This guide will explain how to start modding The King of Fighters XIV.
I will continue to update the guide with new information and tools to modify the game.

The first step you need is extract all the game files from "Assets.wad"

- Download the extraction tool
Download[drive.google.com]

- Extract the "KOF14 Unpack" folder into the game directory

- Double-click on "quickbms_4gb_files.exe"

- Select the script "Unpack KOF14.bms"

- Select the input archive (Assets.wad) from the main game directory

- Select the output folder as the main game directory
(C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV)

- Watch the progress status of the extraction and the final message

DONE !

Now you have all the game files extract (7 folders and 1 png)

Now you can mod KOF14.

But before starting you need to know some simple rules.

The "assets.wad" file have priority over the extract files of the game.
This mean that, if you start the game, all game assets will be read from that file.

So, if you have some mods and you want to use, you need rename the "assets.wad" file.
(Example "assets.wadX")

This is also useful for play the original game without mods, simply rename the assets file with the original name (assets.wad) and you're okay.

My advice is to remove automatic updates for the game.
With the assets.wad renamed, if there will be an update to the file, steam will be forced to redownload the entire file (16 gb).

Better remove the automatic updates from the game.
(Right-click on the game title under the Library in Steam and select Properties->Updates tab)

.
If you see that there is an update remember to rename the file with the original name (assets.wad) and only then proceed with the update.

Obviously after the update it is necessary to repeat the procedure to extract all the game files.
(better to make a clean extraction by throwing away the old files extracted)

Obviously all the cosmetic mods (Texture/music/etc) are only visible to the person using it.
Online they will not be visible to other players.

Other types of mods like modification of input or health/super modifiers they DON'T WORK ONLINE.
They cause desync between the players.

Now that we have all the files of the game extract you need only to replace the files with those modified.

Make sure to back up your files before you overwrite anything.
(so if you do not like the mod you can restore the original files)

DONE ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

1) Please upload yours mods with the game folder structure.
2) If the size of the mods is small, include the original files (again, with the game folder structure)

This will help speed up the installation and the removal of the mods.

Example
This is my music mod[drive.google.com], it changes only one song.


I have done all the folders for both mod/original file.
So if you want install you need only to put the contents from the "MOD" folder in your game directory and overwrite.
Same thing for restore the original song, put the contents from the "ORIGINAL" folder in your game directory and overwrite.

DONE.

I hope many people they will use this system to share their mods.

Quick index to find files.

(here you will find all the characters and the game sounds)

The structure:
Chara Code->

• Main folder (Chara textures and 3d model)
  
• Effect folder (Texture and file for the special effects like fireball etc.)
  
• SampleKey folder (Trial combo)
  
• Sound folder (special sound and chara voice)
  
  • se (special sound)
    
  • voice (charater voice)

• ADY Andy
  
• AGL Angel
  
• AGL1 Angel Diabolo Costume
  
• ALC Alice
  
• ANT Antonov
  
• ANT_BOSS Antonov (Boss Ver.)
  
• ATN Athena
  
• BDR Bandeiras
  
• BEN Benimaru
  
• BGT Tung's Muscular body
  
• BLY Billy
  
• CAT Athena 98 Costume
  
• CHN Chin
  
• CHO Choi
  
• CIO Classic Iori Costume
  
• CLK Clark
  
• CMN (Special effects like Fire, Thunder etc.)
  
• CN_MRY Mary (extra files)
  
• CN_NJD Najd (extra files)
  
• CNG Chang
  
• COC Coco (Zarina's Bird)
  
• CommonSound
  
  • announce (announce voice)
    
  • bgm (bgm of the game)
    
  • common_se (game sound)
    
  • demo (audio for the movie)
• DMN Daimon
  
• DRG MuiMui's dragon
  
• GAN Gang-il
  
• GES Geese
  
• GRN Classic Kyo Costume
  
• HDR Heidern
  
• IOR Iori
  
• JOE Joe
  
• KDS K'
  
• KIM Kim
  
• KKR Kukri
  
• KLA Kula
  
• KLA Kula Sundress Costume
  
• KNG King
  
• KNS Kensou
  
• KOD King of Dinosaur
  
• KYO Kyo
  
• LEO Leona
  
• LUO Luong
  
• LVH Love Heart
  
• MAI Mai
  
• MIA Mian
  
• MMH Mamahaha (Nakoruru's bird)
  
• MMH1 Mamahaha Costume (Nakoruru's bird)
  
• MRY Mary
  
• MTK Meitenkun
  
• MTK1 Meitenkun Pajamas Costume
  
• MTR Mature
  
• MUI MuiMui
  
• MXI Maxima
  
• NEL Nelson
  
• NJD Najd
  
• NKR Nakoruru
  
• NKR1 Nakoruru School Uniform Costume
  
• NMG Nightmare Geese Costume
  
• OSW Oswald
  
• RBT Robert
  
• RLF Ralf
  
• RMN Ramon
  
• ROC Rock
  
• RYO Ryo
  
• SHU Shunnei
  
• SHU1 Shunnei Kung-fu Suit Costume
  
• SLV Sylvie
  
• SLV1 Sylvie Little Red Riding Hood COstume
  
• SSL Hein
  
• TRY Terry
  
• TUN Tung
  
• TUTORIAL Tutorial mode
  
• VIC Vice
  
• VNS Vanessa
  
• VRS Verse
  
• VRS_BOSS Verse (Boss Ver.)
  
