flossoraptor Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 So I'm making an armor for a mod that is more or less a mash-up of other armors. So I made a new mesh, coping certain parts of meshes, combining them and editing them so that they fit together.. The different meshes still remain as different "objects" in the new mesh, so I can apply a different texture to each of them. That is good. However, I am not sure how to do that. I'd like to use the original textures. There is a very easy way for me to do this: all I have to do is extract the texture from the .bsa, put them somewhere in my Skyrim data folder, and then link a texture set to these .dds files. However, that would make me unable to distribute the mod because somebody who has not purchased the game could get their hands on the unaltered .dds files. How do I use a vanilla texture on a mesh? I can't get at the vanilla texture in the Creation Kit because it's hidden away in the .bsa. Another question: is distributing the mesh okay even though it was modified slightly? It's a mash-up of various other armor meshes that I had to make slight changes to in order to get it to look okay. A third question: where do I find the texture for the skooma bottle? If I can't get the vanilla textures working, I will just extract the textures from the .bsa and make the armor for my own personal use. But I can't find the texture that gets mapped to the skooma bottle mesh anywhere in the textures .bsa. I suppose it is worth noting that the skooma mesh already has the texture on it when I open it in NifSkope.. I need to get it from the mesh though, because the texture's not showing up on the skooma bottle in my custom mesh on the Creation Kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmanners Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Derivative copying is generally considered "fair use" though that may vary depending on what country you live in (and the judge you get, should you be sued), but don't take my word for it. If you are concerned about being sued, talk to a lawyer, or don't bother distributing mods. That said, you can probably find lots of vanilla textures and meshes all over this site. Like I said, it's basically fair use. I think there's a bsa browser tool you can find. I forget where it is. It's on the Nexus somewhere. :tongue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flossoraptor Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) Perhaps I didn't express myself very well. I know that it is possible to use vanilla textures and whatnot without actually including the .dds files in your mod. All you have to do is tell the Creation Kit where to find the texture in the player's Skyrim Data folder. Unfortunately this is easier said than done because the average Skyrim player has not extracted the .dds files from the .bsa so you are trying to use files that are hidden away. It's very frustrating. I even know where I would find the texture I want in the .bsa. The file path would look something like "/Armor/blades/bladesarmor.dds". But the Creation Kit does not let you type in whatever file path you want. You actually have to locate the file you are selecting in the file browser and you can't access the compressed .bsa files with the file browser. I don't think anybody has uploaded vanilla textures to the Nexus.. that is technically piracy and I wouldn't be so concerned with being sued personally but I think the Nexus would remove the file and ban me in order to protect themselves from Bethesda. What everybody else does is what I described: find the file within the downloader's directory, because if they bought Skyrim then they already have the file. EDIT: And I do know how to extract files from the .bsa. I have the Fallout 3 Extractor utility and it works just fine. I'm just not allowed to distribute files that I have extracted from it. I suppose what I could do is include instructions for installation that would force the person to extract the file themselves so that they can access them for the mod. Edited July 13, 2012 by flossoraptor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmanners Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 ... that is technically piracy ... That is copyright infringement, which in itself is piracy of our rights as human beings. I don't make the laws, I just endure them in spite of myself. The use of the word "piracy" to describe copyright infringement is a usurpation of language, akin to Hitler burning books. Yes, I compare copyright lunatics to Nazis, and I honestly think I'm insulting Nazis unfairly that way. Not that I look highly on Nazis, but at least they only tried to murder people. They didn't try to murder our language as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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