Character model swapping tutorial

Resident Evil 5 Character Model Swapping Tutorial

There are different methods that may work best for different people but I’ll use mine for a template in this tutorial. To really simplify this process and make it go as quickly as it can and have the least amount of chance for error, I prefer to open two Windows Explorer windows or for most this may be known as My Computer or simply Computer. I prefer to sit these side by side and on the right is the folders that are being modded and on the left are the folders of original content. This tutorial will be based on a model swap of Chris BSAA wearing a melee vest and bulletproof vest being replacing with Wesker Midnight.

I create a folder roughly named for the model swap that I want to make. An example could be “Chris BSAA MV+BPV – Wesker Midnight” but this is just an example of how I choose to do this. I keep extracted arc folders ready for this sort of thing but for those that don’t, here are some extra steps. Extract the arc file that you intend to replace to this folder, then extract the arc file for who you intend to replace with and last create a “Testing” folder.

Be sure to delete all DDS and Header files from these two extracted folders. Now copy the folder that is being replaced into the Testing folder. Inside the character’s folder which in this example is “uPl00ChrisArmorF” you will want to create a “nativePC” folder and move the other 3 folders to nativePC. Now we’ll begin with the sound folder, so be sure the folder you want to replace with is on your left, for this example it will be Wesker Midnight and on the right Chris BSAA MV+BPV.

First, go to the bgm folder for each of these two and open your hex editor. Drag the stq file for Chris (whom is being replaced) into the hex editor and then drag Wesker (whom is replacing with) into the hex editor. Press CTRL A on Wesker’s tab to select all data and CTRL C to copy it, then on Chris’s tab press CTRL A and the CTRL V to paste Wesker’s over Chris’s and then save Chris’s file and close the editor.

Next is the se folder, so let’s begin with “pl” and this is going to be different from how some do this but I’ve found this to be the most reliable method to avoid any sound issues. Copy Wesker’s 5 files over to Chris’s folder and then in Wesker’s folder rename his 5 files to match Chris’s and then move them to Chris’s folder and overwrite all 5 files and you will end up with 10 files. This is because sometimes the game will look for Wesker’s file names even though they will be properly changed by the end of this tutorial but Capcom did a poor job of things in certain aspects. Repeat this same method for the “wp” folder also.

Now let’s move to the “pawn” folder. For Wesker model swaps copy the “em” folder but for Sheva swaps this won’t be needed. Now let’s go to the “pl” folder and for this one you’ll see pl00, pl15 for Wesker and pl00 for Chris. Sometimes there are multiple pl folders because Capcom just had to be different for no logical reason. Sometimes the jex, chn, ccl, mtg and hit files are in different folders which is stupid but that is the way that it is. These files always will go in the same folder that the tex files are for with your model swap final product, so keep this in mind when you do other model swaps.

In Wesker’s pl00 folder, in the model folder, you’ll see a jex file, the file name is the same as Chris’s but this is rarely the case so be sure to look at that and rename the jex file you are replacing with to match the one that is being replaced and then move the file to overwrite the one you want to replace. Next is the motion folder, here you can just move Wesker’s motion over to overwrite Chris’s. Now go to Chris’s motion folder and you’ll see 1 extra file and 2 action files, delete Chris’s action file but be sure to see that it is pl00 and then rename Wesker’s which is pl03 to pl00. Skip the soft folder for now because this is different for Sheva swaps so I’ll cover that last to avoid any potential confusion. Go to Wesker’s pl15 folder.

Move the face folder over Chris’s and overwrite, this file and folder will always match for model swaps. Now go to Wesker’s model folder and Chris’s model folder. Location in any order you prefer, Chris’s mtg, chn and mod files. Sometimes chn will not be there and sometimes ccl will be with it but this isn’t important yet. Every file that is not a tex file is model file related so rename all of Wesker’s to match Chris’s. Notice that Wesker has a ccl file and Chris does not, open this ccl file in a hex editor and CTRL A delete all of its contents, save it and now you have a dummy file for the ccl file. Move these model files to Chris and overwrite then all and then delete all of Chris’s tex files and move Wesker’s tex files to Chris’s folder.

I’ll get the the ccl and chn files as to what they do but that is last. Now open the mod file in a hex editor, in this example Chris’s is pl0a00.mod. In the hex editor, to save time, search for “pawn” and this brings you to the first model file pointer. This is where it will be different but here is how it works. I prefer to make this mimic the original, which is Chris, so I will change each pl15 in this to pl00 but you can technically use any pl## you want, so long as you move the tex files to that folder but I find it’s most reliable and stable to use the original which is Chris.

So for this, you will change each 15 to 00 for the pl15 in each pointer file in this mod file. They will all be just texture files with endings like BM MM and NM. You may notice a em80 in here but leave that alone since you kept that one in its em folder. Once you’ve changed each pl15 to pl00, save and close the editor. Now you are almost done, let’s move to the “soft” folder for Chris and Wesker. You’ll see Chris has several files and Wesker has pl15.hit. The hit file controls skeletal movement which is for melee attacks mostly. This has to match for melee attacks to work correctly so you will rename pl15.hit for Wesker to pl00.hit to match Chris’s and move it over to Chris’s and overwrite.

Now go to Wesker’s pl00\soft\ folder and move these files over Chris’s. These are the same file name but for Sheva swaps these are almost always different and you will need to rename them to match Sheva’s before moving them and then overwrite them. Now for the meaning of these files. The ahc files control things like what side of the screen the character is on, so for model swaps replacing Sheva, you will want to keep all of these files 100% Sheva except for the hit file, this way they will be on the side of the screen that Sheva is on, since Capcom built the game to be this way, it’s best to leave it this way.

Now you are done with a character model swap for Resident Evil 5, the cut scene head model swaps are done the same way except they typically use 3 evf mod files. This method also works for guns as well but they have slight differences like a pl00 and pl01 to control the motion and how a gun is held but that isn’t important. Look over this and practice it and model swapping should become very easy for this game.

The last bit of information I wanted to share is some of the functions of these files. The CCL files control mostly the transparency of the extended parts of hair, like Jill's pony tail or the extra hair on Wesker's head that moves and sways some. The CHN files control how the hair moves, without this file the hair stays still and stiff. I haven't seen what the JEX or MTG files do but they are important to have when model swapping and should never be emptied into a dummy file. The CCL and CHN files can be made into dummy files if a model swap needs it to be this way.

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