Help Please...

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

If you can, from the attatched image it's kind of apparent what I'm trying to do. Unfortunately it can never be as simple as copy paste ALL the time.. As is; any time I load this mesh in game and try to get my character to wear it the game immediately crashes to desk top. While I do have acess to a 3D editing software, I prefer to avoid using it because, I don't really know how to use it that well, and every time I have used it (past refitting and exporting armors or clothing), it has usually ended in frustration and failure.. or I manage to find some other way to accomplish what I'm trying to do.

 

Anyway any advice or tips to get this working in game would be appreciated.

 

[JRCosta]

I assume you didn't do the skinning of that mesh? That green leaf part was copy/past from other nif directly?

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

Yes. What I did was I copy pasted ("copy branch"/"paste branch") the florahangingmoss02.nif onto the clothing mesh then moved the plant meshes into place and changed their size using the transform/edit function. I clicked "Apply" on the bottom of the editing window after each edit.

[JRCosta]

The problem is that the florahangingmoss02.nif is a static object and the armor is a skinned (animated) object. So the CTD occurs.

 

That can be solved in 3DSMax or blender, skinning the static object. I don't know how to do that using nifskope only.

 

 

[Vioxsis]

You can't rig with just nifskope, but you could try mesh rigger > https://www.loverslab.com/topic/24797-mesh-rigger-skyrim-fallout-oblivion-beta46-3-23-2014/

 

But you will probably need to change the "BSLODTriShape" to "NiTriShape" first.

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

The problem is that the florahangingmoss02.nif is a static object and the armor is a skinned (animated) object. So the CTD occurs.

 

That can be solved in 3DSMax or blender, skinning the static object. I don't know how to do that using nifskope only.

 

That's what I thought.. The plant meshes didn't even have a BsDimemberSkinInstance in NifSkope.

 

Interestingly enough, I did get it to show up in game once without it crashing, but that was only because I loaded the low end mesh as the mesh for the Redgaurd clothes but didn't load the high end mesh, it looked.. interesting, but the moss did show up and followed my character around wherever she went, just not the clothing underneath.. sort of.

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

You can't rig with just nifskope, but you could try mesh rigger > https://www.loverslab.com/topic/24797-mesh-rigger-skyrim-fallout-oblivion-beta46-3-23-2014/

 

But you will probably need to change the "BSLODTriShape" to "NiTriShape" first.

 

I tried Mesh Rigger, that was my first choice actually, but Mesh Rigger didn't like that too much. I didn't know about changing "BSLODTriShap" to "NiTriShape" though, I'll have to try that and see what happens.. hopefully that does the trick.

[JRCosta]

I can give it a go and try to skin only that part in 3DSMax to make it wearable, but with all that foliage it is unexpected, it could turn out very weird...

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

I can give it a go and try to skin only that part in 3DSMax to make it wearable, but with all that foliage it is unexpected, it could turn out very weird...

 

Weird movement wise? I was kind of thinking about that myself, some of the foliage would be pulled by parts of the body it isn't attatched to. Honestly adding a havok effect to the foliage would probably yeild the best results movement wise.. but that's something I know absolutely nothing about.

 

I did change all of the BSLODTriSape noded into NiTriShape nodes, and when I put it into game the game didn't crash, but the suit didn't show up either, in fact not even the clothing underneath showed up, it looked like it just went to a defult version of the clothing instead.

 

I think the main issue I'm having with this is the foliage meshes don't have a BsDismemberSkinInstance attatched to them. Without that the meshes can't even be weighted, correct?

 

If you can get it to work in game I would be greatful.

 

Here are the files

ghillie suit.rar

[JRCosta]

Yes, the foliage need a skin branch (Niskin or BSDismember), other wise will CTD or simply didn't flow with the wearer movement.

 

Now, I' imported in 3DS this version attached and this isn't looking good:

 

 

All the foliage collapsed to the upperbody/neck part.

 

So this foliage mesh looks different from the first one you show here, did you tweak it?

