Ultra Modding | Unreal Engine Modding

Killing Floor Steam Workshop

UltraKill — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:38:01 GMT

ModdingLong before the Steam Workshop, Tripwire (which grew from modding roots) has been very supportive of the modding communities that have grown up around their games. From maps, to mutators (which covered new weapons, gameplay changes and more), to Total Conversions that completely changed the game. None of that has changed, and Tripwire continues to support those communities as much as possible. To that end, Tripwire has decided to implement Steam Workshop, a better method for modders and those who would use them to upload, find, and use content!
Getting Started With WorkshopAs of September 2012, Killing Floor has supported Steam Workshop. Workshop allows modders to easily upload their content for a game and make it available for all the people that own it. For end users (not mod makers), it offers a one click solution to find mods that they like for a game they own, and always have it be up to date and ready to play on any machine they may play the game on.
The only thing modders and players need to access and use Killing Floor and the Workshop is to have Steam, and own Killing Floor. The Workshop and the SDK are free to all owners of the game.
Players looking for instructions on how to subscribe, download and use workshop content should skip to player section of this article.
ModdersIn The EditorThis section will cover the new additions to the editor that allow modders to upload their content to the Workshop. This section will not cover how to use the Killing Floor Editor. Players can find more in depth tutorials and pages on that [url=http://wiki.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php/Killing_Floor_(modding)]here[/url].
Modders opening up the Killing Floor editor will now find new entries under the tools list.

The new entries are:
Update Steam Workshop UploadUpload File(s) to Steam WorkshopUploading New FilesThe first thing modders will want to do, is to upload their maps and mutators to the workshop for the first time. To do this they need to select
Upload File(s) to Steam WorkshopWhen they have done so they will be presented with the following 'Upload Box'

UploadingOnce the player is familiar with the Upload Box, they need to fill it out and select the file(s) for upload. This includes the maps, textures, static meshes, and .u files associated with their content.
An example of a filled out and ready to upload map can be found in the image below for KF-MountainPassNight

After filling out the Upload Box and hitting the upload button, the player will be informed that the content is uploading in the example below:

The upload will either end in success, and the modder will receive the message:
Upload Successfulor in an error in which case the modder will see:
The Upload Has FailedIn which case the modder will need to debug why, and try again.
Updating Existing ContentModders wanting to update their content that they already have uploaded to the Workshop can do so. This will allow players of their content to automatically be updated to the latest version without having to do anything on their own.
To do so, modders need to select the
Update Steam Workshop Uploadoption from the tools list. After doing so they will be presented with a list of content they have uploaded previously.

After selecting the content they would like to update, they will be presented with the Upload box already filled out with the previous settings and files used to upload that content. They can make the needed changes (if any) and proceed to upload.
Reset Steam Workshop Update HistoryIf you have noticed that your maps are not showing in the "Update Steam Workshop Upload" forms, you can use the "Reset Steam Workshop Update History" command.

Known Errors to AvoidAll content uploaded to the Workshop must follow the following rules:
All content uploaded (including the preview image for the content) must be contained within the Killing Floor file directory. Content uploaded can only be the following file types: Maps (.rom), Texture, Static Mesh, and Script (.u)
All content be uploaded from their proper location (Maps, Texture, System, Static Mesh folders) within the file directory as it will help with the update process
On SteamAfter a successful upload of content to Steam, modders have the ability to view their content in the workshop and change some settings related to it.
By going to Steam, Community, Workshop, modders and players will find an option to navigate Killing Floor Workshop files. Modders will also find an option to view
Your Workshop Files
Your Workshop Files

Following this link will present the modder with a list of content that they have uploaded.

My Workshop Files

Selecting individual content will allow them to view the current workshop settings for it and make changes.

Workshop Item Page

Items that can be changed on the item's workpage include
Title & DescriptionAdd and edit Images & Videos
Delete
Change Visibility - Hidden, Friends Only, and Public
PlayersNavigating The WorkshopWith the introduction of the Steam Workshop to Killing Floor, players now have a new way to browse, find, and subscribe to community created content that they like. There are two main ways to navigate to the Killing Floor part of the Workshop. From the Steam Library when Killing Floor is selected and by navigating directly to it from the Steam Community.

Or via the Killing Floor main menu with the "Steam Workshop Content" button
Once browsing the Killing Floor Workshop, players can use filters to narrow down the content they are looking for.After a piece of content has been selected in the workshop, all the player needs to do is subscribe to the content to have it always available and updated. This is done with one click of the subscribe button.Players can also vote for and leave comments for the contents creators in the workshop.DownloadingAfter a player has subscribed to content that interests him, the next step is to launch the game. When the game is launched, it will check for new and updated subscriptions and download them. A message with the status of the current download will be displayed in the main menu.
Wiki.

