Changing NPC's outfit without overriding NPC Overhauls, etc

[ntwackme48]

So am currently using Sidearm's NPC 85 overhaul.    In addition, I have several armor and clothing mods that I've installed.  What I am trying to do is change the clothing for paricular NPCs that just so happens NPC 85 is overriding.   So let's take Elisif the Fair.   I created a new mod in Tes5edit that produces a new outfit and applies that outfit to Elisif.    If I load the mod below the NPC 85 mod in my load order, Elisif wears the clothing I want her to but NPC 85 no longer modifies her.    If I put NPC 85 below the mod I created, then her outfit does not change but the NPC 85 changes do.   The only way I know to fix this is to modify the NPC 85 mod directly to have Elisif change her outift.  

 

Any suggestions or ideas what I need to do so that I can have both the NPC 85 mod and my clothing changing mod both work?   Utlimately, what I am trying to do is create a mod that changes the outfits for a lot of NPCs while also using mods such as NPC 85, inhibitants of skyrim, SOGS and maybe a few more NPC overhauls while also having my own custom mod that changes the outfits of various NPCs.  I'm still a newbie here but appreciate any help I can get.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[Varithina]

You need to use npc85 as a master to your mod, if it has a esm, that just add it as a master and it should then work, if it dose not then the only way I know would be well, tedious to say the least.

 

Merge all the armour/clothing mods you are intending to use in your replacer into one, including the esp for npc85 if there is no esm for it, then change that merged mod into a esm, then add that esm as the master to your mod.  As I said tedious and not sure if it would work or not

 

Hopefully somebody else will be able to add more or at least come up with an easier way, though editing the npc85 esp if there is one would be the easiest way.

[Swissenergy]

Now, this may not be the best way to accomplish what you want, but I'll explain a method that has worked for me.

I had a similar issue with Bijin Warmaidens(BW) and Immersive Weapons(IW). Either the BW visual changes would be applied. or the weapons from IW would be added to specific NPCs inventory. Here's what I did to fix this using TES5Edit:

(I'm using BW for the beauty mod in the example, just substitute the beauty mod of your choice in its place)

-Open TES5Edit with the mods you want to make compatible

-Find BW mod and expand it, then expand the Non-Player Character section

-Locate an NPC that's modified by BW and the outfit mod, and left-click that NPC

-In the right side of TES5Edit, find the BW mod .esp at the top

-Right-click the .esp file and select "copy as override into..."

-Choose "New file", DO NOT choose an existing .esp, then give the new file a name

-Let TES5Edit create the new file and added required masters, it should show up at the top in the right side of TES5Edit

-Locate the outfit mod and find the outfit reference that you want to give this NPC

-Left-click and hold down on the outfit, then drag it over to the NEW file you just created and drop it in the same line

-TES5Edit will most likely prompt you to add the outfit mod to the requirements for the NEW file, click yes

-Now, that NPC should have the visual changes from BW and the outfit changes from the outfit mod, and should be working in-game

 

Repeat this process for another NPC, HOWEVER!! When you right-click on the BW mod and select "copy as override into..." You can select the new file you have created, you DO NOT need to create a new file, every time. 

 

Again, I may be doing this in a very inefficient manner, but I've used the same steps I described above to make several beauty and inventory changing mods work together.

 

If it helps, I've attached a screenshot of what my TES5Edit screen looks like after I've made Aela compatible with both BW and IW, and she looks fine in game. The screenshot only shows a small number of the records I had to make compatible though.

[ntwackme48]

Thanks for the replies Vairthina and Swissenergy.  

 

I am going to play around with your suggestions.    I think you are right, there doesn't appear to be an efficient method for this but at least this is helping me gain a better understanding of tes5edit and modding in general.  

 

 

[DanielL1976]

if this works i can make whit BW or SBF unique Housecarl armors for the girls whit losing the face data thanks alot for question and replys

[ntwackme48]

So I got this to work like I intended.   What I did was I ended up merging several clothing/armour mods using tes5edit.  From there I opened up the NPC 85 mod in tes5edit and made the merge clothing mod a master.   I then was able to add outfits and manually change individual NPC's default outfit.    I'm still playing around with this but I think I got it to work.   The only think I haven't figured out yet is how to change outfits for fractions (ex., change the imperial army's default armor, etc).  

 

 

[Swissenergy]

Changing the outfit for factions is a matter of finding the outfit ID in TES5Edit, and changing the items in that outfit to whatever you want. To be clear, don't change the outfit in the Bethesda esm files, use your own esp to make the changes. All the game outfits are located under the "Outfit" section in TES5Edit, just expand a mod and look for that section. You can follow the same steps of copying the files as mentioned in the post regarding NPCs. 

 

I've attached a screenshot out the Companions outfit (worn by Farkas, Vilkas, and Kodlack) that has been changed by several different plugins, but by moving the desired records into a patch that loads after all the others, the Companions outfit shows up in-game the way I want it to.

 

You can do the same for other outfits, but keep in mind. Many factions have several different outfits they wear. For instance, there are 3 different ArmorCompanions outfits that are worn by NPCs. So, you may have to do a bit of searching to find all the outfits you want to change.

[ntwackme48]

Thanks Swissenergy for all the help - that worked.  My skyrim is finally starting to look mighty fine.

 

 

[Swissenergy]

Sure thing. Glad to hear it's working for you!