wanzer's wonderful den of nub questions

[wanzer]

After seeing the wonderful Bitch Tattoo mod, I decided to take up modding to try and do something similar; Body Writing.

 

Of course, I have have no clue how to make my own from scratch. As a test, I edited one single file from the Bitch Tattoo mod to see if it worked. It did (NSFW):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, that's as far as my own brain and Googling got me: editing one single .DDS file in an existing mod using Paint NET so my very very horrible handwriting shows up ingame.

 

How do I:

 

1. Make this my own seperate .ESP?

 

2. Create this mod using the "workaround" (Tail and Amulet slots) way?

 

3. Using the above method, how do I place the Body Writing in specific spots?

*For example, having it on her vaginal area as opposed to her back

 

 

What I tried so far and didn't work:

 

1. Opened up Paint NET and edited that single .DDS file, deleting the old Layer so it only contains my Layer now

 

2. Saved the edited file to my Desktop as a .DDS file

 

3. Opened up TES Construction Set for the 1st time ever in my life

 

4. Clicked:

Object Window > Right click and select "New" > I type in a random ID > I type in a random Name > Biped Object > Amulet > Female Bipod Model > Add Nif File > It won't let me select the .DDS file I edited so I give up and come here

[gregathit]

Texture files (DDS) are selected in the mesh (nif) file.  You use nifskope to do this.

Nifskope: http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/NifSkope

 

The CS is for mesh files (nif).  You can't do anything with texture files with the CS.

 

You have the right idea, just the wrong tool. 

 

 

Oh, I don't recommend you use paint on your dds files.  Use GIMP instead.  You need to be saving things with the correct compression format or they probably won't work.  You'll also need to be generating mipmaps (another reason to use GIMP).  DTX1 or DTX5 is what you want.

Gimp is free:  http://www.gimp.org/

[wanzer]

Holy Jesus fuck, learning how to just *compile* NifSkope seems to be harder than learning the hexadecimal  in order to Save Hack

[gregathit]

compile? 

 

Just install it.

Use the windows exe version (bottom file): http://sourceforge.net/projects/niftools/files/nifskope/1.1.3/

[Poontank]

A great idea for a first-time project to start modding!

 

Though editing and replacing existing files does work as your example demonstrates, it will only get you so far.

You will need some tools besides the Construction Set and Paint.NET to be able to edit the relevant files.

 

NifSkope: With this you can view and edit the meshes used in the game. And especially save them afterwards.

 

GIMP with .DDS plugin: A free yet professional image manipulation software with a lot of useful functions.

The texture editing plugin needed for the task at hand can be found here.

 

Some instructions in a spoiler to avoid a wall post:

 

 

Basically the 'Bitch Tattoo' mod is making use of so-called 'decals'. They are Nifs that attach to the body in specific locations and are transparent thanks to an alpha property branch. The texture assigned to such a decal has this transparency information stored in an alpha channel. This way the mesh and texture together cause the effect of an invisible 'sticker' that only displays the writing (or symbol) on it.

 

You have used a shoulder decal which can display a texture limited to this area on the body. Looking into the archive of the 'Bitch Tattoo' mod, I found shoulder and buttcheek decals. With these resources it won't be possible to get a tattoo/symbol/writing onto the vaginal area. There are vaginal decals available, unfortunately they are more centered on the crotch area for menstruation effects and other liquids flowing... Here is such a decal:

 

VaginaDecal.rar

 

Since you managed to get this sample texture done with correct alpha channel transparency, I omit the process of the texture edit.

Assigning an edited texture to one of the 'Bitch Tattoo' decal Nifs is done like that:

 

 

 

Click on the decal in the 3D view window.

Expand the branch in the block list to the left and click on the 'Mana flower icon'. Browse to where you have saved your texture.

 

 

So you have mesh and texture resources. Using NifSkope you can assign the textures you make either in GIMP or Paint.NET to the meshes and save these Nifs in a particular location, your own folder within the 'Meshes' folder of your install. To get them into the game, you can either add the mesh you create (by assigning your new textures to an existing Nif and saving this file under a different name) to an existing plugin or you create a new one from scratch.

 

For a brand new esp start up the Construction Set without selecting any file. This will let you create a new plugin by selecting 'File > Save'. Name this esp whatever you like. After saving, immediately open this esp again, this time placing checkmarks next to Oblivion.esm and your own plugin (by double-clicking them), then - with your plugin selected - click on the 'Set As Active File' switch. This will make Oblivion.esm the necessary master file to the esp you created.

