heckinT

Newbie
Jan 2, 2019
90
55
My advice is to start with re texturing in photoshop or gimp and then try to make it into a zipmod. Next would be to port accessories next clothes and lastly hair.


Discord is only useful if you can find someone with experience in modding that you can befriend and talk to directly imo, the threads are full of people who are all beginners and might know even less than you yourself do. Don't bother too much with trying to get into discord. There are many skilled people right here at F95 that are very willing to share their knowledge. There are others that are not so experienced in modding but they know computers and has their head well bolted on straight, these people are invaluable in cracking a problem.

Fair warning!
Any type of modding has a very steep learning curve with very little help. You will smack your head against the wall most of the time so bring a hard forehead and lots of patience..

Many thanks for a decent starting point, this is the best information on starting to mod these games I've seen so far.

Part of the problem is that there is no dedicated thread to mod-making (that I have been able to find), so my requests for help in getting started are either straight up ignored (because no one else knows) or bundled into "Don't make a mod, do this other thing instead". I am no stranger to modding in general so I expect a steep learning curve and enjoy the intellectual challenge, but with this game there is so little available information about the tool used to create the mod itself (not necessarily the assets) that it's less a learning curve and more "reverse engineer the entire process just to get it to function"

If you have any other leads, I'd be glad to take em! For now I'm going to hunker down and go through this guide. Thanks again!
 
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Mr-Fox

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2020
1,401
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Many thanks for a decent starting point, this is the best information on starting to mod these games I've seen so far.

Part of the problem is that there is no dedicated thread to mod-making (that I have been able to find), so my requests for help in getting started are either straight up ignored (because no one else knows) or bundled into "Don't make a mod, do this other thing instead". I am no stranger to modding in general so I expect a steep learning curve and enjoy the intellectual challenge, but with this game there is so little available information about the tool used to create the mod itself (not necessarily the assets) that it's less a learning curve and more "reverse engineer the entire process just to get it to function"

If you have any other leads, I'd be glad to take em! For now I'm going to hunker down and go through this guide. Thanks again!
I'm glad my post was helpful. The reason why you often get the answer don't make a mod start with for example re texturing is that so many optimistic beginners have no idea what they are getting into. Also I don't know who I'm speaking to and I'm not a mind reader so I can't possibly know at what skill level you are at and have to give generic advice that will be helpful to the most possible amount of people. If you for example already are proficient in Photoshop and have experience re texturing then move on to the next step in the progression and figure out how to make it into a zipmod etc.
Getting into modding and 3d editing in general is very much a lonely pursuit and you have to be able to figure out a lot of things on your own and also do a ton of research, finding crumbs of information here and there. There are of course a lot of good information out there but it is typically scattered all over the place. Information about modding Illusion titles are typically outdated or incomplete because the guides are made by hobbyists and amateurs. My advice is to follow and watch Youtube channels that teaches the software you are going to use, such as photoshop, blender etc.

My Recommendations and suggestions (there are many more of course):

- for photoshop.

- for Blender.

- & for Daz Studio and 3d editing.

Additional information source for HS1 and HS2 modding:



If you find a thread or forum that is dedicated to modding illusion titles let me know, I have looked...
 

heckinT

Newbie
Jan 2, 2019
90
55
I'm glad my post was helpful. The reason why you often get the answer don't make a mod start with for example re texturing is that so many optimistic beginners have no idea what they are getting into. Also I don't know who I'm speaking to and I'm not a mind reader so I can't possibly know at what skill level you are at and have to give generic advice that will be helpful to the most possible amount of people. If you for example already are proficient in Photoshop and have experience re texturing then move on to the next step in the progression and figure out how to make it into a zipmod etc.
Getting into modding and 3d editing in general is very much a lonely pursuit and you have to be able to figure out a lot of things on your own and also do a ton of research, finding crumbs of information here and there. There are of course a lot of good information out there but it is typically scattered all over the place. Information about modding Illusion titles are typically outdated or incomplete because the guides are made by hobbyists and amateurs. My advice is to follow and watch Youtube channels that teaches the software you are going to use, such as photoshop, blender etc.

