[Release] TCRA - A race mod and Companion asset database Updated Status: Final 6/27/13

[Trykz]

Finally, after what seems like months in construction, it's finally finished (almost).....

 

I know..... you're asking yourself:

"WTF is this Trykz?"

 

Allow me to explain:

 

TCRA is a Database of custom character assets I built for one purpose:

 

To protect the assets I use to build my custom races from Bethesda's incessant updating of Skyrim's Update.esm file.

 

I know..... Beth *says* they're finished with Skyrim, and onto their next project. I've heard this before.

Waaaaaay back after the 1.5 patch fiasco wrecked thousands of mods ranging from armor sets

to race mods. Even quest mods had issues with that patch. Anyway, if you read Beth's announcement carefully,

you'll know that they also said they would continue with "bug fixes" and "minor patches" in the foreseeable future.

 

Most modders realize that when Bethesda makes changes to the game, they're usually

made to Skyrim's Update.esm file. For instance, when they added mounted combat mechanics and

animations, those changes were added to the Update.esm file.

 

Well, TCRA does NOT use Skyrim's Update.esm file. AT ALL.....

 

How did I accomplish this?

 

By duplicating anything that I found I was regularly using (or would be using) in my mods. Such as every playable race.

And even a few non-playable races, such as Giants, trolls, and dogs......

Each of the playable races I duplicated has complete mounted combat capability. And to avoid duplicate

races appearing in the racemenu at character creation, every TCRA race is set as non-playable.

 

Now I bet you're asking yourself: "but Trykz, how do I use this?"

That information is forthcoming. I'm making a complete ReadMe file

in RTF format (WordPad) to accompany this, but it will take a little time.

But rest assured, for novice modders, it's coming.

 

Veteran modders should be able to use this without a ReadMe, as it's

set up very similarly to the Skyrim Data directory structure. It may seem

a little daunting at first. But once you locate everything TCRA includes in

the Creation Kit, it gets easier and faster by the minute.

 

What's included besides some duplicated races?

 

Custom body meshes for 13 different bodies

4 are BodySlide creations I madefor use in current and future race mods

2 are the very same Dovahteen bodies I used in that race mod

1 is Acdale's ADEC body

1 Favored Souls erect version male body

The remainder are default CBBE and UNP/B bodies

All bodies are BBP/TBBP ready

 

So what else?

 

5 of Ran46's head meshes (A-D and RoundFace)

1 custom elf race head with elven ears built into the mesh

1 male head mesh for younger, smoother looking male characters

2 female teen heads (1 human, 1 elven with ears built in)

 

And?

 

8 custom texture sets, hand picked by me for near perfect color match

1 set for the ADEC body

2 sets for CBBE

4 sets for UNP/B

1 set for males

 

These texture sets total FAR more than that inside TCRA as assembled in the CK

 

But that's not all.....

 

There are over 120 custom eye textures

20 eyebrow textures

a female collar mesh

1 catears mesh

4 tail meshes

7 wings meshes (5 are animated)

11 horn styles

 

and countless other assets inside the BSA, but not yet added to the ESM

(I'll be updating the ESM at some point in the near future)

 

 

But to give you an idea of TCRA's capabilities, here's a few things 

I built ENTIRELY under TCRA:

 

 

And I just want to mention that TCRA will be a REQUIREMENT for anything I release in the future.

 

Now without further delay, here are the download mirrors:

 

Mega - *Updated to Final version* 6/27/13

 

JunoCloud - *Updated to Final version 6/27/13

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Installation:

 

Just drop the two files into your Skyrim Data folder, and

activate the TCRA.esm in the Skyrim launcher

(or whatever mod manager you prefer)

 

Keep the TCRA.esm at the very bottom of your ESM list,

but just above any other ESM created under TCRA

 

Important info for modders:

 

be sure to add the TCRA.bsa to your SkyrimEditor.ini so it's

assets are loaded into the Creation Kit

 

also:

 

be sure to remember three simple rules.....

 

duplicate, duplicate, duplicate......

 

always duplicate the items you use in TCRA. NEVER use them directly, as another mod created by me or someone else

may end up relying on the same asset you used for something else. This is especially important for those of you 

who like to create companions. Your single companion may keep an entire race mod from working properly

should you choose to use an asset directly. Remember, duplicating doesn't *create* a new item. It creates a new

RefID for the item you used. This RefID is easily reassigned by the Skyrim engine. ItemID's however (like EVERY

asset within an ESM) are not). ItemIDs are hardcoded into an ESM, and the Skyrim engine is incapable of reassigning

them. So remember, ALWAYS......

 

duplicate, duplicate, duplicate.

 

And you won't have an angry mod of modders (or me  ) bagging on you for wrecking their mods   

[GensouSekai]

Great! When can we expect one of your fabulous races to be released?

[Cjvs]

I want to download but the construction kit is like nuclear science to me, darn.

[Trykz]

Great! When can we expect one of your fabulous races to be released?

 

Tomorrow......

