Talk:NifSkope Comprehensive Guide

This guide is currently a work in progress. I will continue to transfer all the information I have collected and put it into here. Most of my notes are hand written and all cluttered up so please be patient and hold off on editing anything until complete.

If anyone has input on the topics or the sections I have noted as needing further information please use this discussion page and I will add them in. Once the guide is completed however, your free to edit.

Thankx --Chuey 04:46, 21 July 2007 (EDT)

Sounds awesome, this is some great stuff! Great work. NifScope desperately needs a "comprehensive guide", in my opinion, that simply describes what everything does (as opposed to a long tutorial, that you have to read through to get the information you want - useful in some situations, but frustrating when you just want to look something up). This is awesome.

Dragoon Wraith TALK 14:46, 21 July 2007 (EDT)

Good work. Some observations:

• Spelling. NifSkope!
• It might be better to give a general download link, like http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=149157&package_id=170735 instead of the link for 0.98 which can quickly become outdated.
• The XML Checker can be used not only to find errors in nifs, but to find all nifs in a specified folder, which contain a specified block (use Block Match, uncheck 'report errors only')
• I'm not sure what exactly is the function of the .kfm files, but I think the kfm window can't be used for editing and creating animations. This can be done in the Block List and Block Details windows.
• There is one good animation tutorial: Basic Animation Tutorial.
• Render menu -> Settings, Culling options: see the tooltips.
• File menu -> Resource Files: find bsa files, for example for handling textures which aren't extracted. I'm not sure if it's fully functional.
• Spells menu -> Sanitize -> Adjust Texture Sources: replaces / with \\ in texture paths, sets texture format options for Oblivion nifs, for example Pixel Layout to 6, Use Mipmaps to 1, etc.
• Spells menu -> Sanitize -> Check Links: confirmed. It reports error if a link points to a nonexistent block, or if a link points to wrong block type (for example if a bhkCollisionObject is in the Children array of a ninode).

Entim 17:07, 21 July 2007 (EDT)

LOL, I spelled NifSkope wrong.. that's what I get for starting this at 2am.

Great input Entim. Thankx.

--Chuey 18:08, 21 July 2007 (EDT)

When you move an article, please use the "Move" button on the top of the page. It's over on the right. That will set up the proper redirects on the old page, and move the Talk page for you (which you apparently attempted to do but didn't).

Dragoon Wraith TALK 19:49, 21 July 2007 (EDT)

Sorry, not very Wiki savvy yet but a fast learner. I checked on the KFM files and found this forum discussion. Interesting... http://forums.civfanatics.com/archive/index.php/t-169584.html Seems there is a link between the KF files (like the ones used by Blender) and KFM. I'll continue to search for information on this topic and leave the guide open for someone to edit if they have any further explanation on it.

--Chuey 13:48, 22 July 2007 (EDT)

Have no fear, Chuey is still here. I'm continuing this guide's development in a MS Word document to reduce the number of edits. Once I have major sections done I will post to the Wiki. Hold tight. It'll be done soon.

--Chuey 02:34, 5 August 2007 (EDT)

Category

I don't think this belongs in the Tools category. There should only be tools in the tools category and tutorials should go in the Tools Tutorials category. Maybe this isn't exactly a tutorial, but it doesn't belong in the tools or tools: meshes and textures category. --Qazaaq 14:35, 5 August 2007 (EDT)

Separate Pages?

This is an excellent guide. It's what NifSkope Alchemy should have been. I'll be going through this article to start filling in gaps. I'm also moving it into the NifSkope Tutorials section. I'm also adding in separate pages for 'Hot Topics' for more detail. I wonder if I should cut/paste/link for some of these cases? It might alleviate the 'stress' of such a large article. any thoughts?Throttlekitty 20:35, 22 March 2008 (EDT)

Linking to a separate article is almost always preferable. I've written a bit about why it's good, but the short version is this: separate pages are visible from categories, easier to link to, easier to read, and easier to organize. Obviously on some level you can't put everything on separate pages, but trying to do so as much as possible is a good thing.

Dragoon Wraith TALK 22:06, 22 March 2008 (EDT)

Missing example mesh...

In the section "Importing a new mesh", it says Click here and download the new mesh NIF file I've created for you... However the link is absent and we cannot continue on with the tutorial. --HawkFest 02:28, 15 May 2008 (EDT)

BSX Flags

I just wanted to note that while these may be typical values that are used in some of the nifs created by Bethesda, they would come under the heading of suggested values and are not the actual definitions of the BSX Flags. For instance, some of the fake lights created by Bethesda (such as CastleLight02) have the BSX Flags set to 17 (no collision). The format is set up as a binary definition with specific values assigned to each binary flag (1 - Animations, 2 - Collision, 16 - FlameNode Present, etc.) and those should be placed in the article so that users can understand what the values actually do as opposed to what is commonly done in a majority of Bethesda's nifs. The BSX Flag values are added together for the appropriate functioning of the nif and then entered into the BSX Flag value. I will add more info about this when I get to my other computer that has this information on it (I just happen to recall these off the top of my head). These values would break down as follows:

• 3 Inventory Objects [Weapons/Ingredients/Clutter] (animation + collision)
• 10 Rock/Stone Objects [Landscaping/Statues] (collision + 8) <-- I could only find this on the NightMotherStatue which has BSX of 11 - all other statues seem to be 2 (collision)
• 11 Clothing/Fabric Objects [Pants/Boots/Cloth] (animation + collision + 8) <-- movable signs as well, looks like 8 has to do with hinge constraints
• 19 Lighting Objects [Wall Sconce/Candle/Chandelier] (animation + collision + flamenode)
• 33 Candle Flame (animation + editormarkers) <-- only on certain flames, not on candles themselves
• 35 Fire/Smoke (animation + collision + editormarkers) <-- only for fires that cause damage, else is 33 - no collision
• 46 Traps (collision + is skeleton nif + 8 + editormarkers)

--ShadowDancer 00:53, 12 October 2008 (EDT)