(2) CryEngine - Paths for own content

This tutorial will be updated regularly! (24. Feb 2014)

This Tutorial is basic knowledge and most important for every new teammember.

The CryEngine stores its own content, like modells, textures, code etc. in compressed files, called "PAKs".
When you like to manipulate original files, you need to recreate for this files the path at your HDD. The PAK contains the path. You can easy open the PAK with WINZIP. Never update any file INSIDE the PAK! Ever extract and place in the respective folder at your HHD.

IMPORTANT: When you modify an original file and place it at your HDD, then you have the file original stored in the PAK and the new at your HDD. The CryEngine ever reads primary the uncompressed file, placed at the HDD and skips then the file inside the PAK.

Generally you should have a kind of order for your files:
1. You have any creation root for textures, 3D modells, scripts etc. at your HDD
2. You have your finished content inside CryEngines root
Its recommend, that hold your creation files and finished content separately.

CRYENGINE:

For "Hearts of Oak", we have setup fixed roots. You should take these when you create your own content.

Inside your Free SDK folder, you see an folder named "GameSDK". From this folder, the CryEngine reads its content. That means: The PAKs and your content.

IMPORTANT: To prevent typing errors, please focus the uppercase and lowercase letters! We use inside the OBJECTS root all things only in lowercase letters!

For modells use this root:
GameSDK/objects/heartsofoak/yourroot

The next picture shows you an example. I have place the folder "rocks" inside the "heartsofoak" folder. This modellfolder contains all rocks for the project. Every modell consists of the modellfile (CGF, CGA or CHR), if need the CGA´s animationfile (ANM) and the materialfile (MTL). How to create this files, other tutorials will explain you.



For orientation, the next picture shows you an small overview of folders we use:




To hold all textures together, we placed them in the root:
GameSDK/objects/heartsofoak/textures

The next picture shows you the example. Please ignore the "#aussortiert" folder. You see the textures stored as "DDS". This format the CryEngine creates by themself when you put in this root the "cryTIFF" files, you have created for example with photoshop. The process for texturecreation you find in another tutorial.