Better faces for Redguard females.

[whatsoldier]

It always bothered me that most Redguard females just look like dark-skinned Nords. Using the mod "Better hair - Redguard NPCs" (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/103047) as a base I started to edit their face meshes in Racemenu and exporting them to CK. So far I have edited all base IDs for the bandits. But when I spawn the non-editable bandits in my game they all look like the base ID (same hair, weight, armor, warpaint etc). Only the shields and weapons are random. Is it supposed to be like that or is there a way to randomize other things?

[whatsoldier]

Maybe some experienced modder can help me with this:

I tried to give the Redguards NPCs wider noses. After having created a face in Racemenu, I save the face with the spf command and apply it to the NPC in Creation Kit. After that the nose appears much thinner than it was in Racemenu, is there some kind of limit for the nose width? Everything else looks the way I wanted to, just the nose seems off.

[whatsoldier]

The faces dont look exactly like I wanted but still better than vanilla in my opinion. All female Redguards (except ghosts) now have custom faces and different skin tones. I uploaded my modified esp if someone is interested in trying it out. Skin used in pics can be found here: https://voblascreatures.blogspot.com/2020/08/sapphires-skin-skyrim-unp-texture.html#more

 

All credit goes to Lynnaria, the author of the original mod and the authors of KS Hairdos and HG Hairdos.

BRHFN-L.esp

[SlicedBread]

This is one of those things you don't realize you're missing in your Skyrim until you realize it. Thank you for the work. And thank you for that skin link...that's a gem I would have never found.

 

[Roggvir]

On 10/22/2020 at 11:58 PM, whatsoldier said:

Maybe some experienced modder can help me with this:

I tried to give the Redguards NPCs wider noses. After having created a face in Racemenu, I save the face with the spf command and apply it to the NPC in Creation Kit. After that the nose appears much thinner than it was in Racemenu, is there some kind of limit for the nose width? Everything else looks the way I wanted to, just the nose seems off.

RaceMenu is using different/additional morphs not available in CK.
So, the *.npc file you get when you use vanilla game's spf console command, contains only the vanilla game's slider data.
You need to export the head mesh from RaceMenu, from the sculpting interface (ideally additional to what you are already doing - see my "instructions" below).
 

btw. i made two redguard presets - here, and here - if you find them usefull, i give you permission to use them, as they are or altered, for any NPCs you want and include them in your package.
I made them for SSE, but you can use the provided preset JSON files in LE RaceMenu as well.
 

I guess there are tutorials on how to use RaceMenu presets on NPCs,

but i don't know of any to just give you some links, so here is how i do it:

Phase 1

Phase one is all you need if you are doing this for Skyrim LE.
If you are doing this for Skyrim SE, you will also need to do Phase 2.

1. Start a new game, and create your player preset in RaceMenu
   Do whatever you want, use any sliders, use manual sculpting, anything that gets you the look you want.
2. Export the head NIF file from RaceMenu.
   I don't mean using the spf console command to get the *.npc file, but doing export (F5) from RaceMenu's Sculpt menu, to get the *.NIF with the head mesh.
3. Continue and start the game, using the player preset you created
4. Use console command spf to get the *.npc file.
5. Quit game and open Creation Kit
6. Edit the NPC and import the *.npc file from the "Character Gen Parts" tab.
7. Save the plugin and export NPC head from CK using Ctrl+F4 (while having the NPC record selected).
   NOTE: I am not sure if this was a problem in Fallout 4 or in Skyrim, but if CK doesn't do the export here, make sure the actor isn't used as a chargen preset - it it is a chargen preset, remove the "Is CharGen Face Preset" flag from the NPC (do not save the plugin after this change!), then try the export again and it should work.
8. Replace the CK-exported head NIF with the NIF exported from RaceMenu in step 2.
   If you are doing this for Skyrim LE, do this and you are done.
   If you are doing this for Skyrim SE, DO NOT DO THIS and continue with Phase 2.

 

Phase 2
If you are doing this for Skyrim LE, you are done, do not continue with Phase 2.
If you are going to do this, you will need Nif Merge, NifSkope, and SSE NIF Optimizer.

