Analysing other mods

How to open .archive files and take a look inside

This guide will walk you through analysing or extracting .archive files from tutorial resources or other mods.

Required: WolvenKit

Please keep in mind that you are looking at somebody else's work. Always credit if you use anything from other peoples' mods, unless it's explicitly stated that you don't have to!

Some modders don't want their mods to be unbundled. Most people don't mind if you do it for your own personal use, but you should seek permission and respect their decision.

For a documentation on how to use Wolvenkit CLI, see here. Unless you have a very good reason to use the console, you probably don't want to.

If you want to edit files, you need a Wolvenkit Project. If you don't know how to make one, you can check R&R: Your own Wolvenkit project

Step 1: Switch to mod browser

Once you have installed the mod or added it to your extra mod directory, you can use Wolvenkit's Mod Browserto browse it:

Switch to "Mod browser"

You can now add the content to your project like regular game files.

If you can't (because everything is scrambled), check Troubleshooting.

Step 2: Find the correct files

You can check Wolvenkit Search: Finding files for how to find and filter everything.

The folders in the mod browser correspond to the names of the .archive files you have installed.

E.g., To find all .mlsetup (colour definition) files inside the Netrunning Suits mod, search for:

archive:ArchiveXL_Netrunner > .mlsetup

If you want all mesh files from the Custom T-Shirt Mod, search for

archive:my_tshirt > .mesh

f you want to know more, you can read up on Wolvenkit's search.

Step 3: Add the files to your project

Select the file that you want to add by checking the box. Then right-click on it, and click on the Add selected items to project option.

Add items to project

That's it! You now have the file in your mod project and can start editing.

Troubleshooting

I can't add anything to my project!

Make sure that you actually have a Wolvenkit project opened (you will see the project name in the top-right corner next to the close button). Can't add files to a project if there's no project!

All file names are numbers / there are only bin files

You have found a mod that is not compatible with the current hashing algorithm. Long (and sad) story short, from time to time that needs an update, and then anything packed with a different version of the algorithm won't resolve anymore.

The good news is that you can still use those files. The bad news is that you have to guess which is which.

To try and resolve that, switch to the mod browser, and click the crosshair bu_tton next to the search bar. This will scan your mods for a way to resolve those hashes.

If that doesn't work, you can try opening the .archive with Wolvenkit 8.9 or 8.7 - anything older will be incompatible with game versions >= 1.6.

If neither of these work, then you'll have to try and guess.

Didn't work

Some authors don't want other people to look at their files and deliberately corrupt their archives to prevent Wolvenkit from reading them. The game is a lot more robust than WKit, so these mods usually work, although side effects can't be ruled out. If none of this works, you can still look at the files and their properties in the File Editor and try to guess what's what. Other than that, you're out of luck, though.