[LE] playable insect race mod [WIP]

[12vegeta12]

Hi everyone!

 

This is my first time posting to the Forums, but I really wanted to make a topic for a mod that I've started working on.

My concept was: a playable insect race mod.

 

Although the Elder Scrolls universe is full of interesting insect creatures, it has always sorely lacked a sentient playable bug race.

I'm a big fan of those myself, and after looking around and not being able to find a mod like this, I decided I could try it myself.

I would like to make a bug species that doesn’t fall into the cliché of creepy, often not well researched monster faces, as even some of the Elder Scrolls creatures themselves are, but one based on real insect anatomy.

 

I'm a game artist student; I can create concept art, 3D models, sculpts but I still have to find out how to implement all the art into a usable mod :')

However I've got help for that, so I'm not here to ask about that.

 

I'm here to show some concept art and ask for opinions! I would love to hear your feedback and if anyone is interested in a race like this. Give me suggestions, tips or just leave a comment!

I would love to hear from the community! :D

 

Here's some concept art that I did so far;

http://orig06.deviantart.net/6b7a/f/2016/218/9/a/bodiesconceptart_by_delirious_biznasty-dactynv.jpg

 

http://orig12.deviantart.net/1ef7/f/2016/218/d/5/limbs_concept_art_by_delirious_biznasty-dactykf.jpg

 

I've mostly been thinking about the general shape and looks of the body, I haven't really gone into detail yet on the face.

I thought it would be interesting to have secondary limbs, just for aesthetic reasons, showing when they don't wear any chest piece.

For the looks, I was inspired by the game Warframe and general robot designs, to make a sort of insect exoskeleton look.

 

The race could be from another part of the world Nirn than Tamriel, like Akavir or Pyandonea. A place with lots of oxygen could explain their large size for an insectoid species.

Their body consists of an armor-like exoskeleton, that defines a muscular-looking shape, making them look strong to other races, even if the individual doesn't have as much muscle mass.

Between the exoskeleton parts is a black, shiny and soft tissue that enables movement.

 

My idea for customization for a character: Different antennae and fluff combinations to choose from as hairstyles, different eyes and the usual.

Ideas for race specific powers: Intimidation (due to their strong look), perhaps good at unarmored protection.

 

Tell me your thoughts, suggestions! I would love to hear it! Thanks for reading :)

[baduk]

Loks like a big project to me. Making that a playable character.

 

There is a bit of an issue with the deformation of the body. If you want body deformation to be stiff with joints you have to skin mesh different than other races and all playable races use same body meshes m/f versions. To avoid having to make a different version of every armor and clothing and devising a way for switching the version U probably want to use just existing body meshes. I understand its a very big limitation.

 

Id want to make ur extra limbs maybe have more than 2 and have em really small like vestigial so they show up when you are wearing nothing in the body biped slot. I never messed with khajits or argonians armors but i think there is a separate dismemberment partition u can add to make the tail appear when the body is being replaced by item in biped slot. Beast races are also requiring to have all new helmets created.

 

Playable bodys are the same mesh as all other races. so you have to make texture for supported uvmap types if supporting body mods. Maybe you can add spines and bristles on the tail slot tho. along with ur mini arms.

 

You can probably put mini arms onto a Looping animation. Because with hdt stuff you can put the first bone as keyframed for an anchor and have other bones animated from different transformation like havok or lag.

 

Head u have to make the morph targets for facial expression and lyp synching. The head is really important. I think you can potentially have an incredible awesome result.

You dont need egm files like in earlier games, just the tri files.

 

Compound eyes are interesting. Can you effectively animate a compound eye so it looks alive? The body meshes in skrim are not using tangent space normalmaps so you cant do tricks with normals.

 

Anyway, Its just what i think each part of your poroject entails, to help understand what the scope is, for conceptualization.

I hope it is helping.

Edited August 6, 2016 by baduk

[LenKagetsu]

I think a good idea for a race power would be an always-on version of Instinct from Campfire which also detects life. This can be fluffed as their antennae providing a very powerful sense of smell and touch.

 

This would make them an excellent choice for people who want to play assassins, alchemists, or assassin-alchemists without resorting to magic. Let's be honest, bugs have been sneaky poison users for eons.

Edited August 6, 2016 by LenKagetsu

[12vegeta12]

Loks like a big project to me. Making that a playable character.

 

There is a bit of an issue with the deformation of the body. If you want body deformation to be stiff with joints you have to skin mesh different than other races and all playable races use same body meshes m/f versions. To avoid having to make a different version of every armor and clothing and devising a way for switching the version U probably want to use just existing body meshes. I understand its a very big limitation.

