[Help] Nifskope Body Glossiness and Armour

[Milkubus]

Hello,

 

I've given my character glossy skin by changing the BSLightingShaderProperty in femalebody_0+1.nif, and it has worked wonderfully - when naked. I'm wondering if there's an easy way to apply the same gloss-effect when wearing outfits without having to go to each individual armour nif file and editing their BSLightingShaderProperty. I've done this with a couple outfits, but I also have a rather large wardrobe and would prefer not to edit hundreds of nif.

 

I use a CBBE-Bodyslide created body.

 

 

Help would be greatly appreciated; thank you for your time.

[Kendo 2]

There isn't an easy way to change all of the nifs.  Better to try and do glossiness with textures.

[Milkubus]

That's what I was afraid of. I'm not a fan of the Glosstech look. Maybe I'll just edit the outfits I'm most fond of. 

 

I was hoping there would be a way to do it through the Bodyslide program, before you do a batch build, or something like that.

 

Regardless, thanks for the reply!

 

Cheers.

[Kendo 2]

I did the same thing for an android NPC in FO3.  She ended up with maybe five outfits before the novelty wore off.  I wish there was an easier way, since every glossy/shiny body normal text I've seen for Skyrim is terrible.

[KristyllLascivicious]

If these files contain a full reference body such as Chronotrigger77's Remodeled Armor, you can find the location of the meshes in these files and just copy-replace the femaleX_0 and _1 meshes defined in CBBE as long as those have also been modified.  Yes, you still need to go armor by armor, but it's obviously much faster than going into nifskope and manually adjusting everything.

 

What's more difficult I have found is when character assets aren't included and there's a reference body attached to the outfit.  I'm not really sure how to approach this, but I wonder if modifying the content in bodyslide to delete the reference body is possible.  I've got no clue how to modify these directly through nifskope.

[Milkubus]

If these files contain a full reference body such as Chronotrigger77's Remodeled Armor, you can find the location of the meshes in these files and just copy-replace the femaleX_0 and _1 meshes defined in CBBE as long as those have also been modified.  Yes, you still need to go armor by armor, but it's obviously much faster than going into nifskope and manually adjusting everything.

 

What's more difficult I have found is when character assets aren't included and there's a reference body attached to the outfit.  I'm not really sure how to approach this, but I wonder if modifying the content in bodyslide to delete the reference body is possible.  I've got no clue how to modify these directly through nifskope.

 

 

Sorry, I'm not sure I entirely follow. I do have Chronotrigger77's Remodeled Armor, however I'm not seeing the reference bodies detached from the outfit within the folders. Perhaps I'm looking at the wrong place (Meshes > Armor?) or I misunderstood and they are there and I failed to recognize them as full reference bodies (I'm not as well-versed with this stuff as I'd like).

 

I'd really appreciate further explanation; thank you for replying!

[KristyllLascivicious]

The whole reference body thing is pertaining to other mods which include a body itself as part of the clothing mesh; basically reshaping the body attached to the clothing within the mod to prevent clipping issues, and then this whole thing is worn on top of your existing model's meshes.

 

For CT77's remodeled armor, he took another approach by basically copying the CBBE meshes separately into his own mod's file directory.  If you've edited the meshes already for CBBE in nifskope, follow these steps:

 

1. (Optional but recommended):  Once done modifying the CBBE meshes in nifskope, go to the CBBE file directory and from there, meshes\actors\character\character assets.  Highlight all of the nifs in there, right click, and either create a .rar archive with winrar or send them to a zipped folder.  Rename this to whatever you like.  I named mine As the gloss/specular strength numbers.  Copy this new compressed file.

 

2. Go to your Remodeled Armor for CBBE.. file directory in your mods folder.  Again, follow the \meshes\actors\character\character assets file path, and in here you'll see additional copies of the body nifs you modified earlier in the CBBE files.  Paste the compressed file here which contains all of the glossy nifs from before.  Right click on it, and select "Extract Here."  You'll get a window asking if you'd like to overwrite 1stpersonfemalehands.nif and so on, and accept for all of them.  This will overwrite the generated meshes within CT77 to the oily versions you have.  All of this armor will now display oily skin.  You have this archive in CBBE and CT77 because each instance of batch building the CT77 armor in bodyslide will revert your gloss, so every time you run the batch build function in bodyslide, you'll have to unpack the modified meshes again.  This also lets you create multiple oil versions and overwrite via a simple unpack for the mods that need to rather than going though over and over to change it up.

