Preliminary Step (if not already done): Make an seq file

While an seq file is not absolutely needed for all mods in all conditions it is good to have and shouldn't do you any harm. So, open up your version of TESVEdit. Right click and hit select none. Then select and double click your mod. It will take a moment for TESVEdit to finish. Then, right click on your mod. From the drop down choose "Other" and the choose "Create SEQ file". (see below)

With that out of the way you can actually start.

Step 1: Recreate the mod's file structure.

While a little variation here is entirely possible what I am describing has worked for me consistently. On the desktop create an empty folder and entitle it Data (like Skyrim does). Then create an SEQ folder within the Data folder. Put your SEQ file in here. Repeat this with each and every category of thing that you created for your mod (meshes, textures, scripts, sounds, etc.) Once everything has been copied into this new structure you're ready for the next step.

Step 2: Create the bsa.

BSA stands for Bethesda Studios archive, So, the archive tool is found in your Skyrim directory (not the Data folder but the Skyrim directory). Double click to open it. Go to the Edit tab and click on "Add Directory." You should be able to scroll through the dropdown and find the Data folder on your desktop. Click on it.

You should get the results above in the green box. A larger mod will take longer than a smaller one. Once it's done click the boxes in the area I've outlined in red. While only the relevant boxes must be checked it is entirely safe to check them all (as I have in this picture). Then click the three boxes on the top on the right that I've highlighted in the blue box. Finally hit "Save As." It is critically important that this bsa be named EXACTLY the same as the esp (without the esp file extension). I normally just save this too to my desktop.

Step 3: Clean up and pack up.

Step 2 will have given you a bsa and a bsl (on the desktop in my case). The bsl is NOT needed unless you intend to upload to Steam Workshop. So, now is a good time to delete it. Pack your esp and bsa together and compress this (with 7zip or similar). Now you can upload. Done! (except for the interminable writing).

I. I ran an animation and am now stuck in third person

This does happen with the use of SexLab more frequently than I would like. None the less the treatment is "hair of the dog that bit you". That is, you need to run another animation. Sadly, more SexLab animations are very hit and miss. What tends to work better are the use of one of the Crafting stations or Mining. Any of these is likely to cause you to be able to return to first person when you exit from those animations. The consensus, and certainly my opinion, is that the Cooking function is the most likely (virtually 100% guaranteed in my experience) to get you back out of third person. So, if you have one handy (a Hearthfire house, an inn, etc.) then you should be able to walk up and activate it and then, without necessarily making anything, exit from it and regain your ability to go back to first person.

So, what if you don't have access to one? You're in the middle of a dungeon or the wilderness. Then, I suggest you use the console to add a cooking spit to your current location. You can do this by opening the console and typing

player.placeatme 68adb 1

and hit Enter. This will place the cooking spit RIGHT next to you. Activate it as above then leave it and you will be able to return to first person.

So, what if you don't want to clutter up Skyrim with cooking spits? Easy enough, when you're done with it delete it. Again, go to the console and this time, with the cooking spit marked on your screen type:

markfordelete

and hit Enter. To my surprise the cooking spit will disappear immediately and everything will be as if you had never done it.

To start, save your game. Whenever you do something new and different, save the game before you begin.

Next, open the console. To do this with an English language keyboard hit the ~ key (usually found in the upper left hand corner of the keyboard). If you are NOT using an English language keyboard you can look here to find out how to open yours. While in the console you navigate using the PageUp and PageDown keys to scroll through the lists. You'll see in a minute why this is important.

With the console open type

sqt

and hit Enter. This should give you a list of all active quests. Finding the one you want is the trickiest part of this. The vanilla Skyrim quests tend to have easily recognizable names like CQ02 (for Companions Quest 2) or Favor154 (for an NPC favor). Usually mod authors will use a quest name that is reminiscent of the mod name or the name that they gave the quest and posted like FindArmor05 or efgFindArmor. When you've made your best guess as to the name of the quest that you want (and don't forget to navigate up the list with PageUp) move on to the next step.

