LE Idea for Tattoo Options Shop

[Ironman5000]

Hi, I uploaded a screenshot in the image share to show off my custom tattoo set and was given the idea to make a store that would sell tattoos, have a look here.

 

I am starting this thread to see if this concept is actually possible - if anyone with any experience with body replacers or outfits for CBBE/UNP could give some feedback that would help me out so I know whether to pursue this or not, I imagine it would be done either by making purchasable body replacers that would each point to different textures, or via a script that would change the body texture upon activating an item. I know that current armours supporting these body replacers actually use the body in the nif so obviously I wouldn't want the player to have to choose between a nude tattooed body and their armour. FYI I use these body replacers as examples, I can ones for vanilla if it works the same way.

 

If this does sound interesting to anyone who would like to see this done reply to this thread please refer me to somewhere, maybe a tutorial, so I can put this together. Or maybe you would like to work on this with me if you know how to put the mechanics together and do it as a kind of joint project and I can focus on the tattoo designs. Or if you know for certain that this definitely can't be done also let me know so I can forget all about it :thumbsup:

[Grimoa]

Hey, that would be one of my "mods I whish I had time to make". :)

 

I thought about creating clothes that use the body mesh the user has installed and apply a new texture using texture sets. Normal and specular maps cpould also be reused. The item would... argh. I was gonna say: Use one of the unused slots so it does not unequip the armor. But you have to match the slot you are using with the number in the BSDismemberSkinInstance of the nif. Otherwise it will not render.

So much for that idea. You have to edit the nif and provide them with your mod. People will bug you for all kind of body mods. >.<

You can however use the normal maps the user has installed, so the body keeps the oily muscular look... well stuff you can change with normal maps ;)

As long as everything involved uses the vanilla UV layout.

 

Aaaand I'm not excactly sure how the visual effect of having two bodys rendered on top of each other will look. :unsure:

 

Did any of that make sense to you? If you need me to explain further just say so.

 

Best of luck, cause I would love equippable tattoos for sure! :biggrin:

Edited November 16, 2012 by Grimoa

[Ironman5000]

The item would... argh. I was gonna say: Use one of the unused slots so it does not unequip the armor. But you have to match the slot you are using with the number in the BSDismemberSkinInstance of the nif. Otherwise it will not render.

My original idea would be to upload just the body mesh as equippable that would use their own texture set - by this I mean each purchasable body 'suit' would have the diffuse texture ONLY point to a different dds file, which would be in an unused slot. Would that be an issue? Does this make sense?

 

People will bug you for all kind of body mods.

In that case I would specify I won't be taking requests, and I happily ignore any that didn't read it :biggrin:

 

Aaaand I'm not excactly sure how the visual effect of having two bodys rendered on top of each other will look.

I think the equippable would override the original without the clipping issue, after all it should work the same as any armour mod just without the armour!

 

EDIT: One thing that does bother me with this concept is compatibility - there are so many race mods out there that depend on the same body mesh but have their own skin texture, for example I am currently using bhaktisean's Lunari Race which has a different skin tone to the original body mods but shares the same mesh. This would cause some awful neck/wrist seams, even worse if it were Zazemel's Drow race :psyduck:

 

Perhaps there might be a way to introduce transparency somehow - make the tattoo design in it's own layer using the body dds as a template, when done remove the body leaving the design in an alpha layer and give the body 'outfit' transparency.

 

I would bring up the further compatibility issue of bodyslides but I never use them so not entirely sure what to do about that. :unsure:

Edited November 16, 2012 by Ironman5000

[Grimoa]

My original idea would be to upload just the body mesh as equippable that would use their own texture set - by this I mean each purchasable body 'suit' would have the diffuse texture ONLY point to a different dds file, which would be in an unused slot. Would that be an issue? Does this make sense?

uhm...but... textures don't use slots. At least not whta I'm thinking of when saying "slots". I refer to slots like "armor" "boots" "head" and you put nifs in those. But there's a property in the nif that has to match the slot otherwise it won't be rendered ingame.

But yes, you are right in sofar as you could make several bodysuits (that use different textures) and use them as equippable armor. And you can have the diffuse texture use a custom dds while the normal map uses the vanilla one (in the vanilla folder).

 

 

I think the equippable would override the original without the clipping issue, after all it should work the same as any armour mod just without the armour!

Yes, if you use the armor slot. But equipping an armor will automatically disrobe your character cause there's no armor in the bodysuit mesh.

By using one of the unused slots you can have an armor equipped in the armor slot and the bodysuit in a different slot. It would not unequip the armor. But because the armor mesh includes (part of) the body mesh, you will have the same mesh rendered twice in the same position.

 

Perhaps there might be a way to introduce transparency somehow - make the tattoo design in it's own layer using the body dds as a template, when done remove the body leaving the design in an alpha layer and give the body 'outfit' transparency.

