Thank you for downloading the SWTOR File Changer! This tool allows you to edit the asset files of the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. You can choose which files you want to replace and customize the game as you wish.
Please note that this tool is provided under no warranty. You are free to use this program at your own risk. Editing the asset files can cause your game to crash or show graphical glitches. When a new patch can be downloaded, be prepared to restore your game files to the original version BEFORE you download the patch, otherwise your game may be broken and you need to redownload it.
If you want to use the automatic backup feature, make sure that you have at least 5 GB of free memory on your hard drive. Remember that you can also store this tool on a different hard drive that has more free space.
In case you are having problems running this tool, make sure you have Microsoft .NET 6.0 installed on your computer. You can download it at https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/thank-you/runtime-desktop-6.0.6-windows-x64-installer
The Settings.txt file contains the list of files that should be replaced by the tool. Each file needs to be placed on a separate line in the following format:
replace /resources/path_name.dds replace_file.dds
Where the second part is the SWTOR path of the file you wish to replace, and the last part contains the file that should be used to replace the file. The three parts are separated by a single space.
If you do not know the file name, you can write the hash instead:
replace 0738C4CF_91905309 empty.gr2
Also, you can replace nodes in the Game Object Model with the following command, where the second path is the FQN of the node:
replacegom abl.insert.fqn.path.here new_node.node
All files that you want to replace need to be put in the "Files" folder, under the name as specified in the Settings.txt file.
Lines that do not begin with "replace " are ignored, so you can enter comments starting with # and group the files into sections.
Note that the tool needs to be restarted whenever you make a change to the Settings.txt file.
Example:
replace /resources/art/dynamic/player_character/outfit/all_naked_body/texture/___psd/chest_naked_caucasian_young_a01c01_bfa_h.dds skin_human.dds
This line replaces a chest texture in the game with the file called "skin_human.dds" in the "Files" folder.
To start the tool, open the SWTOR-File-Changer.exe file. At the top of the screen, you can select the folder where you have SWTOR installed. The tool tries to find the path automatically, but if have SWTOR installed in a different path than the default directory, press the "Browse..." button and select the installation folder.
In the big list box you will find all the entries from the Settings.txt file. Here you can check whether the Settings.txt file was read correctly or if you made a mistake.
With the radio buttons above the list box you can specify which environment should be edited: the normal game, or the Public Test Server (PTS). This includes both the Assets folder, as well as the UI file in the client folder. Note that you need to have the PTS installed before you can edit it.
With the button "Changing Files" the tool will start searching through the game files and replace all results from the settings.txt file it finds.
By default, the tool automatically creates a backup of all game files that get changed. This way, you can easily go back to the old version when the game no longer works, or when a new patch has to be downloaded. You can disable this functionality by unchecking the "Create Backup" checkbox, but this is NOT recommended.
When you need to restore the backup, press the "Restore Backup" button in the lower righthand corner. The tool will restore all game files it can find in the "Backup" folder and copy them to your SWTOR installation folder. Following that, you can once again start changing the files.
If you need to extract an original file so that you can create the replacement file, press the "Extract file" and enter the file you want to extract. Note that you need to know the name so that you can extract it. Extracted files can be found in the "Extracted" folder. Go ahead and change them, copy them to your "Files" folder, edit the Settings.txt file and you are good to go! Please note that when you have already used the tool to replace a file, the extract function will extract your edited file, not the original file. In that case, you need to restore the backup if you want to get the original file.