• Dragon Age Origins Character Creation Mods Free

Overview

Cosmetic mods (mods that add new eye colours, hairs, skin tones, etc) to be used by your character are not compatible. This means that, if you install more than one cosmetic mod at the same time, you won't see the resources added by all of them in the Dragon Age character creator unless you make them compatible first.

So in a way, Dragon Age: Origins with the gay-mod is exposing this nagging doubt in all of our minds about this 'product,' that yes gay men can fall in love and do great things. Yes gay men can.

This tutorial will explain how to install more than one cosmetic mod for Dragon Age making all of them compatible so you can access the resources they add from the character creator.

Required tools

• Notepad or another tool that allows edition of txt files

How the character creator works

Dragon Age character creator looks for the resources (skintones, eye colours, hairs, hair colours, etc) in a xml called chargenmorphcfg.xml. The character creator will show you only the resources that are listed in that xml file.

Most cosmetic mods add their own chargenmorphcfg.xml file that contains the vanilla respurces plus the ones added by the mod. But, if there is more than one chargenmorphcfg.xml file in your Dragon Age override folder, the game won't know which one is the right one to be used and the character creator won't work properly. That is the reason why, when installing more than one cosmetic mod, you will have to add the resources the new mod adds to the lists in the chargenmorphcfg.xml file that is in your override folder.

Notes

* If you are installing cosmetic mods that add resources used by NPCs, and you don't want them for your character, you don't need to edit the chargenmorphcfg.xml as this file is only used by the character creator. But, if the mod adds a new xml file, delete it or your character creator will probably won't work as you want it to.

* If you are installing a mod that adds tattos made for the toolset modifying the chargenmorphcfg.xml won't work. Refer to this tutorial Using custom tattoos with Dragon Age character creator instead.

You can also use the recently updated and improved: CharGenMorph Compiler, made by TerraEx, to combine the '.xml' files from multiple mods automatically. More information about this utility can be found here: Using Dragon Age Mods for Dummies. But, if this tool doesn't work for you or you would prefer to make the changes manually, don't worry. You can edit the chargenmorphcfg.xml using any txt editor (e.g. 'Wordpad' works well with this file format.)

chargenmorphcfg.xml structure

Open the chargenmorphcfg.xml and you'll see that it has several sections. Each section begins with a tag like this: <section name> and ends with a tag like this: </section name>. Some sections have also subsections for each of the races in game to indicate that some resources are available only to some of the races and genders and not to all of them.

The xml file has the following sections:

• <heads>: contains the list of preset faces that are loaded in the character creator. All presets end with a *.mop extension.
• <hairs>: contains the list of hairs that are loaded in the character creator. There is a subsection for each of the races and genders that you can use to create your character in game.
• <beards>: contains the list of beards that are loaded in the character creator. It contains subsections only for human male and dwarf male.
• <hair_colors>: contains the list of hair colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <skin_colors>: contains the list of skintones that are loaded in the character creator. * <eyes_colors>: contains the list of eye colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <eyes_makeup_colors>: contains the list of eye makeup colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <blush_makeup_colors>: contains the list of blush makeup colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <lip_makeup_colors>: contains the list of lip colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <brow_stubble_colors>: contains the list of eyebrow and stubble colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <crew_cut_colors>: contains the list of the scalp colours that are automatically assigned to your character when you select a hair colour.
• <tattoo_colors>: contains the list of tattoo colours that are loaded in the character creator.
• <tattoos>: contains the list of tatoo files that contains the individual tattoos that you will be able to select in the character creator.
• <skins>: contains the list of complexions that are loaded in the character creator.

