Best looking NPC overhaul

[Herrmannesque]

Ok, looks like I was able to resolve my problem by moving the esp for NPC85 towards the end of my load order, past the last follower mod I had listed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Herrmannesque]

I've got a question... Does sidearmf93's Dawnguard mod also change Serana's appearance?

 

I'm thinking of putting it into my load order but I'm very fond of Seranaholic...

[BasHanada]

I'm using Seranaholic and I'm fine

[Guest]

Hey guys, great finds on the SOG and the enemy replacer.  A couple questions though; I managed the downloads on the other SIDEARM files but cannot seem to find the DL prompt for the forsworn (the little green arrow box is missing below the hourglass link to his PDF showcase of his mods which is where the prompt normally is) secondly on the extraction Im struggling to extract these all, the only one I have managed to open thus far is Thalmor and only the 1st of the 2 part file.  I have yet to try it out in the game but the others (bandits/dawnguard) refuse to comply starting with the .1 format.  Civil War opens up without a problem but it was a single file extract. Any suggestions? 

 

EDIT:  NVM about the forsworn, I didnt pay attention to the googledrive link and have thus added that without incident. Still attempting the bandits and dawnguard extract to no avail.

[Herrmannesque]

Hey guys, great finds on the SOG and the enemy replacer.  A couple questions though; I managed the downloads on the other SIDEARM files but cannot seem to find the DL prompt for the forsworn (the little green arrow box is missing below the hourglass link to his PDF showcase of his mods which is where the prompt normally is) secondly on the extraction Im struggling to extract these all, the only one I have managed to open thus far is Thalmor and only the 1st of the 2 part file.  I have yet to try it out in the game but the others (bandits/dawnguard) refuse to comply starting with the .1 format.  Civil War opens up without a problem but it was a single file extract. Any suggestions? 

 

EDIT:  NVM about the forsworn, I didnt pay attention to the googledrive link and have thus added that without incident. Still attempting the bandits and dawnguard extract to no avail.

 

Wow, I missed the Googledrive link... I went back to get it.

 

What you want to do is open up the first archive in the set, the one that starts with 01. Open up your WinRar, WinZIp or other program and extract that archive on its own to a folder. It should automatically continue to extract the other archives in the set into that folder. I had the same problem myself but got help in this thread.

[Guest]

 

Hey guys, great finds on the SOG and the enemy replacer.  A couple questions though; I managed the downloads on the other SIDEARM files but cannot seem to find the DL prompt for the forsworn (the little green arrow box is missing below the hourglass link to his PDF showcase of his mods which is where the prompt normally is) secondly on the extraction Im struggling to extract these all, the only one I have managed to open thus far is Thalmor and only the 1st of the 2 part file.  I have yet to try it out in the game but the others (bandits/dawnguard) refuse to comply starting with the .1 format.  Civil War opens up without a problem but it was a single file extract. Any suggestions? 

 

EDIT:  NVM about the forsworn, I didnt pay attention to the googledrive link and have thus added that without incident. Still attempting the bandits and dawnguard extract to no avail.

 

Wow, I missed the Googledrive link... I went back to get it.

 

What you want to do is open up the first archive in the set, the one that starts with 01. Open up your WinRar, WinZIp or other program and extract that archive on its own to a folder. It should automatically continue to extract the other archives in the set into that folder. I had the same problem myself but got help in this thread.

 

That is where the problem arises;

  1.  I unzip the first component fine and set it into the data directory

  2.  Trying to unzip the follow up components says they are not able to be read, whether changing read type (I use 7zip)

So should I just try to unzip into the download folder they sit in and see if that works to adjust the file read type?

[Herrmannesque]

Try putting all the components into one folder. Then try to extract the contents of the first archive into the folder and see what happens. Chances are, you may have to do some reorganizing afterwards and create your own new archive which you can then either manually copy into the Data folder or use a mod manager to install.

[Guest]

I wish I understood file structure better but here goes nothing.  Thanks for the advice Sulaco.

[Guest]

ARGH still getting the error messages.  Only the 1st archive opens up (using bandit example) the as well as the loose file folder at the end of the list, the remaining 4 archives wont budge.  When they say "combine them" how do you do that in 7zip?  I think that is where my train of thought is missing, I need to "combine" all the archives into a single so that the remaining can be unlocked, I just lack the method to accomplish that.

[Herrmannesque]

When you use 7Zip to extract that first archive, it's going to automatically open up the other ones and put them into one folder. You'll know if this has occurred just by looking at the file size of the folder that has been created.