 

The thing is, some clothing mods have their own structures for their nifs, and they'll sometimes include what's called a reference body (if my terminology is correct), which is the entire outfit.  Think of it kind of like the clothing is painted onto the skin, and you're wearing the skin.  Thus, it's not possible to apply oil effects/gloss to the skin without making  the whole outfit extremely shiny.  This is where I'm currently spending some time trying to figure out how to get rid of those bodies attached or underneath the clothing meshes in the outfit such that my character's normal skin can be displayed, as these mods do not contain their own \meshes\actors\character\character assets files for bodies (so I can't just copy-paste the body nifs and have it overwrite like CT77's).  I hope to have a bit more time in the next few days to get the chance to delve into it.  If I come across anything ground-breaking I'll probably post the results here to help you out as well, since we're in similar situations.  I don't know much at all about nifskope or modifying nifs, and wonder if this can be done in bodyslide instead by just deleting the reference body shape.

[-alpha-]

That's what I was afraid of. I'm not a fan of the Glosstech look. Maybe I'll just edit the outfits I'm most fond of. 

 

I was hoping there would be a way to do it through the Bodyslide program, before you do a batch build, or something like that.

 

Regardless, thanks for the reply!

 

Cheers.

 

You can get it done without using a texture.

 

follow this link

 

http://eiheispot1.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-54.html

 

its in Japanese so translate with chrome or something.

I use it on most of my followers. it works pretty well.

[Milkubus]

The whole reference body thing is pertaining to other mods which include a body itself as part of the clothing mesh; basically reshaping the body attached to the clothing within the mod to prevent clipping issues, and then this whole thing is worn on top of your existing model's meshes.

 

For CT77's remodeled armor, he took another approach by basically copying the CBBE meshes separately into his own mod's file directory.  If you've edited the meshes already for CBBE in nifskope, follow these steps:

 

1. (Optional but recommended):  Once done modifying the CBBE meshes in nifskope, go to the CBBE file directory and from there, meshes\actors\character\character assets.  Highlight all of the nifs in there, right click, and either create a .rar archive with winrar or send them to a zipped folder.  Rename this to whatever you like.  I named mine As the gloss/specular strength numbers.  Copy this new compressed file.

 

2. Go to your Remodeled Armor for CBBE.. file directory in your mods folder.  Again, follow the \meshes\actors\character\character assets file path, and in here you'll see additional copies of the body nifs you modified earlier in the CBBE files.  Paste the compressed file here which contains all of the glossy nifs from before.  Right click on it, and select "Extract Here."  You'll get a window asking if you'd like to overwrite 1stpersonfemalehands.nif and so on, and accept for all of them.  This will overwrite the generated meshes within CT77 to the oily versions you have.  All of this armor will now display oily skin.  You have this archive in CBBE and CT77 because each instance of batch building the CT77 armor in bodyslide will revert your gloss, so every time you run the batch build function in bodyslide, you'll have to unpack the modified meshes again.  This also lets you create multiple oil versions and overwrite via a simple unpack for the mods that need to rather than going though over and over to change it up.

 

The thing is, some clothing mods have their own structures for their nifs, and they'll sometimes include what's called a reference body (if my terminology is correct), which is the entire outfit.  Think of it kind of like the clothing is painted onto the skin, and you're wearing the skin.  Thus, it's not possible to apply oil effects/gloss to the skin without making  the whole outfit extremely shiny.  This is where I'm currently spending some time trying to figure out how to get rid of those bodies attached or underneath the clothing meshes in the outfit such that my character's normal skin can be displayed, as these mods do not contain their own \meshes\actors\character\character assets files for bodies (so I can't just copy-paste the body nifs and have it overwrite like CT77's).  I hope to have a bit more time in the next few days to get the chance to delve into it.  If I come across anything ground-breaking I'll probably post the results here to help you out as well, since we're in similar situations.  I don't know much at all about nifskope or modifying nifs, and wonder if this can be done in bodyslide instead by just deleting the reference body shape.

 

Thank you for responding! =)

 

That was super informative and I was able to follow those steps. My Remodeled Armor folder now has the same body nifs as my CBBE ones. However, it doesn't seem to have done anything within the game; my character is still only oily when naked, and upon equipping a CT77 armor, such as the Imperial Outfit (first outfit I could find), I lose the oil. 

 

Editing the cuirass.nif in the specific armor folder and clicking the body so as to only change that BSLightingShaderProperty worked - and makes it sound a lot like what you were talking about where the reference body is included with the armor. I must be missing something... =S

 

I would love to hear your results/findings on your experiments!

