no one dislikes this Vanilla item?

[Kamikazi2142]

Frustration:

i asked for some assistance earlier, days ago, to mod this myself, i tried to mod it after reading the noob-to-pro tutorial, which led me more confused than before, am actually to the point where i'll pay someone to do it for me. i know exactly how i want it, but don't know how to do it, or where to find the original!! nothing i do opens anything, so i'm boned on that attempt, is it because i use Steam Skyrim? is this why? or am i looking in the wrong directory to get this items file, and furthermore the tutorial lacks the list of required additional software to mod successfully with, why can't someone just bundle the software into a single RAR file and call it a day, or is it really that difficult to do so. I've read and re read the tutorials far beyond what i normally care to, and am beginning to pull my hair out.

 

Tizzy Fit:

recently i was banned from the chat for reasons i'm sure are purely personal to whom-ever it was who banned me, yet i found the chat to be purely senseless, since i go there seeking advice and i get suckered into a dysfunctional bandwagon of epileptic turrets patients bickering back and forth about who ripped what. Yes i know there are those who are there with their head on straight, i know a few Neo and some others i can't remember right off the bat... i'm fairly certain that i was only kicked though, i'm not sure anymore cuz now it says i'm not allowed back in to the chat.

 

The Point:

my reason for posting is as such...

Clauvicus Vile's Masque = ugly, even for use on a male character.

i have idea's to make this mask beautiful for both male/female characters!

I'm loosing my patience on this one and am about to give up on ever participating in the Nexus's most common resource "mods" i would like to be counted among those who make mods, whether or not they good or bad, to be a contributor is something of a goal for me, since i've sipped the fine wines of the modders product, i'd like to give back. but am i able to do so? or better yet, allowed to do so? i feel like after asking for help and receiving "LINK read it" that makes me feel unwelcome, and mostly unwanted, childhood flashbacks...

 

i'm a great pencil and paper artist, i can provide detailed sketches of what i want done if anyone is willing to attempt this mod for me. Those of you whom are thinking to troll me and say why can't you do it yourself? well i tried, and seems like something is left wanted in the tutorials, its a major maze of this is that and all i would need is someone to simply show me what i need to do, a video works a thousand times better for me than black and white.

 

sorry for the mass typing and the possible misplaced thread... lately i've been more and more delirious as to where i am, tumor? lol i could only wish.

[Ixflashpointxi]

Frustration:

I have no idea what you are talking about. Unless you mean all the tools for modeling and such. Which can be found here.

And a guide on how to install everything; here.

 

Tizzy Fit:

You probably got kicked from the chat box for the sole reason of asking for help or being persistent about using the chat box to get help. Which I think you're not supposed to do. I'm not sure about this forum, but that's how its been like on some others I've been to.

 

The Point: I agree. But I dont have any skills with the 3d modelling tools even though I have them installed. And even if you did get the tools installed, it would take a while to get used to them and be able to make anything half decent.

[Sunnie]

Protip 1: Throwing a tantrum on the forums will not get you any of the help you request.

 

Protip 2: Don't publicly accuse staff of playing favorites or wrongly targeting your bad behavior. If you have a problem, email the site admin address or PM Dark0ne.

 

Protip 3: People generally mod things if it interests them, and they do it as a hobby. If nobody had any interest then learn how to do it yourself.

 

 

Personal opinion:

If you hate the way that item looks so much, stop using the stupid thing until you can learn how to change it the way you want. Don't insult everyone that wrote a tutorial because you didn't become a seasoned pro after reading them, or the people who directed you to the tutorials.

Furthermore, the toolset is not even out yet, new record types havent been completely figured out, updated nif specs aren't completely understood yet, so tutorials are going to sparse and likely contain errors and lack needed information because there just isn't enough dev info available yet.

 

You want to be part of the modding community? You can start by treating that community with a little more respect. :armscrossed:

[Trollkin]

Kamikaze: I feel your pain; we've all been there, seeing things in-game that make us absolutely mental, knowing they can and should be changed, but having a tough time actually MAKING said changes. I wish you luck, as I'm an absolute menace with Blender. I'm convinced it's the devil. But FYI, this thread should probably be moved by an admin to the Mod Requests board - that's where you want to make this plea, not here.

