[Guide] Blade & Soul: Increased Sliders & xml.dat modding (1 Viewer)

JustGuy

Casual Client
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Follow-up from #8261.

This post explains how to modify Blade & soul's xml.dat file. This is the file that contains much of the game's modifiable data, including the files needed to (permanently) increase the slider limits for your characters.

This method is a bit more work than using Tinker's slider tool, but there's some advantages as the bigger sizes obtained through this method are permanent (they don't reset when the game closes) and cannot be detected by GG/XC. But there are some disadvantages too, as you'll need to redo these changes often (the structure of xml.dat tends to change with each major patch).

To use this method you'll need to launch the game via launcher bypass. BnsBuddy is the go-to everyone still playing at this point uses, it does many other things that greatly increase your performance so I can recommend it. There's some other methods at the bottom of this post, but I can't vouch for them.


Step #1: Preparing (Requirements)
To edit the game's xml.dat file and tinker with the sliders you will need a .dat editor. There is one included in BnSBuddy (linked above) - look under Dat editor > Decompile and then recompile when done. If you use BnSBuddy you can skip to Step 2.

Another possibility is to use ronny's bnsdat de-compiler tool. The forum it was originally posted on was closed, but I have attached a download below. Just remember we can't help you if you run into issues with it.
If you use ronny's tool, place the bnsdat.exe file inside inside the folder below. It is highly recommended to make a backup of your original xml.dat file before proceeding:

...\NCSOFT\BnS\contents\Local\NCWEST\data

To use the tool, open a command prompt for the \data folder. Go into the \NCWEST folder above it, and then [shift+right-click] on the \data folder inside. Choose "open command window here". Then enter the following in the command prompt and hit enter:
Code:
bnsdat -x xml.dat

Step #2: Locate characterdefvaluedata.xml
Whether you use BnsBuddy or robby's tool, de-compiling xml.dat will create a new temp folder, named xml.dat.files. Within this folder, navigate to the "engine" subset and locate characterdefvaluedata.xml. This is the file that contains B&S slider data, and the file we will be working with.

If you use BnsBuddy you can edit it inside BnsBuddy. If you are using Ronny's tool open this file with Wordpad or any other text editor. The guide below is based on ronny's tool.

Open characterdefvaluedata.xml and scroll down a bit. In the lower half of the file you'll start to see a ton of lines that begin with "body-custom-count" (see below). All lines that begin with this are sliders for the different body parts:

18c34d8599.png


Now, how to edit this? First you will need to understand what you are looking at.

Each "entry" (starts with <record body-custom-count and ends with tool-version="#" type="..."/>) relates to a particular race and/or gender, and contains the sliders for all body parts used by that gender.
Within such an "entry" you will see a lot of numbers. Some numbers have quotation marks (" ") around them, others do not:
  • The numbers without " " (quotation) marks around them (e.g. the 10 in body-custom-count-10, the 14 in body-custom-count-min-14) correspond to a particular body part. There is a list of what number refers to what bodypart below.
  • For tweaking the sliders we only need to focus on the lines that appear as body-custom-max- and body-custom-min-... . In such lines, the numbers that do have quotation (" ") marks around them are the slider values. Most of these values appear as 1.00 or -1.00 and similar.
Confused? It will become apparent with some examples.

Before we go on here is a list of what numbers without quotation " " marks around them refer to what body parts (courtesy of tinker and others):
body-custom-count # / Bodypart said:
1 = Pelvis Width
2 = Pelvis Thickness
3 = Waist Thickness
4 = Waist Length
5 = Thigh Width
6 = Calf Width
7 = Thigh Length
8 = Calf Length
9 = Torso Size
10 = Neck Thickness
11 = Neck Length
12 = Shoulder Height
13 = Shoulder Width
14 = Shoulder Size
15 = Arm Thickness
16 = Arm Length
17 = Hand Size
18 = Hand Length
19 = Foot Size
20 = Body Build (weight)
21 = Height
22 = Head Size
23 = Chest Height/separation (x) (lower or negative value = sag)
24 = Chest Width/position (y) (distance between the breasts)
25 = Chest Size
26 = Head Width

Step #3: Changing Values
Let's start with a simple slider tweak. Say that we want to increase the max. limit of the breast slider from 1.00 (default) to 3.00 for all races. Here is what we are going to do.
  1. Hit the "Replace" button in your text editor.
    d8319f0e02.jpg
  2. Going by the list above, value 25 directly affects the breast size.
    Also remember from above that we only need to edit the lines that appear as body-custom-max-... and body-custom-min-...
  3. The default value for all "max" sliders is 1.00 (and -1.00 for all "min" sliders). So, to increase the breast slider we enter the default value under "find what", and the desired new (modified) value under "replace with". Now we hit "replace all"
    d006e4b0b3.png
Now the maximum breast size has now been increased from 1.00 (20) to 3.00 (60) for all races.

