SSE FaceGen and base NPC's

[ChewNTobacca]

Question about how to handle FaceGen data that alters existing game characters. I have yet to find an answer in my searching. I know how to export the new files for my own NPC's and pack them up (for upload or whatever) and has always worked fine. I've done other mods that introduce new NPC's and have not encountered the issue. But I've been working on my own mod that alters the appearance of several NPC's, and when I package it up in an archive I get the dark face problem (I'd rather not call it a "bug"). Of course, on the PC which it was created, it is all working well.

 

I feel like the FaceGen data should essentially overwrite the original in order for it all to work out. So, my question is, rather than keep the newly exported FaceGeom and facetint in their own folders, do I overwrite the original game data in the Skyrim.esm folder and reference those in my archive? Or is there something else I need to do? Thanks for any foresight.

 

-Chew

[ChewNTobacca]

I got it figured out, sort of. Apparently when modifying an existing NPC, FaceGen and facetint are created in the Skyrim.esm (or appropriate dlc) as well as the "mod title.esp" folders. I just packed the ones out of the Skyrim.esm and that fixed the dark face problem.

 

However, that left me with a new problem: everyone I gave a new hair style (ie, KS Hairdo's) now has purple hair! It looks exactly like what you see when opening the hair in NifSkope. Anyone encountered that one before? It's strange, because it was fine before I used the other FaceGen data.

[cumbrianlad]

Hi.

 

the hair replacers also edit the face meshes, I think. It's not possible to alter the hair on its own.

 

What is happening is that you've now got the face data from skyrim and a conflicting texture from the hair style.

 

I've not bothered with hair mods because they are notorious for causing black face, especially with NPCs introduced by mods, because of this problem that you've found in your mod.

 

You'll have to delve into the meshes and textures for the hair mod and see if you can sort it out there.

[ChewNTobacca]

Thanks, that does give some food for thought. I've made a number of attempts at it , and here's what's happening:

 

On the PC it was created, all works great.

 

If I pack an archive, not so great.

 

If I use FaceGen and facetint from "My Mod.esp" folders I get dark face but perfect hair and features.

 

If I use FaceGen and facetint from "Skyrim.esm" (or dlc) folders, I get perfect faces and features, but purple hair.

 

There's gotta be something I'm missing or doing wrong. Still seeking a solution.

[KainThePheonix]

I am having issues when I attempt to convert mods from LE to SE when loading a mod with "older" Tri files it either causes a CTD or it does not load the mod and CTD at the games title screen. Is this an associated issue?

[ChewNTobacca]

@Kain: I am not experiencing any crashes or load problems; I've never used meshes from LE on special edition. I think your issue is different, and due to just that. You might look here for your solution: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17990

The author goes into good detail on the conversion, and includes links to other sites as a bonus.

 

My situation is different, as all the textures and meshes are from base resources and SE mods.

[ChewNTobacca]

Ok, so I figured out what I did wrong. After analyzing some of the FaceGen files in NifSkope, it seemed like all I had to is copy the .nif of the NPCs from the "my mod.esp" folder into the "Skyrim.esp" (or appropriate dlc) and overwrite. Problem solved. Hopefully this helps someone else in the future.