Mod development guide/UABE

NOTE: UABE is no longer recommended unless you just want to test something locally. The SideLoader is recommended as a replacement for UABE if you intend to release the mod.

For UABE Mods, no knowledge of C# or IDE development is necessary, all you need is UABE (Unity Asset Bundle Extractor).

1. Open UABE
2. Press File > Open
3. Navigate to the Outward installation directory, then the Outward_Data folder.
   • If you wish to replace an item's visuals, open StreamingAssets\itemvisuals
   • Item stats and other information is stored at StreamingAssets\items
   • Dialogue audio is stored in the StreamingAssets\diag files
   • For levels, NPCs, and other assets, open the resources.assets, levelN or sharedAssetsN files.
   • If prompted to "unpack" the file, choose any location (somewhere easy to find would be a good idea) and extract the file.
4. Press "Info" to view all assets
5. Find the assets you wish to replace in the browser

Note: Before continuing, it is HIGHLY recommended to make a BACKUP of the file you are modifying right now!

Depending on the type of asset you wish to replace, the process will vary now.

Textures

1. Make sure the type of Asset you have selected is a "Texture", to export and replace textures
2. With the asset selected, press "Plugins" on the side panel
3. Press "Export to .png", and save the texture asset somewhere.
4. Open the .png file in your favorite image editor and make your changes as desired
5. In UABE, press "Plugins > Edit > Load", and choose your newly edited file
6. Press "Ok" and save the asset with the new texture
7. Press "Ok" down the bottom of the big window
8. In the small window, press "File > Save", and replace the original itemvisuals or whichever asset file you modified.
9. WAIT! UABE will not say anything, but is writing your changes to the file, and it will take 5-15 seconds. If you look at the file in your browser and it is no longer 0 KB, UABE is probably done saving.

Script Information

It is possible to edit "script information" for Outward Assets, such as item and NPC stats, dialogue, really almost anything that is stored as a script value in the assets.

1. Sort by "Container" to group all assets by their gameobject container
2. Press "View > Search by Name", with this search tool you can use wildcards (* symbol) to match more easily
   • For example, searching for *ironsword* should find the Iron Sword gameobject.
3. Once you have found your desired GameObject, look at the assets which share the same container, and find the "MonoBehaviour" type assets in this container
   • For example, the Iron Sword contains a "MonoBehaviour" asset of type "MonoBehaviour : WeaponStats"
4. Select your desired MonoBehaviour script and press "Export Dump", and then choose .txt or .json
5. Edit values with any text editor as desired
6. In UABE, select "Import Dump" and choose your edited file
7. Press "Ok" down the bottom of the window
8. In the small window, press "File > Save", and replace the original items or whichever asset file you modified.
9. WAIT! UABE will not say anything, but is writing your changes to the file, and it will take 5-15 seconds. If you look at the file in your browser and it is no longer 0 KB, UABE is probably done saving.

( For a visual interpretation on how to use uabe texture and meshes see https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=4sagYiG2ibo )