nifs are hit and miss, you should ask Pfiffy about them and what version of the converter to use (some of the newer versions of nifopt seriously fucked up the MNC meshes).

the textures are a bit picky with what formats you use, but i forget the details on what the problems are.

esps/esms are fine as they are in most cases, the same goes for most scripts.

SKSE stuff is a bit of a shit show as far as i understand, but i don't know much about it.

Converting meshes and textures should be fairly simple with this tool  
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/23316


As for scripts, i'm not entirely sure. 

for esp plugins, simply open them in SSE creation kit and save them

I'm in the midst of messaging you about another one of your works, and yes it is interesting how some of the custom races port rather easily; for instance,  I've gotten several of @Blaze69 's mods to work with Special Edition. 

Really I want to understand. The rules seem to be "you have to do these things but not really, durr hurr." Ofc it's skyrim so that's nothing new. 

3 hours ago, Bad Dog said:

Really I want to understand. The rules seem to be "you have to do these things but not really, durr hurr." Ofc it's skyrim so that's nothing new. 

On 9/16/2019 at 7:04 PM, MadMansGun said:

nifs are hit and miss, you should ask Pfiffy about them and what version of the converter to use (some of the newer versions of nifopt seriously fucked up the MNC meshes).

the textures are a bit picky with what formats you use, but i forget the details on what the problems are.

esps/esms are fine as they are in most cases, the same goes for most scripts.

SKSE stuff is a bit of a shit show as far as i understand, but i don't know much about it.

     Yes, @Pfiffy is very experienced with porting, I'm sure he would be able to answer your questions. 

     I echo @MadMansGun's sentiment, there are instances where NifOptimizer and other tools are extremely finicky with materials; my biggest horror story being the months I spent on adapting HDT Werewolves to Skyrim Special Edition. I had it working at one point, overwrote some files, and couldn't replicate the chaotic cocktail that made it work. Haven't used/modded/installed anything MNC, FCoC, or werewolf related since. 

     The most consistent complication I've encountered however is with head parts (heads, eyes, the actual facegen, etc). That being said, I have three words of wisdom for you my friend: 

Backup, backup, backup 

     Try not to go too crazy though, or you'll wind up with over 1 TB of Skyrim SE files like myself. 

Just noticed I got demoted from 'Advanced Member' to 'Member'. Contributor, Supporter, Mega Poster, etc. are obvious, but I know not how the lesser monikers work. 

Does this mean I have to turn in my badge and gun?

16 hours ago, Anguished said:

 

 

     Yes, @Pfiffy is very experienced with porting, I'm sure he would be able to answer your questions. 

 

     I echo @MadMansGun's sentiment, there are instances where NifOptimizer and other tools are extremely finicky with materials; my biggest horror story being the months I spent on adapting HDT Werewolves to Skyrim Special Edition. I had it working at one point, overwrote some files, and couldn't replicate the chaotic cocktail that made it work. Haven't used/modded/installed anything MNC, FCoC, or werewolf related since. 

 

     The most consistent complication I've encountered however is with head parts (heads, eyes, the actual facegen, etc). That being said, I have three words of wisdom for you my friend: 

 

Backup, backup, backup 

     

     Try not to go too crazy though, or you'll wind up with over 1 TB of Skyrim SE files like myself. 

 

Just noticed I got demoted from 'Advanced Member' to 'Member'. Contributor, Supporter, Mega Poster, etc. are obvious, but I know not how the lesser monikers work. 

Does this mean I have to turn in my badge and gun?

Well, I'm famous for doing shitty ports, my only secret is that I know some dirty tricks.

My rules:

1. Do it with nifopt 3.0.7. the newer Versions can do nasty things...

1a. Keep an Eye on the Nifopt log for added tangens, removed Vertex colours: At best rework all original nifs so that Nifopt has nothing more to do than resaving them.  (Thanks to

@MadMansGun we now have a guide to that)

2. Don't convert headmeshes. Use the LE ones or export them with the CK.

3. Check the textures for compatible scales (64x64/128x128 or something like that...) and compatible formats. 

4. check the mod with the original esp/esm. for errors in SSEedit (I use 3.2.1, the new Version produces some errors with books and dialogs for me)

4a. If you find errors in SSSedit check if you have them in LE, too. If you find the same errors, you are usually good to go. If the errors change, you will get into trouble. 

5. Check your port with the original esp/esm before you try to resave it. Don't care about the f... old header. 

6. If you try to port a scripted mod, make sure you put the Scripts sources into the right folder for SE... Else the CK might wreck your esp/esm on resaving.

6a. There is no need to recompile the scripts unless you have to make edits to Version checks or something like that. 

^ the "guide":

vertex examples.7z

38 minutes ago, Pfiffy said:

2. Don't convert headmeshes. Use the LE ones or export them with the CK.

     Interesting. Ironic that I've been using 3.0.7 yet updated to 3.0.10 yesterday. Fixed that. 

I've had both success and complications with head meshes via optimizer. It is definitely true that exporting FaceGen data from CK works, so long as your resources are referenced as intended. 

