Am I doing this right?

[velouriam]

I picked up Skyrim recently because I knew of the awesome modding community. I have a i5 2500k, amd 7950 and a samsung ssd. I've started adding some mods after doing a lot of research and so far I've got the following working well I think:

-HD texture pack

-Pure Water

-Climates of Tamriel

-Skyrealism enb

and a few others.

My problem is, I'm trying to get the npcs to look the best they can and I've seen some crazy good screenshots of people using face/body mods so I picked up the following mods:

-CBBE body

-ApachiiSkyHair

-Envision Face

-RANs HeadMesh

-Eyes of Beauty

And yet I can't get the npcs to look much better. I think they do look better, but I feel like I'm missing something. Is there any specific thing I'm supposed to do with these mods to make them work better? I just downloaded them with NMM and activated them. Is there some trick to getting fantastic npc models working or does anyone suggest different mods than what I'm using? I realize a lot of peoples screenshots have been photoshopped after the fact, but I just want to make sure I'm using these mods right. And I've searched and searched for answers but my noobishness on this matter is hindering me. Thanks for any help

[bootaka]

try Enhanced Character Edit

 

I use Ran's round headmesh on my unp body, but for the CBBE I like the Fair Skin Complexion Sweaty Body-ADEC-CBBE-UNP-UNPB textures and head mesh

 

look into Xenius' mods, there are a few!

 

and Seductive Lips HD

 

don't be afraid to try out other body parts from other races, stuff like lips are different for each race. I use a Breton mesh on my Nord based char.

 

Don't forget Femfeet and hands, sorry I can't remember where the hand meshes are.

Edited October 4, 2012 by bootaka

[velouriam]

try Enhanced Character Edit

 

I use Ran's round headmesh on my unp body, but for the CBBE I like the Fair Skin Complexion Sweaty Body-ADEC-CBBE-UNP-UNPB textures and head mesh

 

look into Xenius' mods, there are a few!

 

and Seductive Lips HD

 

don't be afraid to try out other body parts from other races, stuff like lips are different for each race. I use a Breton mesh on my Nord based char.

 

Don't forget Femfeet and hands, sorry I can't remember where the hand meshes are.

 

Thanks. I tried the Fair skin Complexion CBBE mod but then I would get the neck seams. Is there any particular order in which I should be installing these? Because some overwrite stuff of the previous.

[bootaka]

The fair skin textures and meshes go in last, overwrite everything. If you look in the optional files for the fair skin, there is a CBBE facemesh to match the body, I have no seam using it. Edited October 4, 2012 by bootaka

[velouriam]

It seems the npc faces look the same to me with and without these mods. I must be doing something wrong. I can tell that the CBBE is working. But the faces look the same. I'm using NMM and I activate Enhanced character edit, envision face, Apachii, CBBE body, Eyes of beauty, and coverwoman. And the only difference I can really tell is the body. Do none of these mods really work that good with npc faces?

[bootaka]

I'm sorry, I guess I didn't fully understand your question before. Are you trying to change their face structure, or the face quality? If you put it all in the correct folders, the body and face quality should have improved, if their face isn't matching their body, you need to check your folder structure, the body, head, and face parts don't end up in the same folders. As for changing what the NPC's face look like, you would have to either edit that manually through the CK or the console. Or download a mod like The Ashen Race - HD Using this also gives you the ability to separate yourself from the rest of the world, body wise.

[velouriam]

I'm just using NMM so I am just assuming these mods are getting put into the right folders when I activate them. Should I not assume this? I guess what I'm really asking is what specific mods should I download to get the best looking npcs (both body and face) without having to edit it manually, and in what order should I activate them using NMM.

Also, a related question, by activating and deactivating these mods for testing, am I messing things up to the point where I need to reinstall to a fresh skyrim?

Thanks for your help Bootaka.

[bootaka]

I'd like to assume NMM and the mods around are sync'd correctly and install perfectly, yes I would! I install everything by hand myself so IDK sorry. I'd assume if there was a problem with it, it would be addressed shortly. I also use a custom race, so requires a custom install.

 

If you used the enhanced char edit, the changes you made with it will revert, aside from that you should be able to uninstall/delete everything with no recourse to the default game, all that is stored in BSA files. Tho, it is always a good idea to use a clean save to install and uninstall. Personally I have 400gigs of backups sitting on another drive just incase when, I break something...

 

Now that I understand what you're looking to do, I think you should try to start with The Ashen Race - HD and add in which body parts you want overtop of it.

 

Install orders are all about which pieces you want to keep and which you want to replace. Something like, install the Ashen Race first because it is a full overhaul to the chars, then eyes, lips, face/body and skeleton last. If you choose to that is. You always install what you want to add on last. As for load orders, check out BOSS it does a very nice job as maintaining load orders of 94%? of the mods I have. But in general the same rule applies, load your base first then load what you want to keep last so it overwrites the previous. There's a very nice write up about about Load Order and You

Edited October 5, 2012 by bootaka

[JanusForbeare]

Don't forget Ethereal Elven Overhaul! It takes the ugly, pointy, vanilla elven faces and gives them a more traditional, "elfin" look... very Tolkien-esque. Edited October 5, 2012 by JanusForbeare