? The Selachii - Shark Race

[Blaze69]

Making a Nexus page is easy, well after you do it the first time I guess. I don't mind uploading it for you, But can't take any pictures at the moment. I probably wont have my Skyrim set up until the end of the month. I will however have to mention that for any questions or support, they will have to post here.

Hey, I wasn't actually serious about that, it was more of a "ughh to lazy to work plz someoen do it for me"  thing (spelling mistakes done on purpose), lol  .

 

I'm sure you have a lot of better things to do (note that in most situations, I would consider "doing nothing" as a better thing to do ). I wouldn't want to bother you with it. Though you do raise a good point about pictures and stuff, I may look into taking some more pics both for this page and the Lite one if/whenever it happens. It would be a matter of taking some SFW pics with underwear/bikinis on and maybe one or two naked shots to show how the bodies look when used alongside a nude body replacer. Also perhaps some random shots of characters fighting/walking around or whatever.

 

That way, if I ever get the sudden inspiration to post it or you or someone else decides they really want to take care of it, I can simply send the files and pics and be done with it  .

[NightroModzz]

Well, I did recently get my 1TB UE4 dedicated SSD And by better stuff to do... Yeah, organizing around 80gb of data for the new 4.15 engine is a real joy!  Although there is still stuff to do In Zbrush, that's about it.

 

I am too hesitant to work on landscapes (most important) and bring out my work from world machine as a height map because I am too hyped for this and April is the target release. It likely won't support premade landscapes and he's attempting to get it to work with height maps. Anyways, it is an awesome tool with unique features no other application or UE4 asset has.

 

There will likely be a delay, so that should give me some time to work on the heads later in the week. Not to say it was estimated to release early April.

 

EDIT:

 

I should mention that you can make caves and cliffs hangovers with it. Something you can normally only do with meshes and not directly part of the landscape.

[Kuroyami]

 

Selachii-Follower-Hiyasu.7z

 

 

[Blaze69]

Okay, got some sudden inspiration, and decided to work on this.

 

NOTE: this post will contain some pics. I want to try out a new way of posting pics, by uploading them to imgur and then linking from here, which not only means the pics will be at full size without having to click on them, but not-registered users should be able to see them as well. Nevertheless, since there seem to be issues with imgur and LL together, I'll upload them the usual way too and post them inside a spoiler at the end of the post so they can be seen no matter what.

 

There are two main changes so far: first, I updated the body normal maps to Fair Skin v9.2 (aka the latest ones). IIRC the previous versions of the mod used 7.8 or 8.0 tops, so it was about time I brought them up to date. The changes to FSC 9.2 are not extremely obvious but it's true there have been some improvements.

 

Though in the case of this mod there will be a difference, because I decided to tone down the amount of muscle detail I put in the normal map. There will still be muscle definition (hey, we are talking about sharks here, muscles or at least fitness are a given), but not as much as in the previous normal. Also no more arm veins and stuff. This does not only mean the textures should look better on low weights and petite/slim body presets, but the skin detail present in the FSC normals is conserved to a greater extent. So, yeah. I'd say the new textures look more like "athletic swimmer" rather than "light buff barbarian". Also they work better with softer character designs.

 

Which leads us to the other change: I've added 13 new hair styles for females, all from KS Hairs. I just went through the hairs and picked out the ones that seemed to be easier to port to the shark head, so the selection is kinda random. Although it is kinda tedious, and not all hairs can be successfully ported, I would like to add even more. I'll probably continue browsing through them sometime later, but if anyone has some specific styles they would like to have available for their shark girls, I'm all ears  .

 

And one extra addition. I noticed I had the original female mesh for Ko'Maru's neck cover left in the mod file, so I went ahead and added it as an option for females (males may get it as well as a later point). Available under "Facial Hair" in RaceMenu, so they can be mixed with fin rings and scars. I mainly did it for me, because I use it on all my characters and the sharks could not be left neglected. Also, the textures are the black ones used by Ko'Maru instead of the original brown ones.

 

So, here is a closeup of the new body textures:

 

 

 

And here are some random shots of my character, showcasing the new textures and one of the new hairs. Also because she looks great and wanted to share, lol 

 

 

 

Some pics of the new hairs. Obivously there are more than the ones shown here, it's just a sample:

 

 

 

So yeah, that's pretty much it. I don't have any other changes or additions to make so far, so I'm open to hearing from anyone that may have some ideas and/or comments .

 

PS: In case someone noticed by looking at the pics, yes, I did replace the original Aether Suite/Knox pinup posters from the apartments with more... fitting ones. It's only logical: humans get human pinups, and anthros get anthro pinups, lol  . Though so far I've only replaced the two on that specific room; there are still many human ones left.

 

Here are the attached pics, in case there is any problem with the Imgur ones:

 

 

 

[Kuroyami]

So I have gotten a pretty significant start on Gaku's dialog. My thoughts on where he should be may be a bit more than the mod has done up until this point, though it could be something obvious already. Admittedly I am a little hesitant in mentioning this, since I cannot speak for how complex it may be.

