Create PAK files for mods

So I’m trying to create a PAK file of some content that I want to load into my game as a mod. I’ve created a separate project and added a couple of textures, materials and blueprints to it. Now I need to create a PAK file of this content with the matching AssetRegistry.bin file so I can load it at runtime and add it into the project’s main AssetRegistry. The problem is that UE4 does not seem to have any option to “cook to pak file” that I can find anywhere.

The closest thing I can find is in the “Store all content in a single file (UnrealPak)” option under Cook in the Project Launcher. However, I can’t seem to get it to cook just the few assets I have in my content folder. It seems to produce a pak file that is up over 20MB in size for what is only a few assets that should only be a few hundred KBs. So it seems it is cooking a whole lot more as well as building an executable for the project that I don’t need.

So it seems like the next best option is to try and cook as DLC. By using this option it seems to only cook the projects content and the resulting pak is just 800KB, which is much better. BUT! The problem is that to use the “Build DLC” option requires the project to have access to the original release files of the main project that the mod is being added to.

Ultimately, it will be end users that will be creating mods, so I have a few questions regarding this.

  1. Is it possible to cook only the project’s content to a pak file somehow?

  2. If users have to use the “Build DLC” option, how would I supply the required release files? Does it just need access to the main project’s AssetRegistry.bin and pak file somehow?

  3. Is there anything coming out of Epic regarding this level of modding support? Should I be holding off and waiting?

I am having the same problem. The steps to create a pak file are so ■■■■ tedious.

I thought of having a folder called “ModName/Content/…” and then just drag that to UnrealPak.exe or maybe even try
D:\UnrealEngine\UE_4.15\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UnrealPak.exe “D:\Dropbox\MusicalRange-Design\CDLC\TenaciousD-Beelzeboss” -Create=TenaciousD-Beelzeboss

But it doesn’t work that way it seems.

I really hope Epic start tackling this issue soon. Beacsue having mods is a MUST for many games out there including mine.

EDIT,
I also thought of creating an empty template project for DLC that I would share with users. But setting up the build for the project and then the DLC is such a mess and so complicated. It fails every single time I have tried, even with 2 different engine versions.

I just want to be able to select a folder and say “package that”

I know how you feel. That’s what I’ve been trying to do too.

Any progress on this?

Please found a fix, I want to build pak file mods :c