Blender NIF export not working?

[mogbert]

OK, I was trying to do something exceedingly simple, but it seems that the people from NIF Tools are the only ones working on tools to work with NIF's and none of their stuff works.

First, I started with NIFSkope. All I want to do is take a NIF, and point it at a new DDS file for it's texture. I don't want to overwrite it's old texture. If you try doing this in NIFSkope, it corrupts your NIF. Seriously. All you have to do is change the old texture path to a new texture path, and the NIF is now corrupt and will crash your system if you try and bring it up in FO3. It is a known problem, someone in the group posted it on their front page.

 

Well, that's OK. I figured that it was overkill, but I'll download Blender and just change the texture in there. Blender is easy to get, but to use the NIF import and Export that the NIFTools guys made (same ones who made NIFSkope) you need Python, and you need need Python, then you need PyFFI, which also needs C++ distributable... then you need to get the NIF plugin. OK, I got all of that downloaded, installed and running. I'm able to import my NIF into Blender.The meatcaps look wrong, and for some reason the normal map is always mapped as an alpha map which makes the whole thing see through, easily enough fixed, I think.

 

The problem is that every time I EXPORT a NIF, it is AGAIN, corrupt. Just to check this out (because I spent 6 hours yesterday struggling with NIFSkope before I found the problem was in their program) I take the wastelandsettler03 outfit, with all of the textures and gore textures, I import it into Blender, then I Export it from Blender. I use the settings that NIFTools set up for Fallout3... and it is again CORRUPT!

 

I know some of you have made mods. I know that some of you are able to make custom things in Fallout3. How are you doing it? How is it possible? Every time I try to do ANYTHING with a NIF file from the NIFTools people, it gets corrupted. Is there a secret "please don't corrupt" file I need? Something the program is looking for in order to export the file correctly? Are there settings that I need to change in order to make it create a working NIF file?

 

What do I have to do? How hard is it to change the pointer in a NIF file to point to a new texture?!?

[veliv]

update arrays after changeing the texture in Nifskope.

 

And please, do some research before claiming "the people from NIF Tools are the only ones working on tools to work with NIF's and none of their stuff works.". This is a problem at your end, not theirs, so its kinda stupid to blame the for it.

[mogbert]

Thank you for your reply, however, I've already done a LOT of research. As I mentioned I had tried to do this for 6 hours yesterday. Also, as I mentioned this is a KNOWN PROBLEM.

This is NOT the problem where you have to update the arrays. I tried updating everything. I even tried updating it manually. I tried updating it both in the texture node and at the header, in different orders.

It is hard to find, If you go to their wiki page, then click download, then click Summary, then click Activity, than click "grimjerk created the Texture Changing still Problematic artifact, 2 days ago"

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?f...amp;atid=776343

 

This problem is NOT on my side.

 

If there are anyone else working on NIF programs, please let me know what they are. I'm not saying the people at NIFTools aren't good at what they do, only that all of their current programs corrupt the NIF when you do specifically what I'm trying to do.

[mogbert]

Let me change that answer.

 

The problem with NIFSkope is not on my side. The problem in Blender COULD be on my side, I don't know.

The import works fine, except for it marking the normal map as a transparency map as well. The export is set exactly the way they want it set for Fallout3. However, not even NIFSkope can open the NIF files their export script creates. Now if there is something more I need for it to work other then what they say I need for it to work, please clue me in. I'm able to create a cube in Blender, and as long as I'm not assigning it a texture, I can ever export said cube into a NIF file that NIFSkope can open.

 

I'm tempted to see if I maybe I can increase or decrease the text size of my directory and maybe hexedit the original NIF file to point to the new directory. I understand that before these tools came out that is what some people did. In which case, I'll probably try it tomorrow... I mean this morning when I get up (it's awfully late... or early).

 

Also, if there is another modding forum that may be able to answer my questions dealing with NIFTools, please point me that direction. I don't mean a forum to complain on, I mean one where I can get the software working. I'm afraid I haven't found much help searching this forum, there are a lot of people asking for help, and not many answering I'm afraid.

[LHammonds]

You did not mention version numbers for any of the tools you mentioned which is trouble-shooting step #1.

 

Nobody can help you if you do not let us know what you are working with.

 

I have personally change the texture path of a weapon NIF using NifSkope 1.0.17.4329 and it worked. But NifSkope 1.0.16 did not and corrupted the NIF. I assume you are using the 17 version based on posted dates but this is an assumption.

 

The versions of software I work with are as follows (and is updated here)

 

Blender 2.48a

Python 2.5.2

Blender NIF Scripts 2.3.13

PyFFI 1.1.10

 

Some things still have to be exported and then copied from the exported NIF to an existing original Fallout 3 NIF which is the same process we had to do in the early days of Oblivion modding. As the NifTools team learns more about the format, they can improve the NIF Scripts to export 100% functional NIF files that can be dropped directly into the game but that took quite some time with Oblivion because the NIF file format was not published...it was reverse-engineered which is a painful process of trial and error. If we were given a NIF import/export tool, this would be a non-issue but the fact is that we are left on our own to figure it out. (specifically, the brains at the NifTools team)

 

Sanity Check

I just double-checked using the rifle NIF in this mod and extracted the NIF and DDS files to a root folder. I opened the NIF in NifSkope and it obviously did not show the textures because they were sitting in the same folder (instead of the correct path). I then expanded the NiTriStrip, BSShaderPPLightingProperty and selected BSShaderTextureSet. In the Block Details pane, I expanded the Textures to reveal the texture paths to the diffuse and normal map images. I double-clicked the path to begin editing it and removed the entire path so it just read "m1rifle.dds" and pressed ENTER and did the same for the normal map. The model preview showed the texture correctly and I clicked the "Save As" button and overwrote the same NIF file. I closed NifSkope and opened it up again and the NIF loaded and displayed the textures as expected. The texture paths also retained my setting and there were no errors.

 

LHammonds

[mogbert]

LHammonds, that turned out to be the key. I wound up finding the NIFTools Forum and researching it through there (only link is on the Wiki sidebar, I was looking for one linked from SourceForge, doh!).

 

The answer to the problem, an answer you also had, was in this thread:

http://niftools.sourceforge.net/forum/view...f=24&t=2036

 

Basically, I had been using the file picker (flower button) to select the texture file. That button has a bug and creates a different type of sting in NIFSkope then what it should. When you double click the text and type or paste the data in there, it works fine.

 

I'll have to play with blender itself later to try and make new things, but for now I'm just going to finish up this mod and get it released. It's not a major mod or anything, but it is my first for FO3.

[LHammonds]

Ah, I never use the flower picker. I think I tried it out a LONG time ago and it added a fully hard-coded path and I was not pleased about it so I did everything by hand from then on. With all the mods I was finding with hard-coded paths, it was one of the 1st tutorials I created to help alleviate this problem. How To Fix Hard-Coded Paths in NIF Files. ;)

 

LHammonds