Boe6's vehicles: Create base files

Summary

This page will show you how to create the base files that will tell your game about the new car.

• Create a new project in WolvenKit (wKit).

Make sure you installed TweakXL.

Create a new tweakXL .yaml file

This file contains the tweak which will register your car with the game's database.

After creation, you can find it in your Wolvenkit project's resources tab.

Create a new tweakXL file by going to “New File” in the top left of wkit, just next to the HOME button.

Select TweakDB and TweakXL file. Name it something specific to your mod. example: “boe6_mini_cooper.yaml”

Open the .yaml file in your favorite text editor. I used notepad++.

Create a new tweak entry for your model.

Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_red:
    $base: Vehicle.v_sport2_porsche_911turbo
    appearanceName: boe6_mini_cooper_red
    displayName: boe6_mini_cooper_name
    player_audio_resource: v_car_mizutani_shion_nomad
    entityTemplatePath: boe6\mini_cooper\boe6_mini_cooper_basic.ent

Explanation:

$base:

• This should be set to the most similar in-game vehicle to your project. This is the tweak record that your car will mirror unless you set your own. You can find tweak names in the wKit tweak browser, search for the source car in the search bar on top. Look for Vehicle.v_NAME, it’s first entry should be “gamedataVehicle_Record”

  • example: “Vehicle.v_sport2_porsche_911turbo”

appearanceName:

• Needs to be set to the appearance name in the vehicle’s .ent file. The .ent file can be found inside your source vehicle’s tweak records. Locate the vehicle’s tweaks like before, Vehicle.v_sport2_porsche_911turbo for example, and scroll down for an entry titled “entityTemplatePath”. It should have an entry similar to this:

  • “Base\vehicles\sport\v_sport2_porsche_911turbo__basic_01.ent”

displayName:

• Set with your json file below.

player_audio_resource:

• This line is not necessary yet. It can be swapped for another vehicle’s engine sound later with whichever sounds closest to your desired vehicle.

entityTemplatePath:

• This is the file we just added in the appearanceName step earlier. To easily get this: in the project explorer, right click on the file and hit rename, or press F2. In the open window you can copy the path starting at base/… You can also copy the relative path by right clicking the file and selecting “copy relative path”. Now you can paste it into the .yaml entry.

Add your new vehicle tweak to the vehicle_list tweak, so the game can find it.

Vehicle.vehicle_list.list:
  - !append Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper

Note the 2 spaces, followed by a dash, followed by another space, then the !entry. Syntax is very important for .yaml files

Create a .json file

This file contains the translation strings, such as your car's name and description.

After creation, you can find it in your Wolvenkit project's Archive tab.

Create a .json file in your project, the same as creating the .yaml. The option is about half way down the “CR2W Files” category. Name it the same as your vehicle (e.g. “boe6_mini_cooper.json”)

You’ll want to create your own project path at this point. With your mouse over the new .json file, on the right side hit the yellow “open in explorer” button to find the .json file in your file explorer, you should see just your .json file and a “base” folder. Create a new folder/path for your project files here. I created “boe6/mini_cooper/”. Now in wkit, move your .json into the new folder.

Your project file structure should now be similar to this:

Open the .json in wKit by double clicking.

Under RDTDataViewModel, click on “root” : handle:ISerializable.

“root.root” will appear on the right side. Next to handle:ISerializable, click the yellow “Create Handle” button.

In the window that opens, click on the bottom text box to type in the following:

“localizationPersistenceOnScreenEntries”

You can use the autofill. Click “create”

Notice that you have to manually save items in this window. Ctrl+S works. Same rule applies for .ent files, .app files, and any other files edited directly in wkit.

Now under RDTDataViewModel, “root” is expandable. Click on the entries array under “root”.

Now on the right side, click “Create Item In Array”

Now we'll customize the new entry. Expand the item options and complete it to these values:

• “primaryKey” can be left at 0, and “maleVarient” can be left blank.

• “secondaryKey” is what your .yaml is referencing. This is the name given that will link to the .yaml. Example: “boe6_mini_cooper_name”

• “femaleVariant” is the actual display string. In this case, the vehicle’s name as it should be shown in the menus. Example: “Mini Cooper S”

Create 2 more entries in the array by right clicking the first array entry we just created, and hit “duplicate item in array/buffer” as shown:

Swap the 2nd and 3rd string values for your vehicle’s year and description text.

example:

2nd:

secondaryKey: boe6_mini_cooper_info

femaleVariant: fancy description

3rd:

secondaryKey: boe6_mini_cooper_year

femaleVarient: 2003

Final .json should look similar this:

Return to your .yaml file and make sure your vehicle’s “displayName” is your secondaryKey entry. See earlier .yaml screenshot.

