Need advice on - custom race followers, Mod merging, NPC texture chang

[nwmGregM]

Hi,

 

I have a tendency to ramble so I will try and keep this as direct and short as I can, I don't want to seem rude though as I do need the help.

 

I'm new to modding, I've been using the CK for about 12 hours (straight...) now. It turns out I'm not very good at it. I'd also like to point out I have spent a lot of time searching google for my answers and I have not found anything conclusive so I really am at the point where I have to ask for help or give up.

 

Here are the key things I need advice on right now.

 

1. Permissions

As far as I can tell, I only need permission to use other peoples mods if I plan to upload the final result to the nexus? (or steam though I doubt I'll be using that)

I have no plans to upload anything for some time, and it's very unlikely my first mods will be uploaded due to them being no where the quality of other mods already available.

It also seems to me that it would be a waste of modders time if they had 100 requests for permission a day if only 1 or 2 people a week ever actually make something they upload.

Everything I make will be for personal use, and I promise to tell myself who deserves credit for the awesome mods that I have used in some way.

 

 

2. Creating a Follower with a custom race and mod merging

This has been my biggest battle so far. From what I gather I need to turn my Custom Race file (in this case Custom Imperial from the Custom Races mod by d_rail1602 located here) into a master file or tat least use it as a master file for my follower .esp. I have done that using Wyre Bash and selecting my follower esp, lets call it Bob.esp and adding CustomRaces.esp as a master. From then on CustomRaces.esp must be loaded above Bob.esp I believe? Then I open up my Bob.esp (as the active file) with Custom Races.esp which should now be acting as a master and in the object panel, I select races, right click Custom Imperial and duplicate it. I I then have CustomImperialDUPLICATE001, which is what I set Bob's race to. That is as far as I have gotten with this, and I have a feeling I am still missing quite a bit. I just know the next time I close and reopen the CK then load the Bob.esp he will be a Fox again...

 

3. Texture change for a single NPC

You may have wondered, (if your still reading that is, I appreciate that by the way. If you can get to my local pub tonight I'll buy you a beer) why I would want a custom race that is exactly the same as the vanilla imperial race. It's simple, there are a few different tattoo mods out there, but they all have the same thing in common, they change the texture for every NPC. I actually managed to figure out (an achievement in itself) that changing the texture for Custom Imperial bodies only, will only show up on Custom Imperial NPCs and PCs, meaning Bob would have a great tattoo, but not every other Male Imperial in the game would. It just doesn't feel like Tuillius' style to be rocking up some tribal ink.

Then, while typing the above, I wondered if I could just use the standard Imperial race for Bob and change his personal body texture without affecting the other imperial npcs.

 

Thats it for now, ( I have already learnt how to put custom armor into the mod and turn it into a default outfit, go me!)

 

I would very very very much appreciate any help, I've got some good ideas rattling around in my head but it appears I do not have the talent to unleash them.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Greg

[Groucho14E]

Greg,

 

I can't speak to the permissions issue because I don't know the proper answer. I do know a bit about making custom races as I've done something similar to what you're trying to do.

 

Here's how I work with custom races:

 

1. Use Wrye Bash to "Esmify" the Custom Race plugin

2. Open the Creation Kit and load that plugin file.

3. Either load your plugin or save right after loading the master files to create a new plugin.

4. Don't duplicate the Custom Imperial race.

5. Set Bob's race to the existing Custom Imperial.

6. Make any other changes you like and save.

7. Go back to Wrye Bash and "Espify" the Custom Race plugin

8. Make sure it comes before Bob's plugin in your load order.

9. Run Skyrim.

 

I suggest not duplicating a race because the Creation Kit already lets you attach a custom skin to a particular Actor. If you go to the "Traits" tab for your follower, you'll see a drop-down box named "Skin." It'll be set to something like "SkinNaked" and have a list of all the armors in the game. This is where you want to assign Bob the tattooed body you've already figured out how to make. It will override the body assigned to Bob by his race.

 

From then on, you need to Esmify the custom race plugin whenever you want to make changes to the Bob plugin, or you will mess things up. You'll know it's messed up if you load your plugin and the custom race plugin into the creation kit and it complains about duplicate forms. If it does, don't save and try using TES5Edit to clean things up. This might sound complex, but just make a habit of using Wrye Bash before opening the CK, backup your plugins as you work on them, and never save if something doesn't seem right.

 

I hope I've been helpful,

 

Groucho

[Oubliette]

1. Yes your assumptions on permissions are correct. You're allowed to do whatever you like on your own computer for personal use without credit. Just don't take any images of ripped content (aka content taken without permission from other games) as that can get you in to trouble. Also if you decide somewhere down the line that you do want to release something, it helps to keep a document open while you're making the mod so you can jot down notes about who's work you've used so you don't miss anyone.

 

Finally on 2 & 3, I can't walk you through the entirety of unique race creation, unfortunately there isn't a complete tutorial for the process from A-Z out there. There are ways to achieve what you want without creating a new race however. Several mods have already been uploaded that give the different races unique everything (in fact Unique Everything) is the name of one of the mods. Or if you really want to just have a single unique character in a sea of normalcy you can download a race mod that comes with it's own files for everything, something you've no intention of ever playing normally (I use the Ashen) and modify that races assets to mimic exactly what you want. Since you're not releasing the mod, it's fine to take this short cut. After days of trying to create unique race from scratch myself - I can assure you it's better to start off fast and dirty than get mired into and confused by the a process that's still shrouded in a lot of mystery.

 

Good luck :thumbsup:

Edited November 16, 2012 by Oubliette

[nwmGregM]

Thank you for the suggestions and help so far.

 

I can now work with custom races so thats a plus. Thank you Groucho. Also thank you for the clarification on permissions Oubliette. I looked at creating my own race but I have no intention of creating a custom race from scratch.

 

I tried changing the skin in traits but it would not work. If I loaded the custom imperial, the head options were severely limited (including a lack of eyebrows for whatever reason) but he had the tattoo. I don't know what was to blame here as I made Bob by starting a new game in skyrim and selecting Custom Imperial Race. Then I made Bobs face and used SPF Bob in the console. However when I imported it into the CK on the Custom Imperial Race he reverted back to vanilla imperial. If I then changed him back to Custom Imperial he would lose all his facial features. As I said he would however have the tattoo.

 

But..

 

If I loaded the vanilla Imperial race and gave him the CustomImperialSkin (which had the tattoo texture on) it showed no tattoo.

 

I have since given up on using the Custom Races mod linked above for Bob as for whatever reason it was causing my game to slow down significantly. I tested a couple of times but it was definitely that mod. (I have since downloaded 2 other mod made races and my game still runs perfectly)

 

So I took Oubliette's advice and downloaded the Ashen race. Unfortunately the Ashen do not have their own body texture like the custom race imperial did so the only way to get the tattoo to show is to put it on all the male characters in the game again. I tried adding the texture to the Ashen in their own textures file (under oriental) but of course it didn't work so I assume that the Ashen race simply uses the default Nord body. (or all non beast races use the same body texture / mesh i guess)

 

Well I've spent far too long on this now, so unless anyone has a simple solution on how to add a body texture to one NPC without giving the whole world one I am going to admit defeat. For the time being I am just going to work on Bob and hope I can one day solve the tattoo problem.

 

As always if anyone can give me any advice or insights I would very very much appreciate it. (Apart from telling me I'm not cut out for this creation kit thing, I already know that! but I do have some wonderful story ideas Id like to see come to fruition)

 

Greg

Edited November 17, 2012 by nwmGregM