Naga's Plan

[Lore_Naga]

Ok here i will plan my model's and what not for blackmarsh ok-

For naga i plan to-
Firstly rip off the scalon's head mesh and then re-model it (Using 3DS max),
Next i will export that modelled mesh to facegen and then send it off to someone for animating.
(Sorry i dont know much about this, But i guess you use the base sample animations from an argonian for example)
After that is finished i will find a resource for claws (Ibsen your magical links would be good right now) and add them onto the parts.

Next i will starting testing around to see exactly how am i going to work the tail with animations.
(Now, I wonder if i could use corthian's but i don't think he made animations for it maybe he just did some magical scripting or im being dumb)
And when that is done i will add that to the parts.

Next will be maybe a body change? (I would'nt mind having Robert's male bodies for these guys but that would make naga to be quite exclusive).

And last but not least make hairstyles (And add existing hairstyles, Like the one i showed in the picture).

Now when thats complete pictures will be shown here, After that the next job is female naga's.



For Sload Race (Needs Discussion) I will do this-

Split up body parts and add body parts,
Test attributes (To make a Sload like a Sload),
Test bugs (For instance- Running up a hill might make the tail look bad,
We'll need the tail to flop down where ever it goes Right?),
Add and test animations,
(Now im not amazing at the whole animation side of things but i have got a little bit of an idea what i want for each weapon-
2h Blunt would be using a Xivilai's animations,
1h Blunt would be using a Grummites animations or Normal animations,
2h Blade would still be using a Xivilai's animations,
1h Blade would be using a Grummites animations or Normal animations,
Bow cannot be equipped,
Staff would be using a Grummites/Goblins animations.
Oh and sneak would most likely be disabled and you could only sneak by being invisible, Hand to Hand would be using a Ogre's animations)
Rip off zaneeba_slave's sload head and export into facegen (Add textures or what not),
Save and send to an animator (Who will have to make an animation for a sload talking!),
Make a load of clothing for this new race while animator is making animations,
Look for a voice actor that could to do a "Blaghh Blaghh Blaghh" kind of gutter speak (Hey ibsen *Nudge* *Nudge*),
Sort out files so the animation will play when talking to the race (Anyone know how to do this?),
Make Hairstyles (Thats a maybe! Im not sure about hairstyles but tattoo's would look better instead, When people imagine sloads do people think-
Big Giant Chinese Guys from pirates of the caribbean 3: At World's End?)
Check everything is alright and Create =) .

:Edit: Lip Synching needed! for sload to talk..


Things for Other People to do-
Zaneeba please make a female sload
(I know its not relevant to lore but it will at the least make some females happy that theres a female version),
KP can you make textures? i guess ill need some nice textures for both races (How would i make tattoos? Im new to the whole tattoo making thing),
Ibsen enjoy the post! and i would like to hear from you,

Everyone don't clutter this thread! try to keep to 1 post but edit it for responses and what not (Heck, Im crazy but do keep a limited post count and make valid points to my post!).

Enjoy

[Koniption]

I know nothing about FaceGen, so I can't help you there.

To know more about the technical side of how playable race facial morphs work, download this tutorial and read everything. It's a long read, but very informative. This tutorial also includes workarounds for making custom heads & morphs if one does not have FaceGen:

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=18566

About Naga Tail animations: I think Corthian only rigged his tail to the human skeleton using some clever vertex weight-painting.

Go here for how to do Oblivion creature/etc animations:

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/ind..._Creatures

http://saidenstorm.googlepages.com/home

About Sload's tail: If you can figure out how to make the sload's tail flop down by itself as the sload goes places, more power to you. You might be able to get away with it by adding a "Prn" NiStringExtraData attachment that connects to the sload's Pelvis bone (look at some of the Oblivion helmets in Nifskope - some use this). That way, maybe you can havok the tail separately from the main body's future skinned mesh, maybe. I have not tried to do something like that before, but it might work.

About Sload Textures: I plan to try to make these anyway, for my creature version.

EDIT: Regarding Corthian's tail - yes it is indeed rigged to the playable races' skeleton. Clothing items, except for the occasional helmet (and even then, some helmets are skinned to the head bone), are rigged to the playable races' skeleton somehow, so that they can move and flow with the body as the player or NPC animates.

Lipsynch: I have never worked with lipsynch, so I can't help you there.

Hair: I've never worked with hair, FYI, nor have I looked at how Beth does it. I'm guessing, you can either skin hair to the head, use a "Prn" NiStringExtraData attachment perhaps and use it like a static helmet. Using "The Conformulator", you can make a version that morphs with faceshape changes. You can probably scale the size of hair using Nifskope.

The wiki can be very helpful to look up some of this stuff:
http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/ind.../Main_Page

Koniption

[Lore_Naga]

Replying to Koniption's post-

Thanks KP,
Ill read them tutorials soon,
Corthian's tail is a clothing item X( So he must of done of somethink else
(And i do plan to use that tail mesh, Its good and if i can get the same working tail on an all using body that would work nicely),
Thanks for the links for the animation links too But i have troubles with animating (Its that i never seem to get the hang of it),
And lastly KP good idea about the flop down effect and i will have a try sometime,
+ i will need some help with lip-synching on the sload model.