My Recommendations and suggestions (there are many more of course):

- for photoshop.

- for Blender.

- & for Daz Studio and 3d editing.

Additional information source for HS1 and HS2 modding:



If you find a thread or forum that is dedicated to modding illusion titles let me know, I have looked...

Right now my focus is a simple tattoo mod just to learn the full process of deploying a mod so that the game reads it and the assets show up properly. Making 3D assets is something I can learn on my own easily enough, as there are a HUGE number of guides out there for that, though the guide you posted earlier for using SBUGS to get it in is very helpful.

Currently I have made my own images for use and got them into a unity3D file using SBUGS. I also made a list file (which I essentially modified from an existing st_paint_00.unity3d and deleted all the entries except mine). I also got as far as creating a simple zipmod, but I'm not 100% sure I did it correctly as I can't find any guides on file structure. Despite that, I got them to at least show up in the paint list in the character editor, but the textures themselves (and their thumbnails) are blank/empty. I suspect this has something to do with the way my list file's file locations are set up and the fact that I don't know how deployed zipmods are read by the game. Do you know if there a guide for putting a zipmod together anywhere?



As for a mod-making thread... Maybe we should start one somewhere here on F95? For beginners like me who aren't afraid of putting in some time and effort into learning, but just need direction or resources to understand a bit more clearly.
 
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Mr-Fox

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2020
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Right now my focus is a simple tattoo mod just to learn the full process of deploying a mod so that the game reads it and the assets show up properly. Making 3D assets is something I can learn on my own easily enough, as there are a HUGE number of guides out there for that, though the guide you posted earlier for using SBUGS to get it in is very helpful.

Currently I have made my own images for use and got them into a unity3D file using SBUGS. I also made a list file (which I essentially modified from an existing st_paint_00.unity3d and deleted all the entries except mine). I also got as far as creating a simple zipmod, but I'm not 100% sure I did it correctly as I can't find any guides on file structure. Despite that, I got them to at least show up in the paint list in the character editor, but the textures themselves (and their thumbnails) don't appear. I suspect this has something to do with the way my list file's file locations are set up and the fact that I don't know how deployed zipmods are read by the game. Do you know if there a guide for putting a zipmod together anywhere?

As for a mod-making thread... Maybe we should start one somewhere here on F95? For beginners like me who aren't afraid of putting in some time and effort into learning, but just need direction or resources to understand a bit more clearly.
The big guide by Starlene has information about creating a zipmod. Some of roy12 guides also covers zipmods. I forgot to include a useful link about the zipmod format, sorry.


A member here on F95 that has experience making zipmods for tattoos etc is Herbmetaru,
he has made tutorials about texture modding.
https://f95zone.to/threads/illusion-hs2-studio-neo-chara-maker-help-guides-thread.66252/post-9432252

The unity manual is a very interesting and informativa read also


hooh's moddingtool guide on github:

*Unfortunately some information here is outdated or incomplete but it's another info source to explore.

The studio neo/maker help thread is a better place than this thread for modding and the WIP thread is a great hangout as well, there we discuss wips and help each other problem solving specific projects etc.
As a bonus someone, unnamed freak posts Photoshop morphs there now and then .. ;)

studio-neo-chara-maker-help-guides-thread
-wip-patreon-exclusive-ads-sharing-thread
 

heckinT

Newbie
Jan 2, 2019
90
55
The big guide by Starlene has information about creating a zipmod. Some of roy12 guides also covers zipmods. I forgot to include a useful link about the zipmod format, sorry.


A member here on F95 that has experience making zipmods for tattoos etc is Herbmetaru,
he has made tutorials about texture modding.
https://f95zone.to/threads/illusion-hs2-studio-neo-chara-maker-help-guides-thread.66252/post-9432252

The unity manual is a very interesting and informativa read also


hooh's moddingtool guide on github:

*Unfortunately some information here is outdated or incomplete but it's another info source to explore.

