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Hi guys, welcome to SB Studios. In this video, we'll be guiding you on how to build an entire MLO completely in-game, without ever needing a server restart.
Learn how to build a complete MLO in-game for GTA5 FiveM using SB Studio without server restarts.
Key Takeaways
- SB Studio allows full MLO creation in-game without server restarts, streamlining the workflow.
- Precise extraction and editing of YDR and YBN files are crucial for modifying building meshes and collisions.
- The MLO Creator provides intuitive tools for interior building, texturing, and room assignment.
- Proper streaming and referencing of assets in WorkHubs and SB Map Builder enable seamless in-game integration.
- Final touches like lighting, props, and doors bring the MLO to life and ensure full functionality.
Summary
- Introduction to building an entire MLO completely in-game using SB Studio and RPF Explorer.
- Choosing the right exterior by noclipping and checking for hidden meshes or water clipping.
- Using the Vanilla Finder tool to identify and extract YDR and YBN files for mesh and collision editing.
- Editing vanilla YDR and YBN files by isolating areas with markers and deleting unwanted faces via holograms.
- Streaming edited files into SB Studio WorkHubs and SB Map Builder for in-game testing.
- Building the interior with the MLO Creator tool, aligning door frames, and procedurally spawning walls and floors.
- Applying textures from over 100 seamless options and assigning room bounds for proper MLO functionality.
- Creating portals between rooms with directional arrows to ensure correct room transitions.
- Adding custom props with Blender-like editing tools and referencing them correctly in YTYP files.
- Finalizing the MLO with lighting setup, live in-game preview, furnishing, and door creation.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Overview
- 01:10Choosing Exterior and Opening SB Studio
- 02:09Using Vanilla Finder to Identify YDR Files
- 03:14Identifying YBN Collision Files
- 04:41Exporting and Editing YDR and YBN Files
- 06:10Editing Meshes with Holograms and Skyforge
- 07:12Streaming Edited Files into WorkHubs and Map Builder
- 10:22Building Interior with MLO Creator
- 11:58Texturing and Room Assignment
- 16:37Creating Portals and Adding Props
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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The only external tool we need for this is RPF Explorer. Go ahead and open your SB Work Hubs and SB Map Builder inside RPF Explorer to get started.
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Next, just create an empty folder on your desktop to hold your XML files and make sure you have a notepad app ready to open them. The first step of building an EMLO is choosing the right exterior. How do you choose?
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Just noclip into the building and make sure there aren't any hidden meshes or water clipping through. You also need a basic floor plan of what you want to build.
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In our case, we're doing a two-story building with a storage area on the bottom and an office on the second floor. Once you've picked your spot, open up SB Studio by typing in the command. This brings up our main menu, where we can
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seamlessly switch between all the tools we need to create our MLO. Our first real step is editing the vanilla mesh and its collision. To do that, we need the exact names of the YDR and YBN files. So we'll use the vanilla finder tool
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to track them down. Inside the Vanilla Finder, you'll see options for YDR and YBN Analysis. We are going to grab the YDR name first.
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Once you load into YDR Analysis, activate the scanner. You'll need to place four points around the block of your building to capture the meshes in that area. Just drop the points, adjust the height to cover your building, and hit Enter to pull up
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the names inside that zone. Now when the list pops up, don't be scared by how many there are. Our script captures every single YDR mesh in that area. We only care about the names that end with build or BLD. In this list, we
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have two BLD files. We're going to click to view them and confirm which one is actually our mesh.
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Once you've successfully identified your YDR, just use our script to copy the name and paste it right into your notepad.
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Now we need the YBN name. It's the exact same process, but since it's for collision, we just need to keep our four points focused right around the door you want to edit. A quick heads up. YBN names that start with
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HIAT are usually detail meshes, so they rarely contain the door you need to cut, but it's always safe to open them and check. Keep in mind, buildings often have more than one YBN. Open the list, use the free cam to get a good
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reference point, and check for your door. As you can see here, this first YBN just has the details around the door, not the door itself, so we'll skip it. Moving on.
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All right, here we go. We found our door collision. We'll copy that name. Also, make sure you check the other collisions in the list.
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This building actually has a second collision, so we need to copy its name too.
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Once you have the name safely in your notepad, it's time to actually cut the vanilla YDR and YBN. We are going to export the XMLs we need and put them into that empty folder we created earlier. Use RPF Explorer for this
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and make sure edit mode is enabled. Remember, you can always double check your meshes by opening and viewing them right inside RPF Explorer.
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We are going to tackle the YDR first. Go into our YDR editor, put in the YDR name we just grabbed, and paste the XML into the designated area. You will now be prompted to place four markers. Why do we do this?
