4. [Tutorial] Making an .OIV Installer from scratch
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[Tutorial] Making an .OIV Installer from scratch

  • C

    Hello all, this is my first post here so I figure I’ll make it count.

    Note: Throughout the post I will refer to OpenIV installers and .oiv installers – Info can be found here

    In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a .oiv installer for your mod. .oiv installers make it easier for the users to install mods, rather than users attempting to follow the readme file which can involve editing handling files and replacing dlclist.xml constantly, OpenIV installers allow the user to click install and have everything done without them doing much of anything. As a result, users will more likely choose the easier .oiv route and get you more downloads because they don’t want to do the work of manually installing another mod.

    From a developers perspective, .oiv files appear to be more work than they’re worth on the surface, however in my opinion the pros of OpenIV installers outweigh the cons. For starters, OpenIV installers are much cleaner than the manual installations, especially for add-on vehicles, the reason being most manual install mods come with dlclist.xml and instruct the user to replace the original dlclist.xml with the provided one in the mod. In doing so, the user also removes in game access to all their other add-on vehicles. OpenIV installers, on the other hand, append data to the end of the dlclist file and do not affect previous entries in the file. Additionally, OpenIV installers are very easy to update once you have them created, I will go more in depth later on in the post.

    With that said, let’s begin.

    Step One

    Creating the required files

    Create a folder which will contain your installer files, I named mine “Install.” Inside the folder, make a file called assembly.xml If you want your installer to have an icon, get an image that is exactly 128x128px, name it icon.png and place it in the Install folder Last but not least, create a folder called content within the main folder (Install in my case) Your folder will (hopefully) end up looking like this:

    Step Two

    Setting up your assembly.xml file

    Open up assembly.xml in your favourite text editor (Notepad or Visual Studio will work)

    Copy and paste the below: (If you aren’t familiar with XML, you can learn more here)

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<package version="2.1" id="{1234ABC5-6D7E-8F89-G873-11QG279GFF85}" target="Five">
<!-- Package version is the version of installer (MUST BE  2.1, NOT 2.0!), OpenIV uses this to determine how to install your mod. 2.0 is standard. id is the **unique** identifier for your installer. You can easily generate a GUID with any of the following sites: http://www.guidgen.com/, https://www.uuidgenerator.net/ or https://www.guidgenerator.com/-->
	<metadata>
		<name>Example Installer</name> <!-- The name of the mod -->
		<version>
			<major>1</major> <!-- The version of your mod, current settings are 1.0 = [major].[minor]-->
			<minor>0</minor>
			<tag>Beta</tag> <!--The tag on the mod, can be Beta, Alpha, Test etc;-->
		</version>
		<author>
			<displayName>Ckacmaster</displayName> <!-- Insert your name here -->
		</author>
		<description><![CDATA[A Bugatti Veyron 16.4]]></description> <!-- Mod description which goes between the CDATA[] brackets-->
	</metadata>
	<colors>
		<headerBackground useBlackTextColor="False">$FF272727</headerBackground>
<!-- useBlackText is if you want the mod name and such to be black rather than white. "$FF272727" is the background color of the header shown to the user while they're installing the mod. It is also the backdrop for the mod name in OpenIV. -->
		<iconBackground>$FF2E2E2E</iconBackground> <!-- The background color of the icon area -->
	</colors>
	<content>
<!-- This is where we will be adding all of our mod files and installation info for OpenIV's eyes only -->
	</content>
</package>

    Step Three

    Populating the content folder

    Find your mod files, for the sake of this tutorial, I will be providing examples of a replacement adder (Bugatti) and an add on ninef (Audi R8 PPI). I choose to format my files in this manner because I find it easiest to navigate through and manage. To each his own.

