#I just could not decide whether I should prioritize quality over file size so paralysis choice made me put it off

[darnestdungeon]

How were you able to rip the dd 2 models from the game files? I want to be able to work with the models in blender but I have literally no clue how to go about this.

Hi hi, all I've done was to follow the steps from one comment in the official DD discord server! But before I show you the comment, keep in mind that DD2 was made using Maya-- a paid software that has different bones and rigs from free ones like Blender. My knowledge about 3D software is limited, all I know from experience is that the animations just won't work on Blender: I think you'll have to manually add the bones and rigs to the models if you want to play with them. That is, unless someone already found a workaround? I don't know, I've stopped looking into it.

Now if you’re not interested in animating and all you want is to look at the models or maybe recolor some textures, you can do as I did (instructions under the read more):

Comment by RC#8842: 

How to get game assets:

1. Download the latest version of AssetStudio (https://github.com/Perfare/AssetStudio/releases)

2. Open up AssetStudio

3. Click File -> Load File

4. Navigate to your Darkest Dungeon 2 Install, usually something like C:\Program Files\Epic Games\DarkestDungeonII

5. Navigate to \DarkestDungeonII\Darkest Dungeon II_Data\StreamingAssets\aa\StandaloneWindows64

6. Select the .bundle file which should be located here.

7. Wait 20-30 seconds for AssetStudio to load the file.

8. In order to easily find the assets you're looking for, click on the tab labeled Asset List at the top.

9. Use the filter to look for the asset you're interested in. Some assets will have a preview appear on the right, others will not.

10. Once you locate the asset(s) you want, right click it and pick export selected asset(s).

11. Navigate to a folder you want AssetStudio to dump the assets into

12. Click export and the folder should automatically open with the asset contained in folder tree matching the game's internal folder organization.

Notable assets:

- Check the type of the asset you are exporting. Mesh produces an obj file, Animator produces an .fbx file along with the textures as pngs.

- Typically you can just type in a hero name with underscores to find all the assets associated with them, like grave_robber or man_at_arms

- The main model textures including colors are named tex_...._col, the textures for the black ink-looking marks on each character are named tex_..._ink

(Link to the message)

The only thing I've done differently from the above was that I extracted everything from the game and then sifted all I needed from there.

Once you find the .obj files you can import them into Blender (File > Import > Wavefront) and add the appropriate textures in the shading tab. I’ll be honest, I did try and study Blender and I did manage to understand the UI, cameras, lights and some basic shortcuts, but the whole material node thing eluded me, so I had my husband set up the textures for me.

Please do not send me follow-up questions about the textures, I won’t answer, I won't be of any help. There were some people discussing some settings over in the DD discord again, so maybe try following their conversation in the link below. I highly recommend searching for these things in the mod-discussion channel, it’s where I’ve got all of this in the first place!

Hope this helps!