SSE Modifying Player Homes

[CyniclyPink]

Hi All,

I've spent hundreds of hours renovating my in game player homes with "Jaxonz Positioner" and decided to try to learn the CK so I can actually make them into mods so I don't have to spend hundreds more hours making them again. I've started with Breezehome but it's been really difficult as all the videos and tutorials are about making new homes from scratch. Its really different trying to modify Hearthfire homes and player homes. When I opened up Breezehome in the CK it was really overwhelming with all the markers and navmesh and all. Can anyone point me to a tutorial that will help me understand what to do to modify these home without wrecking whats essential. My Breezehome is a bit of a disaster and I've spent months on it. Thanks anyone who can help :)

[thumbincubation]

It can definitely get confusing, and Hearthfire houses even more so because there are multiples of everything. Exceptionally difficult to click on an item and know which version of the item you're clicking on. I avoid Hearthfire homes like the plague, for modding purposes.

 

I've modded Breezehome a few times, but only in an experimental/personal use way. That being said, you can change just about anything. If you're just cleaning it up a bit, you won't even need to worry about the navmesh at all. If you're changing something that will redirect the flow of traffic, then you'll need to change the navmesh or you'll have followers treadmilling against walls. A few things I've found out the hard way...

 

1. I don't fully understand this, but apparently player homes have some decorations that refuse to be deleted. I've deleted them in the CK and decorated, only to have them show up and knock everything off the shelves or similar disruption. I took the advice I found on the forums, back in Oldrim, and dragged them outside the home instead of deleting them. Haven't had a problem with them since.

 

2. Use the press-1-twice method, discussed in this thread https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5631582-creating-interiors-question/ to hide things, to make it easier to work on what you want.

 

3. When you place an item, double click on it, select the scripts tab, and add the script DefaultDisableHavocOnLoad to stop it from bouncing around if it's too close to other items. You can also check the "don't havoc settle" box, to stop it from responding to havoc in the CK. (In my experience, this box only works in CK for me. Without the script, they still fall around, in game.) The most natural and less stressful method I've found is to turn havoc on while placing the items, so you can tell exactly where they'll need to be, to avoid havoc issues. Then use the script for tough cases and/or multiple items stacked together, such as fruit in a bowl.

 

4. If you want to place items and make them immovable, such as a shelf full dishes that you don't want to be able to take, shout away, etc., open the item's form in CK. Find the model file path and copy it. Then duplicate a static item, such as a lantern. (There are also non-static lanterns...make sure you select the static one.) Open the duplicate, change the name to something unique, like MyStaticBowl or something. Press the button to edit model, and ok it so you end up at your file explorer. This is where you would normally chose meshes from your data folder, if you were putting a custom item in. Instead of choosing, the file path of the static item should already be highlighted at the bottom. Paste the file path from the item you're placing directly over that. It can be picky, so you may need to do it a couple of times, but you should see your decorative item where the static item was. Ok it and close. You then have a static version of whatever item you wanted, that you can place with confidence.

 

5. If you do change something big enough in Breezehome to require a navmesh change, in the CK, go to file > data, and add Hearthfires.esm as one of the masters. Unless something has changed since Oldrim, my understanding is Hearthfire changed the navmesh in Breezehome to accommodate the kids' bedroom. If you change the navmesh in Breezehome without Hearthfires.esm as a master, it may crash as soon as you enter Breezehome.

 

Alternatively, if you prefer a cleaner, less hassle, method, consider duplicating cell aaaMarkers, deleting what's in the duplicate, and building your own Breezehome interior in it. Then go to the exterior of Breezehome in WhiterunWorld, double click on the door, and change its teleport to take you into your own new cell.

[ttabakova]

Generally, it's not a good idea to delete anything from vanilla game.

It is also a good idea to look at your results in xEdit, because every thing you've clicked on, will be baked into your mod even if you didn't do anything else to it besides clicking. It's like a false ITM, CK changes one property for that item which doesn't quite affect things, but it marks it as a change anyway.

 

I actually took apart Eli's Breezehome to see how she dealt with existing things there (I mean, I opened it with the CK and looked at it). There are some smaller mods out here which modify players homes, which may be easier to take apart as opposed to Breezehome where almost everything was changed.

 

The tricky things are the markers and the staff they add depending on the state of the house. If you want an item to appear only after the player has decorated the house, you need to find the marker responsible for that area and link your item to it.

 

If I need to semi-permanently get rid of things (meaning I don't want to click on it and '1' every time I load CK but I do't want to see it until I'm finished, like with the player homes it's the items from the unfurnished state), I move them out and rename "edid" field to something like "xxxtemporarilymoved"). When I'm finished I load xEdit and delete all the records with those names.

Also if its juste decorations (static) you're doing, you can hide the markers with "M". Makes navigating existing cells much easier.

