Fluffy Khajiit Project

[Ashnur]

Okay, so, about the whole thing with the head meshes, this are my thoughts:

 

"Even if vert order is preserved (which I think it is, at least going by the Blender instructions from the Fusa Fusa Project mod page though I'm not 100% sure), you can't have multiple NiTriShapes in a head part nif, so the only way around it would be to leave the original head nif untouched and add each shell as a separate nif as extra head parts in the head part data (like hair lines are for hairs)."

 

To clarify: head part nifs can't have more than one NiTriShape in them due to engine limitations, so you can't have the head and the 4-5 shell shapes in the same nif. But, the game allows you to add as many "Extra Parts" in the head part data as you want (hairs do it to add the "Hair line" to the main Hair record so they are loaded at the same time ingame even though they are in separate nifs). So in theory you could create the shells you need for the head and save each of them as a single NiTriShape in separate nifs and then load all of them as extra parts in the head data.

 

The end result would be that all 5 meshes (head + 4 shells) would be loaded ingame at the same time just like if they were actually in the same nif file without being in the same nif file. As an added bonus, if the "shell creation" process can be done without deleting vertices or changing vertex order from the original head mesh, you wouldn't even need to create or edit .tri files, because the original ones would still work with the shells.

 

Of course, this assumes the reason for all 4 shells to be in the same nif as the base mesh is simply for them to be loaded at the same time; if there is some other technical reason that needs them to be in the same nif or else the effect doesn't work, then this method would unfortunately not be an option. But I thought I should share it in case it was possible.

 

Hummm very interesting point!

 

Since each shell has no real dependency towards each others (during tests I've tried to hide one/more just to see the results) I think it might work.

But is there enough slots for the head to load 5 shells? I don't want to mess with slots that have no reasons to be used (or often used by other body parts like nails and so on).

 

But, well, I have to admit that it's a great idea anyway. Thanks a lot! :)

[Ashnur]

So from what I understand this is a project to make Fluffy Khajiit, only the Khajiit isn't a retexture/skin texture. It's a outfit/suit your character wears yeah? I'd just love to see this as a skin retexture someday, since the images I've seen, are absolutely stunning.

 

Thanks for your comment!

 

But sadly, it won't be a retexture due to the method used to make the 3D fur effect. It needs some real meshes/3D objects to work, flat 2D textures are not enough. ^^

 

The idea is to make an outfit at first (with several parts for body/hands/feet/head), and IF possible as a custom race, but there'll be (for the head part) something like a fake helmet/wig/circlet for the fur effect on this part to work I think.

 

Cheers!

[Blazze69]

But is there enough slots for the head to load 5 shells? I don't want to mess with slots that have no reasons to be used (or often used by other body parts like nails and so on).

Head parts don't use equipment slots, they work on a completely different "system", so there shouldn't be any problem with the shells taking up slots from other mods. You can have as many meshes loading as "head parts" as you want, and they don't even need to be placed around the actual head. For example, IIRC the Crimes Against Nature mod loads the tails for the Pony race as extra head parts of the hair so they match the character's hairstyle and color; and I know of a mod in LL that uses/used a similar setup to load, huh, hair for private areas that matched the main character's hair in color (because it was set up as an extra part too).

 

They do still get unequipped if the slot that is listed in the nif partition data is covered by anything else, though (for example that's why hair disappears when you equip anything that uses the Hair slot like hoods or helmets even though the hair itself is not registered as "equipped" by the game or anything like that).

 

But as long as you assign the shell meshes to the same slot as the base head nif (SBP_130_HEAD if I remember correctly), it should work just fine.

Edited February 10, 2018 by Blazze69

[Ashnur]

 

But is there enough slots for the head to load 5 shells? I don't want to mess with slots that have no reasons to be used (or often used by other body parts like nails and so on).

Head parts don't use equipment slots, they work on a completely different "system", so there shouldn't be any problem with the shells taking up slots from other mods. You can have as many meshes loading as "head parts" as you want, and they don't even need to be placed around the actual head. For example, IIRC the Crimes Against Nature mod loads the tails for the Pony race as extra head parts of the hair so they match the character's hairstyle and color; and I know of a mod in LL that uses/used a similar setup to load, huh, hair for private areas that matched the main character's hair in color (because it was set up as an extra part too).

 

They do still get unequipped if the slot that is listed in the nif partition data is covered by anything else, though (for example that's why hair disappears when you equip anything that uses the Hair slot like hoods or helmets even though the hair itself is not registered as "equipped" by the game or anything like that).

 

But as long as you assign the shell meshes to the same slot as the base head nif (SBP_130_HEAD if I remember correctly), it should work just fine.

 

 

Nice informations! Thanks a lot Blazze69!

 

I'll try to make something working with all this. :)

[Ashnur]

Blazze69 : you're my savior!

 

Thanks to your advices I manage to make this fur shells work ingame.

Here's a picture in racemnu to show you how it looks. It's not "smooth" nor beautifull for now, because the textures shells are still a crappy, just for testing purpose^^.

The most important thing is, as you can see, in the sculpt racemenu section we can cleary see the different shells in the wireframe window. And THAT, my friend, is almost a gift from gods! =:D

 

 

 

Your name will be praised for 99 generations in my family! ;)

[Ashnur]

Now it's time to make a clean file structure since almost all ingredients are in place!