 

In the meantime, I'm going to continue fiddling with my nifs and see if I can achieve having the oil apply to all the Remodeled ones.

 

Really appreciate the help; it's nice finding helpful people! 

[KristyllLascivicious]

That's really strange.  Do you use Mod organizer or NMM?

[Milkubus]

Mod Organizer. I forgot, I was going to mention that in my previous post, whoops!

 

Edit: I'm going to run Bodyslide again and re-batch and re-edit my CBBE nifs then copy-pasta them to Remodeled, and see if that does anything. 

[KristyllLascivicious]

Check your mod priority list in MO (not load order) and you'll notice that CBBE/Remodeled Armor may have some conflicts denoted by the lightning bolt.  Double click and check on the conflicts tab to see what's overwriting what.

 

For example, if CBBE is before RA, but there's another mod after that with its own character assets folder, that may be taking priority and causing your efforts to be futile until that folder gets updated as well.

[Milkubus]

I checked and even placed them both at the very bottom. Remodeled armor is overwriting CBBE, as it should be. Also overwriting Unofficial Patches. My overwrite's folder is empty. No other conflicts present. It's still not working with armor on, bleh. My Mod Organizer Data pane Meshes > Actor > Character assets is using the nifs from Remodeled Armor mod, too. So, by everything's saying it should be using them. 

 

I'm using version 5.1 of Remodeled Armor for CBBE Bodyslide TBBP HDT. Maybe it's because I have HDT?

[KristyllLascivicious]

Nope, I'm also using HDT, as well as version 5.1.  That's really bizarre.  Are you using ECE + Racemenu and the Fair Skin complexion mod or any other skin textures?  I'm really not at all sure what's going wrong :T

[Milkubus]

I am using racemenu + ECE. But those only seem to be modifying head textures/meshes. I have no other skin texture mods at the moment. I'm not sure why it's not working either, and at a complete loss. =/ I may just give up at this point. 

[KristyllLascivicious]

I'd probably suggest making a new profile with only the two mods and their prerequisites enabled to make sure it's what's going on in the mods themselves instead of some unknown conflict that may be happening.

 

Double check that the edits you made to the bodies went through and were substantial.  If I may ask, what are the glossiness and specular strength values you're using?  I recall the tutorial you probably found used values like 600 and 9, which won't actually change anything without an ENB preset dedicated for it, and was something I initially didn't notice, either.

 

Try using values somewhere in like the 300 and 50 numbers for gloss and specular strength, respectively.  Also be sure to hit the enter key when editing as any field currently being modified while saving in nifskope will not have its value changed/saved (at least from my experience).

[Milkubus]

I made a new profile and only enabled CBBE and Remodeled Armor. The list of conflicts for Remodeled armor were: Unmanaged Dawnguard, Unmanaged Dragonborn, data, and CBBE. Remodeled armor overwriting all of those, of course. 

 

The glossiness and specular strength values I was using was 1000 and 50 for testing purposes, so I could see the oil more clearly. I ran a new game and unfortunately, nothing changed. Still glossy when nude; non-glossy with armor - tried both Stormcloak and Imperial pieces in the starting area.

 

This is incredibly frustrating. I wish I could just hand over my Mod Organizer to you. -laugh-

[Lordgeorge16]

I think it would be neat if they somehow added the ability to change glossiness in Bodyslide 2.  That way it can be applied to all bodies at the snap of a finger and you won't have to jump through a ton of hoops just to try (and fail, it seems) to achieve the same effect.

[Milkubus]

I think it would be neat if they somehow added the ability to change glossiness in Bodyslide 2.  That way it can be applied to all bodies at the snap of a finger and you won't have to jump through a ton of hoops just to try (and fail, it seems) to achieve the same effect.

 

I agree! 

[KristyllLascivicious]

I made a new profile and only enabled CBBE and Remodeled Armor. The list of conflicts for Remodeled armor were: Unmanaged Dawnguard, Unmanaged Dragonborn, data, and CBBE. Remodeled armor overwriting all of those, of course. 

 

The glossiness and specular strength values I was using was 1000 and 50 for testing purposes, so I could see the oil more clearly. I ran a new game and unfortunately, nothing changed. Still glossy when nude; non-glossy with armor - tried both Stormcloak and Imperial pieces in the starting area.

 

This is incredibly frustrating. I wish I could just hand over my Mod Organizer to you. -laugh-

 

I'm really at a loss for words here.  You seem to be doing everything fine and for some reason it's just not working.  All I can seem to think of is installing RA again and making sure you didn't click on any nevernude settings or something along those lines :\