Althea's Compendium
of
Modding Guides and Information
I decided to compile a list of resources I commonly use so that its all in an easy to access location.This well and truly was made for me so I could organize all the guides I've been hoarding over the years, but I figured someone else out there may get some use out of it. That being said, I hope you understand why I won't exactly be taking critiques/suggestions on this as it's made for myself first and foremost.
Beginners Guides
These are guides I feel are a good place to start to understand the fundamentals of 3D modeling/texturing for games and in turn apply them to modding FFXIV specifically. Most of these utilize 3DS Max as that's my preferred program, but there are still some great points here to be applied to other programs (ie. Blender).
General For Beginners
- ReniGuide - How to set up Penumbra, Glamourer, Mare and more - by Reni
- Guide to Modding 101: 3D and Texture Terminology and Programs - by Mond
- Modding Basics - by Bizu (incomplete)
- Moving / Porting Gear (TT2) - by Bizu
- A Super Potato Guide to Mod Import Failures - by G S (Sel (Sel#6068))
3D
- Comprehensive 3ds guide for beginners by Kirara
- 3Ds Max 2021+ Black Material Bullshit Guide - by Illyriana [Follow this if your model/material is rendering completely black in your viewport]
- Editing Normals in 4 Clicks - by Bizu
- face sculpting in blender - by @tippedewer
- Hana’s shitty guide on how to face sculpt - by Hana
- How to Use Viewport Canvas in 3DS Max? | Lesson 17 (Video) - by zinteractive
- Bibo+ Morph Guide (video) - by Alesia Overdrive
Textures
- Working around colorset limitations: Using atlasing and transparency to blend things - by Zana Amariyo
- Making A Colorset Friendly Alpha - by Bizu
- (Some) PBR Textures and FFXIV - by Zana Amariyo
- Basic Modding Starting Kit - by Azathoth "Apostate of In..." [The whole name isn't visible in google docs]
- Illyriana's "Dyeable" Lashes Guide - by Illyriana
- Hand Painted Real-time Tangent Space Normal Map - by Titan Firm? (Owner of file lists as "Amethyst DCVR")
- MAHO’S FACIAL TEXTURE MOD GUIDE - by Maho/cemipajarhov
- How to turn any texture into glitter - by Felis
- How to Upscale Hair Textures in Photoshop 📝 XIV Mod Guide - by Felis
- How to edit the coloursets of unmodded gear in Penumbra - by @Ahzrukhal_
Textools
These are guides that rely heavily / entirely on Textools.
- FFXIV/TexTools Reference Information - by G S (Sel (Sel#6068))
- Illy's Model Swapping Guide For Beginners! - by Illyriana
- TexTools Item Metadata Settings Guide - by G S (Sel (Sel#6068))
- TT 2.0 Mod Conversion Guide - by Illyriana
- Racial Height Calculator - by Bizu
- Accessory Limitations BEGONE! - by ???
- Multi-Materials on Textools 2.0.8+?! (Material Addition) - by Illyriana
Animation & VFX
These are guides that pertain to VFX and animation modding specifically.
Specific Guides
While these guides definitely have some useful information that can be applied to other uses, they have been listed on their own as they are comprehensive guides to achieve very specific results.
- Illy's Mouth & Teeth Overhaul Guide - by Illyriana
- How to Port BnS Costumes to XIV | Part 1: Exporting BnS Assets - by Felis
- Tattoo Master Rig - Online Tutorial & Manual - by Spiswel
- Bizu’s Guide to Porting Shit from Other Games to This Game - by Bizu
- How I Made a Sin Eater Reaper (A Twitter Thread) - by Althea/Kida_Mei (Me!)
- Adding and Weighting Extra Hair Bones to Viera Hair to Achieve Better Movement (A Twitter Thread) - by @leyFFXIV
- How to make hair hat compatible (Blender) - By Apricot
- Scaling with Anamnesis - by Linku
- How to toggle "Show Hair Override" for hats/helmets in Penumbra - by @rasplejax
General Reference
Links and guides to general reference material like lists or other guide collections.
- XIV Mods & Resources - by Various Modders
- Illyriana's Lazy Shitpost for Monster Models past HW - by Illyriana
- To my dear modders (and not only) - [this isn't really a guide per se, but more of a checklist of some good practices] - by Westlake Tea
- (GUIDE) About Ilusio Vitae Custom Skeleton - by Rayrei
- XIV Modding: Quick Guides & References - by Illyriana [A lot of the same links I have on this compendium can be found here, but it's still worth a look]
- XIV Mods Guides - by Various Users [Another carrd with a number of other guides linked in it as well - also a lot of tools]
- Hair Numbers - All Races & Genders - by ??? [Slightly out of date as it doesn't include Male Viera, but still a great reference for a lot of hairstyles. If you need male viera, I have an image I created in the images section]
- XIV Modding Wiki - A new wiki to help users just starting out
FFXIV Loose Texture Compiler Guides
Tools
Links to download commonly used and useful tools.
- FFXIV Loose Texture Compiler (And Universal Body Converter) - by Sebastina
- Cross Generation 3 Porting Tool v1.7 (Blender Library) - by Cordelia Mist
- FFXIV Voice Pack Creator - by Sebastina
- FFXIV Explorer (Updated Fork) - by goaaats
- XAT - The XIV Animation Toolkit - by Asgard
- Anamnesis - by Various Users (while best known as a posing tool, it can also be used to quickly and easily preview and test mods you've made)
Images
Useful reference images for various aspects of modding.
Colorset/material reference info
about skeletons
about multi maps
how to edit colorsets in penumbra
Previews of colorset materials and their associated number.
making glitter on makeup
fixing uv/texture issues on 3d
Reference for hair shaders (eyelashes/eyebrows)
When texture maps are loading transparent
How to Upscale Hair Textures in Photoshop 📝 XIV Mod Guide (FOLLOW UP) - by Felis
A drawing I made to map out where the bones should be on the angel wings fashion accessories.
Reference images for asset identification (ie. character customizations).
Viera M Hair Number Reference
POST DT MODDING GUIDES AND HELP
Guides that are either made after the Dawntrail expansion or target specifically the changes to modding workflow due to the graphics update.
General Reference
- FFXIV/TexTools Reference Information (Direct Link to the DT Updates Page Specifically)
- DT's Benchmark texture channels (About Shader Constants) - by Cordia Qoet
- (GUIDE) About Ilusio Vitae Custom Skeleton (With DT Updates)
Mod Creation
Miscellaneous
Textures & Materials
- Dawntrail Eyes: How to Add Multiple Colors and Glow - by Crystia (@crys_corner on twitter)
- How to make a Tattoo Glow (Base Game Edition)
- HOW TO FIX BLACK HAIR/GLOSS (Making hair textures more/less shiny) - by @Sir_Llamalot
- How to handle the "Characterscroll.shpk" shader and add animated emissive image overlays to objects - by @Astalli_xiv
Animation & VFX
Images
Skin shader changes
About Au Ra Limbal Rings
Credits
Any of the guides I have linked I have tried to the best of my ability to list credits, but there are some that I simply couldn't find a definitive answer to who the author was. I would be more than happy to provide credit if anyone can tell me. Please feel free to contact me through Twitter for that.___
This page has been put together by Althea(Kida_Mei) - @ItMeAlthea