This is a Work In Progress (WIP), and not yet complete.This message will be removed when the content is complete.
Contents
- 1 Introduction on Modding The Witcher 3
- 1.1 Modding Tools
- 1.1.1 ModKit
- 1.1.2 WCC_Lite UI
- 1.1.2.1 W3Oven
- 1.1.3 Game Assets Editor
- 1.2 Third Party Software
- 1.3 Modding Process
- 1.3.1 Uncooking – Exporting - Cooking
- 1.1 Modding Tools
Greetings fellow Modders and yet to be Modders. I am MasterOfTheRings and I have been modding The Witcher 3 for around 1 year now. During this time I learned a lot of things, both in regards to general game creation and how The Witcher 3 by CDPR works.I thought that now the time has come to share my knowledge and insight on modding this game with the community.
If you are a (frequent) visitor to the Witcher 3 section over at Nexus Mods, you might have seen a recent publication of mine, the so called "Content Creation Compendium" for The Witcher 3. It is my approach to accumulate knowledge on basic and advanced processes when modding The Witcher 3.
This is a work in Progress and I hope that many of you contribute here to expand and depen the CCC.
Initially I want to inform you on some basics on modding this game. If you are new to the Witcher 3 modding community you should read these few lines. If you know the drill, just skip ahead to the interesting part.So, for those who never set a foot into the Witcher 3 Modding – Land let me say this. You will need the following things:
Modding Tools
As for every game, its assets are usually not in a format we can easily access. Mostly it is game or engine specific files. To work with those one will need tools that can unravel the mysteries hidden within.Concerning The Witcher there is no actual official mod support like it was for The Witcher 2, where the community got a RedKit, which was a proper tool near to the one CDPR itself used to create the game. Since The Witcher uses its own game engine, the REDEngine specific tools are required.The basis behind the process of getting “normal” file formats to work with the engine is an application called wcc_lite, a less powerful variant of wcc which had been used in the official RedKit for The Witcher 2. And as it seems it is the usual handle for creating game content for the REDEngine used by CDPR.
ModKit
The only tool we got from CDPR was the ModKit, a light version of a possible RedKit that was expanded regarding its capabilities, but is now a AS IS and therefore still limited in its powers.First of all, you need to get this one.You can either get it on NexusMods or on the official CDPR Forum.
Simply install it on a place of your liking and choosing but I recommend that you set up a proper working space for your modding and install it there.“My modding directory has several parts. On the one hand I have a section where all modding tools are stored. Then there is are the game files (uncooked and exported) and my actual working space where all the modding takes place.So once you have decided where you want the ModKit to be and the installation is finished it is time to get some fancy toys to play around with the games assets and create something of your own.
WCC_Lite UI
As you might have noticed there is no actual program or application for wcc_lite and all work has to be done with console commands. And that is something you do not want to have to do – especially when you move on to bigger mods with lots of assets.
W3Oven
There is a tool though that makes your modding life easier. You can simply download it on CDPR Forum. It is nothing more than a user-friendly Interface for wcc_lite but it comes handy and makes your work much easier. One of the great strengths of this tool is the fact that – aside from a Workspace Manager and an Export Function it lets you assign Texture Groups which will be important once you create your own Texture that are not part the games initial assets. All Texture file formats are included in a drop-down menu. You just have to select the right one and done.
Game Assets Editor
You can do a lot of things with a tool such as W3Oven but some file formats of this game are only of use if they are in their “natural” dimension – so to speak.For that purpose, one will need a Game File Editor. Until recently this Editor by Sarcen was everything we got, but thanks to the tireless work of a couple of modders around traderain we now have a tool that was inspired by Sarcens ModEditor and now goes far beyond.You can download the WolvenKit at traderains homepage.
Third Party Software
Since you might want to do more than just tinker around with the games files in WolvenKit you might need some third-party software for that purpose.
3D Software
There are numerous great programs out there. I will list them below, but my favorite is Blender.
If you need to change Textures of create new ones, these might come in handy, but you can take any that are available to you.
You will need this free tool from Microsoft if you plan on working with existing game models that were uncooked and exported.You can download it here.
Modding Process
Uncooking – Exporting - Cooking
So once the basics in regards of software and tools are set we can move on towards the actual modding process.As you have heard and read in this guide, there are some processes involved in modding this game. They are called the following:
It is something like cooking, but only reverse. Imagine you have the food and the table and now you want to create it on your own. You move backwards through the entire process of cooking until you have the raw ingredients for the meal.
exportingBut the things you get out of uncooking are not the resources you need and most software cannot handle them. So, another step is needed. This one is called exporting and it exports specific file types (mostly those containing models) into a readable format. In our case this would be .fbx If you export files, make sure to export into the .fbx 2013 format because the 2016 format does not work with either Blender or Visual Studio. I have no knowledge on how it works with other software though.
cookingWell since there is an uncooking process there naturally is something that creates the meal. This process will change your modded assets to readable file formats for the game.
[I will update this page and add links, expand the processes, etc. in due time. This is a mere introduction and my help you get into modding W3 at the first place]
