R&R: Your own Wolvenkit project
Last updated
Last updated
Created & Published: September 30 2023 by @manavortex
This page is a part of the Recolours and Refits guide and will walk you through the process of creating your own Wolvenkit project. Here, we will:
create our project
solve load order via project name
get the files from the mod that we want to change
Time to complete:
~30 minutes for the tutorial
once you know how it works: < 5 minutes to create a project and add the correct files from a mod
his guide contains the minimal amount of fluff and will link background information rather than giving it. Any links will tell you which parts you're supposed to read — if they don't, you're free to ignore them.
For that reason, you shouldn't skip or skim unless the section tells you that it's optional.
The principles you learn here are universal. Once you have understood how this works, you can recolour and refit any Cyberpunk item.
If you are editing modded items, you should seek permission first. For your personal use, you can (legally) do what you want, but making mods takes time and effort.
Please respect mod creators' wishes in that regard.
You can check find the standard permissions on a mod's Nexus page, Description tab, under the Permissions and Credit header right next to the requirements.
The checklist below will make sure that you're ready to go for the tutorial. The links in the description will tell you how to complete each step if you can't do it on your own yet.
To edit an appearance, you need to make a mod. For that, you need a Wolvenkit project.
Normally, you get an example project to download — but you already have all the necessary files, since you downloaded them from Nexus.
This guide will teach you how to change stuff without the original creator's help. It's easy!
There are two ways you can go about the process: do either a full repack of my mod, or create a compatibility archive. This section will explain the differences, the next one will walk you through the process of setting things up for either of those options.
Needs original mod?
no, is a full replacement
yes
Can update original mod?
no — doing that will nuke your changes
yes
Once you've made your decision, you can proceed to the next section and create your Wolvenkit project. If you aren't certain yet, you can keep reading to find the pros and cons listed more clearly.
Your mod completely overwrites the original mod, creating your own local copy.
I do this with mods for my own personal use — I don't care if the original mod is updated, my character will only ever wear that one custom variant.
Anything I do to the mod in the future won't affect you
Anything I do to the mod in the future won't affect you
If you update or reinstall the original mod, you will overwrite your changes
If you're anything like me, you'll lose track of which files you have or haven't modified
You'll create a compatibility mod that will exist together with the original.
I do this with mods where I only want to change little things, e.g. removing a submesh. When the original mod updates, I can update my compatibility mod in <5 minutes.
You can still update and reinstall the original without overwriting your changes
Your mod has only exactly those files that you've actually changed
You have to keep the original installed
Only works together with the original
Updates on the original mod might necessitate an update on your part
Your mod has to load before the original, so you need to fix load order. (This guide will tell you how)
This is where you decide for one of those options.
The .archive that Wolvenkit packs for you will have the same name as your project. Stick to the recommendations in Step 4, or read the expandable box to learn more.
From Wolvenkit's menu bar, select File -> New Project
Fill the fields in the dialogue:
Creation Location: This is where your loose files are going to live. From here, Wkit can pack it as a mod and install it to your game directory.
Select any folder outside of your game directory.
Project Name: The name of your project, and subsequently, the name of your .archive file.
If you want to overwrite: Name it the same as the original mod's .archive (_ArchiveXL_Netrunner_Variants)
If you want to patch: To maintain Archive files Load Order, your project needs to come before the original in ascii sort order. Pick any of the following:
_00_ArchiveXL_Netrunner_Variants
_ArchiveXL_00_Netrunner_Refit
_ArchiveXL_Netrunner_00_Variants
My personal preference is 2 and 3, as that will put the files next to the original mod.
This part will show you how to add files to your project (you can't change them if you don't).
You have installed the mod from Nexus.
Skip to How to export files if you don't care.
To alter an existing item, you need to create a mod that will overwrite the original resource. This mod must modify that file first - which is where the load order comes in.
Do not move or rename any of those files, they need to be exactly where Wolvenkit puts them.
The section
describes the process of How to export files
tells you which files to use it on for Selected files: Recolour Selected files: Refit
For the general documentation on adding files to your project, see here.
In Wolvenkit, open the Asset Browser (pinned at the right-hand side by default), and toggle the switch to "Mod Browser".
Find _ArchiveXL_Netrunner_Variants, then click on it. It will be near the bottom of the list, together with your other mods starting with _
If you want to overwrite the complete mod, run this query in Wolvenkit's Mod Browser:
Add all files to the project — everything.
Now, switch the Project Explorer to Resources. It will be empty; you have to create the following folder structure:
Find and copy the following files from your game directory into the subfolders of resources (there'll be a screenshot in a minute)
From: Cyberpunk 2077\r6\tweaks\manavortex
To: resources\manavortex
From: Cyberpunk 2077\r6\scripts\manavortex
To: resources\r6\scripts\manavortex
From: either
vanilla install: Cyberpunk 2077\archive\pc\mod
REDmod: Cyberpunk 2077\mods\RANDOMNUMBER_ArchiveXL_Netrunner_variants\archives
To: resources
Add all those files to your project, then skip the rest of this page and go to R&R: Emissive
All material colour definitions are stored in .mlsetup files, which we'll be editing in R&R: Colour Editing.
If you want to edit a file that is not part of High Fashion Netrunning Suits, you need to find it first.
If it is part of a different mod, see Analysing other mods and use that archive. You just need to adjust your search queries below.
If you want to modify base game items, you need to find their mesh (check Spawn Codes (BaseIDs/Hashes)). Once you have that, you can use "find used files" from the Asset Browser's context menu to find all .mlsetups, or you open the mesh in Wolvenkit to follow the material definition chain.
All material definitions in this mod are in the folder manavortex\torso\netrunning_suit\textures
The first level subfolders group the .mlsetup files by material (e.g. nylon, snake, other)
The texture files inside the folders are named like material_baseColor_accentColor. Base colour and accent colour should correspond with the in-game suit name.
If there is a subfolder inside the material folder, the mlsetups inside are using the secondary mlmask. That's not going to mean anything to you, but we'll get back to it on R&R: Colour Editing.
If the names aren't clear enough or if you can't guess which file you have to take, you can open netrunner_recolours_translation.json in Wolvenkit:
Expand the root node and then the entries node. By selecting a node, you can see the translation text. The field for secondaryKey contains the colour variant, which corresponds to the mlsetup file name:
For a refit, you only need two files (one if you don't care about the emissive properties):
suit
manavortex\torso\netrunning_suit\meshes\pwa_netrunning_suit.mesh
emissive
manavortex\torso\netrunning_suit\meshes\pwa_emissive.mesh
suit
manavortex\torso\netrunning_suit\meshes\pma_netrunning_suit.mesh
emissive
manavortex\torso\netrunning_suit\meshes\pma_emissive.mesh
Simply add both files to your project, then hit up the R&R: Refitting (step by step) section to get them fixed.
Depending on which files you added, you now proceed to the next guide:
R&R: Colour Editing / R&R: Emissive
You have and configured
Once you have a Wolvenkit project, you can and see any changes you made become active right away.
You can now browse the archive, or use (next to the big red toggle button) to find files inside the archive by searching for archive:ArchiveXL_Netrunner.
