Asset cooking and the mod tools library

[Deliverator]

Looking through Civ6ToolHost_Win64_DX11_FinalRelease.dll you can get an idea of how the mod tools are likely to work for graphics assets.

It seems that all art assets must now be "cooked" into .blp files using the mod tools. Inspecting the library file you can see the types of art asset that can be cooked. Asset Cooker has a number of different sub-cookers for cooking different types of asset:

CityBlockCooker
ColorKeyCooker
FOWTextureCooker
GameEnvironmentCooker
LandmarkCooker
LeaderFallbackCooker
LeaderHeadCooker
Leader_LightRig_Cooker
LightCooker
ModelCooker
NaturalWonderCooker
OverlayCooker
RouteDecalMaterialCooker
StrategicViewCooker
TerrainCooker
UILensModelCooker
VFXCooker
WaterCooker
WaveCooker
WonderMovieCooker

You can also see some help error messages for issues when importing 3D assets e.g. "Input geometry must contain only triangles" and "Do you really need more than 65535 triangles?".

I'm looking forward to them releasing the front-end for the asset editing/cooking, but I'd be happy to wait if it means we get something that has been tested and works well with some nice documentation.

 

[zwei833]

Yes, I really need more than 65535 triangles.

 

[Nomad or What]

Hopefully they will give us the tools to convert to .blp from various other formats. This looks promising, though. Still worrying about custom animations and effects....

 

[Firebug]

I'm liking the look of these mod tools more and more. I'm now just as hyped for them as i was for Civ6.

 

[NycholusV]

Any signs as to how one may go about creating 3D models once the modding tools are released?

 

[Firebug]

I'm expecting it'll be the old fashioned way, manually with Blender or the such. The tools will probably just make it easier to convert models.

We do know that we can use code to create units from existing pieces like helmets, shields, weapons, armour.

 

[zafhos]

GR2 mentioned inside animation_ files in "shared_data",

 

[Deliverator]

GR2 mentioned inside animation_ files in "shared_data",

Yeah the engine is Granny under the hood.

The tools will probably just make it easier to convert models.

I expect you'll be able to import from FBX again - hopefully it won't corrupt multi-mesh models this time! They used FBX for XCOM 2.

A big question is whether this cooking process is a completely one-way street or whether assets can be uncooked...

 

[Zyxpsilon]

Also worth mentionning that.. ARTDEF =(!somehow!)= FPX archiving methods ala-Civ5, btw.

The more i look into the assets "source files", the more i tend to feel the upcoming SDK **should* offer us a solid way to tackle just about anything.
XML/LUA sticks around & while BLP might just be another (simple_r than fpx) way to assemble DDS/Texturing style combo resources, i have to admit we'll get high customization potential once de-archivers start to open up the treasure chest(s).

I'm willing to bet the SDK tool (and other familiar ModBuddy principles) will smooth our transitions between 5 & 6 relatively better than i first expected.

PS; Particularly interested by this --FOWTextureCooker-- & --FOWSprites.blp--, in fact!

 

[AceSevenFive]

How did you manage to look into the DLL?

 

[hugojackson18]

This is great news. Looks like we'll be able to cook anything! Full conversion mods with terrains here we come!

 

[Firebug]

This discovery sadly won't make actually creating the 3D leaderheads any easier. Modelling a decent looking leader is hard, and then animating him too!

 

[Deliverator]

This discovery sadly won't make actually creating the 3D leaderheads any easier. Modelling a decent looking leader is hard, and then animating him too!

I'm still hopeful that they've done something to make working with Leaders easier than it was with Civ 5 based on this quote: "A lot of the tools will be similar to what we had in Civ V. [Even] if you're a highly skilled modder, it was extremely difficult to work on leaders, and our elite units in the game, so we're paying special focus to that."