Finding texture files for making texture mods

This guide will show you an easier and less time consuming way to making texture mods. An alternative and faster method to locating textures that you wish to replace, without having to go through the thousands of texture files to find the texture you want to replace.

Special thanks to Duke64 from turokforums.com for making the following guide for Turok 1 in the link below:
http://www.turokforums.com/t1-moddinguser-content/exporting-turok-dinosaur-hunter-models-(all-nodes)/
Thanks to that guide by Duke64, I was able to use that method with Turok 2 which made figuring things out related to modding a lot easier.

This informative page about modding also helped me, made by one of the Night Dive Developers in the link below: https://steamcommunity.com/app/405830/discussions/1/135512133548633325/
I strongly recommend reading the above guide, as stated there is the following text:
"The `developer` cvar (setting it to 1) can be used to test mod content without putting it into a KPF, but placing it into your base directory (in the same folder structure as if it was). HOWEVER, while in developer mode, network multiplayer in any form is disabled, as being in this mode makes it impossible to validate files. Likewise, you can corrupt a saved game by running archived modded content in developer mode, as the save game can't verify what was loaded this way either."

Part one: Finding the model that contains the texture you want to replace

By finding the model first its easier and faster than having to go through all those image files. When the model is found from the ingame files, its easy to find the texture you want to replace in the game.

1. Go ingame and open the developer console by pressing the key below ESC (tilde key).

2.Type in the command "kexstudio". After this you can press the tilde key again to close the developer console.

3. You are now in the level editor of the game, that also exists in Turok 1 although this version is not yet complete but still functional in some ways such as being helpful for this guide. From the right side of the screen select the "model picker" tab.

4. From here you can see a list of the games models in an organized list by level. I recommend adjusting the size of the list that has all the model names, as it cant be scrolled by dragging the scroll bar to scroll quickly through the models by default. Adjust the size of the window by pressing and holding from the middle section of the model viewing window and the models list window (ignore the window to the left as its not needed for this guide).


5. If you want to replace some texture from lets say the port of adia level, navigate to the section in the models list where it says models/harbor/. From here its easy to navigate through the models until you find the model you see that contains the texture you want to replace. You can scroll through quickly through the models by pressing the up and down arrow keys. Heres a list of the file paths for different levels:

Port of adia: models/harbor/
Lair of the blind ones: models/blind/
Hive of the mantids: models/hive/
Death marshes: models/marsh/
River of souls: models/river/
Primagen lightship: models/lightship/
Oblivion lairs: models/oblivion/

Some of the models unfortunately arent organized in any way, so it might be hard to find some specific models.

Heres some controls for moving in the model viewer window, incase the model is too big and cant be seen in the model viewer window in its default state.

Right mouse button: drag and hold to move the viewport of the model viewer window
WASD keys: zoom in or out and move left or right

6. Once you've found the model that contains a texture you want to replace, take a note of the model. Write down the filepath or the file name so its easier to find it in the next part of this guide.

Part two: Obtaining the texture file from the model

1. Go to the games root folder (steam/steamapps/common/turok 2 - seeds of evil/)

2. Open the "game.kpf" file using a program that can open a .zip file, such as winrar.

3. Locate the file path inside the folder that you took a note / screenshot of during the last section of this guide.

4. Once you've found the file, copy and paste the file into the games root folder (steam/steamapps/common/turok 2 - seeds of evil/)


5. Go back ingame

6. Open the developer console

7. Type in the command: developer 1

8. This next part is important, I had my computer crash once since I used the wrong command with the wrong file extension. Theres 2 different model files in this game:

.staticmesh files, which are mainly as the name implies, static models from the game such as rooms, objects, anything that isnt animated.

.skinnedmesh files, which are mainly animated models such as the first person models of weapons and enemies.

If the file you have is a .staticmesh, use the following console command:

exportobj "modelfilenamehere" (remember to include the file extension in the file name)

If the model is a .skinnedmesh file, use the following console command:

exportanimobj "modelfilenamehere" (again, remember to include the file extension in the file name)


9. At this point its a good idea to type the command "developer 0" to disable the developer mode, as it can cause some complications if left on such as not being able to join multiplayer games. Even if the game is restarted, the developer mode will stay on unless the "developer 0" command is typed into the console. Enable the developer mode using the command "developer 1" only when needed such as for the previous step of this guide, as the exportobj commands wont work without developer mode enabled. I recommend reading the following guide for more info about this: http://steamcommunity.com/app/405830/discussions/1/135512133548633325/

Once thats done, go back to the root directory of the game.

10. You will see a bunch of .png image files there. These are all a part of the model that was just exported. From here its easy to get the texture you want to replace.

You can remove the .obj and .mtl file of the same name as the .staticmesh or .skinnedmesh file you exported or you can import the .obj file into a 3d modeling program such as blender where you can inspect the model. The .obj, .mtl and .staticmesh or .skinnedmesh arent needed anymore after getting the texture files.

Finding the models of the first person view weapon models or enemy models (.skinnedmesh files) is much easier since they are organized in a much better way than the .staticmesh files.

Feel free to post a comment if you have anything to ask regarding this guide or texture modding.