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STAGE MODDING IN TEKKEN 7 (LEVEL 1)

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CDDTreborn edited this page Jul 3, 2020 · 5 revisions

STAGE MODDING IN TEKKEN 7 (LEVEL 1)

Pre-Requisites:

Suggested Action

  • Create an account on DeviantArt to showcase and share your work
  • Join the Modding Zaibatsu Discord Modding Zaibatsu Discord (Follow Discord Rules)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Maps Maps in Tekken 7 are built from .umap files which can be found in “quickbms/out/TekkenGame/Content/Maps”. These maps are the blueprints for the stages. Maps are numbered and you can find a table of stage numbers at the end of this guide.

Each stage is built off of the following basic map files (*.umap):

  • Debug: used by developers for stuff.
  • Effect: holds most of the info for effects (e.g. rain, fog, water, etc.)
  • Mob: holds data for the mob files; however, most mob files are embedded into the Geom maps.
  • Light: primary data controlling the lighting and shading of the map.
  • Geom: holds the data for all the primary objects within the stage that make the stage unique
  • Reload: holds data on elements of the stage that will re-appear like a fixed floor after it breaks.
  • Edit: used by developers but usually has no important data.
  • Sound: holds specific stage sound data; however, some sounds are embedded into other files.

Some stages have other versions (stg12 and stg12a) or updated maps (“quickbms/out/Maps”). The other version represent things like “sty” for story-mode or “a” for additional.

MODDING

Simple Map Stacking/Swapping: Each stage has a set number of maps that can be used. Some stages have additional maps but the principal idea is that you can only use what the game has given and can’t add to it. You can see what your limitations are by seeing what maps exist for a stage in the maps folder. But the combination of maps is pretty much limitless. The two basic process are swapping and stacking. Swapping is when you just take one map from a stage and replace it with a map from another stage of the same type. Stacking is when you take a map from another stage and add it to the new map by swapping it with a less important map creating a blended effect. That may sound confusing so let’s do an example.

NOTE: Before making any changes it’s advisable that you only use a copy of the original map when editing or else risk having to re-perform the game unpack process to get the original back.

Swapping a map. (ex. Swapping a light map) Create a folder to work out of like “Stg03_LightSwap” since our base map will be Stg03 Arctic Snowfall. Let’s swap the light map with the one from Geometric Plane (stg21). Find your original map folder and copy stg21_light.umap into your new folder. Rename the stg21_light to stg03_light. Now place this edited map into a properly formatted pak folder (e.g. Stg03_LightSwap_P/TekkenGame/Content/Maps/) Pak it up with u4pak, load to ~mods folder, and go test out what happens. Note: Only the maps you put in your pak will be affected.

Stacking a map. (ex. Stacking a light map) Create a folder to work out of like “Stg03_LightStack” Go and get a copy of the Stg21_light map and put it in the folder. Now rename the stg21_light map to one of the less important maps like stg03_edit Only the name of the file has changed; the contents are still from stg21_light and the game will apply that info to stg03 Pak it up and test it out. You now have two light maps stacked into one stage.

NOTE: The game only sees a light map and an edit map. You can’t have two maps for the same stage with same name. INCORRECT: Stg03_light and Stg03_light (with stg21_light info) CORRECT: Stg03_light and Stg03_edit (with stg21_light info)

This is the basic method of stage modding. The game has an order of precedence for how the map types load but that information is not quite known. What is known is that if you have stacked two of the same type of file into the game it will load the appropriately named one first (e.g. stg03_light before stg03_edit). You can switch it around by swapping the names of these files.

Pausing & Dropping Maps I have developed a technique when modding that has helped me out when developing new mods and I call it pausing and dropping. Pausing maps is a way to make a map ineffective so that you can test another map in its spot while not losing what was done to the map. Dropping a map is a way of removing the map information so the game doesn’t have anything to load by swapping it with a dummy or empty map. This is useful for making sure a level has no light or no effects.

Pausing a Map (ex. Pausing and replacing a light map) In the newly created “Stg03_LightStack” folder Rename stg03_light to stg03_light_pause. Grab another light map from any stage and drop it into the folder, like stg07_light (from Devil’s Pit) Rename that light map to stg03_light Your folder now has a swapped stg03_light and a stg03_light_pause but since the game never had a stg03_light_pause it just ignores that file when loading. Pak it up and test to see what changed. If you don’t like it simply delete the stg03_light and rename the stg03_light_pause back to stg03_light NOTE: I use the term pause but any change in the name or file extension will render the map unloadable by the game and it will default to the original game map file or whatever map file in your mod that is named correctly.

Dropping a Map (ex. Removing stg03_geom) From your originals, copy the stg03_edit map to your “Stg03_LightStack” folder Rename the stg03_edit map to stg03_geom. Note: Edit maps are great to use as dummies because they are typically empty. Pak it up and test what changed. The game will load whatever geom is in the geom file but in this case, there is nothing so the stage now has no geometry.

Mod Logging When modding anything in the game it is a good idea to create a log to note your process and the changes your making along the way so you can confidently backtrack or review to see how you created something for future use. I typically create a text file and keep it somewhere in the mod folder I’m working on. My format looks as follows but of course you can use your own technique:

ACTION: Map edit (to show the type of edit I’m doing)

  • identify the changes I’ve made Hex edit (to show the type of edit I’m doing if it’s for something different) NOTES:
  • record my observations and plans for next action. (Typically, after loading my most recent actions into a pak and testing in game) (Repeat the above as I progress)

Taking screenshots is also a good way of recording your progress.

ADDITIONAL VITAL INFORMATION

  • Typically, the game only recognizes a max of 4 stacked maps.
  • Maps have dimensions and objects within them that are fixed to those dimensions so be careful putting two mods together of different dimensions; primarily effecting geom maps.
  • Modding a map by swapping or stacking has no impact on the original maps.
  • Some maps have properties that may increase the likelihood of de-synching when playing online. See Level 2 guide for additional information.

That’s it for the Simple Stage Modding in Tekken 7 (Level 1) guide. For more information check out Stage Modding in Tekken 7 (Level 2) guide

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