I just created a new weapon and it works fine ingame, but when reloading my character reloads with an invisible ammo clip.

I have a nif file that is the ammo clip itself, but I don't know how to add it.

Does anyone know what I should do?

The Clip should be included in the weapon.nif.

I thought I read somewhere that creating a new custom weapon/reload animation is only possible if you overwrite one of the default animations... but I could be wrong about this.

As I understand it, the "ammo clips" or magazines of the weapons in game are not contained in separate .NIF files. They are included in the weapon's .NIF, but they are a separate object/mesh(NiTriStrip/NiTriShape) with a specific name referenced by the animations.... as Saidenstorm mentioned.

Anyway, most custom weapon mods work by making use of existing animations. Basically, you pick an existing weapon that is similar in functionality to your custom weapon. In your 3D package, you import the similar existing weapon and try to closely line up your custom weapon with it.

Then you match the corresponding pivot points of your custom weapon's separate parts with those of the existing weapon. This is so your custom mesh will work well with the existing weapon animation you are trying to use.

Lastly, you will want to make sure that the separate parts of your weapon are named exactly the same as the corresponding parts on the similar existing weapon. You can do this in Nifskope or in your 3D package before exporting. For example, the magazine on an existing weapon might be named ##magazine, so you will want to name the magazine of your custom weapon exactly the same.

Your custom weapon does not need to be divided into the exact same number of parts as the existing weapon you are using as a guide. Any parts that are not named properly or don't exist will simply not be animated.

Also, when setting your custom weapon up in the GECK you will want to make sure that the animation settings are the same as the existing weapon... Reload Anim and HandGrip... etc.

Thank you very very much SaidenStorm and flightsim especially.

The weapon had the clip already in the nif file, but the reason why the clip didn't appear was because I was using different animations.

I couldn't find this out without your help and I really appreciate it