head mod creation and packaging

[tvdeath]

so, i'm like super new to modding in general, especially for bg3. i haven't been able to find a specific enough explanation or example of how to package a mod properly, even using something as easy as the modding toolkit where you just drag and drop the files. i can certainly make the pak but the head simply isnt showing up so i know i've done something incorrectly. could someone give a step by step? it seems with most modding resources theres an expected level of knowledge of what to do between the creation and the packaging that i just dont have.

[K1O]

Hi. Try to split one big problem into pieces and then you will understand where the error is.

- First, you can download a known working mod with heads, check it in the game, then unpack it and pack it again. If it still works, then the archiver (LSLib Toolkit or BG3 Mod Manager) is set up correctly, you can go further.

- Next, you can use the downloaded head mod, unzip it and try to replace one of the heads, its skeleton and textures with your own. The meshes inside the .GR2 file will also have to be renamed, so that the description files retain the correct links to the mesh and texture. Also the parameters of the LODs must be the same as those of the head that was replaced. It is necessary to pay attention to file extensions: .GR2 and .DDS of main files should be written in capital letters. Then pack the mod again and look at your head in the game.
This will check the correctness of the head model itself and its textures.

- If the problem is not in the head model and textures, then study the description files and compare them with yours.
I am not suggesting to take someone else's code, which would be stealing, but to understand where the error is using the example of a working file system.

You can check out some details in my guide that I recently posted.