Body mods/textures + BBP and animations

[JayTongue]

Hey, so far I have the latest version of Nexus Mod Manager, BOSS, SKSE, and TES5EDIT. And I have installed some basic stuff like SkyUI, RaceMenu, iHUD etc. but now I want to install a nice body mod that is compatible with BBP and get a nice texture for that body.

 

Recently I installed CHSBHC - BBP and in the installer I read something about a skeleton but didn't pay much attention to that. I just clicked the checkmark to put it in with the mod, everything was fine with the weight slider and breast physics but not sure if there was supposed to be butt physics. I got CBBE with the BodySlide tool and used that together to create the body shape I wanted with BBP working so I understand that much.

 

For whatever reason I uninstalled those mods, tried out some other body mods but when I went to reinstall CHSBHC it didn't give me the installer menu (breast physics worked fine no issues there). So does that mean I still have the skeleton somewhere in my Skyrim folder and have to uninstall it manually, despite starting over with a fresh Skyrim installation?

 

Since then I read around the forums about XP32's Skeleton but in the requirements it says it needs the mod Realistic Ragdolls and Force, I guess I need that first then XPMS. I learned about FNIS, animations that need FNIS, XPMS and PCEA (PC Exclusive Animation Path) but then I need a Custom Race to use PCEA and at this point I was overwhelmed with info and didn't want to make any mistakes so I have come here for help and advice.

 

Things I want to find out and accomplish:

• In what order should I install these mods (XPMS, CHSBHC, FNIS, CBBE + BodySlide CB++, XP32 New Animation Package, Female Animation Pack, PCEA)

• Will I not be able to use the latest version of PCEA because I don't have Dawnguard and Dragonborn?

• Should I install a nice face mod before or after I deal with the body mods, or does that not matter?

• Is the Custom Races by d_rail mod easy to setup for PCEA to use with all the body mods, animations and face textures I want applied to my character if I don't want to use any actual custom races?

• Lith Face Enhancement or Better Females Natural Edition, will LiFE change the face of all female NPCs, and can I use both mods without conflicts? Are there any other face mods that you'd recommend if not these two?

• Is it relatively easy to install some of these animations to the right folders manually?

• Are there any specific folders I should absolutely make backups of before diving into all of this?

[LaEspada]

1. Install your body mods first, then animations, then skeletons.

2. I don't recommend using PCEA because it debunks some mods in weird ways. (or at least I don't use it)

3. I actually recommend installing body textures after your bodies so you can get what you what.

4. Look at #2. but for custom races mods I'd recommend Ningheim race. The full-featured and easy to install custom race by Seren.

5. Body textures affect all NPC's unless you use a custom race(which uses it's own textures)

6. Most of them are really easy to install, just use Nexus Mod Manager and they will install into their respective directory.

7. If you really want a backup. I'd just recommend using Steam's own backup system they have in their program in which you can backup your vanilla(without any modifications just the way it comes in plastic wrap). I'm assuming you actually bought the game... "suspicious stare....stare.....stare.....stare....."

 

For animation mods. I'd start here.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/searchresults/?src_cat=51

[JayTongue]

1. Install your body mods first, then animations, then skeletons.

2. I don't recommend using PCEA because it debunks some mods in weird ways. (or at least I don't use it)

3. I actually recommend installing body textures after your bodies so you can get what you what.

4. Look at #2. but for custom races mods I'd recommend Ningheim race. The full-featured and easy to install custom race by Seren.

5. Body textures affect all NPC's unless you use a custom race(which uses it's own textures)

6. Most of them are really easy to install, just use Nexus Mod Manager and they will install into their respective directory.

7. If you really want a backup. I'd just recommend using Steam's own backup system they have in their program in which you can backup your vanilla(without any modifications just the way it comes in plastic wrap). I'm assuming you actually bought the game... "suspicious stare....stare.....stare.....stare....."

 

For animation mods. I'd start here.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/searchresults/?src_cat=51

 

I did actually buy the game so don't worry, I'm glad I got a reply so quickly because it has put me at ease. Now I feel more confident about doing all this mod stuff. Hopefully I can follow along well without getting confused about all of this. Would it be an issue because some animation mods state it would play for males despite it being for females such as the Female Animation Pack? http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/29408//?

 

The Ningheim Race mod does look nice though so I may look into that.

 

[JayTongue]

If anyone has more suggestions then by all means contribute, it'd help me out and maybe even some other people as well.

[LaEspada]

You could always just the FNIS gender animation patch that would separate the different male and female animations.

 

 

P.S.

I love your avatar from Kill Me Baby such a fun anime to watch! Sonya-chan!! and Yasuna-chan!

[JayTongue]

I will have to look into that animation patch then when I get to downloading everything, and I've had that image saved for a while but I didn't watch the anime yet, someday I shall.

 

And what of the whole thing with CHSBHC mod, where I mentioned how I removed everything, started over with a fresh installation of Skyrim, and it didn't give me the installer menu to select the skeleton where I reinstalled the mod but everything was fine with the breast physics. Will that be a problem when I download the other skeleton from xp32?

[Bootaka]

Custom Races works fine with PCEA, but I 2nd the Ninghiem unless you want ECE. PCEA does have issues with some custom animation mods, none of vanilla replacers that I'm aware of. Stuff like SexLabs and that weird Tentacle thing, mostly it all still works just depends on which skeleton rigging you're running. Don't forget FNIS!

