New Aesthetics Exports

Introduction

This page will explain everything on how aesthetics will have to be delivered to be used in the 2015 4chan Winter Cup (this will not be used yet for the 2015 4chan Winter Cup Friendlies). This new way of aesthetics is mandatory for all teams participating in Winter. If for whatever reason something is not working, you cannot get stuff done in time or whatever, contact the current Aesthetics Helper as soon as possible to prevent drama after the deadlines.

As seen in the last cup, the 4chan Cup has reached a point where the game is so heavily modified with all custom faces, kits, stadiums and more via FileLoader that it has become incredibly unstable (in combination with streaming). Because of this the 4chan Cup will use another method of applying aesthetics to the game, namely the DLC method. This is a more 'natural' method of adding stuff to the base game. However, this does not mean FileLoader will be entirely gone, but it will remove our dependency on it for a great part and hopefully reduce the crashing and the delays that come with it.

FileLoader works by changing the priorities of the game when it comes to loading game data. Without FileLoader the game checks first for data in the DLC, starting with the latest DLC file. If none of the DLC contains the file the game wants to load, it will check the original dtxx.cpk in the Data folder. However FileLoader injects itself into the data loading order and puts itself above the DLC. So now the game will check the FileLoader folder first for a file before moving to DLC. Face- and KitLoader work in kind of the same way, injecting themselves into the game and manipulating data loading order. However, this method is very prone to failure (and crashing) when having to load large amounts of data. FileLoader and the game might accidently swap some data bits leading to corruption and failure of the game. Of course there are still some ways the game can crash unrelated to FileLoader, but unfortunately we can't do much about that.

As stated before, the DLC method is the standard way of applying new aesthetics to the game, several PES modding communities have been using this for a while as well. Hopefully this will make the game less likely to crash because the game will use its normal way of looking for and loading data. This will change the way some aesthetics in the future will have to delivered, but almost everything will be explained below.

Besides this, the 2015 4chan Winter Cup will use a new 'template' to deliver your team's aesthetics, this will be explained in more detail in the last part on this page.

This page will be updated regularly in the future with more information. When this entire page is finished it will be announced via the news page.

Kits

Of all the things that change with the 'new' DLC method, kits will change the most. For more information on how to set up kits with the DLC method, go to DLC Kits.

More information on how to add kits and more to your aesthetics export can be found below on this page.

Keep in mind that with DLC you'll only have 4 outfield and 1 GK kit, it might be possible to have more, but this will require extensive hex editing and no one likes that. So if you really need to have your special (GK) kit used for the next match, just send it in time to be added for the DLC of the day you want it used.

Faces

While the setup of faces will change via DLC, it will only be slightly different than the current method via Faceloader. For more information on how to set up kits with the DLC method, go to DLC Faces.

More information on how to add faces and more to your aesthetics export can be found below on this page.

Other

All the stuff other than kits and faces will still work the same, only difference is that instead of via the folder and file structure in \4cc\pes14_win_dat\, all the files in this folder will now be packed into a DCL .cpk-file. So for testing purposes you can still put stadium stuff and pitches in these folders. At the moment it is not known whether there is stuff that still has to go into this folder because it will not work via DLC, but if something does, it will be added here.

Making and installing .cpk files

Although this is not necessary for managers because you can still use FileLoader for testing most of your aesthetics, but it can be handy to test your stuff or when compiling aesthetics for your own invitational, this will be explained on the following page: Installing DLC.

Aesthetics Export Template

The 2015 4chan Winter Cup and future cups will feature a new way of exporting aesthetics for your team. Instead of just randomly dumping all your new (and sometimes old) aesthetics into a single folder, you will now use a premade folder structure and text file. An explanation on how this template is to be used can be found below. The template can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0TwHGHvKz8TN0tuNWl1RzMxdUk/view?usp=sharing

This template will help the Aesthetics Helper by making sure all aesthetics are always in the same folder and will help you make sure you are not forgetting anything. Also, when you are going to compile team aesthetics try to make sure not to upload aesthetics that are already in the current cup DLC. Only add aesthetics that are new or are updated.

How to use the template

After downloading the template you can extract it anywhere. The first thing you ought to do is rename the folder of the export, so if you're managing /hc/ for example you will rename it HC Aesthetic Export. After that you can go copy your aesthetics to their corresponding folder.

