Beginner's Guide to Modding Introduction to File Types When it comes to modding the WWE 2K video game titles, there are a variety of file formats that you will need to familiarize yourselves with. PAC A PAC is an arbitrary extension given to most files in the WWE games. What is contained inside a PAC varies depending on where you are inside the game's folder structure. Some examples of what can be found inside a PAC are:  EPK8, PACH, SHDC. HSPC This is a container archive, found in WWE 2K17 - WWE 2K19. A pattern will emerge when dealing with containers, 2K fashionably embed containers recursively. The most common container found inside a HSPC will be a SHDC, which again contains a multitude of files and in some rare cases, another container. SHDC This is a secondary type container, usually found inside a HSPC and was introduced with WWE 2k17 - WWE 2k19. Inside this container is where you will come across common files used in modding, examples: YOBJ, BIN, DDS. YOBJ / JBOY 3D models from WWE 2K19 and below are in a format known as YOBJ, this can also have the variant JBOY. This file contains the mesh data, bones, texture information, shaders and more. This file does not contain textures. DDS Texture files across all WWE games are found to be in DDS format. These files can be found sporadically around all containers. As a community we have passively decided to distinguish a container containing textures to have the extension as PAC. Extended information about the image format known as DDS can be found here. BIN Normally when coming across a BIN (binary) archive, it's either unknown or has very specific case usage. Modders open these with a hex editor or text editor depending on what is inside the contents of the BIN file. POFO Contains all character/wrestler information. This includes name(s), height, weight and more. This file is commonly used when importing new characters or updating current ones. MOVESET As the name suggests, this contains all information for a moveset. This includes finishers, taunts, grapple moves and more. TEAM_INFO These files contain Tag Team and Stable Information. BPE This is a secondary type container that is compressed. This is found in many of Yuke's games. Inside this container when uncompressed you will come across common files used in modding, examples: JBOY, BIN, DDS. PACH This is a secondary type container. In earlier games, this was a common container which contained compressed archives like BPE. WWE 2K17 and onwards, this was deprecated with the switch to SHDC with a similar container concept retained. BK2 BINK Video files. A format that is used for Titantrons, Show intros and more. PCK A very basic container for audio. This can contain entrance themes, commentary, announcements and more. BNK A WWise Soundbank archive that normally contains a list of PCK containers. Acquainting with Chunk Definition & Arc Files When it comes to modding in new content for these games, there are two files that you must understand how and why they are used. Neglecting these two files, will in a lot of cases make your mods not work. Chunk0.ARC This is a cache file, which contains pre-generated data for the game. This makes the initial load time of the game faster. However,  keeping this file in your game folder will make any mod you have installed not load/work. The best course of action is to either remove the file completely from your game directory, or open it in a hex editor and delete everything inside. This is personal preference, but you will need to choose one of two methods. This will make your game load slower depending on your system specs. This process is not the same for console game modding. Chunk0.DEF The Chunk0.def (abbreviated as 'def file' through-out this wiki) is a definition list. It contains a list of all files inside your game directory. When installing a new mod to the game, you will need to generate a new def file for the game to read your new files. You do not need to regenerate a def file if you are only replacing an existing vanilla file. This may sound daunting, however there are tools that exist to make this an easier one click process. The most known, widely accepted and used is Custom Character Tools (CCT) found here.Installing Your First Character Mod This is a very basic guide on installing your first mod. Following each step below, will teach you the fundamentals behind what tools you need, how they operate and ultimately how to install your new character. Prerequisites Custom Character Tools (CCT) Download Here Character mod for installation Character mod POFO & MOVESET (if required) Data Editor (optional step) Download Here Step #1 | Preparation For the purposes of this tutorial, we will be using Joe Mashups' Tony D' Angelo because it is a completely new character and requires a POFO & MOVESET to have it fully installed and working. It