2015 News: ========== So, aside from all my time being monopolised in setting up my own business, my laptop was destroyed last year. I've literally just managed to summon the will to even bother looking at Skyrim again. If I do go back to modding this I'll need to re-familiarise myself with what I was doing and how I got there. We'll see how it goes. If I haven't touched this by my birthday then I'll seriously consider just passing it on to someone else. I'm in that kind of mood right now.
I did see someone had put up a mod called Northern Overlord or something and it looks like they made a unique beard for that. It might even sway in the wind but I don't know as I haven't checked it. I don't think it matches hair colour yet but I recommend anyone looking for braided beards looks there for the present time.
Glad to hear you're doing well. I've tried to get in tough with the person that did Northern Overload but had no luck, so I'm not sure if they are an option. I've been looking at the person that did the AEsier armor though since he created a new beard for that as well, I might see if he is up for it if that's okay?
If the Aesir armor guy is up for making beards I'll be first in line to download, haha.
I know I'll need to get reacquainted with Blender, my files, TRI files and so on. I'm thinking though that when I do so I might upload the beards on a one by one basis and compile them all at the end. Main question here is this: If I add whole new beard meshes, do people still want the old (current) hack ones kept? I favour discarding them personally, but if people like them I suppose I could keep them included.
Oh, and it looks like Trainwiz is back with Dwemer Spectres. Go forth and enjoy.
Saddly neither of them have responded. But i know nexus messaging isnt something i check all the time so i dont expect anyone else to. I'll let you know if/when they respond. as far as discarding/keeping the old stuff I would keep a backup copy of them just incase you have any problems or someone wants the old ones.
Very Quick Update (16 September 2014): ========================= Since we're almost at a thousand endorsements (yay!) I thought I'd just remind you all I haven't forgotten about this mod. I just haven't had any time to devote to it due to a number of things including a business start-up thing, job hunting, playing ESO and for those of you interested in politics there's an independence referendum in two days time. When things calm down a wee bit I'll be back but I'll likely release new beards incrementally. Also, does anyone know of a mod which makes the Skyrim noses not look like horrible hagraven beaks? If not I'll release a small mod that makes them look normal. I'm not ashamed to admit I much prefer the look of people in ESO, they look less...horrid.
Latest News (30 June 2014): ========================= Bad News: I'll have to make every tri file individually, meaning every single shape in every tri file for every beard needs to be made by me.
Worse News: It appears that when you edit the tri file part of it is mirrored so you need to work backwards. Almost tempting to quit if I wasn't so stubborn. At least I'm learning loads.
"My only consolation is each day to mock the gods who destroyed my race, and condemned me to this bleak existence."
Latest News (30 June 2014): ========================= So it seems a major cause of the problems I'm currently facing (braids not aligning to faces of NPCs) is due to the tri files. I know this because they align well enough with the Nords but with High Elves they're slightly out of place and with Bretons it's just ridiculous. I'll need to figure out how to fix that if we're ever to see a release with braids.
In other news... if I could just figure a scheme of classifying manifolds for TRI-PLY-connected surfaces... or even MORE complex surfaces...
Get prayin' to your gods of Reason and Logic, people.
Latest News (29 June 2014): ========================= So some of you might be wondering what's taking so long and if I've forgotten this. I haven't. My time is quite limited at present but I am still working on these beards. Progress is ongoing although most of the hold up on that front is due to really stupid errors I'm having to solve bit by bit just to keep on moving. Anyone here who's ever tried to mod Skyrim will know what I mean. The tri files in particular are playing havoc with my braids.
So far I have the following:
~ A basic moustache I intend to provide a few variants for people to use since I find the moustaches in game to be quite limited. Also, if you've ever thought the facial hair in game was straggly and unkempt, unbecoming of your noble/imperial status then I hope to give you some tidier variety.
~ Braids I scrapped my original version with fully 3D braids and replaced them with a version based on braids already in game (see Khajiit hairstyles and you'll understand what I mean) so that they match better with Skyrim's style.
What's left is really just tweaking the meshes to look good in the game. This is quite time consuming mainly because of the iterative process I need to go through to test it in game. Blender -> Nifskope -> Conformulator -> CK -> Skyrim is a VERY simplifed version of it. Most of the time I cannot even get things working well in the CK never mind the game! Then it's back to square one.
