Modding animations (from v1.13 onward)

General information

Full Ace modding uses FBX file format to import animation data from 3D software such as Blender, Maya or akeytsu.
This data must be transformed to ANM format, which is the game's format for animations.

Most animations also need flagging information to be included in the ANM file. Full Ace provides an in-game interface for this.

Getting started

Download the Animation Starter Pack (mirror). Unpack it at the place of your choice. Contents of sub-folder LocalData should be moved to SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Full Ace Tennis Simulator\LocalData.

The Anim-FBX folder is where you should export animation data in FBX format for Full Ace to use. A FBX file modding_sample.fbx is included as a sample. Info files such as modding_sample.info are created automatically and used by Full Ace to store linking information between FBX and ANM files.

The Patch\Packs\Anim-Starter-Pack folder contains ANM animations created from modding_sample.fbx.

To interact with them, you need to associate them with a character : for instance create a folder Rougier-AE808F50-A5D7-45E6-A34E-E3A7A30112FE and create PackList.txt. Write Anim-Starter-Pack there. (That is probably not something you want to keep long-term though, as it will override the character's animations in all areas of the game).

The starter pack also includes sample animation files in FBX (generic) and AKT (akeytsu) format.

Creating animations

Use the software of your choice to create animations. You need to load one of the provided sample files to get the working character and associated skeleton. Don't modify or delete anything about the character or skeleton !

Exporting animations

Use the option in your software to export to FBX. Make sure you set-up so that animations are baked at export (generating one key per each frame).

Flagging

Open Full Ace, go to PRACTICE mode and select the character you want to create/edit animations for. Pause the game and choose ANIM MODDING (the folder Anim-FBX must exist under LocalData for this option to appear).

Select the type of the animation you are interested in. Then choose the FBX the animation data will come from, and the animation(s) inside the FBX (serve needs 2 animations, the proper serve, and the waiting loop that is played before).

You may then edit flagging using the interface. The rules for flagging are complicated to explain, so refer to the samples provided in the Anim Starter pack for working configurations. The light will only become green, and allow you to save, when the flagging is correct.

In order, the meaning of flags is as follows :

Racket is impacting the ball. On ground strokes, for gameplay reasons, impact should be flagged at the latest at frame 20 (0.4 seconds).
End of fading-in into the animation (deprecated and unused since fading-in into ground strokes is based on the ball getting closer to the player).
Begin of fading-out of the animation.
Hand is catching the ball.
Ball is leaving the hand.
Left foot just touched the ground. (for the last time in the animation)
Left foot is leaving the ground. (for the first time in the animation)
Right foot just touched the ground. (for the last time in the animation)
Right foot is leaving the ground. (for the first time in the animation)
Holding the racket with one hand from now on.
Holding the racket with 2 hands from now on (for the second hand to properly follow the racket on 2-handed animations).

Some rules :

An animation should always begin and end with both feet on the ground.
Each feet should remain still for some amount of time at the beginning and end of each animation. Definitely no sliding !
The serve wait and return wait animation must loop, and feet must remain still on the ground all along.

Here is a visual illustration :

Saving

Enter a name and author for the animation (they will be displayed in the editor window when this animation is chosen). If you want the animation to be put inside a pack, put the name in the corresponding field. When you save, the PackList.txt file for the character will be modified accordingly if needed.

Testing

Make sure you have saved everything you wanted to (for it will be lost if you don't), then exit the modding menu to get back to practice mode. Your changes are immediately applied to the character, so that you may test them. You can of course go back to the modding menu to make any tweak you need. From then on, the animation will be used in any area of the game. To remove it, you have to delete the ANM file or modify your patch so that it stops applying to the character (see previous article about modding principles).

Sharing your creations

For other players to use your animations, they only need your ANM files, and to correctly associate them to a character through the general modding system. The contents of your Anim-FBX folder should only be shared when there is need for more than just using the animation in-game.

Exporting ANM files to FBX

This feature is provided in order to make the animations editable, if you want to tweak them. It is only available when first opening the modding menu.

Check modded animations assignment in the editor window

In Full Ace's editor window, if you pick a character then click on one of his gestures, and there is a modded animation assigned for that gesture, the name, author and file path for the modded animation will be displayed in the 3D window.

Compatibility issues with mods created with previous versions

Choosing modded animations in the editor is deprecated. The editor still allows you to visualize modded animations associated with the current player, and animation's name, author and path are shown in the 3D character window.
Animation filenames are now determined by their type :

wait_return.anm
serve.anm
topspin_forehand.anm
topspin_backhand.anm
attack_forehand.anm
attack_backhand.anm
lob_forehand.anm
lob_backhand.anm
dropshot_forehand.anm
dropshot_backhand.anm
slice_forehand.anm
slice_backhand.anm

The game will apply the right name when you save anyway.

Conversion

When a pre-v1.13 Patch folder and data.fas are present, and at the first access to data.fas, Full Ace will attempt to automatically convert existing animations to the new system, creating animation packs as it sees fit.

Animations that were attributed to characters will be put in packs under Packs/Animations and character association will be duplicated in corresponding PackList.txt files.

Animations that weren't attributed to any character will be put in packs under Packs/Animations-Unused.

In order to put unused animations back in the game, you need to assign them to a character using that character's PackList.txt.

For instance, if I have a folder Rougier-kschoice in Animations-Unused and I want to use it in the game, I would :

Move the folder Rougier-kschoice to Animations instead of Animations-Unused because it shouldn't stay in a folder that says Unused if I want to use it.
Locate the PackList.txt for character Rougier, create it if needed.
Edit PackList.txt and add a line Animations/Rougier-kschoice

Once you've done this, the animations in the Rougier-kschoice pack will appear in the editor for that character, and they will also be available from animation modding menu with that character.

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