1. Rename the head NIF exported from RaceMenu to "source.nif"
2. Rename the head NIF exported from CK to "target.nif"
3. Put both "source" and "target" NIF files into same folder
   and run SSE Nif Optimizer, converting them to Skyrim LE version.
4. Use Nif Merge to merge the meshes from "source" into the "target" NIF file.
   Drag&drop the source, Drag&drop the target, check "Merge child nodes" checkbox,
   Press "Match by Vertex" button, then select what you want to overwrite in the target (all you can),
   and press "Merge to target" button which will overwrite the "target" NIF file.
5. Use SSE Nif Optimizer on the "target" file (now modified by Nif Merge) to convert it to SSE format.
6. Check and fix texture paths in the Merge result, using NifSkope
   Open both the NIf Merge result and the original CK-exported NIF in NifSkope.
   Make sure all texture paths on all meshes in the Merge result NIF are set to the same paths as in the CK-exported NIF.
7. Replace the CK-exported head NIF with the modified "target" NIF.

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Roggvir
fixing typos

[whatsoldier]

On 1/26/2022 at 3:17 AM, Roggvir said:

RaceMenu is using different/additional morphs not available in CK.
So, the *.npc file you get when you use vanilla game's spf console command, contains only the vanilla game's slider data.
You need to export the head mesh from RaceMenu, from the sculpting interface (ideally additional to what you are already doing - see my "instructions" below).
 

btw. i made two redguard presets - here, and here - if you find them usefull, i give you permission to use them, as they are or altered, for any NPCs you want and include them in your package.
I made them for SSE, but you can use the provided preset JSON files in LE RaceMenu as well.
 

I guess there are tutorials on how to use RaceMenu presets on NPCs,

but i don't know of any to just give you some links, so here is how i do it:

Phase 1

Phase one is all you need if you are doing this for Skyrim LE.
If you are doing this for Skyrim SE, you will also need to do Phase 2.

1. Start a new game, and create your player preset in RaceMenu
   Do whatever you want, use any sliders, use manual sculpting, anything that gets you the look you want.
2. Export the head NIF file from RaceMenu.
   I don't mean using the spf console command to get the *.npc file, but doing export (F5) from RaceMenu's Sculpt menu, to get the *.NIF with the head mesh.
3. Continue and start the game, using the player preset you created
4. Use console command spf to get the *.npc file.
5. Quit game and open Creation Kit
6. Edit the NPC and import the *.npc file from the "Character Gen Parts" tab.
7. Save the plugin and export NPC head from CK using Ctrl+F4 (while having the NPC record selected).
   NOTE: I am not sure if this was a problem in Fallout 4 or in Skyrim, but if CK doesn't do the export here, make sure the actor isn't used as a chargen preset - it it is a chargen preset, remove the "Is CharGen Face Preset" flag from the NPC (do not save the plugin after this change!), then try the export again and it should work.
8. Replace the CK-exported head NIF with the NIF exported from RaceMenu in step 2.
   If you are doing this for Skyrim LE, do this and you are done.
   If you are doing this for Skyrim SE, DO NOT DO THIS and continue with Phase 2.

 

Phase 2
If you are doing this for Skyrim LE, you are done, do not continue with Phase 2.
If you are going to do this, you will need Nif Merge, NifSkope, and SSE NIF Optimizer.

1. Rename the head NIF exported from RaceMenu to "source.nif"
2. Rename the head NIF exported from CK to "target.nif"
3. Put both "source" and "target" NIF files into same folder
   and run SSE Nif Optimizer, converting them to Skyrim LE version.
4. Use Nif Merge to merge the meshes from "source" into the "target" NIF file.
   Drag&drop the source, Drag&drop the target, check "Merge child nodes" checkbox,
   Press "Match by Vertex" button, then select what you want to overwrite in the target (all you can),
   and press "Merge to target" button which will overwrite the "target" NIF file.
5. Use SSE Nif Optimizer on the "target" file (now modified by Nif Merge) to convert it to SSE format.
6. Check and fix texture paths in the Merge result, using NifSkope
   Open both the NIf Merge result and the original CK-exported NIF in NifSkope.
   Make sure all texture paths on all meshes in the Merge result NIF are set to the same paths as in the CK-exported NIF.
7. Replace the CK-exported head NIF with the modified "target" NIF.

 

 

Thanks for the tutorial. Using the LE version I am having some trouble in step 7. The head did not change until I checked the "is CharGen Face Preset" box. I have used npc 00039CF8 to do this. Somehow this caused the npc to disappear from CK and getting replaced by a new one, called 00039CFD, which has the right head but is using a male voice for some reason. The old npc (00039CF8) still exists in the game but now has a greyface bug.

 

Edit: Nevermind, I wrongly replaced the CK-exported head nif with the *npc file.