[CyniclyPink]

Thank you both very much for your replies. I wish I had this info before I started with my version of Breezehome. I've made a lot of mistakes but after spending a LOT of hours on it I will try to finish it for my own use. I have saved both your replies to a folder I'm keeping with useful tips :smile: I have unfortunately deleted stuff I probs shouldn't have and my navmesh is probably a mess but it's been a good learning exercise. I want to find out how to put water in my tub next and after spending an hour and a half making a book shelf it didn't work but I'm giving it another shot this morning :D Thanks again for your help. I gave you a kudos *hugz*

[thumbincubation]

Tbh, I tried making bookshelves and weapon/shield plaques once...once. Now I use a warehouse mod. Basically, start a new mod and name it Warehouse.

 

Find cell aaaMarkers. Right-click, duplicate, and press f2 to rename it. Name it aaaaBookshelf. Delete the items already found in it, by going to the list beneath the render window and highlighting them. If it prompts you about references, you're in the wrong cell. The main aaaMarkers will prompt. A duplicate will not. Now you have a totally empty cell.

 

Thent, go to someplace like Hjerim and use the (press 1 twice) trick on everything around the bookcase and its activators. When you've got a clear shot at it, click one item, then drag a selection box around the whole thing, to select them all. Alternatively, you could use the text entries beneath the render window. Just make sure you don't miss any. Once the bookshelf and all its activators are selected at once (make sure you turn on M for markers, so you can see them all) then press CTRL + C to copy.

 

Go back to your aaaaBookshelf cell (the aaaa keeps it up at the top of the list, so you can find it easily) and press CTRL + V to paste. Double check that you didn't get a piece of floor or something with it. If you did, click on it, press 1 twice to make sure you've got the right thing selected, (measure twice, cut once) and delete it.

 

Now you have a bookshelf cell, with a copy/paste-able working bookshelf. Do the same for mannequins, weapon and shield plaques, racks, even any structures or interior cells you've built and want to keep as a template.

 

Close ck and reopen. This time, double click the warehouse mod and leave as "plugin," then double click your working mod and set that as the active file. This will open both mods at once, but will only save changes to your active file, your working mod.

 

Then you can go to your aaaaBookshelf warehouse cell, easily copy the entire bookshelf, go to whatever house you're working on and click on a point, then paste it right in. It will almost certainly be halfway through the floor and facing the wrong direction, so use your z, x, and c keys or right-click to spin before selecting anything else, or you'll have to undo and start again. If you accidentally deselect a complex paste, it's a nightmare to try to fix it any other way. Just go right to UNDO. For things like that, I find the best control in having the snap to turned off for placement. (Always on for walls, floors, etc., though.

 

Hopefully that will help make life easier. Also, if you're going the fancy noble route, don't forget the bookcases at the College, with the glass doors, don't need activators as they function like any other container. They'll look like a bunch of books behind glass, in your library, but you can store ingots or whatever in them if you want.

[thumbincubation]

* I should add, don't make your warehouse mod a master, or users will have to have it installed in order to use whatever other mod. Make sure it's just a plugin. Works best with vanilla assets.

 

So if I want to create a stack of vanilla lanterns and save it to warehouse, paste it into a new mod, the game just recreates a stack of the same vanilla lanterns in the new mod. If I were to try to use a custom lantern from my warehouse mod, the new mod wouldn't be able to use it unless I actually created a new item in the creation kit of the new mod, and had the lantern mesh unpacked and in my loose data files. Can be done, but a bit more more tedious.

[CyniclyPink]

@ thumbincubation

 

After reading all this great information, I'm beginning to think I should totally start my mod over :( I really appreciate your help. If you are interested, there are some images in User Images of the Hearthfire Homes I made with Jaxonz Positioner that I want to make into mods. There are none of my Breezehome ones tho. I especially want to make Heljarchen although I'm thinking I may be too ambitious :D

 

If you mouse over the images you'll see the name of the uploader on them.

 

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/52583/?tab=3&selected_game=110&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fskyrim%2Fajax%2Fmodimages%2F%3Fid%3D52583%26user%3D2%26gid%3D110&pUp=1

[thumbincubation]

Ah the Hearthfire homes are a royal p.i.t.a to work with. I don't know much about making configurable homes, but if I was going to make a specific plan in Hearthfire style, I'd probably use the structural pieces to build my own interior cell and then just change the door teleport link to take me to my own cell, rather than the Hearthfire cell. I'm sure I'd lose a feature or two, but opening one of those in Ck is worthy of a small heart attack.

[CyniclyPink]

Ah the Hearthfire homes are a royal p.i.t.a to work with. I don't know much about making configurable homes, but if I was going to make a specific plan in Hearthfire style, I'd probably use the structural pieces to build my own interior cell and then just change the door teleport link to take me to my own cell, rather than the Hearthfire cell. I'm sure I'd lose a feature or two, but opening one of those in Ck is worthy of a small heart attack.

Yep, heart attack was about my reaction when I opened Breezehome for the first time in CK LOL. Im actually thinking about what you said "but if I was going to make a specific plan in Hearthfire style, I'd probably use the structural pieces to build my own interior cell and then just change the door teleport link to take me to my own cell, rather than the Hearthfire cell" and it really makes more sense. Thanks for the suggestion.

[thumbincubation]

You're very welcome. Just for fun, open up one of the Hearthfire homes in CK. It makes Breezehome look easy.