Game Tools Tutorial

An overview of all of my modern game tools (released in 2023+) all tools will share the same UI and settings going forward.

NOTICE: If you’re having trouble running the tools, see troubleshooting at the bottom of this page.

📂 Loading a file

If the game tool supports loading assets from specific files, you’ll see a “Load File” button at the bottom of the window. In addition, you can also drag and drop a supported file anywhere on the UI to load it.

🎮 Loading a game

If the game tool supports loading assets from the game directly, you’ll see a “Load Game” button at the bottom of the window. You must launch the game first, then click the “Load Game” button. The game must remain running while you export assets.

💾 Exporting one or more assets

To export an asset you can:

  • Double click an asset in the list.
  • Select the assets you want to export and press (E).
  • Select the assets you want to export and press “Export Selected” button.
  • Press the “Export All” button.

The cancel button will cancel the export job after the current asset exports.

🔍 Previewing an asset

To preview an asset, you can press (P) to open the preview window. Select the asset you want to view in the list of assets to preview it. You can change the controls in settings.

  • Controls (Autodesk Maya):
    • Ctrl/Alt + Left Mouse = Rotate.
    • Ctrl/Alt + Middle Mouse = Pan.
    • Ctrl/Alt + Right Mouse = Zoom.
  • Controls (Blender):
    • Middle Mouse = Rotate.
    • Shift + Middle Mouse = Pan.
    • Alt + Middle Mouse = Zoom.

🕵️ Searching for assets

You can search for assets using text, or specially formatted text commands to narrow down your search. Each command must be separated by a comma , and up to 5 commands can be searched for at once. By default, a property command value is assumed to be equal, but you can use the operators >, <, >=, <= to change that.

  • Search asset properties:
    • bonecount Searches the bonecount property, usually for models.
      • Defaults to 0 for non-supported assets.
      • Supports >, <, and equals.
    • meshcount Searches the meshcount property, usually for models.
      • Defaults to 0 for non-supported assets.
      • Supports >, <, and equals.
    • framecount Searches the framecount property, usually for animations.
      • Defaults to 0 for non-supported assets.
      • Supports >, <, and equals.
    • framerate Searches the framerate property, usually for animations.
      • Defaults to 0 for non-supported assets.
      • Supports >, <, and equals.
    • width Searches the width property, usually for images.
      • Defaults to 0 for non-supported assets.
      • Supports >, <, and equals.
    • height Searches the height property, usually for images.
      • Defaults to 0 for non-supported assets.
      • Supports >, <, and equals.
  • Search asset names:
    • By default, search will check if the name contains the given text.
    • If you prefix your text with !, it will check if the name does not contain the given text.

Examples

Search for an asset with the name normal that is at least 2048x2048:

width:>=2048,height:>=2048,normal

Search for an asset with exactly 100 bones, and doesn’t have fire in the name:

bonecount:100,!fire

📋 Handy asset shortcuts

  • Ctrl + C Copy the names of all selected assets to the clipboard.
  • Ctrl + V Focuses the search box and pastes clipboard content into it.
  • Ctrl + A Focuses the search box and selects all of it’s content.

🚦 Asset status

  • Loaded - The asset is ready to be exported.
  • Placeholder - The asset is empty, a reference, or has nothing to export at this time.
  • Exporting - The asset is currently exporting in parallel.
  • Exported - The asset was exported successfully.
  • Error - An error occured while exporting this asset, you should report the name of it to me. (Make sure you didn’t run out of disk space.)

⚙️ Tool Settings

Here is a list of all of the configurable tool settings and a description that goes with it:

Settings - General

  • Load Models - Show assets that are models.
  • Load Animations - Show assets that are animations.
  • Load Images - Show assets that are images.
  • Load Materials - Show assets that are materials.
  • Load Sounds - Show assets that are sounds.
  • Load Raw Files - Show assets that are loose files, or not directly convertable.

You can customize the export directory using the “Browse” button.

  • Automatically scale assets - Scales assets from in-game units to source / editor units (Recommended).
    • If the game uses meters, then the units will be *= 100.
    • If the game uses inches, then the units will be *= 2.54.
    • If the game uses centimeters, then the units will be *= 1.0.

Settings - Models

  • Cast - Export models in cast format. Plugins
  • OBJ - Export models in obj format.
  • Valve SMD - Export models in smd format. SDK
  • XNALara - Export models in xnalara format. Blender
  • CoD XModel - Export models in xmodel_export format.
  • Autodesk Maya - Export models in ma format. Maya
  • FBX - Export models in fbx format.

WARNING: Some model formats only support a limited amount of model features. For the best compatibility with any game, use Cast with a proper plugin.

Settings - Images

  • Image file type DDS:
    • Typically the source format for the game.
    • Requires latest Paint.NET or Photoshop Plugin.
    • Does not work properly in Blender or Maya and many other editors.
  • Image file type PNG:
    • Lossless converted from in-game formats.
    • Supports both sRGB and linear textures.
    • This is a recommended format.
  • Image file type TIFF:
    • Lossless converted from in-game formats.
    • Supports both sRGB and linear textures.
    • This is a recommended format.
  • Image file type TGA:
    • Sometimes lossless converted from in-game formats.
    • Doesn’t support any particular color space.
    • Will be significantly larger than any other format.

Normal map conversion aids in reconstructing normal maps from the game. Does not affect the previewer.

  • Normal map conversion None:
    • Does nothing to transform the normal maps.
  • Normal map conversion OpenGL:
    • Regenerates the Z channel from XY like the game does.
    • Ensures that Y is facing the correct “OpenGL” direction.
  • Normal map conversion DirectX:
    • Regenerates the Z channel from XY like the game does.
    • Ensures that Y is facing the correct “DirectX” direction.

Settings - Animations

  • Cast - Export animations in cast format. Plugins

Settings - Audio

  • Wav - Export audio in wav format.
    • Lossless but takes up more space than flacs.
  • Flac - Export audio in flac format.
    • Lossless and will take up less space than the wavs.

Settings - Advanced

  • Treat all assets as raw files (Not Recommended).
    • Forces all assets to load and display as-is without conversion.

🐞 Troubleshooting

If you’re having trouble running the tools here are a few things you can try:

  • If nothing shows at all, or a blank window appears briefly, this usually indicates a driver problem. The solution is updating both your dedicated (if you have one) and integrated gpu drivers. The tools are designed to pick the best device you have, and some older intel/amd drivers have known bugs initializing some graphics apis.
    • Another workaround for this issue is, all of the tools support environment variables to override the device/api selection. You can set them prior to running the tool:
      • WGPU_BACKEND=dx12
      • WGPU_BACKEND=vulkan
      • WGPU_BACKEND=gl (Not recommended)
    • This is a complex issue that is hard to reproduce, and a list of broken hardware/driver combinations would be helpful. If you’re tech savvy, it would be helpful to submit more information here: WPU Issues.
  • Some game overlay / performance tools mistake the tools for being a game, due to the way the ui is drawn. Disabling them or blacklisting the tools can also resolve issues.
  • If you have an issue not listed here, join the discord server, and describe exactly what you’re experiencing. Include crash files, if they exist.