Helmet Without Textures

[Aamaxu]

Hello,

 

Being new to (XCOM 2) modding is suffering.

 

I want to add a new helmet into the game. I've rigged it using SM_Head_F as a base for its size. With the help of a few tutorials I've managed to make it appear in-game but the problem is that it shows with default editor textures of grey and violet. I also need to Fully Load my saved package in XCOM 2 Editor to get my assets to show in the browser. Is this normal?

 

I have referenced other working mods to see if I dun goofd but I've not noticed any discrepancies; materials has parent material and the helmet's three texture files, the skeletal mesh has the material, and the archetype has the mesh referenced in their properties.

 

I also have a problem with the helmet sinking into soldier heads despite looking just fine in Maya, with the previously mentioned SM_Head_F.

 

Here is the link to all the files, including those from ModBuddy: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FhjjF0DbjtrhX-xVC87235-vjNsVikvE

 

Help would be greatly appreciated! I've pretty much hit a wall here.

[JDDysart]

After unzipping the download to <BLRGearHelmets> ...

 

Found:

<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets.v12.XCOM_suo
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets.XCOM_sln
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets.x2proj

My "understanding" is one <ItemGroup> for 'Files' followed by one <ItemGroup> for 'Folders' ...
... I don't understand the reasoning for <SubType>Content</SubType> usage? (Educate me?)

 

<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\ModPreview.jpg

... Black/Blank image?

 

<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\ReadMe.txt

... Original text (maybe you just haven't gotten around to filling this in?)

 

<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Config\XComContent.ini
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Config\XComEditor.ini
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Config\XComEngine.ini
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Config\XComGame.ini
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Content\BLRGearHelmets.upk
<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Localization\XComGame.int

[bLRHelmet_Ghost_F X2BodyPartTemplate]
DisplayName="BLR Ghost"
FriendlyName=
BriefSummary=
TacticalText=

 

<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Classes\X2DownloadableContentInfo_BlackLightGearHelmets.uc

No info here - Won't install on loading savefile, might install on new campaigns?

 

Missing?:

<BLRGearHelmets>\BLRGearHelmets\BLRGearHelmets\Src\BlackLigthGearHelmets\Classes\BlackLightGearHelmets.uc

(source for BLRGearHelmets.upk normally goes here)

To me the most glaring issue is a conflict between whether this is "BlackLightGearHelmets" or "BLRGearHelmets"; if one knows what one is doing one might get away with some mixed usage (such as this), but as I noticed conflicts in the way this usage is mixed I would suggest that you decide on one or the other and be consistent with whichever one you DO use. This could be what is causing your "XCom 2 Editor" issue.

 

For obtaining consistency: I would recommend using Windows Explorer and Notepad.exe to correct any inconsistent names (labels? folders?), and only after that go back into ModBuddy and see if everything is still included when you load this project into ModBuddy? (might want to hold onto the zip file, as a backup copy of what is currently there - before you start changing names.)

 

I may have targeted only small technical issues here ... but correcting these should make it easier for others to help find any larger issues!

 

~ JDDysart

[Aamaxu]

Hey! Thank you for replying.

 

I took a look at the zip file and it does have a lot of repetition like you said but it seems some of it is caused by the zipping progress. For example the file BLRGearHelmets.v12.XCOM_suo doesn't and shouldn't exist, and when I extract the folder from the zip, it does disappear. The mod folder XCOM 2 Modbuddy created in the game's Mod folder is BLRGearHelmets and directly under it are files and folders that should be there.

 

That said, I definitely need to fix the naming issue you mentioned; I just wanted to test the mod, to actually see it in-game.

 

What comes to the ModPreview image and Readme.txt, I've not touched those as I don't plan on publishing this until I get it working. X2DownloadableContentInfo_BlackLightGearHelmets.uc follows what few examples I've seen on a few cosmetics mods I've checked; the only difference is my mod's name.