 

and I may release more than one. Maybe 

 

I want to download but the construction kit is like nuclear science to me, darn.

 

If you want to use any of my previous or upcoming race mods, you'll need it anyway 

 

Trykz

[Standman]

So wait... for a simple user, it's pretty much a plug-and-play deal, right? And all you mean by the description is nothing Beth does can hijack TCRA?

[evilevilbob]

This is pretty slick sir. Thanks Trykz!

[medic975]

You sneaky little genius. Well done.

[Trykz]

So wait... for a simple user, it's pretty much a plug-and-play deal, right? And all you mean by the description is nothing Beth does can hijack TCRA?

 

More accurately, nothing Beth does can *break* TCRA.

 

And yes, for the non-modder who just wants to play with my races (or anything built under this framework), simply needs to install it and go. Then drop the mods they want to use in beneath it.

 

The upcoming readme will detail how to set up replacer folders that can be used to override TCRA's assets with user defined parts.

[medic975]

So just to clarify, about the bodies available, you some of them listed as Unp/B. This may be glaringly obvious, but does that mean they include a UNPB body?

 

[ratrace]

Hey Trykz!

 

I'm quite an annoyed race modder (Half Orc Race on the Nexus) and I can only say that your idea is GREAT! Have a fix repository for all race items that Beth can't break by simply putting all parts for races that are to come in one ESM. I remember multiple times that Bethesda forced me to update. Eventually I had to do the whole race from scratch once again.

 

However, your ESM-repository concept might very well be the beginning of a new era of huge race overhauls like we saw them in Oblivion. When all or the most parts for different races are put together in one ESM it should be no prob to put together multiple races and have them peacefully coexist in the game. God, I'm keen on testing it.

 

Thanks man for sharing your work. Hopefully other race modders will put up your concept and base their work on it.

 

 

Regards,

Ratrace

[jm6827]

Hi,

 

it is a impressive framework and the valkyre race looks nice. Unfortunately when I put away the clothes I get a CTD. I use CBBE and with other race (Vanilla or for example Lovergirl) it work. I just dropped TCRA (esm and bsa) in my skyrim/data folder (activated it) and then put in the valkyre.esm. I can switch to the race in the showracemenu and I can play with it normal. But when I drop my chest item .... CTD.

 

What do I miss? I thought there is a body in the bsa and even if isn't shouldn't be my normal CBBE naked body should be used?

 

Thx

 

Josh

[Trykz]

So just to clarify, about the bodies available, you some of them listed as Unp/B. This may be glaringly obvious, but does that mean they include a UNPB body?

 

Exactly. The database contains both UNP and UNPB

 

Hi,

 

it is a impressive framework and the valkyre race looks nice. Unfortunately when I put away the clothes I get a CTD. I use CBBE and with other race (Vanilla or for example Lovergirl) it work. I just dropped TCRA (esm and bsa) in my skyrim/data folder (activated it) and then put in the valkyre.esm. I can switch to the race in the showracemenu and I can play with it normal. But when I drop my chest item .... CTD.

 

What do I miss? I thought there is a body in the bsa and even if isn't shouldn't be my normal CBBE naked body should be used?

 

Thx

 

Josh

 

Sounds like you don't have the necessary BBP or TBBP files installed.

 

from the first post:

 

All bodies are BBP/TBBP ready - meaning you need either BBP or TBBP files to avoid CTDs.

 

Start by reading this.

[jm6827]

 

So just to clarify, about the bodies available, you some of them listed as Unp/B. This may be glaringly obvious, but does that mean they include a UNPB body?

 

Exactly. The database contains both UNP and UNPB

 

Hi,

 

it is a impressive framework and the valkyre race looks nice. Unfortunately when I put away the clothes I get a CTD. I use CBBE and with other race (Vanilla or for example Lovergirl) it work. I just dropped TCRA (esm and bsa) in my skyrim/data folder (activated it) and then put in the valkyre.esm. I can switch to the race in the showracemenu and I can play with it normal. But when I drop my chest item .... CTD.

 

What do I miss? I thought there is a body in the bsa and even if isn't shouldn't be my normal CBBE naked body should be used?

 

Thx

 

Josh

 

Sounds like you don't have the necessary BBP or TBBP files installed.

 

from the first post:

 

All bodies are BBP/TBBP ready - meaning you need either BBP or TBBP files to avoid CTDs.

 

Start by reading this.

 

 

Thanks for the quick reply. But I have already BBP. I use XP32 sceleton and CBBE BBP. I see with all other race the bouncing and jiggling. :-) So I guess this shouldn't be the reason. 

 

Another thing when I put on a silverlight armor (like in your beautiful screenshots) it looks like it is way to big for me. I used the CBBE Bodyslide to mix the silverlight armor to my sense of beauty but with the valkyre race it doesn't fit. I don't know if this relted to the CTD possible BBP bug.

 

Any other ideas? Reinstall BBP?

 

Bye,

 

Josh

 

[Trykz]

Hey Trykz!

