Hey everyone! Got the new Creation Kit, and having a blast letting my imagination go with it! But I am having a problem! I create and texture custom models. Swords and Shields are my speciality. As it sits right now the way we convert models into nif files is very primal... very basic and a real pain in the bum! The current independantly developed nif tools are behind the curve with Skyrim. Still. I was REALLY hoping something new regarding nif's was coming with Creation Kit, and am yet again disappointed to see that there is yet any tools set down by the developers for us.

What am I looking for?

Firstly A nif program or a nif tool that can convert some basic model types into the .NIF format. For example .3DS, .OBJ, .SKP, .APF to name a few. Those are the most common as well. Most programs like Blender, 3DSMax, Google Sketchup, Lightwave Studio can export as one of those formats.

Secondly, that same program can then go on to set up glow map emissiveness, Special Visual Effects (I.E Flames around the blade of a weapon, or a subtle Aura that shimmers over a shield when blocking), Special Events (Example: The dawn breaker glows brighter when undead are near by.)

As it sits right now, the new NIF settings that Skyrim has coded, a majority of them are still a mystery to the Nif tools team. The process of making custom meshes, as far as I understand it right now, still involves "just copying data" from existing meshes. Thats all well and good but if you've got a big project... that takes a long time and a lot of tries to get it right for someone who hasn't got a degree in Nifskope. Nifskope as it is hardly has an -intuitive- menu system.

In short, all I'm really saying is I'd like to have a program that is essentially NIFSKOPE but not so underdeveloped. Something that is a little more intuitive, perhaps just a little more automated. Like generating billboards for the VFX's, for example. It is the 21st century, yet the practices of creating custom models and getting them into new games still feels like its 10 year old method..

Anyone else feel this way?