Instructions for Dragon Age Redesigned

8/10/2019 Instructions for Dragon Age Redesigned

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A word from the author

This mod is a compilation of redesigned characters for Dragon Age. This project began since November of 2009. It contains various fixes and design changes so that each character fits better with the

atmosphere of Dragon Age. Just as I did in Fallout 3 Project Beauty HD, I did my best to focus on various aspects when redesigning

characters for Dragon Age.

The Three Versions

You'll notice that there are three versions to choose from. I will explain them to you in more detail.

Enhanced Lore Edition

The main goal of this version was to recreate Dragon Age as closely to the way Bioware intended for it to be played as possible. Therefore, there's a minimum of drastic tweaks and no arbitrary additions (critical fixes only). In some cases, I made changes to make the character fit a bit better..ie Branka.

Many of the changes are subtle but effective. I only made drastic changes on designs that I felt needed a different stance. These designs preserve much of the initial character design.

Because I wanted to move Dragon Age Redesigned towards a new direction, this particular version has minimal beautification. Its strictly the way Bioware wanted itbut with my style mixed in it.


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Section 2: Aesthetics

The "Aesthetics" settings are focused a little bit more towards beauty and proportions. Unlike the Lore Version it contains a bit more flair. The situation with sticking to Biowares formula is that you are limited to that persons vision. I wanted to create my own vision. Because my views and Biowares views differ quite greatly, this particular version may or may not coincide with the lore of Dragon Age.

One of the things youll notice right away is the different ways that elves are redesigned in the Aesthetics version. I understand Biowares goals when they made their renditions of elves. But I personally wanted to make elves more like those in works by J.R.R Tolkien and other fantasy lore.

Another difference between the Aesthetics version and the Lore Version is that the women in Dragon Age are redesigned a bit differently. For example, although it is not explicitly stated, you get the impression that Isabela or Gheyna might fit their role a bit better if they were physically attractive. So I took some steps to change their appearance. These changes are only in the Aesthetics and the Recommended version.

The Crows usually employ elves because humans often find them attractive, giving them an advantage over their target.


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Section 3: Recommended Settings

The "Recommended" settings are the best balance of Lore and Aesthetics. I would strongly recommend this version. I basically looked at every character Ive redesigned over the course of the project and I chose the designs that I felt were the best within each version. Obviously everyone has different tastes but for the most part, the Recommended version has a great combination of both versions.

Here are some of the features of the recommended settings

1. It contains all female and male elf renditions in Aesthetics. 2. It contains distinct differences between City Elves and Dalish Elves. 3. It contains more of the grittier and realistic renditions of the Lore version to keep everything

consistent with the lore of Dragon Age. 4. It contains certain designs which are not in Aesthetics or in Lore but designs that I felt worked

better than any of the two versions. 5. It contains designs which match the voice actor and fit the dialogue and cinematics.

6. Characters fit the lighting situations, ie. Red lighting in Orzammar, blue lighting in the Mage circle, white lighting in Denerim, yellow lighting in the Kokari forest, etc.


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Installation


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Uninstallation

The uninstall process is very simple. Simply locate the uninstaller on your:

My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override

When you click uninstall, all character designs will be removed.

If you will uninstall, be sure to REMOVE the "Uninstaller" from the override AFTER you have uninstalled the files.

This will remove all of the designs and make a CLEAN uninstall.


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New Eye TexturesIn Version 6.6, I took it upon myself to begin creating new eye textures. I wanted to make new eye textures that were closer to the blues, greens, browns that you see in real life. They arent flashy but theyll look more like the eyes that you see in an everyday mundane life.

Here are the instructions on how to use them. First install the mod, Dragon Age Redesigned from the Non companions folder and choose Dracomies True Eyes mod. Then open up the toolset and open your created character.

These will

not

be

available

in

the

ingame creator because they are not recolors but actual retextures. They can only be accessed through the toolset.

Open the Object Inspector. Then open up Section 2: Part Selection. Then go to the Eye Texture section. Here you can choose between various eye colors for your avatar.


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One thing to keep in mind is that the way I have named the eyes may not exactly pertain to the color chosen. There came a point where I didnt know exactly how to name each color. So you just sort of have to pick and choose and see how it looks ingame.

There are a couple flashy textures I added for those who might be interested, but for the most part, the colors that I chose are based on the greens, the blues and the browns that you see in everyday life.

I do realize it is not as much colors as many other eye mods which are available but the colors were chosen with much time and careful thought. The challenge in making realistic eyes is not the texture. Anybody can make a texture. The challenge is in choosing the right color, the right shade, the right amount of contrast, etc.

In version 6.8, I changed a couple things with the eyes so that you dont have to tinker with the cornea setting as much anymore. But just in case, you can contour the eyes better by adjusting the cornea

setting in the toolset.


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New akeup TexturesThere are now new makeup textures that you can use in Dragon Age. It contains nearly 216 lip makeup colors. Now when you look at the files provided, you only see 8 files.

But the situation is this. With this new makeup texture, you can blend the colors with Biowares lip

makeup as well. Bioware has 27 different makeup colors for the lips. And I have about 8 bases to use,

which essentially gives you 216 makeup colors for the lips and thats excluding the degree of gloss used,

etc.

I will teach you how to use the textures.

So the first thing you want to do is open up your character in the toolset. Keep in mind these makeup textures are optimized for female humans. They do sort of work for female elves and female dwarves, but they are meant to be meant to used for female humans.

Heres how you do it.

This is how the face looks with standard lip makeup.

Now you need to add a base. I made 8 different base colors. Im embarrassed to say that I actually went through and did some research to figure out which lip makeup colors were popular and commonly used

among women.


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So what you need to do is go in your toolset and click BASE SKIN TEXTURE.

From here, choose a base. Generally, if youre looking for a lighter shade, go for the Salmon color. If youre looking for a standard red color, choose glossy red, etc.

Once you choose a base, you will now have a lip gloss

effect on the lips.

But it may or may not be the right amount of color. So heres how you tweak it to make it look better.


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Go to Lip Makeup color and then choose a color. These are Biowares lip colors and you can actually blend them with the base. So you can pretty much make any color you want.

Here is what the Bioware lips mean, so youll know which colors to choose.

This guide is from Beerfish Excel utilities.


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Once youve done that, then you change the Lip Makeup Opacity to make adjustments to the lipstick color.

Tinker around with it and youll find there are a lot of options and colors to choose from.