Adding new weapons Issue

[BrokenEdge]

I have the following installed ~
3Ds Max 2009
NifScope
Nif Plugins for 3d max (Most recent versions)

I have searched many forums, and lots of google but unfortunately everything I tried didn't help.
I can get the weapon I make into the game. It has a collision box and can be equipped/used.
The issue is the object floats where I drop it. For example ~ I drop the weapon and
it will sit there in mid air if I jump on it or hit it doesn't affect it in the least.
The steps that I take to put it in game were:

-Loaded up the model in max
-Made a copy of the model and named it Collision
-Then did the following to copy: Reset Xform, Removed UVW/Materials, Collasped and then checked the NifProps "is Collision Mesh" then changed the Material type to "Metal" and Layer to "Weapon"
-After that I applied the BnkRigidBody Modifier to the Copy
-Then exported with the following settings Checked: Collision, Generate Strips, Flatten Hierarchy, Vertex Colors, Update Tangent Space, Export Skin Modifier, and Enable Multiple Partitions
-After that I made a new weapon Under Daedric weapons and gave it the .nif file i exported.

Another issue is when I'm in the menu, the modified weapon will not show on the character when its equipped.

[DM8954]

I'm quite new to exporting models into Oblivion, myself, but I'll try to tell you all I can think of.

First, did you open the file in NIFSkope after exporting it? This is an important step to make sure everything exported as expected. You can also verify that everything looks normal by comparing the file to a similar NIF. Turn on [render--> draw havok] to make sure the collision mesh is there and in the right place. (It'll be a red mesh, hopefully lined up with the regular model) You have to be able to see it properly in NIFSkope before you can go any further.

Also in NIFSkope, it's recommended that you optimize it a bit and re-save just to make sure it exports properly. I'm pretty sure [spells-->batch-->Update All Tangent Spaces] and maybe [Spells --> Optimize --> Stripify All Trishapes] are recommended operations before you resave the NIF. Just to be safe, google "Update All Tangent Spaces" and see what comes up. I can't find the link to the tutorial I got that from just now but I'll try again later. [It's really late now, so I gotta go.] I just wanted to get you some sort of response before I forget.

Next, for the issue of not seeing it equipped on the player, I can think of two possibilities to research:
 1 - Is there a separate model for the two different uses? I'm imagining something like the XX_g.dds (glow map) and XX_n.dds (normal map) files on the graphics end of things. This doesn't seem quite right but it's at least worth looking into... I guess.
 2 - Is the sword linked to the bones properly? The position and rotation of the weapon in relation to origin (0,0,0) needs to be correct but I think there might be a need for a portion of the file structure to link the sword to the character's skeleton for animation purposes. Wrong placement or bad linking could easily make an equipped item disappear as you described.

Keep in mind that I'm probably just as new at this as you are, so use any ideas I give you just to help in your search for real, expert help or just to try out (with a safe backup copy nearby). Also, it's late, so I might not be thinking too clearly.

Please let us know how it goes and update us on what else you've tried. I'll probably need to ask you how to do it when I eventually get back to my attempts at learning this.

Good luck.

[BrokenEdge]

Edit:  For the most part everything is solved.  The collision mesh I had working was just just taken from one of the Bethesda .nifs but I found out how to make my own collision meshes except I've run into one problem.  The weapon will fall through the floor, I'm working on trying to figure out why but no luck yet.

Edit:  Fixed the falling through the floor.  I just need to figure out how to get the texture to work so that the weapon displays correctly in the Character Equip preview screen.

Edit:  That is fixed now, it was as you suggested.  It needs three different maps to display correctly, unfortunately none of the tutorial I read explained that.  So problem solved I know how to add custom weapons with custom collision.