Textures and .esp

[Striker879]

Alright, here I am, as summoned. :sweat:

Now let's get down to the 1 thing I think all of you were missing so far when it comes to how to make a model an actual body mesh.

 

It is right, the texture assigned in NifSkope "must exist" and must have a normal map as well, else you'll get a "missing texture" or "missing normal map" error in game.

And yes, the race records also have to be correct for all of this to work. Though in case of this being about "make a Vanilla NIF compatible to Robert's Male" I take it a proper setup of Robert's Male, thus the race texture records, is already a given, or should not be the immediate problem at least. You can always correct me, if I'm wrong.

 

But as soon as the material is "skin" it doesn't really matter anymore "which texture" was set up inside the NIF. The game engine will take over here and use the texture assigned in the race record for that.

This, however, additionally underlies another rule. Which body texture "slot" gets used by which mesh is controlled by the NiTriShape/NiTriStrips node's "name". And this is what I think is still wrong here.

 

Valid "code names" are "upperbody"/"arms", "lowerbody"/"legs", "hand", "foot" and "tail". A ":" counts as a remark indicator, so everything coming after it gets ignored. You remember node names in body NIFs of other body mods being something like "foot:upperbody" or "foot:legs"? That's just additional information for a reader/onlooker of the NIF. The game only cares for the part before the ":", which in most body mods' cases always says "foot", for the reason all of you know.

 

So my first guess as to what's still wrong would be just that, check the name of the skin meshs' nodes in the NIF and make sure it also says "foot", like in every other Robert's Male (-compatible) NIF.

 

 

(And the code for a thumbs up is ": thumbsup :", or just use the emoticons from "Show All".)

 

Dang ... I knew I should have reviewed my DrakesTips text file. The node name stuff is in there.

 

Thanks Drake ... how was the summons delivered? Hope it wasn't anybody from the Sherrif's office.

[DrakeTheDragon]

You should know, as it was you who summoned me. :wink:

It was also attempted via a PM, but as usual I checked the topics before reading my PMs.

 

Yeah, I'm witnessing more and more how valuable knowledge such as this doesn't come up anymore in questions like this. I'm afraid what will happen, once the last of us who know all this will no longer be around. Things like this were considered "common knowledge" once. Nowadays it's everything but. :ermm:

 

But let's first wait and see if it actually helped.

[IOPASD]

I changed it following your explenation. Sadly I can't check right now if this works, but I'll let you know as soon as I can. However, given that the line indeed read "UpperBody:foot", I'm guessing you were right. Thank you so much! :thumbsup:

[Striker879]

You should know, as it was you who summoned me. :wink:

It was also attempted via a PM, but as usual I checked the topics before reading my PMs.

 

Yeah, I'm witnessing more and more how valuable knowledge such as this doesn't come up anymore in questions like this. I'm afraid what will happen, once the last of us who know all this will no longer be around. Things like this were considered "common knowledge" once. Nowadays it's everything but. :ermm:

 

But let's first wait and see if it actually helped.

 

Pretty sure it was just Interpol's number I called ... they're the only ones on my speed dial :laugh:

 

Judging from what I'm seeing reported now I believe we can call this another problem toasted to perfection (Dragons are so useful!!).

 

- Edit - So then what do you think ... will they keep the Dragons and Dinosaurs around for a bit longer (even if we have a bit of an "appetite")?

Edited August 16, 2020 by Striker879

[DrakeTheDragon]

Huh, now that's an exotic variant they used in that NIF. The other way round "foot:UpperBody" I've seen quite a lot of times. It tells the game to use the foot slot texture but tells the onlooker it's meant to be an upperbody body part.

This way around though? What does it achieve? Yes, I forgot to mention the "code name" is case-irrelevant, so "upperbody" is "UpperBody" is "Upperbody" et al. But why adding a remark for labeling it "foot"? It can't be meant to be a foot, or using the Vanilla upperbody texture would be the wrong choice. I can only imagine a mix up, mistake or the creator just not knowing what it means and copying it 1:1 from some other NIF. But then, from where? In which case would the combination of "use upperbody" and "label it foot" ever make any sense? Hmm, but that's both, irrelevant and for someone else to answer.

