Help:Adding items: Difference between revisions

Mods that deal with items will often edit items that already exist in the game. However, this can lead to conflicts between mods, so it is generally advised to make a new item, instead. This tutorial will cover all of the steps needed to add new items, as well as multiple methods for completing each step.

Adding new items requires several tools, most of which are described and are available [[Help:Setting up tools|here]].

'''Do not skip this section, it is very important.'''

This tutorial will use several terms that you may not be familiar with, or will have specific definitions you may not have used before:

Vanilla weapons have the same name as their actor, model, and <code>bfres</code> names. For example, the actor <code>Weapon_Sword_001</code> has the model name <code>Weapon_Sword_001</code> and its resource files are in <code>Weapon_Sword_001.sbfres</code>.

If you are ever told to open a Powershell window and run a command, you can do that by holding shift, right-clicking somewhere inside the folder and clicking on "Open Powershell window here." Anytime you do this, it will be to run a Python script. All BotW modding Python scripts do not print '''anything''' to the Powershell window if they run successfully. If, at any time, one of the commands prints something to the Powershell window, stop right there and see if you can figure out what the problem is, or ask in the Discord. If you try to continue on, then 99% of the time you won't be able to, and the other 1% of the time, everything will have broken horribly. If worse comes to worst, you can also try one of the other methods. That's why this tutorial contains multiple, wherever possible.

The folder structure is important, as BotW will only load files if they're in a certain location. To begin with, you will want to create a folder structure that looks like this:

Note that these names are case-sensitive.

First, figure out what item (that already exists in game) behaves closest to your new item. Find the <code>sbactorpack</code> file for that item, and copy it to <code>content\Actor\Pack</code>. You will find the original file in your dumped UPDATE files (not the base game files), in the same location. (<code>content\Actor\Pack</code>) Make sure you copy it, and don't move the original.

Not every file in the actor pack will need to be edited, and there are multiple ways to obtain the file from the actor pack. Any of the following three ways should work. You need only use one method. If one doesn't work for you, try another one. You will be editing any file that contains the actor name as its file name, or contains that actor name inside it. For most actors, that means the files with file extensions <code>bxml</code>, <code>bmodellist</code>, <code>bgparamlist</code>, and <code>bphysics</code>. If the item is craftable, you will also need to change the file with file extension <code>brecipe</code>. If the actor has physics, you will also need to change the files with file extensions <code>bphyssb</code> and <code>hkcl</code>. Other actor types may have additional files to change, so look thoroughly.

Open Switch Toolbox, and then open the actor pack file in it. Expand the folders on the left side to find the files you need to edit, right click on them, and select Export Raw Data To File Location. You can then find the files in the same folder as the actor pack. Then, open a Powershell window in that folder, and use the command <code>aamp [FileName].[FileExtension] [FileName].[FileExtension].yml</code> for each file you extracted. Then open the files in the editor of your choice.

Open Wild Bits, navigate to the SARC Tools tab, then open the actor pack file in it. You will see a hierarchy of the folders. Search for one of the files you need to modify, right-click on it, and open it in the AAMP editor. Wild Bits will automatically take you to the YAML Tools tab and open the file for editing.

Open Powershell window in the folder containing the actor pack. Use the command <code>sarc extract [FileName].sbactorpack</code>. This will create a new folder with all of the individual files. For each file you modify, you will need to open another Powershell window in that folder and use the command <code>aamp [FileName].[FileExtension] !!.yml</code>. Then open the files in the editor of your choice.

Once you've got the actor files opened in the editor you want, there will be certain parts of the files that you need to change. All instances of the old actor, model, and BFRES names will need to be changed to the new actor, model, and BFRES names. The following is a list of many of the changes that need to be made, but note that some of these may not apply to your item, and there are some changes that may not appear in this list. Be thorough when you look through the files for things that may need to be changed.

[[File:Addingitems_aampfilenames.png|alt=Actor pack file name changes|thumb|The underlined items need to be changed for this actor pack (in addition to the actor pack name and the contents of each file)]]

Once you've made your changes, '''make sure to save'''.

Once all the edits have been made, you are ready to put everything back into the actor pack. As with unpacking it, each method has its own way of packing it again.

