Hopefully this helps For those with no idea how to create or modify patches, here is a good tutorial from Phaedrathallassa : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEbW1Eqbus
That's great, thank you, but i have 1 question i was trying to find answer to (the exact reason i ended up here): For example, i have overhaul A and B. Overhaul A does a 500 NPC, while overhaul B does 50 NPC but much better, that overhaul A, so i place B at the end of the load order. But there is issue: Few NPC from B was done worse, that the same few from A, so i want to keep their appearance from A, despite other 48 NPC from B being superb. If i simpy delete those 2 reference from B using SSEEdit, i get those npc's blackfaced no matter what.
Does this issue have anything to do with matters ur described or i've looking in the wrong place? Also watched the pinned video, thats didnt helped me unfortunately.
Upd: part of your own comment: "It is possible to not overwrite an NPC from another overhaul further up the chain, but that does require deleting facegen and records in the higher priority mods. For more info, you can go here: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/36840" Exactly what i am looking for)
Upd 2: Mixing faces from different overhauls without blackface bug requires creating patch (following the video), PLUS copying facegendata (nif and dds), in this new patch's folder or deleting its manually from folder of mod that you dont wish to use. I am sure there is better and faster way to do it somewhere, i stick with this solution right now)
So You have NPC overhauls A through to G, all of which have a version of Lydia.If I want to keep Lydia from mod B, that is being overwritten by all the Lydia's with a higher priority, in this case, mod C through to G, you need to delete the records in xedit, under npc tab, the 000A2C8E record for Lydia, that is from mod C and any other mods D, E, F, and G that overwrite the specific Lydia you want to keep from mod B. Then you have to go into the assets of the relevant mods (mods C to G) and delete the facegen files for that npc in both textures and meshes. So in this case, in each subsequent mod, C through to G, you have to delete A2C8E.nif in meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\skyrim.esm and A2C8E.dds in textures\actors\character\facegendata\facetint\skyrim.esm. After all that, Lydia from mod b should show ingame. Or as an alternative, you can forward the record of Lydia from mod B into a new esp and make a new mod. You will then have to copy, from mod B, the textures\actors\character\facegendata\facetint\skyrim.esm\A2C8E.dds as well as the meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\skyrim.esm\000A2C8E.nif into the appropriate folders for the new mod for Lydia. This new mod (mod H) is then placed after mod G.Either way will work. This of course will work with any npc or number of NPCs, so long as they are the last loaded record(s) and asset for the specific NPCs you are editing. Note: only the asset facegeom mesh and facetint texture is required. The esp from mod B, or the new mod you created, will tell the game where to find the rest of the assets. I hope this helps
Just read it. The download is just a text file to enable endorsements. This is a tutorial not a real mod. You can read it with notepad or any other txt editor.
Where did you get the "merge plugins hide" plugin? It's missing from my MO2 ( settings->Plugins doesn't have it )?
This guide would probably be better as a video to add the visual component people can follow through. It seems pretty legit but trying to visualize the steps in the applications while also reading the steps makes it harder to follow.
Other than that, it seems pretty darn good. I'm leaning towards making a conflict resolution mod that brings forward the features I want from each NPC overhaul mod. Great tip on including files from each mod as well.
This guide probably would work well with a video component. Unfortunately, that's outside my own experience and i really don't have any time or interest in learning the stuff it would require.
thank you so so so much for this! i struggle to understand most instructions and tend to f things up commonly but you explained so clearly and it turned out perfect! <3
So I think I am starting to understand the steps, but posting the specifics to make sure I am on the right track.
I am getting blackface from RedBag's Solitude added kids at the docks (only) when paired with RS Children and Realistic RS Children Overhaul. Everything about the kids looks right (they look like RS Children) except for face color. My sense is that Redbag children need the vanilla meshes/textures/facemaps. Is it a matter of placing the Redbag children before the RS children so they get the vanilla models and data? I don't mind them looking like vanilla kids if the faces can be fixed.
I think what this means is that I need to separate out the kids records from the redbag esp and delete those same kids records in the redbag esp, then move the new esp above RS Children's esm. If there's easy way to keep the RS Children and fix faces that's okay too, but it really seems Redbag's doesn't like the changes in RSChildren's esm...
I don't think you can have vanilla children if you use RS Children. I don't know all the details of RS Children and how it works, but the RSchildren.esm loads very high. I would check to see if the actual tintmasks for the kids is in the proper folder. (Sometimes they get forgotten and never included), but I suspect you need an RS children patch for those kids to avoid black faces. I sometimes use children from other patches and modify the esp and formids to make my own RS children patches if I can't find a patch for them. I misread your post initially, so everything below is just additional info.
