Does Race Compatibility (SKSE) Force A Follower's Body Mesh To Default

[ZivZulander]

I want to use some of the followers from here such as FutaNemisol's Dross. But the body mesh, such as femalebody_1.nif that is loaded is the default for the rest of the NPCs. Even if I change the meshes in Bodyslide and move them to the proper location (ie. data/meshes/Dross) they are never picked up. I know to build them properly and generate the body morphs. This is not a problem on some followers from Nexus. Using xEdit, the mesh should be the one listed in the .esp (data/meshes/Dross).  I see this problem with some followers but not others. The only thing I can figure that is overriding the body mesh is Race Compatibility SKSE.

 

In the .esp of those followers that fail, the RNAM - Race field is DefaultRace "Default Race" [RACE:00000019]

In those followers where the mesh is properly selected, the field is a custom race such as 0_Audrey_ImperialRaceCustom "Imperial" [RACE:FE001809]

 

So the question, can this be fixed using the .json files of Race Compatibility (SKSE) or can it be fixed by changing the RNAM field in Creation Kit? I tried changing the field to "Nord" in xEdit, but that still didn't work. I can't figure out the RCS json file yet.

 

Basically, what is overriding the mesh selection for a follower? I pick Dross as an example, but if I can fix that one, I can figure out how to fix the others.

[Dorabella]

6 hours ago, ZivZulander said:

In the .esp of those followers that fail,

The condition is determined by the weight of the follower. There are two possible solutions.

 

1) ESP modification

Expand the menu until you find NON-PLAYER_CHARACTER(Actors) , In the right panel, find the weight and change it to 100.

 

weight 0-50 = femalebody_0

weight 50-100 = femalebody_1

 

2) Bodyslide

Since you already know how to do it, reshape the body/hands/feet and, before building it, transfer the weight. Repeat the step for your hands and feet as well.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[traison]

9 hours ago, ZivZulander said:

But the body mesh, such as femalebody_1.nif that is loaded is the default...

 

How did you determine this? I'm assuming you have distinctive enough features that you'd be able to tell the difference in both the _0 and _1 meshes?

 

More Informative Console can show you which ARMO and ARMA records are used, and which mesh is assigned to the current ARMA record.

 

9 hours ago, ZivZulander said:

The only thing I can figure that is overriding the body mesh is Race Compatibility SKSE.

 

I'm not familiar with this mod, but I'm going to assume it's a dll version of the Race Compatibility mod. All this mod does is make it possible for other mods (and presumably the base game) to react to custom races as if they were, for example, a base game Nord or Argonian.

 

I suppose it would be possible that this mod does its race swap in such a way that it affects which ARMA record is loaded for the naked body armor. You may actually have better luck with the non-dll version, as it wouldn't be capable of doing such things.

 

2 hours ago, Dorabella said:

In the right panel, find the weight and change it to 100.

 

Doing this will cause a neck seam. I'd recommend you use the setnpcweight console command to test 100 weight first to confirm the problem. If weight is indeed the issue then, yes, change this in the NPC_ record of your follower. After that you need to rebuild the facegendata, which requires you to have all the same mods as the original author did. If the face is a custom sculpt then you may need a tool like Blender.

Edited October 2, 2025 by traison

[Dorabella]

5 minutes ago, traison said:

Doing this will cause a neck seam.

There is a high probability that it will happen. 

9 hours ago, ZivZulander said:

The only thing I can figure that is overriding the body mesh is Race Compatibility SKSE.

I doubt that is the cause of the problem.

[ZivZulander]

Thanks for replying. I'll keep loking around, and explain more when I get home, but let me say:

 

I can see it is picking the wrong mesh by using Nifskope on the files in the active mod directory. The ones for the NPC are what they should be. And the esp points to those files specifically. So it's not a weight issue.

 

Im using Nolvus v6. This problem doesn't happen with Nolvus v5. Race Comp. shouldn't cause a problem, but across multiple follower mods, those with RNAM field set to Default Race are the only ones with problems. 

[Dorabella]

11 minutes ago, ZivZulander said:

RNAM field set to Default Race are the only ones with problems. 

2 Possible solutions.

1) In RNAM , Replace the Default race with the one indicated by the modder. 

2) Remove RNAM