First you will need to convert the text actor files back to their corresponding types. Open a Powershell window in the folder that contains the files you changed, and use the command <code>aamp [FileName].[FileExtension].yml [FileName].[FileExtension]</code> for each file you extracted.

Open the actor pack in Switch Toolbox again. Switch Toolbox is kind of wonky, and doesn't like replacing data for existing files, but it can import new data just fine. So, for every file you're going to add back into the actor pack, you will delete the original file, then right-click on the folder that contained it, and select to import the new file. Then click to save the file. Make sure you change the name of the file to the new actor name! You will be asked to Yaz0 compress the file. Click yes. And now you're done.

When you've made your changes to the files in the YAML Tools tab and saved them, just click the button to save the actor pack, then change the name of the actor pack file to the new actor name. That's it, you're done.

First, convert the text actor files back to their corresponding types. Open a Powershell window in the folder that contains the files you changed, and use the command <code>aamp [FileName].yml !!.[FileExtension]</code> for each file you extracted. Once you have converted a yml file back to its original file type, make sure you delete the yml file. If you do not, it will be packed into the actor pack and that will cause errors and crashes.

Once you have converted all of the files back to their original types and deleted all the yml files, return to the <code>content\Actor\Pack</code> folder of your mod, and open another Powershell window, then pack everything back into the actor pack with the command <code>sarc create [FolderName] [FileName].sbactorpack</code>. '''If you are modding for WiiU or Cemu, the command is, instead, <code>sarc create [FolderName] [FileName].sbactorpack -b</code>'''. Once you have done so, make sure you change the name of the actor pack to the new actor name (you can also just use the new actor name as the FileName in the Powershell command). After that, make sure you delete the folder of un-sarc'ed actor files, and the old actor pack, if applicable. And you are now done.

The previous step saw you creating the actual actor. This step is for creating the actor metadata that the game uses so that it knows your new actor exists. It also stores most data that appears in menus like the pause menu, crafting menu, or store menus. There are two main ways to do this, but first we need to copy the file so we can edit it. Find the original ActorInfo.product.sbyml file in your dumped UPDATE files (not the base game files), in <code>content\Actor</code>, and copy it to the same place in your mod's files. (<code>content\Actor</code>) Make sure you copy it, and don't move the original.

Then, open a Powershell window where your copied ActorInfo.product file is, and run the command <code>actorinfo_tool ActorInfo.product.sbyml duplicate [OldActorName] [NewActorName]</code> where the old actor name is the actor you copied during the Create the Actor step of this tutorial. '''If you are modding for WiiU or Cemu, the command is, instead, <code>actorinfo_tool -b ActorInfo.product.sbyml duplicate [OldActorName] [NewActorName]</code>'''.

Open Wild Bits, and go to the YAML Tools tab. Open your ActorInfo.product file. Find the entry you duplicated (it will have your new actor name on the line <code>name: [NewActorName]</code>). Change the following lines:

Once all the info is changed, click save.

Open a Powershell window where your copied ActorInfo.product is (you probably already have one open from when you ran the <code>actorinfo_tool</code> command) and run the command <code>byml_to_yml ActorInfo.product.sbyml !!.yml</code>. Open the new ActorInfo.product.yml file in your file editor of choice. Find the entry you duplicated (it will have your new actor name on the line <code>name: [NewActorName]</code>). Change the following lines:

Once all the info is changed, click save. Open another Powershell window where <code>ActorInfo.product.yml</code> is (you might have left the previous one open, you can use that), and run the command <code>yml_to_byml ActorInfo.product.yml !!.sbyml</code>. '''If you are modding for WiiU or Cemu, the command is, instead,<code>yml_to_byml -b ActorInfo.product.yml !!.sbyml</code>'''. Delete <code>ActorInfo.product.yml</code>, because it has been converted back and is no longer needed.

This section will cover the files that actually tell the game what the 3D model of the item looks like, in game. You'll need to copy the resources for the original item that you're modifying to your mod's <code>content\Model</code> folder. You will find the original resource files in your dumped UPDATE files (not the base game files), in the same location. (<code>content\Model</code>) The files will be called <code>[OldBfresName].sbfres</code> and <code>[OldBfresName].Tex.sbfres</code>. '''If you are modding for WiiU or Cemu, there are actually three files you will need: <code>[OldBfresName].sbfres</code>, <code>[OldBfresName].Tex1.sbfres</code>, and <code>[OldBfresName].Tex2.sbfres</code>. If <code>[OldBfresName].Tex1.sbfres</code> is not present in your UPDATE files, you will need to find it in your BASE GAME dumped files. This is the case for most, if not all, vanilla (non-DLC) items.'''

