So I'm not new to Bethesda modding, but am rather new to Starfield modding. My question is, does this need to be a master file?
I ask because I'm used to texture replacers either being an esl flagged esp or just straight up loose files. Is there something about the Starfield file structure that requires an esm?
Starfield now has three types of masters: full, medium, and small. This mod is a small master, which is similar to ESL. ESPs are no longer used for released mods; they are only supposed to be used for mod testing/development. You can read the details here.
You can use the loose file method for simple reskin, but my mod also alters the underlying material from plastic to carbon fibre. Starfield has a "Material" file system. The material is "layered". Similar to previous games, the base layer is the texture files (colour, normal, etc.), which can be loose files or packed as BA2. Now, it's possible to blend additional layers for extra details. The carbon fibre textures are in-game assets that overlay on the base dds. To link the material file to an object, you can link it to the NIF (which alters the NIF files) or do that in CK and output it as an ESM. Since many objects share an NIF, changing the NIF is bad for compatibility, hence the ESM method.
These look way better than the Bethesda-made Blackout skins. Can I request that once you are done making the Dark CombaTech mods, you could upload an all-in-one mod for all of them please?
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I ask because I'm used to texture replacers either being an esl flagged esp or just straight up loose files. Is there something about the Starfield file structure that requires an esm?
You can use the loose file method for simple reskin, but my mod also alters the underlying material from plastic to carbon fibre. Starfield has a "Material" file system. The material is "layered". Similar to previous games, the base layer is the texture files (colour, normal, etc.), which can be loose files or packed as BA2. Now, it's possible to blend additional layers for extra details. The carbon fibre textures are in-game assets that overlay on the base dds. To link the material file to an object, you can link it to the NIF (which alters the NIF files) or do that in CK and output it as an ESM. Since many objects share an NIF, changing the NIF is bad for compatibility, hence the ESM method.
I appreciate the thorough response.