GUIDE IS OUTDATED
The guys at modworkshop.net could maybe update it if requested.

This guide has earned Overkill's Seal of Approval! Thank you Almir!

Hello reader! Thank you for reading this guide on how to mod Payday 2. This guide is brought to you guys by the makers of the modding tools, as well as some significant mod creators. The mission of this guide is to teach the community how to properly mod the game. This guide will explain how to create texture mods, sound mods, and many other kinds of mods. Since the beta of the game, the community has asked Overkill to bring in a steam workshop for user generated content like heists, weapons, and masks. Until there is official steam workshop support, the community can create and test mods that can easily be added into the game by Overkill. However, this does not guarantee that Overkill has to add mods into the game or even look at them. So far, the modding has been purely community based, with little to none response from Overkill. With that said, these mods are client side and do not affect other peoples games. We, the makers of the makers of the modding tools, do not approve of mods that alter other peoples games. The purpose of this guide is to make purely cosmetic mods.

We also started a discussion thread to for better communication. You can share your mod creations and ask questions about modding there.

This guide is also available in other languages!
Note: These guides might be outdated.


Russian:
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=242992110

Portuguese:
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=291754125

German:
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=367747478

Korean:
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=279209905

Italian:
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=715106035

If you want to translate this guide, don't hesitate to contact I am not a spy... and start translating!

You will need to install these dependencies in order to run the modding tools.

• Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (download and install from here[www.microsoft.com])
  
• Visual Studio 2012 Redistributable (download and install "vcredist_x86.exe" from here[www.microsoft.com])
  
• Visual Studio 2010 Redistributable (download and install from here[www.microsoft.com])

Proceed to the "Tools for installing mods" section if you wish to simply install mods.
Or proceed to the "Tools for creating mods" section if you wish to create mods.

These tools are required for installing mods for Payday 2 and Payday: The Heist.

Here is the tool that you will need to install mods:

• PAYDAY Bundle Modder (download "Bundle Modder XXXX.zip" from here[bitbucket.org])
  This tool allows you to create and apply mods for Payday 2 and Payday: The Heist.

After you have installed the dependencies and downloaded the mod tool, you can proceed to the "How to install mods for Payday 2 and Payday: The Heist" section of this guide to learn how to set up the tool and use it.

These tools are helpful for creating mods for Payday 2 and Payday: The Heist.


Here are the tools that you might need to create mods:

• Payday Bundle Modder (download "Bundle Modder XXXX.zip" from here[bitbucket.org])
  This tool allows you to create and apply mods as well as extract game files.
  
• Sound Converter V1.15 (download "sound_conveter_v1.15.zip" from here[bitbucket.org])
  This tool allows you to convert sound files to be used by the game.
  
• Photoshop (CS2 is free and available here[www.adobe.com])
  For Photoshop you will need NVIDIA Texture Tools[developer.nvidia.com] for opening .dds files.
  This will be used to edit texture files.
  
• OR (instead of Photoshop) you can use GIMP (available to download here[www.gimp.org])
  For GIMP you will need GIMP-dds[code.google.com] plugin.
  This will be used to edit texture files.
  
• GoldWave (available to download here[www.goldwave.com])
  This will be used to edit audio files.
  
• OR (instead of GoldWave) you can use Audacity (available to download here[audacity.sourceforge.net])
  This will be used to edit audio files.

After you have installed the dependencies and downloaded the modding tools, you can proceed to the "How to install mods for Payday 2" section of this guide to learn how to set up the tool, afterwards you can read onward to learn how to mod the game.

If you haven't already downloaded the tool, you need to download the Payday Mod Tool. Download "Bundle Modder XXXX.zip" from here[bitbucket.org], we will be using this tool to apply mods to the game.

• Step 1
  After downloading the Payday Bundle Modder, you need to extract it into a new folder. This folder can be anywhere, just remember where you placed it. Your new folder should now contain 12 files: "DieselBundle.dll", "DieselBundle.pdb", "Hash64.dll", "Ionic.Zip.Reduced.dll", "Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.dll", "Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell.dll", "Newtonsoft.Json.dll", "PDBundleModPatcher.exe", "PDBundleModPatcher.pdb", "PDBundleModPatcher_Updater.exe", "SoundBankParser.dll", "SoundBankParser.pdb".
  
• Step 2
  Now, you want to run the tool. Double click on "PDBundleModPatcher.exe" and you should be presented with a warning, press OK.
  
