Texture artist and outfit mod creator, Lind’s Realm, released a new female clothing attire for Skyrim, “Lind’s Marksmage Garb” for UNP body. A refreshing change from the usual robes and dresses, this outfit features trousers with camisole and belt. No armor, so it’s perfect for a mage. The outfit is modular; top, bottoms, and armlet are separate inventory items. Nice for potential mix-and-match, or for going without the long-sleeve armlet glove. I like the look, and I use CBBE body mesh, so I decided to convert the meshes using BodySlide - Outfit Studio. Let’s go over how to convert an armor/outfit for use with other body types.

Lind’s Marksmage Garb converted from UNP to CBBE in action.

Converting outfits to other body types is fairly easy with a bit of practice. Follow tutorial steps closely. Keep a backup copy of original mesh files to restart, and feel free to experiment.

In this example I’m converting a modular outfit for UNP, (“Lind’s Marksmage Garb”), to CBBE. This outfit also comes with a scarf, which doesn’t need converting since it’s one-size-fits-all like a cloak. We do need to convert the armlet/glove. Having the armbands a distinct inventory item, instead of part of the top, would make the conversion easier, but we have choices on dealing with them. I’m working with the CBBE body reference (works for Slim or Curvy) and adding the bones for BBP (HDT) later, but you may work with any body or outfit type. One thing to remember about modularity is once we’re done converting to only include one reference body for the resulting meshes, the camisole top.

Since there are several great tutorials, I’ll refer to one guide set and share clarifications, tips, and examples specific to “Marksmage Garb” and UNP-to-CBBE conversion.

• Cycle: 165 miles
• Run: 44 miles

Goal: 300 miles on the bike.

Let’s say we’ve created a custom NPC for TES V: Skyrim, or we just want to add some story backgrounds to existing characters. “OSA - Skyrim Ascendancy Engine” framework by CEO provides a means to view character profiles, create personas, employ animations, set character expressions, and more. Potentially this framework adds more interactive storytelling and personality to Skryim, which could extend replay value as we wait several more years for the next The Elder Scrolls chapter. A player could add profiles to followers for personal use such as role-playing value or to simply keep track of preferred armor and weapons, or follower-mod creators can add more background for players using OSA. It’s simple to provide extended information using the OSA framework as we’ll do in this exercise.

First, we need OSA installed. Take some time to look over the description page to get an idea of what OSA is about and how to interact with it in game. If using “FrostFall” by Chesko, include the Frostfall patch. Also check if “PapyrusUtil” has a more recent version. After installing OSA, remember to run FNIS generator and after each time adding an OSA animated module. Additional modules add gameplay functionality, but all we need is the OSA framework to access character profiles.

Go ahead and try OSA out to see how it works. Aproach a non-player character (NPC), and press numpad-plus key to reveal a menu including character persona, configuration, and equipment assignments. Use numpad-8 to move up the menu, numpad-5 to move down, and numpad-7 to select. The persona is empty, which we won’t cover here. The lack of a profile is the subject of our task. The OSA file downloads includes an optional example of a character profile for Camilla Valerius (of Riverwoood). Grab that to use as a working example to modify.

Copy Camilla’s profile as a template

Update for OSA v1.09+: profile files moved from meshes to \Data\OSA\Persona\ folder.

The file we need is profile.xml which goes in a folder based on the character. In the Camilla example, we find the file located in (v1.09+) \Data\OSA\Persona\npc\Skyrim\01347B (v.108B - \Data\meshes\OSP\npc\Skyrim\01347B) folder. Profiles for default NPCs go under this Skyrim folder, and a profile for a custom NPC goes under a folder name matching the esp-file without the “.esp” extension. 01347B is the last 6 characters of Camilla’s identifier. Look up identifiers using the console help command, or on The Elder Scrolls Wiki for default NPCs such as Camilla’s page where you’ll find her ID listed as Base ID.

I’ve picked a custom follower NPC, “Selene Kate” by Kasprutz and Hello Santa, as an example. Using the console command, “help selene” I find her NPC ID to be 19000D62. The plugin is, Kate.esp so the XML file needs to go in (v.109+) \Data\OSA\Persona\npc\Kate\000D62\profile.xml (v.108B - \Data\meshes\OSP\npc\Kate\000D62\profile.xml). Copy Camilla’s example file to this folder and begin editing. Use Notepad++ or XML editor of choice, preferably with syntax coloring. My assumption is reader familiarity with XML, but if not, I’ll go over my edits to turn Camilla’s profile example into Kate’s profile. Keep in mind that breaking XML formatting will cause the game to freeze when using OSA to interact with a character. (Those greater-than and less-than signs are important reserved characters and can’t be used inside other text.) So, if the game freezes, check for errors in the XML file.

How the menu appears on my phone.

I updated this website for a cleaner look, nicer video embeds, and to include an auto-generated blog series index. Most important management is easier using Jekyll and Octopress 3. Currently Octopress 3 lacks an official release website (octopress.org still on version 2), but the Octopress GitHub page includes basic usage. The nice part of version 3 is that it is a plugin for Jekyll so everything Jekyll works, and the management is cleaner than Octopress 2. Even if Octopress 3 isn’t quite ready for prime time, I’m liking it. Before taking the plunge, I looked up posts on migration to see how it went for others switching from 2 to 3. Check out what @dgmstuart and @samwize on GitHub have to say.

Migrating from Octopress 2 is dead simple by creating a new Octopress 3 blog and copy all the post and page markdown files over. Then choose a theme, or customize base Jekyll to your liking. I enjoy being able to organize my page markdown files as a like and setting the YAML permalink to where it needs to go. Let’s go over key components and customizations I made.

Requirements

Your system needs tools to get started. If you’re migrating from Octopress 2 like I did then you likely have these.

• Ruby
• RubyGems
• Bundler

Today ISI, creator of rFactor, and Luminis, a Dutch software group, announced a partnership to accelerate rFactor 2 development with a new company, Studio 397. This is big news since rFactor 2 has been far less popular as its predecessor with few online racers and light on third-party modded content even though rFactor 2 is pitched as a modding platform. The “partnership plans to release an ambitious roadmap” including user interface improvements, work in the modding community, and updated graphics engine supporting VR on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. See studio-397.com for details.

I’ve tested the rfactor 2 demo twice, once during early beta and recently, and found a good experience with solid physics and detailed races including penalties and caution flags. The light content kept me from purchasing, but with this new announcement, the title is back on my radar. The latest demo comes with a fun track and two cars. Drive full race, including practice and qualifying sessions, day or night. You may links to the demo on rfactor.net. Purchase via Steam.

image from rfactor.net/web/rf2/screenshots/

Hat tip to James at pretendracecars.net for alerting me to this announcement.