Photo Mode / AMM: Other Facial Expressions

Guide to change expressions for photo mode and AMM

Summary

Created by @manavortex Published ??? Updated: 15. 09. 2023

This tutorial will teach you how to replace the default Photo mode or AMM expressions with those from an NPC.

Difficulty: You need to be able to read. If you run into trouble anyway, please hit us up on Discord so that we can improve this guide!

Step 1: Locate the right file

Photo Mode

female rig	base\animations\ui\photomode\photomode_female_facial.anims
male rig	base\animations\ui\photomode\photomode_male_facial.anims

AMM

Both genders will use

base\animations\facial\male_average\interactive_scene\generic_average_male_facial_idle.anims

This will be called the target file in the rest of this guide

Step 2: Replace the target file with the one you want

NPC animation files have the extension .anims and reside in the folder base\animations\facial. You can find the ones for facial expressions by searching in WolvenKit for

base\animations\facial\ *.anims

Find the file that you want to use and copy it over the original file.

Although the file names are gendered, you can pick any of them.

If you aren't sure which file you want to use, check the references.

👉 If you are missing reference screenshots, feel free to create and upload them. The existing ones have been created the hard way.

Example:

To put Rogue's facial expressions on a male V, you copy
base\animations\facial\main_characters\rogue\rogue_facial_idle_poses.anims
over the target file at 
base\animations\ui\photomode\photomode_male_facial.anims

To use her expressions in AMM, overwrite
base\animations\facial\male_average\interactive_scene\generic_average_male_facial_idle.anims

Step 3: Pick the expressions you want

Photo mode uses a total of 12 expressions by looking for animation names in the target file. You need to connect the selection picker with the NPC file you just copied.

Find their names here.

Important: AMM and photo mode use different keys. Just make sure to pick the right table, and everything will be fine.

Do this by opening the target file (which you replaced with the NPC of your choice) in WolvenKit.

Find the animation you want to use and change its name:

Replace the original name with one from the list. If you don't know which ones you want to use, check out the references.

Rinse and repeat the process until you're done.

Save the file, pack the project, and start the game - voila, you now have custom expressions.

References

You can find a list of screenshots with facial expression references here.

Troubleshooting

My expressions don't work at all!

Make sure that you have replaced the correct file, and that your mod has been correctly packed and installed.

Some of my expressions aren't working!

The game will look for the animation by exact name. AMM is using a different list than photo mode — make sure that you are using the right keys.

It's showing expressions, but not the one I picked!

Check your target file: you have used a key twice.

If the game is looking for the neutral expression, it will stop looking as soon as it finds an animation with the name of facial_neutral. If you have multiple of those, it won't care.