In serious need of assistance! All suggestions welcome!

[Bromancelot]

Hey there everyone,

 

Let me start off first by saying I am not one to ever ask for help. I consider myself extremely self sufficient and can research my own problems if I have questions. I started modding very recently and have run into more issues than I care to admit. After diving head first into this world, I can truly say that I somewhat underestimated the difficulty behind it all.

So in all honesty, THANK YOU for everything you all do. You all go out of your way to add new experiences to my gaming experience, and have busted your asses working to do so.

 

Now onto the issue at hand. I have been in the process of trying to create my own follower/companion. I thought it would be a simple task to import a nif file from FO4, and add my own custom mesh over it. From the tutorials I have watched, rigging your own mesh to the vanilla FO4 mesh’s bones and animation seemed simple enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWwBRB_TtwM&index=32&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr

 

I plan on making an android companion. So I started with a Gen 1 Synth body. There were several types. I tried both with the “teleportation Gen 1 Synth,” and the basic one. After having a rough time with that, I tried the synth Gen 2, in hopes that my hand models could be matched, and rigged to the Synth hands.

Since I guess this counted as a custom “creature,” I started with that basic, instead of using a character asset.

(also loading and trying to understand the male body character NIF, I got even more confused as to all the extra parts it had. Like having a camera for a head, and such. The Ghoul characters as well.)

 

I successfully completed my model for the Gen1, and attached it accordingly as I saw in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFuePZYzD4E&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr&index=33&t=790s

 

On my first attempt to export as a NIF file, I got an error message that prevented me from exporting. So I figured I would do it the old fashioned way, export as an OBJ, and convert it through OutfitStudio. Here was my first problem:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/Crimson1344/Untitled.jpg~original

 

I have no idea what I did wrong here, and I am horribly confused. I know how to fix the rotation, that’s not an issue. It’s these crazy spikes that came out of nowhere once I exported.

 

My second problem was the UV. I wasn’t sure how to edit the UV maps, or textures in 3DS Max. Every time I try to find the menu for it, it doesn’t seem to exist. I’ve watched several videos where the narrator has the menu already on his screen. Not sure how they did it. As well as applying and editing the textures in 3DS Max itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppTXCJ0SZ88&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr&index=5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT05gH_UouQ&index=11&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr (Yes I know this is with NIFSkope, as well.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UYRag3h23o&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr&index=30

 

Next I tried just messing around with a basic mesh in NIF scope with no luck. The “rigs,” and “bones,” confused the living hell out of me and I didn’t know how to alter or remove them. After getting frustrated I returned to 3DS Max, and tried removing the skeleton from my custom mesh, to just tack it onto the FO4 original. When I deleted some of the bones, the parts of the mesh were deleted with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u51yDEGzmQ&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr&index=29

 

Really what I am asking is, when I am trying to attach a custom model/mesh to a premade F04 one, what am I doing wrong? There are zero tutorials for f04 regarding CHARACTER creation. Only armors and weapons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfkhjrY5F40&list=PLKUPgkiBIdAP7K_y8y-vxILZ3yVO7WYRr&index=27

 

Important notes:

My original mesh was created out of two different file types. A NIF file for the body, and an MDL file for the head. This wasn’t too much of a problem, I thought, until it came to the pose, and the MDL’s bones/animations/ etc. I think that's what caused my exporting issue. Not sure how to fix it.

 

I am using:

3DS Max 2017 (I noticed many people said only 2012-14 worked properly because of plugins from bethesda. But, I found several https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/79145/?

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/84041/?

I am currently using: https://github.com/figment/max_nif_plugin/releases/tag/3.8.0

 

NifSKope 2.0.0 PreAlpha 4

(Also have) Blender. 3DS MAx was easier.

Fallout Material editor

F04 BAE

BodySlide & OutfitStudio

 

I don’t know where I am going wrong with any of it. Each modder seems to have their own specific way of doing things.

Please if anyone could give me a step by step, or a few pointers to head me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

If this is truly an issue of what version of 3DS Max I have, I will deal with it, and find an older version (even though my plugin seems to work perfectly except for my model), but please lets just start with the basics.

I'm also now roped into doing this for a CSC110 final project with a deadline. (don't ask)

Edited September 15, 2017 by SirMcSourTowel