Swapping out face mesh + texture (or even body) in bijin mod

[bluetortoise]

I want to give vex's face to another recruitable npc so i can have a follower that at least looks like vex.

 

Sofar i tried to go into the mesh and texture folders and made a copy of vex's NIF and DDS file, and renamed it to the ID of the npc i want to replace, and replace the NIF and DDS file of the said npc's id.

 

But the result is a vanilla head without texture, and the hair apparently didnt change either.

 

So what are the necessary steps to achieve the goal?

[Algabar]

I have some experience with followers and other NPCs, but I never did something like this myself. So I can only give you some vague pointers....

 

First of all: What you want to do is not a trivial task. There will be trial and error and a somewhat steep learning curve. A very basic workflow (maybe with some steps in between I forgot....) could look like this:

 

1.Start from a basic female follower. Just download one of the hundreds or thousands of generic followers here on the Nexus.

2. Open the mod's .esp file in the CK (set as "active file").

3. Change at least the hair to the hairstyle you want in the CK.

4. Export facegen data for your follower.

5. Replace the exported headmesh (found in meshes/actors/character/[Your follower] with Vex's head.

6. Use Nifskope to check and - if necessary - adjust texture paths

 

Here's a detailed guide on changing NPC appearances, that may be helpful. It's not exactly about what you want to do, but the process should be very similar.