Difference between revisions of "How to use custom resources"

Before you do anything else, make some folders to keep you organized. Under ~Oblivion\Data, create the following, adapting for your name and mod name:

Now, unpack the resources you downloaded into your ~Data directory. The modder may have provided some reference to show you what is what, be it screenshots or an "example" [[TES Files|plugin file]] for you to see it all in-game. You will need to figure out which .nif file is the model you want. If you have no other way to tell, double-click each .nif to open it in NifSkope so you can see it there.

Once you have figured out which .nif file you need, copy it to your mod's mesh folder. Make sure it's named so that you can tell what it is by the file name, to keep things easy on you. Avoid spaces and punctuation, however.

If you haven't already, open up your .nif in NifSkope. Expand all the + signs so you can see the [[:Category:Textures|texture]] paths. This is how the game knows what textures to use for what mesh; it is stored inside the .nif file. Copy all those textures to your mod's texture folder. Then right-click on the texture paths in NifSkope, one at a time, and browse to your copies. When you are done, save the .nif file.

To go with the textures that you copied into your folder, you must also copy the [[normal map]]s that go with them and put them in the same folder. Normal maps are the *_n.dds files. If your texture is redsofa.dds, then the normal map is redsofa_n.dds, and must be in the same folder with it. The game knows where to look for these files automatically; all you have to do is put them in the right folder with the right name.

Now you have your own copies of the resource's mesh and textures for your mod. Now when people install your mod, there is no risk of your files overwriting something already on their drive. It also frees you up to alter your copies as you like without worry.

Load your mod in the CS. As an example, I'm going to assume that you are making a house mod, and you want to use a custom sofa that you found online to place a nice sofa in your living room.

So, you want to add a sofa, so this needs to go under Furniture in World Objects if you want the player to be able to sit on it. Note: There are some furnishings under Static, but the actors cannot sit on/lay down on these, they are for decoration only.

#Right-click anywhere in the list of objects under Furniture. Click New. Give your object a new, unique ID - preferably something unique to you and your mod, to make it easy to find. Then give it a "Name" - this is what the player will see when they hover over the object in the game.

#Now we have to do something special for furniture. Once you choose a NIF, click OK. The CS will give you an error about having not chosen furniture markers. That's fine. Double-click your new object from the list, and you will now see furniture marker options available with previews. Mark the boxes you want, and click OK again. You won't have to do that for anything but furniture, however there will probably be other settings you want to adjust, unless you are making a simple static.

#Change its ID to something proprietary to you and your mod. You will be asked if you want to create a new form. Always, always, always click YES! Unless, of course, you want ALL instances of this object in the ENTIRE GAME to be affected by your change.

*If your object is invisible, your normal map is misnamed, in the wrong place, or not there.