Thank you for downloading my Femexarch skin mod. If you decide to use it in gposes, feel free to tag me @alloragamer on bluesky (my pfp is a white haired elezen art)

PERMISSIONS: 
Do not reupload without Major edits on any other website, including mod websites (this mod is only officially posted on XMA and Aetherlink as of the writing of this readme)
Major edits of the mod are OK to be publically posted. Major edits include: 
Changing the crystal pattern, changing the gold veins pattern, changing the veins color, changing the shader from emissive to another type,
changing the shader to use a standard multi setup instead of metallic, making a version for another body/layout (TBSE, Gen3), and other things that fundamentally change the look of the mod. 

DO NOT PUBLISH A VERSION OF MY MOD AT 4k OR HIGHER RESOLUTION. I WILL CONSIDER THAT A REUPLOAD AND NOT AN EDIT. If you make any changes that are listed in my major edits section, and as 4k, then that is acceptable, but a "version" of my mod that is unchanged, but just 4k resolution will be considered a reupload, not an edit.

Please do not use this mod in conjuction with any AI created assets such as tattoos, makeups, or other skin mods. meshing with your existing skin mods is ok, but I do not condone the use of AI. Do not use this mod for training of AI or with any AI tools. 

Do not use this mod for any bigoted or illegal content, or to take screenshots of bigoted or illegal content. 

As per the permissions of ASYMFACES and my own general permissions, you may not use this mod for permanently paywalled (vaulted) content. 
You ARE allowed to commission someone for a paid edit, but that mod must either stay private, or if made public, be free for others to use.
Private edits are allowed.  

All publically posted edits of this mod MUST credit and link back to the original on the modpage. You do not need to make mine a lower priority dependency for your mod, just crediting me (and Spiswel for ASYMFACES) is enough. 



Notes on using this mod- 
Please keep in mind that as per penumbra, ALL mods that involve a face edit require a manual self redraw to show changes, even if automatic redraws are on. this means that if you swap between a glow and non glow option, you MUST manual redraw.
Glow and lipstick color on faces are mustually exclusive, so if you use a glow option, the CC lipstick color will not work. if you would like to use lipstick and glow, you need to manually paint your lipstick color onto the diffuse. this is a game limitation and something I cannot fox. If you would like to use CC/Glamourer lipstick colors, use the non glow option. 



HOW TO EDIT THIS MOD:

Included in this folder are lots of transparent overlays, merged images, and two editing PSDs (one for the face and one for the body) to allow you to more easily make edits. I recommend using the PSDs as these are the most updated, but the overlays are provided for your convenience. (i have tried to label them as best as I can). I do not recommend making any edits to the 5 pixels around the neck seam edges on either the body or face unless you have substance painter, or clip studio modeler. 
The editing PSDs were made in clip studio paint, but can be opened in all art programs that suppost PSD (photopea, photoshop, gimp, CSP, paint tool SAI, etc)
If you are editing the Mask map, I recommend using Photopea, Gimp, or photoshop, as you will need to do per-channel editing. 

The Mask in the editing psd for the body is using the standard colors instead of the metallic colors for ease of compatability with any other skin mods you may have. to edit the mask to be set up for the metallic shader:
R- All metal must be PURE WHITE on the red channel. leave everything else alone. 
G- All metal as well as anything that is meant to be shiny (the base nails and nipples if you are using that option for your usual bibo texture choice) must be BLACK or nearly black (i am using color 121212, personally)
B- EVERYTHING BUT THE METAL VEINS MUST BE BLACK. ALL METAL MUST BE WHITE.
A- Alpha is not used on the mask unless you are using Hrothgar shader, and this mod does not use Hrothgar shader by default. 

Normal map alphas are included separately for ease of editing, remember to edit these if you change the crystal layout to match, or your emissive will be wrong if using that option. to add, use textooils and navigate to the female Midlander body 1, then navigate to the bibo material (or whatever you're editing), then navigate to the normal map, and click "add alpha overlay". I do not know if this is possible to do in penumbra or not, so please use textools with a transaction to edit this mod if you are editing the normal map. 

The PSDs (especially for the body) are set up to allow for mesh transform on multiple layers at once. to do this, just select the folder and then go to the transform menu. This works correctly in Clip Studio Paint, but i do not know if other programs allow this kind of editing. If you plan to do major transformations or changes to the crystal layout (or are planning on making a TBSE version) i HIGHLY recommend doing it this way in CSP so that everything perfectly lines up correctly. 
If you would like to use a different Asym face (for example for male clan marks, or an asym sculpt that uses the DT UVs) I recommend using the face editing PSD so you can swap the base textures out easily. 

If you are not making facial edits for glow compatability DO NOT USE THE NORMAL MAP ALPHA FOR THE FACE. this file is only for the glow option, as lipstick color and glow are mutually exclusive, and using this alpha on top of your face will remove lipstick color influence. Please just use the yellow normal map overlay without the alpha, if you do not wish to use the PSD. 

If you need to make a new alpha overlay, I recommend making a new layer, and hiding all layers other than what you want to be WHITE on the alpha, then making your new layer "clip to layer below", so that when you paint your white value, it follows the transparency settings of the layers below that are turned on. Then "save as" a PNG with no other new layers turned on. after that, open the image in your art program, make another layer underneath, and paint it entirely black. then you can resave the image to get your full overlay. 
You can also do this to create mask overlays for each individual RGBA channel. if you are using photoshop, remember to draw in the edge of each corner so that the image properly centers when pasted in. 


I will not be offering support help for any edits you would like to make, outside of commissioned edits. I will also not be offering support help for any user error. you CAN contact me if the mod is broke, but please ensure that it is not user error first. Remember that for any mods affecting the face, penumbra requires a manual self redraw to apply changes, even if you have automatic redraws on. 

Credits:
Spiswell for ASYMFACES and the ASYM base textures.
Bizu/Illy/Tsar for the Bibo+ layout and base skin textures
Cultist for teaching me about the metal on skin shader method, and letting me reference her goated mod for the shader key set up and mask channel setup. 
Square Enix for the original Crystal Exarch textures that were used to create this mod

Softwares used to create this mod:
Xnormal (transferring the original SE textures to the TBSE layout to start the project)
Substance painter (the MAJORITY of the painting and stamping work)
Clip Studio Paint/Modeler (Allowing me to mesh transform the 2d textures to fit bibo's layout from TBSE while reducing the amount of seams as much as humanly possible, and tiny handpainted edits and blending that I couldn't get right in substance)
Photopea (per channel editing for the mask)