 

Or simply open an existing esp, e.g. some armor or clothing mod. The advantage is that in most cases a container is already added by such a mod into which you can put your new items. Either way, creating new items in the CS is done like this:

 

 

 

 

Select any vanilla item of a suitable category, I chose a simple bronze amulet. That way you don't have to worry about inventory icons and a world object/'ground model' as they are already set. A new entry is created by changing the ID in the topmost field. Starting a new ID with triple A's will make this item pop to the top of the list for easier handling. The name you assign to the item is what will be displayed in the in-game inventory screen. For clothing items you don't need to mess around with other parameters, I changed the monetary value for giggles.

 

Select either the amulet or tail slot for your decal or make two items, one for each slot. The rightmost switch at the top is where you can assign your decal mesh for use with a female character (it probably won't fit a male). Click on it and browse to your Nif. The moment you click on the 'OK' button and confirm, a new item is created. Now it only needs to be placed into the game world. A container is the method of choice.

 

To create a new container, edit an existing one by giving it a new ID. I'm reusing old pictures for the process out of laziness:

 

 

 

Select a vanilla container. New ID makes a new entry. You might delete the existing items from the container.

 

 

After confirming and thus creating the new container, go back to your decal item(s). Drag and drop them into your container.

 

 

All that's left is placing the container into the game world so you can go and retrieve your item(s).

Open any cell in the 'Cell View' window, grab your container from the list and drag 'n' drop it into the render window.

 

 

Now just save the mod and you should be able to get your own wearable decal item(s) in the game. If you need more information about the texture edits and the 'wonders of the alpha channel', I can write something on that topic as well. The only problem with that is I'm using Photoshop and am not familiar with GIMP's user interface. But the editing process is the same regardless of the utility used.

 

[woodenstick]

I prefer photoshop for the DDS files, you can even cut stuff from any images you want and paste it onto the body, there was a link to a free copy of version 2 on here sometime ago. Also, only 10g for pussy? o.O

[Poontank]

Yes, Photoshop is the preferable tool of choice indeed. But almost every function of PS should be available in GIMP as well. Making and then applying complete custom skins is more complicated than easy-to-swap decal textures, that's why I fully support Wanzer's approach.

Learning the modding stuff by taking small steps, one at a time.

 

That thread about Photoshop version CS2 'for free' is here: http://www.loverslab.com/topic/15572-photoshop-cs2-legit-and-absolutely-free/

 

As for the pussy pricing: There once was a thread about this topic - for common non-adventuring people without access to a steady supply of Daedric warhammers to sell for a fortune 10 Septim were quite a lot of money. Perhaps Wanzer was going for an equivalent to a 'ten dollar whore'...

 

 

[wanzer]

compile? 

 

Just install it.

Use the windows exe version (bottom file): http://sourceforge.net/projects/niftools/files/nifskope/1.1.3/

 

*face palm* I spent about an hour and a half last night trying to figure how to use Command Prompt to compile it cuz I downloaded the top most file. I had to download and compile something called "Git", which also told me to download something called "QT", and most of all this using the Command Prompt lol

 

 

 

And thank PoonTank for that very explanatory and simplified instructions. My Alpha Transparency during the texture editing process was only correct simply because I was editing the existing tattoo texture which already had correct settings. I simply deleted the Layer from "Bitch Tattoo", created another Layer and scribbled my words on there then saved it as a .DDS with a different name.

 

Of course, when I tried to create the texture .DDS from scratch, it asked me to first set the Transparency settings and DTX1 or DTX5 or whatever that is. So I was like "yeaaaaa, creating it from scratch is gonna be beyond me." And let's not even get into the fact that I didn't realize I needed .NIFs too...

 

 

However I've run into some problems when trying to place the container into the world:

 

1. Errors messages galore as soon as I double click "ICMarketDistrict" (the exterior) as my World Space

 

 

 

 

 

*Clicking "Yes to all" on all of the pop-ups allows me to use the CS again

*I do have animation mods installed, but I only check-marked Oblivion.ESM and my Body Writing.ESP (setting Body Writing as the Active File). So I have no clue why these errors are happening

 

 

2. I'm trying to place the container in front of the "Divine Elegance" shop. Thing is, I can't seem to place it on the ground, it's floating in mid-air! Holding left-click and dragging it up moves it forward, but when I try to drag it down ingame it instead moves backwards (towards me, the screen)

 

 

 

 

 

[GMac2021]

Hold your "Z" key to move items up or down. Also, when you have an item above the ground (your container), hit the "F" key to have it FALL to the ground.

 

You can also hold down the "X" or "Y" key while moving your container for more precise positioning.

 

Edit: Fixed spelling mistake.

[fejeena]

First; Thanks Wanzer, that you like my mod.
Here 2 "vaginalDecal" tattoos. Unfortunately, the tattoos are little above the skin.I haven't found a body which fits properly.

I prefer the whole bodytexture, more space for tattoos.

[wanzer]

Thanks fejeena and garcemac for your help!