 

Edit: ignore that, it works, made the wrong import.

 

I'll work on that and later give some feedback.

 

 

 

 

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

Yes, the foliage need a skin branch (Niskin or BSDismember), other wise will CTD or simply didn't flow with the wearer movement.

 

Now, I' imported in 3DS this version attached and this isn't looking good:

 

2.jpg

 

All the foliage collapsed to the upperbody/neck part.

 

So this foliage mesh looks different from the first one you show here, did you tweak it?

 

Edit: ignore that, it works, made the wrong import.

 

I'll work on that and later give some feedback.

 

Thanks, I look forward to it. Hopefully eveything checks out.

 

Yes, I did tweak it a bit from what was in the picture, I added a little more foliage to the front, but that's about it, I also cahnged the node type from BSLODTrishape to NiTrisape, but that's all I changed. I also made the hood mesh at around the same time. I haven't made a male version yet because I wanted to see if it works at all, but converting it shouldn't be that difficult once it's up and working in game.

 

 

How would one go about adding a BSDismemberSkinInstance anyway? Is that something that can be added in NifSkope without too much trouble, or is it just easier to add it in a 3D editing software?

[JRCosta]

 

Yes, the foliage need a skin branch (Niskin or BSDismember), other wise will CTD or simply didn't flow with the wearer movement.

 

Now, I' imported in 3DS this version attached and this isn't looking good:

 

2.jpg

 

All the foliage collapsed to the upperbody/neck part.

 

So this foliage mesh looks different from the first one you show here, did you tweak it?

 

Edit: ignore that, it works, made the wrong import.

 

I'll work on that and later give some feedback.

 

Thanks, I look forward to it. Hopefully eveything checks out.

 

Yes, I did tweak it a bit from what was in the picture, I added a little more foliage to the front, but that's about it, I also cahnged the node type from BSLODTrishape to NiTrisape, but that's all I changed. I also made the hood mesh at around the same time. I haven't made a male version yet because I wanted to see if it works at all, but converting it shouldn't be that difficult once it's up and working in game.

 

 

How would one go about adding a BSDismemberSkinInstance anyway? Is that something that can be added in NifSkope without too much trouble, or is it just easier to add it in a 3D editing software?

 

 

Someone more used to work with nifskope could answer you, but as far as I know it is not impossible, although it is way easier to work with a 3DS program.

 

The question here is to assign "skin" to that mesh and tell what is the influence of a specific bone in a specific portion of the mesh. That can be done directly in 3DS, selecting the static mesh then applying a skin wrap modifier, adding the meshes with bones (skeleton - usually the body, head, hands and feet of the body type you use) and then converting to skin.

 

After that, it is a question of testing in-game and reduce/increase/add/remove the influence of each bone in the now skinned mesh.

 

In nifskope, I imagine that you'll have to assign those influence values by hand and without any visual support - in 3DS you have a color gradient to check more/less bone influence per mesh area.

 

In this situation, I will remove the armor first (already skinned) and create a skin for the foliage on the _0 outfit, then send it to you for testing (so you can see the effect in game, clippings, weird mesh issues and so on). When everything is OK, I just have to do the same to the _1 outfit (well not everything, after the _0 is made is just a question of resize the foliage and some nifskope work).

 

There are some nice tutorials out there, this is more simple that it looks, the tricky part is really the mesh paint weighting in the end.

[JRCosta]

Alright, so here we go, I've done this in my lunch break, so nothing final.

 

So, basically, I just deleted the under armor in nifskope, leaving only the foliage meshes; then import in 3DS (import skeleton unchecked), attach all the foliage meshes, smooth the meshes, import vanilla male body (import skeleton option checked), skin wrap the mesh, export as nif, tweak the lightning mesh properties for proper in-game display, created a simple esp.

 

File, esp build with foliage mesh, body slot 40 (tail). type help foliage in console.  FoliageTest.7z

 

Screenshot:

 

 

Now remains the skinning tweaks, but that is for later after work.

