How to make an Overlay/Tattoo?

[Pickle_Juice]

Hello guys, i was wondering how to make a Overlay/Tattoo to use with the "Looks Menu" mod, now i've been looking for tutorials how and the most detailed i got it from here:

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25125

 

But sadly didn't help cause even tho i paste it the code in the .Json file and place all the required info, the mod didin't worked, the Overlay i made didn't showed up in the game, i haven't found any other tutorials on how to do it, ife anyone knows how or help me out to do it i would be greatly appreciated

[Invictusblade]

This is a pain to get started. (and the real problem is that I have no idea what is wrong with yours based on your description)

so here are the highlights

1. make sure that folders is correct such as \Fallout 4\Data\F4SE\Plugins\F4EE\Overlays\Clothes_Assorted.esp\

(if they are loose files then it doesn't matter what ESP you use, but make sure to assigned the correct ESP if using BA2)

2. make sure that you have comma's in the correct positions. ending each overlay except at the end of the file

(example) also make sure that you have unique names for each tattoo

[

{
    "id" : "f_tattoo_05",
    "name": "$Custom Tattoo 05",
    "slots" : [
      {
        "slot" : 3,
        "material" : "\TS\BodySwap\BSTattoo05.BGSM"
      }
    ],
    "playable" : true,
    "transformable" : false,
    "sort": 0,
    "gender": 1
  },
{
    "id" : "f_tattoo_06",
    "name": "$Custom Tattoo 06",
    "slots" : [
      {
        "slot" : 3,
        "material" : "\TS\BodySwap\BSTattoo06.BGSM"
      }
    ],
    "playable" : true,
    "transformable" : false,
    "sort": 0,
    "gender": 1
  }
]

3. make sure that your materials are correct

4. make sure that your textures are correct

 

if this doesn't work then refer to other modders work search "overlay" in nexus

overlays.json

[Pickle_Juice]

2 hours ago, Invictaxe said:

This is a pain to get started. (and the real problem is that I have no idea what is wrong with yours based on your description)

so here are the highlights

1. make sure that folders is correct such as \Fallout 4\Data\F4SE\Plugins\F4EE\Overlays\Clothes_Assorted.esp\

(if they are loose files then it doesn't matter what ESP you use, but make sure to assigned the correct ESP if using BA2)

2. make sure that you have comma's in the correct positions. ending each overlay except at the end of the file

(example) also make sure that you have unique names for each tattoo

[

{
    "id" : "f_tattoo_05",
    "name": "$Custom Tattoo 05",
    "slots" : [
      {
        "slot" : 3,
        "material" : "\TS\BodySwap\BSTattoo05.BGSM"
      }
    ],
    "playable" : true,
    "transformable" : false,
    "sort": 0,
    "gender": 1
  },
{
    "id" : "f_tattoo_06",
    "name": "$Custom Tattoo 06",
    "slots" : [
      {
        "slot" : 3,
        "material" : "\TS\BodySwap\BSTattoo06.BGSM"
      }
    ],
    "playable" : true,
    "transformable" : false,
    "sort": 0,
    "gender": 1
  }
]

3. make sure that your materials are correct

4. make sure that your textures are correct

 

if this doesn't work then refer to other modders work search "overlay" in nexus

overlays.json

Do i have to put all that info for only one overlay? don't know much about this, but that code looks like two overlays.

Do i need only gimp? or do i need any other software? because i didn't get how to use the "Material Editor" correctly.

[Invictusblade]

12 minutes ago, Pickle_Juice said:

Do i have to put all that info for only one overlay? don't know much about this, but that code looks like two overlays.

Do i need only gimp? or do i need any other software? because i didn't get how to use the "Material Editor" correctly.

I think the first step for you is to download a tattoo overlay and base your work from their work

 

but nevertheless here is some more info

yes that two overlays because I was showing the usage of comma's in the overlay file.

 

It depends on if the program can save into both versions of DDS

 

to make my tattoo overlays, I copy the body texture into the tattoo folder and use that as a base with the tattoo acting as layers until you merge without the body

 

and yes, use Material Editor https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3635?tab=description but use other people material files until you learned what to do

 

[Pickle_Juice]

25 minutes ago, Invictaxe said:

I think the first step for you is to download a tattoo overlay and base your work from their work

 

but nevertheless here is some more info

yes that two overlays because I was showing the usage of comma's in the overlay file.

 

It depends on if the program can save into both versions of DDS

 

to make my tattoo overlays, I copy the body texture into the tattoo folder and use that as a base with the tattoo acting as layers until you merge without the body

 

and yes, use Material Editor https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/3635?tab=description but use other people material files until you learned what to do

 

Ha! that's what i did when i saw mine didn't worked, i used this one https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/25000

i knew his code was working since i changed the path of his first tattoo with my own, but since i didn't change the material path of the overlay, it made my character's body black.

 

i know my GIMP does .dds files correctly since i've used GIMP to make other retextures for Fallout NV and one in Fallout 4.

 

Do i make any changes to the material? or i just put the Diffuse path and save it?.

[Invictusblade]

Just make a copy of the material file to its proper folder

and then open the file using material editor and alter the diffuse path and that should do it

[Pickle_Juice]

8 minutes ago, Invictaxe said:

Just make a copy of the material file to its proper folder

and then open the file using material editor and alter the diffuse path and that should do it

Like in the tutorial i left in the link?

