Creation Kit - How do I add armor to a mannequins?

[Shad0wThirteen]

As the topic says, I want to add armor to mannequins in the CK, so it will be on it, when I get there in game.

How do I do that?

And how do I add weapons and shields to weapon racks or the weapon holders on the wall?

Thanks in advance :)

[David Brasher]

I suppose you could give an outfit to a custom mannequin with a new name and form ID, but this would give it all the problems that NPCs in this game have. Like if your follower has a steel armor outfit and you give her a pretty dress to wear to a social occasion, she won't wear it because her steel armor has a higher armor rating. (She is a very practical woman, even if she is a bit socially-challenged.)

 

Chances are, that if you just add loose armor items to the inventory of a mannequin in the CK, it won't wear them until you first talk to the mannequin. (The system is rather goofy. Mannequins are not pieces of furniture like shelves. They are actors and NPCs. They are characters that could go questing with you, but they are being used in the role of storage racks.)

[VileTouch]

I suppose you could give an outfit to a custom mannequin with a new name and form ID, but this would give it all the problems that NPCs in this game have. Like if your follower has a steel armor outfit and you give her a pretty dress to wear to a social occasion, she won't wear it because her steel armor has a higher armor rating. (She is a very practical woman, even if she is a bit socially-challenged.)

 

Chances are, that if you just add loose armor items to the inventory of a mannequin in the CK, it won't wear them until you first talk to the mannequin. (The system is rather goofy. Mannequins are not pieces of furniture like shelves. They are actors and NPCs. They are characters that could go questing with you, but they are being used in the role of storage racks.)

 

you know?... this gives me a great idea!

 

warning. mild nudity ahead. proceed with discretion

 

 

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/104/f86k.jpg

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/6779/f46s.jpg

 

 

[ksfrench79]

I haven't tested this yet in game, but it did dress my mannequin in the desired armor.

 

1. In CK search for object 'PlayerHousecarlOutfit'

2. Duplicate and Rename, I chose 'PHMannOutfit'

3. Right click your duplicated outfit and select 'Edit', then delete the four steel armor items in the edit box.

4. Find desired armor for your mannequin and drag each individual piece into the edit box of your created outfit.

5. Right click your mannequin and 'Edit', then choose 'Edit Base'.

6. Rename the 'ID' section and when asked to create a New Form, click 'Yes". I renamed mine 'ShadowArmorMann', after the name of the armor I put on it for organization reasons.

7. Still in the 'Edit Base' tab find the 'Default Outfit' button and it should display "NONE", click the box and find your created outfit... in my case it was 'PHMannOutfit'.

 

....and viola, your mannequin should be equipped with it's new armor.

 

DISCLAIMER: As I said, I haven't tested this in game yet, so I'm not sure if there will be any bugs.

Edited January 2, 2013 by ksfrench79

[ThadeusCalvin]

Thank you very much! This works! But I might add, don't forget to add the items of the default armor into the custom mannequin's inventory.

[ben446]

Hi know this is an old thread, but I have an idea similar to what this thread started as, so I thought id revive it, I don't wish to hijack the thread but as the OP's question seems to be answered I hope no one minds. Ok so my idea was this, making a mannequin that is set up to be a unique display. so for example miraaks clothes. is there a way I could set the mannequin up to work with miraaks clothes the same way I can set up a dragon claw display or a dragon priest mask display. I'm currently working on a house mod and ive split the rooms on the ground floor so each room is for something different, ive got a kitchen alchemy room library enchanting room as well as a couple of others. id love to be able to set up maybe two mannequins one in the alchemy room and one in the enchanting room. I was thinking or placing one mannequin set up to be a display for an outfit that improves enchantment and one set up with an outfit that improves alchemy. So having not used the ck for long, this being my 3rd larger house mod and this being the most indepth house ive done, I'm not sure if y idea is even possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[z64fan13]

In case someone else runs across this thread and couldn't get ksfrench's method to work, here's what I did:

Here's a method in Creation Kit that doesn't require any scripts. In short we're adding the armors as a "Skin" rather than a traditional outfit, which don't work with mannequins for some reason:

 

Part 1

1) Make sure you have all the armor addons available in your .esp file for the armor you plan to dress the mannequin with. If you are using a custom armor mod, then you will need to duplicate those addons into your .esp. If you don't know what any of that means, then stop here. This process is too advanced for you. Watch some YouTube guides, then come back when you have some more experience with CK.

2) Find and Duplicate the Armor "ArmorManakin"

3) Open the duplicate file and rename it to something easy to find (ex: "_modname_mannequinarmor")

4) Under "Biped Object" click to highlight in blue all the armor slots you want the mannequin to be able to equip.

5) Under "Show All" and "Models" you should see the armor addons listed for the mannequin's naked hands, body and feet. Leave those alone.