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Since YDRs are heavy files, we isolate the specific area by placing these markers. This spawns a lightweight hologram of just that section. Now that our hologram is spawned, we simply select the face we want to delete by clicking on it and pressing
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Delete. A great tip is to use Skyforge to isolate the view, ensuring you get a perfect, unobstructed look at exactly what you've edited. Save the session. If you ever need to edit another area, just create a new isolation. Drop four points around it
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like this, edit the hologram, and hit save. We don't need to do that right now, so we'll just discard this one and head back. Once you're done, simply click Export and your XML will drop into the Vanilla Editor Export folder.
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Make sure to copy the folder with the YDR name that you got when you exported it the first time. In our case, it's in that folder we made earlier.
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Just copy that and drop it into the Exports folder. Now it's time to stream it. Simply drag and drop the YDR from our export folder into one of the work hubs between one and 10, and also into the SB Map Builder stream folder.
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You can open it up to double check that your edits look correct. Next up is the YBN. It's the exact same procedure. Put in the name and the XML into the YBN Editor. Wait for the hologram to spawn,
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click the face you want gone, hit Delete, and Export. As you saw earlier, we were missing a door collision. You can easily create a new collision by hitting the Create button and placing four points to spawn it right
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there. Crucial step here, make sure to check and flip your normals so the collisions are facing the correct direction. The arrow should always be pointing out, just like you see here in the video.
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All right, we've successfully cut both the YBN and filled in the extra collision. Simply drop these files into the exact same WorkHub where we placed our YDR, and remember to drop them into SB Map Builder as well. Once everything is in the WorkHub and
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Map Builder, we can stream it directly. Open SB Studio and use the Build button.
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Select the WorkHub you just used, and you'll get a quick 30-second loading screen. When prompted, press F7. Just like that, you can see our newly edited YDR and YBN streaming perfectly in-game.
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With the exterior opened up, it's time to build the interior using the MLO Creator.
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Launch SB Studio, go to MLO Creator and start a new project. You'll instantly be given a door frame. This acts as the absolute base of our MLO.
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Use the tools to align and resize it so it perfectly fits the exterior door with zero gaps. Pay attention to the green arrow. It needs to be pointing toward the empty interior space.
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There are four steps here: rotate, place, floor height, and resize. Take your time as each step is crucial for setting up the MLO correctly.
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Now we're in our grid workspace where the real building happens. Next, we need to import our edited vanilla YDR to act as a visual reference, so we know exactly how to shape the interior. Just open the edited vanilla YDR XML, put its name
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in the correct slot, and rotate it so it aligns perfectly with our door frame.
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Once it's aligned, the fun part begins: building. Simply click to lay down the floor and the walls will procedurally spawn around it. Use the dock to select door frames, stairs, and walls to design the layout however you want. Just select your piece,
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click the grid, and build. It's really that simple. Our script also features a powerful grouping system. Meshes in different groups are kept separate and won't connect to each other.
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We highly recommend putting stairs in their own group and separating your different floors. As you can see here in the video, our stairs are group two and the entire second level is group three.
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Once your layout is fully built, pop on the ceiling to close it all up.
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Grab the free cam and fly around inside to double check for any gaps that might need filling. Now for the texturing phase. Head over to the Textures tab. We've provided over 100 seamless textures for you to use out of the box. To make things easier, you can hide the floors,
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walls, or ceilings using the buttons on the bottom right. To apply a texture, just select it and paint it directly onto your mesh.
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With texturing done, it's time to assign our rooms. MLOs rely on room bounds, which we need to manually define. Head over to the Room tab. We made this super intuitive. Just create the number of rooms you need. In our case, two. Select
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the group and assign the room. You'll see the floor color change to match its assigned room. For us, red is room one and green is room two.
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For the final phase of the structure, we're di
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Right now, we need to assign collision materials with the correct room ID. Basically, the room ID we assigned on the grid needs to match the collision materials room ID for that floor. Go to the collision tab, create a collision material, update the
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number in the physics room ID column, select your mesh in pro mode and hit apply. Do this for both rooms, ensuring the numbers match perfectly.
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For the stairs, it's slightly different. Check the tick box, create a separate collision material for them, Enter the room ID where the stairs are located and apply it to the stair mesh.
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Now it's time to create portals. The rule of thumb is always select from the bigger room to the smaller room. Select four vertices in a counterclockwise direction and click Create Portal. Make sure the directional arrow is pointing outside the room. If
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you mess up and need to delete a portal, just select it like I'm doing here in the video and hit delete. Portals are what tell the game how rooms connect to each other. So make sure you place portals between all
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intersecting rooms. In our build, we are doing room two to room one. Again, always big room to small room. Limbo is considered the smallest room.
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All right, now that you have it, we simply hit the export button. You'll find your new files sitting in the MLO Creator Export tab.
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Just grab those and drag and drop them into the SB Map Builder folder and into a fresh WorkHub. Make sure you haven't used this WorkHub before. In our case, we'll use WorkHub 2 to avoid any conflicts. Once you've
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got that, go ahead and load into SB Studio. Select WorkHub 2 and hit Build.
