Why do certain shaders turn models invisible?

[redxavier]

I've come across a problem whereby simply changing the shader on a model can cause it to become invisible in game. This might be a shader copied from an item of clothing into a nif file of a shield or other armour item. I've especially noticed it with gnd or go models. Using any copied shader other than one already used in a gnd or go model will turn your mesh invisible. The moment you replace that shader with a shader copied and pasted from a go nif file, it will work again. Literally the only thing being changed is the shader branch in Nifskope.

 

Yet this relationship appears murky and inconsistent. With a helmet nif file I can use pretty much any shader from another nif file, seemingly regardless of what type of object the source is, so I can use a shiny shader or a non-reflective cloth shader. Yet with a shield, I'm much more limited and cannot use a shader copied from a piece of clothing.

 

So, my question is, what is it about a nif file that makes it only work with some shaders and not with others?

[Ghogiel]

Yet with a shield, I'm much more limited and cannot use a shader copied from a piece of clothing.

 

no, because there is a shader flag for a mesh being skinned. Shields aren't skinned.

 

It's similar to the shadow map shader flag for F3, which was required on skinned meshed as they were hard coded to cast shadows, but without that shader setup = invisible.