Devourment Refactor

[Zeorik]

4 minutes ago, Macross. said:

They aren't bone weights. Sliders are spacial mesh edits. Nothing to do with the skeleton. The skeleton is only relevant because OS writes to a .nif file, and that intrinsically means writing the skeleton/bone info, so if you don't specify the right things to use, it defaults to the human female data which is going to destroy those meshes.

 

While it isn't perfect, you'll probably want to start with the "conform all sliders" option under the sliders menu.

Yep, got that done. That "works" right up until the cocks are involved... hah. I'm using the Horse as a test, conform all sliders allowed that body to use the new sliders... Only problem is, it seems it's clipping part of the cock mesh. 

[Macross.]

1 minute ago, xAteax said:

Yep, got that done. That "works" right up until the cocks are involved... hah. I'm using the Horse as a test, conform all sliders allowed that body to use the new sliders... Only problem is, it seems it's clipping part of the cock mesh.

Yeah. That is why I said it isn't perfect. You'll want to familiarize yourself with OS's tools and interface. It isn't something so simple that I can just describe the process here for you.

[Zeorik]

4 minutes ago, Macross. said:

Yeah. That is why I said it isn't perfect. You'll want to familiarize yourself with OS's tools and interface. It isn't something so simple that I can just describe the process here for you.

That's fair. It IS enough to have it working for things like non-aroused vore and the like at least. Right now I'm just probing at tools to see what actually is causing the cock to be modified too. Thank you

[Macross.]

12 minutes ago, xAteax said:

That's fair. It IS enough to have it working for things like non-aroused vore and the like at least. Right now I'm just probing at tools to see what actually is causing the cock to be modified too. Thank you

Every mesh you have selected when you use "conform all" will try to warp with the base shape. A good thing to look into is the masking features, and the "clear slider data" option, which obeys the masking. So you can conform all on all the mesh parts, then mask the mating edges of the genitals, clear the active slider data from the un-masked bits to remove all the deformation on other than the sheath-body interface, then manually tweak and smooth the other bits to fit better.

 

For example, I just spent a minute messing with the wolf meshes:

 

Just conform all:

 

 

With some very general manual work:

[Zeorik]

Ok! so, I do believe I've got it figured out (for horses, anyway). I was going to make them for the Animated Beast's Cock version for MNC... but on second thought if I'm going through the trouble I may as well set it up for base MNC/ HCOS... assuming anyone else even would want the mesh patch, hah. It'll still be broken for sex (depending on the creature, etc.) So I wanted to know while I have the drive/ tools open: Should I do one version, or multiple like  a "no change to cock location (IE, no handling of the shafts, which may leave them clipping into bellies)" and "cocks repositioned to fit aesthetically when full"?

 

[Zeorik]

16 minutes ago, Macross. said:

Every mesh you have selected when you use "conform all" will try to warp with the base shape. A good thing to look into is the masking features, and the "clear slider data" option, which obeys the masking. So you can conform all on all the mesh parts, then mask the mating edges of the genitals, clear the active slider data from the un-masked bits to remove all the deformation on other than the sheath-body interface, then manually tweak and smooth the other bits to fit better.

 

For example, I just spent a minute messing with the wolf meshes:

 

Just conform all:

 

 

With some very general manual work:

On my end, at least with the Horse mesh the penis is its own seperate mesh. Selecting "Mask weighted verticies" made the whole thing ignore that model for the initial copy sliders phase. After that I un-masked it, then edited the slider manually so that the shaft fit with the mesh as it expanded. I'm assuming I'll have to do the same to the sheathes then? 

 

My little experiment yielded as such:

[Zeorik]

37 minutes ago, Macross. said:

Every mesh you have selected when you use "conform all" will try to warp with the base shape. A good thing to look into is the masking features, and the "clear slider data" option, which obeys the masking. So you can conform all on all the mesh parts, then mask the mating edges of the genitals, clear the active slider data from the un-masked bits to remove all the deformation on other than the sheath-body interface, then manually tweak and smooth the other bits to fit better.

 

For example, I just spent a minute messing with the wolf meshes:

 

Just conform all:

 

 

With some very general manual work:

Edit: Hrm... I've got the transformation of it working I think ,but what do I save it as? Export to NIF doesn't carry over the sliders like I'd hoped.

[Macross.]

3 minutes ago, xAteax said:

Edit: Hrm... I've got the transformation of it working I think ,but what do I save it as? Export to NIF doesn't carry over the sliders like I'd hoped.

Nifs don't have sliders, what they can do is map to a .tri file for them, which is where bodyslide/OS comes in. You want to save the project you've been making in OS. Load it up in bodyslide then build it with the "build morphs" button checked. That will generate the .tri file and link the created nif to it.

 

If you haven't looked at my bodyslide guide, I'd recommend it to get a bit better of an understanding of what is happening.

 

Long and short of it is, there really isn't a difference between the player's outfits and body, and a creature's body/shape. At least as far as the game engine is concerned.

[Macross.]

