MLSETUP Builder
The tool of your choice for editing multilayered materials
Last updated
The tool of your choice for editing multilayered materials
Last updated
Published: ??? by Last documented update: Dec 20 2024 by
This page will teach you how to download and configure MLSetupBuilder, the tool of choice to edit multilayered materials in Cyberpunk.
At the bottom of the page, you will find Video Guides. Keep in mind that they are outdated.
MLSB <= 1.6.8 does not include a full material preview. The 3d view will only show you which parts of a mesh are affected by your material. If you want to preview a material in colour, you'll have to do this in Blender — use the Wolvenkit Blender IO Suite's mesh import.
To learn more about Multilayered: Cyberpunk's supershader, check the link
To create your own mlmask, check Textures: Custom .mlmask
To create your own normal map, check Self-made normal maps
MLSetupBuilder (commonly referred to as "MLSB") is a Cyberpunk 2077 modding tool to comfortably edit MLSetup files, developed and maintained by Neurolinked.
There is a dedicated channel on the Redmodding Discord and a thread on the Cyberpunk 2077 Modding Discord Server, where you can find a chat history full of (yet) undocumented features, along with previews and videos of the most recent development versions.
For integration with Wolvenkit, install MLSB as a plugin:
Click on "Home" in Wolvenkit's title bar
Select "Plugins" in the left sidebar
If MLSB is installed, you'll see an "Update" button, otherwise, it will say "Install". Do that.
We will now launch MLSB and do the initial setup.
In Wolvenkit's Plugin view, click "Open", this will open a Windows Explorer with the install folder (Cyberpunk 2077\tools\neurolinked\mlsetupbuilder)
Navigate to the folder with the higest version (at the time of this guide, that is MlsetupBuilder-1.6.8-Beta6)
Start MlsetupBuilder.exe
Optional: You can pin that file to your start menu or create a shortcut if you want to launch MLSB directly.
Now, complete theConfiguration section. Don't worry, it's not hard!
To make the most of MLSB's features, you will want to configure it first. However, you can start using the tool right away.
Here's how (or scroll down for the screenshot):
Right-click on the newly created mlsetup.json file
Select "Open in MLSetupBuilder"
As of Version 1.6.7, this is what you will see now:
Start by importing the file from the preview. That will populate the Layer Config box with the MLSetup that you just loaded.
The preview was hiding an empty 3d viewport. To use that, you will need to configure MLSB first, but you can already click through the individual layers and assign material properties (such as roughness, normal strength, base material and colour) from the "Material Properties" panel.
Don't forget to hit "Apply" after you have changed a material.
Once you're done:
select File -> Export
overwrite the original mlsetup.json
switch back to Wolvenkit
in the "raw" folder, right-click on your file
select "Import/Convert from JSON"
Congratulations — you now have an .mlsetup! If you pack your mod and launch the game, you should now see your changes.
There are 3 important functions to note:
Materials: this manages the tiles, opacity, offset, and roughness of the texture.
Color: this manages color and luminosity of the texture.
µblend: this manages the pattern and acts as a secondary, tiled normal map. Additionally, the contrast value can be used to block out parts of the layer to create patterns.
You can only use microblends if this layer's mask is not fully white.
Note
After any edits, make sure to Apply edits to save progress and complete changes to any/all functions (Hotkey: Ctrl+Shift+A)
Each and every layer is attached to its own Multilayer layer when converted from .json to .mlsetup. When adding new layers, ensure designating intended functions for each layer as part of the larger Multilayer inside WolvenKit.
This is where you can load models from the game for a direct preview which layer will affect which parts: simply click on the "Library" button.
Here, you can either browse to your model directly, or use text search:
After selecting a model, you can close the library browser again. Now selecting a layer will show you directly which parts of the mesh it corresponds to.
That's it! Happy recoloring!
Inside MLSB there are some other tools, the most important one is the Material Composer.
From this window you can import and export .Material.json files ( these files are exported by Wolvenkit with the WithMaterial option). You can edit the materials parameters, adding material or removing them from the material file. Material templates found in the .Material.json file can be put in the Library and then used later for another edit of materials of a completely different mesh. You can duplicate entries just changing the name of the material and putting them in the buffer again (that's what i did to have 10 different material colors that comes for the glass material of the Kendachi Monokatana mod). Material Composer will also display all the material parameters that comes with the material template (materials baked by the CDPR system have their parameters hidden if they were left as default before the baking of the release).
When you start MLSB the first time, it will yell at you that it is not configured correctly.
Click No (You'll regret it), because we need to download the CLI first.
As of 1.6.8, MLSB needs to use a certain version of the Wolvenkit Command Line Interface. Fortunately, it can download it for you:
Click on Help
Click on Download Wolvenkit.CLI
Save the file in your download folder
Extract the files to a folder of your choice (for example C:\Cyberpunk2077Mod\MLSB_WolvenKit.CLI)
Now we can configure it.
Click File
Click Preferences
You will now see the settings dialogue:
Game folder is The Cyberpunk 2077 Game Directory
Wolvenkit-CLI.exe is the one you just downloaded
Again, this step is optional, you can use MLSB straight away.
Open the menu "Build" and select "Repository" to uncook the archives:
Pick what you want to uncook. Especially the environments can take over an hour, so we're only doing the essentials here:
Click "Uncook".
Wait. Do not interact with the program in any way until the process has finished - especially interacting with the console might just freeze up the entire windows cmd process. This is not MLSB's fault, but due to a Windows standard implementation. There can be a bunch of errors, ignore them.
This process can take some time — if you have selected everything, it can be several hours on slow machines. (You should've listened during step 1, choomba ;))
When the process is complete, close the Depot Generator window.
Optional: if you can't see any changes, press Ctrl+R to relaod MLSB.
Repeat Step 1 from Building the depot, but select Microblends this time
In the bottom left corner, hit "Start"
Wait.
When the process is complete, close the Depot Generator window.
Optional: if you can't see any changes, press Ctrl+R to relaod MLSB.
That's it, you're done now and can use the 3d viewport!
Close MLSB, then open %APPDATA%\Mlsetupbuilder\config.json in a text editor and decrement the version by one (e.g. 1.6.8 => 1.6.7). This will force MLSB to re-check its settings.
Alternatively, you can also delete the file and reconfigure.
For MLSB <= 1.6.7, you have to use the exact CLI version you find under Help -> Download Wolvenkit.CLI
Does the progress bar still move? If yes, then you're good - ignore this.
If not, you haven't left your fingers off MLSB and need to start over. Click "Uncook", then go afk until it's done.
If that doesn't help either, it's worth trying Wolvenkit Console's latest Nightly.
Please keep in mind that these guides are seriously outdated. If things don't look as expected, check this guide, which is much more up-to-date, or find help on Discord (link in Introduction: What is MLSB?)
In the project explorer under Wolvenkit's archive folder, right-click on am mlsetup file
This folder will only be visible in the "source" or "archive" tab of your
Select ""
This will generate an mlsetup.json file in your project's .
This folder will only be visible in the "source" or "raw" tab of your project explorer
Uncook folder / Depot is the folder you have configured in
