Posted on by Kevin Eva

How to Create & Share Mods in Robo Recall for Oculus Rift & Touch

A game is a game is a game, in the case of Epic Games’ action-packed virtual reality (VR) first-person shooter (FPS) Robo Recall it’s a very good one, achieving a full five stars from VRFocus in our review. However there are times when the user can expand the game and come up with new concepts, new levels that take the videogame one step further. Mods bring an extra string of creativity to a game’s bow, fresh content and fresh ideas from a new perspective. Epic Games has included mod compatibility with Robo Recall at launch and will be supporting user-created content through the Robo Recall Mod Kit, in a  similar situation to what happened with ARK: Survival Evolved and the ARK Mod Kit or with NVIDIA’s kit for VR Funhouse.

The Robo Recall Mod Kit is complete with Robo Recall’s full gaming source code, available with C++ source through UnrealEngine.com. So how do you go about actually creating a mod? And when that is done how do you share it for other users to try? Helpfully there is a guide written by the team that we’re luckily able to share with you here as well.  This is a multi-step plan so be sure you’ve got everything you’re going to need before you start.

1. Install the Robo Recall Mod Kit

  • Sign up for an Epic ID

    The first step is always seemingly the most obvious, but if you do you have an Epic ID yet it is something that you will need to acquire. After which you can move on, and…

  • Download and install the Epic Games Launcher

  • Click Install to download Robo Recall Mod Kit from the Launcher.

    Here’s where you can expect to play something of a waiting game as the Editor isn’t exactly on the light side, clocking in at over 20GB. So if you don’t have that space spare you’ll have to clear some space or do some creative shifting around of titles to make room on your system. The Unreal Engine team actually recommend you spend the time checking out additional help documentation on the use of Blueprints, and the basics of designing levels if you are unfamiliar.

Robo Recall Mod Kit 1

  • Then once that is completed, launch the Robo Recall Editor

    It’s time to get things underway properly…

Robo Recall Mod Kit 2

2. Create A New Mod

So now that you have the Editor installed and open, it’s time to begin!

  • Then once that is completed, launch the Robo Recall Editor

    The first step is always seemingly the most obvious, but if you do you have an Epic ID yet it is something that you will need to acquire. After which you can move on, and…

  • Select the type of mod you wish to create.

select_type

  • Enter a new mod name, ‘CeramicGuns’ in this demonstration.

mod_name

  • Fill out the other fields…

You can also take the opportunity to fill out the Author and Description fields to put your personal stamp on things. This will be shown in the game’s Mod menu. If you change your mind, you can change this later by accessing your mod through the Editor’s Edit -> Plugins menu.

mod_info

    • Click the Create Mod button to generate your mod files.

    • Wait for the mod to be generated.

The Robo Recall Editor will create your new mod structure, a popup tells you when it has completed.

  • Your new mod is automatically focused in the Content Browser.

mod_content

  • Locate the Blueprints

You can then double click the Blueprints folder, then the Weapons folder to find your weapon Blueprints.

mod_blueprints

With your new mod structure setup you can now start creating your mod. Now, just because you started with one mod type doesn’t limit you to just modifying the couple of assets you’ll find in your mod’s Content Folder. You can modify any number of assets from Robo Recall and have them exist in one mod.

Just remember, that any new assets you import need to go into your mod’s Content Folder. If you put them elsewhere, they will fail to package when asked.

3. Add a New Weapon Material

Next is time to create a material asset to apply to weapons, continuing with the demo this will be giving the weapon a ceramic finish.

  • Create a new folder.

Right-click in the Content Browser and choose New Folder to create a new folder in your mod’s content directory. Name the folder Materials.

new_folder

  • Double-click the Materials folder to open it and click the Add New button to add a new Material asset. Name the Material Mat_Ceramic.

    new_material.png

  • Double-click the Mat_Ceramic Material to edit it in the Material Editor .

    mat_edit.png

  • Drag a Constant3Vector expression into the graph from the Palette and connect it to the Base Color input on the Material node.

    mat_base.png

  • Double-click the black color preview on the expression to open the Color Picker . Set the R, G, and B values to 0.02 to give the surface just a tiny bit of color.

    mat_base_color.png

  • Drag a Constant expression into the graph from the Palette and connect it to the Metallic input on the Material node. Leave the value of the expression at 0. This will make the material have no metallic characteristics in its appearance.

    mat_metallic.png

  • Drag a Constant expression into the graph from the Palette and connect it to the Base Color input on the Material node. Leave the value of the expression at 0. This will cause the material to appear extremely shiny.

    mat_rough.png

  • Click the Apply button to save the changes to the Mat_Ceramic Material.

    mat_apply.png

Result

The Preview panel shows a dark, shiny surface that looks like ceramic. In the next step, you will apply this Material to your modded weapons to give them a ceramic appearance.

mat_preview.png

4. Apply the Weapon Material

It’s time to apply your ceramic Material to your weapons so they look ceramic instead of metallic.

  • Double-click one of your weapon Blueprints in the Content Browser to edit it in the Blueprint Editor .

    weapon_edit.png

  • Select the WeapMesh Component in the Components panel.

    mesh_select.png

  • Back in the Content Browser, select the Mat_Ceramic Material.

  • In the Details panel, find the Materials category and click the Use Selected Asset from Content BRowser button to apply the Mat_Ceramic Material to the weapon mesh.

    mat_assign.png

  • Click the Compile button in the Blueprint Editor toolbar to update the Blueprint with the changes.

    weapon_compile.png

  • Click the Save button in the Blueprint Editor toolbar to save the weapon asset.

    weapon_save.png

  • Repeat these steps for the other weapon Blueprints in your mod to make them all ceramic.

The Preview panel will show the ceramic weapon.

weapon_ceramic.png

5. Test Your Mod

Time to make sure the mod is working as intended by enabling it in the game and shooting some targets.

  • In the Level Editor toolbar, click the Play button to launch into the Hub.

    mod_play.png

  • Teleport to the holostation to open up the menu and select MODS.

    menu_mods.png

  • In the Mods menu, find your Ceramic Guns mod and select it.

    menu_mod_select.png menu_mod_enabled.png

  • Select the option GUN RANGE from the main menu.

    menu_gun_range.png

  • Your ceramic guns are now available to be equipped.

    gun_select.png

And with that done it’s time to shoot some targets with your new ceramic weapons!

gun_ceramic.png