ACCEPTED Gemling Queen Dragon Claws (by Saerileth)

[DoubleYou]

Hmmm... I had seen the update, but didn't realize that it would affect it this way.

[onem4nb4nd]

Did this just get forgotten about? I have been somewhat blindly following the STEP:extended installation due to the sheer immense amount of mods incorporated yet I luckily noticed the incompatibility of these two mods. It might be worth just adding a note to the STEP guide that you can't simply install them both anymore. #usefulnecro?

[Sahana]

Same here. I'm working through STEP for the first time, and just happened to notice this conflict (and ultimately, the solution) while looking over the mod's Nexus page. Would probably be a good idea to add a note about it in the STEP guide.

[WilliamImm]

I've asked Saerileth to contact raiserfx about bundling the RCI 2.7 dragonclaw textures within the mod because of this rather complicated workaround. Hopefully, raiserfx is willing to let his textures be used in this instance.

[Saerileth]

I'll take care of a proper compatibility patch after my exam session, sometime in February. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Sahana]

Sounds wonderful. I'm really amazed at the passionate work that some of you folks put into this, both in creating the mods and in helping make it available to the rest of us  :-)

[TechAngel85]

This doesn't work properly in STEP? I haven't opened Saerileth's meshes in nifskope, but it looks like this mod overwrites the meshes from RCI in STEP. If the meshes provided my Saerileth point to the textures provided with the mod in the custom directory and not the default texture paths, then this shouldn't be an issue as long as this mod is loaded after RCI so that it wins the conflicts. If that is the case, what am I missing here?

[Saerileth]

I don't point the base claw textures at a custom directory, only the new gem parts (which didn't have a proper texture at all). So without RCI, the claws just use vanilla textures for the base. With RCI 2.8, those textures get replaced with something that has a completely different layout, which only works if you also use raiserfx's meshes. Either mod on it's own is fine, but without a compatibility patch using both will result in weird, mismatched textures on the metal bases.

[DoYouEvenModBro]

What exactly is the issue here? There's a conflict that overwrites one of the benefits of RCI?

[Saerileth]

No. The issue here is that as of version 2.8, RCI includes dragon claw meshes (and textures) with a different UV map than vanilla. For those unfamiliar with UVs, that's the layout of the textures - raiserfx scaled the entire texture to the left half of the file to make room for his own gem textures. Why he couldn't just separate the meshes and point the gems at custom textures the way I did is beyond me, but that's besides the point. The problem is that these textures still use the same texture path as the vanilla claw textures.

 

The important bit here is that RCI 2.8 claw textures are incompatible with Gemling Queen meshes. In fact, they will only work with the meshes included in RCI 2.8. Now if you install my meshes, they do not include their own textures for the metal base (by design, I wanted to stay compatible to other texture replacers). When you install RCI 2.8, your mod installer of choice will report a conflict about the meshes, but it will simply install the RCI textures, because it doesn't notice the dependancy there. My meshes will expect claw textures in the vanilla texture path and will use anything it finds there, which incidentally happens to be the RCI 2.8 textures for S.T.E.P users. My meshes try to map the entire texture to the claws, not just the left half - it will not work right.

 

If anyone still can't follow this explanation, just open the RCI 2.8 textures alongside the vanilla ones, you will immediately see the difference. I don't know how else to explain.

 

To fix this problem, either a) don't use the RCI 2.8 claw textures (just delete them after install) - this will make the claws use ugly vanilla textures, b) use another replacer for the claw textures and install on top of RCI (you can even use the old RCI 2.7 textures, if you can find them) or c) wait for me to update my meshes to use raiserfxs weird UV layout.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Saerileth

[DoYouEvenModBro]

So if I just disable the claw textures in RCI 2.8, and then use your mod, i'll be good?

[Saerileth]

Yes.

[DoYouEvenModBro]

Thx. Should I hide the RCI 2.8 Meshes too or no? Just the textures?

Edited January 16, 2015 by DoYouEvenModBro

[TechAngel85]

Okay, thanks for the clarification. I'll add this to my to-do list.

[Sahana]

There's a really clear explanation of the problem and the current solution in the mod's Nexus page (in the "posts" section, above five threads down from the top). As a total newbie, I didn't have any trouble at all understanding and applying it. So, from my perspective, while Saerileth is finishing up exams, people could be told to either just skip this one or else go there and read about the workaround.