 

 

 

 

I know it might look like nothing has happened but just look at the file size of the folder that gets created from the extraction. 

 

If you go back to page 4 of this thread, you'll see I went through this myself a few days ago.

 

I even took a picture you can use for reference of the archives I created after I extracted everything. Those archives are uncompressed so you can use the file sizes as a reference.

 

After that has happened, you should use 7Zip to create a new archive for this folder. The folder structure should match what you would expect to find in the Data folder.

 

So go into that newly created folder that came from the 01 archive, create a Data folder.

 

Then drill down into this folder (not the Data folder you just created) and look for the assets you would expect to find (Meshes, Textures, esp) and move those files into this Data folder you just created.

 

Now you can use 7zip to create an archive from that Data folder for use with a mod manager to install.

 

A few of these archives, after they are extracted, are going to have some extra folders where you need to go in and copy the meshes, textures or esp and paste them into the main folder. I can't remember which ones I had to do this for... but that should be done before you make a new archive.

 

 

 

 

Or... you can just manually copy Meshes, Textures, esp, etc. into your Skyrim Data folder. I don't recommend doing that in case if you ever have to uninstall this stuff. It's better to create an archive and install with a mod manager.

 

[Guest]

 

 

 

When you use 7Zip to extract that first archive, it's going to automatically open up the other ones and put them into one folder. You'll know if this has occurred just by looking at the file size of the folder that has been created.

 

I know it might look like nothing has happened but just look at the file size of the folder that gets created from the extraction. 

 

If you go back to page 4 of this thread, you'll see I went through this myself a few days ago.

 

I even took a picture you can use for reference of the archives I created after I extracted everything. Those archives are uncompressed so you can use the file sizes as a reference.

 

After that has happened, you should use 7Zip to create a new archive for this folder. The folder structure should match what you would expect to find in the Data folder.

 

So go into that newly created folder that came from the 01 archive, create a Data folder.

 

Then drill down into this folder (not the Data folder you just created) and look for the assets you would expect to find (Meshes, Textures, esp) and move those files into this Data folder you just created.

 

Now you can use 7zip to create an archive from that Data folder for use with a mod manager to install.

 

A few of these archives, after they are extracted, are going to have some extra folders where you need to go in and copy the meshes, textures or esp and paste them into the main folder. I can't remember which ones I had to do this for... but that should be done before you make a new archive.

 

Or... you can just manually copy Meshes, Textures, esp, etc. into your Skyrim Data folder. I don't recommend doing that in case if you ever have to uninstall this stuff. It's better to create an archive and install with a mod manager.

 

 

 

  Sorry Sulaco, I dont mean to be a pain on this whole process but when the .001 opens up do you extract the compiled folder to start the others (the folder that the resources are stored in?) or extract only the resources into another folder to start the others (i.e. meshes/textures/.esp)  It almost sounds like it wants to compile itself but Im preventing it from doing so and cannot figure out why?  All the archives are in the same holder folder now and still only the 1st opens up to let me extract anything at all.  I wont say I'm at the end of my rope but I feel like I am missing something obvious and have resorted to nuking the problem instead of the simple solution.

[Herrmannesque]

Don't worry about being a pain. This is how we learn to do these things. The person that helped me also was using 7Zip and wrote out how this was accomplished. Go back to page 4 of this thread for starters.

[Herrmannesque]

I've never been able to do it with winRAR or Winzip, All you have to do in the 7zip archive is click the .001 file extract to a folder and it'll do all of them in successive order.

 

See above for what fizzybutt wrote on how to extract using 7Zip.

[Herrmannesque]

Just so we are both on the same page, I just downloaded all 7 files for the JH Bandit replacer. 6 archives numbered 1 - 6 and one 7zip archive called Loosefile.

 

 

 

 

I moved these to a new folder. I opened up WinRar (you should be able to do the exact same thing in 7Zip), selected the 001 file and extracted into this folder. It then proceeded to unzip all the other archives into a folder called bandit2.7z. That's where all the files are now except for this other archive you have called Loosefile.

 

Extract that into its own folder... in this folder.

 

Drill down into the bandit2 folder til you get to the bottom. That's where the Meshes, Textures and bandit esp is.

 

Now create a folder in here called Data. Drag these 3 other files into this Data folder.

 

Now go back to the root of the folder, where the Loosefile archive is. Extract that into it's own folder.

