Adding a new creatures to Skyrim

 

Original posted July 8 2017

In the guide below i will go through the steps on how to add a new creature, I’m using a sheep as an example. At first the order things are added seemed backwards and circular, but as far as I can figure out this is how it’s done, and seems to work.

A special thanks to Awake Night for the video on how to create unique animals, without that I would probably not have figured this out.

Before I started adding the first new animals to Hoddminir I had to map out all the different elements that are part of a creature and try to figure out how they were connected. As you can see in the diagram below there are so many parts that make up a creature, but most of the things are not anything we need to change or add.

All the elements that make up a creature

We will need a model and textures, and the main things that make up a creature will have to be added in the Creation Kit, like Race, NakedAnimal, SkinAnimal and EncActor. Unique Death Items and new sounds for the new creature can also be added, but I have not tried this yet.

If you are adding a completely new animal, like the sheep, it’s important to consider which skeleton, movement and behavior that would fit the best for this animal. Most creature modelers have explained what will work best for their new creature. For this example the goat will work well as a template for the sheep.

First off, you will need a model and textures. For the sheep I used Sheep Modders Resource by Stormshallow and made my own texture variant.

Adding a new creature

1. Add model and textures:

To start, add the Nif model to the right folders, under Data\Meshes\Actors\AnimalType\Character Assets\. and the textures to the folder, under Data\Textures\Actors\AnimalType\.

The re-textured sheep in NifSkope

In the Creation kit

2. Create a new Race(Character/Race):

Open a similar animal, in this case a goat. Rename the ID to SheepRace and under the Text Data tab change the Name to Sheep. Close window and answer Yes to create a new form.

New SheepRace

3. Create a new NakedAnimal (Items/ArmorAddon):

Open the NakedGoatAA, rename the ID to NakedSheepAA, set Race to SheepRace. Select a new model under Biped Model.

New NakedSheep

In the Model Data window, press Edit, and select your new model. (If there are different models for male and female animals also change the female Biped Model.)

Select model of the sheep

Close window and answer Yes to create a new form.

4. Create a new SkinAnimal (Items/Armor):

Open the SkinGoat, rename the ID to SkinSheep, change Name to Sheep, set Race to SheepRace. In the list Models, right click in the list window and select New.

New SkinSheep

Select NakedSheepAA from the list in the new popup window.

Select NakedSheepAA

Close window and answer Yes to create a new form.

5. Skin the Race (Character/Race):

Now go back to the SheepRace to add the right skin, under the Body Data tab set Skin to SkinSheep. Keep the Skeleton, Behavior Voice, and BodyPartData of the goat.

The right skin on the sheep

6.Create a new EncAnimal (Actor/Actor):

Open the EncGoat. Under theTraits tab rename ID to EncSheep, change Name to Sheep and Set Race to SheepRace.

Under theStats tab you can change things like Enc class, Level and Health as you see fit. Close window and answer Yes to create a new form.

Now you have a new creature you can add to your world

There are more things you can also do, like add unique Death Items that match your new creature and add more texture variants using new Texture Sets.

/Elinen

New Hoddminir page

Noir has made a new site for the Hoddminir project, hosted at Dark Creations. This blog has now been migrated over to the new site, and it looks fantastic :)
This site here on Blogger will still stay up, and if you leave comments here I will still see them and respond, but no new posts. All new posts will be on the new site, and you can also find information on updates on both Twitter and Facebook.

/E

Detailing the forest

At the moment we are still generating the conifer forest, but have also started to put in some hand placed details in the parts that are finished. I have been testing to make streams and small ponds, cliffs and clearing away some of the forest to get nice views.

We have also been working on some more plants, both re-textured grass models and novel flower models. I have for example made Iris and Crocus.

 

Ztree made really nice new models that I'm very excited about, new daffodils, tulips and crocus :)

First look at the Jotunn moor

Let me present the first look at the Jotunn moor. As with the conifer forest that I have shown before this is all done with the region generator.
The moor lays just north of Seyland and the Hoddminir forest on the open high plain, and it goes all the way to the northern most river valley. We have been aiming for a slightly barren look, where only bushes and shrubs can live. The dominating plants are juniper bushes, heather and sloe, and of course there are lots of rocks. The moor will be mostly wilderness, with some isolated farmsteads in the south.

/E

Re-texturing in the Creation kit

I have previously made a small guide on how to change the texture of an object using NifSkope. I just recently found out over at the Dark creations forum that you can also use the Creation kit it self to do this. The advantage of using the Creation kit is that you will not make a new nif file. But on the other hand you can't as easily share with others the re-textured object as a resource. Another disadvantage using the Creation kit is that you can't (as far as I know) adjust the UV-map of the model to fit the texture better. I often adjust the UV-map, for example by scaling and rotation so the texture will fit nicely on different models, without having to make several different textures.

Lets take an example:

I want the cliffs in the game to match the textures we are using in the conifer forest we are making. I used NifSkope to set the matching rock textures as I have to scale the UV-Map so the rock texture would be the same size as the ground texture. 

First of if you don't already have this, you need to have a texture set for the texture you wish to use. You can find these under Miscellaneous and Texture set.

Many of the cliffs also have dirt textures on flatter surfaces, and these I want to change to the moss ground texture I have around the cliff.

Double click on the cliff in the object window to edit it. Make sure to give it a new name, otherwise you will change all the cliffs of this type in the game. Press the Edit new to the Model path.

In the Alternative textures window, for this model there is two entries. The lowers one is the one I like to change. Click on it and a new Select form window will come up. Here you can scroll down to the alternative texture set you like to use. In my case this will be the same as the moss texture surrounding the cliff.

Press OK in all windows open, you now will have a new entry in the object window for the alternatively textured cliff. I removed the old cliff and placed the new one in the same place.

 Easy right :)

/E