Anyhoo, I've probably been a bit overly optimistic in suggesting I'd be done sooner than now but I don't believe I've been wildly wrong. You'll see something soon enough, even if it's a version 0.9. Until then I'm open to beard requests. I'll even entertain suggestions that aren't Dwemer themed since I'm thinking of naming some of the options 'The Ayleid' or 'Colovian General' haha.
Until next time, Yagrum Bagarn.
Latest News (8 June 2014): ========================= Scrapped my 3D braid in place of the khajiit braids since it'll fit better with the game's style. I did make the braid mesh a bit better though. Release should be soon, I'm hoping this week.
Yet Another Update - Addition (4 June 2014): ========================= Scrap that last one, I figured it out. Has Vertex Colours should've been set to yes.
Yet Another Update (4 June 2014): ========================= So I've moved on to the second problem of the braid, trying to get it to appear in game. I've remade it in Blender, tried it in NifSkope as both facial hair and as a worn object and both times the mesh is completely invisible. I'm totally stumped by this.
Maybe this mod ought to be Dwemer Moustaches...
Further Update (4 June 2014): ========================= Success! Managed to get the Conformulator to work and even though it gives the message "Converted X of Y morphs" it appears that the moustache works perfectly well in game. This means I can now refine the mesh and release it.
Still to do: ~ Get the braid to show up in game so I can do the beards
~ Attach rings to the braids for that authentic Morrowind feel
~ Make loads of beards
~ Allow donations, devotions and tonal resonance to ensue
Update (4 June 2014): ================== Remade moustache and it still had the same error. A stroke of inspiration made me try the moustache in game as an amulet rather than hair and it works perfectly. This leads me to believe the issue is the TRI file. Currently I can't get the Conformulator to work but I'll keep trying to make a proper TRI for the moustache then release that as a teaser I think. You can then enjoy strolling around Skyrim like the toffs you all know you are.
Progress so far (1 June 2014): ========================= Moustache completed, but looks messed up in game and in CK. 3D Braid completed but doesn't show up at all in game or CK, no idea why. Was able to add a moustache to the Dwemer Centurion Bust you see on walls in the ruins without incident. Hah.
Being a fan of the Dwemer - or at least their beards - I've been keeping an eye on Dwemer race mods but I've always been disappointed with the lack of Dwemer-style beards.
I agree!
I'll download this mod as soon as you manage to fix the alignment problems.
Ooof. As someone who's worked with .tri's you have my sympathy on this. It's really too bad there isn't an easy way to conform all the shapes to the different facial morphs and such.
Did you have an issue with the .tri's whereby the morphs are messed up and any edits you make in a 3D editing program are inverted? For example, to test my ability to edit a .tri in Blender I'll move some vertices directly along the y-axis by a random amount. When viewing in CK the mesh has deformed by the same amount in the opposite direction. Worse, they are not actually on the y-axis but skewed to the side/rotated off of y. I've read that you can invert V of the UV in NifSkope which is supposed to account for the inverted Y axis when editing .tri's but this is unreliable at least in my case. It's really the rotational error that bugs me as I suppose I can always just make tri's backwards. I'll be ridiculously grateful for any help you can offer.
Do you have a basis for the morphs that is identical to the .nif mesh? If you look at head morphs for instance, they have a basis that is the same as the .nif. Each morph key is based on that. I once tried altering the basis, and any edit I made was inverted as you described.
Up until reading this comment I had been creating .tri files via the Conformulator. I've never attempted any editing of the basis. Following your comment I decided to try creating a basis right from the .blend file, skipping the Conformulator entirely. I was able to do this but what I end up with is interesting. The new .tri shows the basis as completely mirrored from the original .blend and rotated to the side. Essentially it's showing in reality what the issue was before (previously the basis showed up at the same rotation as the original .nif but any edits proved this wasn't true in reality). I wonder if it has anything to do with the mesh not being scaled and rotated to obdata once the skeleton is attached?
I might also try rotating this new .tri basis manually (rotate it the right way and add new shape keys) and editing it there to see if I can now manage the issue.
EDIT: It's worth mentioning I think to anyone reading this that it appears the random rotation is exactly -170/190 degrees.
EDIT2: I believe I've solved the .tri issue. I'll still need to edit each one for each beard manually but at least there shouldn't be any more 190 degree rotational error. The solution is to check a million times that the object centre is at the origin and to then apply "Scale and Rotation to Obdata" in Blender. Now I'm sure I've done this before and it worked one time then failed every other time but for now and until definitively shown otherwise I'll call this a solution.
You may use my beards if you credit me and send me a pm with a link to your mod at the end so I can try it out.
