8.5 - WolvenKit

Published Mar 07 2022
WolvenKit 8.5 ushers in a new era for mod development. The File Editor now supports editing buffers for the .ent and .app formats. Buffer editing opens the doors to countless new possibilities for modders. Virtually all aspects of the UI have been streamlined and refreshed with quality-of-life improvements.
WolvenKit 8.5 has numerous breaking changes!
If you have mod projects created with previous versions of WolvenKit, we strongly recommend reading the full release notes below.
.NET must be updated to 6.0 (x64) for WolvenKit 8.5+
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0​
Known Issues
Some TGA image previews may be incorrect
All TGA's exported from WolvenKit will be previewed correctly within the Properties window. However TGA's exported from other applications with bottom left Origin will appear inverted. This is only an issue with the image preview tool with the TGA format. The texture will not be inverted when imported as an XBM.
Asset I/O
What's New
MLMASK I/O has been streamlined
The default format for mask I/O has been changed from DDS to PNG. Additionally mask textures are now placed into a subfolder using the original mlmask file name.

When exporting .mlmask files WolvenKit will automatically generate a masklist file within the raw directory. The content of the masklist is automatically generated for convenience. Masklist files now accept absolute and/or relative paths. For example:

    Absolute Path
Q:\projects\Judy\files\source\raw\base\characters\main_npc\judy\textures\ml_s1_001_wa_shoe__judy_masksset.mlmask\0.png

    Relative Path
ml_s1_001_wa_shoe__judy_masksset.mlmask\0.png
Texture I/O
Default export format is now TGA
After careful consideration the Import/Export tool will now export TGA by default. The flow chart below demonstrates the necessity of this change. DDS imports and exports remain unchanged in version 8.5.
Keep is now disabled by default
Starting with version 8.5 textures will no longer be rebuilt by default. Standalone textures that don't require an original XBM will be created instead. There are numerous benefits:
    - Texture resolution/size will be updated automatically on import
    - Standalone TGA imports work flawlessly
    - Checking DDS compression is not necessary
    - High quality 32bpp RGBA compression is always used
The drawback is that standalone textures will not preserve the isGamma boolean. This boolean must be set true for all color texture imports.

Support for isGamma
Standalone texture imports now expose the isGamma boolean, meaning color textures can be correctly displayed as sRGB. The isGamma boolean is set to false by default, meaning the user should manually check the box for color textures. We plan to automate this process with an upcoming patch.
Development
Dependencies
Upgraded to Visual Studio 2022
Visual Studio 2022 is now required to compile WolvenKit.

Upgraded to .NET 6
The .NET dependency was upgraded from .NET 5 to .NET 6. Users can download .NET 6 from the following link:
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0​
File Editor
What's New
Support for editing buffers
Buffers can now be edited and saved with WolvenKit! Currently .app and .ent buffer editing is supported. All properties can be modified including floats, strings, and paths. This opens the doors to countless new modding possibilities.

True native file editing
WolvenKit is now capable of adding and removing elements of REDengine files within the document editor. Various options for adding or removing elements have been added.

Improved file handling
Numerous quality of life enhancements have been implemented:
    - An asterisk (*) is added to the file name tab when unsaved changes are present
    - A confirmation dialogue has been added for closing edited files without saving
    - A Save As button has been added to save files as a copy

Temporary file preview
Any file can now be opened without being added to a project. Files can be previewed by selecting them within the Asset Browser. Additionally when editing any REDengine file, referenced files can be opened temporarily in a new tab. To open a referenced file, click the blue arrow icon inside the tree view.

Document window preview
REDengine files such as xbm, inkwidget, and mlmask can now be previewed directly within the File Editor. Below the main file tab, a new set of preview tabs are available for select formats.
Redesigned File View
Tree View replaces List View
The left-hand navigation panel now uses a beautiful and intuitive tree view. Tree view elements are organized in a sensible way, rather than a flat list.

