Editing existing NPCs in CK (I need an esp!)

[herdustisverypretty]

My friend and I have been working on making our own NPC replacers, and we've figured almost everything out so far (exporting the facegen in CK, merging the nifs - it was a nightmare). We got that far, so I now have the newly merged nif/dds files ready to replace the NPC. But I'm pretty sure I need an esp to actually change anything. So.. uh... how do I make one? 

 

Since I'm editing an existing NPC, not creating a new one like this tutorial is for, I'm not really sure how I'm meant to get the esp that actually changes things. 

So if someone nice could help me out here ^^; that'd be great. 

[Andy14]

Purely theoretically you can also create in the following still an ESP.

Adjust all settings for hair, lips, eyes, makeup etc. for the NPC in CK.

DO NOT export with CTRL + F4.

 

Or Export and overwrite later. (you must save the ESP fbefore your export)

 

Save as ESP (e.g., MyNPC.esp)

 

Then manually create the folders for meshes and textures.

 

Textures: Data\Textures\Actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\MyNPC.esp

 

Meshes: Data\Meshes\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceGeom\MyNPC.esp

 

Now copy all your meshes and textures in this folders.

As Filename use the ID from NPC

[ButchDiavolo]

The way I usually do it involves TES5Edit and CK. Probably not the most efficient way to do it though.

 

Open TES5Edit, select the esp/esm that has the NPCs you want to change

Find and select the NPCs you want to change

Right click and select "Copy as override into..."

Give the name of the esp you want to use

Close TES5Edit and Save (no backup needed as it is a new esp)

 

Then open CK with the esp you just made as the active file and adjust npcs to your liking.

Make sure you load the esp you made below the mod you copied them from, so the meshes and textures override the originals.

[herdustisverypretty]

 

Purely theoretically you can also create in the following still an ESP.

Adjust all settings for hair, lips, eyes, makeup etc. for the NPC in CK.

DO NOT export with CTRL + F4.

 

Or Export and overwrite later. (you must save the ESP fbefore your export)

 

Save as ESP (e.g., MyNPC.esp)

 

Then manually create the folders for meshes and textures.

 

Textures: Data\Textures\Actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\MyNPC.esp

 

Meshes: Data\Meshes\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceGeom\MyNPC.esp

 

Now copy all your meshes and textures in this folders.

As Filename use the ID from NPC

 

 

The only way I can export the facegen is if I make the esp of the NPC an esm, so how do I save it without making it require the new esm and instead just the original esp? 

[Andy14]

Esm is not required, Esp is sufficient.

 

But be it:

With TES5Edit, an ESP can be made into a Master file.

 

This is also possible with CK.

Trick for CK:

1. Rename your Mod.ESP to Mod.ESM - in the Data folder.

2. Now open CK and activate your Mod.ESM - it is not yet a correct masterfile - so activate.

3. When CK has finished loading - leave CK open - change to Data and delete the Mod.ESM

4. Change back to CK - and save. CK now creates a proper ESM