Right now, beards are not supported mods and creating through the modkit is simple, but a bit of a hassle, so here is a hopefully simple and detailed tutorial on how to do it.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Blender
- Modkit
- Beard mesh and materials
BEFORE WE START: Mandatory naming rule.
First and most important is that you call your base beard mesh in this very specific way:
- SKM_Beard_0XX
Here “XX” would be any number from 10 on, as there are currently already 10 beards inside the game.
Once you have your bear ready, please copy skin weights and export it through the modkit plugin.
STEP 1. Export all male heads from the modkit.
We are going to need to make a separate version of our mesh for each of the heads. Go ahead to “all” in the content browser, put “head_modkit” scroll down until you see male heads like in the picture below.
From Male_Head_002 to Male_Head_010, right click on each one and select “Asset Actions” and “Export”. A pop up will appear asking you to choose the configuration of the export: click and save them anywhere in your computer where you can find them easily.
Once you are done you should have:
- Male_Head_Modkit_002
- Male_Head_Modkit_003
- Male_Head_Modkit_004
- Male_Head_Modkit_005
- Male_Head_Modkit_006
- Male_Head_Modkit_007
- Male_Head_Modkit_008
- Male_Head_Modkit_009
- Male_Head_Modkit_010
STEP 2. Importing all you need in Blender.
First, using the Blender Plugin, import the male avatar. We will need it for weight paiting later.
Then, what I do here is usually just drag and drop ALL the head presets from my folder and into Blender, then hide the plugin avatar by clicking on the eye next to its name in the Scene Collection section. It’s called “Male_Body_Onemesh”. Now hide every single head except the 002 and import your SKM_Beard_0XX throught the “Import Outfit” button of the modkit.
STEP 3. Shape your original beard mesh to fit each head.
Teak and twitch your beard to fit the Male_Head_Modkit_002 head. When you like the result, open the plugin again and click on “Copy Skin Weights”. Before exporting, you will have to change the name of your mesh, but more on that in the next step.
STEP 4. The name matters! Change the name of your beard.
For the game to pick up your beards are actual beards and have them appear in game and in CAZ, you will need to follow a specific nomenclature.
All beards must be called: SKM_Beard_0XX_For_Male_Head_YYY
Since there are already 10 beards in game, you have to put a higher number than 10 where the XX goes, then substitute the YYY for the number of the head you are fitting your mesh into (by using sculpting inside Blender). Here’s an example:
- SKM_Beard_016_For_Male_Head_002
Now copy weight, export it and save it in the same folder you have your base, but with this new name.
STEP 5. Repeat until you have 11 files
Here comes the part you look at the camera as if you were in the Office: yes, you have to do this 10 times, renaming 10 times the base beard as you fit it to each and every single one of the 10 heads. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until your have one fbx file named aftear each of the heads you extracted from the modkit. This is important because if you don’t fit it for every head, then it won’t work with some of the male face presets.
When you’re done, your files should look like this:
STEP 6. Import everything into the modkit.
First, create a new project from scratch. We cannot rely on the wizard here as beards are not supported yet but it’s generally better to not use the wizard anyway, because mods created with the wizard cause a known bug called the “gray/blonde hair bug” which causes base game hair colors to look washed up.
If you don’t know how to create a project from scratch, see my previous tutorial.
First create the “Textures” and “Materials” folders by right clicking your project name inside the Content Browser and selecting “New Folder” at the very top
Import your DIRO and Flow textures by using the Resource Import Tool [Import them as Base Color]
Search for a hair material in the Content Browser and drag it to your “Materials” folder to Copy It there (don’t move it, copy it!). Change its name to something convenient for you and open it by double clicking the material ball.
Here you can change your DIRO and FLOW to that of your beard then save.
Now open the Resource Import Tool and:
- Click “Skeletal Mesh (Hair)”
- Open the folder you have your beards in.
- Select all of your beards and drag and drop them into the Resource Import Tool.
Once they are imported, start opening them one by one (I know, I know) and droping your Material Ball into their material slot, saving afterwards. Do this with each one of them.
STEP 7. Data Editor
7.1. AppearanceBeard:
Choose any beard from the list and “Append New Item” by right clicking it. Now we will change some things:
- Parts Id: Beard
- Mesh: Choose your base beard (SKM_Beard_0XX) only.
- Thumbnail: Choose your thumbnail.
- Is Locked Item: Off/Unclicked
- Id: SKM_Beard_0XX [This is the name of your base beard, remember: XX would be the numberover 10 you’ve chosen as in “011”/“016” etc)
Click Apply
Click Save
7.2. AppearanceParts:
Choose a beard from the bottom of the list and “Append New Item” by right clicking it. Here you will only change “B1Table Row Base” at the very bottom.
- Id: the name of your beard “SKM_Beard_0XX”
Apply & Save
Close the data editor and export your mod, if all the meshes are correctly named your beard should appear ingame!
[Tip: Be careful you don’t have any double “_” or anything there in the names]
Hope you might find this tutorial helpful and we’ll see all of your gorgeous facial hairs in game!