6) Save often, because creation kit crashes a LOT.

7) Right click anywhere in the list's box and select "New" from the drop down. This will bring up the "Select Form" window

:cool: Find and add the armor addons that you want the mannequin to wear by double clicking on them. You can use the "Filter" box to search for the addons by name. Repeat as needed.

9) You should now have a complete list of armor addons in the Armor Window. Check the "show all" box if a few are missing. Some of them are hidden by default for some reason.

10) At this point double click each armor addon in the list and make sure the "Manakin Race" is highlight in the "Additional Races" box, since some custom armors don't do this by default.

 

Part 2

1) Save at this point, since CK crashes a LOT

2) Find and Duplicate the Actor "PlayerHouseMannequin"

3) Open the duplicate file and rename the "ID" box. Most of the tabs can be left as is. Don't touch the default mannequin activator script. It's there for a reason.

4) Under the "Traits" tab use the drop down menu next to "Skin" to select the armor you created in Part 1. Hopefully you gave it an easy name to find.

5) Check the "Female" box if you want the mannequin to be a female model. (NOTE: You may need to duplicate assets from a mod that puts females mannequins into the game. I do not believe vanilla skyrim has female mannequins by default)

6) OPTIONAL: If you want the mannequin to hold the armor in it's inventory, then you can add them in the "Inventory" Tab. This will not affect the mannequin's default appearance. Removing the armors in-game also won't affect the appearance. I also added the duplicate ArmorManakin package from Part 1 to the inventory, but I don't think this is required for the mod to work. Do NOT add an outfit to the "Default Outfit".

7) Click "OK" and save.

:cool: You may now add your fully dressed mannequin to the game. Follow this guide if you don't know how:

. If this link breaks, then just look it up on YouTube.

 

DISCLAIMER #1: I have not tested every armor under the sun with this method nor do I plan to. Inevitably some HDT or BBP armor won't play nice with mannequins, so be prepared to tinker around if something breaks. Prior to writing this guide, I successfully dressed a Mannequin in the full Midnight Breed armor (BBP) and a KS HDT Wig.

 

DISCLAIMER#2: This method sets the armor as the mannequin's "skin", which means the armor is in it's default appearance. It is intended for the mannequin to be an ornamental display. Because of this, if you want 5 different armored mannequins, then you need to go through the above process 5 times. Theoretically, you can add different armors to the mannequin in-game, but you have to make sure the new armor's priority is set higher than the default armor that is baked into the "Skin". You can change the priority in Creation Kit using the "armor addon" window for each of the armors. If you don't know what that means then educate yourself with YouTube or the CK wiki.

 

TROUBLESHOOTING

 

"The mannequin is naked in game"

A: Double check Part 1 step 4) and 10).

 

"Some of the armors are showing in game, but other aren't"

A: Double check Part 1 step 4) and 10). Also, make sure 2 armor addons aren't assigned to the same armor slot. If they are, then the addon with the highest priority will win. The loser will not display.

 

"The mannequin looks weird in the preview model in CK and/or the cell view. Did I screw up?"
A: Probably not. The preview function and the cell view are notoriously inaccurate. Doubly true with custom armors or any item that uses HDT physics. Check the mannequin in-game before panicking.

 

"I uninstalled the custom armor mod and now the mannequin is naked/invisible/a floating head"

A: Working as intended. If you are adding the mannequin to a standalone mod, then you need to duplicate the armor assets (Part 1; Step 1). Otherwise, don't uninstall the original armor mod.

 

"Now all the mannequins in-game are wearing the armor. What did I do?"

A: This is why we duplicated the assets in Part 1, Step 2 and Part 2, Step 2. If you edited the original files, then bad things will happen.

 

"I can't find the mannequin in-game"

A: You likely skipped Part 2, Step 8. You need to add the mannequin to a cell for it to show up in game.

 

"When I remove a piece of armor from the inventory, it doesn't change the mannequin's appearance"

A: Working as intended. Read Disclaimer #2 again

 

"The mannequin won't equip new armors that I give it in game"

A: Read Disclaimer #2 again. Specifically the part about armor priority.

 

"How did my mannequin get hair...and eyes.....and why can't I change it back in the 'body parts data" tab?"

A: I believe this is a bug in the "manakin race". I ran into it too. Try redoing part 2 and make a new mannequin actor. If that doesn't work, then recreate the Manakin Race as a custom race. Bear in mind, you will have to repeat Part 1, Step 10 if you change the mannequin's race.

 

"Where do I find female mannequin assets?"

A: I used https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9131?tab=files

 

"I did EVERY step in the guide and it still isn't working. I promise I did every step exactly"

A: I promise you didn't. It's also possible you free-styled and added extra steps that broke the mannequin. Double check, then triple check each step. Check for conflicting mannequin mods, then go back and check every step again. When in doubt, refer to disclaimer #1.