Dragon Nest Costume Renamer + Modding Tools

Keripo 2011/08/25 Uncategorized

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Files:
– dn-costumes-tools-v12.zip (Tools)
– dn-costumes-screenshots-v12.zip (Screenshots)

All costume mod packs generated using dn-costumes-tools (and all my other threads/releases) can be found here.

Info
This is a collection of tools that I use to create my various costume mods.
– Tools/DNCostumeRenamer – for batch copy-renaming of files
– Tools/DNCostumeFilterer – for creating diff packs between different DN versions
– Tools/DNModelBrowser – for viewing of in-game 3D models
– Tools/pakpack – for repacking of files into Dragon Nest .pak files
– Tools/quickbms – for unpacking of Dragon Nest .pak files
– Tools/SageThumbs – for viewing .dds files as thumbnails in Windows explorer
– Tools/WTV – for viewing individual .dds files
– Tools/7-zip – for batch zipping of the costume mods packs
– Scripts/*.bat – scripts for the batch generating the costume mods
– 0 All.bat – runs “1 Extract Costumes.bat”, “2 Rename All.bat”, and “3 Repack.bat”
– 0 All-CN.bat – runs “1 Extract Costumes-CN.bat”, “2 Filter Resources-CN.bat”, “2 Rename All.bat”, and “3 Repack.bat”
– 1 Extract All.bat – extracts all files from the Dragon Nest resource files
– 1 Extract Costumes.bat – extracts only relevant files for the costume mods from the Dragon Nest resource files
– 1 Extract Costumes-CN.bat – extracts only relevant files for the costume mods from the Dragon Nest (China) resource files
– 2 Filter Resources-CN.bat – create .pak files that contain the new costume resources from DN-CN
– 2 Rename All.bat – runs each script in Scripts/
– 3 Repack.bat – batch repacks all renamed costumes
– 4 Repack Check.bat – batch unpacks all packed mods
– 5 Zip.bat – batch zips all costume mods

FAQ
What is this?
These are tools to create mods to replace your in-game character costume with custom ones. All costumes used already exist in-game; these mods change specific costumes to use different skin files (and thus graphics) of the costume of your choice.

Is this legal?
All these mods are client-sided only, meaning they only affect what YOU see (not what others see). Apart from making your character look more awesome/badass/cute/etc., they do not affect actual gameplay. From what I’ve heard, Nexon frowns upon client mods but historically hasn’t banned anyone (except on Vindictus where they’ve banned for using nude mods apparently). Needless to say, use these mods at your own risk ;P

How can I mod my current costume?
As of the moment, these packs only provide graphic replacements for the weapons, default costumes, and costumes in the DN-NA cash shop. I’m sure in the future more costumes will be available in-game and you will want to wear those instead (for the bonus stats). If you want to replace the graphics of your current in-game costume, you will have to modify and re-run the scripts in “dn-costumes-tools/Scripts/” to recreate all the mods for your specific costume .skn files. To figure out the .skn file name of your costume, see the DNCostumeRenamer section below.

Can you make me a custom costume of xxx?
No. Use the Request subforums, but you’ll have a better chance following Guides and making one yourself.

Using DNCostumeRenamer
DNCostumeRenamer is a small program I wrote to automate the renaming for costume .skn files. The source code is included in the “dn-costumes-tools.zip” download and it is licensed under GPLv2. It is used in a series of scripts which will help automate the costume mods making process.