Server Monitoring

UltraKill — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:37:17 GMT

All Servers Here

Web Site Discussion

UltraKill — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:41:17 GMT

03.04.2013

- Added UserGroup Icons.
- Added User Ranks Icons.
- Fixed Downloads Page.
- Changed Dysplay mode on Downloads page.
- Changed Dysplay mode on News page.
- Changed Host Server.

Making new player model in Unreal Engine

UltraKill — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:03:42 GMT

Making new player model in Unreal Engine
In this article you may find 10 step instruction of new player model import to Killing Floor.

1. Open model and prepare it for work.
So we find 3Ds Max model file at the internet and want to import it in Killing Floor. E.g. Dante from Devil May Cry. Firstly you should open 3Ds Max file and prepare it for work. It needs to texture model and optimize its polygon quantity. How to texture model I write this articleabout. The difference is that model have more then one texture.
Polygon quantity optimization needs for keeping game performance. High detailed model may overload game engine or just not be imported. Right model polygon quantity is about 7000 for Killing Floor. If new model has too much polygons it needs to reduce it using Pro Optimizer mesh modifier. Reduce model quality step-by-step then it gets about 7000. Pro Optimizer guide here.

2. Import to scene one of regular Killing Floor player model.
Read here about how to do this.
3. Scale and match new model to regular
Scale and match its positions accurately. If new model has skeleton you should set mesh in regular position right away.

4. Delete regular model and match skeleton to new one.
Delete regular mesh and leave skeleton only, you should delete new skeleton as well. Then using rotate tool only you should match regular skeleton so that bones are inside body mesh parts. It may needs to additional scaling for model body parts. You must make no scaling or moving with skeleton bones! After matching it needs to save scene to separate file.

5. Making preliminary bones binding.
Apply Skin modifier to model and add all bones to it.

6. Check binding quality.
Open ActorXImporter as write here and use Restore Bindpose button on Tools tab. After that model turns to initial position. If some model parts turns to uncommon position (e.g. fingers stick together or limbs bend) you should back to step 4 file and improve skeleton position or back to step 5 and tune bones weigth at Evenlope node of Skin modifier. As soon as you remove bugs you may go to next step.

7. Import regular model again.
As on step 2. You should choose low detailed model better.
8. Attach regular model to new one.

9. Delete regular model.
Delete regular mesh parts from models merging.
10. Export new model with skeleton.
You may read how to here.

That’s all. It only needs to make texture baking and model ready to game test. About texture baking you may read in one of my futher articles.

Source

Making new weapon in Unreal Engine

UltraKill — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:19:40 GMT

Making new weapon in Unreal EngineIn this lesson I show you how to make a new weapon for Killing Floor by welder example.

You need all same tools: ActorX Importer for 3ds Max and unreal archive unpacker umodel (download here).
1. Export needed 1st person welder animation and textures (KF_Weapons_Trip.Welder_Trip, KF_Weapons_Trip_T.equipment. Welder_D and KF_Weapons_Trip_T.hands.hands_1stP_military_diff) then open it in 3Ds Max. More detailshere.

2. Add new welder model to scene. Previously it needs to remove all bones from model and pack all textures in one file (read texture baking article).

3. Using Move, Rotate and Scale tools combine models together so that new one looks naturally in hand.

4. Delete old welder and set new welder model material ID to old one. Combine effect mesh with new model. You may test results by playing animations.

If you are making gun weapon then pay special attention to backsight combining and separate weapon parts binding also (magazine, barrel, cartridge)
5. Export obtained model to Killing Floor. Read details here.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for 3rd person model (KF_Weapons3rd_Trip/ Welder_3rd). If you are making dropped weapon it needs to take care about model static mesh also.

7. Make mutator that replaces regular welder. Create new mutator with 3 files:
NewWelder.uc

class NewWelder extends Welder
dependson(KFVoicePack);#exec OBJ LOAD FILE=NewWelder_T.utx //your textures
#exec OBJ LOAD FILE=NewWelder_A.ukx //your animationsdefaultproperties
{
AttachmentClass=Class'NewWelder.NewWelderAttachment'
ItemName="New Welder"
Mesh=SkeletalMesh'NewWelder_A.NewWelderMesh'
Skins(0)=Texture'NewWelder_T.NewWelder'
}

NewWelderMut.uc

class NewWelderMut extends Mutator;function PreBeginPlay()
{
AddToPackageMap("NewWelder_A");
AddToPackageMap("NewWelder_T");
}function bool CheckReplacement(Actor Other, out byte bSuperRelevant) {
if (Other.IsA('KFHumanPawn'))
{
KFHumanPawn(Other).RequiredEquipment[4] = "NewWelder.NewWelder";
}return true;
}defaultproperties
{
GroupName="KF_NewWelder"
}

NewWelderAttachment.uc

class NewWelderAttachment extends WelderAttachment;defaultproperties
{
Skins(0)=Texture'NewWelder_T.NewWelder'
Mesh=SkeletalMesh'NewWelder_A.NewWelder3rd'
}

Compile and add it to server as NewWelder.NewWelderMut.
I change shader color, make HUD textures yet and see result! Readymade stuff you can purchaise here.

