NPC Brownface Issue

[Jeriko67]

I'm relatively new to modding and I've been utilizing tutorials and other forums to keep myself afloat in this journey. Recently however, I've been unable to find the source of my missing facegen issue right now. After consistent tweaking and taking a month long break I found a way to keep named characters unaffected by this issue but the majority of generic NPCs (guards, bandits, etc.) all have brown faces and necks and I'm stumped at how to continue. Here's my current load order if it helps. Any help is appreciated:

 

00 Skyrim.esm

01 Update.esm

02 Dawnguard.esm

03 HearthFires.esm

04 Dragonborn.esm

05 RSkyrimChildren.esm

06 Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp [Version 4.1.9]

07 Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Main.esm

08 ApachiiHair.esm

09 ApachiiHairFemales.esm

0A ApachiiHairMales.esm

0B Campfire.esm

0C ClimatesOfTamriel.esm

0D Ecotone Dual Sheath.esl

0E SMIM-SE-Merged-All.esp

0F iNeed.esp

10 Weapons Armor Clothing & Clutter Fixes.esp

11 iNeed - Extended.esp

12 3DNPC.esp [Version 3.4.2]

13 Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

14 Cloaks.esp

15 Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp

16 Cloaks - USSEP Patch.esp

17 dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

18 dD-Medium Script Range.esp

19 dD-Reduced Splatter Size.esp

1A Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp

1B Mortal Enemies - Rival Remix.esp

1C Qw_3DNPC_USSEP Patch.esp

1D TrueStormsSE.esp

1E SkyUI_SE.esp

1F 3PCOFull.esp

20 Dual Blocking for Idiots v1.35a.esp

21 AFT_NoFriendlySpellDamage.esp

22 AMatterOfTime.esp [Version 2.00]

23 se_haste.esp

24 art_StarsightEyes.esp

25 CBBE.esp

26 ClimatesOfTamriel-Nights-L1.esp

27 dD-No Spinning Death Animation.esp

28 DiverseDragonsCollectionSE.esp

29 Ecotone Dual Sheath Patch.esp

2A FNIS.esp

2B Hirsute Beards.esp [Version 1.1]

2C icepenguinworldmapclassic.esp

2D Immersive Dragon Sounds.esp

2E imp_helm_legend.esp

2F Jewelry limiter.esp

30 Lanterns of Skyrim Light Balance Patch.esp

31 minimap.esp

32 Moonlight Tales Special Edition.esp [Version 1.35]

33 UltimateCombat.esp

34 NoBSAIProjectileDodge.esp

35 RaceMenu.esp

36 RaceMenuMorphsCBBE.esp

37 RaceMenuPlugin.esp

38 Realistic-Voice.esp

39 Reptilian Feet.esp

3A Runandwalkpaces.esp

3B Shiva's Vanilla Hair Replacer.esp

3C SoundsOfBarenziah.esp

3D TKDodge.esp

3E Trade & Barter.esp

3F XPMSE.esp

40 reasonable guard dialogue.esp

41 subtle supernatural reactions.esp

42 tesgloadingscreens.esp

43 unleveled_items.esp

44 weightless dragon bones and scales.esp

45 violens se.esp [Version 2.01]

46 castle volkihar redux sse 1.esp

47 AmazingFollowerTweaks.esp

48 ClimatesOfTamriel-Dungeons-Darker.esp

49 Skyrim Immersive Creatures Special Edition.esp [Version v6.6a]

4A SoundsofSkyrimComplete.esp

4B Civil War Aftermath.esp

4C BlackthornManor.esp

4D LC_BuildYourNobleHouse.esp

4E Man Those Borders!.esp

4F Better Vampire NPCs.esp

50 Skyrim Dreams & Nightmares(Personalized Music plugin).esp

51 Checkpoints of Skyrim.esp

52 Atlas Map Markers.esp

53 Immersive Weapons.esp

54 Run For Your Lives.esp [Version 4.0]

55 WACCF_ImmersiveWeapons_Patch.esp

56 Hunterborn.esp

57 skaal village enhanced.esp

58 Immersive Patrols II.esp

59 skyshards.esp [Version 2.0.5]

5A Frostfall.esp

5B Fantasy Soundtrack Project - Combat.esp

5C Fantasy Soundtrack Project.esp

5D notice board.esp

5E Dreams & Nightmares - Fantasy Soundtrack Project Patch.esp

5F the paarthurnax dilemma.esp [Version 2.0.1]

60 My Home Is Your Home.esp

61 ApachiiHelmetWigs.esp

62 BecomeABard.esp

63 Better Vampires.esp

64 Blackthorn - Hunterborn Patch.esp

65 Blackthorn - Hearthfire Fix.esp

66 DIVERSE SKYRIM.esp

67 EBT - IC PATCH.esp

68 Hunterborn - Campfire Patch.esp

69 Hunterborn - iNeed Patch.esp

6A Hunterborn - Soups and Stews.esp

6B RSChildren.esp [Version 1.2.0.]

