Changing NPC hairstyles questions... (TES5edit, .esp to .esm related)

[Sarathis]

Hey, all, have some questions for the CK / TES5edit gurus of the board.

 

I decided to try changing some of the hairstyles of the NPCs around in my game in a manner similar to the ApachiiSkyHair NPC Overhaul mod but more in depth since I don't like a lot of the mod author's choices and I wanted more styles to choose from. In addition to Apachii I wanted to use a lot of the styles from SG 268. In my first attempt the changes wouldn't be accepted because, according to TES5edit, SGHairPackAIO.esp wasn't a recognized Master. So I changed the header to toggle on ESM then changed the file extension manually, reloaded up CK, change the hairstyle, exported the face and loaded the mod up in Skyrim. Went in game and it worked, so that's cool. Which brings me to question 1...

 

1. Once I've finished giving all the NPCs new hairstyles will I be able to change SGHairPackAIO.esm back into an .esp or will that screw up my new Hairstyle mod because SGHairPackAIO.esm was one of its Masters? If so, is it OK to leave it as a .esm?

 

 

So, my second issue... A lot of the NPCs in CK have brightly colored foreheads. I found out when I was attempting to fix a problem I had with the Decent Women mod that this was due to a number of different causes, usually the eyeliner or facial markings. Turning down the interpolation value in CK usually fixed it but not always. Unfortunately, when you export the faces with ctrl+F4 the brightly colored forehead gets exported as well. But if you DON'T export the faces they appear a muddy brown in game when the new Hairstyles mod is loaded up. So, question 2...

 

2. Is there a way to get this Hairstyles mod working correctly without exporting the faces? I'd prefer not to go into every individual character and play around with their tints to get it to go away if possible. Changing their hairstyles alone will take an age.

 

 

Thanks in advance for anyone who has any insight.

 

 

 

EDIT 1: OK, so, I was playing around with the whole exported face / bright forehead thing. When you export faces in CK using Mod Organizer it places the data inside the Overwrite >> Textures >> Actors >> Characters >> FaceGenData >> FaceTint >> Skyrim.esm directory. By going into this directory and simply removing the exported .dds and .tga files the characters seemed to display correctly. No bright forehead and the muddy brown faces issue was gone. So... problem solved? I'll do some more testing to make sure but it seems like an easy fix.

 

Here's some screenshots of Camilla and Ysolda to show my progress. I'm trying to choose hairstyles that are in the same spirit as their default ones and fit their personalities while still looking better. So far I like the changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sarathis]

So, my Hairstyles mod is progressing we-... er, I mean, me hairstyles be doin' fine, matey! I fergot what day it be.

 

Anyway, I changed all the styles that I wanted in CK as far as I know. I'll have ta check in-game ta see iffen I missed any. Exported all the faces just fine, so all I have ta do is check the mod out in TES5edit ta see iffen it plays well with all me other mods, change around some tint layers an' whatnot, an' I'll be good ta go. So it be almost time ta test 'er out in-game an' I still don't know tha answer ta me original question:

 

Will changin' SGHairPackAIO.esm back ta a .esp screw over me mod since it be a master? Me first instinct says, "yes it will," so me follow-up question would be, would leavin' SGHairPackAIO an .esm be a bad thing? In me initial tests just inside Whiterun it seems ta be workin' fine.

 

Here be another odd thing... I was able ta alter any NPC just fine in CK except Olfina Gray-mane. Any time I tried ta Edit her CK froze. I was able ta Preview 'er and such but Editin' were impossible. Anyone come across this problem?

 

At any rate, here be some more previews:

 

Sigrid: (First time I exported her face she displayed with Astrid's burnt up texture fer some reason. Were disturbin', I tell ya.)

 

 

 

 

 

Abelone: NSFW! (She wears a hat, so I needed ta take off all 'er clothes to check her hair. Logic!)

 

 

 

 

 

Saadia:

 

 

 

 

 

Angi:

 

 

 

 

 

Astrid: NSFW! (Same deal, can't see the hair with all those pesky clothes in tha way.)

 

 

 

 

 

Delphine: (Smaller picture because she kept tryin' ta run away. Who knew iffen ya talk ta 'er outside o' the Inn she doesn't like ya?)