Might be making the jump to PC, but have some questions...

[OverTheEdge]

So, after years of clinging to 2K14, I may finally be looking to make the switch to PC. That in mind, all these years I've been making do with the last gen versions of the game, I've essentially been living under a rock in regard to what's been going on in the modding community. I'm still in the process of looking around and reading up on what I can, but seeing as I'd need to get a new PC in order to make the move, I'm trying to make sure of a few things before I go and do that. I've got a few questions on things that maybe I missed or just haven't seen anything on. A few of these are more general questions regarding modding on the PC version and some are going to be a bit more geared towards what I'd be aiming to get out of it for the channel I run. Any info or clarity on them would be awesomely appreciated.

• I suppose I'll start with what was the crux of all modding done on the 360, and that was the .arc files. Are those still a thing on PC? If not, is there a similar mechanic in its place that you'd need to update with any mod you're introducing to your game? Or is it more a free-for-all of just replacing files at will?
• Regarding the .pac files themselves, how are those structured? I know last year on last gen, one of the few actual changes they did was to go out of their way to fuck with the headers and formatting of the files. Instead of the EPK8 and PACH headers that were around for years, it was now things like HSPC and SHDC. Were those changes also implemented to the PC version?
• One thing that I have always seen and was paying enough attention to during the initial PC release was the whole deal regarding facial animations if you edit the model. Say I wanted to fix up Edge's model (because, let's be real, his is awful), is there a way that I could work on the face while keeping it fully animated in-game and it not glitching out? Also, does this same sort of thing happen if you try and edit the model of an attire part?
• Previously, the only textures you needed to worry about were the color and the normal (which contained the alpha). Apart from the face, body, attire, hair, etc. all having their own textures, I was wondering what some of the changes were about. Like for the body, all_color and all_n are well and familiar, but what do the _b and _ao textures do?
• On last gen, each arena was its own contained .pac file. When I took a look through the PC files for 2K15 way back when, if I recall correctly, it seemed like the different parts for the arenas were all over the place. Is that just how they are? Was I maybe looking at something wrong? How are the arenas compiled on PC?
• Also, what kind of programs are available and are the best ones to use? I've been working with X-Packer and X-Rey for so long that I'm not entirely aware of any alternatives, though I see a few being mentioned as I'm reading around.
• I know it's not even out yet on PC, so this one might be looking too far ahead, but at the moment, all of the cutscenes that were available in the Create-a-Video mode for 2K17 aren't available in 2K18. 2K's aware of it and it's apparently not supposed to be the case, as they've released a statement saying they're looking for a solution. Worst case scenario, that doesn't happen. Would there be any way to get the ones from 2K17 into 2K18? On the note of cutscenes, it's to my understanding that any entrances, cutscenes, animations, etc. from WWE '12 to 2K14 (despite working on later iterations of last gen games) are no longer compatible. Is this the case? I'd imagine the difference in the skeletons of the models would be the obstacle there, but if anything's been figured out to make those usable, that'd be great.
• One thing that always kept me away from these games regarding the shows I put together is how they've incorporated cancelling a pin. Instead of it doing the standard kickout animation, you just stand up off the guy which looks absolutely terrible in regard to simulating a match. Now, it's not feasible to hit every single kickout every single time--especially if you want it to be a near-fall and no less if you want to turn the HUDs off for a better look presentation-wise. I doubt something like it already exists, but would it even at all be possible to create something (I'm not even sure what) that where while you're pinning could trigger different kickout animations? Like when you go for a pin, L1/LB cancels it--but if you hit R1 instead it'd do the standard kickout animation, or if you hit L2 it'd do the strong kickout?
• I know the Special Referee match type isn't available on any of the PS4/XB1/PC versions, but is it at all possible to replace the referee pac with that of one of the wrestlers? I know back on last gen this wasn't possible due to the referee (along with the ring announcers and commentators) because a different sort of PACH type. Is that still the case on PC? Or could you actually replace the referees, ring announcers, etc. with other wrestlers?

