New Body for Aela

[Erundil]

New Body for Aela

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YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE MY WORK IN PAID MODS.

 

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LEGENDARY EDITION ALSO EXISTS
It's here: https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/1723-new-body-for-aela/

 

INTRO
Successor of "New Face for Aela" which I cannot update ever since my ban from the Nexus (for mentioning LoversLab).
I decided to not only recreate it from scratch, but expand on it as well. There are tons of facelift mods for Aela around. What makes this one different is that it doesn't stop at her face. And still it's no less compatible with things than "just-face" Aela mods.

 

WHAT IT DOES
Most of all, changes Aela's appearance. This means new skin tone, hair/eyes color, different makeup and new warpaint (it's not all that new, male Imperials use it in vanilla, but I adapted it to female face). Also Aela recieved 2 body tattoos (as I love to roleplay my Skyrim sessions there is a story behind them, but reading it is completely optional). In addition to that mod introduces a new warpaint for Nord females (same as Aela is using) and 4 presets (also for female Nords) which show different stages of my work on Aela's face (this means you can look like her twin if you want).

Also, since Aela is specced for light armors, she was given a light armor version of her default outfit (cuirass, boots, gloves). It's called Light Ancient Armor, it's temperable, wearable by both genders and by player. Craftable (unlike heavy Ancient Armor) - but only in Skyforge.

 

INCOMPATIBILITIES
Let me explain what texture names mean first:
diffuse map - the most visible of all textures, where color and details of the object is painted
normal map - texture which holds information on surface irregularities (too small to be covered by 3d model)
specular map - gloss of the object, how much of the light is reflected
So - Aela uses custom set of diffuse textures for both body and face based on UNP version of Mature Skin Texture.
This means you'll need a body replacer from UNP family (7B is also from UNP family) or at least vanilla (which looks ok with UNP textures).

 

CBBE will look stupid, I checked that out requires a texture patch, I had maxmcarnage test it and... it's not perfect, there is visible discoloration on the neck.

But the tattoos look ok - paw is perfect, lower back tattoo is only slightly stretched.

As Aela is using a full set of diffuse textures they won't cause any neck gap, no matter what textures you use (assuming you had no gap before installing this mod, ofc).
Still, Aela is using default normal/specular maps, so it would be best to have regular ones, not some crazy variants.
By crazy variants I mean textures that add - say - bruises or deep scars. Aela's diffuse textures have no scars, but gloss from your specular/normal maps can poke through and look stupid. If you really want those bruises, use Modder's Resources and put tattoos on diffuse maps you are using.

 

STORY BEHIND TATTOOS
Aela's vanilla warpaint doesn't suit her. It's not permanent. It would have to be repainted every day, and I can't see the practical Aela doing her makeup every morning. Instead of warpaint she should have a tattoo. Or tattoos. Tattoos that would fit her. After reshaping her face a bit (she's not that pretty when those 3 stripes no longer cover her face) I came up with a backstory for tattoos, as there usually is a story behind those. Here goes.
That little paw below her belly has been there ever since Aela was a little girl and is related to the blessing (or curse) that has been passed on in her family for at least 3 generations. It's always been a secret and so the tattoo is placed where no one can see it - unless you get her to undress in your presence, but Aela won't undress just for anyone. If she's naked in front of you, then you probably already know her hidden nature.
When Aela grew up and started hunting on a daily basis, she discovered a world of rituals and habits of other hunters. Trophies, warpaints, sharing stories... While trophies had little appeal to her and she couldn't exactly speak about all her hunts openly, she could have a warpaint. After a few weeks of applying paint to her face every day, she had enough. If you have one tattoo, you're much more likely to get another, than if you had none to begin with. That's how Aela got the tattoo on her face. By then she didn't expect that some day she will meet and befriend an Imperial with very similar tattoo. Imperial who would kill dragons and absorb their very essence... But that's another story.
Years passed and Aela grew older. Her habits changed. A few years back hunting was everything for her, but it's no longer the case. She's developed a part of her personally that actually wants to look good. Don't believe me? Try to watch, how she spends her days - she's mostly slacking off around Jorvaskrr. Not fighting, or hunting, not even training. She just walks around, showing off her skimpy armor, keeping her hair loose... You may not know it, but as a guy who actually has long hair AND trains martial arts I can tell you from experience - unless you tie your hair, you're more likely to hurt yourself than your enemy. Not to mention that loose hair is something your opponent can easily grab. Aela could braid her hair, or at least make a ponytail, but no. She prefers good looks over her own safety and convenience. Also from all the female Companions it's her armor that shows the most skin. There is no mistaking it - she wants to look as sexy, as a hardened warrior possibly can. And as tattoos are her thing, she decided to pronounce her womanly perks by getting a more sensual one this time. That's the story of her third and newest tattoo. The one on her lower back.
When you see a tattoo you can usually tell how long ago it was made, as tattoos decay over time. If you look closely at the textures, I did my best to reflect the story - Aela's newest tattoo looks like it has only a few years, while paw looks very old (I also tried to account for the lack of precise tools to make a perfect tattoo in Aela's environment). That's why the one on her lower back has much sharper edges and less grain than the paw. Said rule doesn't apply to her face texture, but there was nothing I could do - game engine forces warpaints to be in 256x256 resolution, at which any detail is lost.