  
• Step 3
  Once you're in the tool, you want to go to the "Options/About" tab, press "Browse..." and locate your "assets" folder. This folder is usually located at "c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\PAYDAY 2\assets\". Then press OK.
  
• Step 4
  After you press OK, you should see another error. Press OK. And now you should be done. The tool is installed and configured.
  

To apply mods, you need to go to "Mods" tab. In this tab, press "Add Mod(s)" and select ".pdmod" files that you want to install.

The tool will notify you if certain mods could not be loaded properly. But when all mods are loaded, they will show up in the "Available Mods" list. You can click on the mod to view it's information, such as name, author, and a description.
To install mods, you need to select them for installation. You can do this by checking the box next to mod's name in the list (mods selected for installation will highlight in green) and then press "Apply Changes".

At this point, the tool will back up your game files, so you can restore back to the original files. After it's done backing up files, it will begin to patch your game with the mod. Some mods take longer to patch that others, be patient.

When it's done, it will say "Done". At this point, you can either load up another mod to patch or simply close the Mod Tool.

And that's it! You have successfully modded your game!

To select a mod for uninstallation, you have to uncheck the box next to the mod's name (mods selected for installation will highlight in red). Afterwards you can press "Apply Changes" for Bundle Modder to uninstall the mod.

Bundle Modder 1.16 has a plethora of new features. As well as being able to mark mods for installation/uninstallation, you can also select mods for reinstallation. You can do this by right clicking on a mod and pressing "Toggle Reinstallation". There are also a few other options in this list: "Toggle Installation" will mark the mod for installation (if possible), "Toggle Uninstallation" will mark the mod for uninstallation (if possible), "Remove From List" will delete the mod from Bundle Modder's database, "Show PDMod file" will show you where the selected mod resides on your disk.

Bundle Modder 1.16 also supports BLT mods. Please note that the checkbox next to the mod's name does not function like other mod types. Toggling the checkbox will enable/disable the BLT mod, you can also right click the BLT mod to remove it or view it's location.

Bundle Modder 1.16 also includes a crash reporter, this will gather information about your latest Payday 2 crash and put it in a desired format to post on the internet. This is designed to help mod developers in resolving issues.

You can continue reading this guide If you wish to learn how to create mods for Payday 2, otherwise you are done. Enjoy Payday 2 mods! :)

Please note that this section is only for people who wish to create mods for Payday 2. If you simply want to mod your game, you have read too far.

Also note that for this section, you will need the Payday 2 Mod Tool. If you have not set up the Mod tool, please read the "How to install mods for Payday 2/Payday: The Heist" section of this guide.


To extract game files, you need to go to "Extract Game Files" tab. In this tab, you can select options for extraction, much like you could before with command line. After you've selected your options, you can press "Start" to begin the extraction process. This works for both Payday 2 and Payday: The Heist.

Here's a breakdown of what each feature does:

• Custom Extract Path - The Custom Extract path allows you to choose a custom directory for the extraction of the game's files. If none is selected the files will be extracted to the default folder called 'extract' in the assets folder of Payday 2.
  
• Single Bundle - The Single Bundle option (Once Ticked) will make any actions being done only apply to the bundle that you have entered
  
• Extract All - Extract All will make it extract all filetypes from the bundle(s)
  
• List - This option will only list the present filepaths within the bundle(s) to the log file
  
• List Data - This will list the data of every bundle entry present in the bundle(s). Ordered as ID - Length - Path - Bundle
  
• DDS Extensions - When this is ticked it will make any .texture file be extracted as .texture.dds so it can be opened faster
  
• XML Extensions - This will make any file in a xml format have .xml added as an extension for easy syntax highlighting
  
• BIK Extensions - With this enabled all movie files will come with the .bik extension so they can be easily opened
  
• Write Console to File - This will toggle the writing of the console to a log file called 'Console.log'
  
• List Output File - This will allow you to choose what file to output the listing of filepaths or data to. If none is selected it will default to listlog.log

Please note, if a game update comes out, you will need to extract game files again.

This section is only for people who wish to create mods for Payday 2.

Please note that for this section, you will need the Payday 2 Mod Tool. If you have not set up the Mod tool, please read the "How to install mods for Payday 2" section of this guide.