28 minutes ago, xAteax said:

Ok! so, I do believe I've got it figured out (for horses, anyway). I was going to make them for the Animated Beast's Cock version for MNC... but on second thought if I'm going through the trouble I may as well set it up for base MNC/ HCOS... assuming anyone else even would want the mesh patch, hah. It'll still be broken for sex (depending on the creature, etc.) So I wanted to know while I have the drive/ tools open: Should I do one version, or multiple like  a "no change to cock location (IE, no handling of the shafts, which may leave them clipping into bellies)" and "cocks repositioned to fit aesthetically when full"?

 

Not sure if the question was directed at me or in general, but just in case to avoid the appearance of ignoring it:

I haven't used MNC in years, the current system is different from what I knew back then, so I can't properly answer that right now. I may take a look at it later, but I'm currently too tired and tipsy to give it a proper examination.

[Zeorik]

17 minutes ago, Macross. said:

Not sure if the question was directed at me or in general, but just in case to avoid the appearance of ignoring it:

I haven't used MNC in years, the current system is different from what I knew back then, so I can't properly answer that right now. I may take a look at it later, but I'm currently too tired and tipsy to give it a proper examination.

It was more a generalized question to gauge interest on who might like what. Though in the end I probably could just do it over later for the other things. And to merge the other post to this (And thus not keep having to double-reply), I read up your guide. Probably didn't understand it as much as I should've, but I'll get it eventually. My only question is how to 'see' the new project in bodyslide I've got it in Bodyslide, so now all that's left is to build it right? Is there any way to batch-build them from their own seperate folder (and thus not have to de-select every other outfit)? I'm also assuming this is how it should look: 

 

And once it's done batch-building I would simply need to then recompile the files into MNC/ HCOS- compatible file structures.
 

Edit: Scratch the question about groups too, looking into it myself answered that... like most things that I'm too stupid to look for myself fist, hah.

[Macross.]

3 minutes ago, xAteax said:

It was more a generalized question to gauge interest on who might like what. Though in the end I probably could just do it over later for the other things. And to merge the other post to this (And thus not keep having to double-reply), I read up your guide. Probably didn't understand it as much as I should've, but I'll get it eventually. My only question is how to 'see' the new project in bodyslide I've got it in Bodyslide, so now all that's left is to build it right? Is there any way to batch-build them from their own seperate folder (and thus not have to de-select every other outfit)? I'm also assuming this is how it should look: 

And once it's done batch-building I would simply need to then recompile the files into MNC/ HCOS- compatible file structures.
 

It won't do it automatically, but you can add them to existing (or make your own) outfit groups to let you batch build all the MNC creature bodies (look for the group editor in bodyslide).

 

If set up the export path and file name correctly when you save (as) the OS project (to match the file structure from MNC) you shouldn't need to do anything once you hit build in Bodyslide.

[Enigmier]

18 hours ago, Dongs REO Speedwagon said:

 

This happened to me after updating from 5/13 to 5/19. Doing a clean uninstall-and-reinstall fixed it for me, though the standard advice for uninstalling a mod in mid-playthrough still applies - this solution hasn't bitten me in the ass yet, though I'm absolutely certain it will somewhere down the road.

Unfortunately, a fresh install with a new save did not fix the issue.

[Zeorik]

23 minutes ago, Macross. said:

It won't do it automatically, but you can add them to existing (or make your own) outfit groups to let you batch build all the MNC creature bodies (look for the group editor in bodyslide).

 

If set up the export path and file name correctly when you save (as) the OS project (to match the file structure from MNC) you shouldn't need to do anything once you hit build in Bodyslide.

Gotcha. Last question to ask in regards to the Transform tool, mainly for consistency between variations: Is it possible to get a numerical popup for the transformations on the mesh? That would help in positioning wolfHardred to match wolfHard, or even the sheath version for that matter. But as of now that's something I'm not seeing an option for, sadly. I apologize for having to ask again, you've been an amazing help so far in getting through the block I was having earlier. Thank you again

[Macross.]

2 minutes ago, xAteax said:

Gotcha. Last question to ask in regards to the Transform tool, mainly for consistency between variations: Is it possible to get a numerical popup for the transformations on the mesh? That would help in positioning wolfHardred to match wolfHard, or even the sheath version for that matter. But as of now that's something I'm not seeing an option for, sadly. I apologize for having to ask again, you've been an amazing help so far in getting through the block I was having earlier. Thank you again

"Shape" menu. "Move" option. Just be careful, the text field editors can be a bit finicky. You may have to exit the pop up and undo on occasion.

[Zeorik]

2 minutes ago, Macross. said:

"Shape" menu. "Move" option. Just be careful, the text field editors can be a bit finicky. You may have to exit the pop up and undo on occasion.

Oof... if that's the best I can get then I'll just have to eyeball it/ do it the hard way. The "move" option doesn't have rotate capabilities... and the "Rotate" option does not work when editing a slider.

[Macross.]

1 minute ago, xAteax said:

Oof... if that's the best I can get then I'll just have to eyeball it/ do it the hard way. The "move" option doesn't have rotate capabilities... and the "Rotate" option does not work when editing a slider.

