I downloaded NifSkope, replaced the xml file in order to be able to open Skyrim's nifs.. But I can't find where to change the textures... In Oblivion, there were small purple icons followed by a texture path that you could change. I cannot find anything like this while viewing the Skyrim nifs.

So how does one retexture Skyrim nifs?

First of all, there's not much point in retexturing NIFs. The CK has Texture Sets (under Miscellaneous/Texture Sets) those can be used to override the vanilla textures in the objects model-selection menu, so you don't need new Nifs for every new texture. If you use vanilla textures to retexture vanilla models, you don't need to add any files at all. (I'm using Riften shingles for the blue palace roof for example).

Secondly, the structure of the nif files has changed . Since Fallout3 the normal maps, glow maps etc, are no longer linked to the color map by their filename, instead there is now a BSShaderTextureSet entry (sub-entry of BSLightingShaderProperty) which contains filenames for all textures.

I want to retexture a Steam Centurion, making it grey instead of the standard golden/bronze color. If was thinking of first trying to place already existing textures on it to see if they fit. If not, I would simply copy and make a quick edit to the vanilla texture and applying it on my Centurion.

I can't find anything named dwarven or centurion in the TextureSets category though.. :/ So I have no idea how to find out which texture the Steam Centurion uses, nor how to replace it with a new one.

Like JOG said, it's in the list of the BSShaderTextureSet. For the Steam Centurion that would be block 27 in the nif. The textures for the Centurion are in textures\actors\dwarvensteamcenturion. It also uses a cubemap (textures\cubemaps\bronze_e.dds).

Alright thanks! But how do I extract the textures? Every bsa unpacker (the updated OBMM and BSA Unpacker) that I have used gives me a "System.Out.Of.memory" message when extracting the Skyrim-Textures.bsa
The meshes work fine, but the textures don't.... I mean, the meshes bsa is actually bigger, and I have 8GB of RAM and a quad core processor so that shouldnt be the problem..

FOMM and BSA Browser should work.

Okay, once again THANKS!

But now I've got another issue. At first, I redid the "SkinArmor" for the Centurion (which appeared to get the new grey texture in the preview window. However, when applied to my Centurion, it didn't work. The centurion become invisible. So I thought, let's make another race then. I created an exact duplicate of the Centurion race, and replaced certain things (like BodyPartsData, skeleton.nif, and other nifs) with my own version (I also made an exact copy of the Centurion meshes folder, where I put my custom stuff. So everything appears to be right.. except the Centurion is completely invisible... it's still there, but cannot be seen.

Everything is an exact copy of the orginal race, except all nif files that I replaced with my own.

So what have I missed this time? It's really confusing.. And whats the difference between the Skin Model (armor) and the race model (found in the race menu). They do use the same model..

Bump.

One last bump!!


At first, I made a copy the "SkinArmor" for the Centurion and replaced its model with my own, which is an exact copy of the original one only with my grey texture applied to it. It appeared to get the new grey texture in the preview window. However, when applied to my Centurion, it didn't work. The centurion become invisible. So I thought, let's make another race then. I created an exact duplicate of the Centurion race, and replaced certain things (like BodyPartsData, skeleton.nif, and other nifs) with my own version (I also made an exact copy of the Centurion meshes folder, where I put my custom stuff. So everything appears to be right.. except the Centurion is completely invisible... it's still there, but cannot be seen.
Everything is an exact copy of the orginal race, except all nif files that I replaced with my own.For testing purpose, I tried switching the textures to a vanilla rock texture using the editor, hoping that one of those would work. But no, still invisible.

So what have I missed this time? It's really confusing.. And whats the difference between the Skin Model (armor) and the race model (found in the race menu). They do use the same model..