     By the way, when you say head meshes, do you mean head parts (head, eyes, ear, mouth, etc.) or literally just the head mesh? I've converted a few mods for people, such as Ivy Valentine, and more often than not I've needed head parts to be BSDynamicTriShape(s). 

     Still fine tuning my skills with 3DS Max, for further customizations. I have all the relevant Nif plugins so that's a good start. 

5 minutes ago, Anguished said:

 

     Interesting. Ironic that I've been using 3.0.7 yet updated to 3.0.10 yesterday. Fixed that. 

I've had both success and complications with head meshes via optimizer. It is definitely true that exporting FaceGen data from CK works, so long as your resources are referenced as intended. 

 

     By the way, when you say head meshes, do you mean head parts (head, eyes, ear, mouth, etc.) or literally just the head mesh? I've converted a few mods for people, such as Ivy Valentine, and more often than not I've needed head parts to be BSDynamicTriShape(s). 

 

     Still fine tuning my skills with 3DS Max, for further customizations. I have all the relevant Nif plugins so that's a good start. 

Well, I never had problems with using the oldrim headmeshes as they are in SE, so I don't see any reason for converting them except form stopping ppl reporting that they are reported as not compatible.  Same for resaving the ESP.  (I think that this was very bad english)

For head parts I don't have any expierience. I'm not into Follower mods.  

While I was looking for a fix to all the crashes that have been reported on MNC for SE, I asked MMG to check the original nifs against the NIF opt log and after he was done with them most of the models look much better ingame than before.  In the end it was a load order issue with the skeletons... 

The main problem with converting nifs is that you never know what comes out if the originals are not set up correctly. At least, running Nifopt on them can show you what might be wrong with them, so you can fix it before you optimize them again. (I just did a rework on ZAZ 8+ and edited 1250 Nifs in the CK just to make sure, that Nif optimizer does not have much to optimize....) 

Well, I never tried 3.0.10. What I need is a 3.0.7 with the option to stop it from removing all-white vertex colours. My test with 3.0.9 ended with a totally wrecked MNC. And right now I don't have the time for experiments. I guess I will try out 3.0.25 when it comes. Until then I will stick to the old one....

On 9/18/2019 at 7:33 PM, Anguished said:

 ... Try not to go too crazy though, or you'll wind up with over 1 TB of Skyrim SE files like myself. 

LOL. Too late.

Thanks for the tips, guys. 

18 hours ago, Pfiffy said:

... I'm not into Follower mods.  

You are wrong and you should feel bad. Inigo is transformative and demonstrates what Skyrim could have been if Bethesda wanted to do a game with actual characters in it.

How do you "edit nifs in the CK"? You mean edit the ARMA records?

Currently my process is to copy all the files over, update the esp, and then run looking for crashes or bad nifs. Then do the minimal optimization/conversion on those nifs. That's fine for a small mod.... by the time I get to YA I hope I'll have enough experience to know where the glitches are. Heads even on npcs seem to be working fine.

29 minutes ago, Bad Dog said:

LOL. Too late.

 

Thanks for the tips, guys. 

You are wrong and you should feel bad. Inigo is transformative and demonstrates what Skyrim could have been if Bethesda wanted to do a game with actual characters in it.

 

How do you "edit nifs in the CK"? You mean edit the ARMA records?

 

Currently my process is to copy all the files over, update the esp, and then run looking for crashes or bad nifs. Then do the minimal optimization/conversion on those nifs. That's fine for a small mod.... by the time I get to YA I hope I'll have enough experience to know where the glitches are. Heads even on npcs seem to be working fine.

I don't edit them in the CK. I do it wth Nifskope. 

my steps are:

1. make 2 copies of the mod. one is for converting, one is for editing the originals.

2. run Nifopt on one Version

3. check the log for all the edits, that Nif opf makes. Important are all entries about removed vertex colours and added tangens.

4. go throu all nifs that have been modified in Nifscope: add the tangens there and edit the vertex colours from all-wite to nearly-all white (MMG's guide). 

5. copy your edited versions over the 'optimized' and repeat the process until you don't get any further notes on added tangens and removed vertex colours.

Example logs:

first run:

SSE NIF Optimizerold.txt

last run:

SSE NIF Optimizer.txt

If you get messages, that Nifopt renamed something, you have to check if the nif still works as intended. The vertex colours can cause real trouble. sometimes removing them will cause objects to disappear.

Adding the tangens via Nifskope seems more reliable to me than adding them via Nifopt.

If you find Nifs with a comment that they are not Skyrim compatible, you might have stumbled over experimental leftovers or something like that. I found too many of them in ZAZ 8/8+....

It is not that I don't play with Follower mods, but I didn't try to convert one of them... ZAZ, DD and the anim packs keep me busy and there are other ppl who convert them so I don't have to do that. For me it is important that the basics are working, so that ppl have the dependecies availible and can do their own ports of the mods they want to play with. My modding abilities are limited, but for doing ports it is enough.