[NSFW] STEP Female Body Replacer

[Smile44]

Definitely weird about UNPB causing a CTD, not that it is the ideal for STEP - personally not a huge fan of any of these. I don't think any of them match the improvement from Better Males and there does seem to be a good deal of grey face here and there (or at least hints of it). CHHF 2.5 looks best overall, but not keen on the eradication of the breasts. Though warrior women would wear the equivalent of a sports bra especially if wearing armour (chafing), most women wouldn't the rest of the time.

 

Still the key is a good base to start from for STEP. I would tend to stick with the SR solution for myself though.

 

[kryptopyr]

The only time I see underwear in the game is when I'm stripping a dead NPC of armor.  Very rarely do I bother taking clothes, and I don't tend to kill many civilians, so I guess my bias is toward something that women would wear under armor.

 

@Tech

What was the body weight for the female in the screenshots?  Do you know if CNHF 2.5 alters breast size at all based on the weight slider?  From the (non-SWF) images on the mod page, it looks like the breast size stays pretty consistent across various weights for Base CNHF.  However, it looks like it might vary more (maybe from A at 0 to D at 100) when using the D-cup CNHF 2.5.  If this is the case (and assuming the SWF version follows suit), perhaps the D-cup version would provide more variability to the females in game?

[TechAngel85]

There are two "Safe for Work" patches that adds the bras. One is for A cup size (that is in the pictures) and the other is for D cup size. I figured the A cup would be closer to vanilla and less likely to clip. These women's weight is in the center of the bar. They could go a skinnier or bigger. From what I can tell you only have the two choice as for as breast size; however, I can double check when I get home from work.

[z929669]

UNPB does not cause issues at all, so there is something wrong with the asset mapping probably. See Neo's install recommendations for that one. I use it in a couple of my MO profiles without issue. Need that one in the compares for sure.

 

Don't vanilla male & female meshes share armor meshes? I would also rather use something that will work with vanilla-compatible armors (i.e., unisex armor). I don't think that female-shaped armor is at all realistic (wide hips, pinched waist, wide breastplate).

[WilliamImm]

IIRC, a lot of armors had separate male and female versions. I don't recall if there were any unisex ones in the vanilla game.

[Neovalen]

They have separate mesh paths male and female for armors. No unisex to my knowledge.

 

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[z929669]

OK, I demonstrate my ignorance I guess :P

 

Then I modify my above post to mean that any improved female body mesh should be compatible with vanilla clothing and armors (and hence all of the current STEP armor texture / mesh replacers).

[redirishlord]

z929669, on 09 Apr 2014 - 10:38 AM, said:z929669, on 09 Apr 2014 - 10:38 AM, said:z929669, on 09 Apr 2014 - 10:38 AM, said:z929669, on 09 Apr 2014 - 10:38 AM, said:

OK, I demonstrate my ignorance I guess :P

 

Then I modify my above post to mean that any improved female body mesh should be compatible with vanilla clothing and armors (and hence all of the current STEP armor texture / mesh replacers).

That compatibility seems critically important, IMHO the primary job of the STEP:Core body replacer is to eliminate seams and otherwise improve on vanilla (as Better Males from STEP:Core does), anything beyond that gets into personal taste and is better suited to STEP:Packs.

 

FWIW I'm getting good results, with regard to neck seams and general appearance from the following combination (installed in this order with Wrye/BAIN) -

ApachiiSkyHair_v_1_5_Full-10168-1-5-Full  (from ApachiiSkyHair's Optional downloads)

UNP BASE Main body V1dot2-6709  (NSFW, and you appear to have it already so no link here)

UNPB Installer (various options, ditto the above)

ApachiiSkyHair_Patch_UNP_CBBE_BodySize_0-10168-1-4

Ethereal Elven Overhaul (DG/DB & freckled texture for UNP)

coverwomen look_4-3563-2-0

seamless UNP and Coverwomen Look_4-3563  (from Coverwomen's Optional downloads)

Sub Surface Full Body Map BODYsk for Head and Hands - Map is half bright-30050-1-0

 

This is with Serenity's default enbseries values (subsurface scattering, etc.). No screenshots, just an fyi if your looking for suggestions for your own testing.

Edited April 10, 2014 by redirishlord

[TechAngel85]

No go... UNPB is crashing the game every time with Neo's recommendations as well. Even with nothing active but that mod in my vanilla profile. Deactivate the mod and it's fine. Start a new game and it's fine. Activate the mod and load a previous save=CTD every time.

 

EDIT:

Scratch that. FNIS wasn't active in my vanilla profile.  It's working now. I'll have the compares up shortly...was unsure if I needed to install the skin texture for UNPB so I just did it as I did for the others.

[CJ2311]

May I suggest selecting a single texture pack and making compares of all the body mods with that same texture, for extra accuracy? (since the thead is about mesh replacers at the moment)

[TechAngel85]

OP updated with compares so go to the OP to see them now. UNPB added.
 
UNPB makes the ladies shorter and petite...as with CNHF 1.0, I'm not sure of it's vanilla compatibility because of this change.
 

May I suggest selecting a single texture pack and making compares of all the body mods with that same texture, for extra accuracy? (since the thead is about mesh replacers at the moment)

That is a whole different park because we'd have to find one that fits over all the replacers without issues; everything from vanilla to CNHF to UNPB. As you can see the meshes are quite different on a few so I doubt there is a one-size-fits-all texture to do that.

[CJ2311]

Well Mature Skin - UNP version works on vanilla, UNP, UNPB and Prometheus. I don't know about CNHF though. But I'm sure there are other texture mods that have versions for all body types. D:

[Smile44]

Too much make up on the UNPB version but stick Mature Skin textures over that and you have a winner. Nothing out of proportion, athleticism built in but still feminine. Hands down winner just needs a better texture.

 

[TechAngel85]

I'm completely hooked on CNHF 2.5. The author did a great job achieving what he/she set out to do. She really looks like a woman that is Dragonborn. A fighter that is honed in the skill of combat and could take on a dragon, yet still keeping her feminine qualities. The others look too feminine to be a combatant that is strong enough to wear the armors in the game and still be able to fight. CNHF 2.5 is very Nord like.

[Smile44]

Yeah the Dragonborn might look like a Nordic Amazonian gym bunny but what about all the other characters and races in the game, essentially we are back in personal taste grounds. What about EBD, that way you get a variety of textures. Or at that point in the guide instead of linking to several specific mods it could link to a separate short sub guide that show a variety of different options with install instructions and pictures so users can make their own choice and or get a sense of how to build their own. So instead of recommending a STEP option, STEP just recommends that a mesh and texture re-placer is used and a link to the sub-guide which can also include any armour modifications. That way everybody's happy and STEP has delivered once again.