 

Okay, so my previous thought would be that Gaku would be within one of the Apocrypha areas, though arguably that could make him seem as more of an afterthought, rather than being there for a reason. So my thought would be to possibly create a new level for where Gaku would be, though exactly what the access point would be on Solstiem, I'm not sure. However, I do not mean it to be a large area - just something that in a sense, acts as a home for Gaku, which can be similarly used by the player.

 

It could be a lofty idea at this point, and something to deal with later. But either way, here is some of Gaku's dialog.

 

 

 

G – And you are...

       |

      G – [PCIsSelachii] One of my Kin, then.

      G – [PCIsKhajiit] A child of the Moons.

      G – [PCISArgonian] A child of the Hist, yet perhaps, not beholden to it.

      G – [PCISAnElvenRace] Oh look, a descendant of the ones trapped on Nirn.

      G – [PCIsAHumanRace] Odd how mysterious your origins are, though it is not completely unclear.

      G – [PCIsAnythingElse] The details seem irrelevant. But that does not mean you are.

              |

             G – How you may balk at this, but you are also...Dragonborn.

                    |

                   G – Welcome to my slice of the master's domain. You should know of whom I speak.

                          |

                         G – Feel free to make yourself at home.

                                |

                               G – I am not a very possessive individual, since I realize that nothing is truly mine in this place.

                                     |

                                    G – Though I would ask you to keep a certain level of decorum – that is, please do not feel the need to cause havok here.

 

 

 

As mentioned before, Gaku has something to say about the faction quests completed by the player. I currently have them listed as Random lines, those used when you talk to him, which may work, though I could add those to a "What do you know about me?" line for the PC. Though that could get odd if the player has completed several of them, unless they would work like the Rumors, and you would have to ask multiple times to see them all. Or I could have it more specific, and after the previously mentioned PC line, you would have specific options for each completed faction, which he would then respond to. But this is what he has to say about some of them.

 

College Of Winterhold

 

 

G – [College Of Winterhold QL Complete] So you defeated Morokei, the Dragon Priest that once slumbered within Labyrinthian.

        |

       G – For it, you have in your possession the Staff of Magnus – and are the Archmage of the Winterhold College.

              |

             G – It is an achievement, but understand that it is by your own effort. Should you be lacking in magical skill, that...

                    |

                   G – ...may be the fault of no one but, yourself.

 

 

 

Dark Brotherhood

 

 

G – [Dark Brotherhood QL Complete] So you are the one to listen to one of the darkest, yet sensual and intimate voices in all of existence.

        |

       G – Astrid was indeed foolish, yet her intentions were on the cusp of being fair.

              | 

             G – In an attempt to protect her family, she all but destroyed it.

                    |

                   G – In the moment she denied the truth, she also accepted the fact that she would need to betray you, even if she....

                         |

                        G - ...could not see where such an action would lead. 

 

 

 

Also, I'm not finished with it yet, but the first entry for Haru's journal describes some of his early life, including his rather unique parentage. It also will tell about his entry into the Thieves Guild, which begins with a bribe - he catches a thief stealing some silver items he had seen hours earlier in a shop, and she offers something in trade, so he does not say anything. Unfortunately, I'm working on that part. The thief character is described as a she, though her race may not be specific. Though I'd certainly consider suggestions. 

 

Some previews of it otherwise, though.

 

 

 

The expectation was for me to be, weak. That I would break with the smallest insult. When I did not, it was never in their mind to stop. But when it became physical, it was not the fight they wanted. Even the strongest of those who pit themselves against me for my differences, found that they were put down quickly, and usually with nothing more than a cut or scrape. I knew I was not really that strong, but the innate strength possessed by Selachii was something most either knew to fear and respect, or, something they would learn in time. 

 

 

 

 

 

My father, is Hana. A female Nord. It was explained to me early, perhaps quicker than most children are taught of such things. But my mother insisted, and as I saw it, Hana agreed. So I was told things in a simple way, that my conception was due to the fact that Hana was not quite female as she seemed, and it was a bit later, just as I was entering into my teen years, where I fully understood. Still, nothing about the situation was saying that it was wrong. 

 

 

 

As for the Darkness story, I have maybe about a third of the first chapter done. It takes place in a lawless, small realm of Oblivion, though some kind of law still exists, it is incredibly lax. It is a place for Daedric entities to go if they have nowhere else, but they may find nothing more than despair, and the hope they find, is either short lived, or taken away. 

 

 

 

“You know how this works. Even if you are someone that does not care about facts, they still exist, and you cannot completely ignore them.” The Dremora before us, smiled. I knew him as Mal, but others knew him differently. Different names, or perhaps just knowing his reputation – which was the top of what goes for justice around here, even if that was incredibly lax. Most would buckle under the pressures of a place where every kind of debauchery known, was going on almost all the time. Everything one could imagine, every kind of pain, pleasure, and the like, could be found here. 