 

 

 

So after everything, I finally got my Body Writing into the game. But when I try to equip it, my game crashes :/

 

EDIT: Here's the mod so far as an attachment below this post, if anyone can help me figure out what I did wrong. The item is an Amulet, with the ID "BodyWritingPricing". The container is a Sack with the ID "BodyWritingSack" placed next to the ingame shop "Divine Elegance"

 

 

Here's also 2 pictures of things I don't understand from what has been explained to me:

 

1. 1st is the .NIF file "HGEC back and ass tattoo" from fejeena's "Bitch Tattoo" mod as it is seen on MY computer

 

 

 

 

 

Right off the bat you'll notice that the tattoo itself is not showing up in my preview window

 

 

2. Problem number 2 is this

 

 

 

 

 

Now this is my .NIF. Not only does the texture STILL not show up in the preview window, you'll notice that in the part where I choose a texture, it doesn't just list "textures" as the start directory, it lists my entire god damned hard drive from the root

Body Writing.rar

[fejeena]

1. wrong texture path. Only People how have installed Oblivion e:\games\oblivion can use your mod.

2. wrong texture placement

3. CTD wrong dds Format (use DXT1 or DXT5) and missing normal map.

 

fixed Version

Body Writing fix.7z

 

You know this Tattoo only works for HGEC H Cup,Manga,DMRA. NOT for HGEC A to E Cup ! See my Bitch Mod discription!

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

 

Edit: new Version

Body Writing new.7z

I have the text placed as high that the mesh also works with HGEC A to E Cup

 

 

Edit: The wrong texture path is the reason why you don't see the texture in NifScope.

[Poontank]

Damn, fuck me sideways! One can never be too complete. I should have linked to this page for a list of key command shortcuts.

 

The error messages you can ignore, this is just the CS bitching around.

 

While I was writing this post, Fejeena has already identified the problems, but here are my 2 Cents on it anyway:

 

NifSkope can be configured to look for textures in the 'Data' directory's 'Textures' folder instead of listing the whole folder structure (which can cause problems for other people with a different set-up, important for sharing mods). It's done by selecting 'Render > Settings' from the main menu. In the 'Rendering' tab you can assign the default texture folder the utility is to use. There's also a button 'Auto Detect Game Paths'.

 

The crash upon startup is a simple problem of a missing texture. Look at any folder containing textures and you will see there are twin sets of texture files. Every single texture has a 'twin brother' of the same file name with the added suffix '_n'. This is what is called a 'normal map'.

 

The game needs this file to function correctly. If such a normal map for a file is not present, several things can happen - a Nif simply invisble, or worse, CTD. In your case you need a normal map to go with your file which must be named 'Body Writing Back_n'.

 

The main function of a normal map (besides basically making a texture visible in the game) is adding height information to a texture.

In the case of a flat tattoo without any such height information you could in theory use the original normal map for the shoulder tattoo, copying and renaming it to your file name with '_n' attached.

 

But the alpha channel of this file has the 'Doggy Bitch' writing in it, that's what would cause another weird effect.

 

Here is a correctly-named normal map which you can reuse multiple time by copying and renaming. It has a flat black alpha channel:

 

BodyWritingNormalMap.rar

 

The alpha channel of the main texture (which is called 'colour map') is responsible for transparency effects while a normal map's alpha channel controls a texture's glossiness. In the case of the bitch tattoo the words 'Doggy Bitch' are a solid white, the letters are very shiny because of that. Writing something else onto the texture would make your letters partially glossy where they overlap the letters of 'Doggy Bitch'. That's why I have filled the whole alpha channel all black.

[wanzer]

Thank you fejeena and PoonTank. And thanks fejeena for the updated version without my crappy handwriting and correct currency name XD

 

If anyone else wants to, they can use the Body Writing mod however they see fit.

 

 

And yes, apparently my CTD problem was that I didn't even include a Normal Map, since I didn't even know what it was till PoonTank explained it to me. I fixed the file path problem too.

 

So after using the Normal Map PoonTank kindly provided for me on my original mod before fejeena fixed it, I noticed that ingame only the "10 G" and half of the "5 G" part showed up. This is exactly what fejeena mentioned in her last post about "wrong texture placement".

 

I assume this is easily fixable, but I can't even try to learn how to fix the texture placement since nothing still renders in my Nifskope

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: I see that fejeena edited her post to say that nothing rendered in my Nifskope cuz of wrong file paths. Following PoonTank's instructions everyone can now see my file paths are correct, but nothing still renders :/

[Poontank]

Dunno where I screwed up. Didn't see the second version of the fix.

 

The file from Fejeena's archive is preferable as the writing even has got height information so the letters stand out a bit.

 

Replace my generalized normal map with this file and it should be working perfectly.

