Starfield Mod:Archiving Textures with Archive 2 for Xbox and Game Pass

Archive 2

Archive 2 is located under Tools > Archive 2 in the Starfield Steam game directory. It is used for packaging game assets into a game-ready archive. It is quick and easy to use, but there are some caveats for packaging textures (and also meshes) for use on Xbox Series S|X. The Creation Kit will not archive Xbox Series S|X textures and so Archive 2 must be used.

Prepare Your Textures and Meshes

1. Set up a Watch Project for Xbox and PC
2. Use Asset Watcher to convert your textures and meshes into platform-specific, game-ready textures and separated geometry
3. Open and have ready your Watch Project Processed folder in order drag and drop the Xbox textures you are going to add to the archive (e.g., C:\Starfield\AWProject_Processed\Xbox\Data\Textures\MyCoolModName)

Ensure your Watch Project uses different folders for Xbox and PC. As long as the folder begins with Data\Textures, you can have a folder anywhere on your computer and simply drag the texture into Archive 2.

The use of a Namespace for your specific mod is recommended for organizational purposes.

Archiving Your Xbox Textures

If you used Archive 2 for archiving meshes, the process is similar.

Configuring the BA2

First, let's configure Archive 2 for Xbox Textures. The program defaults to General, which is not used for textures at all.

1. Navigate to and launch Archive2.exe from <STARFIELD>\Tools\Archive 2\Archive2.exe
2. In the Archive 2 window, navigate to Archive > Settings
3. From the Format drop-down menu, select XboxDDS
4. Click Ok to return to the Archive 2 Window

File Selection

There are two ways to do this:

1. You can add the folder via menu selection from the Archive 2 menu
2. You can drag and drop directly from the Watch Project Xbox texture folder into the Archive 2 Window

Folder Selection

1. In Archive 2, navigate to Archive > Add Folder
2. Navigate to your mod's processed texture folder (e.g., C:\Starfield\AWProject_Processed\Xbox\Data\Textures\MyCoolModName)
3. Click Select Folder

Drag n Drop

1. Navigate to your mod's Watch Project root Xbox Texture directory (e.g., C:\Starfield\AWProject_Processed\Xbox\Data\Textures)
2. Select your namespace folder and drag it into the Archive 2 Window

Save the BA2 File

1. Verify that the indices for the files added to the archive read -1
2. Navigate to File > Save As
3. Save the BA2 archive as the same name of your mod adding the prefix: - Textures_Xbox

Notes

• Xbox geometry must be separated into .nif and .mesh types or players will not be able to see mesh or texture on Xbox.
• You can add, replace, and remove files from Archive 2, but you can only set the format type once.
• Only textures can go in Texture archives. All else are bundled under - Main.BA2 or - Main_Xbox.BA2