Edited February 9, 2022 by whatsoldier

[whatsoldier]

I have made a new version with proper head meshes. It took me a while because I didn't have the old files anymore so I had to make new ones.  Besides that I have changed most hairs and removed male animations from female Npcs. Also edited height and some voices for more variety.  Credits go again to Lynnaria for the base mod and to Roggvir for the Rayya headmesh, which I included in the mod with some minor edits.

 

If you use other Npc changing mods you should load them before this one. I use Botox for my other races and despite putting Botox first in the load order my redguard females still got botoxxed and I had to overwrite the head meshes again. So there could be issues. I might upload this to the main download section for more visibility, would be nice if someone could test this mod first and confirm that it works properly.

 

Here some pics of the new version:

 

Better.faces.redguard.femalesV2.0.7z

Edited May 7, 2022 by whatsoldier
spacing

[Aldebaran]

Oh, these are lovely! Thanks so much for putting in the work on this. Was just thinking how much I really want my Redguards to look like actual black people instead of Nords with a tanning bed addiction, and here you are with this!

[mdemian]

Hi, great work. But i have color mismatch head-body. Body and head mesh are ok. For example in nifskope (Saadia): Data\SKSE\Plugins\CharGen\\00013BA2v2.dds

[mdemian]

if there are no FaceTint files... will there always be mismatch?

[whatsoldier]

On 6/2/2022 at 2:56 PM, mdemian said:

if there are no FaceTint files... will there always be mismatch?

 

You mean grey face bug? If that is the case you should open Creation Kit -> File -> Data. Check Skyrim.esm and BRHFN-L.esp. Set BRHFN-L.esp as active file. Click ok. Ignore all errors until it loads. On the left side of the window go to Redguard race - Female. On the right side of the window select the NPCs that have a color mismatch and press Ctrl + F4. Ignore errors again if you get any. It looks like you are using the first version of the mod that I posted here. In this case you can save and you're done. If you are using version 2.0 you might need the Npc files. I will upload them here if you still have a mismatch. But just overwriting the head meshes of the affected NPCs could be enough to fix it.

 

I hope that helps and sorry for the late response.

Edited June 9, 2022 by whatsoldier

[mdemian]

Hi. Thanks, yes i have 2.07 version...You have a new version? I am trying ctrl+f4 in creation kit...thanks. But if there is new version, where i can download it?

 

[whatsoldier]

10 hours ago, mdemian said:

Hi. Thanks, yes i have 2.07 version...You have a new version? I am trying ctrl+f4 in creation kit...thanks. But if there is new version, where i can download it?

 

There are only two versions. The one I posted in this topic in the 3rd post and the new version in the 7th post (also can be found in the download section). You have the newest version, which is 2.0. It just looks like its called 2.07 because I have used 7zip to compress the files. Let me know if ctrl+f4 has worked for you.

[mdemian]

Hi, yes thanks...it worked...I use ct77 body and mature skin and this is the result (maybe with UNP i will have different head...Saadia) :

 

[translocated]

Okay these look fucking amazing but the better faces mod is for LE, does anyone know if there's an SE compatible version? I would really love to play with this.

[Tlam99]

Use cao.

I used the one in 10th image as Rayya replacer in my SE setup.

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Tlam99

[whatsoldier]

On 8/29/2022 at 3:42 PM, translocated said:

Okay these look fucking amazing but the better faces mod is for LE, does anyone know if there's an SE compatible version? I would really love to play with this.

 

Hi. I have not tested the mod with SE version, it might work. If it doesn't you have my permission to port it. I can't do it myself since I only have the LE version of the game.

Edited September 1, 2022 by whatsoldier

[Tlam99]

2 hours ago, whatsoldier said:

you have my permission to port it.

tested with a couple of placeatme, 

It's FE flagged

BFRedGuardSE.7z

[wequeen]

 

On 9/2/2022 at 5:31 AM, Tlam99 said:

tested with a couple of placeatme, 

It's FE flagged

BFRedGuardSE.7z 26.41 MB · 122 downloads

does this affect the hair as well? or do i need to port the other hair mod?... i don't really know how to port the hair mod for se

[whatsoldier]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:19 AM, wequeen said:

 

does this affect the hair as well? or do i need to port the other hair mod?... i don't really know how to port the hair mod for se

 

It should work without Lynnarias mod. But it has KS Hairdos and HG Hairdos as requirements, so you will need those. There is a version of KS Hairdos for SE: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/6817

 

I could not find a SE version for HG Hairdos 1, there is a download link for HG Hairdos 2 which can be found here: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/78324. Not sure if it will work with version 2, you will have to try.

Edited May 23, 2024 by whatsoldier