To create mods, you need to go to "Create Mod" tab of your Mod Tool. This is where you will be making your mods.
Let's establish some basics to this tab. To start off, at the bottom, "Mod Name" is where you will be putting your mod's name. "Mod Author" is where you will be putting your name. "Description" is where you will be putting a brief description about your mod. Now, at the top, "Bundle File Name" is where you will be putting a replacement file's path. (Example further down). "Replacement File" is where you will be putting your modded file. "JPMod Style Name" is for a different game file extractor. For this guide, we will NOT be checking that box. Uncheck it if it's checked.
Now, I will explain how a mod is made. (Please note, next section of this guide will explain how to set up your modding workspace. This is just an explanation of how to use the tool.) I have filled everything out with my sample mod. First, I filled out the mod information on bottom: name, author, and description.
Then, at the top, I have written a path to game's file in "Bundle File Name". I found the game's file path by looking at the file location in the "extract" folder. For example, this sample mod file is located at "c:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\PAYDAY 2\assets\extract\guis\textures\pd2\menu_backdrop\bd_baselayer.texture", but I don't need anything before "extract" folder. After removing everything before "extract" folder, I am left with "guis\textures\pd2\menu_backdrop\bd_baselayer.texture". Now, the game uses "/" instead of "\" in file names. So change those from "\" to "/" and you should be left with "guis/textures/pd2/menu_backdrop/bd_baselayer.texture". Don't forget to have the extracted file name at the end.
Then, I have to locate my "Replacement File". To do so, press "Browse..." to select your modded file. After you found it, you can press "Add Replacement to Mod", this will add your modded file to the mod. Please note: Each file will have a different "Bundle File Name" and a different "Replacement File". You will have to add new "Replacement File" for each file you want to mod. Also, if you make a mistake, you can always undo your last file addition by pressing "Undo Last Addition". This is how my sample mod looks:
Before I finish my mod, in the description, I will write "Rewrite all_x files". The reason why I'm writing this, is to ensure that my mod files will get patched in. In the game, some files are located only inside all_x bundles, other times they're located only outside all_x bundles, but most commonly they exist both outside and inside all_x bundles. To ensure that my mod will affect all game files, I will tell the user to patch all_x bundles.
And finally, I will press "Create Mod" and select the file location for my mod to be saved. After it's saved, I will apply the mod and test it in game.
This is how this mod looks in game. Of course, this is just a simple re-texture, but other amazing things can be done as well. They are explained in detail further in this guide.

This section of the guide will explain how to properly set up and use your modding workspace.


This section will build off of the previous section. In the previous section of this guide, we have established basic modding tools.
In the folder with your pdmod tool, create a new folder called "mods". This will be your location for all the mods you create.

To create a new mod, you have to make a new folder in your "mods" directory. Name it after your mod.

Now, we have to prepare you mod folder. This should be done every time you make a mod. In your mod folder, create a txt file called "destinations.txt". This txt file will hold all payday 2 file replacement locations. It is important to keep this file updated. Also, create a folder called "mod". This folder will contain all your replacement files.

Assuming that you have extracted game files in the previous section, go to the extracted files. Now, look for files that you want to mod. Take a note of their location, write it down in the "destinations.txt" file, make sure to replace \ with /. Now, copy files into "mod" folder. For example, I located "extract\guis\textures\pd2\menu_backdrop\bd_baselayer.texture" file in my extract folder. I noted it's location in my "destinations.txt" and I copied it to my "mod" folder, as shown in the screenshot:

With files in your "mod" folder, you can edit them to your liking. Try to keep file names as close as possible to the original file names. This will make files easier to identify. With this file, I will open it in photoshop, edit it, and then save it as the same file. You can view a guide on how to edit textures in "How to mod textures" section of this guide.

When you have edited all the files you wanted to mod, you can begin making the mod itself. Follow the instructions outlined in the "How to install and use Payday Mod Tool" section of this guide. This is how my mod looks:

After you are done with making your mod, you can save it in the directory of your mod. In this example, it would be "custom planning background" folder.

And that is it! This will be your modding workspace, everything should be organized and in place. A few words of advice that I can give: make sure to keep track of modded files in "destinations.txt" file (this makes it easier to create a new mod based off of another one), don't move files from "extract" folder (it's an easy mistake to make, I have made a mistake like this several times), make sure you are keeping the source files (that is your "mod" folder, the reason to keep this folder is to be able to make changes to the mod, you can give it to another person and they will be able to understand what files were changed and how).