 

 

 

 

 

As for Mal, I found him a few years ago, though the exact encounter was much different than this. I spent those years in a brothel, but one of the better ones. The woman who ran it cared about those who worked for her, and she always had guards looking out for us. Cause trouble there, and you get run out at the point of a sword, if not worse. Mal came in one day, offering a lot for a few hours. But not entirely just the sex. It was partially about entertainment, and to me, that was the trivial part. 

 

 

 

 

[Kuroyami]

One of the characters I've been working on for YA, at least one I am intending on playing, is Stark, a male Argonian. The problem is that I am not exactly sure what I want to do with the character, and other than what might be a good player home mod, one thing I've been looking for would be a good follower mod. As is perhaps my focus with characters in this mod, I try to look for unique ones, but most of then just fall short. Especially since with the mentioned character, I would prefer a female Argonian follower - of which there are a few, but those have that same problems I've mentioned before - all their story is not in the game, and their location is almost always one of the game's Inns. I would not have a problem with this, if it was not so common. Almost every follower I look at, even ones where I am not looking for something specific, have that same problem. Well designed appearance, no story present in-game(if there is any at all), and their location is an Inn, or for something like a Vampire follower, a Hall of the Dead. 

 

But more to the point, though it is probably an incredibly obvious thing, you have the option for two male Khajiits, and one male Argonian for followers in the base game. For the most part, they have a bit of character to them. There are...no options for female Khajiits or Argonians in the base game. Even the mods that do add them, might just have the same problems as mentioned above. I know, it is a highly subjective problem. Some do not have a problem with it, and that is fine. Though part of the problem with a female Khajiit or Argonian follower, is the lack of a proper voice set for them. That could indeed be an issue with that I am going to suggest, though there are a few ways around it. 

 

Which, is that I have an idea for a Female Khajiit and Argonian follower. 

 

Tyris, Female Argonian Vampire - Kjenstag Ruins -  Originally from Windhelm, she left when she met a perhaps all too alluring male Argonian. Their relationship soon became nothing more than a game, with each using the other for what could be offered, usually nothing more than pleasure. The fact that he was quickly revealed as a Vampire, was nothing to her. Eventually, this gift was given to her as well, and in a sense, that changed nothing. Beyond the fact that they no longer had to lie about what their relationship truly was. Only, it never got worse. Other than when he ran afoul of the Vigilant of Stenndar, the hovel they shared with a few others being coated in a bloody mess, a note she wrote to a recent friend, covered in blood - one that noted her want to live this existence she found herself in, and not wallow in sorrow or fear. 

 

Zaahni, Female Khajiit - Shrine Of Mara, Whiterun hold - A Khajiit born in Skyrim, she joined the Caravan just after their arrival in Skyrim, as a guard. In an attack on the Caravan months later, she lost one of the friends she had made, and decided to leave to go on her own. Given a note by Ri'saad before she left, it explained that if she wished to return, they would welcome her once again, she left. Seeking solace in a place not often traveled, she waits not for destiny to befall her, but to figure out what purpose she want to have in life. 

 

Other than this, I would suggest two things. While these two could certainly go into the Follower plugin, it may be interesting to add them to a separate mod once their content is complete, likely along with the Snow Elf follower I suggested - with that version, people would not need this mod if they want a few more follower options. Also, since RDO, I think, adds proper follower dialog for female Khajiits and Argonians, maybe a patch could be made for that mod?

[Blaze69]

As is perhaps my focus with characters in this mod, I try to look for unique ones, but most of then just fall short. Especially since with the mentioned character, I would prefer a female Argonian follower - of which there are a few, but those have that same problems I've mentioned before - all their story is not in the game, and their location is almost always one of the game's Inns. I would not have a problem with this, if it was not so common. Almost every follower I look at, even ones where I am not looking for something specific, have that same problem. Well designed appearance, no story present in-game(if there is any at all), and their location is an Inn, or for something like a Vampire follower, a Hall of the Dead. 

Yeah, this is soo true. But for some reason the countless "pretty" followers with vanilla voices, no background at all and placed in a random inn seem to be all the rage and always show up in the Hot Files list of the Nexus (thank the Divines for the "Block Author" feature, or else my Nexus main page would be always filled with Bland And Generic Animu Waifu #59353894539whatever number we're at, lol  ).

 

We do have some great followers with backgrounds and custom voices and stuff, like Vilja, Sofia or Inigo, but since it seems creating a "cute" face using ECE in 10 minutes (which is like the easiest thing ever because ECE was built for that very purpose) and uploading it to the Nexus is way easier and nets you roughly the same amount of downloads and endorsements with not even a fraction of the required time/work, those are just the exceptions. Oh, well .

 

That's part of the reason I'm pretty happy with the way the NPCs are done in the Follower plugin. I'll admit they don't offer much more content than all those generic follower "mods", but at least we made an effort to try and integrate them somewhat seamlessly into the game, and that is a very nice addition IMO. Even the quest for Mizuno, which is basically only slightly more complex than the one in the "Quest Introduction Tutorial" from the CK wiki, is more than what any of those will ever have.