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• Submitter
  Erundil
• Submitted
  09/09/2020
• Category
  Adult Mods
• Requires
  UNP recommended
• Regular Edition Compatible
  No

 

[maxmcarnage]

I'm on playthrough 500 and something but I haven't done the companion's quest arc in a while reading Aela's backstory really makes me want to include it this go around the only thing is I switched over to CBBE a while back and I have a lot of things that's dependent on it so the question I have is there a way to have both UNP for her and CBBE for everything else? side note that was a very well written out backstory it really brought Aela to life 

[Erundil]

On 9/23/2020 at 2:27 AM, maxmcarnage said:

I'm on playthrough 500 and something but I haven't done the companion's quest arc in a while reading Aela's backstory really makes me want to include it this go around the only thing is I switched over to CBBE a while back and I have a lot of things that's dependent on it so the question I have is there a way to have both UNP for her and CBBE for everything else? side note that was a very well written out backstory it really brought Aela to life 

UNP for Aela and CBBE for everyone else? Not without some edits to the mod. You'd have to provide UNP body meshes just for Aela and point her bodyparts to it in the ESP file.

 

But honestly, you shouldn't do that. You most probably have armor replacers shaped for CBBE. If so, Aela would look ok naked but would probably have neck or wrist gaps when wearing armor. Or some discolorations on the seams.

It would be best to just stick to CBBE for everyone or UNP for everyone. Send me the CBBE bodytextures you are using and I'll put the tattoos on them.

Oh, btw. it has to be the shaved variant. Otherwise the tattoo just above vagina would go *over* the pubic hair and look like a sticker.

[Erundil]

Or just try these Experimental CBBE Textures (waiting for feedback) v0.1.7z and tell me how they look. CBBE stretches bodytextures differently than UNP, so I'd appreciate some nude screenshots how the tattoos got stretched on Aela.

 

Useful console commands to help you:

prid 1a697 - selects Aela as a target...
moveto player - ... and moves Aela to your location (unsafe during quests involving her)

player.moveto 1a697 - moves you to Aela, wherever she is

tfc 1 - stops time and enters free camera mode (use tfc command to go back to normal)

prid 1a697 - selects Aela as a target...
unequipall - ...and strips her naked

 

If these textures look bad, then sorry, this is as far as I'm gonna go.

Restretching the textures would require 3D modelling tools and I really don't feel like reinstalling them and relearning the entire process.

[maxmcarnage]

Thank you very much I'll definitely try it out and send you some screenshots of the results, I figured trying to do 2 different body styles would be a nightmare hell I have problems with one good or bad 

[jaeos]

I like the idea of aela having tattoos without me adding them via slavetats. I'll give it a shot and see if i like it better than the current aela replacer i have.

[WeebSama]

I extracted the file in the data folder and when i got in the game she looked the same but her face was black