is good practice once you have downloaded your character mod, to extract it to a folder of its own somewhere on your computer. If your character does not require a POFO & MOVESET, then move to the next step. Next, if your character requires a unique slot, meaning that you are not replacing an existing one and are extending your roster, you will require a POFO & MOVESET. These can be downloaded from ProWrestlingMods.io or from the ProWrestlingMods' Discord. Place your downloaded POFO & MOVESET inside the folder with your downloaded character for ease of access. When you have followed these steps, you should have something similar to the image below. Step #2 | Introduction to Tools Load up Custom Character Tools (CCT). You will be presented with the following. Here you are introduced to a giant list of character names, slot numbers and slot ids. If you wish to familiarize yourself with slot ids and numbers, check out the Wrestler ID pages on the wiki. If you are happy with your POFO & MOVESET slot ids, skip this next step. Refer back to the POFO that you have downloaded into your created folder. Normally, there will be a number at the end of the file. In this case, it's 116. Now, this does not exist from the picture above. What do we do? Very easy, we now load up Data Editor. You will be presented with an application with many visible features. For this tutorial, we need the POFO tab as seen in the image above. With the POFO tab selected, open your downloaded POFO. Click 'Select a Wrestler ID', and choose an id of your choosing. Refer to the Wrestler ID pages, CCT or names in the dropdown. For this instance, we're going to replace Haku (785). Click ' Save .pofo file'. You will receive an alert telling you where your POFO has been saved.Data Editor Install Dir / Files / Pofo / Locate your POFO and rename it back to your original downloaded one so that you don't lose track. You can now delete your downloaded POFO. Repeat this process with your MOVESET file. Step #3 | The Installation With CCT open, locate the slot id found on the end of your POFO file inside the SlotID column. Right click the SlotID and select 'Import > CH-Pac-Files'. Select the appropriate PAC file depending on whether it is an Entrance or Ring. To understand the distinction between files. Please read the following detailed breakdown of file names for characters:For this example, we will be using ch15202.pac & ch15204.pac. NAME ID ATTIRE TYPE CH: Character 152: SlotID 0: Alt Attire ID (0-4) 2: In Ring4: Entrance CCT will do the hard work of installing your character PAC files regardless of the SlotID provided on the downloaded files. Meaning that you should never worry about file names associated with downloaded characters when using CCT other than the ending value (2/4). We now choose OK. We will receive a message alerting us that installing these files cannot be undone, select OK. Step #4 | The Chunk file If you are unfamiliar with the Chunk file, please refer to this page for full understanding. Now that your files are securely installed into your game, the game needs to know they exist - this is where the .Def file comes into play. With CCT still open, check your settings to make sure it knows where your game is located. If this is not set correctly, this process will fail. Once this step is OK. At the top of CCT, you will see the dropdown button 'Chunk Tools'. Click this dropdown and select 'Regenerate Chunk0.Def'. A prompt window will appear asking you which method. Make sure 'Full' is chosen. Then press 'Start'. This will do a full sweep of your game directory and generate a fresh .def file for your game, including your mods. Step #4 | Let's play. You're almost ready. Keep CCT open and load your WWE 2K, in this case WWE 2K19. Make your way to the main menu of your game. Tab back to CCT and right click your SlotID once again and choose 'Import > Pofo' and select your POFO from earlier. Repeat this process for the MOVESET. If you intend to use this character mod in Universe mode, you will need to repeat the import of POFO & MOVESET above in the Universe 1, Universe 2 and Universe 3 dropdown on the left, depending on which one you are wanting it for.. Locate your character edit menu. In this case (WWE 2K19) it is My WWE. If you followed everything exactly, you will now be presented with the following in your character list. You MUST now cause the game to save. This can be done by editing one of the character stats and choosing to save all. If you do not do this, your character will not be saved/accessible. Does the name of your character look strange? This is perfectly fine. You will need to edit the name string ids in the POFO with Data Editor. This requires another tutorial and will be posted here when it exists. Step #5 | Congratulations Well done! That is the full installation of a brand new character to your game.