[AWP3RATOR]

@Pickle_Juice The tattoo overlay guide by Krisser143 is pretty good, but without specific knowledge of how to do it, I found it difficult to follow all the steps.  A lot of trial and error was required - but I was able to get it working without any issues, and have several of these kinds of mods posted on the Nexus.  Feel free to look at any of them to see how it was done, and rebuild.  These are more or less taking Krisser143's guide and work and creating something based on it though.

 

From my experience the challenge to getting things to show up in the LooksMenu Overlay menu came down to naming rules.  There are 3 files needed to make this work, and they all have specific naming rules, else LooksMenu will not "see" the mod or its files.

 

Plugin - empty file, but required to make it work.  .esl format is recommended.  For this example, let's call it "pickle_juice_tattoos.esl"

F4SE json - contains json to build the actual menu and references to BGEM/BGSM materials - must be named "overlays.json"

Tranlstions - at least one is needed.  As an example for English, it should be named:  pickle_juice_tattoos_en.txt

 

An example of what it should look like in the files and file structures:

 

For a single female tattoo called PJT Back Tattoo....

 

Folders:

Data\pickle_juice_tattoo.esl

Data\textures\overlays\PJT Tattoo\back_tattoo.dds (should not include skin texture, only the tattoo itself with transparent background

Data\materials\overlays\PJT Tattoo\back_tattoo.BGEM (should point to the texture in the previous folder)

 

 

Data\F4SE\Plugins\F4EE\Overlays\pickle_juice_tattoo.esl\overlays.json

 

overlays.json content:

[
  {
    "id" : "f_back_tattoo",
    "name": "$PJT Back Tattoo",
    "slots" : [
      {
        "slot" : 3,
        "material" : "overlays\\pick_juice_tattoo\\back_tattoo.BGEM"
      }
    ],
    "playable" : true,
    "transformable" : false,
    "sort": 0,
    "gender": 1
  }
]  

Note gender 1 is female, gender 0 is male.  Omitting this is not recommended as male/female textures cannot be swapped

 

Data\interface\Translations\pickle_juice_tattoo_en.txt

$PJT Back Tattoo	f_back_tattoo

Note, this is a tab delimited setting - the left side MUST be the same as the "name:" parameter in the json file.  You must have one translation for every json tattoo set.  ie. if you have 20 json blocks, you will have 20 translation settings

 

 

 

[JB.]

On 1/7/2019 at 1:08 PM, AWP3RATOR said:

@Pickle_Juice The tattoo overlay guide by Krisser143 is pretty good, but without specific knowledge of how to do it, I found it difficult to follow all the steps. 

 

Thank you very much for your post, it is a good complement to the Nexus guide.

 

I managed to create my first tattoo as an overlay and it works in the game. It is a small skull on the back. The skull looks good, black as it should be. But my character's body is completely white and I wanted to know if you know what the problem may be.

 

I am an amateur user, but I understand that my problem is transparency. I used GIMP to create the dds file. When I open it with GIMP, the layer is transparent. Why is it not transparent in the game? Should I use photoshop? Or maybe I screwed up when creating the material?

[Invictusblade]

4 hours ago, JBpy said:

Thank you very much for your post, it is a good complement to the Nexus guide.

 

I managed to create my first tattoo as an overlay and it works in the game. It is a small skull on the back. The skull looks good, black as it should be. But my character's body is completely white and I wanted to know if you know what the problem may be.

 

I am an amateur user, but I understand that my problem is transparency. I used GIMP to create the dds file. When I open it with GIMP, the layer is transparent. Why is it not transparent in the game? Should I use photoshop? Or maybe I screwed up when creating the material?

which material file type did you use? BGEM/BGSM

[JB.]

14 minutes ago, Invictaxe said:

which material file type did you use? BGEM/BGSM

BGEM

 

I just understood my mistake. I did not adjust some values of the Material Editor. It is a detail that is not in the Nexus guide. I had to open other tattoos and compare their values with mine.

 

I'm so happy now ...

[Invictusblade]

I asked that because I played around with tattoos a while back and I did have some problems with the file format (I cannot remember what the problem is, Too many problems ago)

and I use BGSM for my tattoos

[AWP3RATOR]

8 hours ago, JBpy said:

Thank you very much for your post, it is a good complement to the Nexus guide.

 

I managed to create my first tattoo as an overlay and it works in the game. It is a small skull on the back. The skull looks good, black as it should be. But my character's body is completely white and I wanted to know if you know what the problem may be.

 

I am an amateur user, but I understand that my problem is transparency. I used GIMP to create the dds file. When I open it with GIMP, the layer is transparent. Why is it not transparent in the game? Should I use photoshop? Or maybe I screwed up when creating the material?

Fast forward awhile later, and I wouldn't say I've mastered this, but I've released 3 separate mods on Nexus using the features.  I currently use Photoshop to do my textures, but it's not necessary.  What is necessary is the correct settings when exporting the *.dds file.  For a transparent background in the *.dds with GIMP (or Photoshop for that matter) export with DX5.  Using the GIMP dds plugin, this is BC3/DX5 - which supports alpha transparency and has maximum compatibility.

 

Feel free to check out one of my tattoo mods on Nexus and see how the settings are in the *.dds files and also in the materials.