 

[...] Which, is that I have an idea for a Female Khajiit and Argonian follower. 

 

Tyris, Female Argonian Vampire - Kjenstag Ruins -  Originally from Windhelm, she left when she met a perhaps all too alluring male Argonian. Their relationship soon became nothing more than a game, with each using the other for what could be offered, usually nothing more than pleasure. The fact that he was quickly revealed as a Vampire, was nothing to her. Eventually, this gift was given to her as well, and in a sense, that changed nothing. Beyond the fact that they no longer had to lie about what their relationship truly was. Only, it never got worse. Other than when he ran afoul of the Vigilant of Stenndar, the hovel they shared with a few others being coated in a bloody mess, a note she wrote to a recent friend, covered in blood - one that noted her want to live this existence she found herself in, and not wallow in sorrow or fear. 

 

Zaahni, Female Khajiit - Shrine Of Mara, Whiterun hold - A Khajiit born in Skyrim, she joined the Caravan just after their arrival in Skyrim, as a guard. In an attack on the Caravan months later, she lost one of the friends she had made, and decided to leave to go on her own. Given a note by Ri'saad before she left, it explained that if she wished to return, they would welcome her once again, she left. Seeking solace in a place not often traveled, she waits not for destiny to befall her, but to figure out what purpose she want to have in life. 

 

Other than this, I would suggest two things. While these two could certainly go into the Follower plugin, it may be interesting to add them to a separate mod once their content is complete, likely along with the Snow Elf follower I suggested - with that version, people would not need this mod if they want a few more follower options. Also, since RDO, I think, adds proper follower dialog for female Khajiits and Argonians, maybe a patch could be made for that mod?

Both of them sound great, yes. If you do want to work on their backstories (and the extras it would entail, like ingame journals, notes, other NPCs, etch), I would gladly get them all ingame and stuff. Making them separate from the follower plugin should be easy and I would be okay with it as well. So, yeah, whatever you want  .

 

As for RDO, the only thing that would be required for a patch would be to swap their voices from whatever vanilla (follower-enabled) voice we give them for the original Argonian/Khajiit ones. Though I'll admit personally I don't really like it that much, because: 1) having all members of a race have the exact same voice and tone sounds weird and cheap and 2) I just don't like the "60 year old heavy smoker" female Argonian voice, nor, well, whatever you can call the female Khajiit one.

 

But since the change would be literally a 1 minute thing, I wouldn't mind doing so.

[Shadowscale]

 

 

Have you checked out Interesting NPC's? I know for a fact there is a custom voiced Argonian female in it in the swamp near Dawnstar I think it is? Also if you wish a cross dressing Argonian male.

[Kuroyami]

 

 

 

Have you checked out Interesting NPC's? I know for a fact there is a custom voiced Argonian female in it in the swamp near Dawnstar I think it is? Also if you wish a cross dressing Argonian male.

 

 

I was going to mention Anum-La, but didn't. Somewhat slipped my mind. I played her quest a while ago, and I do like it. 

 

Have not encountered the mentioned male Argonian though. I know about Two-Talis in Reachwind Eyire(even have Fume's dialog make a reference to him, though hopefully vague), and the male Argonian on the Solitude docks, though not any others. Otherwise, I have seen the Wander-Lust character, even had one playthrough where she was in Heljarchen Hall.

[Shadowscale]

 

 

 

 

Have you checked out Interesting NPC's? I know for a fact there is a custom voiced Argonian female in it in the swamp near Dawnstar I think it is? Also if you wish a cross dressing Argonian male.

 

 

I was going to mention Anum-La, but didn't. Somewhat slipped my mind. I played her quest a while ago, and I do like it. 

 

Have not encountered the mentioned male Argonian though. I know about Two-Talis in Reachwind Eyire(even have Fume's dialog make a reference to him, though hopefully vague), and the male Argonian on the Solitude docks, though not any others. Otherwise, I have seen the Wander-Lust character, even had one playthrough where she was in Heljarchen Hall.

 

 

The male is named Prompt-But-Bashful. He's part of the slave auction so you need to do Stolen Property up to that point.

[Kuroyami]

The male is named Prompt-But-Bashful. He's part of the slave auction so you need to do Stolen Property up to that point.

 

And it requires doing...perfect. Never really liked that quest. Take a fall for something that isn't explicitly my fault? Be so easily used by a corrupt fool who conveniently has an excuse why suddenly I am completely blameless for what happened, at least if you deal with the "King", even if that was another of his pawns. Plus, I played that quest at least once, where I killed no guards, or anyone else, had no bounties or committed no crimes in the Reach, yet that exact charge was still lumped in, I think. Had one character who was Thane Of the Reach too - which does not matter. 

 

Ah well, Stark really isn't a "good" character anyway. Seems I won't have to go that far for it either, since the player home mod I'm intending on using is in Haalmarch, close to Morthal. Makes it easy to go grab Anum-La too. 

 

On another note, to round this out, at least considering the vanilla followers...

