Custom Races and Mod compatibility?

[Photonix]

Hey folks just a simple question. I've never used a custom race like that before, I was thinking of giving this: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/22903 a go, so I was curious as to weather certain mods might not work with custom races and what kind of mods they might be?

[Photonix]

Hm I thought there would be a good few people on here that might use custom races! I guess they are not as popular as I thought?

[Blaze69]

Okay, for future reference, custom races have three main areas of "uncompatiibility" that you should take into account when using them:

• Transformations (aka Vampire, Vampire Lord and Werewolf), because during those events the game swaps the player either into a monster race (VL/WW) or into a Vampire version of their standard race (regular vampires), and there needs to be a script that tells the game which one was the non-vanilla original race before transformation or which race is the vampire equivalent of each custom one, respectively. This is easy to know, because the mod author usually states if the race is vampire compatible. Usually if the race requires RaceCompatibility, you know this is not a problem (though there are some mods that include their own standalone vampire fix).
• Armor visibility. Skyrim has a list for each armor model that holds all the races that can wear that armor mesh, and your race needs to either be on that list or set up a CK option that uses another race (vanilla or otherwise) as the reference. The custom race needs to be properly set up so that it uses a matching vanilla race as reference in order for any mod-added gear to work as intended. Note that this is usually only an issue for beast races, because human/humanoid races all use the exact same meshes, so there is no worry there.
• Quests or scripts that check for the player's race. Obviously, they can only check for vanilla races, so using a custom race can cause the script to fail. All vanilla occurrences of this are fixed either by the Unofficial Patches or RaceCompatibility, and any such script included in mods usually include a failsafe/placeholder option for custom races, so it's not that much of a problem, but you should keep it in mind.

Since the race you mention is a human one and has support for RaceCompatibility, you should be good to go.

[Photonix]

Okay, for future reference, custom races have three main areas of "uncompatiibility" that you should take into account when using them:

• Transformations (aka Vampire, Vampire Lord and Werewolf), because during those events the game swaps the player either into a monster race (VL/WW) or into a Vampire version of their standard race (regular vampires), and there needs to be a script that tells the game which one was the non-vanilla original race before transformation or which race is the vampire equivalent of each custom one, respectively. This is easy to know, because the mod author usually states if the race is vampire compatible. Usually if the race requires RaceCompatibility, you know this is not a problem (though there are some mods that include their own standalone vampire fix).
• Armor visibility. Skyrim has a list for each armor model that holds all the races that can wear that armor mesh, and your race needs to either be on that list or set up a CK option that uses another race (vanilla or otherwise) as the reference. The custom race needs to be properly set up so that it uses a matching vanilla race as reference in order for any mod-added gear to work as intended. Note that this is usually only an issue for beast races, because human/humanoid races all use the exact same meshes, so there is no worry there.
• Quests or scripts that check for the player's race. Obviously, they can only check for vanilla races, so using a custom race can cause the script to fail. All vanilla occurrences of this are fixed either by the Unofficial Patches or RaceCompatibility, and any such script included in mods usually include a failsafe/placeholder option for custom races, so it's not that much of a problem, but you should keep it in mind.

Since the race you mention is a human one and has support for RaceCompatibility, you should be good to go.

Ok brilliant thanks for the feed-back! So I need this RaceComp mod to make sure the custom one works well with the game / other mods?

[ChaosZen]

 I like to use Temptress Race by Psychos1s and Brokefoot  

(Available at Nexus)

 

I like the looks of the character presets (I'm not really much into fantasy, anime, or non-human looks of many other custom races, but that's just my own preferences, and there are many other good races that just aren't really my own style.

I also like that the race mod includes several potential Temptress race followers, and that the race comes with two voice type spells, one to calm every attacker in the area, with stronger effect than the similar vanilla "calm" spell, as well as an opposite spell to make everything hostile much like a high powered "frenzy" effect.

What I like most, though, is the included outfit pieces, which I will load the mod and use even when not choosing to select the race for my PC.

 

​However, when it comes to incompatibilities, they are typically "soft" for the most part and can be ignored, nothing serious like game crashes, freezes, or broken quests. The "incompatibilities" that I've discovered have more to do with many mods that use race-specific values, simply do not include or make settings available for custom races, for example, in the adult mods allowing for prostitution, slavery or similar price of actions, earnings, or other, having bonus or penalties for different races, playing a custom race often means all other races get a value adjustment or multiplier added, while all custom races are defaulted to "0".

 

Another issue that I am having, but not likely specific to the Temptress race, is that I still cannot get body sliders to work for any in-game mod adjustments such as for pregnancy. This issue could more likely be due to wanting features from a large number of mods, some of which require a specific skeleton or body mesh, and others requiring a different mesh or skeleton, and the details and requirements of some of those mods being unclear or confusing.