The bulk of the [[Help:Replacing models|model replacement]] and [[Help:Replacing textures|texture replacement]] is explained in other tutorials. Once you've used those tutorials to replace the bulk of the data, we can change the names that BotW uses to refer to that data. All the rest of this section assumes that you have both <code>sbfres</code> files for your actor open in Switch Toolbox. (If on WiiU, you don't need to open the Tex2 file. Switch Toolbox will read its data whenever you open the Tex1 file, as long as they are in the same folder.)

Some important terms in modeling:

When you are done, select any file or folder from the model <code>sbfres</code>, in the list on the left, and save it. Switch Toolbox will ask if you want to Yaz0 compress the file, click Yes. Then click on any file or folder from the texture <code>sbfres</code>, in the list on the left, and save it. Switch Toolbox will again ask if you want to Yaz0 compress the file, click Yes. If you are editing a WiiU texture <code>sbfres</code>, it will then ask you to save the Tex2 sbfres, so save it and Yaz0 compress it, as well. And that's it, you are done with the files that tell the game what the new item looks like.

This section covers the inventory icons, the square images you see in the inventory grid in the pause menu. These files are kept in <code>content\UI\StockItem</code> for inventory items. Copy the old <code>sbitemco</code> file for the item you are using as your foundation, to the same location in your mod files (<code>content\UI\StockItem</code>). An <code>sbitemco</code> file is pretty much the same thing as an <code>sbfres</code> for textures, so you will edit it the same way, using Switch Toolbox. Make sure to change the name of the file to <code>[NewActorName].sbitemco</code>, the name of the file it contains in Toolbox to <code>[NewActorName].bitemco</code>, and the texture it contains to <code>[NewActorName]</code>

There are many ways to add text to the game, some work better for single items, some work better for large-scale mods that edit lots of text. There are three main ways to edit the text files of the game: by converting them to text with <code>msyt</code> or <code>msyt-tools</code>, by editing them "directly" with Wild Bits, or by using a GUI like MSBT Editor or Kuriimu.

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First, you will need to copy the text archive to your files, so navigate to the <code>content\Pack</code> folder of the your game's UPDATE files. There will be several <code>Bootup_[XXxx].pack</code> files here. Each one is for a different region and language. For example, USen is for the US version, English language, while EUes is for the European version, Spanish language. Find the pack for the region/language you want to edit, and copy it to your mod's <code>content\Pack</code> folder.

Then, go back to <code>content\Pack</code>, open another Powershell window and run the command <code>sarc create Bootup_[XXxx] Bootup_[XXxx].pack</code>. '''If you are modding for WiiU or Cemu, the command is, instead,<code>sarc create Bootup_[XXxx] Bootup_[XXxx].pack -b</code>'''. Once it has finished, delete the <code>Bootup_[XXxx]</code> folder. And now you're done with the menu text portion of your item.

This section covers the save game flags, which the game uses to remember whether or not you've picked up an item before. If you are adding a common item, like a material or consumable, this will make it so that the little popup that happens the first time you pick up an item, doesn't happen every single time you pick your new item up.

Go up two folders, to <code>content\Pack</code>, and open a new Powershell window. Run the command <code>sarc create Bootup Bootup.pack</code>. '''If you are modding for WiiU or Cemu, the command is, instead,<code>sarc create Bootup Bootup.pack -b</code>'''. Once it's converted, delete the Bootup folder.

And now you are done! There is a file that remains to be edited, called the RSTB, but you should not manually edit that file anymore, as there are so many other mods that edit it, along with the ActorInfo.product file, the Bootup and Bootup_XXxx packs, that it is not going to be compatible with any other mod that also does so. Instead we use <code>bcml</code> to install mods, merge the changes made to those files, and edit the RSTB for us. Open <code>bcml</code> via Powershell (just run the command <code>bcml</code>) and select Install... Then select Add Folder, select the <code>BreathOfTheWild_[MyAwesomeModName]</code> folder, and click OK. Wait for it to install, and you're ready to play the game with your new item!

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[[Category:Guides]]