If I ever get back to this mod and finish it I might try hairstyles but probably not. Better left to professionals. Remember, I only did this mod because no one else was doing it.
Alright well the mod might be dead but maybe someone will see this. This mod is bugged some actions and effects make the beards in my game go nuts it looks like my beard is exploding off my face other then that i haven't seen any other bugs and it tends to fix it self when you load into a new cell.
Can someone please port this bloody mod to xbox one?! The only thing this guy has on the mods in the dwemer spectrum mod or whatever. And I guess he isnt going to port this mod
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273 comments
==========
So, aside from all my time being monopolised in setting up my own business, my laptop was destroyed last year. I've literally just managed to summon the will to even bother looking at Skyrim again. If I do go back to modding this I'll need to re-familiarise myself with what I was doing and how I got there. We'll see how it goes. If I haven't touched this by my birthday then I'll seriously consider just passing it on to someone else. I'm in that kind of mood right now.
I did see someone had put up a mod called Northern Overlord or something and it looks like they made a unique beard for that. It might even sway in the wind but I don't know as I haven't checked it. I don't think it matches hair colour yet but I recommend anyone looking for braided beards looks there for the present time.
Wish you all a great 2015.
I know I'll need to get reacquainted with Blender, my files, TRI files and so on. I'm thinking though that when I do so I might upload the beards on a one by one basis and compile them all at the end. Main question here is this: If I add whole new beard meshes, do people still want the old (current) hack ones kept? I favour discarding them personally, but if people like them I suppose I could keep them included.
Oh, and it looks like Trainwiz is back with Dwemer Spectres. Go forth and enjoy.
=========================
Since we're almost at a thousand endorsements (yay!) I thought I'd just remind you all I haven't forgotten about this mod. I just haven't had any time to devote to it due to a number of things including a business start-up thing, job hunting, playing ESO and for those of you interested in politics there's an independence referendum in two days time. When things calm down a wee bit I'll be back but I'll likely release new beards incrementally.
Also, does anyone know of a mod which makes the Skyrim noses not look like horrible hagraven beaks? If not I'll release a small mod that makes them look normal. I'm not ashamed to admit I much prefer the look of people in ESO, they look less...horrid.
Latest News (30 June 2014):
=========================
Bad News: I'll have to make every tri file individually, meaning every single shape in every tri file for every beard needs to be made by me.
Worse News: It appears that when you edit the tri file part of it is mirrored so you need to work backwards. Almost tempting to quit if I wasn't so stubborn. At least I'm learning loads.
"My only consolation is each day to mock the gods who destroyed my race, and condemned me to this bleak existence."
Latest News (30 June 2014):
=========================
So it seems a major cause of the problems I'm currently facing (braids not aligning to faces of NPCs) is due to the tri files. I know this because they align well enough with the Nords but with High Elves they're slightly out of place and with Bretons it's just ridiculous. I'll need to figure out how to fix that if we're ever to see a release with braids.
In other news... if I could just figure a scheme of classifying manifolds for TRI-PLY-connected surfaces... or even MORE complex surfaces...
Get prayin' to your gods of Reason and Logic, people.
Latest News (29 June 2014):
=========================
So some of you might be wondering what's taking so long and if I've forgotten this. I haven't. My time is quite limited at present but I am still working on these beards. Progress is ongoing although most of the hold up on that front is due to really stupid errors I'm having to solve bit by bit just to keep on moving. Anyone here who's ever tried to mod Skyrim will know what I mean. The tri files in particular are playing havoc with my braids.
So far I have the following:
~ A basic moustache
I intend to provide a few variants for people to use since I find the moustaches in game to be quite limited. Also, if you've ever thought the facial hair in game was straggly and unkempt, unbecoming of your noble/imperial status then I hope to give you some tidier variety.
~ Braids
I scrapped my original version with fully 3D braids and replaced them with a version based on braids already in game (see Khajiit hairstyles and you'll understand what I mean) so that they match better with Skyrim's style.
What's left is really just tweaking the meshes to look good in the game. This is quite time consuming mainly because of the iterative process I need to go through to test it in game.
Blender -> Nifskope -> Conformulator -> CK -> Skyrim is a VERY simplifed version of it. Most of the time I cannot even get things working well in the CK never mind the game! Then it's back to square one.
Anyhoo, I've probably been a bit overly optimistic in suggesting I'd be done sooner than now but I don't believe I've been wildly wrong. You'll see something soon enough, even if it's a version 0.9. Until then I'm open to beard requests. I'll even entertain suggestions that aren't Dwemer themed since I'm thinking of naming some of the options 'The Ayleid' or 'Colovian General' haha.
