When it comes to creating completely new assets or overwriting assets with custom ones, modders have to go through compiling the assets for the game/engine to recognize the mod files.
Before you begin downloading UnrealEngine, ensure you know the UE engine version the game is using.
To do so, go to the game's folder, and right-click on the game's exe -> properties -> Details tab.
For this particular example, the game is using UE5.2 (your game may have a different number).
Navigate to Epic Launcher, Unreal Engine Tab -> Library.
Then click on the + sign.
An option for picking the UE version will appear, click the dropdown and select the UE version.
The process is straightforward but we will go over each step. Depending on your UE engine:
- Navigate to UE4 Project Creation.
- Navigate to UE5 Project Creation.
- If your game has IOStore, follow Configuring UE5 for Chunks.
(If there are .ucas/.utoc files in Paks folder - the game has IOStore)
Launch UE4, click Games at the bottom and click Next.
Select the Blank template, and click Next.
Optionally, you can pick 3rd person or 1st person template if you want to match the game you're modding with to have some similar functionality at the start.
Specify the path you would like to create the project in.
Name the project EXACTLY as the game's project name.
(If you're unsure of the name, go to the game folder and look.)
Then click Create Project.
And your UE4 project is created!
One important setting to change before starting to mod is disabling the share material shader code in the Project Settings.
This will ensure your custom materials work in-game.
The process is similar to UE4 but quicker a bit with a different UI.
- Start by launching UE5 and selecting Games on the left column.
- Select Blank template.
(You can a template to match your game type, for easier testing) - Keep the default project default settings.
- Name your project EXACTLY as the game's project name, like the "binary name".
Q: Binary name?
A: That's usually how the exe is named, the largest executable named: "Gamename"-Shipping.exe.
Once you hit Create, your project will be created.
Go to Edit -> Project Settings -> Packaging, and ensure you have the following settings the same as in the image below.
Don't forget to untick Share Material Shader Code in Project Settings - this will ensure your custom materials work in-game.
To enable chunk assigning in the editor, go to:
Edit -> Editor Preferences -> search for chunk and tick the Allow ChunkID assignmnets.