Check the pathing of the RSchildren redbag patch. Some RS Children get black face because the patches are improperly made. The last folder before the actual tintmask/facegem sometimes have improper path names. If a child or npc comes from the Hearthfire DLC then that last folder name should be hearthfire.esm If someone makes a mod that references vanilla children, then the proper path isn't "that mods name". Vanilla children should always be placed in a folder that is called Skyrim.esm, Dawngaurd.esm, Hearthfire.esm or Dragonborn.esm. I haven't looked at the RS children Redbag patch, but if you look at the texture and mesh pathing for the facegen in Redbags children patch, the facegen pathing should look like this:
You see that at the end of the line is skyrim.esm. That is because that is the originating esp/esm of that npc. NPC's should always be in a folder that reflects which esp/esm they originate in otherwise the game doesn't know how to match up the formids, resulting in a black face. Often you will see that there are multiple folders for the DLC in the texture or meshes NPC paths. That is because different NPCs originate in different DLCs. Dawnguard introduces brand new NPCs that are not in the skyrim.esm, therefore, thier path name alway ends with dawnguard.esm\ 000XXXXX.dds or 000XXXXX.nif. Same with Hearthfire.esm and Dragonborn.esm
An NPC that originates in a mod that isn't vanilla, must always have the originating mod in the path. Arthmoor's Keld-Nar village is an example. He introduces 7 new NPCs in the village. They originate from the Keld-Nar.esp. Therefore, the proper path name for those 7 npcs will always be Textures\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\Keld-Nar.esp\000XXXXX.dds and Meshes\Actors\Character\FaceGenData\FaceGeom\Keld-Nar.esp\000XXXXX.nif
In Redbags Solitude, unless he introduces brand new NPCs, children or adult, the proper path name will always be one or more of the vanilla esms. If he does introduce brand new NPCs, then only those new NPCs would go into a Redbags Solitude.esp folder. All the rest of the npcs he references will go into their proper vanilla folder.
Yes, these are brand new NPCs, so I think they fall into the 2nd category where the folder name needs to be the same name as the originating mod's esp (RedBag's Solitude.esp). I did notice it was all lowercase in the bsa, so changed it to match the case of the plugin, and created a loose file archive of Redbag's actor meshes/textures and added it to the load order:
Unfortunately, there's no patch yet for RBS, so I am on my own here! I took your advice and looked at a few other patches to RS Children to see what they are doing, and I do notice they remove the not found tint and change to face tint 24.... I see the message <Tint Layer index not found in NordRaceChild "Nord Child" [RACE FormID]> in several patches and in RedBag, but everything else looks okay -- there's valid Face Morphs, Face Parts and Head Parts for all.
I did my best to match what the other patches seem to be doing, which is add the Tint Layer 24 that RS Children seems to be using, but it doesn't seem to help with the darkface. I also tried going into the CK and exporting the children records, and I do notice it is reporting the below lines:
TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen tint map TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen detail map
This leads me to believe I may need to copy RS Children's textures over to RedBag's texture folder (my loose file archive)? Possibly the meshes as well?
I don't think the folders are case sensitive, I am pretty sure they are not, but not 100% As far as there being no patch, it is easy enough to make a patch, using the assets from other patches. It is really just about renaming formids in the esp and in assets to match the formid's from redbags Solitude. Not as good as making them from scratch, but I actually have no idea how to make a patch from scratch. I have downloaded quite a few patches for RS Children and mods I don't use to give me a selection of kids to choose from. I typically match up the race and gender of the kid to be patched, with a kid from one of those unused patches. It isn't optimal perhaps, but at least I don't have black faced kids.
I have no idea about: TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen tint map TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen detail map its just a little above my paygrade. I hope you get it figured out.
Well, just tried this, and it fixed the problem -- now I just want to know what it did! https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/42441
EDIT: So what I've been trying to do (unsuccessfully) is re-establish the discarded tint data. From that mod's description:
This mod prevents the game from discarding tint data, so when errors are encountered, it will regenerate faces with correct colors.
There's probably a piece in the esp or files that's missing that I'm unable to find or generate, but if preventing the discard altogether solves the problem, it seems like a good solution.
