Modding in Full Ace: the Patch system

Modding in Full Ace: the Patch system

How Full Ace finds and loads modded files.

Full Ace uses a Patch system to let mods provide their own versions of game files without modifying the original game installation.

When Full Ace needs to load a file, it first looks for a modded version in the Patch folders. If none is found, it falls back to the original game file.

1. What is the Patch system?

The main Patch folder is located inside the game's LocalData folder:

SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Full Ace Tennis Simulator\LocalData\Patch

This folder provides a separate location for modded files. A mod can therefore replace or customize game content without changing the files installed by the game itself.

The basic principle When Full Ace loads a file, it first checks the appropriate Patch locations. If a matching file is found, that file is used. Otherwise, Full Ace continues until it eventually falls back to the original installed file.

2. How Full Ace finds modded files

Suppose the game needs to load a file located at:

Relative_Game_Path\filename.ext

For example:

Sounds\fault_01.ogg

Depending on the context, Full Ace checks several Patch locations in a specific order.

Player-specific files

When Full Ace is loading assets specific to a player with Unique ID PlayerUID, it first checks:

1 Patch\Players\xxxPlayerUIDxxx\filename.ext
2 Patch\Packs\PackName\filename.ext
for each pack listed in that player's PackList.txt
3 Patch\Packs\All-Players\filename.ext

Stadium-specific files

When a stadium with Unique ID StadiumUID is active, Full Ace checks the following locations:

1 Patch\Stadia\xxxStadiumUIDxxx\filename.ext
2 Patch\Packs\PackName\filename.ext
for each pack listed in the stadium's PackList.txt
3 Patch\Packs\All-Stadia\filename.ext
4 Patch\Relative_Game_Path\[Surface]\filename.ext

General Patch files

If no more specific file has been found, Full Ace checks:

1 Patch\Relative_Game_Path\filename.ext

Finally, if no Patch file matches, Full Ace falls back to the original installed file.

3. Packs

Packs make it possible to share the same modded files between several players or stadia without duplicating those files.

For example, suppose you create custom balls for a particular manufacturer and want to use them on several stadia.

Patch\Packs\Ball_BrandW\ball_hires.png

You can then add the pack name to the PackList.txt of every stadium where you want those balls to appear:

Ball_BrandW

The same texture can therefore be used by multiple stadia without having to create a copy for each one.

Why use a Pack?

Use a Pack when the same custom content should be shared by several characters or stadia.

Packs have several advantages:

  • Save disk space: a resource only needs to be stored once, even if it is used by many characters or stadia.
  • Centralize resources: shared files are kept in one place, making them easier to organize and maintain.
  • Update resources easily: changing a file in the Pack automatically updates it for every character or stadium using that resource.

A PackList.txt can also target a specific file inside a pack by using:

PackName\specific_file.ext

4. Retrieving Unique IDs

Player and stadium Patch folders are associated with the corresponding object's Unique ID.

The complete Unique ID is not currently displayed in the editor and cannot be copied directly from its interface.

To retrieve it, select the character or stadium you are interested in and export the corresponding data to a CSV file.

Screenshot of the editor showing the export to CSV

Open the CSV file in a text editor. The complete Unique ID can then be copied from there.

← All Modding Documentation

Looking for a practical introduction? Create Your First Mod →

Commentaires

Enregistrer un commentaire

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

Customising a character (or a court)

Image
This article was updated on Nov, 17th 2023. (Note : this advice is mostly transferable to customising courts, folder Patch\Stadia should be used instead of Patch\Players . ) Patch folder location and naming convention A character folder should be located inside  SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Full Ace Tennis Simulator\LocalData\Patch\Players . Its name should include the character's Unique ID, but any contents besides that is free and you may use it to identify the folder more easily. For instance : Here the Unique ID is  6B68D4EF-D191-257E-312A-24AF58FA818A . It should always use that specific format. In order to customise a character, you first need to have a specific Patch folder like that. Make sure there isn't already a folder with the same Unique ID, and only create one if there isn't. If there is more than one folder with the same UniqueID, the game will arbitrarily pick one of them as though it was the only one. There are 2 ways to create a character folder. Method ...
Lire la suite

Hints and tips for animating using akeytsu

Image
Important warnings Don't modify or delete anything about the character or skeleton, only the animations! Only use rotations to animate the character! Translations and scales will be ignored by the game. Decorators size You will probably need to reduce the size of decorators in accordance with the Full Ace character dimensions. You may do that using the Preferences dialog. Having both hands on racket handle the easy way You should use IK handles to easily animate arms and legs, but what about when you want the left hand of the character to follow the handle of the racket? Space switching is the tool to use: First, in rigging mode, you need to toggle h_Racket as a Space target by clicking on the Space icon next to it as shown below: Then on all animation keys where the left hand should be linked to the racket handle, you should set h_Racket as the target space for  IK_h_Hand_L  this way: From then on on those keys, when you move the IK handle for the right hand, the left hand w...
Lire la suite

Modding animations (from v1.13 onward)

Image
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.fb...
Lire la suite