squid889 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Hello everyone, there's something that bothers me about follower mods that I'd like to see an explanation for. STANDALONE BODIES! Seriously, what's the point? You make a follower mod for body X. Then people who use body Y either have to know their way around the game directory structure or deal with armors clashing with body types if they try reequipping that follower with other armor for body Y. It's a huge inconvenience to have 50 different bodies strewn about your game's data directory because everyone's follower is speshul, especially when trying to keep track of which body is which when you're changing them. You also get a much more complex download structure, i.e. 10 different files, each 10+ MB, for different body types. One download to rule them all is much simpler and allows for any individual to get a follower that fits into the game as well as any default follower. It's less confusing for people, too, because then they don't have to bother with ensuring compatibility with their favorite body. What became so wrong with allowing people who like using different bodies to do so? Does it matter so much if, in someone else's game, a character's body looks different? Is the design of a character defined by the body type? I didn't think so, but maybe I'm wrong. Just to be clear, I'm not trying to insult anyone, I'd just like to understand the rationale behind this very popular design idea in comparison to the default game design idea of everyone using the same basic body.
Thulas Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 You probably are refering to standalone followers. And the problem with these are that they have to use a unique race that is just for them in order to remain a high quality of textures, meshes and unique features. It is less an act of forcing you to use the follower with a certain body but more a technical backdraft one has to deal with.
winny257 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 it is quite simple to explain the work modder for the body to use them yourself. why they should work for a different body types?for me it is not a problem is "to replace" the body and texture. it is not a labor-intensive as well.
Silver Wolf Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Put it simple: to make them look, act and have the right stuff exactly like how they're intended to be without depending on the current mods users have. Why ? Because there are no two version of skyrim which modded exactly the same way. //sorry for my poor English
winny257 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 the only thing I am disappointed is the thing with the outfits. it is a tedious thing to get them in the right body type if at all.
Draconia Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Maybe it has more to do with "liking" the way the follower looks the way it is posted and not having to download seperate body files. also would be easier if all armor mods could be ajusted to fit all body types in game. I guess that would be using the bodyslider to fit all armor?
Silver Wolf Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 That's why I add at least one basic outfit for my follower "Abigail - the lusty imperial maid" if you're interested http://www.loverslab.com/topic/34746-abigail-the-lusty-imperial-maid/
Thulas Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Well, a few decent follower mods solve that problem rather easily: Along with the separate path for the mesh they also got the armor for the bodytype included. They are really rare though because most who release follower mods don't care much for what they are wearing. Hell..they probably don't care for the character itself in the slightest way in the first place. And that is a sad thing.
SleepyJim Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Skin textures is another consideration. Most skin textures only work with certain types of body. If someone makes a follower that uses UNP-based textures and doesn't include a UNP-based body, then a CBBE user downloads the follower, those textures are going to look awful. You could argue then, why bother with the textures either? That's down to personal choice, but different textures and bodies can completely transform a character. I've given my favourite character to a friend as a basic, non-standalone follower. In her game, she looked absolutely bloody dreadful, because she uses different mods: ENB, lighting, skin textures, body type, eyes etc. They aren't bad mods, by any means - her game looks great - but they completely change the look of my character, who was designed with my mod set-up and looked awful with hers. It was so bad I made the effort to learn how to make her standalone, and now she looks almost identical in her game as she does in mine, and we're both happy with her. Only the ENB and lighting makes her look a little different. To have my character look decent in my friend's game with her body/skin etc, I'd have to install all those mods and redesign the character pretty much from scratch.
Silver Wolf Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Yeah, I never like the idea of throwing my girls naked in the middle of a crowded tavern. ABSOLUTELY. NOT !