(Also KP do you know how to add old hair to an existing head? I mean when it gets in-game but the hair is either floating above the head due to the size being wrong or its inside the head and well that doesnt look very good when you cant see the roots of the hairs, Would i need to make new hairs of the existing types but with different proportions?)

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Creating complete voice sets is a LOT of VERY HARD WORK (over 1000 lines apiece) but establishing the voice itself would be dead easy. I'd just have to "do a fat man" and that's not hard. I wonder if Eshenaleros (our VA waiting for action) would be interested in helping out here....

Regarding the claws, I'm not sure but I may be able to hunt around for something appropriate as I discussed giving Anaster Marrowmir (our recruitable companion) a set of claw-like hands and I think someone suggested a resource somewhere.... ?(

The plan sounds good anyway...

[zaneeba_slave]

A female Sload? I suppose I could but that feels very very unnecessary, even though I know where you are going with the idea. A female sload would be like... well... a female slug. Have any of you ever heard of a female slug? No, because slugs are hermaphroditic. Just so with the Sload.

[Lore_Naga]

Madness i know, Maybe a re-tex will do the job? And there are female toads
Sload = toad + slug

[Koniption]

Originally posted by zaneeba_slave
A female Sload? I suppose I could but that feels very very unnecessary, even though I know where you are going with the idea. A female sload would be like... well... a female slug. Have any of you ever heard of a female slug? No, because slugs are hermaphroditic. Just so with the Sload.

Yes, I agree, sloads seem like they'd be hermaphroditic, like slugs. I don't think a female version is necessary either.

EDIT: There is limited lore on the sload. We really don't know if the sload are hermaphroditic or not, but because of their slug-like look and abilities, we just put 2+2 together and make-believe that they are herms. At least me and zaneeba think that.

You're allowed to fill in some gaps in the lore, if the lore does not state otherwise. Otherwise it'd be very hard to make certain mods, like Blackmarsh, if not impossible.

If zaneeba does not feel like making a female version of the sload, then it's best to leave him be. On your end, if you know modeling, you can add some boob's or maybe just retexture the sload for a female.

EDIT #2: A lot of cultures use "him", "his", "he" to refer to hermaphroditic creatures. It's nicer than calling them "it" ( especially if you have them as pets ).

Koniption

[Lore_Naga]

http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/Sload
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slug

Ok after looking through these articles i have come to the conclusion that i do not know what to do.

One problem "If" we make this race playable is that people will say
"Bi-Sexual, Yup definetly" however this is the incorrect use of language but it is stating why would one not like the whole hermaphroditic aspect at all.

Is there any "Real" sources because i have the feeling that OblivioWiki and UESP wiki topic's on the sload were rather more a perspective on how the person/writer saw it.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Sload
From what i see is that the topic was deleted so the OblivioWiki sources are wrong
(So obliviowiki's page needs a re-make and its probably outdated)
, Also wikipedia says nothing about them being hermaphroditic at all it only states the facts (So OblivioWiki is completly wrong and is only a view or guess).

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Sload
The new link however states nothink about the sload's hermaphroditic except the part about using there "Special Appendages" to climb most out of reach places,
So in matter of fact over fiction they could have a toadlike birth system
(And i see that as an opportunity to make a race).


More evidence-
N'Gasta (?b- ?d)
"No trust dark Worm N'Gasta. Powerful, yes, is N'Gasta -- But wicked. Soulstealer. Old and evil." — Joto, mage in Redguard
Someone thinks the Masque of Clavicus Vile is here on Vvardenfell. Apparently there are many copies of 'N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!' here on Vvardenfell. N'Gasta was a great Sload necromancer and servant of Clavicus Vile in the Second Era, and he may have had a wizard's tower here. An agent came to me asking questions about N'Gasta. The agent would not give his name, but I have learned he was in the employ of someone named Sorkvild the Raven." — Artisa Arelas, Dunmer Pilgrim
The book Bible of the Deep Ones contains parts of N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!. The hero in Redguard is tasked to kill the necromancer on the Isle of N'Gasta.

N'Gasta is a he in this and so says that there are male sloads,
Although its lacks strength as evidence but, You forget the writers made this and so whatever the dev's write is what is the game =).

[sHAdowgAme]

If I may add my 12 cents--

--The sheer volume of work it would take to make the sload a playable race is staggering.
Sure, Modeling, and textured it will be fun, but that is only the tip of the iceberg of the work that would be involved. If you worked 8 hours on it a day, it may take you six month to do everything, and that is being generous. Do you really want to put in your valuable time into a project of that magnitude with such little possibility of any tangible or intangible reward? Of course not.

I think it would be much more worth while to concentrate on making a new enemy, and doing a kick ass job. That in itself really is a huge accomplishment.

[zaneeba_slave]

Well, it doesn't state that the Sload are hermaphroditic, but by their personalities and by the animals they are based off of, it is extremely obvious. Even toads and frogs tend to change gender when the opposite sex is scarce (Got that off Jurassic Park )

The evidence you have shown also gives little to no evidence that the Sload have females. It is basically pointing out N'Gasta as an important character. We do the same things for boats, calling them "she's." Are boats really females with female personalities and certain female parts? No, but we call them "she's" because it states their importance. The writers couldnt simply call N'Gasta an "it" because it demotes N'Gasta's importance.