Need some help troubleshooting dark faced Lydia

[Conz]

I'm trying to get a better looking Lydia in my new SE game but all my efforts end up with Lydia having a dark brown face and dark grey vanilla hair.

The main replacement I'm trying to get are the Bijin ones but every other replacement I've tried (it's been a few) with the Bijin mod disabled or not end up with Lydia's head turning brown.

All the other npc's in the mod are fine, it's just Lydia that's being a burden ( )

Disable / Enable had no effect either.

 

I ran out of ideas on how to troubleshoot this, if anyone has any ideas that would be appreciated.

[yatol]

mod that edit npc headparts require a new game

[Conz]

mod that edit npc headparts require a new game

 

It worked for all the other npc's though, even ones who were following, that's what makes it slightly odd ?

[Wartoot]

Conflicting mods? Tried archive invalidation? Does Skyrim special edition has archive invalidation?

[Luna_Natsume]

I have the same issue with "Babes of SkyrimSE"... my solution is just to put it last in the load order. It's due to conflicting mods... especially if you have two or more mods that overhaul characters as a whole. I use the UNP body with face textures, and add a few other texture enhance mods, plus the babes of SkyrimSE... if I forget to put 'babes' last in the load order, I get the brown face bug every time. Try shifting around your load order, and see if that helps.

 

[bury02128]

Bijin changes weight of the npc,  If you met Lydia before installing mod you will have dark face. Check from mod page weight of Lydia ( if it not on SE page I know its on oldrim page )

in command mode click on lydia and type setnpcweight ( number  from mod ), after type disable  and after type enable.

 

edit from oldrim page: lydia is 100

 

click on lydia in command mode ( click on key ~ ) and:

setnpcweight 100

disable

enable

[migal130]

If you are running a mod that changes a vanilla NPC's weight and you have already seen that vanilla NPC in your game, there will be a gap at the neck, because the NPC's vanilla weight is in your game save.  But, it will not cause a black face.

 

The black face bug in SSE is the grey face bug from Oldrim.  It is a direct result of the facegeom NIF file containing data that does not exactly match the last plugin in your load order affecting that specific NPC.

 

You have more than only Lydia mod installed.  This can be confusing, because some people release mods that contain NPCs such as Lydia, even though the mod isn't billed as a Lydia replacer.  For example, a mod that supposedly only changes Lydia's sandboxing, outfit or fighting style will also contain the vanilla settings for her face (even though the mod maker doesn't know it).  If you load it after a mod you downloaded specifically to change Lydia's face, her face will be black, because the last plugin affecting Lydia contains vanilla Lydia face data, but the Lydia facegeom NIF file contains data matching the mod you downloaded to change Lydia's face.  Conflict.

 

Changing NPCs with plugins is like getting pregnant.  You can't do it just a little bit.  A mod that changes the Lydia record changes all of Lydia, period.  It would be possible to get around that for something like her outfit or sandboxing by instead changing the vanilla outfit and AI package records.  Lydia's face would then be unchanged, because the Lydia record itself was unchanged, but any NPC that also used Lydia's AI package or Lydia's housecarl outfit would be affected.

 

You need to have the plugin you want to control Lydia's face loaded after all other plugin's that might affect Lydia.  And, the mesh and texture files from that plugin's mod must be in their proper locations and not overwritten by some other mod.

 

These are Lydia's facegen files.  They have to match the plugin that affects Lydia last.

 

Skyrim Special Edition\Data\meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\Skyrim.esm\000A2C8E.NIF

Skyrim Special Edition\Data\textures\actors\character\facegendata\facetint\Skyrim.esm\000a2c8e.dds

 

It might not be something subtle like a mod that supposedly only changes sandboxing or outfits.   You may have accidentally or intentionally installed more than one Lydia replacer.  For example, if you install Bijin Warmaidens, then Migal's Housecarl Beauties, then QD Characters, you have installed three different Lydia replacers.  If QD Characters was installed last and you told it to overwrite files during installation, then the QD Characters plugin must come last in your load order, because the QD Characters facegeom nif files have overwritten previous Lydia nif files.

 

This becomes a real pain in the ass if you want NPCs from one mod and NPCs from another mod, but both mods contain some of the same NPCs.  You must either edit the mod's plugins in SSEedit to compensate, prior to installing, or you must use mods that don't come with so many NPCs inside their plugins.

 

Migal's Housecarl Beauties is available as single downloads for each housecarl, so if you just want the ones I converted to male but you want to use Lydia from some other mod, you can do it without having to mess with SSEedit.

 

The Bijin Series for Oldrim comes with a fomod installer that lets you pick and choose which NPCs you want to install, but it does not exist for SSE.  Instead, someone posted Bijin All-In-One, which is named appropriately, because it contains all the Bijin NPCs from the three different Bijin mod pages on the old Skyrim Nexus, which is the exact opposite of what you need if you want to mix and match NPCs from different mods.

 

QD is also All-In-One.  So, the reality is that you probably just have to get good with SSEedit, or you have to be more careful about what you install.

[Conz]

Bijin changes weight of the npc,  If you met Lydia before installing mod you will have dark face. Check from mod page weight of Lydia ( if it not on SE page I know its on oldrim page )

in command mode click on lydia and type setnpcweight ( number  from mod ), after type disable  and after type enable.

 

edit from oldrim page: lydia is 100

 

click on lydia in command mode ( click on key ~ ) and:

setnpcweight 100

disable

enable

 

 

~Lots of useful stuff~

 

Ok so, progress!