For purposes of this blog entry I am going to assume the questID I'm looking for is FindArmor05. So, whenever you see FindArmor05 in this entry substitute the questID that you've chosen. So now type

player.sqs FindArmor05

and hit Enter. This will give you another long list. Each line will have two numbers on it. The one on the left is the quest stage and the one on the right is either a 0 or a 1. A 1 indicates that the stage to its left is complete and a 0 means that it has not yet been completed. Now find the first stage which has a 0 nest to it. For my purposes I'm going to assume that this is stage 50. So, when you follow the next instruction simply replace 50 with whatever stage you found for the quest.

Now type

setstage FindArmor05 50

and hit Enter. You should get a notice that a quest has been advanced. If it isn't the quest that you wanted that means you chose the wrong quest name from your list. Go back to your saved game and start over again ignoring that quest name this time. If, however, you chose the correct quest name then the stage that had been giving you trouble should be ended and you can simply close the console and move on with the game.

What if the stage that you bypassed involved collecting an item and it doesn't show up in the inventory so as to make progressing further impossible? No problem! Open the console again and type

help "Killian's armor"

and hit Enter where Killian's armor is the name of the item for which you are looking. You need the quotes if the item has more than one word in it. For a single word, like Wabbajack, the quotes are not needed. With a specific item you should only get one entry but sometimes you'll get more. A little common sense will get you by this. If one entry says (Armor) Killian's Armor 2b123456 and the other says (Book) Story of Killian's Armor 2b234567 I hope that you can readily decide to choose the armor (unless the book is the quest item you needed at this stage). At any rate, assuming the above numbers and that you're looking for the armor you will next type

player.additem 2b123456 1

and hit Enter. The number given at the end (1) is the number of versions of the item that you want. So, if the mod wanted an odd alchemical ingredient, say 5 of Killian's toenails which you've discovered (as above) to be 2b345678 you would type

player.additem 2b345678 5

and hit Enter.

This can more easily be done by using the Add Item Menu mod (if you already have it - do NOT add it just for this). Just open the AIM menu, choose the offending mod and select the item that you need.

And that should be all that's needed. For the record sqt is short for "show quest targets" and sqs is short for "show quest stages". In both cases just use the abbreviations as I posted them above.

Last note: it's kind of weird doing a blog post without pictures.

This post is meant to show more advanced methods of changing the looks of an existing NPC or of making looks for a new NPC. For my purpose I plan to change the looks of the housecarl of Winstad Manor - Valdimar. To be more specific, I'm going to turn old Valdimar into a female. Since the focus of this blog post is the looks, rather than sex, of the NPC, I'm going to place those steps necessary to change Valdimar into a woman in spoilers as I go along. So, if you're interested only in cosmetic changes ignore the spoilers. However, if you want to try your hand at what I'm doing, check those out as well.

SECTION 1 - The Face

This part is actually fairly straightforward assuming you have Racemenu downloaded. Open racemenu. You can do this anytime and anywhere in-game but I have found it simplest to start a new game and "make a new character." Make your new character with emphasis on the face. Bear in mind that the hair and any asset you use on the face that is not vanilla Skyrim will be lost in this process. So if you are using, for instance, Eyes of Beauty, make a note of what eyes you will want later. Similarly, while the hair will not be done as part of this process, it pays to choose what hair you are going to want later. The feature photo for this blog post shows where I took a screenshot of my NPC face when I was done, during the few seconds when the name of the hairstyle was still visible. Being old school, I usually just write it down with pencil and paper. It won't be needed until Section 2 anyway.

Once your NPC face is done save the character just as if you were going to play the game with them as your Player Character. Feel free to use any name you like it is not relevant for this. Then open the console and type:

spf NPCname

where NPCname is what you want this image to be called. While it's simplest to use the NPC's name you can use anything that you will remember. Having done this, you have created a new file that you can find in the Skyrim directory: NPCname.npc. (By the way, spf is a shortened version of "save player's face.")

The next step is to move on to the dreaded Creation Kit (CK).