And this post sheds some serious light: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5058675-missing-facegen-tint-map-etc-when-editing-vanilla-npc-in-se-ck/page-2#entry50412172
I really appreciate you explaining this because SSE is a bear to mod with NPC overhauls. What I've done before (although it was in FO4) is I load all my NPC overhauls in xEdit and I simply go through the NPC records and completely delete the NPC from that mod that I don't want. I can't be arsed to go through all the detailed files they have. Just rip that entire NPC out of the mod. Easy peasy.
you can do it that way, though so long as your asset order matches your esp order exactly, the assets and the esp records will overwrite those above without any issues. It is essentially the same thing without the extra steps.
EDIT: I have started modding FO4 and while very similiar it is different enough that I haven't verified this system works. FO4 is slightly different in how it deals with facegen
Thanks for the guide, but there's one thing I'm confused about. Should I make a conflict resolution patch before merging and include it in my merge, or should I resolve conflicts after?
It depends on what conflicts you are trying to resolve. To the best of my knowledge, the conflicts created by different NPC overhauls are essentially resolved by load order. Conflicts created by mods such as AI-overhaul, or CRF can be resolved with patches in the merge or after the merge process by creating a patch for the npcs that need it. Both systems work fine. I tend to patch the NPC overhaul directly at the time of download or pre merge. It is a lot more work, because you have to patch each overhaul, but once it is done, you can rebuild the merge at any time without having to repatch it. Patching after the merge is less work initially, but requires repatching every time you rebuild the merge. Sometimes there are other mods that also need to be patched because they change aspects of the NPCs. If you have a static Skyrim Build, you can patch them directly into the merge. If on the other hand you have multiple builds that change frequently, I find it better to patch those npcs after the merge. Either way works. I hope this answers your question
Give Feedback
43 comments
For those with no idea how to create or modify patches, here is a good tutorial from Phaedrathallassa : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olEbW1Eqbus
For example, i have overhaul A and B. Overhaul A does a 500 NPC, while overhaul B does 50 NPC but much better, that overhaul A, so i place B at the end of the load order. But there is issue: Few NPC from B was done worse, that the same few from A, so i want to keep their appearance from A, despite other 48 NPC from B being superb. If i simpy delete those 2 reference from B using SSEEdit, i get those npc's blackfaced no matter what.
Does this issue have anything to do with matters ur described or i've looking in the wrong place? Also watched the pinned video, thats didnt helped me unfortunately.
Upd: part of your own comment:
"It is possible to not overwrite an NPC from another overhaul further up the chain, but that does require deleting facegen and records in the higher priority mods. For more info, you can go here: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/36840"
Exactly what i am looking for)
Upd 2:
Mixing faces from different overhauls without blackface bug requires creating patch (following the video), PLUS copying facegendata (nif and dds), in this new patch's folder or deleting its manually from folder of mod that you dont wish to use. I am sure there is better and faster way to do it somewhere, i stick with this solution right now)
Or as an alternative, you can forward the record of Lydia from mod B into a new esp and make a new mod. You will then have to copy, from mod B, the textures\actors\character\facegendata\facetint\skyrim.esm\A2C8E.dds as well as the meshes\actors\character\facegendata\facegeom\skyrim.esm\000A2C8E.nif into the appropriate folders for the new mod for Lydia. This new mod (mod H) is then placed after mod G.Either way will work. This of course will work with any npc or number of NPCs, so long as they are the last loaded record(s) and asset for the specific NPCs you are editing.
Note: only the asset facegeom mesh and facetint texture is required. The esp from mod B, or the new mod you created, will tell the game where to find the rest of the assets.
I hope this helps
This guide would probably be better as a video to add the visual component people can follow through. It seems pretty legit but trying to visualize the steps in the applications while also reading the steps makes it harder to follow.
Other than that, it seems pretty darn good. I'm leaning towards making a conflict resolution mod that brings forward the features I want from each NPC overhaul mod. Great tip on including files from each mod as well.
This guide probably would work well with a video component. Unfortunately, that's outside my own experience and i really don't have any time or interest in learning the stuff it would require.
Glad you like it and hope it helps.
I am getting blackface from RedBag's Solitude added kids at the docks (only) when paired with RS Children and Realistic RS Children Overhaul. Everything about the kids looks right (they look like RS Children) except for face color. My sense is that Redbag children need the vanilla meshes/textures/facemaps. Is it a matter of placing the Redbag children before the RS children so they get the vanilla models and data? I don't mind them looking like vanilla kids if the faces can be fixed.