At this point you can test your mod to see if it loads in-game correctly. In general, you’ll want to launch the game and test as often as you can. I recommend changing one file at a time and testing each along the way to easily diagnose issues.

In wKit, at the end of the same line as “New File”, there is an “Install” button. For ease of testing, click the down arrow to show options and switch to “Install and Launch”. Now press “Install and Launch” to test the mod in-game.

Once in-game, you can use the Cyber Engine Tweaks console to add the vehicle to your inventory. Swap “boe6_mini_cooper” for your vehicle’s Tweak Record.

Command Example:

Game.GetVehicleSystem():EnablePlayerVehicle('Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper', true, false)

It should show up as “TEST” in the vehicle call menu, as we haven't linked the json file to our mod yet. Once you call it, it should drive up with the model you are mirroring.

If the command does not add your vehicle to the vehicle call list, check if the Tweak Records have been saved correctly. To do this, open the TweakDB Editor in the CET overlay. Search for your vehicle’s name, and look for the Vehicle.name Record.

Note that the vehicle’s scan details will not be correct yet. The vehicle model and description will display as loading.

Move your source vehicle’s .ent file into the same file path as your .json file. Copy the file’s new path starting after “archive/…”, and update your .yaml tweak record so entityTemplatePath is showing your new path.

Example:

Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_red:
    $base: Vehicle.v_sport2_porsche_911turbo
    appearanceName: boe6_mini_cooper_red
    displayName: boe6_mini_cooper_name
    player_audio_resource: v_car_mizutani_shion_nomad
    entityTemplatePath: boe6\mini_cooper\v_sport2_porsche_911turbo__basic_01.ent

Save the file, and test again by using the Install and launch button. Load a save from before you’ve used the summon command in CET console.

Rename the .ent file and update the tweak in .yaml, like last step.

Example:

“boe6\mini_cooper\boe6_mini_cooper_basic.ent”

Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_red:
    $base: Vehicle.v_sport2_porsche_911turbo
    appearanceName: boe6_mini_cooper_red
    displayName: boe6_mini_cooper_name
    player_audio_resource: v_car_mizutani_shion_nomad
    entityTemplatePath: boe6\mini_cooper\boe6_mini_cooper_basic.ent

Now we’ll clean up the .ent file. Open it in wkit by double clicking. Under “RDTDataViewModel”, open the “appearances” array.

Find the appearance you’re currently mirroring and make note of it. Then select all the other appearances with ctrl+click, then right click and hit “Delete Selection in Array/Buffer”. This will leave you with one appearance. We’ll duplicate this later when we get to adding different paint colors.

Edit the “name” value to edit the array item. In my case, I change it from “porsche_911turbo__basic_johnny” to “boe6_mini_cooper_basic”

Also update your .yaml tweak to this for the appearanceName value.

Save, Install and Launch, test that it still works.

Add the .app file

This file contains your car's components for the individual appearances. You can read up about Appearance: .app files at the link.

Add the .app file to your project. Find it by navigating to the appearanceResource in your main appearance, which links to an .app file. Hit the yellow “Add File to Mod” button.

You’ll want to clean the appearances from this file as well. In the .ent file, note the appearanceName value. Then look at the .app file for the matching item in the list. That is the appearance we want to keep. The other appearances can be deleted as you did with the .ent file.

Now we can edit the appearanceName to an appropriate value related to our car.

Example:

And update it in your .app file as well in the “name” value:

Save and test. Get in the habit of testing often!

Notice the “components” list inside the appearance settings. These are the main parts of your vehicle, and all 3D model parts are referenced through here, with a .mesh file.

Move your .app file and rename it to a relevant name. Example:

“boe6\mini_cooper\boe6_mini_cooper.app”

Update your .ent file so the appearanceResource value matches the new file name & path.

Install & Test.

Finish setting up tweaks.

Open up your .yaml file.

We’ll start with adding a logo record for the vehicle’s brand/manufacturer. Add a UIIcon Tweak Record, with a $type: UIIcon_Record, atlasPartName, and atlasResourcePath. Example:

UIIcon.Mini_Logo:
    $type: UIIcon_Record
    atlasPartName: porsche
    atlasResourcePath: base\gameplay\gui\common\icons\weapons_manufacturers.inkatlas

Copy the part name and path from your mirror car’s UIIcon_Record Tweak, which you can find in the tweak browser in wKit:

We’ll update these to custom file names/paths soon.

