Starfield Creation Kit Audit Tool

Overview

When using using Starfield's Creation Kit to create plugins there are currently three major challenges that one faces when it comes time to package and distribute one's plugin:

• []File Discovery: The Collect External Data tool in Creation Kit does not reliably discover all files that are part of one's plugin[/]

  []Directory Naming: Starfield has a naming convention for some files that requires that they reside in a directory whose name matches the filename of the plugin.  However, the packaging tool in Creation Kit will pack those files using the MyMod. ESP directory created by Creation Kit which results in a broken plugin when it is shipped as a MyMod. ESM file[/]

  []Platform-Specific WEM Files: WEM files are platform-specific.  This means that one must generate a different set of WEM files to package for each platform - PC, PS5 and XBox.  Creation Kit has no support for generating platform-specific packaging and WEM files other than to run Creation Kit multiple times with different configurations.[/]

  The Creation Kit Audit Tool provides an automated solution to all three of these challenges.

  Version 2. 0. 0 adds support for

  • []Direct packaging of file assets into BA2 Archive Files - no need to go through Creation Kit[/]

    []Support for managing and packaging mods that include localized voice assets[/]

    Version 2. 3. 0 adds support for Play Station 5.

    How It Works

    The tool is run in parallel with Creation Kit and will monitor the Starfield directory tree for any files that are changed or

    created as one makes changes in Creation Kit.  It captures an audit log of all such files and uses that audit log to automate the generation of ACHLIST packing lists.  This automates the process of discovering all files that are part of one's plugin.

    When the Creation Kit Audit Tool generates ACHLIST packing lists, it will detect any files that reside within a directory named MyMod. ESP and replicate them into a MyMod. ESM directory tree.  The generated ACHLIST packing lists will then refer to the replicated files in the MyMod. ESM tree rather than the original files in the MyMod. ESP tree.  This automates the process of placing plugin-specific files into the correct directory structure for distribution with the ESM form of one's plugin.

    To address the issue of platform-specific WEM files, the Creation Kit Audit Tool has been designed to work with an alternate WWise configuration in Creation Kit.  The first change to make is to configure WWise within Creation Kit such that it will create WEM files for both platforms at the same time, placing the XBox WEM files into an alternate directory tree.  To do so, one should modify the  block as follows:

    bProcessAudioForPC=1

    bProcessAudioForPS5=1

    bProcessAudioForXB=1

    sPathToVoiceOutputPC=

    sPathToVoiceOutputPS5=PS5\Data\Sound\Voice

    sPathToVoiceOutputXB=XBOX\Data\Sound\Voice

    sPathToSoundBankOutputPC=

    sPathToSoundBankOutputPS5=PS5\Data\Sound\SoundBanks

    sPathToSoundBankOutputXB=XBOX\Data\Sound\SoundBanks

    bLogWwiseConversationOutput=1

    sPathToWwiseProj=Tools\wwise\Starfield\Starfield.wproj

    This will cause WWise to emit the XBox-specific WEM files into the Starfield\XBox directory tree while placing the PC-specific WEM files into the default locations under Starfield\Data.

    Once Creation Kit/WWise is properly configured for dual-platform support, all one has to do is configure the XBox and PS5 paths in the Creation Kit Audit Tool.  This tells the tool's audit facility to watch for changes in both directory trees so that it will discover the PC WEM files, PS5 WEM files and the XBox WEM files.  When one tells the Creation Kit Audit Tool to generate ACHLIST packing lists, it will detect when WEM files reside within the PS5 and XBox directory tree and use that information to generate three ACHLIST files - one for the PC platform which packs the PC WEM files from their standard locations under Starfield\Data and two more for the PS5 and X,Box platforms using the WEM files from their alternate locations.  This automates the task of creating platform-specific WEM files and correctly packing the correct versions of the files into the correct BA2 archive files for distribution.

    Runtime Requirements

    The Creation Kit Audit Tool will run on any Windows 10 or 11 system that has version 4. 7. 2 (or later) of the . NET framework.

    GitHub

    The source code and a detailed README.md d