Other user's assetsAll the assets in this file belong to the author, or are from free-to-use modder's resources
Upload permissionYou can upload this file to other sites but you must credit me as the creator of the file
Modification permissionYou are allowed to modify my files and release bug fixes or improve on the features without permission from or credit to me
Conversion permissionYou are not allowed to convert this file to work on other games under any circumstances
Asset use permissionYou are allowed to use the assets in this file without permission or crediting me
Asset use permission in mods/files that are being soldYou are not allowed to use assets from this file in any mods/files that are being sold, for money, on Steam Workshop or other platforms
Asset use permission in mods/files that earn donation pointsYou are allowed to earn Donation Points for your mods if they use my assets
Author notes
Please also credit the original creators of the "Better Skulls" mod.
File credits
Based on the "Better Skulls" mod by tronvillain & nONatee
http://mw.modhistory.com/download-10-6352
Atlased Skeletons textures taken from "Better Skulls" mod, vanilla Morrowind and Darknut's Creature Retextures.
Donation Points system
Please log in to find out whether this mod is receiving Donation Points
Changelogs
Version 2.6
Added new, non-intersecting skull pile mesh.
Version 2.5
Added emissive material to candle flame in light_spear_skull00.nif to make it compatible with Glowing Flames (https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/46124)
rounded candle edges, smoothed jaw of vanilla textures version
Version 2.4
Added back sides to bands around skulls in furn_burial20.nif, also modeled new ropes where the stakes are crossed and improved uv mapping on the "gold metal" parts, plus minor fixes and improvements
Version 2.3
Added Skeleton creature and containers meshes with various fixes (uv map errors, unneeded Geometry, wrong normals...). These work both with the textures included in this mod and vanilla textures, as well as all other skeleton texture replacers!
Version 2.2
Minor improvements to some vanilla textures meshes, changed band texture in furn_burial20.nif and misc_skull10.nif to tx_metal_strip_01.dds (like R-Zero's Random Replacers - Servant's Skull (https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/44025) does for misc_skull10.nif)
Included TX_Skeleton_clavicle.dds from Connary's texture pack that was missing in the original mod, to have the whole skeleton covered for visual consistency
Version 2.1
Added missing NCO to bones and skulls
Version 2.0
removed ugly triangles at the top of all skulls, improving the uv mapping as much as possible with the given textures (yes, they are there in the vanilla skeleton skulls, but the vanilla texture is practically white in this area so it doesn't show as much)
Subdivided and smoothed all skulls (except those in the skull pile and some jaws in the "Vanilla" folder that aren't there in the main mod - I may add them later)
removed unneeded vertex colors from all skulls, as they were completely white. This is coming from the original skeleton mesh as well
combined objects with the same textures into single meshes (especially furn_burial20.nif and in_om_skullpile.nif)
improved subdivided furn_bone_01.nif and added smoothed furn_bone_rib_01.nif (also merged separate parts with different texture with the main mesh, it is now a single object)
New Bone texture (furn_bone_01.nif and furn_bone_rib_01.nif)
filled transparent pixels in textures with black color, added missing mipmaps
removed unneeded AncestorGhost.nif (only the XAncestorGhost.nif is used by the game)
renamed "Vanilla" folder to "Vanilla Textures", restructured for Wrye Mash/BAIN installation, added missing meshes from main mod, added missing furn_burial00.nif from Vanilla folder to main mod folder
This is an improved version of the mod "Better Skulls" by tronvillain & nONatee based on the latest version 1.4b.
"Better Skulls" is a great mod that greatly improves the look of the various skulls found in the game, and increases visual consistency by using the skull from the skeleton instead of the crude vanilla skulls. However, there were a few things about it that bothered me, so I tried to fix them. This is the result.
Changes include uv map fixes, removing unneeded vertex colors from the original skeleton mesh, combining parts with the same texture, a new smoothed and optimized version of furn_bone_rib_01.nif, and a new bone texture. Completely new skull pile model, now without intersecting geometry! I also smoothed all skulls except for those in the skull pile and the Ancestor Ghost. Unless you have a VERY old graphics card, there should be no difference in performance. In fact, as I have combined parts with the same texture into single NiTriShapes, performance may even have improved in certain situations. For all changes see the changelog.
Install with Wrye Bash/Mod Organizer (2) or manually by extracting all files and folders in the "Data Files" folder OR the "Vanilla Textures" folder into the "Data Files" folder of your Morrowind Installation. Don't use NMM to install, as you won't be able to choose from the different variants that are included!
Everything else from the original mod's readme still applies!
There is an optional file "Skeletons Atlased", which contains meshes for the skeleton creature and containers edited to use a texture atlas instead of many different textures, which can increase performance, especially if there are many skeletons present in a cell. There are various texture options to choose from: Improved Better Skulls/Connary, Vanilla and Darknut's Creature Textures. See the included readme for details on these options. The atlased meshes will overwrite those from the "Fixed Skeletons" component of the main mod, but they can also be used without it! In fact the main mod is not required at all.