Requirements:
Photoshop (CS2 is free and avaliable here[www.adobe.com])
NVIDIA Texture Tools[developer.nvidia.com] (for opening .dds files)

Or if you prefer, GIMP has the required .dds plugins in order to modify the files.
GIMP[www.gimp.org]
GIMP-dds[code.google.com]

• Step 1
  Open up your 'extract' folder, and find the texture you wish to modify. Depending on the type of texture you wish to modify, it will be in different locations. Most textures are located in "units" folder, and most interface icons are located in "guis/textures" folder. A list of resources and their folder locations can be found in the "Modding Resources" part of this guide.
  
  
• Step 2
  For this guide, we will be modifying a mask texture, alienware to be exact. This will be found in the "units" folder. Now, since Alienware is a base game mask, it will be in the "payday2" folder. In the "payday2" folder, we will go into "masks", as we're looking for mask textures. In "masks", we will go into "msk_alienware". You should be at this location "units\payday2\masks\msk_alienware".
  
  
• Step 3
  Once in this folder, you will see several files named "msk_alienware", and two files named "alienware_df" and "alienware_nm". Were looking at modding "alienware_df". DF stands for Diffused Texture, this is the actual texture for the model. Other file, NM stands for Normal Map, this gives models a bit more detail and reflections. With textures, you will always be looking at modifying "_df" files. We need to change the extension of this file from ".texture" to ".dds". If you can't see the extension, follow this guide[windows.microsoft.com] to enable them.
  
  
• Step 4
  Once you renamed it to .dds, you will be able to open it with Photoshop or GIMP using the .dds plugins for each software.
  
  
• Step 5
  Using your chosen software, begin to change the texture any way you want. Just make sure not to change the size of the picture. As you can see below. A simple tag has been sprayed over the mask.
  
  
• Step 6
  To save your texture, you will want to go to "File -> Save As" and for format select "D3D/DDS (*.DDS; *.DDS)". Make sure that "Alpha Channels" is selected. When you press "Save" another window will pop-up. In this new window, make sure to select "DXT3 ARGB 8 bpp | explicit alpha". This will keep the alpha layer, the game uses alpha layer for shininess, if alpha is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up, the entire texture will be shiny.
  
  
  
• Step 7
  And finally, all you have to do is rename your ".dds" files back into ".texture" and you can begin making them into a mod. Follow the instruction outlined in the "How to install and use Payday Mod Tool" section of this guide.

Source files for this mod
{LINK REMOVED}http://www.mediafire.com/download/c467xkv3fbigu38

This section requires you to be able to switch textures. Refer to "how to mod textures" for that.

First you willl have to know how pattern texture look like:

You will notice it looks diffrent than what you get in-game and that it consists only out of four colors.

Each color is a sort of variable that means certain things in the game. So here is the explanation:

• Black (#000000) means this part of the mask shows what the unaltered mask looks like. Lets assume the mask is pink by default. This means black would ingame show pink.
  
• Blue (#0000ff) is the material the player chose for the mask.
  
• Red (#ff0000) is the primary color the player chose.
  
• Green (#00ff00) is the secondary color the player chose.

Take a look at these images. It will help understand how things in the texture look ingame.:

No pattern texture present results in only the mask texture being shown.

A Black Pattern results in the basetexture being shown except for certain special parts that get colored.

A Red Pattern will show the primary color.

A Green Pattern will show the secondary color.

A Blue Pattern will show the material.

And finally a pattern using a combination of these colors. Note that the material will almost not show if a gradient with any other color is used.

You are able to mix any of these colors and the colors will also mix ingame.
However the material is very sensitive regarding mixing.
This means if a part in the texture is blue with - for example - only 5 percent green in it then you will almost not see anything on of the material there.
The desired mix for the materials is ca. under 5% of any other keycolor. However in those zones where blue is mixed with any other color the unaltered mask skin will show.
Therefore: Use blue carefully as the results may not be what you wanted.

Now you should be able to create your own pattern using the pattern template:
http://wiki.lastbullet.net/index.php?title=File:PatternBase.png
The corners have to remain unaltered!


And here are some examples of custom patterns.

http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=168593055
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=168312677
http://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=167790471

This section of the guide will explain how to make a sound mod.


Before we start, you need to download the Sound Converter. Download "sound_conveter_v1.15.zip" from here[bitbucket.org], we will be using this tool to encode and decode game sound files. You will also need sound editing software. I will be using GoldWave[www.goldwave.com] in this guide, but you can use any sound editing software you would like.