Collection Editor has been removed
The Collection Editor introduced with version 8.4 has been removed. The right-hand properties panel now displays editable-content efficiently without a floating window.

Default engine values are now displayed
Properties that are not written to file display REDengine default values. These values are automatically inserted by the game at runtime when left unset. Inherited default values are marked with italic font and darkened text.

Main document inline buffer viewing 
Buffer viewing has been dramatically improved. Buffers are now visualized within the main file tree rather than individual tabs. Understanding the relationship between buffers and the main file is now more intuitive.
Fixes
Miscellaneous
Fixed bugged mesh previews for new installations of WolvenKit
See issue #622​
Mod Projects
BREAKING CHANGE

Installed mod archives will no longer use the mod prefix! The name of the archive will now directly match the mod project name. For a mod project called JudyEdit, the archive will be automatically installed as shown below:

OLD modJudyEdit.archive
NEW (8.5+) JudyEdit.archive

WolvenKit will automatically uninstall old mod archives when the mod project is updated, however take care to warn users if your archive name has changed.
BREAKING CHANGE

The WolvenKit project structure has changed! Existing projects will function as expected, however mod projects created with WolvenKit 8.5+ will not be backwards compatible. The changes can be summarized as follows:

The Mod directory has been renamed to archive
The Raw directory has been renamed to raw (no longer capitalized)
The script directory remains the same
The tweakdbs directory has be renamed to tweaks
Packing and Installing have been separated into separate actions
    Pack Project - Compiles mod project without installing (New)
    Pack & Install - Compiles mod project and installs to Game Directory

The tweak directory folder structure is preserved
Any user-created folder structures for tweaks are preserved by the WolvenKit installation process. Tweaks and folders are installed exactly as they appear within the tweak project directory.
UI/UX
Project Explorer
Added filtering to Project Explorer
The Project Explorer can now be filtered by directory.
SOURCE  |  All project directories (default)
    archive  |  Archive directory
    raw  |  Raw directory
    scripts  |  Script directory
    tweaks  |  Tweaks directory
PACKED  |  Internal WolvenKit folder for mod deployment. Can be used to install extra files.

Added flat file view to Project Explorer
A flat file list toggle button has been added to the Project Explorer which displays all project files in a simple alphabetical list without folders.

Added drag-and-drop to Project Explorer
The Project Explorer now supports drag-and-drop for files. Click and hold any file to move folders. Additionally files can by copied by holding CTRL while dragging.

Added warning for overwriting files in the Project Explorer
When adding files to a mod project with the Asset Browser a confirmation dialogue has been added for overwriting existing files.
Miscellaneous
WolvenKit mod projects (.cpmodproj) can be opened directly
Mod projects can now be opened natively from Windows Explorer. The WolvenKit installer will automatically assign mod projects to be opened with WolvenKit. For WolvenKit portable, double-click any .cpmodproj file from Windows Explorer, then locate wolvenkit.exe.

Replaced Ribbon with menu bar (optional)
Added a streamlined menu bar as an alternative to the Ribbon. Moved contextual actions to their respective editors.

Streamlined Home view
The Home page has been restyled and refined further. A new transition effect has been added when switching to Home.

Added native file preview for new file formats
Inkwidget and mlmask files can now be previewed directly within the File Editor.

Added manual update button
Within the Settings page a WolvenKit manual update check button has been added.

Added per-project layouts
WolvenKit Editor layouts can be saved to a specific mod project.

Support for Asset Browser without a mod project
The Asset Browser can now be loaded without creating a mod project. Game files can be browsed and previewed without adding them to a project.

Logging has been improved
Existing log messages have been cleaned up, and many new events have been added to improve feedback. WolvenKit events and errors are easier to understand.

Themed elements have been dramatically reduced
Many visual elements were unreadable with dark or light accent colors. Most UI elements have been un-themed to prevent these issues.