Intro:
Returning to Skyrim SE I find myself using less mods. I currently have no interest in the mega sized, complex replace all modlists that seem to be the flavor of the clicks these days. Skyrim SE is getting old, original even older. I am ok with that. Dont need or want the game running or looking like it just came out last week with a modded install size to rival ARK to enjoy playing it. Just letting the game be the game for the most part with a few qol mods to compliment it*
*Exception. Vanilla Plus or not I am never and i mean not for a hot second ever going back to goblins in this game. I am keeping my vampires as we all have a line to draw somewhere and that is mine so I will always use CVO. If you do not also use it thats fine but use something, anything that changes them. If you do not then may Stendars mercy be upon you
Regardless of how heavy or lightly modded my game gets nothing is more important for me to improve with mods then face of my player and NPC. I went looking for a basic game friendly mod that improves NPC faces that I could either use on its own or as a base to cover leftovers not changed by makeover mods like my own NL4
I did not find what I was looking for. The few I found that were close to what I wanted ended up being made in a way that resembled that of a player face preset. Listing requirements for chargen mods that affect your player in a mod that is for NPC is silly
So I ended up making this for myself and decided to share as I suspect there is atleast a few others who may like the same simple lift for them in their own game
Changes:
Improves quality of files used for faces without changing their original design. Whatever was chosen by Beth for their headparts and chargen in record is preserved to include tints and skintones
This mod takes a different approach from others I have seen that used Higher Poly Head(parts) to create new facegen for NPC. For other mods its either all or nothing. They either gave HP to everyone or no one. As much as I like using those mods for my player I did not see the need to crank up the polys and nif size for Robber #3 and Fireball chucker #7. So for Radiant NPC this covers it instead makes nice little qol changes for games normal head and hair. Female head is brought up to parity more or less with the quality of male head. Eyes and hair have a few minor changes but still close to original
If Beth saw fit to give them an actual name then they get higher poly head and hair
Both Radiant and Named get higher quality face tint texture files at 1k res which is 2X of game
Suggested SKSE ini setting
[Display]
iTintTextureResolution = 1024
Pretty faces for all are not what you get using this. Some NPC face in this game were made to be ugly. Changing ugly faces to pretty ones is what makeover mods are for
EFM not used:
Expressive Facegen Morphs is flavor of the face for chargen mods these days for both player and NPC. Not hard to see why as its changes are similar to ECE for face but made for Racemenu. I use it myself for some of my characters. Likely would have also used it for some faces in my own makeover mod but did not for the simple reason it did not exist when I made them. Even though its what it actually does EFM for me does not replace games chargen but is instead a nice alternate option in addition to it. Whether or not I choose to use it depends on what kind of face I want
I did not want the faces here affected by its changes for the simple reason some are changed too far from original. Making facial features smaller, softer and more feminine with LOTR style elves is not what this mod is about. There are other face mods made with it which can of course be used instead of this if thats what you want
Faces changed:
Not all but many faces from 8 humanoid races in the game. Too many for me to list as its ~2,000. To see which you can pull the esp up in Xedit
Faces not changed:
Goblins are not here, nor is Elder, Beast or Child. I replaced goblins with vampires in my other mod CVO so dont care. Beast are special and have special needs so i leave them in the capable hands of others. Elders are old and cranky and I pretend children do not exist in this game. I do use the excellent retex of them by Gamwich named Rustic Children to retain my sanity whenever they happen to walk in front of me
Q: What replacer body/head nif and texture mods work well with this?
A: ALL OF THEM to include doing nothing and using the games. This does not depend on or require any other change to the game so what you do or dont use is up to you and what you want
Load Order:
This mod is full edits to NPC. For each covered by this both facegen nif and texture are replaced and they are also changed in the record to ensure changes between esp and files align
This should load after mods that are partial edits to them that only change non-appearance stats in the record. Those type of mods may need to have some or all changes fwd into a patched esp that loads after both to resolve record conflicts either manually or with use of auto patcher like bashed patch
This should load before makeover mods that are also full edits to NPC faces
All facegen files are in BSA to ensure they load in same order as esp in your game. For any face to show correctly the changes from the last plugin that edit their actor record must always match the facegen files that load for them
For this reason it is STRONGLY advised you do not extract and use these or any other facegen files as loose in your game as you severe the connection between record and file. Loose files always take highest priority, ignore load order of plugins and stay active even if esp is disabled. Files in BSA load in same order as plugin and are only active and load when the plugin is active. If the esp is disabled the files are also disabled which is the way it is supposed to be
Example of a Lore Friendly V+ Load Order aka what i am currently using with this
Game Plugins.esm
My 5000 Hairs Pack.esm
My 5000 New Colors for My 5000 Hairs Pack.esm
Unofficial Patch.esp
Unofficial Patch for Unofficial Patch.esp
Mod that does what paid CC does but free and better.esl
Orcs side with Dwarves a Civil War addon.esp
All Males use Female Animations.esp
All Females use Dwarf Animations.esp
Revealing outfits for Jarls Elderly Servants.esp
Skimpy outfits for Dwarves.esp
Tavern Maids of Skyrim AI outfit and Weapons buff.esp
Children are invisible and no longer speak.esp
BASED.esp ( this one actually has stuff in it and no do not ESL this )
BASED2.esp (this is ESL and empty but load order still matters )
BASED3.esp (this is ESL and empty but load order still matters )
Hunks of Whiterun.esp
Babes of Whiterun.esp
Look at my new faces in Solitude.esp
Markarth invaded by Waifu a Civil War addon.esp
Patch for all my NPC face mods.esp
Darkness Reigns all Lights Removed from Skyrim.esp
Bunny's Glow and are Wearable optional for Darkness Reigns.esp
Tropic Thunder a Skyrim Weather mod.esp
When it Rains it Pours TT optional for torrential rains every day.esp
Dry as a Bone a Water mod for Skyrim.esp
Live someone elses life - Alternate Start.esp
Bouncy Sweet Rolls.esp
Children flee Skyrim a Civil War addon.esp
SRMSE.esp ( Skeleton mod Required for Bouncy Sweet Rolls )
Credits:
Note that all assets included are in a new location unique to this so will not conflict or alter original
Modders Resource:
No assets are included from any mod listed here but they were used to help create the facegen
Permissions:
You may not upload this to other sites, if I want it there ill put it there myself
You may host either a patched or replacer esp for this to resolve record conflicts for other mods that edit any of the same NPC. New Patched esp is best in most cases and replacer would only be chosen if you could not safely change your patched plugin to load in ESL space
You may host alternate HPH compatible face animation tri files to replace the default used by named NPC here
