93 réponses à ce sujet

[daywalker03]

While some people may insist that it's nearly impossible to mod DA2, I know better. The following is a partial list of useful tools for making mods for DA2:

The DA Toolset: While we currently do not have direct toolset access to the DA2 models, due to a change in the file format that the current toolset cannot read, many of the files in DA2 can be more or less recreated in the existing toolset; I will explain how to do this later in the thread.

pyGFF: This tool allows us to peek inside the ERF (Encapsulated Resource File) archives used in DAO, Awakening and DA2, as well as edit Generic File Format files of versions 4.0 and 4.1; it also reads version 3.2, but cannot be used to edit those. It is also used to extract resources from the erfs for modification.

GDApp: This tool is used to edit the gda files (referred to as 2da files in prior Bioware games); it can also be used to convert gda files into Excel Spreadsheet file for editing in Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.

There are other tools, but these are the ones that currently are the most useful to me; I will add links and descriptions of the others when I get the chance.

Installation of mods:

I would like to thank elys for making the following discovery; like DAO, DA2 supports an Addins directory that should be used for all player created content instead of the packages\\core\\override directory that is used by many modders. This discovery, coupled with the knowledge that DA2 still reads the ERF file format used by DAO, means that the process of making mods for DA2 is essentially identical to the process of making mods for DAO.

Modifié par daywalker03, 27 mars 2011 - 01:47 .

[CaptainBlackGold]

Thanks for staying on top of this Daywalker - all the best. I encourage you to continue in "deconstructing" the file formats.

[AdmThrawnuru]

Awesome. I'm at work atm, or I'd start on this now. Any tips on which files hold which data? I'm looking for the "Coalesced.ini" from ME2 kind of stuff specifically, which is probably distributed around in hard-to-find places.

[Zxypher]

I'm very much interested in getting my hands on all the gda files. There are many things about the Mage which currently make me sad. I'm following this with great interest.

[synnerman]

Thank you for your work on this.

[Malcroix]

Thanks for the tools, Day. I already tried opening faces.erf with your editor, and sure enough, inside are what seem to be all the heads with identifiable names. I'll see where it takes me from here - head swapping for Hawke being the goal.

FYI, progress so far:

The 22 chargen presets are saved in a *.mop format. These are the filenames for the default male and female Hawke head morphs:



z_a868f99486e5cf41.mop ("hm_iconicmale")
z_7b67ae792bb877b6.mop ("hm_iconicmale_nomark")
z_6e3ebc438fd14068.mop ("hf_iconicfemale_normark")
z_6efa3f7ff79401cb.mop ("hf_iconicfemale")

At this point, I've confirmed replacement of the default Hawke headmorph with one of the alternate chargen headmorphs.

Can't use DA1 heads, however.

Modifié par Malcroix, 09 mars 2011 - 09:13 .

[marquiseondore]

I tried using the erf extract but it doesn't open

[Malcroix]

marquiseondore wrote...

I tried using the erf extract but it doesn't open

It's a command line program (i.e. you have to type it with commands, it doesn't work in the GUI).

Use the "editor" instead to extract everything from faces.erf.

Then use the DA Toolset to quickly browse the resulting files.

[Malcroix]

daywalker03 wrote...

pyGFF: This tool allows us to peek inside the ERF (Encapsulated Resource File) archives used in DAO, Awakening and DA2, as well as edit Generic File Format files of versions 4.0 and 4.1; it also reads version 3.2, but cannot be used to edit those. It is also used to extract resources from the erfs for modification.

The pyGFF can't actually edit 4.1. It can open them, but can only save in 4.0, which is not recognised by DA2.

Can you make it save in 4.1? Among other things, this would allow us to edit DA2 save games.

[Talathion]

will it let you use old morphs and paste them on it?

[Malcroix]

That's what I'm trying to do. No luck so far, basically the GFF editor needs to be updated so that it can fully support the new 4.1 format of DA2 save games (i.e. both reading and writing the entirety of the save).

Another way would have been to replace one of the preset morphs, but the 22 presets available at character creation again use a different format (MOR), so DA:O morphs are incompatible and you can't create new ones in the Toolset.

[AjuntaPall316]

Ok, regarding texture files... how can you tell what the files are actually called? For instance this program lets you extract them as "z_0a1bb994a5eea3d4.dds" but when you place that file in override, it doesn't override it. I know the file has to be called something else such as hf_basemodel.dds or something but is there a way to know?. Anyone have any luck opening a 2da file to see what textures are called?

[daywalker03]

AjuntaPall316 wrote...

