up in the race list.

 

Can anyone tell me if, and how, it's possible to change an existing NPC into a custom race?

[WarRatsG]

Well first off, make sure you are editing the esp that contains the custom race.

 

I'm assuming that you are in fact editing the correct esp, but to make sure you should check the race menu. Go into the "Characters" tab and select "Races", then check for your race. If your custom race is there, then you know for a fact it is the right esp.

 

If the custom race exists then any NPC should be able to use it. Simply go into it's base object, then it's "Stats" tab. From there, in the top left corner there should be lots of boxes - the race should be in the middle of them. Simply pick the race from the drop-down box and it will stick.

 

Keep in mind that when you edit the race, all of the meshes will change, but not it's actual face data. So this basically means that if the two races are dissimilar, then the NPC can have a highly distorted face. To make sure, click on the box in the bottom right labelled "Head" and the NPCs face will appear. You can then go into the "Face Advanced" tab to make controlled edits to the face.

 

Hope this helps :)

[eend123]

Tnx a lot, I'm pretty new to this stuff. I loaded the .esp without making it my active file, creating a new .esp after changing stuff. For example, I changed Jensine into an chocolate elf.

After that the game started crashing when I tried to enter Jensine's Good as New, so now I just changed the chocolate elf .esp as active file and it works fine.

 

Any idea what I did wrong when I created the new .esp in my first attempt? Would be nice if I could change a thing or two here and there and save these changes in a new

.esp, so that I can turn it on/off whenever I want, without affecting the original mods.

Edited November 5, 2011 by eend123

[WarRatsG]

The reason for the crash is probably because Jensine was a race that technically didn't exist.

It didn't exist because the CS can't handle having an esp as a master - by this I mean a file the esp relies on. Oblivion's engine is fine with this, it's just the CS that doesn't like it.

 

Basically, what happened was because there was no active file, a new esp was created using resources from the chocolate elf esp and Oblivion esm. So when you use something from the esp - in this case the chocolate elf race - then the change is saved, but the dependency on the chocolate elf esp is not. This means that Jensine technically has no race, which causes chaos in the game.

 

With the active file, the game can recognise the resource and use it - Jensine becomes a chocolate elf and the game engine is happy :)

 

 

The method of creating a new esp which will change the old one - a "patch", if you will - is done through a process called "Mod De-Isolation". There are several ways of doing this, but they all require external tools I think.

For something as small as changing a few NPCs, it would be far easier to change the original esp.

 

Hope this helps :)

[eend123]

Well, things are a bit more clear now, thanks a lot for answering these noob questions :thumbsup:

 

Last thing I'd like to know is if I can add stuff from one esp to another, that way I can keep editting just one .esp. For example, at the moment I'm editting

Angel.esp to change some NPC's into angels, and I'd like to have them wear some clothes from Apachii goddes store esp. Can I somehow open two esp

files at the same time to transfer items, same way as adding vanilla clothes from object window to NPC inventory?

Edited November 5, 2011 by eend123

[WarRatsG]

There are a few things you could try.

You could combine the plugins, manually or automatically, or attempt mod de-isolation.

 

First off, only try these if simply editing the two respective esps doesnt work. I have a feeling that having two edits on the same NPC will cause one to overwrite the other.

So first off, just edit the race of the NPC in one esp and their inventory in another.

 

If that doesnt work, then you can combine the plugins by loading them both in the CS, clicking "file" and selecting "combine loaded plugins " ( I think).

Now, you should have both the equipment and race in one esp.

 

If there are any problems with this (there shouldnt be), pm me and Ill try to help out.

[warspectre]

Dude! dont forget that the custom race should have the same 'voice' as the original race you changed the npc from...if you want them to be able to talk in game!

ie. if you want to change Jensine into a chocolate elf...duplicate the chocolate elf race in the races menu...change one of their female voice files to 'nord' and voila!

or copy the nord race and use the chocolate elf textures on that race. dont forget to change voice file form 'nordcopy' to 'nord' though. ;)