Black faces. Tried regenerating faces. Apparently, I'm not doing it right.

[JadedDragoon]

I've got a few different mods which add npcs to the world which end up with blackened heads. I've attempted to use the Creation Kit to generate facegen data (select actors to regenerate face data for, press CTRL+F4) to no avail. facegen data is definitely being output to the data directory... but if it's having any effect on the game when I load a save... I sure can't tell.

So what am I missing?

Edited January 3, 2020 by JadedDragoon

[Algabar]

I've got a few different mods which add npcs to the world which end up with blackened heads. I've attempted to use the Creation Kit to generate facegen data (select actors to regenerate face data for, press CTRL+F4) to no avail. facegen data is definitely being output to the data directory... but if it's having any effect on the game when I load a save... I sure can't tell.

 

So what am I missing?

I don't know why people still advice regenerating facegen data. It will only help if a mod is missing facegen data (or if the facegen data isn't where the game expects it). Even then it's a very questionable action, since it will result in ugly vanilla faces... These "missing facegen data" issues are rather rare and very special cases. Most black face issues are simple mod conflicts. Several mods making changes to one and the same NPC can result in a black face. And that's what happens most of the time when people encounter black faces in their game.

 

Simple solution that works (well, most of the time...):

Make sure you got your load order sorted correctly. When it comes to black face issues, you should take a close look at NPC Replacers (e.g. Bijin, Better Bards). Put the one you want to win the conflict last. E.g. if you got two mods making changes to Delphine and you want Bijin Delphine, put the Bijin esp after the other NPC replacer.

 

Once you got your load order sorted, run Wrye Bash and create a "bashed patch". In most cases your problem is solved. If it really isn't, you may have to create a conflict reoslution patch manually in SSEEdit. Again: Regenerating facegen data won't help most of the time - on the contrary: You will most likely screw up your beautiful NPCs...

[JadedDragoon]

UGH... misinformation is the worst. Thanks for pointing that out.

Unfortunately, it's not a case of multiple mods modifying a single npc. In this case, all the effected NPCs are those added by mods... they don't exist in the base game. For example:

 

 

Looking at tint layers, it seems pretty clear what the issue is. In this particular case I also have a mod called "Fluff's Hybrid Khajiit" which makes significant changes to the Khajiit race. In particular, to the tint assets:

 

 

And I have another mod (a skyrim npc beautification mod I can't remember the name of atm) that causes this problem for non-vanilla npcs of man and mer races.

So then, patch making time. Which is a pita. Some of the affected mods add a LOT of new NPCs.

Edited January 4, 2020 by JadedDragoon

[JadedDragoon]

Nnnnnope. That didn't work either, even after regenerating face data again with the patch:

I've attached my (in progress) patch below. Perhaps something I did there is wrong?

Edited January 4, 2020 by JadedDragoon

[Algabar]

You did a lot of work to provide us with information. Unfortunately I'm kinda out of my wits here. My knowledge regarding NPCs largely stems from creating followers / NPCs for small quests and working with NPC overhauls. Yours is unfortunately a totally different issue.

 

Looking at the screenshot, I'd say it's still a problem of MISSING facegen data. Most likely a missing (or unreadable) tint mask. A tint mask with "wrong" base settings should lead to a noticable difference in colour, but not to a dark brown face. What file exactly did you use to regenerate the facegen data? It should have been the mod from which the NPC comes.

 

TBH, I'm not sure what exactly happens here. I don't know the mods you mentioned, so I'm struggling to understand the nature of the mod conflict. Are these NPCs supposed to be normal Khajiits? And does "fluffy Khajiits" change all Khajiits to something else?

 

Maybe you could still try the "Load order adjustments + bashed patch" method I mentioned above. Reinstall the conflicting mods. Put Mrissi after anything that changes Khajiits. Create a bashed patch. Could be worth a try.

 

Other than that we can only hope that someone more expreienced than me has a clue. Sorry... :sad:

[JadedDragoon]

No worries. I appreciate the attempt.

The mods in question are found here and here.