Next create a Tweak in the .yaml for the vehicle’s brand. This needs $type: VehicleManufacturer_Record, and an enumName. Example:

Vehicle.Mini
    $type: VehicleManufacturer_Record
    enumName: Mini_Logo

Now we need a gui data Tweak Record for our vehicle, with $type: VehicleUIData, productionYear, and info: LocKey#[vehicle]_info. Example:

Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_data:
    $type: VehicleUIData
    productionYear: 2003
    info: LocKey#boe6_mini_cooper_info

The LocKey# references your entry in the .json file.

Now we create a UIIcon Record for the vehicle’s image in the call menu, titled vehicle_icon or similar. Example:

UIIcon.boe6_mini_cooper_icon:
    $type: UIIcon_Record
    atlasResourcePath: base\gameplay\gui\common\icons\weapons_manufacturers.inkatlas
    atlasPartName: porsche_911turbo_basic_johnny

Now these items can be referenced in the main vehicle tweak record. Add:

• icon: UIIcon.[your_vehicle]_icon

• manufacturer: Vehicle.[brand]

Example:

    icon: UIIcon.boe6_mini_cooper_icon
    manufacturer: Vehicle.Mini
    vehicleUIData: Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_data

Add Virtual Car Dealer Tweak Values. Main settings are dealerPrice, dealerCred, dealerAtlasPath, and dealerPartName. We’ll just do the first 2 for now until we create the images for Virtual Car Dealer. These are added to you main vehicle. Example:

Vehicle.boe6_dominus_purchasable.dealerPrice: 55000
Vehicle.boe6_dominus_purchasable.dealerCred: 10

Note that Tweak record order is important. Those that are referenced by another record need to be defined earlier in the document.

Recommended order:

• UIIcon.Brand_Logo:

• Vehicle.Brand:

• Vehicle.vehicle_data:

• UIIcon.vehicle_icon:

• Vehicle.vehicle:

• Vehicle.vehicle.[dealer settings]

• Vehicle.vehicle_list.list:

Example of currently finished .yaml:

UIIcon.Mini_Logo:
    $type: UIIcon_Record
    atlasPartName: porsche
    atlasResourcePath: base\gameplay\gui\common\icons\weapons_manufacturers.inkatlas

Vehicle.Mini:
    $type: VehicleManufacturer_Record
    enumName: Mini_Logo

Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_data:
    $type: VehiculeUIData
    productionYear: 2003
    info: LocKey#boe6_mini_cooper_info

UIIcon.boe6_mini_cooper_icon:
    $type: UIIcon_Record
    atlasResourcePath: base\gameplay\gui\common\icons\weapons_manufacturers.inkatlas
    atlasPartName: porsche_911turbo_basic_johnny

Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_red:
    $base: Vehicle.v_sport2_porsche_911turbo
    appearanceName: boe6_mini_cooper_red
    displayName: boe6_mini_cooper_name
    player_audio_resource: v_car_mizutani_shion_nomad
    entityTemplatePath: boe6\mini_cooper\boe6_mini_cooper_basic.ent
    manufacturer: Vehicle.Mini
    icon: UIIcon.boe6_mini_cooper_icon
    vehicleUIData: Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper_data

Vehicle.boe6_dominus_purchasable.dealerPrice: 55000
Vehicle.boe6_dominus_purchasable.dealerCred: 10

#Vehicle.boe6_dominus_purchasable.dealerAtlasPatch: "boe6_mini_cooper_cardealer.inkatlas"
#Vehicle.boe6_dominus_purchasable.dealerPartName: "1"

Vehicle.vehicle_list.list:
  - !append Vehicle.boe6_mini_cooper

Add the .xl file

Now we will add our .xl file.

This file lets the game know to use our .json file as localization.

Create a new file in wkit as done before. Under the ArchiveXL category, select “ArchiveXL file”. It should automatically open in your default text editor. Edit it with just 3 lines, a file structure for the .json file. Example:

localization:
    onscreens:
        en-us: boe6\mini_copper\boe6_mini_cooper.json

Save and test.

The vehicle’s call menu should now show the vehicle’s name as specified in the .json, as well as the description info text.

Rename your .xl file to something appropriate. Files can cause issues if you use the same file name as another mod. Example:

“resources\boe6_mini_cooper.xl”

Note that any/all .xl and .yaml files in the resources folder of your project will automatically load in-game.