• Step 1
  Open up your "extract" folder and navigate to "\soundbanks\streamed\". This folder will contain a variety of other folders. Each folder contains sounds from the game, they are organized by folder names. In here, you are looking for a sound file that you want to modify. A detailed list of sounds and their locations are documented here[wiki.lastbullet.net].
  
  
• Step 2
  Now, depending on what kind of sound you want to modify, you will have to go into it's folder and find the file you want. This process involves a lot of files and can be tedious to find the correct sound files. A list of documented sounds can be found here[wiki.lastbullet.net]. If you are looking for sounds that are not documented on the modding wiki, don't hesitate and add in new information to the article. For this guide, we will consider that you are looking for a non-documented music sound file. Go into the "music" folder. You will see files that have numbers with type STREAM. We will need to convert those files to be able to play them. Copy the contents of the Sound Converter tool that you downloaded earlier into the folder.
  
  
• Step 3
  Then, you need to open up Command Prompt in that folder. To do that, hold shift and right click inside the folder (Make sure not click on any files, click on the white space on the side). Then, press "Open command window here". Command prompt should come up.
  
  
• Step 4
  In the command prompt window, you want to type in the following "wwise_ima_adpcm.exe -d_all". This will decode all sound files in the folder and you will be able to listen to them.
  
  
• Step 5
  After the tool is done, you will have new files in your folder with the "wav" extension. You can play those files with any media player. You will have to go through all files until you find the sound that you want to modify. For this guide, the sound we will be modifying is "668133142.stream".
  
  
• Step 6
  I will open up the "668133142.wav" in my sound editor, GoldWave. Now, you want to edit the sound file any way you like. But remember, the sound file must be less than or equal in playback length.
  
  
• Step 7
  When you edited your sound file, you want to save it. Please note the original file's attributes as well. You want to match them. If the original file is mono, you will save as mono. If the original file is stereo, you will save as stereo. But, when you save, make sure that you use PCM signed 16 bit. The tool uses wav as a playback format, so you want to keep with it.
  
  
• Step 8
  After you saved your file, you need to encode it so the game can play it. With your Sound Converter tool, you want to type in the following "wwise_ima_adpcm.exe -e *input file* *output file*". For this guide it's the following "wwise_ima_adpcm.exe -e 668133142.wav 668133142.stream".
  
  
• Step 9
  When you have all your sound files encoded, you can create a new mod for them. Follow the instruction outlined in the "How to install and use Payday Mod Tool" section of this guide.

{LINK REMOVED}http://www.mediafire.com/download/919v8sugbarvayn

This section is still under development. We will be adding more information as time goes on.
Note: Should be in alphabetical order by the type.
Last updated: Patch 24.2

Answer: Yes, we will include downloads for mods explained in the guide.

Answer: The reason why I've included a modding workspace section, is to ensure that everything is nicely organized. This way, you could give us your source files for your mod, and we could easily understand what the mod is about.

Answer: Before making a mod, make sure that you have a set goal.

Answer: Double check that you are modding the correct files. Make sure that you are using an updated version of the mod tool.

Answer: By default your PAYDAY 2 folder should be located at "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\PAYDAY 2"

Answer: Some web browsers attempt to apply proper file extensions to files. So, it will change the extension of the mod from .pdmod to .zip. The tool will ONLY read .pdmod files. So you should change the extension to .pdmod. Here's a little tutorial on how to change file extensions[www.mediacollege.com].

Answer: Most of the tools made are console tools. So you have to run them through the Command Prompt.

Answer: Update your mod tool to the latest version.

Answer: We're recently added in visual studio dependencies that you need to install in order for the tools to work properly. Please look at the "Prerequisites" section.

Answer: We did not include some modding parts because we don't have a user friendly method of making those mods. They will be added to the guide once we can explain how to do them correctly.

Answer: The tools used in this guide are not malicious, never have been and never will be. The source code for all tools provided here is available on bitbucket: https://bitbucket.org/zabb65/payday-2-modding-information/src Anyone is welcome to look over the source code to identify malicious bits of the program.

Credits to

• I am not a spy... for documenting modding and keeping modding tools updated.
  
• Zwagoth for the modding tools.
  
• たつと (Tatsuto) for documenting modding and keeping up the modding wiki.
  
• AJValentine for creating a modding community.
  
• =T$ECore=ZEROALIAS=THT= for creating a modding community.
  
• Zdann for helping with writing out this guide.

Most of information listed in this guide is documented on the Videogame Modding Wiki[wiki.the-team-mystery.com] by I am not a spy... and たつと (Tatsuto).