After that, I'll rework all the furs to be more consistent and matches together as a whole.

 

It's far from finished, but we now have a lot more than only the first stone! ^_^

 

For better results here's a quick list of things that have to be OR should be done :

- change the base head shape : I'm working with the Dagi-Raht base for now, but it still have human ears on it... editing a base head and remove those ears would be really cool

- so maybe I can give up on Dagi-Rhat completely, and just create a custom race for the racial bonus that would stick to a fluffy cat (less dependencies is always better^^)

- make all the fur layers to match the body color or hairs with slider in racemenu

- correct the weight sliders. for now the body works fine with it, but feet and hands are fine only for 0 or 1 weight, between it's a mess

- fix the neck! the neck is very strange, all black, with some polygons/parts of a mesh sticking outside on the back

 

Cheers!

Edited February 10, 2018 by Ashnur

[Blazze69]

Glad to help, and nice to hear it worked out :laugh:!

 

One question, though: did you manage to keep the .tri files and thus get the shells to morph alongside the head? If not, maybe I could help with that; I've got some experience on tweaking heads/headparts without breaking the .tris (my own shark race is such an example, since it uses Argonian heads as a base).

 

Otherwise, about your list of things to do:

• Altering the head shape should be possible, I can guide you through the process if you want. Alternatively I think I've seen an earless human head somewhere already, probably for a similar "humanoid cat" race. Maybe in Nuska's custom race assets pack? Would have to check.
• If you want to create a brand new custom race (even if you use the Dagi-Rath assets as a base), I could help with that as well.
• Don't know how the nif is set up and would have to check it out, but I'd say as long as the BSLightingShaderProperties for the shells are set to the same values as the body (or head for the head shells), it should pick up the skin color/tint just fine. The most important step is probably to set the "Skyrim Shader Type" to "Skin Tint" if it isn't already.
• Body parts loading fine at 0 and 100 weight but being a mess anywhere in between means the _0 and _1 nifs are different and have different vertex order. You may need to rebuild them to fix it.
• No idea on the neck, would have to check it out ingame or see a screenshot before I do anything else.

Edited February 10, 2018 by Blazze69

[Ashnur]

 

Glad to help, and nice to hear it worked out :laugh:!

 

One question, though: did you manage to keep the .tri files and thus get the shells to morph alongside the head? If not, maybe I could help with that; I've got some experience on tweaking heads/headparts without breaking the .tris (my own shark race is such an example, since it uses Argonian heads as a base).

 

Otherwise, about your list of things to do:

• Altering the head shape should be possible, I can guide you through the process if you want. Alternatively I think I've seen an earless human head somewhere already, probably for a similar "humanoid cat" race. Maybe in Nuska's custom race assets pack? Would have to check.
• If you want to create a brand new custom race (even if you use the Dagi-Rath assets as a base), I could help with that as well.
• Don't know how the nif is set up and would have to check it out, but I'd say as long as the BSLightingShaderProperties for the shells are set to the same values as the body (or head for the head shells), it should pick up the skin color/tint just fine. The most important step is probably to set the "Skyrim Shader Type" to "Skin Tint" if it isn't already.
• Body parts loading fine at 0 and 100 weight but being a mess anywhere in between means the _0 and _1 nifs are different and have different vertex order. You may need to rebuild them to fix it.
• No idea on the neck, would have to check it out ingame or see a screenshot before I do anything else.

 

 

Thanks for your reply and your help proposal! :smile:

 

I'll continue for now to tweak the whole thing to have all parts matching together, then I'll really consider making a full custom race, because since we already used a custom head that would make sense to use a custom body...so a custom race^^

I'll try to do it by myself to learn more. But I'll post updates on evolution/problems here or send you messages if I have problems. (and surely I'll have a lot! xD)

 

I'll check the Skin Shader Type for "Skin Tint"! I had no idea such a thing existed^^ (I really began to learn modding like two weeks ago.. before I was just removing armor parts in nif, or changing colors in Gimp, and a little CK to duplicate items or changing values. Nothing like this project^^) Thanks for this new tip! :smile:

 

For the mesh/poly stocking around the neck, I just found it. It wasd because the Dagi-Raht use a neck part. I just removed it and no more sticky things. :smile:

 

I'll check for the earless human head, and look at the pack you mentionned.

 

And for the feet/hands sliders not working, it's my fault! I just edited the meshes 0 and 1, and didn't build anything with Outfit studio^^

 

Really, you're a great help! Thanks a lot! :smile:

Edited February 10, 2018 by Ashnur

[aviform]

I wish I could help more with this but my mesh experience doesn't include much in the way of actors and definitely not weight sliders. Godspeed!!

 

Have you thought about making a topic on the skyrimmods subreddit for this? The people there are very helpful and would probably be interested in it.

Edited February 10, 2018 by aviform

[Ashnur]

I wish I could help more with this but my mesh experience doesn't include much in the way of actors and definitely not weight sliders. Godspeed!!

 

Have you thought about making a topic on the skyrimmods subreddit for this? The people there are very helpful and would probably be interested in it.

 

 

Thanks for your support and idea.

I hven't thought about the skyrimmods subredit I admit^^ If I have other major problems it might be a great place to look for help you're absolutly right! :)