I'm assuming everyone who is reading this has read Part 1 of Changing Looks. However, let me remind you that before you open the CK you will need an esp to use as the active file and you will want to turn the tintmasks off.

In the CK you will want to make sure that you double-click (once you've opened the Data section under File) Skyrim and your esp. Make the esp your active file by clicking the active file button. For my project, since Valdemar is added by Hearthfires, I also need to double-click Hearthfires. The CK will take some time to load. During that time it will put up several error messages. Whenever one appears simply click "yes to all."

Don't panic when the windows of the CK do not look like mine. I have set mine up for my personal ease of use. You will find a pattern that works best for you over time.

Next, in the Object Window Click Actor. When the pane opens you must choose on whom you will be working. If you are creating a new character right-click in the pane and choose "new." Otherwise you can use the search box on the upper left and type the first few letters of the character that you are looking for. Now, if you are trying to do exactly what I'm doing you'll quickly discover that Valdimar is not in the list. In typical Bethesda fashion when they added the Hearthfires HouseCarls they opted yo add them by their function rather than their name (despite doing just the opposite with everything before this):

(By the way, BYOH in the title stands for Build Your Own Home - that acronym recurs whenever Hearthfire assets are found.) Note that if you click on the name it highlights but if you double-click you open up the actor box. Be careful how you handle this as you'll see in a moment. When you open the actor box you'll get this:

Note the tabs across the top on the right. This picture is taken with the "Traits" tab active. In a moment I'll use the arrows to get to the CharGenData tab. But first:

Let's look at the CharGenParts tab now:

Note the button marked "Import" (which I've highlighted in red) at the top on the right next to the picture. Click on that and you will be shown all the .npc files you have in Skyrim/Data. Simply choose the one that you want. You can stop at this point or, you can use the Preview function (found at the bottom which I've highlighted in blue) to look at your character. If you choose to do this here are a couple of tips I've found useful:

1) The CK has a tendency to crash unexpectedly. Use of the Preview function tends to increase this effect. This tends to also be worse in the Head Preview than the Full Preview mode so, despite the fact that isn't what I just did, use the Full Preview mode preferentially and, as you get more comfortable, just skip doing the preview at all.

2) Most of the movement of you image in the Preview modes are done with the middle mouse button/wheel. If you feel stumped on how to get the picture where you want it the odds are that you need to use that button.

Click "OK" to close the actor box. Now highlight the NPC name (single-click) in the actor list again and hit "Ctrl+F4". This will export the images from the CK. Or, if you prefer, this is how you prevent getting the dreaded "dark face" bug. It will take a moment but you will get a notice that your image has been successfully exported. Click "OK." Then, go back up and save your work from the File/Data dropdown. Finally, close the CK. 

Last step? Turn your tintmasks back on.

SECTION 2 - The Hair

First step? Turn the tintmasks back off. Alternatively, never turn them back off once you've started this process.

What I'm going to do is to take an already existing hair and copy it's references in the CK as well as its meshes and textures. That way the hair will always be present in the game eliminating a dependence on the mod from which the hair came.

For this purpose I'm going to copy a hair from KS hair. I like KS hair for this because, should I choose to upload (or even just share) my new NPC all I have to do is give them credit for the hair. Second, I've found the files to be easy to work with. Finally, I think there is enough variety to get most hairstyles that you might want. However, if you want to copy another type of hair the method is the same.

There is a "right" way to do this and that is the method I'm going to show you, at least, it's the right way to lay out the files. While you can copy files almost anywhere and get an adequate result if you ever want to upload or share your work you are going to have to have everything in just the right place. That is what this blog entry will do.

Then, there's the tools. To do this you will need (besides the original hair mod)

Creation Kit

NifSkope (my version is 2.0

A file manager (mine is Windows 10 File Explorer - it came with Windows). 

Here's a useful tip:

When you open your file manager open a second window (Files>Open New Window in File Explorer). That way you can have one open to the original (KS hair) files and one on your new files.

