What are the right versions for NIF-editing tools, and where can I find them in 2021?

[spacefiddle]

I have read the Nexus' own wiki and tutorials, and they no longer seem to be valid.

 

I've ferinstance gotten the precise versions of Blender and its Nif plugin specified in the "make armor" tutorial, and when trying to activate that plugin, which the wiki specifically advises using with Blender 2.75, it bombs out.

 

"ImportError: cannot import name 'properties'"

 

-_-

 

I tried using the latest version of Blender and the plugin both, and that went nowhere fast.

 

All I want to do is edit a slightly broken .nif, which is working perfectly in-game but has one surface with a decal submerged into another (and so rendering the decal invisible), and then get the fixed version back into the game. But it's been a labyrinth of "just follow this workflow of chaining the file through 4,397 applications and conversions" and precisely zero of them work as advertised. Plus, honestly, writing documentation is a tough skill, and folks already familiar with how this all works tend to leave out important details from their instructions.

 

And some are just not even in the same zip code. Like, the step to import into OS - "it will be offset, transform it by these exact values," and every search result states the same values - but they're outdated, the displacement of the imported model is now somewhere else entirely. Stuff like that.

 

SO,

 

What are the basics I need to get started with how this was done correctly in like, 2018?

 

thanks....

[RoNin1971]

The Niftools plugin for Blender doesn't work properly. Doesn't look like it will ever get fixed either.

So, here's the alternative 'workaround' I have been using a thousand times by now.

 

Export the nif to obj. Import that into Blender, correct the scale (0.1) and rotation (x-90), separate by material.

Do your edits.

Export to obj again. [edit: scale 1.0, Y forward, Z up]

To convert it to a nif, use OutfitStudio. Import the obj and export it as nif.

Open the nif with Niftools, replace all (empty) materials with new or original and convert all shapes to BSTriShape.

Copy that to the original nif file you wish to be changed and delete the original shape,

 

Run it through Elric to be sure it won't CTD on load with CK or in-game.

Edited May 8, 2021 by RoNin1971

[DocClox]

Try PyNifly. I think the d/l for 0.0.27 is borked, but earlier ones should be OK.

 

Development thread is a blog on LL

[Slavemaster4u]

If the overlapping textures are on the same surface, then you need to remove one. Which can be done in NifSkope. But if there are two textures overlapping across two surfaces. But you want each on a separate surface. Then again NifSkope can be used to assign each texture to a different surface of the object. That's if I'm understanding you situation correctly. Can also use photoshop, with the dds plugin, to resize the texture if needed.

[South8028]

Just put max 2013 with official plugins. Export any mesh from the game to fbx in outfit studio. In obj it is not necessary - because it breaks the scale, and sometimes the geometry. The official plugins for 2013 max have all the bet and hkt to create absolutely everything, only the nif importer is missing. I have no idea why people started to write some kind of self-made plugins for max 2015 and beyond, instead of developing what is officially and works well.

[South8028]

Just put max 2013 with official plugins. Export any mesh from the game to fbx in outfit studio. In obj it is not necessary - because it breaks the scale, and sometimes the geometry. The official plugins for 2013 max have all the bet and hkt to create absolutely everything, only the nif importer is missing. I have no idea why people started to write some kind of self-made plugins for max 2015 and beyond, instead of developing what is officially and works well.

[South8028]

Just put max 2013 with official plugins. Export any mesh from the game to fbx in outfit studio. In obj it is not necessary - because it breaks the scale, and sometimes the geometry. The official plugins for 2013 max have all the bet and hkt to create absolutely everything, only the nif importer is missing. I have no idea why people started to write some kind of self-made plugins for max 2015 and beyond, instead of developing what is officially and works well.