Is this idea possible

[Aki K]

I had an idea for a tattoo mod but it hinges on whether something is technically possible: Making the tattoo have a higher gloss effect than the skin. In my experience the reverse is typically true (some full body tattoos remove skin gloss unless made semi transparent).

 

But I wonder if there's a way then to reverse this effect and make it so that the tattoo is glossier and more reflective than the skin.

 

Anyone know if this is possible?

[Dorabella]

Something like that?

 

Spoiler

 

[Aki K]

7 hours ago, Dorabella said:

Something like that?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Maybe? I can't really tell. I'd need to see different lighting.

 

How did you accomplish that?

Edited March 8 by Aki K

[Dorabella]

15 minutes ago, Aki K said:

How did you accomplish that?

I searched Google for a PNG (preferably in black and white) that matched my idea, transferred it to Photoshop, duplicated the layer, modified the color using blending options (I used the metallic color pantone), and added relief effects, lights, internal/external shadows, and gradients. 

I merged the various steps with the" Merge below" option . This precaution prevents the possible deletion/overwriting of effects.

To see the effects of the colors, I imported the female body skin into Photoshop, superimposed the design, and made any necessary corrections so that it would stand out on the skin without becoming dark. 

 

The advice is to change the base color to a fairly light one. The lighter the background, the brighter the other changes will appear. Also consider that a large part of the work will be carried out by ENB. 

 

To use it dynamically, I installed the Animated overlay mod, which also works on Slavetats.  racemenu Animated Overlay

 

Another example

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Aki K]

On 3/8/2026 at 11:26 AM, Dorabella said:

I searched Google for a PNG (preferably in black and white) that matched my idea, transferred it to Photoshop, duplicated the layer, modified the color using blending options (I used the metallic color pantone), and added relief effects, lights, internal/external shadows, and gradients. 

I merged the various steps with the" Merge below" option . This precaution prevents the possible deletion/overwriting of effects.

To see the effects of the colors, I imported the female body skin into Photoshop, superimposed the design, and made any necessary corrections so that it would stand out on the skin without becoming dark. 

 

The advice is to change the base color to a fairly light one. The lighter the background, the brighter the other changes will appear. Also consider that a large part of the work will be carried out by ENB. 

 

To use it dynamically, I installed the Animated overlay mod, which also works on Slavetats.  racemenu Animated Overlay

 

Another example

 

  Hide contents

 

 

Ah. It's not quite the effect I'm going for. I can tell by the 2nd image.

 

I need it to react to in game light more than the skin does.

[Dorabella]

12 hours ago, Aki K said:

I need it to react to in game light more than the skin does.

as if it were equipped with a cubemap? 

[Aki K]

9 hours ago, Dorabella said:

as if it were equipped with a cubemap? 

Yes. Like if I could give them their own cubemap that ups the gloss effect.

Edited March 11 by Aki K

[Dorabella]

7 hours ago, Aki K said:

Yes. Like if I could give them their own cubemap that ups the gloss effect.

 

After consulting with A.I., he says it is feasible via script.

 

The precompiled script requires:

Skyrim

Racemenu/Nioverride

Slavetats

 

Spoiler

ScriptName ApplyCubemapTattooScript extends Quest  ; o ActiveMagicEffect

Function ApplyCubemap(Actor akActor, int overlaySlot, string cubemapPath = "textures/cubemaps/shiny_tattoo.dds")
    bool isFemale = akActor.GetLeveledActorBase().GetSex() == 1
    string nodeName = "Body [Ovl" + overlaySlot as string + "]"
    
    ; 1. Cubemap (slot 5)
    NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideString(akActor, isFemale, nodeName, 9, 5, cubemapPath, true)
    
    ; 2. Glossiness + Specular Strength (per far vedere bene i riflessi)
    NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideFloat(akActor, isFemale, nodeName, 2, -1, 75.0, true)  ; Glossiness (60-90 recommended)
    NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideFloat(akActor, isFemale, nodeName, 3, -1, 1.6, true)   ; Specular Strength
    
    ; (Optional) Environment Mask if you want to control where the reflection appears
    ; NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideString(akActor, isFemale, nodeName, 9, 2, "textures/effects/envmask_tattoo.dds", true)
EndFunction

 

HD CubeMap Collection

 

Another version

 

Spoiler

ScriptName CubemapTattooEffectScript extends ActiveMagicEffect

; === SETTINGS THAT CAN BE CHANGED IN THE CREATION KIT ===
int Property OverlaySlot = 0 Auto                  ;Tattoo slot number(0-19 di solito)
string Property CubemapPath = "textures/cubemaps/shiny_tattoo.dds" Auto  ; Change with your cubemap
float Property Glossiness = 75.0 Auto              ; 60-90 recommended (higher = sharper reflections)
float Property SpecularStrength = 1.6 Auto         ;Reflex intensity

Event OnEffectStart(Actor akTarget, Actor akCaster)
    if akTarget == None
        return
    endif
    
    bool isFemale = akTarget.GetLeveledActorBase().GetSex() == 1
    string nodeName = "Body [Ovl" + OverlaySlot as string + "]"
    
    ; === APPLY CUBEMAP (slot 5) ===
    NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideString(akTarget, isFemale, nodeName, 9, 5, CubemapPath, true)
    
    ; === SHINE AND REFLECTIONS ===
    NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideFloat(akTarget, isFemale, nodeName, 2, -1, Glossiness, true)      ; Glossiness
    NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideFloat(akTarget, isFemale, nodeName, 3, -1, SpecularStrength, true) ; Specular Strength
    
