Skip to content

Black Ops 3 Mod Tools Get Started

Jump to bottom
Ice edited this page Feb 4, 2024 · 53 revisions

Welcome to Black Ops 3 Mod Tools Resources (Wiki's Tutorials) Get Started!

Black Ops 3 Wiki's

Video Learning Archive for Mod Tools Tutorials

Discord Groups for the Mod Tools

Useful Third-party Tools for Mod Tools

Other Useful Links

If you would like to add to these lists please inform IceGrenade on Discord. ZGC Discord

Mod Tools Mega Thread (Press Ctrl+F to search for specific content)

Getting Started

Installing Mod Tools

  • You need to own Black Ops 3 on Steam, this is the only way to own a PC version of the game.
  • Then go to your Steam Library → Tools → Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Mod Tools and install.
  • You may also want to install extra assets which include more models and textures. On the same page as installing the mod tools, right click them Properties → DLC → BOIII Mod Tools - Additional Assets and tick the "INSTALL" box. ADDITIONAL ASSETS IS ABOUT 50GB IN SIZE. Video Guide by JBird
  • A desktop shortcut can be created when installing but use any methods you like to quick access the tools. If you would like to access a single program from within the tools, such as Radiant Black - the level design software, go to your Black Ops 3 "root folder" (default C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Call of Duty Black Ops III), modtools_launcher can be found here if you wish to make a shortcut to that, then go into bin where you can also find modlauncher, export2bin, Radiant_modtools and all other applications in BO3 Mod Tools

Other Software

  • If you wish to do scripting, a text editor is required, preferably one which is dedicated to scripting. E.g. Sublime or Notepad++
  • 2D Art and Texture creation will require software, this can be done in any image editing software and to an extent in modern text editors:
    • Free → Gimp 2; Pixlr - online editor with many features; Paint.net - do not get confused with MS Paint, this is way more advanced and was very useful in WaW Modding; see more free software here and decide which suits your needs.
    • Paid → Photoshop; Microsoft Office Package - the likelihood of you having access to some features of this package are fair; in some of the software, images can be moved around, grouped, layers changed. Shapes and text can also be edited.
  • 3D Modelling software - use paid (free for 3 years for students) Maya or free Blender. Animations can also be made in these softwares.
  • Audio Editing - use free Audacity
  • Video Editing (maybe for cutscenes or trailers) - use any: Sony Vegas - advanced; Windows Movie Maker - basic; Adobe Premiere - advanced.
  • Porting Tools // COD Model Tools for Maya // Wraith // Kronos

TUTORIALS

Mapping - Environment Design

Mapping & Scripting - Gameplay Objects

Assets

Finishing Touches

Debugging Issues

Radiant Black - Keyboard Shortcuts

XY View Window

  • ` - Grid .5

  • 1 - Grid 1

  • 2 - Grid 2

  • 3 - Grid 4

  • 4 - Grid 8

  • 5 - Grid 16

  • 6 - Grid 32

  • 7 - Grid 64

  • 8 - Grid 128

  • 9 - Grid 246

  • [ - Smaller Grid

  • ] - Bigger Grid

  • LeftClick (Hold and Drag) - Draw Brush

  • RightClick - Context Option Menu

  • RightClick (Hold and Drag) Move Grid Position

  • Scroll Wheel - Zoom In/Out

  • Insert - Zoom Out

  • Delete - Zoom In

  • Ctrl-Tab - Swap between XY, YZ, etc views

Camera

  • RightClick - Context Options Menu
  • RightClick (Hold and Drag) - Move Around
  • RightClick (Hold) MouseWheel - Forward Backwards
  • Ctrl-RightClick (Hold and Drag) - Move Up Down Left Right
  • Ctrl-Shift-RightClick (Hold and Drag) Look Around
  • Shift-Alt-RightClick (Hold and Drag) - Select Multiple
  • End - Fix Camera Position
  • Shift-LeftClick - Select Object (Drag To Select Multiple)
  • Ctrl-Shift-LeftClick - Select Object Face (Drag To Select Multiple)
  • Middle Mouse - Apply Texture Clicked on To Selected Object

It's best to use a combination of right click hold + ctrl and shift to move but you can move with the keyboard:

  • A - Pivot Up
  • Z - Pivot Down
  • D - Go Up
  • C - Go Down
  • , - Move Left
  • . - Move Right
  • Page Up - Move Up More
  • Page Down - Move Down More
  • Arrow Up - Move Forward
  • Arrow Down - Move Backwards
  • Arrow Left - Pivot Left
  • Arrow Right - Pivot Right

Misc

  • I - Select All
  • H - Hide
  • Shift H - Unhide
  • Space - Duplicate Selected
  • J - Toggle Wire Frame On Selected Object
  • X - Cutting
  • V - Show Vertexes on Selected Object
  • (- numbpad ) Move Selected Object Down Grid
  • (+ numpad) Move Selected Object Up Grid
  • Ctrl-Z - Undo
  • Esc - Deselect Everything
  • Ctrl-Shift-A - Subdivide patch
  • W (with two vertices selected) - Weld Vertices
  • Ctrl-Shift-X - Unweld Vertices
  • Ctrl-I - Invert Texture

Windows

  • B - Entity Browser
  • F - Filter Window
  • G - gVertex Color/Alpha Editing
  • K - Brings Up Colors on Selected Object
  • L - Layers
  • M - Models
  • N - Entity Info
  • O - Output
  • P - Preferences
  • S - Surface Inspector
  • T - Textures
  • Y - Advanced Patch Editing Options

You can find all keybinds in the Key Binding Window with Ctrl+K, either type in a cmd or action to find it, then you can set it to what you like, or enable the edit mode and drag out buttons into your radiant interface! See a full tutorial on keybinds IceGrenade Keybind Master Video

The Following Section has been taken from The Official Guide

RAM consumption values from an internal test Open Radiant with no map loaded, model and texture browser closed Base Mod Tools installation: 950MB With additional assets installed: 950MB Open Radiant with no map loaded, open Model and Texture browser and start scrolling through both Base Mod Tools installation: 6.5GB-7.5GB With additional assets installed: 6.5GB-8.5GB Open Radiant with no map loaded, open Model and Texture browser and scroll through all model assets Base Mod Tools installation: 9GB With additional assets installed: 13GB Open Radiant with ZM_Giant open, open Model and Texture browser and scroll through all model assets Base Mod Tools installation: 12GB With additional assets installed: 19GB

With this information and personal experience, I can recommend a minimum of 16GB to work on most projects. For larger projects a minimum of 32GB RAM is recommended. You can reduce the amount of RAM required by taking advantage of cubic clipping, prefabs and other resource management tools within Radiant.

Additional Support with Modding YouTube Channels

Clone this wiki locally