[LE] Is it possible to edit the game code that loads body models/meshes?

[corrado33]

I always thought it'd be interesting to be able to give people different body models in the game. So you could have "fat" npcs while other's were "skinny", instead of every NPC having roughly the same body type. I figured this would probably result form editing the game code that loads models. I'm guessing it's not possible, as it hasn't been done yet. :)

[leonardo2]

Creating a new body mod seems to be the only way to do that. :smile:

[corrado33]

Creating a new body mod seems to be the only way to do that. :smile:

 

Meh, I'm not that good with meshes. I just wanted to create something that could perhaps randomly (or not so randomly) load various body mods on the nexus.

 

Actually I guess it'd more be loading various armor meshes rather than body mods...

Edited October 12, 2018 by corrado33

[IsharaMeradin]

It is possible and there was a mod that attempted to do so. It split the races up and moved NPCs from the original race into these "sub races". Each of these "sub races" were able to have a different body shape. However, they had to also change all the armor / clothing that they wore to accommodate the new body shapes. It ended up being a lot of work.

 

A slightly easier route would be to do what is done in my Custom Player Body mod but do it for NPCs. It is already in game and used by the Dark Brotherhood Assassins that attack you starting around level 6. Each actor can have its "naked" body overridden by a different armor record. If you use an armor appearance, the NPC would not get any advantage of the armor as it is assumed to be a "naked" body. But clothing doesn't usually give any armor rating and so you could, in theory, assign clothing as an NPC's "naked" body. You could then use BodySlide to modify various clothing to fit the different body shapes and spread those among at least the clothing wearing NPCs.

 

Both methods have the downside that if they are given any armor of a higher rating they'll equip that and possibly change body shape as a result. Furthermore, with the clothing body if it didn't fully replace it, it would cause clipping with the clothing as the clothing would be the "naked" body.

 

Now if you don't care about spontaneous body shape changing and just want to see different gear of different shapes in game, you'd want to look into how Immersive Armors spreads the gear around. Only you'd use different shaped gear rather than gear designed for the same body shape.

 

Another possibility and one not explored much... I know there is a formlist that controls what texture set is used at each stage of the weight slider. Usually this just has the single texture set in it, but you can fill it with a total of 11 texture sets. Thus you could create a body that has drastic changes across the 11 steps (0-10) and apply different textures to each stage thus giving more differences to the body than just shape. Then it would be a matter of adjusting the gear to fit. If the body mesh and armor meshes were body slide compatible, it just might be doable. The only thing left to do would be to go through the NPCs and set them at the exact weight settings you want them to be in. However, this would affect the player character as well which may be undesirable.

[corrado33]

It is possible and there was a mod that attempted to do so. It split the races up and moved NPCs from the original race into these "sub races". Each of these "sub races" were able to have a different body shape. However, they had to also change all the armor / clothing that they wore to accommodate the new body shapes. It ended up being a lot of work.

 

A slightly easier route would be to do what is done in my Custom Player Body mod but do it for NPCs. It is already in game and used by the Dark Brotherhood Assassins that attack you starting around level 6. Each actor can have its "naked" body overridden by a different armor record. If you use an armor appearance, the NPC would not get any advantage of the armor as it is assumed to be a "naked" body. But clothing doesn't usually give any armor rating and so you could, in theory, assign clothing as an NPC's "naked" body. You could then use BodySlide to modify various clothing to fit the different body shapes and spread those among at least the clothing wearing NPCs.

 

Both methods have the downside that if they are given any armor of a higher rating they'll equip that and possibly change body shape as a result. Furthermore, with the clothing body if it didn't fully replace it, it would cause clipping with the clothing as the clothing would be the "naked" body.

 

Now if you don't care about spontaneous body shape changing and just want to see different gear of different shapes in game, you'd want to look into how Immersive Armors spreads the gear around. Only you'd use different shaped gear rather than gear designed for the same body shape.

 

Another possibility and one not explored much... I know there is a formlist that controls what texture set is used at each stage of the weight slider. Usually this just has the single texture set in it, but you can fill it with a total of 11 texture sets. Thus you could create a body that has drastic changes across the 11 steps (0-10) and apply different textures to each stage thus giving more differences to the body than just shape. Then it would be a matter of adjusting the gear to fit. If the body mesh and armor meshes were body slide compatible, it just might be doable. The only thing left to do would be to go through the NPCs and set them at the exact weight settings you want them to be in. However, this would affect the player character as well which may be undesirable.

 

 

Annnnndddddd now I see why no one has really ever done this. :smile:

 

I briefly thought maybe you could write a script (outside the game) that noticed when the mesh file was about to be accessed and give the game a random one... then I realized that the file is probably in memory and that would never work. :)

Edited October 13, 2018 by corrado33