Preset faces: You don't have to stick with just eight!

[amhran_comhrac]

Or, how to manually edit the chargenmorph file!

So... we all know the preset faces SUCK THE SLOTH DEMON, yes? Of course they do. Granted, we're not talking Oblivion, where you honestly wonder if the designers had ever actually SEEN a human before, but still... they're not pretty. And if there's anything we know, it's that THEDAS IS FOR PRETTY PEOPLE.

Sure, it isn't too tough to just rename a file and stick it in the override folder to replace one of them. Right? (at this point if you're not saying right... you may want to take a step back since I don't want to have anybody breaking their game or anything. You should already be pretty comfortable installing mods in DAO if you want to try this out.)

But... what if you want to add more? What if eight presets just AREN'T ENOUGH?

Well, you can hope and pray someone made a modified chargenmorpcfg.xml file for you, mash it with the one you already have using something like this utility... only to find out the lovely faces you saw on Nexus are only set up for replacement. And then you can sit and wonder, of those eighty faces, which eight will be the winners. Or you can find one with the most absolutely perfect male elf (and Maker knows they're not easy to do!)... and then three or four others that look like they fell off a truck face first into the ugly patch. Why take all when you just want Mr. Handsome? You don't have to!

You can  take that chargenmorph file and make it your BITCH.

Seriously, if you can type and you can install a mod, you can do this. I promise.

Basically, this file is what the game draws from to give you the options you see in the character creator. The creator itself is in no way limited to the number Bioware gives you. You can have two presets, or two hundred. You just need to put them in there.

First, find your file. Apologies for my mac-loving friends, but I know nothing of the apple beyond my cell phone, so I've got no idea where yours is. It's wherever your mods live.

It should be somewhere around here: documents/bioware/dragonage/packages/core/override and it should look something like this:



Don't just double-click the file- it'll open in your default browser which is of no help to you. Open it in notepad. (not word, not notepad plus, not notepad with wheels, just vanilla notepad. Trust me, the fancy versions don't like it. No idea why, but I've tried.) I think the mac equivalent is textedit. You basically want the most vanilla plain text editor you've got.

First thing. Save a backup. Just in case.

You'll see something that looks like this.



Don't make that face. It'll freeze that way and then where will you be?  It only looks scary.  It's trying to trick you, don't listen to it.

So, you've got your file open. Time to add some heads!
Saerwens Mor and Mop files
Spidercat's Boys
15 Faces by Tori
Auroras pretty faces
Dalls_Faces
Female Faces
Ferelden Models
Male Faces
Pretty Faces
Ferelden Models

That should get you started. Take your pick. Take several!

Now you've got a couple .mop files. They may or may not have unique names. They may or may not have the same names as the preset. What you want are unique names. If they're unique names go ahead and keep them (if you want). If they're named something like "EM_CPS_P03" change it, since that's set up to replace an existing preset. Name them anything. Name them after your lunch. Just make sure they end in .mop

Go to the chargenmorphcfg file open in notepad. Find where they go. The preset faces are first, and their order is human male, female, dwarf male, female, elf male, female. Make sure you put them in the right gender and race spot or the game will get gumpy. And then it'll crash.

See how the format is? Follow it, and pop them in after the existing faces. Go nuts.
[resource name="yournewface1.mop" /]
[resource name="yournewface2.mop" /]
[resource name="yournewface3.mop" /]

Like such but with < and > instead of [ and ]. I personally like to make sure the names contain the race/gender prefix bioware already uses, but that's optional. You don't have to worry about subdirectories here. As long as the files for the heads themselves are in the override folder you're good. The important thing is that the names in the file have to match the names on the .mops you downloaded. When it looks in your override folder for them they'll have to mesh or it won't work.

Once that's done you should have something like this:



It is a huge, unruly, boring pain in the ass. But it's EASY. Time consuming, sure. Complicated? Not even close.

Finished?  Go to save as, select "all types" from the dropdown, and double click on the old chargenmorphcfg file. Overwrite. (since you made that backup, right??).