The studio neo/maker help thread is a better place than this thread for modding and the WIP thread is a great hangout as well, there we discuss wips and help each other problem solving specific projects etc.
As a bonus someone, unnamed freak posts Photoshop morphs there now and then .. ;)

studio-neo-chara-maker-help-guides-thread
-wip-patreon-exclusive-ads-sharing-thread
Most excellent information, I really wish it was easier to find these resources! There should at least be a simple thread for consolidating modding resources like these so it can be linked in the FAQ section of the OP where it'll be easy to point newbies, as things like that excellent updated texture modding post is easily lost, even when searching. For now, however, I'll bookmark these things for future use.

Thanks again for helping this frustrated newbie out
 
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ethanoll123

Newbie
Feb 3, 2018
62
45
Hello!l decided to reinstal game because I had problem with studioneo and here comes another problem.. In main menu in game all buttons "play" "create" are inactive. I'm clicking and nothing happen.Anyone had similar problem before?
 

Velcrofly

Active Member
Jan 25, 2021
774
1,216
If you haven't already tried these, here are 2 tips that might solve your problem:
Make sure you name and place the game file directory to something short and as high up as possible, like the following D:\STNHS2DX11\
Launch via InitSetting.exe
These two simple steps normally solve a lot of in-game problems
 
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ethanoll123

Newbie
Feb 3, 2018
62
45
If you haven't already tried these, here are 2 tips that might solve your problem:
Make sure you name and place the game file directory to something short and as high up as possible, like the following D:\STNHS2DX11\
Launch via InitSetting.exe
These two simple steps normally solve a lot of in-game problems
I tried it, still does not work :(
 

Velcrofly

Active Member
Jan 25, 2021
774
1,216
I tried it, still does not work :(
What version did you download and from where?
The above normally solves most problems. If that fails, reinstall is next step - but you've already done that.
So, unless anyone else has any bright ideas, it points towards the problem being with the downloaded file(s).
 
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ethanoll123

Newbie
Feb 3, 2018
62
45
What version did you download and from where?
The above normally solves most problems. If that fails, reinstall is next step - but you've already done that.
So, unless anyone else has any bright ideas, it points towards the problem being with the downloaded file(s).
I downloaded br11 form screwthatnoise. Then I putted mods from site, discord and that payment mods from patreon sites. Before I had these mods and everything in hs2 worked fine.
 

turbojoe

Forum Fanatic
Sep 27, 2021
4,300
4,593
I downloaded br11 form screwthatnoise. Then I putted mods from site, discord and that payment mods from patreon sites. Before I had these mods and everything in hs2 worked fine.
Did you place your extra mods into mods/MyMods?

Anyway it´s quite possible that you have a mod conflict between recent sideloader mods and one of your own mods.
For example BetterRepack is NOT compatible with HS2_Patch.
Best way to find is a little work: delete all of them again and once more try to run your "clean" BetterRepack.
Afterthen reinstall your mods in little packages and always look if the game is still running.
 
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ethanoll123

Newbie
Feb 3, 2018
62
45
Did you place your extra mods into mods/MyMods?

Anyway it´s quite possible that you have a mod conflict between recent sideloader mods and one of your own mods.
For example BetterRepack is NOT compatible with HS2_Patch.
Best way to find is a little work: delete all of them again and once more try to run your "clean" BetterRepack.
Afterthen reinstall your mods in little packages and always look if the game is still running.
You are right, It works on clean version! Thanks for a tip! Now it's time to work on mods..
 

Velcrofly

Active Member
Jan 25, 2021
774
1,216
You are right, It works on clean version! Thanks for a tip! Now it's time to work on mods..
Great that at least we now know the area of the problem. Frustrating, but you should be able to isolate it from here. I've had similar problems before when I added a few Mods at the same time and everything went haywire. It was, as TJ says, just a case of backtracking then working through until you find the offending item(s). And just to note, that has happened to me once in almost two years of adding a ridiculous number of Mods, so I don't think it is that common,
Best of luck
 
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turbojoe

Forum Fanatic
Sep 27, 2021
4,300
4,593
Why is is so convoluted on how to change eye color?
As HArdcoreDuddler said: easy as can be
Eye-Color.jpg

BUT: maybe you have a card with a zipmod where all Makeup stuff is burned in and you can´t change anything of them.

The way above works only with a new creation or a card created only with sculpting of BetterRepack or compatible mods.
 
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