Small modding info-dump/guide - Yakuza Kiwami

Small modding info-dump/ modding guide focused on Yakuza Kiwami.
This guide could apply to other yakuza games with minor differences.

Introduction

This guide aims to cover basic modding for yakuza kiwami, as well as how to use some of the software necessary for mod creation.
If you have any questions you can ask people over at the yakuza modding server https://discord.gg/nJgNaXu.

This guide was inspired by Yakuza 0 modding info-dump.

Remember to backup your files before editing them!
I will not take any responsibility if you mess something up.

Unpack .Par files

in all yakuza games, you will come across .par files which contain all sorts of data about the games (textures, models etc).
A great tool that can help you unpack .Par files is ParTool.
Just drag and drop the .Par file into 'ParTool.exe' and it would unpack the file.
To repack the file drag the unpacked folder into 'ParTool.exe' and it would pack it back into a .Par file.

Alternatively using RyuModManager(RMM) sometimes could skip the packing step.
Here's a guide on how to make a mod for RMM[docs.google.com]


ParTool[github.com]
RyuModManager (RMM)[github.com]

Editing .DDS image files

Both old engine games and Dragon engine games use .dds(DirectDraw Surface) files for their textures/images.

Before editing .dds files make sure you have an editing software that supports this format.
For example GIMP does not support .dds by default and you'll need to install a plug-in for that.
PaintDotNet does support .dds files, however when saving with PaintDotNet choose in the save settings instead of the default 'BC1(Linear, DXT1)' , 'B8G8R8A8 (Linear, A8R8G8B8)'. (I am not sure that this is the best save setting but it works for me).


GIMP[www.gimp.org]
GIMP dds plug-in[code.google.com]
PaintDotNet[www.getpaint.net]
Retexture Mod Example[www.nexusmods.com]

Editing .CPK

.CPK files contain all the sound and music files of the game.
This format is used in Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami.

To unpack all the sound files, use CriPakTools.
For example if you want to extract all the music tracks from the game, extract 'CriPakTools.exe' into '\Yakuza Kiwami\media\data\soundcpk'.
Open CMD and go to the directory of the files, and write 'CriPakTools.exe bgm.cpk ALL'.
And then write the following in the same directory as the sound files:
ren *. *.hca

your folder should look like this:

now install Foobar2000, this software will be used to listen to the .HCA files.
Foobar2000 by default does not recognize .HCA files and for that you'll need to install a plug-in.

After installing the component(plug-in) you can link Foobar2000 to .HCA files and you can now freely open and listen to all of them.

Once you've edited your .HCA files(more on this later) remove the .hca extension:
ren *.hca *.
and rename it to the number of the track you want to replace.
For example if we want to replace the coliseum music we'll rename our .HCA file to '0535', and write in CMD 'CriPakTools.exe bgm.cpk 0535 0535'.

This will inject the .HCA file into the .CPK file.


CriPakTools[github.com]
Foobar2000[www.foobar2000.org]
Foobar2000 HCA plug-in(component).[vgmstream.org]
Another Guide on .CPK editing[i.ibb.co]
Music Mod Example[www.nexusmods.com]

Editing .HCA sound files

As previously stated .HCA files are sound files contained inside .CPK files.
Please read the .CPK section before reading this section.

After discovering what sound file you want to edit or replace, you can convert the .HCA files to .wav files with Eternity Audio Tool.
In Eternity Audio Tool click on: File -> Open audio files
after that select the audio file and click on Extract.
If you already have a sound file that isn't .HCA make sure to convert it to .wav, for that you can use Audacity or Wavosaur(audacity and wavosaur do not support .HCA).

Loop .wav music files

If you are editing music files, you would want your music to properly loop, for that we can use Wavosaur.
Add your .wav file to Wavosaur and select where you want the loop to begin and press 'M' on your keyboard, do the same for the end of your loop, now double click on the middle section between both markers and press 'L' on your keyboard.
Then click on Tools -> Markers -> delete all marker
To listen to your loop, select the middle section and press space, then double click near the end of your loop(while the music is playing) to skip to the end section.

Adjust the loop start and loop end markers however you want.
Do not forget to press save, and to make sure your file is a .wav audio file.

Converting .wav to .HCA

After editing the .wav file, to convert it to .HCA, in Eternity Audio Tool click on:
File -> Convert files to HCA.
After selecting and converting your .wav files, Eternity should put the .HCA files in the same directory as your .wav files.


Audacity[www.audacityteam.org]
Wavosaur[www.wavosaur.com]
Eternity Audio Tool (you can get it on the modding server)

Editing .GMD model files

.GMD are used in most if not all yakuza games, they contain 3D models of characters, and more.
In this guide we'll focus more on the 3D character models.

Yakuza Kiwami\media\data\chara\w64\adv\...
is the directory were all gameplay models are stored at (freeroam/ fighting).
Yakuza Kiwami\media\data\chara\w64\auth\...
is the directory were all cutscene models are stored at.

Note: if you are playing on ultra settings, the game would use /auth/ directory as the gameplay models!

To extract Kiryu's cutscene model, go to 'Yakuza Kiwami\media\data\chara\w64\auth\c_at_kiryu', use ParTool to extract Kiryu's 3D model (mesh.par).
You'll notice it unpacked a few files including .DDS texture files and a .GMD file.

To open a .GMD file, install blender 3D, download the GMD blender plug-in.
Inside blender click on Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons -> Install..
select the plugin's .zip file and install it, then search in the search box 'gmd' and enable the plugin.
(if the plugin is disabled every time you open blender, you can open a new blender session, enable the plugin and click on File -> Defaults -> Save Startup File)

Now after installing the plug-in click on File -> Import -> Yakuza GMD [Characters/Skinned] (.gmd)
and select the .gmd file you wish to import.

Note: if some textures are purple, its absolutely fine as long as you didn't delete any textures yourself, and in any case you can always check if the model works in game after repacking it.

Feel free to do whatever you want with the models you import.

Exporting .GMD

after you finished working on your model, select the model's skeleton and click on:
File -> Export -> Yakuza GMD [Skinned] (.gmd)
I found that I need to repack the mesh.par file for my model to work.


Blender 3D[www.blender.org]
Blender 3D on steam
Blender GMD plug-in[github.com]
ParTool[github.com]
Edited GMD Mod Example[www.nexusmods.com]

Conclusion

Modding takes a lot of patience, remember to take things slowly, especially when you are just starting.
Do not be afraid to ask for help, we at the modding server would love to help you!
https://discord.gg/nJgNaXu

We all want to get the best experience out of these games, and sometimes we want to add our own touch to them.

Make sure that the mods you are making were tested and are ready to be published.





“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ― Confucius

[MrSaintsterminator21]

what do i have to do if i want to edit the moveset or heat action?

[Martin.]

is this outdated?

[PS2ya]

do you know where the files for stuff like menu sfx and qte sfx are?

[Achiev4ble]

As I said in the guide, purple textures are fine while editing and exporting the models!

Also I'm not sure where to find the missing textures tho...
maybe there's a file somewhere containing all those textures?

[ChickenChucker96]

where are the hands/eyes/eyelashes textures? because they appear purple in blender

[tom]

thanks