Ragdoll Template

Ragdoll Templates are external files (.rdt) editable in NifSkope that contain Havok, constraint, and rigid body data for skeletons for the purpose of assigning customized physics to armor instead of using the base skeleton's physics. They were introduced in Fallout 3, but unfortunately do not work in either Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas.

They are structured very simply, however they are difficult to properly set up as the constraints are both poorly documented and require a relatively decent grasp of geometry to understand the angles and pivots.

The structure is as follows:

• NiNode as root, with no child blocks or properties
  • bhkRagdollTemplate attached to the NiNode as an Extra Data block, and it must be named RDT
    • bhkRagdollTemplateData named after bones in the base skeleton attached to bhkRagdollTemplate

bhkRagdollTemplateData

bhkRagdollTemplateData contains overrides for bhkRigidBody/bhkRigidBodyT and constraint blocks attached to bones on the base skeleton with the same name as specified in the TemplateData block.

The basic fields are:

• Mass: The weight of the RigidBody.
• Restitution: The "bounce" of the RigidBody. Restitution is nonfunctional in New Vegas.
• Friction: The friction of the RigidBody.
• Radius:
• Material: Overrides the collision material of the shape attached to the RigidBody.
• Num Constraints: The total number of constraints on the RigidBody.

The constraint fields depend on the constraint type. bhkRagdollTemplateData supports Ball and Socket, Hinge, Limited Hinge, Malleable, Prismatic, Ragdoll, and Stiff Spring constraints, as well as each of their respective data fields.