When I did the setnpcweight lydia would revert to her old self, but go back to a brown face after disable/enable.

So then I removed the 2 facegen files and now she's back to her old self on game start...

 

The 2 facegen files were the ones from the correct mod however.

 

I fired up SSEEdit and looked up Lydia, she's mentioned in the custom file, bijin, USSEP and Skyrim.esm so there shouldn't really be a lot of conflicts .. (I've seen worse that worked correctly =p)

It's not just the face that isn't getting loaded but also the hair that's vanilla so I'm slightly stumped .. but at least I now have 2 options .. vanilla or give her a helmet

 

I'm not an avid SSEedit user but I could try and remove Lydia from the other-then-skyrim.esm  mods ?

 

 

 

[migal130]

 

Ok so, progress!

When I did the setnpcweight lydia would revert to her old self, but go back to a brown face after disable/enable.

So then I removed the 2 facegen files and now she's back to her old self on game start...

 

The 2 facegen files were the ones from the correct mod however.

 

I fired up SSEEdit and looked up Lydia, she's mentioned in the custom file, bijin, USSEP and Skyrim.esm so there shouldn't really be a lot of conflicts .. (I've seen worse that worked correctly =p)

It's not just the face that isn't getting loaded but also the hair that's vanilla so I'm slightly stumped .. but at least I now have 2 options .. vanilla or give her a helmet

 

I'm not an avid SSEedit user but I could try and remove Lydia from the other-then-skyrim.esm  mods ?

 

 

When you say she's mentioned in the custom file, bijin and USSEP, do you mean she's in bijin and USSEP but also in another file?  If so, that's three files affecting Lydia and conflicting with each other.

 

Steps to correct:

 

1.  If you're using NMM, click the little folder icon and select Open NMM's Mods Folder.

 

2.  Find the zip file that contains the mod you want to control Lydia's face.

 

3.  Write down the name of the plugin inside that zip file (write down the name of the ESP file).  Keep the zip file open.

 

4.  In Windows, navigate to the following folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\Skyrim.esm

 

5.  In the zip file, copy the following file into the Windows folder I told you to open in step 4.  Overwrite if necessary.

Data\meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\Skyrim.esm\000A2C8E.NIF

 

6.  In Windows, navigate to the following folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\textures\actors\character\facegendata\facetint\Skyrim.esm

 

7.  In the zip file, copy the following file into the Windows folder I told you to open in step 6.  Overwrite if necessary.

Data\textures\actors\character\facegendata\facetint\Skyrim.esm\000A2C8E.DDS

 

8.  Open NMM and move the ESP I told you to write down in step 3 all the way to the bottom.

 

9.  Make sure USSEP is above all other ESP files, just under the ESM files.

 

9.  Launch Skyrim and check Lydia's face.  If it is still black and the mod you want to control her face is not bijin, continue to step 10.

 

10.  Open the bijin all-in-one ESP file in the latest version of SSEedit.

 

11.  Open the NPC branch in the plugin.

 

12.  Find Lydia's NPC record, right click on it and select Remove.  Don't be afraid of the warning.  You have a back up of bijin in the zip file you downloaded from the Nexus.

 

13.  Exit SSEedit, let it save the plugin you modified.

 

14.  Launch Skyrim.  If Lydia's face is still borked, the custom Lydia mod you are trying to run is broken, or you have more mods I don't know about that affect Lydia.

[Andy14]

The general rule:

Editing NPC's (especially Face, Makeup etc.) need a new game - or a savegame - in which the changed NPC is not yet saved.

For Lydia (and other housecarls) a savegame is enough before you get the Housecarl.

 

Try to fix:

- open the console

- klick on Lydia (their ID should be shown)

- enter setnpcweight 100

- enter setnpcweight xxx

   (xxx is the weight, as set in the mod - look before in CK)

 

Manually save game.

Manual saving is important.

 

Now close Skyrim and load the Savegame - or -

open console - deselect Lydia - enter player.kill

Syrim now loads the savegame again (with memory cleanup)

 

By the way:

If several mods change the same NPC (the same properties), you should either clean the two mods with TESVEdit

- or give up the second Mod - and instead edit the first Mod.

 

[Conz]

Nothing worked for Lydia, including totally different mods, so i've just given up and handed her an ebony helmet

Maybe it'll kick in on a new game but atm I don't feel like starting over *again*.

Thanks for the help though everyone.

[CanadianBlueBeer]

I have the same issue with "Babes of SkyrimSE"... my solution is just to put it last in the load order. It's due to conflicting mods... especially if you have two or more mods that overhaul characters as a whole. I use the UNP body with face textures, and add a few other texture enhance mods, plus the babes of SkyrimSE... if I forget to put 'babes' last in the load order, I get the brown face bug every time. Try shifting around your load order, and see if that helps.

 

That's the one that gave me problems. A CTD actually.

UNP first, then Babes. CTD

disable Babes, it works. some face issues on some npc.

reinstalled those mods, and fixed.  pita.

 

Why all the  face stuff goes into one folder, instead of separate, I dunno. (and the CK makes the separate folder)

Would be so much easier.

 

Particularly with all the loose files. Really don't want to have to pack up a .bsa for each mod.

(but I may end up doing that.  At least it keeps the actual skyrim.esm clean(ish)

[barfolamew]

I was having this issue and Loot was causing it by placing Lydia modifications below Bijin's stuff in the load order. Manually moved essential Lydia and Relationship Dialog overhaul as far up in the load order and everything works

[youngkim77705]

Thanks to Migal and Andy for detailed responses!!