Guest Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I had to leave before I got a chance to reply to this but the posters above me are right on the money. Thankfully, we've been graced with a new mod that allows users to change to bodies of mine and others' follower mods to any body they want with ease, so we no longer have to deal with supporting other bodies. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40280/? There may be seams with certain bodies, but that can easily be rectified by adding a proper texture to the Bodytypes texture folder.
squid889 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Posted July 30, 2014 Okay, I accept this rationale. Thanks for the clarifications.
winny257 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Maybe it has more to do with "liking" the way the follower looks the way it is posted and not having to download seperate body files. also would be easier if all armor mods could be ajusted to fit all body types in game. I guess that would be using the bodyslider to fit all armor? tja that does not work for all body types, I use the CHSBHCv2. this is not for body slide, suitable. I have to wait to be done conversions for this body.
afz53fu Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I actually like having my followers with different body shapes the variation makes it more enjoyable. I'm happy so long as the mod authors provide at least one armor that I can improve as the game progresses.
yatol Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 You also get a much more complex download structure, i.e. 10 different files, each 10+ MB, for different body types. One download to rule them all is much simpler and allows for any individual to get a follower that fits into the game as well as any default follower. It's less confusing for people, too, because then they don't have to bother with ensuring compatibility with their favorite body. most gave their followers the same they are using for npc the best would be nothing, no body mesh and texture for followers and an optional esp with custom files path for those that want to customise them
winny257 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I had to leave before I got a chance to reply to this but the posters above me are right on the money. Thankfully, we've been graced with a new mod that allows users to change to bodies of mine and others' follower mods to any body they want with ease, so we no longer have to deal with supporting other bodies. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40280/? There may be seams with certain bodies, but that can easily be rectified by adding a proper texture to the Bodytypes texture folder. good suggestion, but this mod is not suitable for all people! what about the people, not the English language powerful? are also needed for this mod, even more mods that are also in English.
gvman3670 Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I just open then up and change the bodies, skeletons and textures. I use MO so I change stuff in the 'mods' folder, which allows me to undo things very easily.
Setekh Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 If you're worried about custom bodies for followers taking up an extra 10MB then modding Skyrim might not be for you...
zonzai Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 There is no "good" reason for them to use their own meshes or textures. There is no "good" reason for them to be their own race either. And yes, I am a modder. I have made followers. It is quite easy to make them using non-unique bodies.
Guest Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 I had to leave before I got a chance to reply to this but the posters above me are right on the money. Thankfully, we've been graced with a new mod that allows users to change to bodies of mine and others' follower mods to any body they want with ease, so we no longer have to deal with supporting other bodies. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/40280/? There may be seams with certain bodies, but that can easily be rectified by adding a proper texture to the Bodytypes texture folder. good suggestion, but this mod is not suitable for all people! what about the people, not the English language powerful? are also needed for this mod, even more mods that are also in English. Yeah, more mods need translation support. The community needs more translators to chip in. They don't even need to know how to mod.
yatol Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 If you're worried about custom bodies for followers taking up an extra 10MB then modding Skyrim might not be for you... you should be worried about your fps or ctd if you have 5 followers with eihei texture, you don't need 150 mo but 750mo i only have her and she don't need much if i gave her unp, there's probably a npc nearby, textures are already load if i gave her demonica, my char is nearby, textures are already load
zzz72w3r Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 ^ this is the reason that I only use follower mods that of exceptional quality like Selene Kate or others at similar level. It's not the best use of VRAM If the point is just dropping a bunch naked characters into the game. There are plenty of eye candy mods that use default body and texture.
winny257 Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 most followers mods that's just a nice head and... that's all just give the head to an npc^^ wow Aela as an elf, where there is this.
Silver Wolf Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 So...... Without standalone: people complain about the followers not look as good as the author's and call it scam,fake, half-ass mod and "they should've made it better !" With standalone: they complain about extra few mb for the follower, complain about standalone content, about how the body not match their game, the extra texture vram load.. complain about this, complain about that, complain about everything, people sure love complaining... Well, I should quit modding...
winny257 Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 So...... Without standalone: people complain about the followers not look as good as the author's and call it scam,fake, half-ass mod and "they should've made it better !" With standalone: they complain about extra few mb for the follower, complain about standalone content, about how the body not match their game, the extra texture vram load.. complain about this, complain about that, complain about everything, people sure love complaining... Well, I should quit modding... The problem is, no one is satisfied, that would be so, the nose is too big, the ass is too small, and so on. but there are also many people who are grateful for the hard work. you should not lose on modding the joy because of a few stupid heads. just ignore these discontented people.
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