 

Neros, Male Argonian - ??? - Unfortunate enough to watch his home burn as a child, the sight stuck with him. To suddenly be made aware that over some things, he lacks any kind of control. Setting his sights on magic, he learned from various places, focusing on fire magic. His reasons for being in Skyrim are unclear, though he has been known to ask questions in some places, all of them focusing on if anyone knows anything about the Dunmer he wants to find, though he tells no one why.

 

Appearance-wise, he is meant to be similar to Ko'Maru. Might just go for the same 0 weight for his preset, though I'm not sure about anything else that can be done in that direction. Otherwise, I'm not too sure about his location. I would perhaps think about the Burned house in the Rift, but INPC places not only a Khajiit NPC there, but also changes the house quite a bit(it is not burning, and the Khajiit is quite the horder). Likely some other place in the game related to fire. Though perhaps not Sunderstone Gorge, since an idea for a quest I have uses that location, the quest being for Neros. 

[Kuroyami]

First, I've started on writing the journal entry for Neros' quest. 

 

Conflagration of Lies

 

 

Description, 1 (Speech Option not used): After reading Neros' journal, and asking him a little about his past, he has asked me to help him find a certain Dunmer he has spent the past weeks looking for, to no avail. He suggests that I start looking in Falkreath, where he was directed recently – a Breton Mage staying there may know something.

 

Description, 1 (Speech Option used): When I read Neros' journal, a certain detail was rather clear, in spite of the missing words. Asking him about this has lead you to find out that he is looking for a Dunmer here in Skyrim, and that person is apparently related to him. He suggests I start looking in Falkreath, where he was directed recently – a Breton Mage staying there may know something.

 

>Find the Breton Mage in Falkreath(marker points only to Falkreath).

 

 

 

 

And I have two more journal entries for Mizuno.

 

Entry 12

 

 

 

It surprised me when Ko'Maru told me he had yet to learn how to swim. I thought for a moment it was for what could be the obvious reason, the close relation to the more usual cat, in a sense, but no. He said it was more that there never seemed to be a need, though he had an interest in learning. Suggesting that my assistance might make it easier, since he fully understood that I was truly at home in the water. 

 

 

 

 

 

My reading was extensive, and I had understood some of what he said, without needing explanation. Before the Nords claimed Skyrim for their own, it was the land of the Snow Elves, a race that originated in the Summerset Isles like most Elven races. The war the Snow Elves fought with the Nords was a bitter conflict, ending with the Night of Tears, and the sacking of Saarthal. This aside, Ko'Maru suggested that a Snow Elf was part of his direct family, though he could not say who. 

 

 

 

 

 

My worries were somewhat misplaced, since it was true that of the students at the College, most of the Nords, along with myself and Ko'Maru, had little need to wear layered clothing, or use fire magic when we left one of the College's interiors, since they were heated by magic – the pillars of blue flame in each area.

 

 

 

Entry 13

 

 

 

Loki was quite the, interesting example of his race. He joined the College only a few months ago, his reasons being somewhat, well, disgusting, really. Though it was not his actions, or words, but that of his parents. As I feel it may be a bit odd to have such thoughts without telling him, I will only briefly explain. 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming from a family in Windhelm, most of his years up to his teens, were nothing more than what was expected of him. But then he took an interest in magic, learning from various places. From the Court Mage in Windhelm, from mages passing through, and even some Alchemy from the owner of the Apothecary shop in the city. At first, it seemed his parents did not care about this. But it was more that they were somewhat unaware. More focused on their work, than their children. 

 

 

 

 

 

But during his nineteenth year, a brother of his found himself with a rather nasty cut. Not infected, but bleeding. Almost like an instinct, Loki used magic to heal the wound. While his brother was grateful, his parents were furious. Aghast at the idea that their child was keen on tricks to get by in life, not hard work. As would happen, the anger brought forth more insults. Admonishing his “girlish” figure, while praising the muscle bound figure of his older brother. 

 

 

 

 

 

Loki left Windhelm in a pouring rain, traveling over the course of days to Winterhold. This part I know quite well, since I myself saw him enter the city, and he did not look good. When I asked him if he was okay, he said truthfully, “Barely”, and collapsed. I brought him to the College, and straight to Colette afterward. She questioned my choice, though still thought it was better for him and anyone else. She asked me to stay with him once she was finished, and I agreed. 

 

 

 

Both entries added to Mizuno's document, along with the NPC information for Loki, and it also seems I've forgotten to add Shoku's information, which the document now has. 

[Blaze69]

First, I've started on writing the journal entry for Neros' quest. [...] And I have two more journal entries for Mizuno. [...] Both entries added to Mizuno's document, along with the NPC information for Loki, and it also seems I've forgotten to add Shoku's information, which the document now has. 

Wow, I've kinda lost track of all the intended NPCs, lol. I will have to check the documents for a quick reminder. I'll make sure to check the new content as well.

 

It's going to be a while until I can actually work on it, though; this week and the next one are busy, busy, busy (I shouldn't really be even logged in here, but hey, we all need a break from time to time, don't we? ). Once it's all over I'll make sure to get most of it implemented and ready for the next update, whenever that may be.