 

Edit - Okay, I was prepared to respond in much the way Sunnie did, but the "dysfunctional bandwagon of epileptic Tourette's patients" thing cracked me up.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Trollkin

[Kamikazi2142]

before i continue, i formally apologize for the improper placing of this thread, and graciously ask it to be properly placed... i'd do it myself, but i don't know how.

 

well i'm glad that my description of the chat was entertaining, but the point behind it remains, the chat is within the site and is used for things scarcely related to the site.

 

i'd understand better if the chat were placed in a page/section of the site that pertained to "absolutely nothing by the site" then it'd make better sense.

 

i never meant to insult anyone, i'm the one who felt insulted when i asked for assistance.

 

the admins and moderators, no offense but i feel like when someone should be kicked or banned they don't and when someone isn't doing anything wrong they kick/ban the person... just feels backwards (i already know someone is gonna read this as a bash on the system, but oh well right? not like i control the world)

 

and Trollkin...

if i draw up a sketch of the mask would you be willing to restyle it? i'd say PM me, but idk where or if that feature is here. If you are up to it i'll grab my mechanical sketching pencil and fire away a rough draft.

 

and to all others out there, if my "spray and pray" ranting insulted any of you, i do apologize, but judging from how the chat is, i figured it was accepted openly.

 

when it comes to reading tutorials that are somewhat simplistic and lack video type visual aids... its like trying to build an igloo out of sand to me... it just don't happen.

 

EDIT-

this community has my greatest respects, i'm just impulsive at times, aren't we all? like you have already verified with your statements about me. i never threw a temper tantrum or accused anyone of playing favorites, i just stated the obvious. something i really hate is when people see a topic, imagine their own words in place of the OP's words and then reply. Being a troll without knowing whats going on is where my respect ends. Trollkin is a troll, but he at least reads the OP's words... (judged solely on your name, sorry if i'm wrong)

 

EDIT2-

my issue is i go to open up where i think it should be and the program says "DERRR there was an error with this file that i should be able to open but can't"... i see others restyling armors, what are they doing that isn't posted in the tutorials? Are they just making completely new suits?

 

EDIT3-

also, i don't think i ever seen any Oblivion restyles of the mask, is it really acceptable the way it is?

Edited January 6, 2012 by Kamikazi2142

[Trollkin]

I hate to say it, but when I claim to be a menace with Blender, I mean it in the worst possible way. On a good day, I can model a believable rectangular box. Oh yeah, I'm that bad. Maybe worse. And I'm more than a little fuzzy on how people are exporting altered meshes into a format that Skyrim will even read. If I'm very lucky, and very diligent, I may be in a position to help you out - in several weeks. For now, I'm completely useless to you - Sorry...

 

Oh, and there may be a "Report" button that you can use to let a moderator know you need your thread moved - I couldn't swear to it, though, as I'm on my phone atm, and don't have the proper board skin/functions displayed.

[Kamikazi2142]

thats it, when someone can make an UPDATED walkthrough of what and how to install this junk THEN i'll attempt it. I've installed a thousand different things based on what the installer of each previous installation says is required and still i cannot do ANYTHING because i'm stuck in a loop of "you need this version to do this" and it keeps circling back to an older version which then cycles back to the newest, after 2 hours of dedication i have decided that this is impossible and those whom have this program are probably those people who have $6K computers and someone to do the installation for them, with Bill Gates on speed dial for tech support.

 

i read this first, i read the whole noob to pro tutorial, i installed the required files, the newest files, the versions stated in the tutorial, and every one in between.

 

i'll ask this again, can someone just bundle THEIR software installers into a neat little RAR file and upload it to the site? at least specific links not just "PyFFI" cuz only certain ones work with certain versions of blender/Python. But then those certain ones don't work with NIF-Scripts... a circle of damnation and strife.

 

I'm loosing my patience on this disorganized headache.

 

i have THREE projects in mind now...

one of them is to SIMPLIFY THIS PROCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vixyn]

How could the different installers possibly be bundled together when they aren't made by the same people? What you're asking for is fairly unreasonable - I, for one, would prefer that the people who are working hard to even make it possible for us to mod continue on as they are, rather than go through the tedious process of trying to coordinate different projects together.