 

I'll remake the mod in both Modbuddy and Editor; repetition is good learning anyway.

 

But would these weird naming variations cause the missing texture problem? Shouldn't they also affect the mesh and prevent it from appearing in-game too?

[JDDysart]

FYI: The following file is created by ModBuddy, but I believe that you could manually rename it if you need to?

BLRGearHelmets.v12.XCOM_suo

 

The inconsistency with names might be why you had an issue requiring you to load into the editor before the game would see it at all?

 

All the text files, regardless of extension (as long as notepad shows them properly?) should be manually edited - changing names as needed for consistency - while renaming folders and files (keeping the current extensions), again for consistency. If you do this properly then everything should load into ModBuddy when you open what was the BLRGearHelmets.XCOM_sln file. A sure sign that you have missed something is, when attempting to open a SLN file, ModBuddy gives error messages and/or fails to load something you know is there!

 

My major concern was that the filenames (and/or folder names) did not match the package names that you told XCOM 2 (WotC?) to expect ... 0FYI: I compared your mod with what I found in the Example Weapon mod & DLC_3, for the name consistency expectations; with a small dash of programming experience thrown in, the naming inconsistencies appeared to be glaringly obvious to me?) As already stated, if you were getting things to show up in the Debug Mode of the game, then these inconsistencies can be considered to be minor technical issues.

 

I have had my own issues with attempting to rename Folders & Files from within ModBuddy, which is why I recommend NOT doing said renaming from inside ModBuddy - somehow it just doesn't seem to handle renaming all that well!

 

Of course as you suggest, you can backup what you have then start-over from scratch - maybe with some copy & paste of file contents from what I've seen?

 

I hope you manage to make it through your "brick wall" fairly soon now,

 

~ JDDysart

[Aamaxu]

v12.XCOM_suo file really is created by ModBuddy? I can't find it in my project folder. Maybe it only appears when the project is compiled? Curious.

 

I understand that you likely have better things to do than help with this relatively basic problem but taking this one step at a time hopefully helps me make sure things are in order.

 

First just the project, without any of the XCOM 2 Editor .upk and without the .sln file:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IVu7CeHvyKQIyqlcrcYVmZIoXs9sAmWD

 

From what I've come to understand, the .upk will eventually be placed in the Content folder, and the .uc file can remain in its default config for cosmetics such as the one I'm trying to make.

 

Here is the hopefully improved XcomContent.ini:

 

+BodyPartTemplateConfig=(PartType="Helmets", DLCName="Blacklight", TemplateName="Blacklight_Ghost_F", ArchetypeName="BlacklightHelmets.ARC_Ghost_F", Gender=eGender_Female, bCanUseOnCivilian=false, bVeteran=false)

 

As I understand it TemplateName is just a name I give this specific template, and DLCName is a new thing with WotC.

Assuming I have a package BlacklightHelmets in XCOM 2 Editor and within the file ARC_Ghost_F, does this look ok? If the game now doesn't display textures, then the problem would be in whatever I do in XCOM 2 Editor?

 

Please note that in the zip it says Gender=eGender_Male, which I've fixed to my own files and in the quote.

 

Thanks

[JDDysart]

First on zip files, the two most commonly used unzip options are "Unzip to here" & "Unzip to <"filename.zip"-converted-to-"folder-name">", and preferring not to have the zip file contents mixed into the folder with the actual zip file itself I use the later ... and, as in this last instance, will refer to the folder that is created while unzipping as <Blacklight Helmets>.

 

Found (in last download) :

<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Config\XcomContent.ini
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Config\XComEditor.ini
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Config\XComEngine.ini
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Config\XComGame.ini
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Content\
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Localization\XComGame.int
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Src\BlacklightHelmets\Classes\X2DownloadableContentInfo_BlacklightHelmets.uc
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\Blacklight Helmets.x2proj
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\ModPreview.jpg
<Blacklight Helmets>\Blacklight Helmets\ReadMe.txt

For this download, my first suggestion is to remove the space from your folder names (i.e. change "Blacklight Helmets" to "BlacklightHelmets"); you should be able to do this in windows explorer.

