How to troubleshoot texture problems?

[GlassWizzard]

I don't know of any videos or web pages that show using xEdit to examine a problem like this.

 

Pick an NPC that is having problems with the head. Activate FO3Edit. Click the plus sign next to Project Beauty.esm and then click the plus sign next to Non-Player Character. Find the row with the NPC you want to check. The right hand window will show all the mods that change plugin records for this NPC. See if there are any records that are changed by mods other than Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch.esm, Project Beauty or a Blackened patch that includes Project Beauty content.

OK, I chose Jenny Stahl, in order from left to right the mods I see are

 

1 - Fallout3.esm (purple)

2 - Project Beauty.esm (red)

3 - Scout Outfits.esp (orange)

4 - Bashed Patch (orange).

 

Edit: Also, Jenny Stahl appears red in the list underneath Non-Player Character, also several others are also red, I don't know if red is bad or even relevant here, just thought I'd mention it.

 

Edit 2: I also checked Nova, her name is green in the list but she too is effected, the only two mods on the right for her entry is fallout.esm (in purple) and project beauty.esm (in green).

Edited March 31, 2016 by GlassWizzard

[Kelmych]

I looked in my game and I have the same situation. I'd always considered it to be an "undershirt" worn by NPCs but you're right it shouldn't be that way. The facial textures seem correct but the body ones don't.

[nameerf]

I found a workaround for the male problem (males in rags). Hiding this mesh "\meshes\armor\wastelandsettler03\outfit.nif" and all the textures in "textures\characters\male\" (temporarily, I'll explain later) of the male body mod being used, produces the result being shown in the attached images (currently I use breeze's mod and I haven't tested robert's but I suppose it will work in a similar way).

 

Now, 2 things: First, I know that the result still isn't perfect, that's why I call it a workaround and not a solution. And second and most important, hiding the textures in "textures\characters\male\" will make the male body mod not use any of its textures which will make the PC body ugly and produce some other problems as well.

 

So, for the workaround to work as intended I thought the following solution. Make an esp file with the particular mesh (its Editor ID is OutfitWasteland03) and add a record in the esp to use the vanilla textures. However, I don't know how to make the esp use the vanilla textures. In what record/field I add the texture path location?

 

I'm not an experienced modder (yet ) and still learning new stuff, so a little help would be welcome.

 

Edit: I just realized that the textures in "textures\characters\male\" from the male body mods replace the vanilla ones, so the correct way to do this is to copy and rename the vanilla textures to something else and then use them instead.

Edited April 6, 2016 by nameerf

[nameerf]

OK, I did some more digging and found out that the workaround that I propose isn't going to work. As it turns out, in the esp plugin you "link" the mesh (.nif) file which itself contains the paths for all the corresponding textures that are applied in the mesh (I checked a nif file with nifscope).

 

I also found that the "problematic" textures, namely "upperbodymale*.dds", of the male body mods are quite different (in format) from the vanilla ones (open and compare them to see what I mean) and for this reason there is no possible combination that works, e.g. use the mesh from the male body mod and the vanilla textures (I tested it). With my little knowledge I conclude, that the only way to fix this kind of problem and maybe the one with the females is by editing the .nif file itself (although I might be wrong). But this requires someone with more knowledge than me, a mod author probably.

[Kelmych]

I wonder why there aren't similar reports in FNV since the FNV guide uses similar body mods.

[GlassWizzard]

So does everyone have this problem or is it just certain people?

[EvilMax]

Yes, I have it too, and even sometimes I see fingers near the neck ))) Now I'm thinking too about how to have smooth combination of body replacers with Fallout 3 Redesigned mod.