precursor-information-to-know.md

Boe6's vehicles: What you need to know

Some familiarity with WolvenKit is required.

I go into as much detail as I can, but try to be familiar with the project explorer, asset browser, and other windows.

Mod file types

• .ent file is the base file of a vehicle. It contains all settings and child files.
• .app is the vehicle’s appearances settings.
• .mesh is a 3d file, used for vehicle body parts.
• .xbm are raw texture files.
• .mlsetup has settings for texture sets
• .mlmask is zipped mask texture/finish layers, normal maps, etc.
• .inkatlas contain reference texture information
• .inkwidget configures texture layering, position, & animations
• .rig has 3D information for how the .mesh files are linked and move.
• .yaml files configure TweakDB items.
• .json files list string localization information.
• .phys is used to set vehicle collision/interaction bounds

Understanding of different Data Types

• Int/Integer : whole numbers
• Float : fractional numbers, decimal places
• String : sequence of characters
• Boolean : true or false
• Array : collection or list of items of the same data type
• Nothing : “null”

Some understanding of blender is assumed.

• Object/edit mode
• Object management
• Object edits
• Joining and separating models
• Know the difference between object origin, world origin, and the blender cursor
• Cyberpunk 2077 glTF Importer plugin / Wolvenkit resources plugin
  (View Options > plugins to install)

Knowledge of a photo editor of your choice.

• Must have support for .tga files
• Must have support for alpha channels
• Photoshop (Photopea), Krita, Paint.net, and Gimp are good options

Some Python familiarity

• There are some python scripts and python commands to use.
• Be able to edit and run a .py script
• Not necessary for most changes

Mod requirements

Install these to your game before starting:

• Virtual Car Dealer
• TweakXL (required, without it you won't be able to load Vehicle tweak at all)
• ArchiveXL
• Material and Texture override (unknown if required after 2077 version 2.0+)

A 3D model to use

• Have a 3D vehicle model ready to use for converting into cyberpunk.
• Important features are details parts, doors, trunk, etc. and textures.
• Higher face/vertice count is better. Modeled interiors are a must.
• Sketchfab is one great option for finding models, but Google is also useful.