    • ModName (folder)
      • Vehicles (folder)
        • YFT and YTD files
      • Extras (folder)
        • All extra files (vehicle modification yfts for example)

    When you’ve got your mod files sorted to your liking, place the mod folder inside the content folder you created earlier. Note: you can place mod files such as .yft and .ytd files directly in the content directory if you like

    You should end up with something along the lines of: Content folderThe adder folder is the replacement Bugatti folder, and the r8ppi folder is for the add on R8 which will be used later on adder folder vehicles folder Good beans 👍

    Step Four

    Completing the assembly.xml

    Navigate back to your assembly.xml file and open it with your favourite text editor. (I prefer VS2017) Find this line and make some space below it like I did;

    	<content>
<!-- This is where we will be adding all of our mod files and installation info for OpenIV's eyes only -->
    
    
	</content>

    Now we can tell OpenIV what to do to install the mod. Following the readme provided by the mod developer Aitgamers – Mister Brooks, this mod needs to be installed in x64e.rpf. The mod also needs to modify the vehicles.meta and handling.meta files – we will cover doing that as well. To start, we need to tell OpenIV to open x64e.rpf for us so we can install to it. We also need to advise OpenIV to create the x64e.rpf file if it doesn’t already exist provided the user chooses the OpenIV option to install the mod to their mods folder. This can be accomplished through the following line

    <archive path="x64e.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7"> </archive>

    The type="RPF7" in the above is the version of RPF we are extracting. It will always be RPF7 for GTAV. The full path where the files will be installed is x64e.rpf\levels\gta5\vehicles.rpf, therefore we need to specify the vehicles.rpf to archive as well, format your code like this:

    <content>
<!-- This is where we will be adding all of our mod files and installation info for OpenIV's eyes only -->

    <archive path="x64e.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <archive path="levels\gta5\vehicles.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">


      </archive>
    </archive>
    
</content>

    Now we can add our files in the appropriate manner.

    <content>
<!-- This is where we will be adding all of our mod files and installation info for OpenIV's eyes only -->

    <archive path="x64e.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <archive path="levels\gta5\vehicles.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder.yft">adder.yft</add>
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder.ytd">adder.ytd</add>
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder_hi.yft">adder_hi.yft</add>

<!-- Add a file (replace the stock file). source will be the location of your mod files in relation to the content directory, where the file name between the "> <" will be the target file you are replacing in the current directory relative to the archive you are in (x64e.rpf\levels\gta5\vehcicles.rpf) is the location that i'm saving the above mod files as per the readme. -->

      </archive>
    </archive>    

</content>

    If all you need or want to do than that’s all folks. If you need to install an addon vehicle, and edit .meta + .xml files, the ride is just beginning (just kidding, we’re almost done)

    Step Five

    Editing .xml and .meta files

    For my first mod, I will need to edit two files; vehicles.meta and handling.meta If you are looking specifically to add your add on car to the dlclist.xml, then feel free to click here for a shortcut.

    Back to assembly.xml; we will need to open up update.rpf and write the code to open and edit the vehicles.meta file as mentioned in the mod’s readme file. To quote Mister Brooks in his mod’s readme file; “now search for <PovCameraOffset x="0.000000" y="-0.190000" z="0.630000" /> replace it with this <PovCameraOffset x="0.000000" y="-0.190000" z="0.570000" />” We will accomplish this by writing:

    	<content>
<!-- This is where we will be adding all of our mod files and installation info for OpenIV's eyes only -->

    <archive path="x64e.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <archive path="levels\gta5\vehicles.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder.yft">adder.yft</add>
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder.ytd">adder.ytd</add>
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder_hi.yft">adder_hi.yft</add>
      </archive>
    </archive>
    
<!-- STEP FIVE BELOW-->
    <archive path="update\update.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <xml path="common/data/levels/gta5/vehicles.meta">
        <!--VEHICLES.META-->
        <replace xpath='/CVehicleModelInfo__InitDataList/InitDatas/Item[modelName="adder"]/PovCameraOffset'>
          <PovCameraOffset x="0.000000" y="-0.190000" z="0.570000" />
        </replace>
        <!--END VEHICLES.META-->
      </xml>
    </archive>
	</content>