Good idea! You can make the body suit transparent except for the tattoos. By using a new equipment slot you will still have the body / armor in the usual armor slot as explained above. Making the body suit mostly transparent should help with visual oddities aswell.

 

Still, if the body from the armor and the body from your bodysuit are not the same, the tattoos will clipp and/or float. But well, your decision how much body types you want to support. :)

 

I would bring up the further compatibility issue of bodyslides but I never use them so not entirely sure what to do about that. :unsure:

See above. I have no idea how bodyslide works, I'm using the vanilla body! :ohmy: I think of body slide as an endless flood of different body types.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Grimoa

[Ironman5000]

My original idea would be to upload just the body mesh as equippable that would use their own texture set - by this I mean each purchasable body 'suit' would have the diffuse texture ONLY point to a different dds file, which would be in an unused slot. Would that be an issue? Does this make sense?

uhm...but... textures don't use slots.

 

:laugh: Of course not! I guess I could have worded it better I can see why you thought that. I meant the body suit would be in the unused slot...like you said. :tongue:

 

So far it's looking pretty doable apart from the clipping, maybe that can be avoided by scaling the tattooed alpha body suit in nifskope by scaling it up by like 0.001 or something. As for catering for other races this would solve that no problem, and as for bodyslides...I don't care that much i'm sure thousands of users don't bother with them too, and maybe someone will come along to make a patch if they want it that much.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Ironman5000

[Grimoa]

Awesome! So, what are you waiting for? ;)

 

I would try with an unscaled body first. Scaling in nifskope would probably result in the arms being off, cause it scales from the middle of the body not the middle of the arm. Should scaling be necessary you'd probably have to do that in Blender where you can scale parts of the mesh independantly. (I could help with that.) Or you can try Nifskope anyways.

 

And when you are done with the tattoos can you do wearable scars aswell? And bruises? I would soooooo love that. Can't stand all that perfection >.<

And I'd love to put all that on the randomly generated bandits and guards to add variety. Unplayable copies of the items though. Looting a scar or tattoo from a bandit would be rather immersion breaking I guess. :biggrin:

Ah well, that was the full scope of the "mod I wish I had time to do".

Edited November 16, 2012 by Grimoa

[Ironman5000]

I will get started on that asap then :biggrin:

 

I will try this theory without scaling but if there is clipping i'll send you a PM, the bruises and scars idea sounds good too. :thumbsup:

[nuska]

I'm interested in this. So far there doesn't seem to be any way of enabling body texture switching ingame. Please do report your findings over here as well. :)

[Ironman5000]

Will do nuska :thumbsup:

 

I will keep any progress posted on this thread, I will get started as soon as I am finished with immersive weapons which will be done within the week I think.

[Grimoa]

I did some - unsuccsessful - tests myself. Here's the short version hopefully it makes sense to you:

 

TEST 1

I used the body mesh, changed the texture to something random and the BSDismemberSkinInstance to a vanilla unused slot that I'm using in own of my mods alredy. Then i used the body suit as a mesh replacer.

When I put it on ingame nothing happens. I was expecting flickering between the two textures, but no, either something's wrong with the bodysuit so it's not actually there or the real body just wins the battle of textures flawlessly.

 

TEST 2

To see if the body suit is rendered ingame, I tick SLSF2_double_sided in the BSLightingShaderProperty. Now it has texture from the inside aswell. The real body does not have that, so it' see trough from the inside.

Ingame I use tfc to clipp inside the body: voila, random texture!

 

TEST3

I open the CK >.< and have a look at ArmorAddon -> NakedTorso. It has I field where it says "Priority 0" whereas ArmorAddons that belong to clothing say "Priority 5". So I'm like aha! smaller numbers win! and change that.

NakedTorso = 0, tattoo = 0 -> Well.... I saw flickering textures (body texture and bodysuit texture) once, but couldn't reproduce it. wtf?

NakedTorso = 5, tattoo1 = 0, tattoo2 = 5, tattoo3 = 10 -> none of them are visible ingame. none. shoudn't tattoo2 be the flickering now?

I cleansaved and tried again, cause every now and then I get the feeling that mod data is stored in the save but it didn't help.

The test was a bit rushed, I switched between CK and game severeal times but I'm pretty sure I edited the right forms every time. :wacko:

If anyone wants to do that test again I'd like to hear what results you get.

 

EDIT: Found the mistake I made: All three tattoos show flickering when wearing skimpy armor but are invisible when naked. So apparantly the bodysuit can compete with armor but not with the body. So that's the reason.

Now I should see which priority the skimpy armor has and I should double check the priority of NakedTorso (changed that several times...) but I already shut down CK and even though it's on an ssd it takes ages to load. More tests will have to wait.

Edited November 23, 2012 by Grimoa