EFX Effect Editing
by Asterisk and Crimson
- Note 1: In all picture examples of hex code use purple for signatures or showing "FF".
"FF" is a good tell of if you found color for auras or attributes of efx files. - Note 2: Float(s) are just 4 bytes groupings reads as a float32, if are using a hex editor it should be readable in the inspection window.
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When you find a file you want to edit it is best to replace a player armour efx like the Gala Suit (vfx\efx\pl_TU\pl078_0000)
This way when you want to check updates all you have to do is unequip layered armor then equip the layered armor that has efx tied to it.
Next you will want to find the attribute of the efx file you want to edit (fire, electricity, water, light, ect) and find the flie path for the attribute and change a letter in the name of the path (something like "vfx\uvs\cm\cm_light_000", a path with "flowmap" won't work).
If you did this correct you will see some effect become blocky like in the left (you probably should map it out, there is an example at the bottom)
A second thing you can do after you changed the color and you don't see it is to change the float for brightness next to the color and you should see it like in the right
For auras you will want to change the parts to 00 to see if the glow goes away
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The signature "AD F6 9C" is tied to the controls for position (pink), rotation (orange) (both in the pattern of X, Y, Z), and size (green).
You should be able to see the default that the files usually use for size as floats of 1. This makes it easier to work up to the right values you want to edit.
The signature of "AC CF 8B 72" can be used to quickly find the bone id the efx is mapped to.
Attaching the efx to a bone function ID is done by replacing "FF FF FF FF" with "XX 00 00 00" where XX is the Bone Function ID of the desired bone.
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The signature of "DE C8 C3 43" isn't as consistant as searching for "vfx" and scrolling up a little bit until you see a cluster of "FF" that look like "ÿÿÿÿ" as you see in the first set of cyan colors.
This is where the first set of color/brightness is located. You need to find the last "FF" and work back 8 bytes and that is the beginning of the color section.
The first 3 bytes can be used to change the color but if you have a second set of colors it is best to change it to "FF FF FF"
If there is no second set of colors this is the values you use to edit color (sometimes you need to change it because the second set of colors doesn't work either).
The signature of "5A F8 E9 75" is tied to a visibality condition. If you want to turn off the attribute then you just need to change the byte right under the "75" in "5A C3 B8 C3 A9 75" (the red byte) to "FF" and it will turn off.
An alternative way to turn off an attribute is to set the sizes to 0 or if you are working on a "light" attribute then change the colors to "00 00 00".
You can find the second set of colors/brightness after the path to the attribute (vfx...).
The section highlighted orange is brightness and the red float is a special case where making it -1 (00 00 80 BF) will make a negative color version of the efx. That's how you can get black efx
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- Note: The reference above is taken from the GS Lvl3 Charge's first aura: vfx\efx\wp\wp00\wp00_003.efx Auras are normally found inside of sections declared as "timl" after the signature "CA 47 F2 " and can found quickly by looking for the signature "CD CC CC 3D CD CC CC 3D".
The RGB hex for the aura's color is found by searching for "FF" and seeing if the 3 bytes before it match the hex for your color.
After you found the right color you can further edit the properties of the aura.
To change the body parts and weapon (on each hand) that gets an aura you will need to edit the light blue values. The first one is for the player's aura and second is the weapon.
Refer to the tables near the bottom for the options.
If you are editing an aura you should know what body parts/weapons glow for it and you should double check to see if it matches the light blue in this example.
Both floats of the purple change the total area of the aura but you should only need to edit the 2nd float.
You can go from 0 to 1 where 0 is no coverage and 1 is full coverage of the armor/weapon.
Right after that is the green which is the brightness of the aura. I don't recommend going over the float of 64 as the colors start getting blindingly bright.
This is not a comprehensive guide to every efx file this is just a starting point.
There are a lot of differences between files and more so in DLC efx (Dante, Final Fantasy, Witcher, Wyvern Ignition, ect).
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Color cycling auras will have colors located in a special place (seen in red) along with a timer (seen in blue) for the color cycles.
You should match the first highlighted to the last like the example.
Such a rainbow effect can be found on: vfx\efx\otomo_TU\ot044\ot044_001.efx
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For Final Fantasy efx the attributes that use models have a second color along with a second brightness that is unique to them as seen below.
One thing that is always helpful is to look for "FF". This is a good tell that it could be the right place if you see the 3 previous hex bytes that are close to the color you are looking to edit
The body parts cycle every 32
The weapon parts cycle every 4
*This includes two handed weapons
**This includes the LS's sheath
| Part | ID | Weapon Hand | ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| none | 00 | none | 00 |
| head | 01 | left hand* | 01 |
| body | 02 | right hand** | 02 |
| head body | 03 | both | 03 |
| arms | 04 | ||
| head arms | 05 | ||
| body arms | 06 | ||
| head body arms | 07 | ||
| waist | 08 | ||
| head waist | 09 | ||
| body waist | 0A | ||
| head body waist | 0B | ||
| arms waist | 0C | ||
| head arms waist | 0D | ||
| body arms waist | 0E | ||
| head body arms waist | 0F | ||
| legs | 10 | ||
| head legs | 11 | ||
| body legs | 12 | ||
| head body legs | 13 | ||
| arms legs | 14 | ||
| head arms legs | 15 | ||
| waist legs | 18 | ||
| body arms legs | 16 | ||
| head body arms legs | 17 | ||
| head waist legs | 19 | ||
| body waist legs | 1A | ||
| head body waist legs | 1B | ||
| arms waist legs | 1C | ||
| head arms waist legs | 1D | ||
| body arms waist legs | 1E | ||
| head body arms waist legs | 1F |
vfx\efx\wp\wp09\wp09_000.efx (Charge Blade conversion of the sword and shield into axe mode before super amped elemental discharge, element discharge axe attacks)
1E0 Impact timl Aura
4D0 Fire timl Aura
7C0 Thunder timl Aura
AB0 Ice/Water timl Aura
D90 Dragon timl Aura
1320 Impact Light Behavior
1650 Fire Light Behavior
1970 Thunder Light Behavior
1CA0 Ice/Water Light Behavior
1FD0 Dragon Light Behavior
2200 Additional Elemental Light Behavior
2610 Impact Elec 1
2AA0 Fire Elec 1
2F00 Fire Fire 1
3370 Fire Fire 2
37F0 Thunder Elec 1
3BC0 Thunder Elec 2
3FA0 Thunder Elec 3
4420 Water Elec 1
48B0 Water Liquid 1
4D70 Water Liquid 2
5150 Ice Liquid 1
5540 Ice Liquid 2
5A00 Dragon Elec 1
5E60 Dragon Fire 1
62C0 Dragon Fire 2
6720 Impact Elec 2
6B00 Impact Elec 3
6ED0 Impact Elec 4
72F0 Impact Elec 5
7710 Fire Elec 2
7B40 Thunder Elec 4
7F60 Ice/Water Elec 1
8370 Ice Liquid 1
87B0 Ice Liquid 2
8C10 Dragon Elec 2
9070 Elemental Elec Green 1
9440 Elemental Elec Green 2
9920 Impact Light Particles
9D80 Fire Light Particles
A1E0 Thunder Light Particles
A640 Ice/Water Light Particles
AAA0 Dragon Light Particles
AE20 Element Light