MetalMedved

New Ideas, Help, other.

UltraKill — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:50:01 GMT

Forum: Ultra Modding General Discussion
Thread starter: UltraKill
Last message posted by: UltraKill
Number of replies: 0

How to join in team.

UltraKill — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:48:41 GMT

Application to join in our team.

1. Age
2. Real name
3. E-mail.
4. Who are u? (3d modeler / designer/ texturer/ coder)

Ultra Modding Members

UltraKill — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:18:49 GMT

UltraKill
HekuT
SAW
Kowalsky
Zedek the Plague Doctor
zXz_G@L_zXz
Rainishe

[Tutorial] Adding A Custom ZED To The Game

UltraKill — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:02:39 GMT

This tutorial is currently out of date due to the 1044 update. I will be amending this soon.
This tutorial will show you how to add a custom ZED into the game.

Prerequisites

Creating A Basic Mutator by Benjamin

The Mutator

Version 1
Code:
class NewSquadMut extends Mutator;var string PackageName;

function PostBeginPlay()
{
local int i;
local string MID;
local KFGameType KF;

//Add the package with your new zed to the server
if (Level.NetMode != NM_Standalone)
AddToPackageMap(PackageName);

//Only for KFGameType or and extending GameType
KF = KFGameType(Level.Game);
if (KF == none)
{
Destroy();
return;
}

// Get new slot in monster list
i = KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses.Length;
KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses.Length = i + 1;
MID = Chr(65 + i); //Get the next character in the alphabet

// Add monster to monster list
KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses.MClassName = PackageName$".NEWZED"; KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses[i].MID = MID;

// Add monster to squads
KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterSquads[25] $= "2" $ MID; //Add 2 of the new Zed to the 25th squad
KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterSquads[26] $= "1" $ MID; //Add 1 of the new Zed to the 26th squad

SetTimer(0.1, false);
}

function Timer()
{
Destroy(); // Destroy here (after mut is loaded) otherwise it won't appear as set in webadmin
}

defaultproperties
{
PackageName="CustomZedPackage"
GroupName="KF-AddToSquad"
FriendlyName="Add to squad"
Description="Adds a to squad in spawn list."
}
Breakdown

Code:
var string PackageName;function PostBeginPlay()
{
local int i;
local string MID;
local KFGameType KF;
We declare the variables we will be using. Again [i]PostBeginPlay() play because we want to make these changes before we start the match.

Code:
if (Level.NetMode != NM_Standalone) AddToPackageMap(PackageName);
This statement checks to see if the game is a server or not. If it is a server it adds the package to the serverpackages. Similar to thebAddToServerPackages mutator variable. The difference being that this way allows the zed package to be dependent of the mutator you are using.
Code:
KF = KFGameType(Level.Game);if (KF == none)
{
Destroy();
return;
}
Here is an alternative to the error check we had in the previous ZED mutator. This works the same way, the difference being instead of logging the error it simply kills the mutator.
Code:
i = KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses.Length;KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses.Length = i + 1;
MID = Chr(65 + i);
Here we define i the value of the StandardMonsterClasses array length. Then we define a new array length by adding 1 to i. As each squad is assigned a letter we need to find the next avalible one. Becuase we've already found out the array length we can use i to do this as well. In the Uni8 encoding the alphabet begins at 65. So 65 is A, 65+8 would be I.
Code:
KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses.MClassName = PackageName$".NEWZED";KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterClasses[i].MID = MID;
Now we use the information we've built to add our custom ZED to the standard monster load out. But that's not enough to get him in the game. [i]KFGameType calls on squads though out the game. So let's add our ZED to some existing squads.
Code:
KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterSquads[25] $= "2" $ MID;KFGameType(Level.Game).StandardMonsterSquads[26] $= "1" $ MID;
There are currently 26 squads in KF, so lets add him to the last two. Two in squad 25, One in 26.

