.. _basicsetup: Setting up Modding Tools ======================== .. contents:: Contents :depth: 3 Setting up Folders ------------------ Start by creating a folder ``AstroneerModding`` in your PC. A good location is your documents folder. This folder must be on a drive with at least 10GB of free space. If you also want to make mods with Unreal Engine later you will need another 30GB. Setting up repak ------------------------- To work with .pak files, you will need to use some kind of program to extract and create them. In this guide, we will use the popular open-source program ``repak``, developed by trumank for use with a variety of different Unreal Engine games. If curious, you can find the source code for that application `here `_. To download a pre-built binary of this software (v0.2.2) and some useful .bat files, click :download:`HERE `. (We will be using this) Once you have downloaded the .zip extract it to your ``AstroneerModding`` folder. Then, open the new ``repak_for_astroneer`` folder. You should see the .exe and two .bat files. We will be adding the bat files to the Windows Send to window to speed up the modding workflow. This is not strictly neccessary and use the .exe like any other cli tool. Right click both .bat files and select ``Create Shortcut``. Then press ``Win+R`` and enter ``Shell:sendto``. This will open a new window. Drag both shortcuts into that window. Then rename them ``Repack folder with repak`` and ``Unpack .pak with repak``. Extracting the Game Files ------------------------- First create a new folder in your ``AstroneerModding`` folder called ``GameFiles``. This will be where you will extract the game files to. Next, you will need to find your Astroneer's .pak file by going to where you have Astroneer installed. - The usual location for this is ``C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ASTRONEER\Astro\Content\Paks``. - If you have the Game installed anywhere outside the default Steam location you can find it on Steam by right clicking on Astroneer then going to ``Properties`` and then ``Local Files > Browse``. From there go to the sub folder ``Astro\Content\Paks``. Copy the ``pakchunk0-WindowsNoEditor.pak`` files to your ``GameFiles`` folder. Finally in your ``GameFiles`` folder right click on the ``pakchunk0-WindowsNoEditor.pak`` file and select ``Send to > Unpack .pak with repak``. This may take a minute. Setting up UAssetGUI -------------------- UAssetGUI is tool for viewing and editing cooked .uasset files. Download the latest version from `GitHub `_. Extract the .zip file to your ``AstroneerModding`` folder. Opening an Asset ---------------- Go to ``AstroneerModding\GameFiles\WindowsNoEditor\Astro\Content\Items\ItemTypes`` and double click on ``FloodLight_IT.uasset``. Since you probably have not opened one of these files before Windows will ask you for a program. Select "more apps," then "Look for another app on this PC." Browse to and select the ``UAssetGUI.exe`` we extracted earlier. This will set UAssetGUI as the default program for .uasset files, which you will need for making your first mod. To make your first mod continue with :doc:`basicModding`.