 

File "Blacklight Helmets.x2proj" (probably should rename to "BlacklightHelmets.x2proj"), using Notepad (or your favorite text-editor) :

Change "<AssemblyName>Blacklight Helmets</AssemblyName>" to "<AssemblyName>BlacklightHelmets</AssemblyName>"

Change "<RootNamespace>Blacklight Helmets</RootNamespace>" to "<RootNamespace>BlacklightHelmets</RootNamespace>"

Change "<Folder Include="Content" />" to "<Folder Include="Content\" />"

 

Replace:

<Content Include="Config\XcomContent.ini">
<SubType>Content</SubType>
</Content>

With:

<Content Include="Config\XcomContent.ini" />

 

You will probably want to rewrite your "ReadMe.txt/; file again, once you understand what the actual code should look like ...

 

Okay, that takes care of the easy part of what you did put into the zip file.

 

When the developers decided to switch from the old (more or less static) containers in XCoM: EU & EW to a newer (more dynamic) data format for XCom 2, the result was a lot of "template" language ... in a basic sense "template" is just another label (or name) for "structure" - a way of describing the format of one's data.

 

Breaking down "Blacklight_Ghost_F" you get something known as "Blacklight" that has a variant of "Ghost" and in this instance should be for the gender "F" or female; one might expect there to be another line for the male gender that uses "Blacklight_Ghost_M". Any DLC info should be referring back to your "package" or in this case to "BlacklightHelmets". Archetype is used to define (or refer to?) a datatype such as INT | FLOAT | ARRAY | BOOLEAN | STRING | XComGameState | XComGameState_Ability | XComGameState_Unit | etc. -OR- in short "BlacklightHelmets.ARC_Ghost_F" probably should be "BlacklightHelmets_Ghost_F.ARC_BlacklightHelmets_Ghost_F", or might be "BlacklightHelmets_Ghost.ARC_Ghost_F" - in both cases it is implied that these can only be used with female pawns (male pawns would require a "_M" in place of the "_F").

 

While I am willing to help with simple technical details - such as Folders, Files and scripts - I simply do not know enough to help with the graphical | visual aspects.

 

~ JDDysart

[JDDysart]

If - by any chance - you have not already seen X2DownloadableContentInfo.uc (can be found in "<InstallFolder>\Development\Src\XComGame\Classes\"), then you may want to review this file for ideas on what the loading possibilities are for a mod? Does explain, in part, why I tend to be so concerned with folder names.

 

Might be nice if someone could be found to do a wiki article on this file?

[Aamaxu]

I have looked at it now, thanks for the info.

 

Seems like most of it doesn't concern cosmetics much (and I've also not seen any of these in the few mods I've looked). I did add the following just in case though:

 

static event OnLoadedSavedGameToStrategy()
{

}

 

 

Anyway, this is how my XcomContent.ini looks right now:

 

;A configuration File
[XComGame.X2BodyPartTemplateManager]

;Ghost Helmet
+BodyPartTemplateConfig=(PartType="Helmets", DLCName="Blacklight", TemplateName="Blacklight_Ghost_F", ArchetypeName="BlacklightHelmets.ARC_Ghost_F", Gender=eGender_Female, bCanUseOnCivilian=false, bVeteran=false)

 

While I understand your concerns, from the evidence it seems that DLCName and TemplateName don't need to match. Rather, they don't have the same name as the project / solution / XCOM 2 Editor package. I've seen this in many functional mods. Though I did try using BlacklightHelmets there and nothing changed.