It is an awkward work around, but you can export morph/slider shapes as nif files, and import nif files as morph shapes. So you can take the current morph, export to a nif. Import that nif as a regular mesh (not a slider) do all your editing and such without any sliders active. Export that to yet another nif. Start editing the slider, and import that new nif as a slider shape, and get the precise results you want.

 

I hope that makes sense, as I said earlier, not at the top of my mental capability range right now...

[Zeorik]

1 minute ago, Macross. said:

It is an awkward work around, but you can export morph/slider shapes as nif files, and import nif files as morph shapes. So you can take the current morph, export to a nif. Import that nif as a regular mesh (not a slider) do all your editing and such without any sliders active. Export that to yet another nif. Start editing the slider, and import that new nif as a slider shape, and get the precise results you want.

 

I hope that makes sense, as I said earlier, not at the top of my mental capability range right now...

It... kind of does? Though perhaps a bit over the top for these needs. I don't need precision so much as 'close enough to not look wonky", so my plan's to load the completed project, delete any non-important components, then load the variant body in as a mesh and use the transform tool to get it close. Erf... then there's this question:

I've been building under the assumption of using the MNC_wolf_skeleton as the proper skeleton for this, yes?

[Macross.]

5 minutes ago, xAteax said:

It... kind of does? Though perhaps a bit over the top for these needs. I don't need precision so much as 'close enough to not look wonky", so my plan's to load the completed project, delete any non-important components, then load the variant body in as a mesh and use the transform tool to get it close. Erf... then there's this question:

I've been building under the assumption of using the MNC_wolf_skeleton as the proper skeleton for this, yes?

I think. But again, haven't really worked with the more recent MNC versions.

[Zeorik]

2 minutes ago, Macross. said:

I think. But again, haven't really worked with the more recent MNC versions.

No worries, that should be enough to at least get a rough version pushed out.  Funny note though: Apparently, saving the project, loading the project, deleting all of the individual  meshes of the project, loading as outfit and selecting "keep other shapes", as long as the previous mesh is named the same as the new mesh, it just... copies all of the info.  Did it with wolfredhard to test, and even the sheath/balls were rotated properly. Hah.

[Zeorik]

... nyaaaagh, now I'm frying my brain at the thought of what I need to do x.x Because I'm ALSO using Skyrim Immersive Creatures, so I got Bad Dog's Immersive creatures, which means I need to not -only- rebuild/ tweak morphs for all of MNC and HCOS's meshes but also BDIC and.... *Pop*

[Zeorik]

And all of that is IF I did everything properly... T~T

[phrompy]

Hello again! I have a question about custom race compatability. How do I add predator abilities to followers from custom races, and how well can the mod as a whole work with non-vanilla races? I know morphs for custom races are more difficult and will need extra work, but will the textures work for the equippable bellies? Please take your time answering and sorry if you answered this before. Thank you very much for your continued work and I'm grateful for all you've done

[Zeorik]

4 hours ago, Macross. said:

I think. But again, haven't really worked with the more recent MNC versions.

Welp... that's it for my plans then. =-= I did everything I 'thought' was right... but the meshes never responded to being eaten.

Maybe when you're more awake you can tell me what I did wrong... right now I've no clue and I'm at my limit. I guess I'm just glad I didn't go through them -all- before testing... This fucking husky's armor  infuriated me for hours though. :x

[LordsDu71]

In the new version of the mod. In the devourment setting power, there is a "SLAccidents" things to toggle or not. 

What does it do ?

[Macross.]

30 minutes ago, xAteax said:

Welp... that's it for my plans then. =-= I did everything I 'thought' was right... but the meshes never responded to being eaten.

Maybe when you're more awake you can tell me what I did wrong... right now I've no clue and I'm at my limit. I guess I'm just glad I didn't go through them -all- before testing... This fucking husky's armor  infuriated me for hours though. :x

Sorry, it will probably be a while before I can properly test that, I don't have my game set up to use normal MNC right now (I just downloaded the file to open the nif, didn't even unzip the folder).

 

First thing I would check is to try building the meshes with the belly morph set to 100% and see if that shows up in game (this will make a direct edit to the base shape of the mesh result, so you'll see an in-game effect even if the .tri file or something else isn't working right). That will at least tell you if you're exported results are going to the right place for the game too read (one of the problems with a mod like MNC is that you end up with a bunch of different versions of the same mesh in a bunch of places, and it can be hard to tell which one is actually being pulled into the game).

 

Once you've determined that you're exporting to the right place, then you can start trying to figure out other issues if they exist.

 

 

And yeah, my two bits of general advice for outfit/body modding is:

1. Never save over an existing project. If you want to change the way something looks/works, do a save-as and give it a new name. That way if you break something (it happens) you can always start over from that original project.
2. Check your work frequently in-game. I've been messing with this stuff for years, and I still run into unexpected behavior fairly often. That is why I've been spending so long working on the base human body shapes before I even touch the outfits; if you aren't positive the groundwork is solid, all you're going to do by moving on is replicate bugs, and make more work for the future.