6C Qw_WACCF_RSChildren Patch.esp

6D ScopedBows.esp

6E SIC - ICH Patch.esp

6F SoS_CoT_Patch.esp

70 SoS_TrueStorms_Patch.esp

71 volkihar knight.esp [Version 0.3.2]

72 volkihar knight - better vampires patch.esp

73 better loot.esp

74 more daedra hearts.esp

75 black mage armor se.esp [Version 1.02]

76 ars metallica.esp [Version 2.0.5]

77 cloaks&capes.esp

78 WetandCold.esp

79 TrueStorms_Wet&Cold_Patch.esp

7A Wet&Cold - WaterFix - Addon.esp

7B dr_bandolier.esp

7C Qw_CloaksAndCapes_USSEP Patch.esp

7D Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim.esp

7E Ordinator_WACCF_Patch.esp

7F apocalypse - magic of skyrim.esp

80 ASAP4Ordinator.esp [Version 4.2]

81 Apocalypse - Ordinator Compatibility Patch.esp

82 alternate start - live another life.esp [Version 4.1.1]

83 immersive citizens - ai overhaul.esp

84 Relationship Dialogue Overhaul.esp

85 TheChoiceIsYours.esp

86 CFTO.esp

87 RDO - iAFT Patch.esp

88 Convenient Horses.esp

89 SoS_ImmersiveCitizens_Patch.esp

8A RDO - USSEP Patch.esp

8B realisticwatertwo.esp

8C realisticwatertwo - ineed.esp

8D WACCF_BashedPatchLvlListFix.esp

Edited July 30, 2019 by Jeriko67

[sentinel1313]

Hello there,

*squints*

would appreciate larger images, but I get the gist.

I would make doubly sure that you have only one hair mod at a time that effects NPCS; ApachiiSkyHair and Shiva's Hair Replacer should work fine together as long as the former doesn't touch NPCS as well.

Shiva's Hair Replacer will definitely cause black faces for any NPCS edited/added by other mods if you don't have the proper FaceGeom patches installed. I believe that these mods need such patches:

Immersive Patrols
Interesting NPCS
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul
Alternate Start
Blackthorn
Diverse Skyrim
Diverse Guards of Skyrim
etc.

Good luck. I hope this helps you out; then again, maybe you've already been through all this. Or maybe you didn't read through the description/sticky for the mod?

Shiva's guide on how to export facegeom for any mods that he doesn't cover:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/7922?tab=posts

[Jeriko67]

Thank's for the reply. Apparently Steam doesn't generate reasonable screenshot sizes but I'm glad you got the gist. I will try to look through Shiva's guide again because I might have read it and missed something before. What I found most confusing was the fact that only Nords are really affected by the issue and because of the slight specification im kinda worried about changing something that was already fine.

[MarthChan]

I am also having this issue. I've disabled each hair/face/texture/NPC mod I've downloaded one by one to try and isolate the issue, but all I was able to do was fix my follower (Erandur if that helps in any way). I did not have this issue until I switched from Nexus Mod Manager to Vortex since I can no longer download to NMM anymore. I looked at Jeriko67's list and tried disabling every mod I had in common with them and it still persisted. It's been a few hours now and I'm getting a little frustrated. I know nothing about the Creation Kit either.

 

My List is as follows:

Unofficial Skyrim SE Patch

Dragons Keep SSE (w/ RSSE Children Patch)

Alternate Start

Ars Metallica - Smithing Enhancement

SMIM

Sweet as Honeyside

Unread Books Glow

MCoW (w/ Cutting Room Floor)

KS Hairdos Lite SE

ApachiiSkyHair (Female/Male/Full)

Cloaks and Capes

JS Armored Circlets SE

Realistic Water Two

Climates of Tamriel SE

Run for your Lives

Verdant

True Storms SE - No Fog

RSSE Children Overhaul

Breezehome - Eli's

DG - No Attacks

Beautiful Cities SSE

Healthfire Multiple Adoptions w/ Custom Home Support SE

The Hairstyler

Multiple Floors Sandboxing

Improved Adoptions Merged

Lakeview Extended

Amazing Follower Tweaks

My Home is Your Home

Rayne (Follower)

Weapons and Clothing Ext (w/ Weapons Armor Clothing and Clutter fixes)

Dynamic Outfits (W/Cloaks and Capes Patch)

Fantasy Forest Overhaul

More Gifts for Children

SkySight Skins HD (w/ feet)

[whatrevolution]

Mix-and-match modding will nearly always route you to fixing this flaw. It's partly a shortcoming of the engine, and is the engine doing exactly what you've told it to do. You told it: "Stack all of this data and show me the result."

 

You'll need to learn to click through by instructions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/98ty4j/eli5_facegen_and_facegeom_or_whatever_its_called/

https://www.creationkit.com/index.php?title=Dark_Face_Bug

 

For this problem, the mod installation and plugin sorting orders really only matter in the case that the instructions were already followed and the result published by someone as a patch. Every mod you add to your list multiplies the chance that you won't be so lucky. That's basically why ModDrop tried to happen and ModPicker is still happening. GEMS, STEP, and every like-kind modder wants some form of easier buttons for this stuff. We just get really argumentative about propriety.

Edited August 4, 2019 by whatrevolution