The actual resources (hairs, eye colours, skintones, etc) are listed in each section or subsection like this: <resource name='resource file name'/>

Adding new resources to the chargenmorphcfg.xml file

If the mod you are installing already has a chargenmorphcfg.xml file:

• change its name to another name (like NewChargenmorphcfg.xml) and open it using Notepad in one window.
• Open your chargenmorphcfg.xml in another Notepad instance.
• Compare your xml file (chargenmorphcfg.xml) and the one from the mod (NewChargenmorphcfg.xml in the example) and copy all the <resource name='name of the resource'/> lines that are in the NewChargenmorphcfg.xml and not on your xml file, each one in its right section and subsection.
• Save your chargenmorphcfg.xml file

If the mod you are installing doesn't have a chargenmorphcfg.xml file:

• Open your xml file using Notepad or any other txt editor.
• Locate the section you want to modify: if you are adding new hairs, go to the <hairs> section, if you are adding new eye colours go to the <eyes_colors> section, and so on.
• If the section you are going to modify contains subsections, like in the case of the <hairs> section, locate the subsection of the race you are adding the hairs to: if you are adding hairs for human female characters, locate the <human_female> subsection that is between the <hairs> and </hairs> tags.
• Look at the mod files and add as many <resource name='name of the resource'/> entries as files added by the mod, replacing 'name of the resource' by each file name.
• Save your chargenmorphcfg.xml file

Dragon Age Origins Character Creation Mods Free

To play an RPG on the PC is to play a modded RPG. This has been the mantra of the dice-rollers for years, continually tweaking and altering our beloved games and, of course, fixing all the 'mistakes' the developers made, as those hard-to-please fans are always keen to do. BioWare's Dragon Age 2 is no different, and we've collected here 10 useful mods for any wannabe Champion of Kirkwall. Dark days are coming; you'll need all the help you can get.

The best mod repository for Dragon Age 2, as well as other RPGs like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series, is the group of dedicated Nexus websites. There you'll find hundreds to thousands of tweaks, changes and fan-made content to fiddle with to your heart's content. If you've never dabbled with PC mods before, it's a breeze for Dragon Age 2. Simply drop the mod files in your BioWare/Dragon Age 2/packages/core/override folder that's tucked away in My Documents, though be sure to always read the specific installation instructions of any mods you install. As a side note, the Characters folder located there is also where your save games are stored, and it's always a good idea to make a backup of those before you go meddling with electronic innards.

Of course, since Kirkwall has only been in need of its Champion for just over a week, most of the mods so far available for Dragon Age 2 are of the simple cosmetic variety, but there are still some essential tweaks available. With any luck there will soon be mods as ambitious and sweeping in scope as were made for Origins, adding huge amounts of depth and extra fun for PC players.

CHARACTER GENERATOR REVAMP

Hawke's default appearance, both male and female, is striking, unique and heroic. This makes it a shame when one tries to tweak it, being lumbered with one of the blank, bland appearance presets to try and wrangle a distinctive visage from. This mod lets you modify the default Hawke face, allowing you to make a distinctive Hawke who's all your own without having to prod at a featureless NPC-alike noggin until you reach something half-decent.

DRAGON AGE ORIGINS SAVE IMPORT GENERATOR

Like BioWare's Mass Effect, Dragon Age 2 supports importing your saves from the first game, keeping track of all the important actions and decisions you took and affecting your Dragon Age 2 playthrough in subtle ways. This handy-dandy tool allows you to create an Origins save, tweak all the relevant decisions made during a full campaign, and pops it out ready to be imported into a new career for Dragon Age 2. Perfect if you lost your saves for Origins, or are looking for a different perspective on familiar events.

HIGHLIGHT TOGGLE

It's a wonder why BioWare didn't make this an option in the first place. This simple yet hugely helpful mod simply turns Highlight Objects into a toggle, meaning that you'll no longer have to run around everywhere with your pinky finger straining to hold down Tab all the time. It also adds a handy Autorun button as well for those long-distance travellers.

FACIAL TWEAKS

Bringing a touch of cosmetic surgery to the land of Thedas, these mods change key characters in subtle ways that benefit their roles. Mostly by making them not look so funny-looking. It's a popular option, as new facial morphs are the most popular mod category on the Nexus at the time of writing, with multiple mods for some characters. Here's three that most benefit from a touch of class: Knight-Commander Meredith loses her anomalous girlish blonde locks in favour of a more mature grey as befitting her voice and role, Aveline loses the sledgehammer jaw while not transforming into a Barbie doll like other mods insist on doing and there's also one for Anders that's more in keeping with his roguish Awakenings appearance – though sadly it doesn't do anything to temper his constant whining. Choose the ponytail look for him – somehow, a gigantic greased quiff isn't really befitting of his character.