 

Id want to make ur extra limbs maybe have more than 2 and have em really small like vestigial so they show up when you are wearing nothing in the body biped slot. I never messed with khajits or argonians armors but i think there is a separate dismemberment partition u can add to make the tail appear when the body is being replaced by item in biped slot. Beast races are also requiring to have all new helmets created.

 

Playable bodys are the same mesh as all other races. so you have to make texture for supported uvmap types if supporting body mods. Maybe you can add spines and bristles on the tail slot tho. along with ur mini arms.

 

You can probably put mini arms onto a Looping animation. Because with hdt stuff you can put the first bone as keyframed for an anchor and have other bones animated from different transformation like havok or lag.

 

Head u have to make the morph targets for facial expression and lyp synching. The head is really important. I think you can potentially have an incredible awesome result.

You dont need egm files like in earlier games, just the tri files.

 

Compound eyes are interesting. Can you effectively animate a compound eye so it looks alive? The body meshes in skrim are not using tangent space normalmaps so you cant do tricks with normals.

 

Anyway, Its just what i think each part of your poroject entails, to help understand what the scope is, for conceptualization.

I hope it is helping.

Thank you for this extensive commentary! These tips will really help me, since it's my first time making a mod, for Skyrim at least. It's a good idea to have the extra arms be smaller and on a looping animation, and to put them in the tail slot.

I'm gonna make some extra concept art based on these tips and research how to best make the meshes and animations. I'll post when I've got something new to show! Thanks for the comment.

 

 

I think a good idea for a race power would be an always-on version of Instinct from Campfire which also detects life. This can be fluffed as their antennae providing a very powerful sense of smell and touch.

 

This would make them an excellent choice for people who want to play assassins, alchemists, or assassin-alchemists without resorting to magic. Let's be honest, bugs have been sneaky poison users for eons.

Thats a great idea! I've always loved alchemy in the games. Bugs like bees can sense flowers from miles away. I'm gonna add that to the list : )

[Draconzis]

In the concept art, the ones that appealed to me are the sleek ones, ones without frizz or fluff. I just imagine it looking shiny, like a suit made out of bug armor... except still alive. Also, have you considered having the fingers be insect claws, instead of just hands made out of chitin? Maybe only have 4 fingers, one of them acting as a thumb.

[baduk]

 

 

 

Blablabla...

 

Thank you for this extensive commentary! These tips will really help me, since it's my first time making a mod, for Skyrim at least. It's a good idea to have the extra arms be smaller and on a looping animation, and to put them in the tail slot.

I'm gonna make some extra concept art based on these tips and research how to best make the meshes and animations. I'll post when I've got something new to show! Thanks for the comment.

 

Hi.

 

The being able to connect additional skeleton with anchor bone is my speculation. I have seen this work for just the hdt hair or armor stuff. If there is a problem with this technique. you can try the other option from anton0028 that involves adding a niStringsExtraData to bsfadenode nif. Name it AttachT and add the string NamedNode&"bone name" Download his mods for examples and tools.

[KaiserDeathIV]

Omg, So long I waited for an insectoid race, and now someone is doing it? Pls dont give up, PLEASE do it! I have waited Eras for someone to do this!

 

Also, add wings maybe? Just a suggestions, you could take butterfly and dragonfly wings as 2 wing types for example. They dont have to enable flight, though.

[12vegeta12]

Hi everyone. I'm sorry for the little updates so far, sadly this is my first time making a mod for Skyrim and I regret to say I have some problems.

I know how to make models, sculpts and textures, but I don't have any idea where to start to actually put these into Skyrim...

 

I've tried to install the nif plugin for Maya but it doesn't want to show up even if I activate it in the plugin menu? It will just say imported Nif file is unsupported format

I also tried to import SE models into Nifkskope, but that gives errors, is this because it's very new?

 

I'm sorry if I sound like a noob :x I do know where to start, for example this tutorial (http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Creating_a_custom_race_for_Skyrim)

but I cannot start if I cannot edit or make my own nif files

 

update: seems like theres a new nifskope release that can import the new SE nif files ! my only problem now is that I cannot import nifs in Maya 2016 even with the plugin provided by nifskope site

Edited November 13, 2016 by 12vegeta12

[MintTeaChip]

Omg I would love love looooove to have this race so very much <3 I think it is a fantastic idea and am looking forward to more updates on this project. ^^

[arudon117]

Is this still alive? Is the mod still being worked on?