 

ArchetypeName is Package.Archetype (BlacklightHelmets . ARC_Ghost_F, without spaces), and as seen here, I have a package named just that, and the archetype file called ARC_Ghost_F. This is what the error log gives me:

[0040.81] Warning: Warning, Failed to load 'Object BlacklightHelmets.ARC_Ghost_F': Failed to find object 'Object BlacklightHelmets.ARC_Ghost_F'

 

When I tried change PackageName to BlacklightHelmets.Archetypes.ARC_Ghost_F, I get the following error:

[0037.86] Warning: Warning, The Outer object (Package BlacklightHelmets.Archetypes) for 'BlacklightHelmets.Archetypes.ARC_Ghost_F' couldn't be loaded [while loading package BlacklightHelmets]: Invalid linker index [couldn't load Package BlacklightHelmets.Archetypes]?[0037.86] Warning: Warning, Failed to load 'Object BlacklightHelmets.Archetypes.ARC_Ghost_F': Failed to find object 'Object BlacklightHelmets.Archetypes.ARC_Ghost_F'

 

 

I suppose I could try to remove the sub-folders from the BlacklightHelmets package but pretty much every other mod uses those and they work fine.

 

Next I'll try removing the material info from the skeletal mesh that is linked to the ARC_Ghost_F file and see if that makes the helmet appear in-game like it did before, but beyond that I have no idea why the game can't find the object.

Update: To no one's surprise, removing the material didn't do anything. The game still can't load bodypart content.

Edited April 10, 2018 by Aamaxu

[JDDysart]

Referring to the DefaultContent.ini (for current naming conventions) your ArchetypeName="BlacklightHelmets.ARC_Ghost_F" should probably be ArchetypeName="Helmet_Blacklight_Ghost.ARC_Ghost_F" (or maybe ArchetypeName="Helmet_Blacklight_Ghost_F.ARC_Ghost_F").

 

Which would mean your TemplateName="Blacklight_Ghost_F" should be TemplateName="Helmet_Blacklight_Ghost_F".

• I am thinking that Ghost is one style (of several) that Blacklight Helmets may have.

 

If you are NOT using an existing (already in the game) "ARC_Ghost_F" 'as-is' then I would recommend that you use the name "ARC_Blacklight_Ghost_F" on the one you are creating.

• So, if I have this correct, ArchtypeName="<TemplateName>.ARC_<associatedArchtype>" ?

 

Now, I'm guessing here, do you know if the BodyPartTemplateConfig is creating the Template it is configuring? or do you maybe need to create said template before you can configure it?

 

 

Seems you might still be missing a file - the one containing the code that does a CreateTemplate() for the appropriate type of template? ... say maybe an X2BodyTypeTemplate ?

 

Missing file, if you need it, should be one of these two:

... \Classes\Blacklight.uc

... \Classes\BlacklightHelmets.uc

I had thought I mentioned a "missing file" earlier ... but if I failed to (or you failed to notice when I did) ... it must be time for me to make another attempt to bring this to your attention.

 

If the other mods that you are modeling yours on don't show how to create the proper template - then you might want to take another look at ExampleWeapon (in ModBuddy) to see if you can work out how to create said proper template? You will probably want something other than a WeaponTemplate ... say maybe an X2BodyTypeTemplate (as defined in X2BodyTypeTemplate.uc) ?

 

Please note that said file must be listed on an include line in the file that specifies which files & folders to include.

 

~ JDDysart

[Aamaxu]

So it turns out my package name wasn't unique enough for Unreal and making it super mega special allowed the prop to appear in-game without errors.

 

So indeed for cosmetics such as helmets you do not need more than (for example)

 

+BodyPartTemplateConfig=(PartType="Helmets", DLCName="Blacklight", TemplateName="Helmet_BlacklightGhost_M", ArchetypeName="AamaxuMod_Assets.Archetypes.ARC_Helmet_BlacklightGhost_M", Gender=eGender_Male, bCanUseOnCivilian=false, bVeteran=false)

 

DLCName and TemplateName are both created on he fly as the mod loads. So it was all about AamaxuMod being BlacklightHelmets which, to Unreal, was too ambiguous.

 

Case closed.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Aamaxu