An extensive guide on how to mod Palworld. I will be honest I am mainly putting this here so I can keep reminding myself.
HUGE NOTE: Nearly everything here has been parroted by me since I am using this as my own personal notes. So go thank NorskPL and the Palworld Modding Community Discord Server for being the ones to make this all possible.
ANOTHER HUGE NOTE: If you have any issues I have a small section at the bottom dedicated to the ones I found. If your issue isn't there then check the Discord, also linked below!
Note
- This mainly handles asset swapping. If you want to do some blueprinting and modifying of the game code use This instead.
Use FModel
Run Fmodel, click on "Add Undetected game", type any name and enter the directory path to Palworld game. Click on the blue plus button. Unreal Engine version of the Palworld game is 5.1.1, so use GAME_UE5_1 setting. Go to settings and enable Local Mapping File Select Mappings.usmap file under Mapping file path Now you're able to explore game files and export textures/models and stuff!
Note: Fmodel requires .NET 8.0 Desktop Runtime installed on your computer!
Credit NorskPL on the Palworld Modding Community Discord Server
Current version -> Unreal Engine 5.1.1
Creating Unreal Engine 5.1.1 mod project and preparing it
Select these settings and click create:
After loading process something like this will show up:
Click on platforms and select this setting:
Now you can start recreating folder structure in your project and import your assets like png textures and stuff
Proper folder structure example:
If you've added all the resources you wanted, you can now cook content.
When cooking process is done, go to your project folder, open Saved folder, then open Cooked folder.
Your uasset and uexp files gonna be here.
Mod .pak file creation
You gonna need UnrealPak for this.
Unpack UnrealPak zip and create new folder with projectnamehere_P name
Recreate folder structure to look the same way you see it in fmodel.
Drop uasset and uexp files from your cooked folder to the appropriate folders.
Now drop folder with projectnamehere_P name into UnrealPak-With-Compression.bat
It will generate your mod pak file with name projectnamehere_P
Move that mod pak file into Palworld\Pal\Content\Paks and run the game.
Mod Example (folder structure and unrealpak included) These can be found in the repo, they are named UnrealPak.zip and PalworldModExample.zip
Packaging settings for your mod Unreal Engine 5.1.1 project
Use Pak file only Packaging --> Advanced ---> Cook everything in the project content directory
Texture names:
_B = Base texture
_M = MRAO (MetallicRoughnessOcclusionSpecular)
_N = Normal Map
Normal map can be created with online software or Crazybump MRAO creation tutorial: https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/tutorials/6Gn5/creating-mrao-textures-using-free-software
(I will continue to add to this as I learn and understand more about what I am doing)
Original Modding Kit - https://github.com/localcc/PalworldModdingKit
My personal Fork of the Modding Kit - https://github.com/Hecking-Heck/PalworldModdingKit
Made by Sleepyhead08 on the Palworld Modding Community Discord Server
Palworld Steam Dedicated Server Modding Guide
ISSUE 1 - STICKMAN MODE
If this is you, I have a solution!
I had an issue with scaling, I changed the .psk importer settings in Blender so it did not Scale Down
Then when exporting I scaled the entire FBX down to 0.01
After doing this my mesh in-game did not look like a stickman anymore.
Using all of the steps above I was able to make a Pippa mod, while it may not be 100% perfect that's mainly on my poor rigging :) At least we know that these steps work and that they produce a good result. Any issues lemme know and I will be sure to update this page with more info. If you have any suggestions let me know, I know I need to format the page a bit better for example.
For more help go here Palworld Modding Community Discord
LocalCC - Palworld Modding Kit
Huge thanks to NorskPL on the Palworld Modding Community Discord Server
Images are from NorskPL on the Palworld Modding Community Discord Server