 

EDIT: Also, you probably know this already, but the next big update for Yiffy Age will swap some races around, and one of the main changes (and the only one that affects this mod) is that Redguards are going to be changed from tigers to hyenas.

 

I have gone through all the content referencing Kanet in Izumi's journal, and it looks like nothing needs to be changed because there is no direct mention of her as a tiger in the YA-only parts, so the change to hyena should work fine with that (and should make the fact that she has a schlong a little more fitting as well  ). Not sure if she's mentioned in Haru's journal as well, but if she is, you may want to change any possible specific references to her as a tiger (if there are any) into hyena-specific ones instead. Or perhaps even add them, if you want; I don't think there will be any more race changes in YA after the 3.0 update, so she should remain a hyena from that point on.

 

All that will actually need to be changed is her appearance, but I can easily take care of that. I'll probably start with my own Kygarra character preset and then add some tweaks and give her the ponytail hairstyle she has now.

Edited April 19, 2017 by Blaze69

[Blaze69]

Alright, good news: there has been some unexpected progress in the mod. The main changes have been three: I (kinda) overhauled the textures, I managed to fix the neck seam on females and I restored the eye movement morphs.

 

The texture "overhaul" is not really an overhaul but rather some edits to some parts of the texture. Most notably, I edited the white underbelly to extend higher up the neck and face. Undortunately I don't have ingame pics to show (may post them later, though chances are they will take a while until I can actually play the game and take proper pics and so). Basically, take a look at this Great White Shark pic from Wikipedia:

 

 

See how the white area extends past the mouth and right through the nostrils until it gets to the tip of the nose? That's the look I tried to achieve, and I think the end result will look good enough. The change is more obvious on males because their belly is a lighter/brighter shade of white than in females (the latter tends more towards light grey instead of white), and thus the contrast with the darker gray skin is more obvious on them, but both genders should benefit from the change.

 

I also made some smaller texture improvements, like updating the female diffuses to Fair Skin 9.0 (should increase the detail) and blending some minor seams in the groin and inner thighs. Oh, and I also edited the tail textures to blend better with the rest of the body, and extended the white underbelly along the underside of the tail for females (males don't get this change because their white area stops right behind the schlong and doesn't reach the back, so they keep a grey tail albeit with improvements in the diffuse).

 

As for the neck, I found out the cause of the original neck seam on the CITRUS Argonian meshes: the vertices at the neck are all offset to the side by a small amount, but it's enough to make the mismatch visible. Shifting the whole neck edge loop a bit to the side to counter that seemed to fix it, which would mean the vertices themselves have the proper relative placement between themselves; it's just the global translation that caused the seam. I checked ingame and the neck appeared 100% seamless even when turning the head around and bending the neck, so I guess that's it.

 

Last, but not least, I used my recently-adquired knowledge about working with TRI files to see if I could find the issue with the eye looking morphs that forced me to remove them from the eyes so far, and I succeeded. Now the player and NPCs will move their eyes either as part of the standard anims (PC) or the head tracking (NPC and also PC if you use a headtracking mod). While not perfect, they do help in making the faces look a little more "alive" than the previous "staring blank into the abyss" deal, which is neat .

Edited April 22, 2017 by Blaze69

[Blaze69]

Okay, got the time to take some pics. Here they are:

 

Males:

  

 

Females (the hair is one of the new ones):

 

 

Closeup of the fixed neck (no more seams, yay!):

 

 

Aaand a pic of the tail. And the groin . Relevant because there were some slight mismatches there and now they are completely gone. The white of the underbelly extends to the tail, though it's not very noticeable due to the reason mentioned above:

 

[NightroModzz]

Okay, got the time to take some pics. Here they are:

...

You did a pretty good job with textures.

 

EDIT: Was the finger nails being the same color as the skin done on purpose?

[Blaze69]

You did a pretty good job with textures.

 

EDIT: Was the finger nails being the same color as the skin done on purpose?

Well, thank you ! I still think they could be vastly improved, but I'm happy with the result so far.

 

Also, crap about the nails. I updated the hand diffuses at the same time as the body ones but forgot to copy the claws from the old textures. They are supposed to be black, as shown on previous pics. I'll fix it ASAP.

 

EDIT: Fixed. Thanks for the heads up  .

Edited April 22, 2017 by Blaze69

[NightroModzz]

That reminds me, how much textures can Skyrim take advantage of, such as the following.

 

AO (ambient occlusion)

Bump (PBR) Fake depth or Physically-Based Rendering

Color

Depth (Displacement)

Gloss / Hi Gloss

Roughness

Normal

 

Not sure if it can use AO and pretty sure it can't use depth. Does Skyrim have a limit like only color, roughness or gloss, normal maps, and maybe PBR? In other words, a limit of 4 textures per mesh or something like that.

[Blaze69]

That reminds me, how much textures can Skyrim take advantage of, such as the following.