0) Install the Java SE Development Kit. This is needed for the scripts to call Java .jar files.
1) Download and extract “dn-costumes-tools.zip” to your Dragon Nest install folder (e.g. “C:\Nexon\Dragon Nest\dn-costumes-tools”).
2) Figure out the name of the costume that you are currently wearing/want to replace graphics for. If you are wearing the Archer’s Regal costume, for example, the corresponding skin filename is ar_gejob_c (ar_gejob_c01, ar_gejob_c02 and ar_gejob_c03 are all different coloured versions). There’s a few ways to figure out the skin filename. The easiest way is to check the NA Current Armors thread. You can also look
them up in the photo-gallery posted by Melon here (the costume name is in picture’s title and/or image file’s url). Otherwise, you can use either DNModelBrowser or SageThumbs. See the respective sections below.
3a) If you just have the DN-NA client: Run the “0 All.bat” script and wait ^_^ If you don’t want to wait through the process for all the other classes and only want to generate costume mods for the sorceress default costumes for example, just run “1 Extract Costumes.bat”, then “2 Rename Costume so_normal (Sorceress Default).bat”, then “3 Repack.bat”. All the repacked .pak files will be saved in the “dn-costumes-tools\Mods” folder.
3b) If you have the DN-NA client AND the DN-CN client: Copy the .pak files from the DN-CN install to the DN-NA install folder but append “-cn” to the filenames (e.g. “Resource00-cn.pak”). Then Run the “0 All-CN.bat” script like above.
4) Get customizing!

Using SageThumbs
SageThumbs is a shell extension that will allow you to view .dds files (as well as many other graphic formats) as thumbnails directly in Windows Explorer. Dragon Nest loads costumes by loading .skn files, which load graphic files saved as .dds files. By being able to visually preview .dds files, you can quickly match your in-game costume with its associated graphics files (and consequently .skn files). Note that these graphic files are FLAT, so don’t expect easy matching (look for matching colour schemes and features). You can also view individual .dds files using the WTV program (also included)

1) Install SageThumbs (included in “dn-costumes-tools.zip”).
2) Run the “1 Extract All.bat” script.
3) Browse around the “Resources” folder and try to find the graphics that match your costume. For example, sorceress costume parts will be found in “Resources\resource\char\player\sorceress\parts”.
4) Find the corresponding .skn file for that .dds. That .skn file is the one you will want to be replacing in the above customizing section. Note that not all .dds files have corresponding .skn files (some .skn files are special and load multiple .dds files – these .skn files cannot be used for customizing).
5) If you decide to install an image editor capable of editing .dds files (e.g. there’s a DDS plugin for Photoshop and GIMP), you can also edit the raw graphics themselves. If you do that, don’t forget to show off and share your work with the community!

Using DNModelBrowser

DNModelBrowser is a nifty tool that allows you to view (and animate) 3D models outside of the game. Its also very useful for viewing all the different costumes. The following instructions are just for doing that.

1) Move ALL your custom .pak mods to somewhere safe (outside of the Dragon Nest install folder). The only .pak files you should have in your Dragon Nest install folder are Resource00.pak, Resource01.pak, Resource02.pak, and Resource03.pak. Having custom .paks may cause DNModelBrowser to crash.
2) Run the “DNModelBrowser” program (included in “dn-costumes-tools.zip”).
3) File -> Open… -> Select your Dragon Nest install folder (e.g. “C:/Nexon/Dragon Nest/”)
4) Wait for DNModelBrowser to finish loading all the files.
5) On the right sidebar, open up the folder of the class you want to view (e.g. resource -> char -> player -> sorceress)
6) Select the .skn file for the class (e.g. sorceress.skn) and Right-click -> Render Skin. Rotate the 3D model by click-and-dragging with your mouse.
7) On the right sidebar, open up the parts folder
8) Select the .skn file you want to render and Right-click -> Render Skin
9) Repeat until you are happy with your costume combo. You can always restart by rendering the class’s .skn file or dummy .skn file (e.g. so_dummy.skn). You may also want to render a hair style (e.g. parts/so_hair02_pink.skn) and head (e.g. parts/so_head01.skn). Note that not all .skn files are supported by DNModelBrowser v1.
10) Click the drop-down arrow of the “Geosets” menu item and take note of all the costume parts you used. Those are the costume parts you want to grab from the downloaded costume mods packs (or modify the renaming scripts to use if you’re making a custom mod).

Next?
That’s all for now. Enjoy your costume mods and, if you have the artistic talent, go ahead and make custom costumes of your own (you will need to edit the .dds and .msh files with an advanced graphics editing program)!

Screenshots