Another example. Let's say that we also want to increase the minimum limit of the breast slider from its default (-1.00) to -3.00, so that we can make the boobs smaller than normal too. Repeat the above step, but for the min-25 value this time (remember min. values use a negation (-) sign):

f4759e16e9.png


Default value on top, intended value below. Replace all and done.

Race/Gender-Specific Changes
But not everyone wants to change the sliders for all races. So let's make things a bit more complex by saying that we want to increase the breast size for a particular race and gender only.
Obviously, this means that we cannot use the "replace all" method from above. So instead we have to locate and edit the related entry and its values manually.

As you may have seen, each entry has a "race" and "sex" field right before the end (tool-version="#" type="..."/>). If you do not have the Korean language font installed on your pc you will see all sorts of gibberish like this:
8e0aca97cb.png


But if you do have the Korean language font installed you will see Korean characters instead, as it should be. Then you can use the following list for reference:

Races/Gender said:
Yun - race="건" sex="여"
GonF - race="곤" sex="여"
JinF - race="진" sex="여"
LynF - race="린" sex="여"
GonM - race="곤" sex="남"
JinM - race="진" sex="남"
LynM - race="린" sex="남

So let's say we want to change the breast slider max limit for Yun only.
Use search and look for the entry that has race="건" and sex="여". Once there, repeat the steps from above: look for the relevant value (25 for breast size, and since we are aiming to increase the size we go to body-custom-max-25 and change the value there from 1.00 to 2.00, 3.00 or whatever you like).

Step #4: Saving & Re-Compiling xml.dat
Once you are done with your changes exit the file (remember to save all changes). Now we have to re-compile xml.dat. If you use BnsBuddy to edit the game's xml.dat file ignore this section and move straight on to Step #5 below.

Before recompiling xml.dat.files be sure to delete your current xml.dat file first. If you did as I said above you will have a backup of it, so you can safely delete the current xml.dat file that you have. Why delete it? Because re-compiling when there already is an xml.dat in the \data folder will sometimes cause it to not overwrite properly.

Bring up the command prompt for the \data folder again (see Step #1 above), but this time enter the following in the command prompt:
Code:
bnsdat -c xml.dat.files

Ronny's tool will now re-compile xml.dat, along with the file containing the updated sliders.
Ensure that the new xml.dat is (or ends up in) your NCSOFT\BnS\contents\Local\NCWEST\data folder but DO NOT LAUNCH THE GAME YET!!


Step #5: Bypassing the NC Launcher
As mentioned above, you will need to launch the game without the NCSoft launcher. The ncsoft launcher will automatically 'repair' the new xml.dat as it auto-fixes any modified files it detects.

BnsBuddy is the generally preferred option, because it also allows for multi-core support, splash screen changes, and so on. But there also are other alternatives:

  • Launching via a .bat file (may be disabled on your version).
    You can d
    ownload it for B&S NA/EU (West) here: http://i.gflclan.com/start_client.bat. Put this file into your \NCSOFT\BnS\bin folder (the same folder client.exe is in) and make a shortcut to it (right-click > send to desktop). From now on you will be launching the game through that. You can edit this file (right-click>edit) to change between the NA and EU servers: "-region:0" is for NA, "-region:1" for EU.
  • If you launch BnS via Steam you can do the following (thanks terrytmk!):
    Use "add non-steam game", find client.exe that run Blade and Soul. Then add the following to launch option:
Code:
/LaunchByLauncher /SessKey:"" /MacAddr:"" /UserNick:"" /CompanyID:"0" /ChannelGroupIndex:"-1" /ServerAddr:" " /StartGameID:"BNS" /RepositorySub:" " /GamePath:"" /LoginMode 2 -lang:English -region:1
-region:1 is EU -region:0 is NA

After you relaunch steam in admin, you can use steam overlay and bypass the launcher.

Or you can just manually copy-paste the modified xml.dat file into its respective folder everytime after the regular ncsoft launcher finishes the file check.

Errors/Fixes
  • If the bnsdat tool doesn't work properly with extracting/de-compiling try moving xml.dat outside of your B&S folder -- that is, copy/move it to another folder (e.g. the same folder the bnsdat tool comes in). Then put bnsdat.exe in that new folder and try de-compiling it there.
  • Make sure the xml.dat is not set to read-only.
  • Run cmd.exe (the commandline prompt) with admin privilege.
Uninstalling
If you'd like the default sliders back at any time simply launch the game through the default ncsoft launcher and let it update/repair.
 