Until next time,
Yagrum Bagarn.
Latest News (8 June 2014):
=========================
Scrapped my 3D braid in place of the khajiit braids since it'll fit better with the game's style. I did make the braid mesh a bit better though. Release should be soon, I'm hoping this week.
Yet Another Update - Addition (4 June 2014):
=========================
Scrap that last one, I figured it out. Has Vertex Colours should've been set to yes.
Yet Another Update (4 June 2014):
=========================
So I've moved on to the second problem of the braid, trying to get it to appear in game. I've remade it in Blender, tried it in NifSkope as both facial hair and as a worn object and both times the mesh is completely invisible. I'm totally stumped by this.
Maybe this mod ought to be Dwemer Moustaches...
Further Update (4 June 2014):
=========================
Success! Managed to get the Conformulator to work and even though it gives the message "Converted X of Y morphs" it appears that the moustache works perfectly well in game. This means I can now refine the mesh and release it.
Still to do:
~ Get the braid to show up in game so I can do the beards
~ Attach rings to the braids for that authentic Morrowind feel
~ Make loads of beards
~ Allow donations, devotions and tonal resonance to ensue
Update (4 June 2014):
==================
Remade moustache and it still had the same error. A stroke of inspiration made me try the moustache in game as an amulet rather than hair and it works perfectly. This leads me to believe the issue is the TRI file.
Currently I can't get the Conformulator to work but I'll keep trying to make a proper TRI for the moustache then release that as a teaser I think. You can then enjoy strolling around Skyrim like the toffs you all know you are.
Progress so far (1 June 2014):
=========================
Moustache completed, but looks messed up in game and in CK.
3D Braid completed but doesn't show up at all in game or CK, no idea why.
Was able to add a moustache to the Dwemer Centurion Bust you see on walls in the ruins without incident. Hah.
I agree!
I'll download this mod as soon as you manage to fix the alignment problems.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
Did you have an issue with the .tri's whereby the morphs are messed up and any edits you make in a 3D editing program are inverted? For example, to test my ability to edit a .tri in Blender I'll move some vertices directly along the y-axis by a random amount. When viewing in CK the mesh has deformed by the same amount in the opposite direction. Worse, they are not actually on the y-axis but skewed to the side/rotated off of y.
I've read that you can invert V of the UV in NifSkope which is supposed to account for the inverted Y axis when editing .tri's but this is unreliable at least in my case. It's really the rotational error that bugs me as I suppose I can always just make tri's backwards.
I'll be ridiculously grateful for any help you can offer.
I might also try rotating this new .tri basis manually (rotate it the right way and add new shape keys) and editing it there to see if I can now manage the issue.
EDIT: It's worth mentioning I think to anyone reading this that it appears the random rotation is exactly -170/190 degrees.
EDIT2: I believe I've solved the .tri issue. I'll still need to edit each one for each beard manually but at least there shouldn't be any more 190 degree rotational error. The solution is to check a million times that the object centre is at the origin and to then apply "Scale and Rotation to Obdata" in Blender. Now I'm sure I've done this before and it worked one time then failed every other time but for now and until definitively shown otherwise I'll call this a solution.
Back to creating beards then.
Like in these pictures:
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/058/1/1/tes__dwemer_centurion_by_coupleofkooks-d4r5ftx.jpg
http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/350/0/f/one_dwemer_by_lokyl-d5o6lrc.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/036/8/e/dwemer_spell_by_davinarfel-d5typhl.jpg
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/034/3/6/dwemer_sketch2_by_dead_wizard-d5tq8ea.jpg
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffc04.deviantart.net%2Ffs71%2Ff%2F2013%2F290%2Ff%2Fb%2Fdwemer_by_laamdt-d6qsapg.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Flaamdt.deviantart.com%2Fart%2FDwemer-407787316&h=950&w=782&tbnid=juxnsZod-yaJZM%3A&zoom=1&docid=vaU6UiTpqYALnM&ei=Ib5aVP_5BYLDPIeNgZAK&tbm=isch&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=181&page=4&start=67&ndsp=24&ved=0CPoBEK0DMEQ
Greetings,
Asmodai
If I ever get back to this mod and finish it I might try hairstyles but probably not. Better left to professionals. Remember, I only did this mod because no one else was doing it.
May I have your permission to import this mod to xcom2? Of course credit will be given.
Thanks in advance.