Ped Customization - Issues
Generally
speaking, if you're customizing ped mods with OpenIV and OpenFormats,
you'll usually get an intelligent error message allowing you to correct problems when the results aren't what you hoped for or expected. Of course there are still plenty of unflagged issues that will have you
wondering what went wrong.
For example, if you're trying to add drawables from one model to another, for example a head, and the model skeletons aren't compatible, you'll get a monster like the one above. That's when you either walk away, try another model, or use 3D modelling software to fix the problem.
Another question we get asked, is why newly added drawables don't show up when the customized ped model is spawned in game. The common cause for this is that the race (whi, bla, uni, etc) in the ymt file doesn't match the race in the ytd texture file.
The easy fix for this is usually to change the race in the ymt file (using the ymt editor) to match the textures in the ytd file. Note that you only need to set it once per drawable in the ymt editor. For example if you add a new hairstyle in ymt and set it to uni, all your textures for that particular hairstyle drawable should be uni as well.
Keep in mind that different drawables, for the same ped, can have different races. That's perfectly acceptable.
For some excellent tutorials, consult these guides. The first is for the more curious, it takes you back behind the scenes for some fundamentals. The second guide is practical, allowing you to jump right in to customizing peds without all the background knowledge, using new tools like the ymt editor which greatly facilitate what was once a cryptic process.