Open your game. Admire the new hotness.


Warnings:
A lot of head mods out there (hurhur head) will require you have other mods installed. I counted a grand total of TWENTY THREE required by Female Faces Compilation alone. Make sure you read all the instructions. It may require you have a pineappletree's eyes, bidelle's cosmetics studio, more hairstyles, tucked hair, LOTC hair, wyld tats... you get the point, yeah?

See? Really, really simple, isn't it?

Comments

[zute]

I hope this works in DA2!

[amhran_comhrac]

I suspect it will, the actual char creator looks damn near identical. It might require a few tweaks, but I'd be shocked if it was a complete ground-up rebuild. They use the same game engine still.

[twist_shimmy]

You are amazing. Thanks so much for this. Now I may actually bother trying out morphs! :D

(Also remind me to give you, miri, and darkrose the photobucket account info. When I am less fried from five-hour interview of win.)

[scarylady]

interview of win? you won?

yay and woot!

[twist_shimmy]

It was less of an interview and more hanging out with four nerdboys for five hours. One of them kept patting my resume and calling me "lovely." Another kept suggesting side projects "I'd be awesome at" and then we bonded over insomnia. A third wanted to hear security stories, and a fourth? "Let's go get chicken strips."

It was basically a huge personality test. Nothing is promised yet, but I have a good feeling.

[amhran_comhrac]

Yay! Sounds like good news is on the way!

[twist_shimmy]

*crosses fingers*

[jannifer]

I'll hold a good thought or say a prayer, whichever you want. *crossing fingers also*

[twist_shimmy]

(Also, do you think we should tweak the tags so mods/tutorials/console posts have their own section? I'm thinking yes?)

ohgod our modding is showing :X

[amhran_comhrac]

I'm also thinking yes. I'm on it.

[twist_shimmy]

Excellent! Have fun! :D

[miri1984]

Wow. I like... understood this!

[amhran_comhrac]

It isn't hard- hand to god. If you can type (and I know you can type), you can do this.

[andorin]

You know, this tutorial is so good I think I got it on the first read-through. I will definitely try it!

And yes, a tweak-tag would be nice. I like my databases - well, everything really - properly labeled.

[amhran_comhrac]

Thank you! Really, it's so super-easy once you realize how it's done. I was KICKING myself for not trying sooner.

[jannifer]

Once I saw the layout of the chargenmorphcpg file, I refused to be intimidated. It really is this easy, and I encourage folks to try.

Nice clear explanation -- I salute your modness. *giggle*

[amhran_comhrac]

Why thank you! :D

[brynna]

I. Love. You. Forever. I've only been trying to figure out how to use morphs for months! Thank you for explaining it. My biggest problem has been installing the required mods correctly. I keep messing that up somehow. But maybe now I'll get it right. Thanx!

[amhran_comhrac]

Well, this will still need you to have all the required mods installed and working properly. Hair, textures, whatever. It's only how to add more faces to the character creator as presets. If the supplemental mods used to create those faces aren't there you'll get oddness- missing hair (like, a big hole), odd eyes, no texture on the skin. Or my favorite, the tattoo that says DO NOT USE across the forehead. ;)

They'll still show up, and in some cases you can still use them- resetting the skin color/texture sliders will occasionally reset the skin to the game default textures, and changing the hairstyle can fix the missing hair problem. But, it's easier if you have all the bits in place first.

Hm... maybe I'll do a generalized "how to install mods" one next.

[twist_shimmy]

"Don't put the patch in its own folder." La la la. *hangs head*

[jannifer]

I have a related question regarding presets. What if you've found a mod which takes the eight (I think it is) vanilla game skin tones and improves them. The names of said tones are such that they don't overwrite the presets, so to simply add them, I'd follow your directions. However, what if I like the newer tones and want them to override the presets? Would I simply rename the new textures with the names of the old textures (found in the chargenmorphcfg file) and then drop the file into my Override folder?