 

AO (ambient occlusion)

Bump (PBR) Fake depth or Physically-Based Rendering

Color

Depth (Displacement)

Gloss / Hi Gloss

Roughness

Normal

 

Not sure if it can use AO and pretty sure it can't use depth. Does Skyrim have a limit like only color, roughness or gloss, normal maps, and maybe PBR? In other words, a limit of 4 textures per mesh or something like that.

Well, all of those texture types sound more like something out of a newer game/engine than Skyrim; specially PBR, which Skyrim does not support (the upgraded engine for FO4 does use PBR, though). Also aren't those the texture slots for Substance Painter? I think I remember them from when I did a quick search to see if it would support non-PBR painting.

 

Anyway, while NifSkope and the CK have several texture slots available, character textures only use four types:

• Diffuse: basically color, aka "the actual texture you see before normals and speculars are applied". Not sure if this would be very different from standard/newer diffuses.
• Normal: object-space normal maps (the rainbow-colored ones). A standard tangent-space normal map (the uniformly blueish/purple ones used by anything that is not a character texture in the game) can be easiy converted into object-space using XNormal, so tangent space normals are valid as well.
• Specular: greyscale image that determines the shinyness or lack thereof. Black = matte/no shine, white = shiny like a supernova, and anything in between scales accordingly.
• SK/Subsurface: used for the Subsurface Scattering effect on the skin. Vanilla SSS shaders don't work that well, and thus they cause some visual quirks that can be solved by substituting these textures with 2x2 black textures. ENB does implement proper SSS, and there are some detailed SK maps for that case (most notably the ones included in Fair Skin).

For the purposes of the texturing needed here, only the first three are relevant. There aren't any other texture types/slots available, so we have to work with that. Part of the AO effect can be "baked" into the diffuse for quick extra detail/definition, but that's all I know.

 

EDIT: This thread seems to have some info on Skyrim textures.

Edited April 23, 2017 by Blaze69

[NightroModzz]

... 

Thanks. I forgot specular, but am only familiar with what I can mess around with in UE4.

 

 

 

 

 

Although, opacity, custom data, and refraction seem to be new in 4.15 and haven't looked into yet.

 

Substance Bitmap2Material 3 did have some other options I usually uncheck upon exporting though.

 

I am to assume that parallax is an older version of PBR right? And am unsure what a glow map and environment cube map is or older version of. But I guess I don't need to know for character textures.

 

Just to be on the safe side, when it's done, I'll take a screenshot and ask you if there is anything special that needs to be checked on export. And I will also need to look into what can be used for SSE for better quality.

[Blaze69]

Thanks. I forgot specular, but am only familiar with what I can mess around with in UE4.

 

Although, opacity, custom data, and refraction seem to be new in 4.15 and haven't looked into yet.

 

Substance Bitmap2Material 3 did have some other options I usually uncheck upon exporting though.

 

I am to assume that parallax is an older version of PBR right? And am unsure what a glow map and environment cube map is or older version of. But I guess I don't need to know for character textures.

 

Just to be on the safe side, when it's done, I'll take a screenshot and ask you if there is anything special that needs to be checked on export. And I will also need to look into what can be used for SSE for better quality.

Parallax is some special texture that is used to give an extra "fake" sense of depth. I've only seen it used on static mesh textures (terrain, dirt, rock, etc.) and it looks like the meshes have some actual shape to them, more than with a standard normal map. But it seems to be static-only, and I don't have much info on that. But I don't think it's related to PBR.

 

Glow map is what the name says, a map that tells the game which parts of the mesh should have glow. In Skyrim can be used alongside the "Glow Map" shader type in NifSkope to make a mesh have fake glow/emmiting effects. Again, I've only seen it used in statics and rarely armors, so not a problem either.

 

Environment cube maps are the textures shown on the meshes with environmental properties, like the vanilla ebony armor. Basically they "simulate" reflections on shiny materials like metal, but without being actual reflections but rather the same "environment" (read: reflected stuff) all the time regardless of what is actually around the mesh while ingame. No deal here.

 

As for SSE, the engine shaders for textures are exactly the same as in Legendary, so there isn't any improvement or change that can be done specifically for SSE. The only change in textures is that SSE does not support Greyscale (L8) textures, and those either have bugs or cause the game to crash.

 

In Legendary you could save speculars in Greyscale format to avoid the (honestly minimum but still present) loss in detail from DXT compression while at the same time get a smaller file size than with full R8G8B8 uncompressed format, because speculars only care about greyscale but not RGB info. For SSE you either have to use DXT or R8G8B8, but that's the only difference.

Edited April 23, 2017 by Blaze69

[NightroModzz]

... 

So parallax is technically a bump map and a bump map is PBR which creates fake depth. Unlike the new displacement method which is more taxiing and creates real depth. But the problem is, if the displacement is too high, characters can move through the texture part that is too far from the actual mesh.

 

EDIT: Just need to be more precise. You need PBR (physical Based Rendering) to render the fake depth of a bump map.

