Outfits

In TR1 and TR2 originally, Lara's meshes were taken from the O_LARA object, with mesh swaps being performed as required at runtime using additional objects, such as O_LARA_PISTOL, O_LARA_SHOTGUN, O_LARA_EXTRA etc. TR3 moved to a dedicated O_LARA_SKIN object, but still depended on the additional gun and extra mesh swaps, and these remained tightly coupled with the level's outfit. For example, when putting a shotgun in Lara's hand, the relevant mesh would include an entire copy of her hand, when in reality only the shotgun was required. This meant if customizing Lara's gloves, the builder would need to do so on several different objects.

TRX uses a different skin system, both to allow outfit swaps in-game for players and to remove unnecessary mesh faces where applicable for a more streamlined data setup. Custom level builders can define up to 32 outfits; following is a guide to the data and JSON configuration, and some scenario/workflow examples.

Data setup

The skin system uses the following objects. These are provided in the lara_outfits.bin injection, and are available to download as a separate WAD (see injections).

O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_1...O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_32

Each of these should contain a distinct Lara model, with the mesh count and bone order conforming to the standard for Lara. Bone offsets are used (e.g. consider Bacon Lara's different structure); animations are not used.

O_LARA_SKIN_JOINTS_1...O_LARA_SKIN_JOINTS_32

Each of these should contain a distinct Lara joints model. The data setup is identical to TR4/5, so joint vertices should map to the corresponding meshes that they stitch together.

O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_EXTRA

This object contains various additional meshes for Lara, such as altered torsos when the TR1 braid is in use, Lara's combat face, and meshes used in extra animations, such as pulling the dagger in Dragon's Lair. It also contains both the TR1 and TR2/3 braid.

O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_GUNS

This object contains holsters - both empty and equipped with the various guns - as well as the guns themselves when they are in Lara's hands or on her back.

O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_LEGS

This object contains copies of Lara's legs for each outfit, with holster strap textures removed. This allows levels such as Home Sweet Home to swap out Lara's legs when she has no holsters. It is not an essential object to include.

Which slot holds which outfit

Each game gives these objects a different slot number. Import into the slot listed for the game you are building for.

Only the outfits below have a joints model. The rest need none.

The objects below are used by all outfits.

JSON setup

The file cfg/outfits.json5 sets up the available outfits, and how they should behave. The structure of this file is described below.

Top-level overview

Outfits

"tr1_classic": {
  "name_gs": "dynamic/enums/lara_outfit/tr1_classic",
  "mesh_object": "O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_2",
  "is_barefoot": false,
  "gun_map": 0,
  "combat_face_offset": 1,
  "supports_sunglasses": true,
  "braid": [
    {
      "mode": "tr1_full",
      "mesh_offset": 10,
      "position": {
        "x": 0,
        "y": 20,
        "z": -45,
      },
    },
  ],
  "no_holster_offsets": {
    "thigh_r": 1,
    "thigh_l": 2,
  },
  "extra_outfits": {
    "trex_kill": "tr1_mauled",
  },
},

Braids

Guns

{
  "desert_eagle": {
    "hand_r": 62,
    "thigh_r": 9,
  },
  "uzis": {
    "hand_r": 63,
    "hand_l": 64,
    "thigh_r": 10,
    "thigh_l": 11,
  },
  "shotgun": {
    "hand_r": 65,
    "torso": 72,
  },
}

The map keys must match known engine weapons. See weapons and cfg/weapons.json5 for reference. Any entry may omit hand, thigh or torso, and note that specific gun types will only look for particular entries. For example, defining a thigh_l property for shotgun is meaningless and will be ignored. Any missing fields imply that no mesh is drawn for that slot.

Custom level use cases

lara_outfit appears twice in a game flow, and the two are unrelated settings that happen to share a name.

Deleting one is not the same as deleting the other.

I don't need to customize Lara's outfit, and I don't mind players freely switching outfits.

In this scenario, simply ship your level with lara_outfits.bin and the default cfg/outfits.json5.

I don't need to customize Lara's outfit, nor do I want the player to change it.

In this case, you can simply enforce the outfit option, and continue to ship the standard files as above. Provided your game-flow level has an accurate lara_outfit entry, you can enforce as follows.

"enforced_config": {
  "lara_outfit": null,
},

Using null here means that the enforcement names no outfit of its own, so each level's own lara_outfit is what Lara wears; a second level that names a different one is still honoured. Naming an outfit instead of null dresses her in that one everywhere, whatever the levels say.

I don't need to customize Lara's outfits, but I want to restrict the ones that can be selected by the player.

Ship the default injection file, but edit cfg/outfits.json5 by removing the entries from the outfits section that you do not need.

I want to customize Lara's outfits.

Download the provided TRX WAD to access the data included in the shipped injection. Move each of the relevant objects to your WAD. You can then proceed to edit the meshes as required. Ensure that you remove the lara_outfits.bin from your game-flow, otherwise these will override the data in your level.

I want to customize Lara's braid.

Braid meshes and bones are taken from the O_LARA_SKIN_SWAP_EXTRA object, so to customize it you will need to follow the same steps as for customizing outfits i.e. import the TRX WAD, edit the data and remove the injection.