I have made zero progress this week, as the entire thing was spent failing to figure out this problem never mind resolve it.
Basically what's happened is that every time I go to bake (and it doesn't seem to matter what baking option I choose, there seems to be a few), the sculpt mesh decides to do this at some point either just before the bake starts or right at the beginning somewhere:
Which results in a very messy bake:
I struggled with it for a week before finally giving up and asking the forum for help (and feeling bad about going there for help after 3 years, don't ask I don't know either).
Hopefully someone will be able to point me in the right direction if the problem ever crops up again. In the meantime in the interests of getting this character done I'm just going to paint the normal map.
This post also appears on my blog.
I'm still annoyed
Want a crowd character? If you interact frequently with me here (either on my posts or your posts or better yet both!) or on one of the linked Discord channels, all you have to do is let me know and tell me what you'd like :) It can be one of your characters (including ones you make up on the spot for this XD) or a self insert. There's a bunch of different human types to choose from, and pets/other animals are also welcome.
Thanks for looking! _
Come hang out on Discord with us!
#teamaustralia on PAL | ANZ | Be Awesome | steemartists