Ok, regarding texture files... how can you tell what the files are actually called? For instance this program lets you extract them as "z_0a1bb994a5eea3d4.dds" but when you place that file in override, it doesn't override it. I know the file has to be called something else such as hf_basemodel.dds or something but is there a way to know?. Anyone have any luck opening a 2da file to see what textures are called?

Extract the mao files from materialobjects.erf: those will have the proper texture names listed. Then its a matter of renaming the file to something human-readable, as what your seeing is probably the hash value of the specific dds file's name.

[AjuntaPall316]

Thanks for the help man, although I haven't been able to find anything useful there yet. So far the most useful information I've been able to find has been by using the editor to open the 2da.rim file. Once that was done, I opened the GDApp file and used it to open "item_variations.gda".

In the 6th column to the right there is a string of names such as "arm_lgta". Renaming the DDS files to that name hasn't worked yet. I've even tried DA:O prefixes and suffixes such as "pf_arm_lgta_0d" with no effect. If anyone makes further progress on this front please help us out.

[Khemdog]

Thanks daywalker03 for giving some guidelines and linking the tools and everyone else involved. Bioware decided to make things difficult, but as you said, everyone needs to realize we can manage some things without an official toolset.

AjuntaPall316 wrote...

Thanks for the help man, although I haven't been able to find anything useful there yet. So far the most useful information I've been able to find has been by using the editor to open the 2da.rim file. Once that was done, I opened the GDApp file and used it to open "item_variations.gda".

In the 6th column to the right there is a string of names such as "arm_lgta". Renaming the DDS files to that name hasn't worked yet. I've even tried DA:O prefixes and suffixes such as "pf_arm_lgta_0d" with no effect. If anyone makes further progress on this front please help us out.

I'm also stuck in the same situation. The .DDS files are not overriding and I can't seem to locate any of the original readable filenames for the textures. I also tried sifting through the MAO files in materialobjects.rim with no luck, unless I may have overlooked something.

[Emperor Iaius I]

Some overrides do work. I've successfully used custom content skintone tints from DA:O.

[WolfShapedBullet]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Some overrides do work. I've successfully used custom content skintone tints from DA:O.

Which ones are you using that work? Do these skintones match with your family as well?

[daywalker03]

I'm seeing a pattern here; the files that work seem to be ones that are in the root of the rim files. Can somebody try duplicating directory structure of the other rim files and see if that works?

[Emperor Iaius I]

Oblivionous wrote...

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

Some overrides do work. I've successfully used custom content skintone tints from DA:O.

Which ones are you using that work? Do these skintones match with your family as well?

CC Extra Tints and tones, I think. I didn't actually override the in-game skintone (t1_skn_h04.tnt) but hex edited my save so it would use cc_skn_001.tnt, which I had placed in the override folder. It doesn't change the family at all. I suspect each skintone and/or preset is linked to a specific set of .mor files for the family which specify their skintones.

[Phnx]

I am waiting for an updated Toolset so I can make a decent female preset and add heavy make-up just like Isabella's and Cassandra's.

[sweetandsour321]

Hello, anybody know how to edit the save file and make it work? I edited the save file and saved it, but it wont load in the game. anyone have an idea how to make it work?

[Malcroix]

You can follow the news on pyGFF here . ATM, the edited saves are unloadable in DA2.

[Malcroix]

Emperor Iaius I wrote...

CC Extra Tints and tones, I think. I didn't actually override the in-game skintone (t1_skn_h04.tnt) but hex edited my save so it would use cc_skn_001.tnt, which I had placed in the override folder. It doesn't change the family at all. I suspect each skintone and/or preset is linked to a specific set of .mor files for the family which specify their skintones.

I also used CC Extra tints and tones, to try changing the default Hawke's hair and eye color.

After using pyGFF to edit the hm_iconicmale.mor the head disappeared completely, Headless Horseman style. 

Then I tried renaming the CC tints to override the default tints referenced in hm_iconicmale. Needless to say, all I got was an absolute white hair (supposed to be blue) and absolute black eyes (supposed to be red).

However, I'm pleased to hear that at least the tints themselves work (if hexedited in); I was beginning to fear that even the tint formats are incompatible with DA2.

So, since the other methods didn't work (apparently will need another update to the pyGFF), maybe you could explain how to hex edit the character's appearance in the saves?

Modifié par Malcroix, 10 mars 2011 - 09:32 .

[Aklis]

I wonder if Bioware will ever realise that they're stupid and just should've given us a toolset instead?

Also, great job.

[ForgottenWarrior]

I don't think BioWare will release any tools for modding DA2. So remember modding of KOTOR I-II. Thats would be Fun!