Here's another tip:

You are going to have to duplicate the file structure of the ks hair using your esp (remember mine is myFixes). Therefore it pays, before you start copying to lay out that structure. To do this go to Skyrim/Data/Meshes and add a folder with EXACTLY the same name as your esp (mine will be myFixes). Do the same with Skyrim/Data/Textures. Within each of these folders place a folder entitled "hairline" (without the quotes).

Now with all open all 3 tools. In the CK make certain that you load the source of your hair (mine is KS hairdos) and your active file (mine is still myFixes). Also make certain that you load any other mods that you might need. I will need Hearthfires, for instance.

Starting in the CK:

You want to go the Charcter/HeadPart/Female (I've highlighted these in red. Then choose HeadPart (highlighted in blue beneath the others). Use the filter in the upper left hand corner of the Object Window to get to the hair style that you want.

Then right click on it and duplicate it and hit on F2 to rename the duplicate. You will see something like this when you've done that (this one has not been renamed in the screenshot. Make certain that you are working with the one with your name (in fact, you might want to use the filter again to make it easier to get to). First, you will want to put another unique name into where it says Name (the name you've renamed this to when doing the duplication should be in the ID box above the name). This is highlighted in red. What we are going to need to do is to change (after proper duplication) the files listed as Model and Tri (highlighted in blue). The procedure we follow for this will then have to be duplicated again with both of the extra parts listed in the box in green. I am going to walk you through doing it with the Model and assume you can do the same thing with the Extra parts. Bear in mind, both of these extra parts are going to have a name that you'll have to copy like the model along with files and textures that will require duplication.

So, next we go to the file manager and find the model that we want to duplicate. In the second window locate where you are going to want to put this (in other words, if you haven't already made a file for your esp in Skyrim/Data/Meshes do it now -- and you might as well do Skyrim/Data/Textures now too). Copy the nif file from the original into your new file (Ctrl+C to copy, then change windows, and Ctrl+V to copy). If there is a tri file copy that too. If there isn't don't panic, not all hair meshes have them and I'll discuss this when we get to that part.

Now we switch to NifSkope. Here we open our newly copied file (don't open the original).

Click on the line that says "BSShader TextureSet." You should get the bottom to open and look something like what's in the screenshot. Note the file paths for the textures. You are now going back to the file manager and copying those from the original hair mod to the esp file (in Skyrim/Data/Textures/whatever your esp is). Note that one has a _n suffix and the other doesn't. It is important to put the correct file in the correct path. I recommend that when you make your copies, if you change the names (strictly optional since you've changed the rest of the path) that you make a point of using the _n suffix on the appropriate texture.

Go back to NifSkope. Click on the pretty purple flower before the file path. When you do that you will get the scary Confirmation box I left in the upper left hand corner. It's okay just click yes. Then give it the path to the newly copied textures. Repeat this with the second one. The save your work in NifSkope. The mesh in your file will now point to the textures in your file.

Go back to the CK (see previous picture). At the place where it says Model click Edit. There you will want to change the file path from the original hairstyle to the one that you've just made. Similarly, you will want to do the same thing with the tri file. If there is no tri file then click in the box that says tri. This should result in the box becoming empty. That's how you want it if there is no tri file. Don't worry, this works too. This part of the work is now done. Make a note of the ExtraParts that you are going to have to duplicate. Then close the box and save your work in CK (save early and save often).

Now go into the ExtraParts (in the Object Window) and find each of the ExtraParts listed (one at a time, of course). Duplicate them just as you did the hair model above. All the steps are identical. Some of the textures are also likely to be identical and that's okay.

Then, go back to the first box that you copied in the CK with the model. You will need to go to the bottom left hand corner under ExtraParts and right click to add New. Then put each of the ExtraParts that you've just made into that box. Congratulations you have just copied a hair mesh.

Still not quite done. Open you actor (like you did in Section 1. Go to CharGenParts again. Find where it says "hair" (on the left hand side in the middle with all the other face parts. In the box below there scroll through until you find the new hair that you've made and select it. Make sure it show up in the box above where you just found hair. When it does you can do a preview or simply click OK to close the box. Don't forget at this stage to single-click on your actor's name and hit Ctrl+F4 to avoid the dreaded "dark face bug." Then save in the CK and close the CK and NifSkope down. Why aren't you closing the File Manager? Because you want to turn your tintmasks back on.