 

Then there is environment cube map which is like the gloss textures which I connect to the metallic node in UE4 which can give materials a glossy, plastic, or metallic look. Even a mirror effect. But I'm assuming by the way you explained it is that a metallic texture and mirror effect is separate with Skyrim or environment cube maps.

 

As for the glow map, well... I haven't tried to make anything glow before. Only have a bright and mirror like reflection. Thanks, I think I got it.

[Kuroyami]

So I've been working on Fume's content. 

 

The thinking I've had for a while is that she should work like the Mercenaries do, paying them gold to acquire their services, rather than giving her a quest for that purpose. However, she will have a quest, that you can get once she is a follower. One line of dialog she has allows you to ask more about her - about why she uses a conjured blade. 

 

 

 

[PC] – [Requires Fume being a follower] So why do you use that conjured sword, if you are a mercenary?

         |

        F – Things happen, and we have to make choices. You have probably made some of those yourself.

              |

             F – The simple answer is, though this would not sound the best to some, that I cannot.

             F – [PCIsANord]The simple answer is, though it may not sound the best to you Nords, is that I cannot.

                    |

                   F – Normally I would not use magic, but in this case, I have to.

                         |

                      [PC] Is it something you do not want to talk about?

                             |

                            F – Please, I am tougher than that.

                                  |

                                 F – It is no sob story, as I have been through enough that I consider ONE thing in my life to be that.

                                       |

                                      F – But for this, it was a job, pure and simple. Only it had specific differences from most, even from how it was offered.

                                           |

                                          F – The mage I was tasked with killing, was not a weak magic user as my employer suggested.

                                                |

                                               F – The story deserves more detail than I am willing to give it, but to make this short...

                                                      |

                                                   [PC] Go on, I want to hear this.

                                                           |

                                                          F – I tried to fight, and the bastard used magic to severely break my right arm.

                                                                |

                                                               F – His apprentice, was good with Restoration magic, and with him gone for a few weeks, she was able to heal my injuries.

                                                                     |

                                                                    F – She taught me to use this spell over a normal sword, which was easier for me to use.

                                                                         |

                                                                        F – But if you want the full story, I have a journal you can read.

                                                                             |

                                                                            F – It is not mine, but it does go into more depth than I have.[End Dialog – Gives player Mage Apprentice's Journal]

                                                 [PC] Um, perhaps later.

                                                          |

                                              F – Hey, you did ask about this.

                                                               |

                                                              F – But I have a journal you can read, if you want the story on your own time.

                                                                     |

                                                                    F – It's not mine, but it does tell the story.[End Dialog – Gives player Mage Apprentice's Journal]

 

 

 

Once the player gets that journal, and reads it, a new line will be available, which will actually allow the player to get the quest. Which, is meant to be somewhat simple. Fume has recently heard rumors of this Necromancer being in Skyrim, and she wants to go deal with him. I've titled the quest "Reunion In Death" at this point. However, I'm not sure of a location. 

 

No matter where it is though, the quest title hints at the fact that there is a little more to the situation, such as perhaps, the Necromancer, Soran, having kept his apprentice around...

 

As it is perhaps a focal point of the quest, I've started on that Mage's Apprentice journal, and should not be too much longer with it. 

 

Otherwise, doing the quest will allow the player to simply recruit Fume as a follower any subsequent time, without paying. 

[Blaze69]

So I've been working on Fume's content. [...]

This sounds good, though I'm not so sure about the whole hireling deal.

 

Mainly because IIRC there is only a single female voice with support for the required dialogue, and it's the Dark Elf one, so I would have to change her voice. Either that, or duplicating Jenassa's hiring dialogue line and point it somehow to use one of the voiced shared responses (like "okay, you've talked me into it", "okay, just this once" or "thanks, this is for you"). Probably would have to go for the latter because otherwise I would have to repack a copy Jenassa's voice file with the new ID if I wanted it to be properly played.

 

The idea about the quest sounds good, and the follower-only line to start her quest is nice as well and should be easy to do.

 

Not sure if I will work on it at the moment, though. I'm mostly done with the next update (branded 3.15 for reasons), so I want to do some testing first to make sure everything works well, and then I'll think about uploading it. I should take new pics for the description as well, given the all the changes that have been made since the current ones were taken. Also I've been thinking about creating the previously-mentioned Lite version of the mod for the Nexus, so it would take some work as well (though obviously if it happens, it will be after the main update is out).

 

So, expect the new version up sometime this weekend (probably), but no promises.

[NightroModzz]

When messing around with trying to make a high poly head mesh for normal maps, It just looks terrible when trying to do it in the default tri polygons. I could probably get away with it whith the khajiit heads since fur detail looks better over tri polygons, but not for smooth skin.

 

The high the polycount on tri, the more difficult and wrinkly it is to work with and is around 0.3-0.4 million.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a version that I remeshed to quad, then increased the polycount. Also, remeshing it got rid of the seem lines on the head accept the part I masked under the cheeks or jaw lines. So I am not sure if it will cause problems. I could always try to mimic the seems.

 

The quad version is at 0.889 million.