Again, I appreciate anyone that can offer any assistance in answering these. Also, if maybe there's something I missed that you think is any sort of pertinent information I should know about, I'm all ears. Thanks!

[LordJustice17]

- No arc files in the last few PC versions.

- SDHC/HSPC files were also (partially) implemented on PC, although the legacy formats still worked. Still TBD whether they will also work in 2K18.

- There are ways/tools to fix/keep animations that were developed during the 2K17 cycle.

- Mostly lighting effects. Some need to be edited, but it usually minimal edits compared to the main and normal textures.

- Arena parts are somewhat modular, with additional parts being tied together using a misc file. Check out the wiki entry (http://smacktalks.org/wiki/index.php/Arena_Modding) and feel free to PM me if you need any clarification on arena stuff.

- New free modding tools include Reshape, PacTool, and PacEditor. Between those you should have all the functionality you had using XR and XP. Also check out Pozzum's tool for installing/downloading/other stuff.

- All the PC animations (2K15+) should be compatible, although older animations don't appear to be yet.

- No clue. Sorry.

- Can't speak for 2K18, but last year it wasn't possible. Refs were lower poly and had different skeletons, so regular models caused crashes when injected into those slots. You could possibly shrinkwrap a ref model over a character model though.

 

PS: If you're into arena modding I would LOVE some help. I had a project planned for 2K17 that never got finished due to the enormity of it.

[jakeypearce]

To add to what LJ said regarding the animations, I've figured out why they're not compatible. It's just a (fairly) annoying case of importing, either, the old animations to MotionBuilder by figuring out the structure, or importing the PC animations to MotionBuilder and edit the animation directly from there. It's easier said than done.

[FinaleStar]

3 hours ago, OverTheEdge said:

• One thing that I have always seen and was paying enough attention to during the initial PC release was the whole deal regarding facial animations if you edit the model. Say I wanted to fix up Edge's model (because, let's be real, his is awful), is there a way that I could work on the face while keeping it fully animated in-game and it not glitching out? Also, does this same sort of thing happen if you try and edit the model of an attire part?
• Previously, the only textures you needed to worry about were the color and the normal (which contained the alpha). Apart from the face, body, attire, hair, etc. all having their own textures, I was wondering what some of the changes were about. Like for the body, all_color and all_n are well and familiar, but what do the _b and _ao textures do?
• Also, what kind of programs are available and are the best ones to use? I've been working with X-Packer and X-Rey for so long that I'm not entirely aware of any alternatives, though I see a few being mentioned as I'm reading around..
• I know the Special Referee match type isn't available on any of the PS4/XB1/PC versions, but is it at all possible to replace the referee pac with that of one of the wrestlers? I know back on last gen this wasn't possible due to the referee (along with the ring announcers and commentators) because a different sort of PACH type. Is that still the case on PC? Or could you actually replace the referees, ring announcers, etc. with other wrestlers?

Again, I appreciate anyone that can offer any assistance in answering these. Also, if maybe there's something I missed that you think is any sort of pertinent information I should know about, I'm all ears. Thanks!

 

I'm gonna answer the ones I actually have some knowledge about

1. As said above tools have fixed the facial animation problem which now allows mods to be fully animated if you change their head model here's a tutorial on how to do it in X-Rey (Reshape is another tool that allows this but I haven't fucked around in that area yet so I can't help there I believe the process is the same though).If you try to edit an attire part the animations stay no problem if the attire does some weird spazzing out/glitching you'll have to change the part this only happens for certain superstars it's only happened to me 3 times and it was because those specific characters didn't allow things to be added to their upper body for some reason there may be a way to fix this but I wouldn't be the one to know.
 

2. I have absolutely no idea what the xx_b textures do,the xx_ao textures show how the game's lighting reacts to the object (example : if there is a part of the attire that's darker than the other in the ao you'd turn that area white and vice versa (want it darker turn it darker) ).You'll rarely need to edit these though.