When you go back into the game you should have something like this:

To do the simplest and easiest changes all you need is the Creation Kit (hereinafter always referred to as CK). To get that:

To work in the CK you need an esp (or esl for SE). There are two ways to do that.

1) You can go to Skyrim/Data and simply create a new file with an esp extension, or

2) You can open Skyrim, make some changes, and, when you try to save, give a name to the new esp that the CK will think that you're trying to make.

Now, to start off developing good habits. Whenever you are going into the CK to change the look of an NPC you should turn off the tintmasks, that is, you should make it so that the CK doesn't see them. The tintmasks are found here:

     Skyrim/Data/Textures/Actors/Character/Character Assets/Tintmasks

What I usually do is simply change the word "Tintmasks" to "aTintmasks". The CK doesn't recognize it and so things are happy. I'll say it again at the end but, when you're done, don't forget to turn the tintmasks back on.

When you open the CK, you'll get this:

The windows will be arranged differently. The layout you see above is the way it works best for me. If you spend much time in the CK you'll find the pattern that works best for you.

Click on Data and you will get ths:

As you scroll down you should be able to see anything that you have loaded. You must double-click any file that you want to be able to get to while in your session with the CK. For today's purpose this will only be the esp with which you are working. Then, with that file still chosen click on the "Set as Active File" button that I highlighted in red. Then, click the "OK" button to get started. The CK will automatically load any file that is required to make the ones you select work. Skyrim.esm will always be turned on by the CK. Please note: you can not make changes in an esm. It may look like you are but the CK won't save them.

Now, there is a lot of information to be had in the CK once you get started. This is NOT a general introduction. For today's purposes all you need to do is go into the Object Window (which is on the left hand sign of the screen in the image above) and click Actors (thankfully at the top of the list of things in that window). Then click on the the "Actors" in the next level of the tree. This should result in all the actors showing up in an alphabetical list. Bear in mind, if the NPC that you want to alter is from another esp you must also have loaded that esp (double click on it in the list in Data) at the beginning. Then, you can scroll down and double click on the NPC that you want (I chose Annekke Crag-Jumper) or you can type the name or part of the name in the filter (on the top left just below where it says "Object Window" and that will give you only a small number to choose from. Your result should look something like this:

What's really important to realize the first time that you come here is that this screen does NOT show everything. In fact, it doesn't show what you need to do what we set out to do. In the top right hand of the "Actor" box, just to the right of the "Animations" tab there are left and right arrows. You use them (initially only the one to the right) to show the remainder of the tabs that you can access. Tab to the right until you come to the "Character Gen Parts" tab. Click on that for everything else that you need for this.

Most of this is still irrelevant for what we are doing today. Let me point out the few things you might want to have access to. At the top near the center is "Face Complexion". From the drop-down list you can dirty up (or clean up) your actor. 

To its right is "Hair Color." From this drop-down you can choose to see if "blondes really have more fun." 

Below that is the "Face Tinting Color." Again, from the drop-down you can make someone lighter or darker.

Below that are the "Base Head Parts". When you choose (click on) one of these a drop-down menu appears in the box just below. Remember that all you will be able to choose from are the basic models provided by the game. So, while you can change someone's hair you only have the choice of stringy hair that Skyrim provides (and, of course, bald).

One more note. On the bottom there are two "Preview" boxes that you can tick. They will show (in the now empty space on the right of the box) either the full actor or just the head. My experience is that the one for the head tends to be glitchy and is best avoided. Instead, use the full one and use your mouse to zoom in on the face to see what your changes look like.

When you are done:

1) Click OK.

2) Click on the actor again in the Actor list (not double-click just highlight it). Then type Ctrl+F4. This exports any changes to the game from the CK. Failure to do this step is the cause of the infamous "dark-face" bug.