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Give it a quick 30 second loading screen and just like that, our base M-Low is ready to go.
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But before we go inside, let's handle our external props. We're going to use the Y-map creator for our exterior. Open up Plebmasters, type in the prop you want to use, and grab the name.
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You can also create custom add-on props right here. Just spawn a cube or a plane, and you can edit it using blender-like tools, like Extrude and Edit Mode, to get the exact shape you need.
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Once you've created your shape, it's time to texture it using the texture doc. Simply click on the texture you want and apply it. When it looks good, hit export. You'll find these files in the YMAP Creator Export folder.
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Drag and drop them into a fresh WorkHub. We'll use WorkHub 3 this time. and into SB Map Builder? Then just build it like usual using SB Studio.
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Okay, we've built the MLO, so now it's time to furnish it using the MLO Editor. Load into the MLO Editor.
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For the name, make sure you put the exact same name we used in the MLO Creator. Next, paste in the YTYP that our MLO Creator gave us, since the MLO needs to reference its props from that specific YTYP.
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But once you have that, you'll see the room ID being fetched automatically. This is super important.
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For the props themselves, we'll be using PLEB Masters again to grab their names. Just open the site, search for the prop you want, and copy the name.
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Before you start placing things, make sure to check that the default room assignment matches the room ID we just fetched. Props must be placed in their assigned rooms. Room 2 props cannot be streamed in room 1.
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Once your furnishing is done, it's time for lights. How does an MLO come to life without proper lighting, right? Head back to Plebmasters, search for light, and make sure you enable the light source filter. All the props that show up
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will have built-in lighting. Select the light you want and spawn it straight into your MLO.
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To really make those lights pop, we need a good time cycle. Go to the time cycle tab where you can switch between thousands of built-in options to find the perfect vibe. For our interior, we are going to use MP Arcade
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Retro, which looks amazing in low lighting. Keep playing around with different types of lighting and experience the changes in real time until it looks perfect.
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You can also drop into in-game mode to walk around and get a live preview of your MLO.
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Now let's furnish and light the other floor. Just remember to change the room ID assignment as you move into the next room.
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As you can see, our MLO is finally ready to be exported. Go to the Export tab and hit Export. You'll get the files in the MLO Editor Export folder.
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Now, because the MLOYTYP is already being streamed in WorkHub 2. In the Map Builder, we need to use a WorkHub between 11 and 20. Those are dedicated for editing rather than building. Drop your files in there and hit the
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Edit button this time. MLO is fully furnished, so the absolute last thing we need to add is a door. To create a door, we need to jump back into the MLO Editor, put in the YTYP you got from the MLO Editor export, since it contains your props
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as the base, YTYP. Also remember, you can simply save and load your project instead of putting the XML again. Head over to the AdonMesh tab. This is where we create add-on props like we did in the YMAP creator, and it's exactly where we will create our doors. You can use the cube
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and plane buttons to spawn a prop, modify it, and save it to your roster by giving it a name.
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You'll see your saved add-on prop in the MLO Editor. Spawn it in to place it, change its position, or spawn multiple copies. For actual doors, we can either use the door button or a preset. Our script comes with five
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door presets ready to be modified. Go to the Preset tab, select one, and let's use it to calculate our door size.
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Make sure you spawn the preset in world mode first. You can always swap back to local mode later. Once it spawns, you'll see it has a yellow border. Position it, go into edit mode, and scale it up or down so it perfectly matches
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your door frame. When it's placed, it's time to texture it by selecting the faces. A quick shortcut.
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Use Control plus plus to select all adjacent faces so you can texture the door as one solid piece.
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Give it a name, save it to the roster. And this is crucial. Make sure the checkbox is ticked so the game registers it as a functioning door. Spawn it again in the Emlo Editor main tab.
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Export it, and since we are editing again, route those files to a work hub between 11 and 20.
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Place the files, hit the edit button, and you're good to go. As you can see, the add-on prop is created, and your door is fully functional in-game.
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All right, final step, packing your resource. Once everything is completely done, create a brand new resource folder and add a stream folder inside of it.
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First copy everything from your sb underscore map builder file. Next, copy everything from the absolute latest work hub you used to edit. Drop all of those files into your new stream folder. If it asks you to overwrite files
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with the same name, always make sure the latest version is the one going into the stream folder. Finally, remove everything from sb underscore map builder and clear out your work hubs to keep your workspace clean. Start up your new resource, join
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your server, and there it is. We have successfully created a brand new MLO from scratch. Witness SB Studio. We have given you the tools. Now it's up to your imagination to decide what to build next. Thanks for tuning in to Starboys, and we'll see you
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in the next one.
Topics:FiveMSB StudioMLO CreatorGTA5in-game buildingYDR editingYBN collisionRPF Explorermap buildingMLO streaming