I think what this means is that I need to separate out the kids records from the redbag esp and delete those same kids records in the redbag esp, then move the new esp above RS Children's esm. If there's easy way to keep the RS Children and fix faces that's okay too, but it really seems Redbag's doesn't like the changes in RSChildren's esm...
Check the pathing of the RSchildren redbag patch. Some RS Children get black face because the patches are improperly made. The last folder before the actual tintmask/facegem sometimes have improper path names. If a child or npc comes from the Hearthfire DLC then that last folder name should be hearthfire.esm If someone makes a mod that references vanilla children, then the proper path isn't "that mods name". Vanilla children should always be placed in a folder that is called Skyrim.esm, Dawngaurd.esm, Hearthfire.esm or Dragonborn.esm. I haven't looked at the RS children Redbag patch, but if you look at the texture and mesh pathing for the facegen in Redbags children patch, the facegen pathing should look like this:
Textures\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\skyrim.esm.
You see that at the end of the line is skyrim.esm. That is because that is the originating esp/esm of that npc. NPC's should always be in a folder that reflects which esp/esm they originate in otherwise the game doesn't know how to match up the formids, resulting in a black face. Often you will see that there are multiple folders for the DLC in the texture or meshes NPC paths. That is because different NPCs originate in different DLCs. Dawnguard introduces brand new NPCs that are not in the skyrim.esm, therefore, thier path name alway ends with dawnguard.esm\ 000XXXXX.dds or 000XXXXX.nif. Same with Hearthfire.esm and Dragonborn.esm
An NPC that originates in a mod that isn't vanilla, must always have the originating mod in the path. Arthmoor's Keld-Nar village is an example. He introduces 7 new NPCs in the village. They originate from the Keld-Nar.esp. Therefore, the proper path name for those 7 npcs will always be Textures\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\Keld-Nar.esp\000XXXXX.dds and Meshes\Actors\Character\FaceGenData\FaceGeom\Keld-Nar.esp\000XXXXX.nif
In Redbags Solitude, unless he introduces brand new NPCs, children or adult, the proper path name will always be one or more of the vanilla esms. If he does introduce brand new NPCs, then only those new NPCs would go into a Redbags Solitude.esp folder. All the rest of the npcs he references will go into their proper vanilla folder.
Yes, these are brand new NPCs, so I think they fall into the 2nd category where the folder name needs to be the same name as the originating mod's esp (RedBag's Solitude.esp). I did notice it was all lowercase in the bsa, so changed it to match the case of the plugin, and created a loose file archive of Redbag's actor meshes/textures and added it to the load order:
Meshes\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceGeom\RedBag's Solitude.esp\
Textures\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\RedBag's Solitude.esp\
Unfortunately, there's no patch yet for RBS, so I am on my own here!
I did my best to match what the other patches seem to be doing, which is add the Tint Layer 24 that RS Children seems to be using, but it doesn't seem to help with the darkface. I also tried going into the CK and exporting the children records, and I do notice it is reporting the below lines:
TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen tint map
TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen detail map
This leads me to believe I may need to copy RS Children's textures over to RedBag's texture folder (my loose file archive)? Possibly the meshes as well?
As far as there being no patch, it is easy enough to make a patch, using the assets from other patches. It is really just about renaming formids in the esp and in assets to match the formid's from redbags Solitude. Not as good as making them from scratch, but I actually have no idea how to make a patch from scratch. I have downloaded quite a few patches for RS Children and mods I don't use to give me a selection of kids to choose from. I typically match up the race and gender of the kid to be patched, with a kid from one of those unused patches. It isn't optimal perhaps, but at least I don't have black faced kids.
I have no idea about:
TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen tint map
TEXTURES: childhead.nif : ChildHead is missing a facegen detail map
its just a little above my paygrade. I hope you get it figured out.
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/42441
EDIT: So what I've been trying to do (unsuccessfully) is re-establish the discarded tint data. From that mod's description:
There's probably a piece in the esp or files that's missing that I'm unable to find or generate, but if preventing the discard altogether solves the problem, it seems like a good solution.
And this post sheds some serious light:
https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/5058675-missing-facegen-tint-map-etc-when-editing-vanilla-npc-in-se-ck/page-2#entry50412172
Unless that is something I'll regret later?
EDIT: I have started modding FO4 and while very similiar it is different enough that I haven't verified this system works. FO4 is slightly different in how it deals with facegen
Either way works.
I hope this answers your question
Good luck