[fejeena]

After Fixing the texture path you must load the nif again to see the texture.

And here some Pictures how can you change the placement in NifSkope

or

you can also rotate and scale the selected part.

 

 

If NifScope didn't show the texture, check this

You can Auto Detect you Game Path or Add Folder

 

 

Edit: too Change your dark Background. Click Render-Settings..- Colors

Black text on a black Background you can see bad.

 

Edit: yes Poontank's NormalMap is better.

 

[wanzer]

It still won't render :/

 

I've exited Nifskope and re-opened it by double clicking the .NIF that's in my Data folder. I've exited Nifskope and opened it up again without loading ANY .NIFs, and choosing the "Load" button at the top-left and choosing my .NIF from the Data folder. I've made Nifskope Auto-Detect my file paths too.

[fejeena]

? NifScope shows the correct Oblivion Installation path? ( see post 16, Picture)

And the textures are in the right Oblivion Folder? And the nif has the correct texture path?

If yes, but you don't see the texture, NifScope don't like you.  

[wanzer]

? NifScope shows the correct Oblivion Installation path? ( see post 16, Picture)

And the textures are in the right Oblivion Folder? And the nif has the correct texture path?

If yes, but you don't see the texture, NifScope don't like you.  

 

My Oblivion is installed to:

 

E:/Games/Oblivion

 

 

This is what Nifskope did after I hit the "Auto Detect" button:

 

 

 

 

 

I opened Nifskope by double clicking the .NIF from within the Data folder too, if that matters.

 

My meshes are located in:

E:/Games/Oblivion/Data/meshes/Body Writing

 

My textures are located in:

E:/Games/Oblivion/Data/textures/Body Writing

[fejeena]

Sorry don't know what's wrong. Oblivion installation path ok, texture path ok, it should work.  The mesh/nif  can be in any folder. NifScope can be installed somewhere (may be a different hard drive)

Perhaps try another Version of nifscope, older, before Skyrim compatibility.

Here a old 1.0.22 Version

[wanzer]

Sorry don't know what's wrong. Oblivion installation path ok, texture path ok, it should work.  The mesh/nif  can be in any folder. NifScope can be installed somewhere (may be a different hard drive)

Perhaps try another Version of nifscope, older, before Skyrim compatibility.

Here a old 1.0.22 Version nifskope-1.0.22.8329d39-windows.exe.7z

 

 

Jus tried it, still won't work :/

 

This reaaaaaally sucks considering I've made it this far already ;;

[Nepro]

1. wrong texture path. Only People how have installed Oblivion e:\games\oblivion can use your mod.

wrong right.jpg

2. wrong texture placement

placement.jpg

3. CTD wrong dds Format (use DXT1 or DXT5) and missing normal map.

 

fixed Version

Body Writing fix.7z

 

You know this Tattoo only works for HGEC H Cup,Manga,DMRA. NOT for HGEC A to E Cup ! See my Bitch Mod discription!

ScreenShot142.jpg

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

 

Edit: new Version

Body Writing new.7z

Septim.jpg

I have the text placed as high that the mesh also works with HGEC A to E Cup

 

 

Edit: The wrong texture path is the reason why you don't see the texture in NifScope.

Is this body writing race specific? I used the plugin in the game but I see no whore writing on the back.

[wanzer]

 

Is this body writing race specific? I used the plugin in the game but I see no whore writing on the back.

 

 

Not race specific, it's Body type specific. If you have DMRA it should work.

 

EDIT: Did you use the "new version" posted by fejeena? Cuz the one I posted by myself doesn't work.

 

[Poontank]

The item is an Amulet, with the ID "BodyWritingPricing".

The container is a Sack with the ID "BodyWritingSack" placed next to the ingame shop "Divine Elegance".

 

A wearable item, must be looted from a container in the described location. It will show up on any female character wearing it, regardless of race.

 

Dear Wanzer, please look at your NifSkope rendering settings again! When I check my settings window, it displays the same folders (slightly differently because I'm still using Windows XP) but in a different order. '.\textures' is at the top of my list. You could try to select this folder in the window and move it to the top with the 'Move Up' button. You might also try placing a checkmark at 'Look for alternatives'. There must be a way to make NifSkope display the textures correctly for you.

 

And I'm also still using an old version of NifSkope. Never saw a need to upgrade as I'm not interested in messing around with Skyrim meshes.

[fejeena]

New version2.  Now 4 Tattoos in the bag.

 

Body Writing new2.7z

All Tattoos should work with HGEC A to K Cup, DM, DMRA and Manga

 

The nif Body Writing Back2 has a better texture placement

 All made with Paint.net v 3.5.10 and Nifscope v 1.0.22

 

Poontank ich habe '.\textures' gar nicht und Nifscope funktioniert. (siehe post 16 )