    You may notice my usage of [modelName="adder"] in the xpath property. I am selecting the adder item using xpath, more information is here

    After we’ve changed the PovCameraOffset, all that’s left to do is modify the handling.meta file. This time, the readme is telling me to replace the entire adder entry in handling.meta. I can accomplish this by writing the following:

    <content>

    <!-- This is where we will be adding all of our mod files and installation info for OpenIV's eyes only -->

    <archive path="x64e.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <archive path="levels\gta5\vehicles.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder.yft">adder.yft</add>
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder.ytd">adder.ytd</add>
        <add source="adder/vehicles/adder_hi.yft">adder_hi.yft</add>
      </archive>
    </archive>


    <!-- STEP FIVE BELOW-->

    <archive path="update/update.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <!--UPDATE.RPF-->
      
      <xml path="common/data/levels/gta5/handling.meta">
        <!--VEHICLES.META-->
        <replace xpath='//Item[handlingName="ADDER"]'>
          <Item type="CHandlingData">
          <handlingName>ADDER</handlingName>
          <fMass value="1800.000000" />
          <fInitialDragCoeff value="7.800000" />
          <fPercentSubmerged value="85.000000" />
          <vecCentreOfMassOffset x="0.000000" y="0.000000" z="0.000000" />
          <vecInertiaMultiplier x="1.000000" y="1.300000" z="1.500000" />
          <fDriveBiasFront value="0.200000" />
          <nInitialDriveGears value="6" />
          <fInitialDriveForce value="0.700000" />
          <fDriveInertia value="0.650000" />
          <fClutchChangeRateScaleUpShift value="6.000000" />
          <fClutchChangeRateScaleDownShift value="6.000000" />
          <fInitialDriveMaxFlatVel value="300.000000" />
          <fBrakeForce value="2.500000" />
          <fBrakeBiasFront value="0.450000" />
          <fHandBrakeForce value="0.700000" />
          <fSteeringLock value="42.000000" />
          <fTractionCurveMax value="2.500000" />
          <fTractionCurveMin value="2.380000" />
          <fTractionCurveLateral value="22.500000" />
          <fTractionSpringDeltaMax value="0.150000" />
          <fLowSpeedTractionLossMult value="1.500000" />
          <fCamberStiffnesss value="0.000000" />
          <fTractionBiasFront value="0.485000" />
          <fTractionLossMult value="1.000000" />
          <fSuspensionForce value="2.860000" />
          <fSuspensionCompDamp value="1.400000" />
          <fSuspensionReboundDamp value="2.100000" />
          <fSuspensionUpperLimit value="0.120000" />
          <fSuspensionLowerLimit value="-0.100000" />
          <fSuspensionRaise value="0.000000" />
          <fSuspensionBiasFront value="0.500000" />
          <fAntiRollBarForce value="0.900000" />
          <fAntiRollBarBiasFront value="0.600000" />
          <fRollCentreHeightFront value="0.410000" />
          <fRollCentreHeightRear value="0.410000" />
          <fCollisionDamageMult value="0.700000" />
          <fWeaponDamageMult value="1.000000" />
          <fDeformationDamageMult value="0.700000" />
          <fEngineDamageMult value="1.500000" />
          <fPetrolTankVolume value="65.000000" />
          <fOilVolume value="5.000000" />
          <fSeatOffsetDistX value="0.000000" />
          <fSeatOffsetDistY value="0.000000" />
          <fSeatOffsetDistZ value="0.000000" />
          <nMonetaryValue value="80000" />
          <strModelFlags>440010</strModelFlags>
          <strHandlingFlags>0</strHandlingFlags>
          <strDamageFlags>0</strDamageFlags>
          <AIHandling>AVERAGE</AIHandling>
          <SubHandlingData>
            <Item type="CCarHandlingData">
              <fBackEndPopUpCarImpulseMult value="0.075000" />
              <fBackEndPopUpBuildingImpulseMult value="0.030000" />
              <fBackEndPopUpMaxDeltaSpeed value="0.250000" />
            </Item>
            <Item type="NULL" />
            <Item type="NULL" />
          </SubHandlingData>
          </Item>
        </replace>
        <!--END VEHICLES-->
      </xml>
      
      <xml path="common/data/levels/gta5/vehicles.meta">
        <!--VEHICLES.META-->
        <replace xpath='/CVehicleModelInfo__InitDataList/InitDatas/Item[modelName="adder"]/PovCameraOffset'>
          <PovCameraOffset x="0.000000" y="-0.190000" z="0.570000" />
        </replace>
        <!--END VEHICLES-->
      </xml>
      <!--END UPDATE.RPF-->
    </archive>
</content>

    Adding on vehicles

    dlclist.xml and files

    Let’s start with the files for installation. In this mod, I need to copy my dlc.rpf file from Install>content>r8ppi> to GTAV>mods>update>x64>dlcpacks>r8ppi

    This can be done simply:

    <content>
<add source="r8ppi/rpf">update/x64/dlcpacks/r8ppi/dlc.rpf</add>
</content>

    Now we need to add the required data to dlclist.xml and extratitleupdatedata.meta: First, for dlclist.xml

    <content>

<add source="r8ppi/dlc.rpf">update/x64/dlcpacks/r8ppi/dlc.rpf</add>

    <archive path="update/update.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <xml path="common/data/dlclist.xml">
        <add xpath="SMandatoryPacksData/Paths">
          <item>dlcpacks:\r8ppi\</item>
        </add>
      </xml>
    </archive>
</content>

    Now, for extratitleupdatedata.meta

    <content>

<add source="r8ppi/dlc.rpf">update/x64/dlcpacks/r8ppi/dlc.rpf</add>

    <archive path="update/update.rpf" createIfNotExist="True" type="RPF7">
      <xml path="common/data/dlclist.xml">
        <add xpath="SMandatoryPacksData/Paths">
          <item>dlcpacks:\r8ppi\</item>
        </add>
      </xml>
      <xml path ="common/data/extratitleupdatedata.meta">
        <add xpath="SExtraTitleUpdateData/Mounts">
          <Item type="SExtraTitleUpdateMount">
            <deviceName>dlc_r8ppi:/</deviceName>
            <path>update:/dlc_patch/r8ppi/</path>
          </Item>
        </add>
      </xml>
    </archive>
</content>

    Making the actual .oiv file

    It’s simple: Compress your main folder (containing assembly.xml, icon and content) into .zip format and rename the .zipto .oiv

    That’s it!

    If you would like more information, I’ve included some links below, including the entire tutorial on GitHub along with links the the mods used in the example.

    If you want me to create a .oiv for your mod

    Please PM me, or email me ckacmaster@protonmail.com

    Links

    Tutorial on GitHub

    Audi R8 Mod by le_AK

    Bugatti Veyron by Mister Brooks

    C#, C++, C, Java, Swift, JS, CSS, XML.
    iOS / MacOS / Windows Software Engineer

    4

  • @ckacmaster said in [Tutorial] Making an .OIV Installer from scratch:

    It’s simple: Compress your main folder (containing assembly.xml, icon and content) into .zip format and rename the .zip to .oiv

    Thanks, great guide. However it's the files inside the main folder that should be selected and compressed, not the main folder.

    What about the PLACEHOLDER file? Is it always necessary?

    0
  • L

    @ckacmaster This is wonderful, I am curious, how do we use OIV to edit other text based files? I have no issues creating OIV files for personal use, I have OIV drop a preview pic of the addon I am installing for AddonSpawner. I am trying to figure out how to get OIV to add a line to a file that AddonSPawner uses, which basically a listing of all user installed dlc cars. the file is "any name you like.list" and it is just a .txt file renamed to .list. I am trying to fully automate addon car installation and I believe this would be helpful to many others. I just cannot figure this part out for the life of me. Thanks in advance

    0
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