The Dark Faces bug : How to fix it?

[Qwinn]

In most cases, the dark face bug is not due to any issues with facegen, it is simply an install/load order issue.

 

A good rule of thumb that will generally avoid the problem is to simply have your installation order match your plugin order as closely as possible. It's easy to do in MO2, just make your left pane order match your right pane order as closely as possible. 95% of the time, the bug is caused by having the install and plugin orders not matching, which results in the meshes and textures from mod A winning the install order conflict, and mod B winning the conflict in the NPC Actor records in the ESP plugin. That mismatch is what most often causes the bug.

 

Note that, if some of your NPC replacers are archived (in BSA files), and others are using loose files, then simply sorting them as described above may not fix the problem, because loose files will always override BSA files regardless of load/plugin order. In those cases, if you want the mod with the files in the BSA to win the conflict, you will have to either extract the BSA so that both mods are using loose files, or archive the one with loose files so that plugin order can establish which one wins the conflict. These days however, at least for SSE, almost all NPC replacers provide a loose files option in their download section.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Qwinn

[Zaflis]

Open console, click on the affected character, type in setnpcweight 35 ,click enter. Voila. Sometimes it only gets to a one shade darker face than the rest of the body but still better than messing with the CK. Also the wrenches mod was the reason I got the error, but I still have it because it's a good mode, some console using on my gray faced people is no biggie in exchange.

This was simple and worked. I had Yuriana follower from a mod and at some point face became dark. I don't know why it did though, and i rely on LOOT to sort my load order along with MO1. Actually i first did "setnpcweight 0" and dark face became normal. Then tried with 100 aswell and it was still normal, so it's just the act of setting weight that resets something internally.

 

edit: Oh there was a downside though, it changed face geometry. But it restores to what it should be (not dark this time) after some time of playing and/or restarting the game.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Zaflis

[KnightGrimm88]

Open console, click on the affected character, type in setnpcweight 35 ,click enter. Voila. Sometimes it only gets to a one shade darker face than the rest of the body but still better than messing with the CK. Also the wrenches mod was the reason I got the error, but I still have it because it's a good mode, some console using on my gray faced people is no biggie in exchange.

 

 

Lazy mans fix

[jmatt44]

I have a personal mod where I changed hundreds of NPC faces, hair, gear, etc. When I ported it over to SSE, all of them had the black face bug. I didn't understand why, because from my reading it said all you have to do is load the plugin, make one small change and hit save. The CK, I understood, would properly export all these faces. I read there was no need to fo ctrl-f4 anymore because it was automated. I almost gave up on porting my own mod, but then in a hunch I went through each of the hundreds of NPCs I changed, highlighted them, then did the ctrl-f$ thing. Sure enough, the black faces were fixed. Since then I've gone into that plugin several times to make small adjustments (not to faces, which would require that I ctrl-f4 them again, but to outfits and weapons). Each time, the CK does it's thing, creating some sort of face files (I'm wondering if there's an option in CreationKit.ini to stop that?) but happily that doesn't mess up the faces in game. My one time ctrl-f4 function solved the problem.

Thanks JoeJett! This fixed the issue for me I appreciate you mate.

[onart]

While the setweight command seems to workl great, I do not see any way to save that change. After next game start the face is crispy brown again. Saving the game doesn;t store it - does anyone know a trick tomake the change permanent?

[COMBATFUN]

The darkface bug occurs, when the mod data loading priority is not in line with the plugin loading priority. this can be fixed by "pros" in sseedit (see link below). the setnpc weight command sets the npc face back to vanilla looking. so in case character mods as wico are installed: they aren't active anymore ! but the dark face should be gone. also this command has to be entered every time, the game is started - for every concerned npc. and there might be a little neck seam, on some npcs.

 

the best way to fix this bug for noobs is:

1) deinstall all mods that change characters (wico, immersive college of winterhold, diversity, bijiin...). also delete all compatibility patches regarding those mods, in case any are installed.

2) run loot and make sure everything is good.

3) install all mods that change characters again. don't run loot ever again now, otherwise you have to do it all again. the bug is now fixed, cause the above mentioned data loading priority is symmetric.

 

If you want to "go pro" and fix it in sseedit, go check the Black-Face Patching Guide (PDF FILE under miscellaneous) here: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17004?tab=files

 

Edit:
The facegen run in the CK sets back the faces to vanilla, just as the setnpc weight command does. So in case mods as wico are installed: they aren't active anymore! But the dark faces should be gone...and some npcs might still get a neck seam.

Edited January 31, 2019 by COMBATFUN

[5MHdxfn]

I got black face a lot due to hair replacer. :whistling:

 

My solution so far was: Create facegen for all NPCs. I had several Creation Kit crashes, reaparing dark faces. This thread is an eye opener. Thanks a lot.

[COMBATFUN]

I got black face a lot due to hair replacer. :whistling:

 

My solution so far was: Create facegen for all NPCs. I had several Creation Kit crashes, reaparing dark faces. This thread is an eye opener. Thanks a lot.

Yeah, but now your faces are vanilla again, aren't they? :)

Well everything that edits head stuff can cause the dark/black/brown face bug. As mentioned, in the mod manager the left pane (mod data) and right pane (mod plugins) must be in line.

If you run Loot after installing mods that change NPCs heads, it won't be inline anymore, until manually corrected again. Either by manually drag&drop correcting the plugins, or by deinstalling/installing the mods that change npc heads again (incl. compatibility patches) and don't run loot again. Last and best: Fix it in SSEEDIT as explained the link.

[tizerist]

I'm about to embark on a whole load of face fixing once I've finished my current project. It's true that most of the time, not running Loot is not an option. You'll get a whole different set of problems if you avoid running Loot lol

[Mebantiza]

The so-called 'black-faced' bug, is in almost every instance due to user-generated errors. You people are not even correct when you call it a 'bug'. This so-called 'bug' manifests itself in the overwhelming majority of cases, simply because you all keep installing CONFLICTING mods assets together.

 

Now It is possible, a creator could release a mod that whose facegen(s) are not properly made. Even in those cases, calling that a 'bug' would be stretch, when it would better to call it what is, a mistake, error, poorly made mesh etc. That would be an entirely different matter from what 99% of you are doing, which is mushing who knows how many conflicting mods by different creators together.

 

 

All this bullshit about the CK and 'Loot' is just that, BS. Stop mashing different mods that are modifying the same assets (usually facegen) together, and your chances of ever seeing this NOT A BUG, will fall to near zero. Or, you can knock yourselves out playing with the CK and screwing around for days on end trying to figure it all out. But it would a lot simpler if y'all just stop what is causing it in the first place. You all realize there can be only be ONE set of assets governing any object in the engine right? If you create a characters face, all the related assets it calls on, should either governed by a single, consistent source(ie one mod), or, possibly use vanilla assets. Depart from that idea, and, have fun fooking with the CK, or screwing with LOOT for days on end.