 

Honestly though, I think you're being rather whiny. There are plenty of modders, myself included, who have had no issues following the various guides, downloading the various programs needed, and working with what is available. Oh, and 6K computer? My work computer - what I mod on - costed me less than 500 dollars when I bought all of the parts. Regardless, I'll point you in the right direction anyway.

 

Tools you will need:

BSA Browser: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1395

NifSkope: http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifSkope - I am using RC4.

ThrottleKitty's nif.xml: https://github.com/throttlekitty/nifxml/blob/master/nif.xml (right click, save-as. Make sure it saves as an XML, not a TXT file, and save it into the folder you extracted nifskope to).

For textures, you need either PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, or GIMP and a DDS plugin. Since GIMP is free:

GIMP: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

GIMP DDS Plugin: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/downloads/detail?name=gimp-dds-win32-2.0.9.zip

GIMP Normal Map Plugin: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-normalmap/downloads/detail?name=gimp-normalmap-win32-1.2.2.zip

 

I can't help you with the Blender issue, since I don't use Blender, I use 3DS Max. If you somehow have access to a copy of 3DS Max, this is what you would need: http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5622

 

Firstly, you need to extract the resources for whatever it is you're wanting to modify. For this, you use the BSA extractor. Open the program, and browse to your Skyrim install location - in Steam, this is:

Win7/Vista/XP 32-bit: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\data

Win7/Vista/XP 64-bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\data

 

So, open "Skyrim - Meshes.bsa" with BSA Browser. For the Clavicus Vile mesh, you need these three files (sort by path to find them):

meshes\clothes\clavicusvilemask\clavicusvilemask_0.nif

meshes\clothes\clavicusvilemask\clavicusvilemask_1.nif

meshes\clothes\clavicusvilemask\clavicusvilemaskgnd.nif

 

There are not gender-specific meshes for this particular mask. _0 is the "thin" body mesh, _1 is the "thick" body mesh, and the gnd mesh is the ground mesh.

 

Once you have the NIF's exported, open "Skyrim - Textures.bsa". Again, sort by path and extract these three files:

textures\clothes\clavicusvilemask\clavicus_vile_mask_d.dds

textures\clothes\clavicusvilemask\clavicus_vile_mask_m.dds

textures\clothes\clavicusvilemask\clavicus_vile_mask_n.dds

 

_d is the diffuse mesh (controls the base texturing and color), _n is the normal map (makes it 'bumpy'), _m is apparently a reflection map.

 

There, you now have all of the files you need in order to modify the Clavicus Vile mask. You can now view the mesh inside of NifSkope, modify it how you wish in your choice of 3D modeling software, edit the textures how you wish in GIMP or whatever else you chose, and so on. I'm not going to walk you through either remodeling or retexturing - for one, I'm not patient enough by half, and for two, there are more than enough tutorials on the net for you to read on how to do either or these. :P

[Kamikazi2142]

what i was asking for you did, i never was asking for the devs to make it as a single program, i was asking for someone, like yourself, to bundle it in one place.

 

granted its not a single RAR file of the installers that i can just download from one location, but you made things ridiculously easier.

 

i followed the route for blender from someones recommendation in the chat. Thank you so much for this help, i'll begin doing as good a job as i can, to repay those whom i've indulged on.

 

[EDIT]-

I have Adobe CS5 Photoshop, any special plugins for that? or will it be listed in the 2D modding thread?

 

[EDIT]-

oh god thank you so much, it will take some time to do, but i'm starting to get a handle on it, thank you so much vixyn, i'll bundle these up into a RAR and hopefully host it on my site soon.

 

[EDIT]-

so far every attempt leaves me looking like a giant red and white exclamation mark... this will take some time, i'm sure, but its even harder when i cannot render the in game details to the model in 3DS Max... i'm a quick study though.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Kamikazi2142

[vixyn]

what i was asking for you did, i never was asking for the devs to make it as a single program, i was asking for someone, like yourself, to bundle it in one place.

 

granted its not a single RAR file of the installers that i can just download from one location, but you made things ridiculously easier.

 

i followed the route for blender from someones recommendation in the chat. Thank you so much for this help, i'll begin doing as good a job as i can, to repay those whom i've indulged on.

 

[EDIT]-

I have Adobe CS5 Photoshop, any special plugins for that? or will it be listed in the 2D modding thread?

 

Photoshop DDS Plugin: http://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-adobe-photoshop