Need an assist with a Custom Workshop Border

[HardcoreHobbyist]

Maybe I am biting off more than I can chew first time out but I wanted to figure out how to add a custom boundary to an expansion I am performing on Jamaica Plains. Done a ton of reading just getting up to speed with the tools needed and this is the result:

 

 

This appears as if the texture is missing.

 

 

Short version of steps i took so far:

 

• Expanded/Added additional Boundary Cells in CK (Build area working 100%)
• Exported the Boundary Cells as well as some of the terrain mesh as .fbk
• Imported Blender and plied the Boundary Cells into workshop borders
• Poked around with BAE to find the current Border texture files: WorkshopBoundary01_d
• Applied texture to mesh in Blender
• Exported as .fbk
• Dropped into Outfit Studio (texture was missing but tutorial said thats ok?)
• Exported from OS as .nif
• Opened project in nifskope
• Opened reference in nifskope side by side (WorkshopBorderJamaicaPlain01)
• Attempted to recreate the settings manually and on a separate try copying the branches

(If i had to wager this is where I messed up)

• Exported the file since i seemed to be unable to get my border to display the effects in nifskope
• Fired up the CK
• Successfully replaced the current border with my custom boundary (w/out texture)
• Was able to see it in game

If there is something more I can add here let me know and I will gladly attempt to retrace the specifics. I am also willing to partner with someone who may be able to finish this project if there is just too much to explain.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this!

 

 

[MissingMeshTV]

So are you asking how to fix the missing texture?

 

Compare your mesh with a vanilla mesh in Nifskope. Check to make sure you have all the correct shader flags set and have the workshop border source texture assigned: textures\Effects\WorkshopBoundary01_d.dds

 

It also looks like there's a greyscale texture that you'll need to assign: Textures\Effects\Gradients\WorkshopBoundaryGrad01.dds

 

The workshop borders don't seem to use material files like most other meshes so you need to set the texture path right into the .nif.

[HardcoreHobbyist]

Greetings Red and thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

With a bit of humility I must admit I wasn't sure what it was I needed help with. I thought perhaps I tried to apply the texture incorrectly in blender or didn't prepare the mesh properly to work with an effect in nifskope. The number of missteps i could have made are immeasurable lol.

 

To your suggestion though I noticed nearly all of the tutorials referenced weapons mods or armors which use lightingshaders instead of effectshaders so I am attempting to make sure I understand the methodology of it all instead of just following steps. Here are a couple of screen shots to attempt to show where I am at with nifskope:

 

 

 

I thought I had properly setup the shaders and references to point back to the custom border but I wasn't seeing the effects in nifskope.

 

Could you recommend a proper manual or tutorial that might help me find what I missed?

 

 

Thank you again

Edited October 14, 2017 by untolds

[HardcoreHobbyist]

I have a couple of follow up questions:

 

Has anyone actually made a working custom workshop boundary that appears like the default ones or have they just recycled and scaled existing ones?

 

What does Vertex Size, Float Size and V3, V4, V5 & V8 influence?

 

I've been at this for a few days, digging up info, poking around in nifskope and I am finding through trial and error basically there is alot more going on in the Border mesh than I initially thought. For example I noticed Multiple Vertex points in nifskop all at the same spot. What appears to be 1 Vertex in nifskope can actually be 4. Two shaded green by the vertex color for the inside of meshes, two more shaded red on the outside for those faces as well. This is how they achieve different colors depending on what side of the mesh you are on.

I plan on working through this eventually but if someone could point to some useful sources of information I would be most appreciative.

 

THanks,