 

Every few days, or when I start installing/changing stuffs, I copy Steamapps/Skyrim and My Docs/Games/Skyrim onto a storage drive. If i break something, I delete it and replace it with a back up! I end up keeping them for around 2 months.

[JayTongue]

Alright I will keep that in mind, and FNIS does seem to be the vital component here, I have seen some tutorials on it so I will follow that. I think I even saw one on this site as a sticky. I just hope I don't run into any issues but I will just go with the order I was told by LaEspada.

[LaEspada]

FNIS should be on everyone's installation because it is such a core and essential mod for many things. It also fixes a weird bug with the character's arm (shield blocking animation)

It doesn't break the game and it's extremely useful.

[JayTongue]

I see in the guide I would install FNIS then go and download the animations I want + install them and run that generator tool to patch all of those. After all of that do I download the skeleton or should it go body + texture and face mods > fnis > animation mods I want to install > skeleton > fnis generator.

 

I just want to be 200% sure.

[LaEspada]

I see in the guide I would install FNIS then go and download the animations I want + install them and run that generator tool to patch all of those. After all of that do I download the skeleton or should it go body + texture and face mods > fnis > animation mods I want to install > skeleton > fnis generator.

 

I just want to be 200% sure.

 

In theory it doesn't really matter if you know exactly what files are going into the directory (experience usually tells you this) but for a newbie modder.

 

I would go like this with a clean installation.

 

body meshes > body textures > FNIS > animations > skeleton > FNIS generator > to any other mods you want immersive, game-play, other in-game textures, etc.

here's a good list of skyrim GEMS. Or mods that really enhance game-play all listed in neat, organized, easy to access categories.

http://skyrimgems.com/

[JayTongue]

Thanks, I have a whole word document full of mods I want to download and I got most of them from various Skyrim mod series on YouTube and that GEMS page. Both have been helpful in showing me that there's way to many nice mods out there.

[dTd]

Might I suggest using xp32 animation pack installer, it comes with xpms skeleton and a nice set of BBP enabled animations with a custom installer using NMM.

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/29622//?

 

Here is how I generally install from a clean skyrim

 

FINIS Core Always Necessary:  I don't use the new idle spells but they do work as I've tried them

body replacement model : could be cbbe or unp but lately it is Dream Girl BBP

body and face textures: Some come with Dream Girl and there are some replacements starting with SG female replacer

Realistic Rag-dolls and Force: I use the medium variant but you can decide which you like

xp32 animation pack: This installer contains pcae but you can deselect it, it also contains all kinds of animations with selectable options and includes xpms skeleton

xpms v 1.81: This is a new skeleton which has the daggers and weapons in the conventional slots

Castanistic or High Elf style Idles: I install the high elf v5 idle, I feel it's the best http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/15143//?

Now just run GenerateFNISforUsers and select: GENDER Specific Animations, Skeleton Arm Fix, xp32 New Animations for Running with Bow, and

xp32's New Animation for 1H Weapon and you're done.

 

No custom race and female and males will have different nice animations and the female will be BBP enabled. Now you just need some BBP enabled armor and clothing replacements that fit your new body

[JayTongue]

Alright some extra info that looks quite helpful. Thanks to you as well, I especially like that idle replacer for females. Now as an example I clicked on the Dream Girl link you provided and one of the images had all of this information.

 

 

http://static1.nexusmods.com/110/mods/110/images/41443-1-1378103654.jpg

 

 

I believe that most body mods are just meshes (with my somewhat okay knowledge), then there are textures you can download to put "over" the body, but what are Normals/Specular like the Barbarian one in the picture? And are there many others I can look into that can be put over the body and texture mods that I get?

 

Is it simply download body mod, download the texture for the body and then download another mod that will go over the texture which would be the Normal/Specular?

[psammeticus]

It's pretty much that simple. The basic element of body mods will be the mesh (.nif) for the structure. Most of the packages will also contain the textures and sometimes a skeleton. The textures (skin, as you say) break out into the main color image (.dds), the normal map for the definition (msn.dds), and the specular for the reflective/shiny part (s.dds). The skeleton is the .nif that is used to animate the whole thing. (Somebody please correct me if I am wrong or vague in any of this).

 

The trick is making sure that you match up textures designed for the body model.

 

I've been trying out different combinations of bodies and textures lately so I've taken to making little packs for trial and error and installing them with wrye.

[JayTongue]

I figured that out recently about the diffuse, normalmaps, and specular when it comes to textures from this other topic http://www.loverslab.com/topic/21438-tipstutorial-making-beautiful-female-characters/ so it is worth checking out if you haven't already done so. I ended up installing the textures via NMM and then overwriting whichever files I didn't want in favor of the other mod.

[psammeticus]

Sounds good. For the longest time I was happy with all the options that CBBE had but a few months ago I decided to go crazy or something. I'll probably go back to CBBE once the new version is out, but for now I'm fairly content with 7B. Lady Body is pretty cool too if you don't mind butchering a bunch of other mods to make it work right.

[JayTongue]

CBBE all the way for me, went with CBBE, got BBP working with it and tinkered with BodySlide CB ++ to get the body I wanted. Too many options in that program but I was considering 7B because it looks great.