Replace one texture in 10 minutes¶

Make the Acidworm’s body visibly different. You will create one content-only mod, bake its replacement, see it in a tactical encounter, and stage a folder you can share. Install and enable ContentTool first, following Start here. Keep the new mod unticked until its first bake.

1. Make the folder¶

Create MyTextureMod beside ContentTool:

<Phoenix Point>\
  Mods\
    ContentTool\
    MyTextureMod\
      Content\
        Textures\

You should see two sibling mod folders under Mods. The commands below take MyTextureMod, the folder name, rather than a full path.

2. Add the mod-manager file¶

Create MyTextureMod\meta.json and paste:

{
  "ID": "example.mytexturemod",
  "Version": "1.0.0",
  "Author": [{ "Key": "English", "Value": "Your Name" }],
  "Name": [{ "Key": "English", "Value": "My Texture Mod" }],
  "Description": [{ "Key": "English", "Value": "Replaces the Acidworm body texture." }],
  "AssemblyName": "",
  "Dependencies": ["com.morgott.ContentTool"]
}

You should see meta.json directly inside MyTextureMod. The empty AssemblyName means this mod has no DLL. The dependency lets the mod manager enable ContentTool for players.

3. Add the replacement declaration¶

Create MyTextureMod\ppcontent.json and paste:

{
  "id": "example.mytexturemod",
  "bundle": "MyTextureMod.bundle",
  "replace": [
    {
      "bundle": "aln_acidworm_assets_all.bundle",
      "asset": "acidworm_low_albedo",
      "texture": "acidworm"
    }
  ]
}

You should now have both JSON files at the project root. The asset is the shipped texture’s exact name. The texture value names your PNG without its extension. Keep ID and id the same.

4. Put in the PNG¶

Make a bright, unmistakable PNG in an image editor and save it as MyTextureMod\Content\Textures\acidworm.png. A solid magenta 256 × 256 image is enough for this test.

You should see the PNG directly inside Textures, with no extra subfolder. ContentTool scans this folder for PNG, JPG and JPEG sources.

5. Bake¶

Start the game with ContentTool enabled. Use either route:

BenchConsole

Load a geoscape campaign, open the developer console, and enter:

ct_bench open

Choose Build & share, pick MyTextureMod with < / > beside Mod, open Details - run one step, then press Run on Check files followed by Run on Build. You should see Check files pass and the Log on the right end with the ct_project: ALL PASS line below. Keep the screen open while its steps run. See Build & share.

Open the developer console and enter:

ct_project MyTextureMod

You should see a report of the imported texture and patched shipped bundle. Its last line should be:

ct_project: ALL PASS - <project-path>\Dist\MyTextureMod.bundle

ALL PASS is the result to wait for. A WROTE line earlier in the report does not mean every declared change succeeded. The mod-owned bundle lands in MyTextureMod\Dist\; the private patched copy of the shipped bundle is stored separately under <persistentDataPath>\ContentTool\Patched\.

6. See it in game¶

Tick My Texture Mod in the mod manager, then load a tactical encounter containing an Acidworm. You should see your bright colour on its body. The redirect affects future bundle loads: if the game loaded that bundle before you ticked the mod, restart with the mod already enabled and enter the encounter again.

7. Stage the release¶

In the console, enter:

ct_package MyTextureMod

You should see a line beginning PACKAGED <count> file(s), <bytes> B into and a folder at <persistentDataPath>\ContentTool\Packaged\MyTextureMod\. Inspect that folder. Zip the MyTextureMod folder, so the archive contains MyTextureMod\meta.json. Test that staged folder as a player would before sharing it.

For another texture, use the texture recipe and Find game content to choose its real shipped target.