Finally
Code:
SetTimer(0.1, false);}
So we can destroy the mutator after it has loaded, as it's no longer needed. We also do this so the WebAdmin can flag the mutator as on. Destroy it too early and WebAdmin wouldn't know the mutator was active.
Code:
function Timer(){
Destroy();
}
Finally we add the defualt properties
Code:
defaultproperties{
PackageName="CustomZedPackage"
GroupName="KF-AddToSquad"
FriendlyName="Add to squad"
Description="Adds a to squad in spawn list."
}
You're done.

I'd like to thank matttthias aka J1gS4w for the code on this one. In his words "I want to do something for the community because they helped me so much to start with coding." Honourable mention to Benjamin for the original code.
Part 2 to follow soon.

---
Gartley

Creating a Basic Mutator

UltraKill — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:39:25 GMT

Prerequisites: Killing Floor SDK (Steam->Library->Tools)

Creating a Basic Mutator

Step-by-step Instructions

1. Create directory hierarchy

Create a directory in .../steamapps/common/killingfloor with the same name you wish to give your mutator. Create a subdirectory inside this named Classes. You should now have a directory structure that looks like this:

.../steamapps/common/killingfloor/ExampleMutator/Classes

2. Create main mutator script file

Inside the classes subdirectory create a file with a .uc extension with a name matching the mutator's main directory name, for example ExampleMutator.uc. The path of this file should look like this:

.../steamapps/common/killingfloor/ExampleMutator/Classes/ExampleMutator.uc

3. Tell compiler we want to include this mutator in the compilation

In order to have the compiler actually compile your mutator you must add an entry for it in a file named killingfloor.ini, located in the game's system directory. Open this file, search for the section with several lines beginning with EditPackages=PackageName. Add an entry at the bottom of this list to include the name of your mutator package, which should look like this:

EditPackages=ExampleMutator

4. Add some code to the mutator script

Code:
class ExampleMutator extends Mutator;defaultproperties
{
GroupName="KFExampleMutator"
FriendlyName="Example Mutator"
Description="Mutator description here"
}
This is the bare minimum for compiling a mutator that can be seen in Killing Floor (actually, FriendlyName and Description aren't strictly necessary but why compile without them?). The GroupName property must start with the letters KF else it won't be seen by the game.

5. Compile using UCC

Compiling the mutator is as simple as calling ucc make, which can be found in the system directory (in fact the file is simply calleducc.exe and make is a command line argument). Note that if you have previously compiled the mutator you must remove its .u file from the system directory in order to recompile (otherwise the mutator will be ignored in the compilation process).

If you cannot find ucc.exe you may not have the Killing Floor SDK installed. Find it on Steam in the 'tools' section.

Additionally you may want to remove certain files and have the console wait before closing, so that you can view the compilation output (and thus determine if it failed and why). You could do all this by opening command prompt and typing the commands manually, but it's far simpler to use a batch file. Create a batch file (anywhere - the desktop is good for easy access) with a name such as ExampleMutator.bat and copy the following lines in:

Code:
del "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\killingfloor\System\ExampleMutator.u""C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\killingfloor\System\UCC.exe" make
del "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\killingfloor\System\steam_appid.txt"
pause
You may need to alter the paths if you have the game installed to a different hard drive or have a different directory structure. The third line removes a file generated by UCC which while exists will prevent connecting to servers (may not apply to all).

Run the batch file and tada! If compilation was successful, you have just made your first mutator. If not, you have made a mistake.

6. Functional mutator example

Here is a functional, more interesting mutator to take a look at:

Code:
class ExampleMutator extends Mutator;function PostBeginPlay()
{
SetTimer(1, true);
}

function Timer()
{
local KFHumanPawn Player;

foreach DynamicActors(class 'KFHumanPawn', Player)
{
if (Player.Health + 2 <= Player.HealthMax) Player.Health += 2;
else Player.Health = Player.HealthMax;
}
}

defaultproperties
{
GroupName="KFExampleMutator"
FriendlyName="Example Mutator"
Description="Mutator description here"
}
What does it do? It increases the health of each player by 2 points every second.

7. Where do I go from here?

Now that you understand how to compile a mutator, I'd recommend first taking a look at the official UnrealScript Language Referencewhich covers all aspects of the language itself. If you plan to write mutators which work online it's vital that you understand how the networking is handled, and I'd suggest reading the Unreal Networking Architecture article on this. If you want to know more about the engine (and particularly which classes are available to use) you can either browse through the script files yourself, or check out theBeyondUnreal Wiki.

I'd recommend getting a good text editor with support for line numbers (I suggest Notepad++ for this) and a search tool for searching the entire library of script files for finding where specific classes and variables are defined (I'd recommend Windows Grep as it's powerful, fast, and free).

---
Benjamin