    Debug.Notification("Cubemap applied to the tattoo slot " + OverlaySlot)
EndEvent

; (Optional) Remove the effect when the spell ends
Event OnEffectFinish(Actor akTarget, Actor akCaster)
    if akTarget == None
        return
    endif
    bool isFemale = akTarget.GetLeveledActorBase().GetSex() == 1
    string nodeName = "Body [Ovl" + OverlaySlot as string + "]"
    
    NiOverride.RemoveNodeOverride(akTarget, isFemale, nodeName, 9, 5)      ; cubemap
    NiOverride.RemoveNodeOverride(akTarget, isFemale, nodeName, 2, -1)     ; gloss
    NiOverride.RemoveNodeOverride(akTarget, isFemale, nodeName, 3, -1)     ; specular
EndEvent

 

How to use it in-game

 

Open the console (~)

Type:

player.addspell CubemapTattooSpell

Then:

player.cast CubemapTattooSpell player

Change the values (slot, cubemap, gloss) directly in the Creation Kit and reload the ESP if you want to test different tattoos.

 

Papyrus Compiler App (Mod Organizer 2 Integration) SE  To compile scripts, I use this tool instead of CK.

 

It is likely that the script, being a draft, may need some corrections.

 

[Dorabella]

drop into Skyrim data\Script  ApplyCubemapTattooScript.pex

drop into Skyrim data\script\source  ApplyCubemapTattooScript.psc

 

These are the first 2 that A.I. compiled, I generated the pex file without any errors

 

Spoiler

 

 

[Aki K]

A little too complicated for me to understand. I know nothing about scripts.

[Dorabella]

4 hours ago, Aki K said:

A little too complicated for me to understand. I know nothing about scripts.

Me neither, according to Ai, without a script, it is not possible to merge a cubemap ( or something similar ) to a texture without nif

 

The alternative is to create a texture with Photoshop/Gimp , create a trigger (ESP,ESM,ESL) , and, inside it generate an Effect Shader . 

For this step, I suggest consulting AI, attaching the PNG of the tattoo you want to create, which will give you the best values needed for the Effect Shader 

[Aki K]

1 hour ago, Dorabella said:

Me neither, according to Ai, without a script, it is not possible to merge a cubemap ( or something similar ) to a texture without nif

 

The alternative is to create a texture with Photoshop/Gimp , create a trigger (ESP,ESM,ESL) , and, inside it generate an Effect Shader . 

For this step, I suggest consulting AI, attaching the PNG of the tattoo you want to create, which will give you the best values needed for the Effect Shader 

I am generally opposed to using AI for various reasons. I'd rather study up and see if i can figure things out.

[Dorabella]

4 hours ago, Aki K said:

I am generally opposed to using AI for various reasons. I'd rather study up and see if i can figure things out.

That's exactly why I use it: to learn. However, it gives you some guidelines to follow. In practice, if used well, it's like going to school. 

[Aki K]

13 hours ago, Dorabella said:

That's exactly why I use it: to learn. However, it gives you some guidelines to follow. In practice, if used well, it's like going to school. 

Fair enough but it's not for me. Still I appreciate the help you provided.

[verydarknut]

Thank you for this thread, it helped me a lot trying to get SCOE look much better. Some things I found out:

- Applying cubemaps through the above script is possibe, I simply added

"NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideString(akActor, isFemale, nodeName, 9, 5, "textures/cubemaps/shinydull_e.dds", true)"

to the script in SCOE that applies the overlay. (and the opposite to the remove function)

- In my test the cubemap made no visual difference, but it's possible I did something wrong

- I tested with "Screen Archer Menu" to affirm that the cubemap was applied, even tried different cubemaps, but all looked the same

- With "Screen Archer Menu" I messed a bit with Glossiness and Specular, found that it's actually Specular that makes overlays reflective. Ended with gloss=1.6, specular=80.0, alpha=8% and no cubemap

 

Take my rambling with a grain of salt, I just trial and error'd my way through this. But notably for your case: Try out high values of specular instead gloss and try out Screen Archer Menu to control NiOverrides directly ingame (no download for Skyrim on Nexus, but the FO4 version has a link to their discord for the Skyrim version: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/66047?tab=description )

[Aki K]

2 hours ago, verydarknut said:

Thank you for this thread, it helped me a lot trying to get SCOE look much better. Some things I found out:

- Applying cubemaps through the above script is possibe, I simply added

"NiOverride.AddNodeOverrideString(akActor, isFemale, nodeName, 9, 5, "textures/cubemaps/shinydull_e.dds", true)"

to the script in SCOE that applies the overlay. (and the opposite to the remove function)

- In my test the cubemap made no visual difference, but it's possible I did something wrong

- I tested with "Screen Archer Menu" to affirm that the cubemap was applied, even tried different cubemaps, but all looked the same

- With "Screen Archer Menu" I messed a bit with Glossiness and Specular, found that it's actually Specular that makes overlays reflective. Ended with gloss=1.6, specular=80.0, alpha=8% and no cubemap

 

Take my rambling with a grain of salt, I just trial and error'd my way through this. But notably for your case: Try out high values of specular instead gloss and try out Screen Archer Menu to control NiOverrides directly ingame (no download for Skyrim on Nexus, but the FO4 version has a link to their discord for the Skyrim version: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/66047?tab=description )

I don't really need to alter anything mid game. Is it possible to alter specular for a specific tattoo texture rather than the whole body?

[verydarknut]

1 hour ago, Aki K said:

I don't really need to alter anything mid game. Is it possible to alter specular for a specific tattoo texture rather than the whole body?

What I was describing was related to specific tattoos/racemenu overlays. Since SCOE applies overlays directly, I couldnt use the menu from Slavetats NG. But if you set up your tattoo as slavetat you can of course use the catmenu. 

I have no idea whether you can set it up out of the game, maybe it's possible to add specular to the slavetat json with the format shown in Slavetat NG's menu. Never tried that though