 

But yes, if it was indeed named "UpperBody:foot", then yes, it was coded to use the upperbody texture slot in game, explaining the observed use of the "upperbodymale.dds".

 

 

Ah, it's just knowledge easily lost. And I'm certainly not the only one knowing it. I posted it like a hundred times on this very forum and elsewhere for 10 years. I simply can't be.

 

But I don't think it's a matter of keeping us around, as much as it's a question of how long will we still be. I consider this place a kind of second home, and the members of this community as friends I just don't know yet (those few of the ones I do know still around excluded). So far there's not been any movements towards making me no longer feel welcome here either, unlike in many other games' communities, where I'm not feeling like welcome to even join.

 

But with my already limited amount of free time ever constantly decreasing, along with my will or inclination to mod quite sadly, and all those of the old guys of the past who already left, it's simply a matter of fact I, too, won't be able to be around forever, as much as it'd hurt me not to. ...Ah, well, but that's just me getting old I guess. Nothing to worry about. Move along, nothing to see here.

 

P.S.: That "appetite" video was a blast from the past, one of my favorite movies and so, so fitting. Although, should I now feel even older considering I know it all too well?

[Striker879]

Huh, now that's an exotic variant they used in that NIF. The other way round "foot:UpperBody" I've seen quite a lot of times. It tells the game to use the foot slot texture but tells the onlooker it's meant to be an upperbody body part.

This way around though? What does it achieve? Yes, I forgot to mention the "code name" is case-irrelevant, so "upperbody" is "UpperBody" is "Upperbody" et al. But why adding a remark for labeling it "foot"? It can't be meant to be a foot, or using the Vanilla upperbody texture would be the wrong choice. I can only imagine a mix up, mistake or the creator just not knowing what it means and copying it 1:1 from some other NIF. But then, from where? In which case would the combination of "use upperbody" and "label it foot" ever make any sense? Hmm, but that's both, irrelevant and for someone else to answer.

 

But yes, if it was indeed named "UpperBody:foot", then yes, it was coded to use the upperbody texture slot in game, explaining the observed use of the "upperbodymale.dds".

 

 

Ah, it's just knowledge easily lost. And I'm certainly not the only one knowing it. I posted it like a hundred times on this very forum and elsewhere for 10 years. I simply can't be.

 

But I don't think it's a matter of keeping us around, as much as it's a question of how long will we still be. I consider this place a kind of second home, and the members of this community as friends I just don't know yet (those few of the ones I do know still around excluded). So far there's not been any movements towards making me no longer feel welcome here either, unlike in many other games' communities, where I'm not feeling like welcome to even join.

 

But with my already limited amount of free time ever constantly decreasing, along with my will or inclination to mod quite sadly, and all those of the old guys of the past who already left, it's simply a matter of fact I, too, won't be able to be around forever, as much as it'd hurt me not to. ...Ah, well, but that's just me getting old I guess. Nothing to worry about. Move along, nothing to see here.

 

P.S.: That "appetite" video was a blast from the past, one of my favorite movies and so, so fitting. Although, should I now feel even older considering I know it all too well?

 

A Dragon and a Dinosaur sitting, bowl of popcorn between them. From time to time the inevitable finger fight for the next handful ...

 

[Dragon] This is such a great flick, don't you think?

[Dinosaur] Yeah, you nailed it ... the grandkids have all loved it back when they were just hatchlings.

 

Dragon looks at Dinosaur, and Dinosaur looks at Dragon

 

[Dragon and Dinosaur] Groan ... where does the time go!!

 

Perhaps the saving grace for those who come along after we've "moved on" (in whatever manner that occurs) is that not one keystroke here is ever really gone. Lost to those without search-foo of course, but think of all the decade old necro posts we get. Those people didn't start back on page one of the comments to find those old threads I'd wager.

 

I watched a bunch of them after I found that clip ... the grandkids are old enough I don't get "the request" anymore. They'll still watch when it's grandpa's turn to pick the evening's movie though.

[IOPASD]

Problem fixed! Thanks everyone who helped! :thumbsup: