Have a seperate "addon" with a vehicle.meta to REPLACE default vehicle.meta?
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In a nutshell, every time the game updates, I have to reapply all my "replace" changes to the base game's vehicle.meta file.
Is there a way to make the addon.rpf vehicle.meta file override base game metas?
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Ideas:
I'm presuming you're leaving the blocks of replace vehicle data in their original locations within the 'update.rpf' 'vehicles.meta'? If so, if you move all the edited vehicles to either the start or end of the file, that'll save you a bit of work. Then, after each update, all you have to do is one big copy & paste of your replace vehicle data & remove the original vanilla duplicates.
Alternatively, another way that should work (untested, but likely works) to achieve what you want, is after you update, copy the vanilla 'vehicles.meta' from 'update.rpf' & place it here:
...\Grand Theft Auto V\mods\common.rpf\data\levels\gta5\vehicles.meta
overwriting the one there.
Then, drop a pre-made 'vehicles.meta' containing just your replace/edited vehicles overwriting the new vanilla one in 'update.rpf'. The game should hopefully then load all base game 'vehicle.meta' data from the one in 'common.rpf', while the one in 'update.rpf' overrules the select edited replace vehicles of your choice. It's probably the preferred method I would use if I was doing the same.
I can't think of any, but as with anything in GTA V, there may be unforseen consequences to doing it like that, depending on your game setup etc, but it's easy enough to test & confirm whether it works for you or not.
Overriding 'update.rpf' files:
I'm not sure about overriding 'update.rpf' with an 'addon.rpf' etc. I can only presume giving another '.rpf' 'update.rpf's title update capability would result in unreliable results. Maybe working only sometimes, if at all. Unless of course, you remove 'update.rpf's title update capability & make it an ordinary '.rpf', in which case, why not just use 'update.rpf' instead & save yourself a heap of time & effort? This is all highly theoretical of course, I've never actually tested doing something like that. Just don't think it would be a good idea & save you time in the long run etc.
'.oiv' Installer:
Another approach you might want to look at would be creating an '.oiv' installer to make the edits for you after each update. I'm no expert at writing '.oiv' installers, but I would have thought it should be possible. Might take a bit of testing to get it right, & this process is reliant on Rockstar not changing the way they update the game, but once nailed, would likely save you a bit of time in the long run.
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@a63nt-5m1th Regarding the oiv installer, having created a few for personal use/updates, yes that is feasible but could be intense.
As an example, I use comments as headers in my file for organization but the same headers would allow you to find a fixed location (regardless of changes) in a file.
<archive path="update\update.rpf" createIfNotExist="False" type="RPF7">
<text path="common\data\dlclist.xml" createIfNotExist="False">
<insert where="After" line="*<!--CARS -->*" condition="Mask"><Item>./DLC/Cars/American/fairlane64/</Item></insert>
</text>
</archive>
My dlc location is different. Replace
./DLC/Cars/American/fairlane64
with
dlcpacks:/fairlane64/
for example onlynote: the gt and lt syntax is required to include greater than > and less than < characters in xml.
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Yep basically overriding. Some replace cars need the meta change and I've done personal bug fixes.
It's annoying every update having to re-paste a colossal amount of text.
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@GTAV-Noob-Modder117
I'd test out the 'common.rpf' method I mentioned & see if that works for you. It's likely to be the least amount of work overall & updating is just moving two files. Don't get easier than thatAlternatively, something that just sprang to mind that might be viable, is use something like WinMerge or DiffChecker to compare your original & the new updated vanilla 'vehicles.meta' & then just copy over from the new updated vanilla 'vehicles.meta' just the new vehicles/new data/edits that Rockstar makes to the file to your old modded 'vehicles.meta'.
That way, you keep all your old edits & just add in any new changes that Rockstar has made to their file (that are unrelated to the vehicle's you have edited already ofc).
Once complete, you save the file & install it over the vanilla one.In WinMerge it's just a matter of scrolling down & selecting the yellow highlighted differences between the two files. You right-click a difference & select 'Copy to Right' or 'Copy to Left'. A lot easier than doing it manually & if you have your edited vehicles all at the top or the bottom of your file, any new changes to other vehicles will be pretty easy to spot