body development thread

[gooboo]

So the first version of Nifskope that can export Starfield .nifs into files compatible with Blender has been released, and I spent half an hour or so just messing around with the body figuring out what direction I'd like to go in. Not really going to start working on details until a full Nifskope import/export release is finished. 

 

Currently there is no way to export the mesh back into a .nif, so for now this is just experimentation. I figured I'd make a thread so people can follow along my progress whenever the full Nifskope release is available. Other people can post stuff they're working on in this thread too, if they like. 

 

 

 

So far it isn't that much work adjusting the vanilla body into a better shape. In the future I would just need to model the nipples and genitalia. For whatever reason Bethesda decided to make the neck seam way lower on the body- I can already tell that is going to be a pain in the ass to work with. 

 

I think the first thing I'm going to do once I have a body that works is start making better spacesuits for the game, like sexy leotards or something. The whole puffy NASA-punk style just isn't working for me. 

 

Anyways that's it for now, hopefully we'll be seeing new body meshes available for Starfield very soon. 

 

[Kargrin]

Hey gooboo good work.

Btw did you try this method? I though nifskope was working with export

[gooboo]

No that's exporting the .nif into Blender, which I've already done. Currently there is no way to import the modified .gltf file back into a .nif file that can be read by Nifskope.

 

Hexabit said that would be in a future Nifskope update, so that's what I'm waiting on right now.

Edited September 23, 2023 by gooboo

[Silvist]

I've been following hexabits progress across multiple discords.  This was the last dialogue I saw with him talking about an update to nifskope:

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Silvist

[GM1985]

Seeing the basic models, it occurred to me that the seam between the head and body mesh looks similar to the Metahuman meshes in Unreal

[gooboo]

I tried using the .mesh import/export plugin from Nexus. Apparently .nif files don't actually contain the meshes themselves anymore, they only point to the corresponding .mesh file.

 

Decided to try and test out the plugin. It's still in development, but it looks promising. I made a edit to the hip of the body mesh, which showed up in game. Unfortunately there still seems to be issues with properly importing or exporting vertex weights because there is some mesh deformation/explosion on the model in game, as well as noticeable seams in the body. 

 

 

 

So it looks like we're all fairly close to getting the tools we want, but there's still some kinks to be worked out. 

[SIX-SH00T3R]

15 hours ago, gooboo said:

So it looks like we're all fairly close to getting the tools we want, but there's still some kinks to be worked out. 

Don't work out the kinks! ?

[Tex]

This was posted a bit ago, guess it qualifies?
https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/6519

[Teddar]

5 hours ago, Tex said:

This was posted a bit ago, guess it qualifies?
https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/6519

Saw that too. Looks pretty good to me. IF we get vanilla outfits tailored to that body (maybe with some skimpy versions within current limitations) i'll be pretty happy waiting until we get Bodyslide.

[Silvist]

@gooboo - If I'm not mistaken aren't you the OG author of the Hyborian body in Conan Exiles?  If so, I really look forward to any work you do on SF

 

Only issue I'm seeing with the above is there's a neck seam, otherwise the shape is pretty good.  But again everyone has their prefs, which is why bodyslide is kind of a must to please most people.
 

Examples of what I'm referring to:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by Silvist

[gooboo]

Yes, I made the Hyborian Body for Conan Exiles. I plan on making stuff for Starfield as well, I'm just caught up in real life work for most of this month. I'm hoping someone can finish making some import/export tools so I can get to work. 

[Allnarta]

Not sure if anyone would be interested. or by "body" anyone means only boobs, but I do work on port of Robert's body to Starfield.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Allnarta]

So, body is in game now and is in quite playable state (solving 4vg limit is true blessing).

 

Now I'm stuck with textures normal map seams - something really shady going on here, as vanilla body normal maps also have horrendous seams. I do not understand yet what's happening, but I suspect that it's because existing tools just cannot properly open normal map image data (seems that it's some king of wrong channels distribution/confusion), so until we get cimplete tools to properly open game normal maps, it's unlikely to be fixed.

 

 

 

[gooboo]

How did you export the mesh into the game? Whenever I tried doing that I got a bunch of weighting errors. 

[Allnarta]

With blender bridge addon.

[Allnarta]

Robert S was released on Nexusmods, if somepne's interested.

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/6975/

[gooboo]

On 11/17/2023 at 5:31 PM, Allnarta said:

With blender bridge addon.

Okay, finally have some time to work on this. What settings did you use for the bridge addon? When I tried using it I got the messed up vertex weights I depicted earlier. Your body is all smooth with no errors.

[gooboo]

Arright, I figured out what was causing my problems with exploding meshes. Just a real quick test job here making her butt bigger. 

 

 

Now time to start working on the final body. Maybe I'll have it done by Christmas? Nice little gift for everyone...

[vallixas]

The detail on this one is amazing. 

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/8020/?tab=description

[Allnarta]

Maybe someone is interested.

 

Robert S SF updated to V 1.00:

 

-Erected mesh version temporarily removed - it is because erection is now custom morph and will be implemented to a game after Chargen Menu update.
-Body is weighted to all the bones it originally intended to be: pecs, belly and private parts (balls, penis etc.).
-Slight improvement for weighting in armpits area.
-Bouncing physics based on native game Havok engine.
-Seams are eliminated on mesh level completely.

Get it:

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/6975