The NPC in question (xx04C768) has facegen data provided in the mod in question (in a BSA). I have also created facegen data for that npc via the CK which can be seen here:

So the non-existence of facegen data should be resolved.

I'm not really sure at the nature of the conflict either, but I can share my observations. The issue appears to be a case of references to missing face tint layer indexes. The M'rissi's NPC references female KhajiitRace face tint layers with indexes:

 

• 4 (skintone)
• 5 (upper eyesocket)
• 6 (eyeliner)
• 17 (lower eyesocket)
• 18 (cheek color)
• 32 (paint, which is unaffected)

 

all of which exists in the KhajiitRace in the base game. However, Fluff's Hybrid Khajiit appears to remove the racial face tint layers with indexes 4, 5, 6, 17, and 18 from KhajiitRace and replace them with new layers with indexes 24, 26, 36, 27, and 28 respectively. I tried to simply swap the layer index numbers referenced by the NPC to the new index numbers found in the modified race hoping that would fix it. It did not. I then tried also regenerating facegen data with Fluffjiits, MrissisTales, and my patch loaded in the CK which also did not resolve the issue.

Edited January 4, 2020 by JadedDragoon

[JadedDragoon]

Okay, let's try this again. Meet Padma:

 

 

 

There appears to be nothing at all wrong with Padma's records. There are also no conflicts as she is a new NPC added by Palaces & Castles Enhanced. She is Breton, and BretonRace has no alterations of any kind to it's face data. And facegen data is provided with the mod:

 

 

And yet:

Curioser and Curiouser

[Algabar]

Hmmm.... strange things seem to happen here.... I also can't see anything obviously wrong regarding poor Padma.

 

There's still one thing you could check: Get Nifskope (if you haven't already) and open the head mesh with it.

Find the entries for the head mesh itself. Look for the "BSDynamicTriShape" named "FemaleHead" (or something similar). Klick on the small arrow to expand it, then choose "BSLightingShaderProperty", after that "BSShaderTextureSet". Basically you want to check which tintmask texture is attached to the head mesh. Check the last texture entry but one. It SHOULD read sth. like "/actors/character/facegendata/facetint/palaces castles enhanced.esp/0000130c.dds"

 

Problem is that this tintmask entry has to be adjusted manually before finishing/releasing a mod. That step is sometimes overlooked by mod authors - which also explains some black faces.

 

Other than that currently no idea, sorry...

[metrinui]

 

I've got a few different mods which add npcs to the world which end up with blackened heads. I've attempted to use the Creation Kit to generate facegen data (select actors to regenerate face data for, press CTRL+F4) to no avail. facegen data is definitely being output to the data directory... but if it's having any effect on the game when I load a save... I sure can't tell.

 

So what am I missing?

I don't know why people still advice regenerating facegen data. It will only help if a mod is missing facegen data (or if the facegen data isn't where the game expects it). Even then it's a very questionable action, since it will result in ugly vanilla faces... These "missing facegen data" issues are rather rare and very special cases. Most black face issues are simple mod conflicts. Several mods making changes to one and the same NPC can result in a black face. And that's what happens most of the time when people encounter black faces in their game.

 

Simple solution that works (well, most of the time...):

Make sure you got your load order sorted correctly. When it comes to black face issues, you should take a close look at NPC Replacers (e.g. Bijin, Better Bards). Put the one you want to win the conflict last. E.g. if you got two mods making changes to Delphine and you want Bijin Delphine, put the Bijin esp after the other NPC replacer.

 

Once you got your load order sorted, run Wrye Bash and create a "bashed patch". In most cases your problem is solved. If it really isn't, you may have to create a conflict reoslution patch manually in SSEEdit. Again: Regenerating facegen data won't help most of the time - on the contrary: You will most likely screw up your beautiful NPCs...

 

 

Can confirm, totally messed up the NPCs that WERE working. Been trying for hours to get Fangs and Eyes - A Vampire Appearance Mod to work again. No matter what I do I can't get the yellow gross eyes to go away and be replaced with the ones from this mod.