Question about modding stuff

[Jacowboy]

So I'm a complete mod noob, I've no idea of anything at all, so let's get thar out of the way first.

 

Here's the thing, I'd like to replace some textures by transparent gifs, to effectively make the visually disappear from the game... BUT I'd also like to be able to either 1) restrict it to certain cells (if possible) or te be able to activate/deactivate it like you would do with a mod...

 

So, let me give you a concrete example: I want to clean Sanctuary and Red Rocket next to it... but most "scrapping mods" break the original meshes, so they severely slow down the game, from what I understand... but a more simple solution from what I've read would be to basically leave the clutter as is, but replace the textures with transparent ones, so while they're still there, you can't see them AND you don't break any meshes (in fact I've seen a couple of mods that do this, but only for certain items).

 

So in short, is this something that would be feasible by a complete noob? Or should I just forget about the whole thing? =/

 

If so, are there any good simple noob-friendly tutorial on how to do so?

 

Thanks!

[robotized]

As far as I know the game only supports DDS image format. And there are different types of compression.

I don't know how or if it could be done to activate/deactivate. Restricting to certain cells is possible, but I think it's too much work and more complicated. You'll have to edit nif files(they contain meshes), assign new material files with new textures to the nifs, probably remove their collision. On top of that you will have to replace the objects in question with the edited ones and then generate precombined geometry and precombined visibility for the cells.

So instead of using transparent textures, I was thinking of editing the placed objects. What I have in mind is to move them below the ground, set flag "Initially disabled" and remove the flag "Respawn". You will still need to generate precombined geometry and precombined visibility for the cells, but won't be messing around with nif files, materials and textures.

Editing big objects, like a huge tree or sanctuary houses is not a good idea. They will appear when the area is looked from afar, because there are other low detailed meshes loaded. I think this can be generated as well, but I have even less experience with it.

It's not a simple job for someone who has not touched modding. I'm sorry, I don't have any links with tutorials. You need to learn how to use the Creation Kit. Depending on how you want to do this, you may need to learn about other programs too.

There are mods that make settlements clean. This mod author has a version of Sanctuary and Red Rocket. <- Edit: it's possible that his mods don't have precombines.

Edited December 31, 2020 by robotized

[dylbill]

Yes you would need to learn the creation kit for this. Since it's specific junk items you want to be invisible, and not all junk items in the game, I would suggest using a script with the .disable() function. Disable will make the object invisible, but keep the object there. Since they are vanilla items, you should make a reference alias in a new quest for each item you want to make invisible, for maximum compatibility, and then put a script that looks something like this on each reference alias:

Scriptname TMM_DisableRefAliasScript extends ReferenceAlias 

Event OnInit()
    Self.GetRef().Disable()
EndEvent

Event OnLoad()
    Self.GetRef().Disable()
EndEvent 

Event OnReset()
    Self.GetRef().Disable()
EndEvent

Name the script something more unique.

[robotized]

Yes you would need to learn the creation kit for this. Since it's specific junk items you want to be invisible, and not all junk items in the game, I would suggest using a script with the .disable() function. Disable will make the object invisible, but keep the object there. Since they are vanilla items, you should make a reference alias in a new quest for each item you want to make invisible, for maximum compatibility, and then put a script that looks something like this on each reference alias:

Scriptname TMM_DisableRefAliasScript extends ReferenceAlias 

Event OnInit()
    Self.GetRef().Disable()
EndEvent

Event OnLoad()
    Self.GetRef().Disable()
EndEvent 

Event OnReset()
    Self.GetRef().Disable()
EndEvent

Name the script something more unique.

I was curious so I did a few tries with this. Didn't work for me. In any case, adding the placed objects as reference aliases in the quest, was detected as edits to the cell, so there is still the need for generating precombines and previs. If I'm going to search for placed objects anyway, I'd rather make a quick edit to their Z coordinate, set the flag "Initially disabled" and remove flag "Respawn".