3.You can use Bannock Reshape (Model Editor) and PacTool (Pac Editor) both work splendidly you can also use X-Rey and X-Packer they work great too, the only difference I can see is that you'd have to pay for X-Rey and X-Packer,I also prefer Bannocks tool layout it's simple and effective but its a matter of preference.

Edit : Forgot eatraawmeat's PacEditor this allows you to extract the contents of the pac file

4.Same as LJ said it could be different in 2K18 but in '17 it wasn't possible unless you were either going to sculpt the ref to your liking or (not entirely sure if this'll work) shrinkwrap the ref model over the superstar you want.

 

Love what you've been doing for the past couple of years looking forward to the Rumble  

 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2017 by FinaleStar

[AznBlusuazn]

Welcome @OverTheEdge - Also, we have a Discord channel (https://discord.gg/MDpmQ6E) that is pretty active when it comes to modding and now creations.  Also great way to get real time feedback and showcase your work!

[OverTheEdge]

Thanks so much for all of the responses so far, guys! Definitely helpful.

8 hours ago, LordJustice17 said:

PS: If you're into arena modding I would LOVE some help. I had a project planned for 2K17 that never got finished due to the enormity of it.

Unless I find some undiscovered love I never knew I had for it through switching to PC, I'm sorry to say that is most certainly not the case. I enjoy the creativity of it, but I loathe the actual process of getting the job done. So many files. So, so many files. Only something I ever did out of necessity, really.

8 hours ago, jakeypearce said:

To add to what LJ said regarding the animations, I've figured out why they're not compatible. It's just a (fairly) annoying case of importing, either, the old animations to MotionBuilder by figuring out the structure, or importing the PC animations to MotionBuilder and edit the animation directly from there. It's easier said than done.

Had a feeling if there was anyone who'd have info on that it'd be you. I see you've been leading the charge on the animation front, and I couldn't commend you more for it. It's not easy work--I know, I've tried. No idea what MotionBuilder is, but I'm quite curious.

6 hours ago, FinaleStar said:

Love what you've been doing for the past couple of years looking forward to the Rumble  

Thank you! I know it's taking forever, but people like yourself are why we've been trudging along. While switching to PC wouldn't get it here any sooner, it would be more of a 'two steps forward, one step back' sort of deal where I feel we'd finally be gaining more than we'd be losing out on. Hoping to make it happen.

6 hours ago, AznBlusuazn said:

Welcome @OverTheEdge - Also, we have a Discord channel (https://discord.gg/MDpmQ6E) that is pretty active when it comes to modding and now creations.  Also great way to get real time feedback and showcase your work!

Thanks for the heads up!

[FinaleStar]

Thought you might appreciate this @OverTheEdge

[OverTheEdge]

1 hour ago, FinaleStar said:

Thought you might appreciate this @OverTheEdge

You... thank you so much for this.

When I first started considering the move to PC I gave 2K17 another shot to get a feel for the gameplay. While I was screwing around, I unintentionally discovered something similar to that. If you hold the left thumbstick in a direction as you cancel the pin, it'd sometimes do a kickout animation. Of course, it was unreliable at best, typically seemed to only work within a one-count, and didn't work at all for moves with pin combos. It was one of the first things I tried out when my copy of 2K18 arrived and, surely enough, it was even more unreliable than it was in 2K17. Just gave this new method a shot and it works awesomely. It's consistent and it works with all pins. I don't know where you saw that, but I can't thank you enough for sharing it.

[dxmaster9]

On 10/16/2017 at 10:03 AM, jakeypearce said:

To add to what LJ said regarding the animations, I've figured out why they're not compatible. It's just a (fairly) annoying case of importing, either, the old animations to MotionBuilder by figuring out the structure, or importing the PC animations to MotionBuilder and edit the animation directly from there. It's easier said than done.

Hey do you know a way or can you please explain to me how I can import animations into motionbuilder and view them please