3) Save your changes in the "Data" screen (where you originally chose your esp) and close the CK.

4) Remember to turn your tintmasks back on.

Make sure your new esp is lower in your load order than anything else that might change the looks of your actor. Failure to do so will result in having down all this for nothing. You are now able to make simple changes to NPCs.

TES5Edit

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25859

NifSkope

http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifSkope

and optionally but highly recommended:

Body Slots MCM

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64976

The Body Slots MCM mod is loaded like any other mod. What it allows you to do is see in the McMenu which slots you are currently using for the items that you currently have. Additionally, and more importantly for this purpose, it will show which Body Slots you have empty (on the assumption that your goal is to change the Body Slots of items that you would like to have along with the ones you currently have).

Having determined which items that are already loaded into your game that have Body Slots that you wish to change, you need to load TES5Edit and NifSkope. You can do each separately but I like having all of this on my desktop at once. Further, you can do the TES5Edit or the NifSkope first, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is to get everything done. Since it is possible that the item that you are changing will not need any work done in NifSkope (that can happen although it has happened to me yet) I will do the TES5Edit portion first.

Aside: This is not a primer on using TES5Edit or NifSkope and assumes a small amount of knowledge on the part of the reader. Good tutorials for both of these programs are available elsewhere.

Open TES5Edit and choose "select none" by right-clicking in the Master/Plugin Selection box.

Then go back and choose the mod that contains the item that you want to change and load it.

Then, flip to armor and expand the tree (why you might want to open any tree other than the two mentioned in a discussion of Body Slots is beyond my comprehension). Find and select the item in which you are interested in the left pane. Go to the right pane and find where the Body Slot is indicated.

There are usually more than one (see what I've highlighted in red) but changing one of them on the right will automatically change the others. To do the change simply right click the current Body Slot and select edit Which I've highlighted in blue). You will get a dropdown menu of all the slots available (which I've highlighted in red).

Choose the one(s) you want and deselect the original one(s) if you do not want them. If you've worked with TES5Edit before you know that it gives a warning whenever you make a change. It is OK to make the change and you can tell it so.

Next, go back to the left hand pane and do the same thing in the ArmorAddon section. Choose the item and change the Body Slot.

THE BODY SLOT MUST BE CHANGED IN BOTH THE ARMOR AND THE ARMOR ADDON SECTIONS!

Now go to Nifskope. Use NifSkope to open the equivalent Nif file.

In many cases, thanks to BodySlide, there will be two such files (note the red arrow below points to the _0.nif). You will need to do them both but the process is identical. Open either the _0 or the _1 file first, whichever suits you. When the image appears scroll down in the top left hand box until you get to a line that says "BSDismemberSkinInstance."

Click on this and the lower box should change accordingly. At the bottom of the lower box will be a line that says partitions which will open up if you click on the triangle on the left. This, in turn, will show a line that includes the number and description of the current Body Slot. Double click on that line and a dropdown menu, similar to the one found in TES5Edit will appear (which I highlighted in red below).

Scroll up or down and find the new Body Slot, click and save your work. If needed, repeat with your other nif file (as you would in the example above).

ITEMS THAT WILL BE BUILT IN BODYSLIDE WILL NEED TO HAVE THE BODY SLOT NUMBER CHANGED IN BOTH THE _0 AND THE _1 FILE!

BEFORE SAVING YOUR WORK BE CERTAIN THAT ALL THE CHANGES MADE HAVE PLACED THE ITEM IN THE SAME BODY SLOT. FAILURE TO DO SO WOULD BE BAAAAAAAD! (See Ghostbusters I for the appropriate definition of bad).

Surprisingly, that is really all there is to it. Save everything and go back to playing Skyrim.

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Changing the number of overlays (such as for SlaveTats)

(I've decided to put this here since it's short:

Go to Skyrim/Data/SKSE/plugins and double click on nioverride to open it in NotePad (or similar). Go to the [Overlays] section and change the number in iNumOverlays in the section that you are interested in changing (body/face/hands/feet). Save the file. You're done.