 

Drill down into the Loosefile folder until you get the Textures folder.

 

Copy this folder, paste it into the Data folder you created. Merge the two Texture folders.

 

Now go up one level, so you are looking at your Data folder.

 

Now you can create an archive with 7zip that will allow you to install this mod with a mod manager. I personally don't use any compression when I create archives. The uncompressed size of this archive should be 519 MB, if you followed my steps properly.

 

 

 

 

You can apply this same logic to any of these archives.

 

 

[Guest]

Ok, one final question (which I think might be the source of all our collected headaches on this one)  When you open the .001 folder and view its contents-are those contents the entire collected archives (1-6) being merged in itself.  I only ask because I was not expecting them to compile automatically but instead to have to individually open each archive and extract it.  The end file size amount you mentioned (519MB uncompressed) seems to be my tip off because merging the LOOSEFILE and the contents of .001 gave me two 250MB texture and Mesh folders and an .esp file to round out the difference. Im going to try them out and see if they have results but that might have settled the question if I was crazy thinking I had to individually open all 6 together and merge them from the archive instead of the archive doing it for me.

[Herrmannesque]

If you ended up with two Texture folders for you to merge plus one Mesh folder and an esp with a file size around 519 MB, we are on the same page.

 

All you had to do was open the first .001 file in your 7Zip program and that program does the rest of the work on the other .00x files. 

[Guest]

On to the next challenge; In the NPC85 site there are 2 bandit replacer downloads.  the first bandit marked seems to affect regular bandits, and the bandit2 marked seems to alter roaming or unnamed NPCs in addition to loose hostile factions.  The question is, both of these separate files contain the same .esp (banditfemale) so its indeterminate if one is an update or the they are indeed separate.  

 

EDIT:  Quick look at the folders side by side seems the bandit2 is an update as they contain the same files as the first and extras for more NPCs, so if your curious dont bother with the regular bandit download.

[Herrmannesque]

Something I noticed as I've been using sidearmf93's female NPC replacers now for at least a week... there are a few female NPCs in the game that are being affected somehow by these mods and I'm not sure what to do about it.

 

For example, visiting Half Moon Mill tonight, I came across Hert, the vampire who lives there. I've checked all of these esps in TES5edit and she is not one of the female NPCs that gets changed and yet she has a brown face and neck seam in my game. 

 

As I've moved these down towards the end of my load order, below my bashed patch, I've seen many of the changed NPCs show up correctly in my game, like the Thalmor, bandits and many other NPCs. 

 

Anybody else experienced this?

 

 

[Geofizz]

His Dawnguard plugin touches Hert.  I have seen the same thing.

[Guest]

Some of the presets are changed by the sidearm93 mods, I have noticed it in CK and NPC editor.  If the NPC ID isnt in the folders its mostly that they use one of the race presets (I.E. using Inconsequential NPCs has some of the females faces changed with nothing else, a little bit of a bonus in my opinion but can cause problems like described above).

[eifrag]

Something I noticed as I've been using sidearmf93's female NPC replacers now for at least a week... there are a few female NPCs in the game that are being affected somehow by these mods and I'm not sure what to do about it.

 

For example, visiting Half Moon Mill tonight, I came across Hert, the vampire who lives there. I've checked all of these esps in TES5edit and she is not one of the female NPCs that gets changed and yet she has a brown face and neck seam in my game. 

 

 

jh_dawnguard modified Hert

should look like

 

[Herrmannesque]

Thanks for posting that picture! I've moved the esp down in my load order so it's one above the esp for NPC85, towards the end of my load order. I'm hoping that will fix the problem.

 

It's strange, I was looking at the npcs changed with this mod but did not find Hert listed there.

[Herrmannesque]

This esp just does not want to cooperate with me haha

 

Nearly all of the female vampires changed by this mod show up in my game with their hair changed by the mod but with brown faces... except for one Dark Elf Volkihar Vampire I came across in Redwater Den.

 

I moved the esp to the bottom of my load order, before my bashed patch. Now I'm moving it up so it's the first JH mod to load in that block.

[guk]

The bashed patch itself might be the problem... does it share any entries with the NPC overhaul mods? (launch tes5edit with your whole load order)

 

There also could be something changing the (vampire) races, as a result the data from the overhaul mod no longer matches with what it's trying to do based on the vanilla settings.

[BasHanada]

Mine's near the middle of my load order but in the bottom half... Here's Hert in my game...