 

Anyway, only the _0 is done (the _1 is a copy of the _0). If using the slot 40 is inconvenient, just use TES5Edit or CK to change for other body slot both in the Armor and ArmorAddon (don't need to change in the NIF file as it is a NiSkin, not a BSDismember, so the body slot is assigned only by the esp.)

 

Oh, and delete the foliage meshes in the original redguard nif, everything will be assemble later.

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

Cool! It's good to see this getting somewhere.

 

Hopefully the rest goes smoothly.

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

I'm not sure why, but the foliage isn't showing up in my game. I made sure everything was where it was supposed to be but it's not showing up for some reason.

[JRCosta]

OK; I've been tweaking this, changed the body slot, adjusted the nif lightning properties and start fixing the skinning.

 

You are getting that error because, in the rush, when packing the files, instead of creating a Data\meshes\clothes\beggarclothes, I've packed in Data\meshes\clothes. Just delete or uninstall first.

 

Sorry about that, it is now fixed. :\

 

Try in a male characer/NPC only: FoliageTest.7z

 

And a screenshot of Aergis where you can see something to be fixed: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

It's cool, errors will happen. I see the error, but I'm also seeing that this project seems to be coming along quite nicely over all.

 

I really appreciate the help, I doubt if I might have the skill to fix something like this and get it looking right in game. I mean I get the proces is pretty strait forward, but it looks like you've been playing with the weights too, and that can get tricky from what I've seen and read.

[JRCosta]

After the _0 mesh is done, the _1 can be finished only in nifskope, without he use of 3DS.

 

Now this just need some intensive testing the problematic spots.

[JRCosta]

Yep, the skinning is practically done int the _0 nif, just drop it in your Data\meshes\Clothes\beggarclothes\

 

foliage_0.nif

 

Test yourself, my female character (7B body) wear it without a problem, foliage base skeleton version is vanilla male.

 

 

*******************************************************

 

Now the boring part that I didn't want to do, but as it is totally in nifskope you can do it yourself.

 

First, let me tell you that this is not the only approach; using the BodySlide it is possible to do the _1. This is other way to do the bodyslide.

 

I didn't wanted to do this part because it is a tricky one and a small mistake can make you start over again.

 

I'll try to explain to one mesh so you can get the drill.

 

The basic is to replace the all NiTriShapeData of the foliage_0 attached above with the NiTriShapeData of your original _1 nif. To do this, you open your original _1 file and export all the NiTriShape branches to objects, then import all of them in the foliage_0. The trick is to assign the correct NiTriShapeData of _0 with the equal in the _1, so the skinning properties are the same - if you don't import the same, the skinning will be all wrong for that mesh.

 

So, using screenshots, what you must to is this:

 

1 - Open both Nifs in Nifskope:

 

 

2 - Select one NiTriShapeData of the _1 branch and found the correspondent NiTriShapeData in the foliage_0. Since this could be hard to find, assign a working texture to both nifs to make sure you are getting the same:

 

 

3 - When you have the same NiTriShapeData branch SELECTED in both NIFs, use in the _1 Nif Window, go to File - Export - Object; an message will appear, click OK, save with file name 1 or temp1, something that allows to to count the objects you have exported:

 

 

4 - In the foliage_0, with the same NiTriShapeData branch SELECTED, go to File-Import-Object and import the object you've just created. This will retain all the properties of the _0 (skinning, lightning) but you have the _1 size shape.

 

5 - Now you "just" have to repeat for the remaining meshes (12 total); don't forget to reassign the texture you've assigned to visually help you get the same mesh in both nifs.

 

Or you can use the bodyslide.

 

Either way, good luck!

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

Thank you for all the help, I doubt I would have gotten this far on my own. I'm a bit confused as to what to do next, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

[JRCosta]

Thank you for all the help, I doubt I would have gotten this far on my own. I'm a bit confused as to what to do next, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

 

Once you try one, it is fairly easy but some time-consuming.

 

but use the bodyslide tool is easier, of course.