Attachments

bnsdat_decompiler.zip
1.4 MB · Views: 1,032

Last edited:

tinker

Casual Client
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Each record in characterdefvaluedata.xml is tied to a different race/sex combination. So, if you only want to change values for a certain combination(i.e. whatever your character is), find that record and modify only that.
For example, to modify a body value for Yun female, find the record with race="건" sex="여".
 

mxjzm

Casual Client
Joined
Jul 9, 2013
Just a comment,
Looks like 23, 24 and 25 are not x, y, z values for breast.
23 = Separation (x)
24 = Position (y)
25 = Full size
Same as the sliders in character creation. You can increase (or decrease) the size using 25 only.
 

tinker

Casual Client
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
I believe the numbers correspond to these sliders:
1 Pelvis Width
2 Pelvis Thickness
3 Waist Thickness
4 Waist Length
5 Thigh Width
6 Calf Width
7 Thigh Length
8 Calf Length
9 Torso Size
10 Neck Thickness
11 Neck Length
12 Shoulder Height
13 Shoulder Width
14 Shoulder Size
15 Arm Thickness
16 Arm Length
17 Hand Size
18 Hand Length
19 Foot Size
20 Build
21 Height
22 Head Size
23 Chest Height
24 Chest Width
25 Chest Size
26 Head Width
 

tinker

Casual Client
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Text for different races for easier searching:
GonM race="곤" sex="남"
LynM race="린" sex="남"
JinM race="진" sex="남"
YunF race="건" sex="여"
GonF race="곤" sex="여"
LynF race="린" sex="여"
JinF race="진" sex="여"
 

Manning

Potential Patron
Joined
May 19, 2012
Yeah, where I got stuck is that no new folder appears in the /data folder after running the extraction in the command prompt. The command prompt process seems to work, it say's its extracting, but nothing new appears after its finished.
 

Asmodeus

Potential Patron
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
I have a problem, I cant get past the part where you enter bnsdat -x xml.dat in the command prompt. It says extracting files and when its done nothing happens, it doesnt create a folder like you said it would. Could anyone help me with that? Or is it possible for someone to just post an xml.dat file with the breasts set to maybe 5 or 7 instead of 3?
 

tinker

Casual Client
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Maybe bnsdat doesn't have permission to write to your B&S directory? You could try making a new folder on your desktop or something, copying everything there and running it to see if that works.
 

Asmodeus

Potential Patron
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
Maybe bnsdat doesn't have permission to write to your B&S directory? You could try making a new folder on your desktop or something, copying everything there and running it to see if that works.
Ok so I've tried doing it on the desktop and it creates the folder, but its empty :/
 

tinker

Casual Client
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
No idea then, and it seems to be common since Manning had the same issue. It isn't really reasonable to create and upload a file for every variation, so I'll see if I can think of an alternative.
 

Asmodeus

Potential Patron
Joined
Jan 25, 2016
No idea then, and it seems to be common since Manning had the same issue. It isn't really reasonable to create and upload a file for every variation, so I'll see if I can think of an alternative.
Thank you very much for your help :)
 

Persocom

Potential Patron
Joined
Feb 1, 2016
Yes can you please create a tool to extended the ( Maximum ) ( Minimum ) values of the ( Head ) ( Body ) sliders in the character creation.
It would mean so much to me, I started this method around 2 AM in the morning today .. It's now 11:51 AM almost 12 PM and for some odd reason..

My computer won't let me create a xml file... the cmd process is successfull so does my input everything according to this tutorial :[Guide] Blade & Soul: Increased Sliders & xml.dat modding | Undertow

anyone in here - Please if I may request to you from someone who hasnt sleep today ~__~ can you kindly provide me a

- 22 - Head Size : minimum ( -4.00 )
- 13 - Arm Width - maximum ( 4.00 )

XML File it would mean so so much to me.
 
N

Neospriggan

I've followed the steps, but when I try to recompile the xml, it just stops on the first file with the message "ERROR Loading XML Stream"

Edit: Just realised the folder is Read Only, feel stupid.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
K

Kuhro

Hello. Just did all the steps and i get this error:
Invalid game client file. Please update the game client or reinstall.(1005) (183)
Im using the BnS.client.bat for playing. I already did the 3.0 breast boost, but i surely want more. Well but that error is in my way.. can any1 help?
 

JustGuy

Casual Client
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Hello. Just did all the steps and i get this error:
Invalid game client file. Please update the game client or reinstall.(1005) (183)
Im using the BnS.client.bat for playing. I already did the 3.0 breast boost, but i surely want more. Well but that error is in my way.. can any1 help?
This means you are using an older/outdated version of xml.dat. Run the game through the regular launcher and let it patch/update to get the latest version of xml.dat. Extract the new xml.dat with the bnsdat tool and continue your work there.

You can copypaste your (previously) modified characterdefvaluedata.xml file over from the old xml.dat.files/engines folder over into the new one and recompile it to save yourself some time.
 
M

moogoogai

Anyone having trouble with the #2 this may help. I searched my c drive for the folder that was supposed to be made and found it here C:\Users\(your computer username)\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\NCSOFT\BnS\contents\Local\NCWEST\data. Just move the items back to the main folder. This worked for #2 and #5.
 

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