 

I'm quite an annoyed race modder (Half Orc Race on the Nexus) and I can only say that your idea is GREAT! Have a fix repository for all race items that Beth can't break by simply putting all parts for races that are to come in one ESM. I remember multiple times that Bethesda forced me to update. Eventually I had to do the whole race from scratch once again.

 

However, your ESM-repository concept might very well be the beginning of a new era of huge race overhauls like we saw them in Oblivion. When all or the most parts for different races are put together in one ESM it should be no prob to put together multiple races and have them peacefully coexist in the game. God, I'm keen on testing it.

 

Thanks man for sharing your work. Hopefully other race modders will put up your concept and base their work on it.

 

 

Regards,

Ratrace

 

Precisely.

 

It's my hope that others will use this to it's fullest extent, because it's quite a capable tool for creating a race mod (or companion mod) that uses the most popular assets.

 

I plan to update it as regularly as possible, as new assets are created/shared. I have multiple copies of the original ESP stored on multiple devices (flash drive, SD card, notebook drive, etc.. LOL), which is exactly the same as the ESM included with TCRA, so I can easily load it into the CK, add assets, and convert to ESM without changing ANYTHING that's already been done. Meaning nothing previously made using TCRA will be affected. This is why I don't use version numbers for anything.

 

The Valkyrie body is one such thing I need to fix (I have that original ESP as well). I'm actually quite surprised no one has mentioned the horrid neck seam at lower body weights. I didn't fix it because I intend to use that mod as part of the readme for TCRA. The actual process of overriding the default body will detail how it's done using a simple add-on ValkrieBody.esp without changing either the TCRA.esm OR the Valkyrie.esm, giving users the ability to swap the body to anything they want, either through TCRA's assets, OR by replacer folder 

 

Lots more stuff to come......

[« Broken ‡ Mirror »]

The Valkyrie body is one such thing I need to fix (I have that original ESP as well). I'm actually quite surprised no one has mentioned the horrid neck seam at lower body weights. I didn't fix it because I intend to use that mod as part of the readme for TCRA. The actual process of overriding the default body will detail how it's done using a simple add-on ValkrieBody.esp without changing either the TCRA.esm OR the Valkyrie.esm, giving users the ability to swap the body to anything they want, either through TCRA's assets, OR by replacer folder 

 

Lots more stuff to come......

Oh so that's what it was... I thought it was only me, so I picked a skin color that look good enough on both sides to make the neck seam minimalistic.

[medic975]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm in the process of merging a bunch of mods in the CK to get myself well below the 255 mod limit. Once I finish I'll be test driving the hell out of this.

[jm6827]

okay, got the CTD fixed ... even reinstall all CBBE, BBP, Sceleton didn't fix it ... I installed TBBP and the xp32 sceleton and then it worked :-)

 

 

Thx for ur help. :-)

 

Josh

[Trykz]

okay, got the CTD fixed ... even reinstall all CBBE, BBP, Sceleton didn't fix it ... I installed TBBP and the xp32 sceleton and then it worked :-)

 

 

Thx for ur help. :-)

 

Josh

 

 

No problem..... glad you got it working

 

Give me a few minutes, and I'll post the BodySlide preset in my race mod thread to help you sort the armor fitting issue.

 

I meant to post it last night, but got distracted in a nother mod I'm working on LOL

[Elem3nt0]

Link is dead

[Trykz]

Link is dead

 

It just worked for me.

 

It may have been a temporary issue with Mega's file server.

[Vedli]

Whelp I'd like to download this but Mega refuses to work. Last night it just refused to start and today it gets to 5% then craps out. Might be a good idea to get a mirror since it is required for your other mods. Keeping your eggs in one basket and so forth.

[Trykz]

Whelp I'd like to download this but Mega refuses to work. Last night it just refused to start and today it gets to 5% then craps out. Might be a good idea to get a mirror since it is required for your other mods. Keeping your eggs in one basket and so forth.

 

I just downloaded the entire 240mb file in 4 minutes.

 

Not sure why it's giving you trouble, but the download is working fine. In any event, I'll post it to my MediaFire later today.

 

Trykz

[Trykz]

Well, scratch that idea.

 

MediaFire wants me to buy a premium account to up files over 200mb.

 

NOT gonna happen. Any suggestions? And not something I have to hand over the keys for my house to use please.

 

TIA,

 

Trykz

[« Broken ‡ Mirror »]

Well, scratch that idea.

 

MediaFire wants me to buy a premium account to up files over 200mb.

 

NOT gonna happen. Any suggestions? And not something I have to hand over the keys for my house to use please.

 

TIA,

 

Trykz

junocloud.me ?

[Trykz]

 

Well, scratch that idea.

 

MediaFire wants me to buy a premium account to up files over 200mb.

 

NOT gonna happen. Any suggestions? And not something I have to hand over the keys for my house to use please.

 

TIA,

 

Trykz

junocloud.me ?

 

 

Thanks

 

File uploading now, be about 5 more minutes.

 

I'll add the download link to the first post soon as I have it.