• WHP Whip
  
• XND Xanadu
  
• YMZ Yamazaki
  
• YRI Yuri
  
• ZRN Zarina

Save and loading icons

All the movie of the game

• Endings
  
• interlude from the arcade
  
• Opening

All the translate text

Self explanatory

(similar to the chara folder but for the stages)

• BAD (Undeground Prison)
  
• CHN (The Great Wall of China)
  
• ESK (Neo Esaka)
  
• GRO (Navajoland)
  
• GTR (Transcontinental Railroad)
  
• IKR (Heiden Fleet)
  
• KDH (Derelict Church)
  
• KIM (Hotel Marine Paradise)
  
• KMN (Masquerade)
  
• LBS (Destroyed Arena)
  
• MAS (Riyadh)
  
• MBS (Antonov Super Arena)
  
• MEX (Guanajuato Dynamite Ring)
  
• MNA (City Circuit)
  
• NAK (Dream World)
  
• PSY (The Bund)
  
• RES (Result Screen)
  
• RYU (Maple Garden)
  
• SAM (Iguazu Falls)
  
• STH (Geese Tower)
  
• TRA (Training stage)
  
• WMN (Old Castle)
  
• YGN (Industrial Area)

Self explanatory, it contains all the images for menu, hud, gallery etc.

The textures are in the DDS and PNG format and can be edited with any image editing program that can handle the format with transparency.


There are many different programs that support this, like Photoshop or free program like Paint_net[www.getpaint.net] and GIMP[www.gimp.org].


If your image editing program don't open correctly the DDS format, you need special plugin.
Here are some for the programs mentioned.

Photoshop[software.intel.com]
Paint_net [forums.getpaint.net] (remember: the DDS file must be renamed DDS2 to work with Paint_net)
GIMP[code.google.com]


Now you have all the resources for start editing textures.
Open your file and edit.

(Alice Texture)
.

This is important.
The PNG texture must be saved in 32-bit format.
The DDS texture must be saved in BC7 DX11+ format.

(Paint_net settings)
Tip: In Paint_net save the files on DDS2 format, then rename DDS.


Now you need only change the texture files on the game folder and try your mods !

.
Nice !



Normal map of Terry's hat

A normal map represent surface details like wrinkles, scratches and beveled edges by storing the corresponding surface normals in a texture.

For create/edit a Normal Map on Paint_net you need this[forums.getpaint.net] plugin.










Specular map of Terry's hat

The Specular Map defines which areas of the object are more reflective than others.
Black areas of the alpha will be zero specular reflection, while white areas will be full specular reflection.

All the audio file are in OGG format and can be edited with any audio editing program.


There are many free programs, like Audacity[www.audacityteam.org] or FAEmedia Free Audio Editor.


Voice and sound:
48000Hz
80 Bitrate
Mono

Music:
48000Hz
112 Bitrate
Stereo


Announcers voices: Chara Folder-> CommonSound-> announce

Universal effects: Chara Folder-> CommonSound-> common_se

Character voices and sound effects: Chara Folder-> [Chara Code]-> se and Voice

Stage sounds: Stage Folder-> [Stage Code]-> Sound

Music: Chara Folder-> CommonSound-> bgm

Videos audio: Chara Folder-> CommonSound-> demo-> sound

The music loop info are in sbnk format and you can easily find them searching [name bgm].sbnk on the game directory.

You can edit the sbnk files with hex editor programs like 010 editor[www.sweetscape.com] or the free HxD[mh-nexus.de]

Unfortunately I do not know exactly how to edit loops, it works similarly to other games but i don't have a guide for that. (search soundbank audio loop guide online).
If you succeed, let me know ! ^_^


Editing the sbnk files in order to correct the loop of the changed music is a pain, especially if we want to share more audio mods.
Fortunately we can get around the problem but not without some limitation.

• The new file audio must be shorter than the original.
  
• It is not always easy to create a good loop.

1° Step: Find the original loop

Open the original music and search the loop by ear.
Example: bgm_kimxcngcho.ogg open on Audacity (Kim's theme vs Chang and Choi)
.
2° Step: Align your music to the original loop.
After looking for the beginning of the original loop (in this case: 12sec+18), align your music at that loop.
.
3° Step: Create the new loop.
Now that you know exactly where the loop is, you can adjust your music.
.
The result
https://youtu.be/uTU718x7or0

File structure

These are the files for the 3d models of the characters/stages.

• CAST FILE is the data assets
  
• CSV FILE is the texture reference
  
• OBAC FILE is the the mesh data
  
• OMIR and OSEC FILE are the skeleton
  
• DDS and PNG are the textures

Exporting the 3d models on 3D Studio MAX[www.autodesk.it]

Thanks to this scrips[drive.google.com] we can export the 3d models on 3dsMAX
(Scrips by killercracker)

ReShade is an advanced, fully generic post-processing injector for improve the game graphics.

.
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1214210560

You can find and share your mods on the StreetModders Community on Deviantart.


https://streetmodders.deviantart.com/


https://streetmodders.deviantart.com/gallery/65386569/Other-Fighting-Games

I will update the guide with other information.

1) Mods
2) Tools
3) What we can mods
4) Folder structure and where to find the files that interest you

For the QuickBMS
home: http://quickbms.com

For the scrips to export 3d models on 3dsMAX
From: http://forum.xentax.com/index.php