• All your kit textures go into \Kits\Kit textures, these are usually named something like u1929p1_name.dds for example.
• The kit config files go into \Kits\Kit config files, these are the xxx_realUni.bin files.
• The face folders go into \Faces\Faces, these are the folders with for example face.xml and hair_col.dds. Make sure no config.txt and skin_color.dds is left in each face folder. Also rename the folders to the player ID and not the player name.
• The skin textures, HD and LOD, go into \Faces\Skin textures. Like the normal faces, these folders have the player ID and not player name. If a player for example does not have a custom LOD color, you do not add a folder for that player in \Faces\Skin textures nor if the player has no custom skin texture.
• All custom stadium pitches go into \Stadium\Pitch and then in df or nf.
• Stadium thumbnails go into \Stadium\Thumbnail.
• Stadium adboards (these are not the billboards around the pitch with 4cc ads) go into \Stadium\Ad.
• Billboard textures, either for your team, stadium or in general (the 4cc ads around the pitch) go into \Stadium\Billboards.
• Stadium sky textures go into \Stadium\Sky.
• Custom stadium textures go into \Stadium\Stadium.
• All other aesthetics that do not fit in any of the folders above go into \Other and in a clearly named folder for each category of files. So for example if your team has a new logo you'll make a new folder called Logo. Or when you have a pair of custom boots it will go into \Other\Boots. Custom stadium models will also go into \Other and not in \Stadium.

Keep the amount sub-folders to a minimum, for example there is no need to have a folder for each kit set. When you're done copying all aesthetics into this template, remove all folders that are still empty. So if you don't have a single stadium file you will removed the entire folder Stadium for example.

Now you can fill in the note that is the export. Make sure to rename it properly first, so if you're managing /hc/ for example you will rename it HC note.txt. An example note is given below and will be used for the explanation on how to fill this in:

Team: /mlp/
ID: 1929
Stadium ID: 22

Kit colors:
- 1st player: 153 51 204 - 153 51 204
- 2nd player: 189 240 255 - 189 240 255
- 3rd player: 241 241 243 - 241 241 243

- 1st GK: 182 187 200 - 182 187 200

Faces & skin colors:
- Princess Twilight: 1111
- Tracy: 2222
- Best Pony: 3333
- Faust: 4444 - Skin ID 0
- Only On The Hub: 5555 - Short 22 Black

Stadium:
- New pitch (nf)
- New thumbnail
- New adboards
- New sky (nf)
- New stadium textures

Other:
- Change team colors to 153 51 204 - 189 240 255 - 182 187 200 - 255 185 82
- New logo
- New boots (k0043), use this name: 'Pegasus Boots'
- Change 'Pone Stadium' to 'Old Pone Stadium'

The first three items should be obvious, if you do not know your team ID, use this page: Pro Evolution Soccer 2014/Team IDs and use the stadium ID as listed on this page: Pro Evolution Soccer 2014/Stadiums. If your team does not have a stadium, please delete this line.

The kit colors are the colors you want to be used in the UniColor.bin, these colors are used in the kit preview menu, gameplan menu for the kit icons and during games in the radar view and below the team codes in specific modes. For more information on UniColor.bin, please read DLC Kits#UniColor.bin. Kits do you not have, for example a fourth player kit, can be deleted.

The third section contains all the faces. You have to list all player names here that have a custom face, head and/or hair. Note down the player ID of each face as well. The person compiling the aesthetics will assign the correct ID for each player in the character_config.xml, do not assign an ID yourself, just add the skin (and LOD texture) for each player. If a player has the wrong skin colour, for example a white custom face but with black arms but does not need a completely new skin texture, please list all these faces like Faust in the example above. If you do not know the skin ID of the 6 basic skin colors, please check the image on this page: Pro Evolution Soccer 2014/Custom Skin Colours. If you have a player with a custom face and skin but with actual in game hair, please list the in game hair style for this player. If you have no face you can delete this section.

Under the stadium section you'll list all new things that you put in the stadium folder, not the stadium folder in \Other if you have one there. That will go in the last section, Other. If this section is unused, delete it.

The last section, Other, will contain everything that you put in the Other folder, but also all other requests and notes, like changing team colors, stadium name or adding custom boots to the boots.bin. Just make sure everything that is listed is clear to the one who will read it. The list given above is not everything that you could put in the Other section, but really just an example. If this section is unused, delete it.

An example of a properly made aesthetic export can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0TwHGHvKz8TTzdCMkUzcXRnZm8/view?usp=sharing (do not use this example for your export, use the one at the top of this section)

Failure to properly fill in the note and sorting the aesthetics into the right folders will result in your aesthetics not being used until you make a proper one.

Reminder

Keep in mind that the Save/Export and the Aesthetics still need to be uploaded as separate files, do not combine them in a single export. This way the commissioner can just download the exports to quickly make the official saves while the Aesthetics Helper only has to download the aesthetics.