Earlier this month, Rockstar Games finally brought GTA 5's PC version up to par with the current-gen console iterations, and Rockstar-owned mod team Cfx.re (the team behind multiplayer mod FiveM) has confirmed that it's releasing an official asset conversion tool for fellow modders to use with the latest version of the game.
While FiveM was first created in 2015, allowing players to create their own custom multiplayer servers for things like roleplay, in 2023, Rockstar Games acquired the team behind it to "further support" the creation of those dedicated servers. Although it's worth noting that recently, a whopping 73,000 words of drama surrounding FiveM and its team surfaced online, full of allegations of supposed wrongdoing, this latest announcement offers something totally unprecedented in the world of GTA modding with a Rockstar-approved modding tool.
Spotted on Twitter by Rockstar news account @videotechuk_, Cfx.re explains in a blog post that with the new PC upgrade for GTA 5, "custom assets currently used on FiveM and GTA 5 Legacy will not be natively compatible." However, it adds: "To assist the modding community in making their assets compatible with the new upgrade, we are working on a conversion tool."
The post explains that while certain file types (namely, .ycd and .ybn) won't need to be converted, the tool will make sure that "dictionaries of multiple drawables" (specifically, .ydd files), as well as "generic models, geometry, optional embedded textures and lights (.ydr)," .yft files like "complex fragmented skeletons/models used for pedestrians, vehicles, destructible objects, etc." and .ytd files in the form of "texture dictionaries" will be usable again.
All that sounds very complicated, but the main point here is that this is an official mod-supporting tool coming from within the house of GTA itself, a place that's historically not always been the friendliest towards mods. The most recent big case of this saw the GTA 5 mod that added a fully functional Liberty City map to the game hit with a "friendly takedown" after contact with Rockstar, although it's worth noting that the mod creators since expressed that they were "uncertain if this takedown request is genuine" as a result of that aforementioned FiveM drama.
That's only one case of a mod seemingly not being accepted with open arms by Rockstar and owner Take-Two Interactive, though. Back in 2022, one creator behind VR mods for GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 reportedly received a DMCA takedown from Take-Two.
Needless to say, it's nice to see some real support here. Cfx.re says it's still "finalizing a release date, but please know that we're currently focused on completing the final few tasks required to release the tool," asking fans to stay tuned.
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