Map-Modding-Utils-GUI

GTA5 Modding Utils – GUI Front-End for Larcius' Tools
=====================================================

For Support, please join my Discord and use the support channel for the modding tools UI this script can be hard to get working so I encourage you to join.

This is a Windows GUI front-end for Larcius’ open-source **gta5-modding-utils** Python toolkit.

Instead of typing long command-line arguments, you can:
- Browse your input/output folders
- Pick which workers to run (vegetation, entropy, reducer, clustering, LOD map, etc.)
- Configure advanced settings in a few text boxes and sliders
- See all console output in a built-in log window

The heavy lifting is still done by the original Python scripts – this tool just makes them much easier and safer to run, especially if you’re not comfortable with Python or the command line.

--------------------------------------------------
FEATURES
--------------------------------------------------
• Modern Windows GUI
- Single, resizable window with log output at the bottom
- Optional light / dark themes
- Intro screen explaining the full setup and workflow

• One-click access to gta5-modding-utils workers
Each checkbox in the main window corresponds to a main.py flag:
- Vegetation → runs VegetationCreator (creates vegetation .ymap.xml into a generated folder)
- Entropy → builds entropy-based LOD/SLOD vegetation maps
- Reducer → merges dense vegetation while keeping similar visual density
- Clustering → splits entities into clusters (by polygon and grid)
- Static col → generates static collision (staticCol)
- LOD map → builds LOD/SLOD maps and meshes (LodMapCreator)
- Clear LOD → removes existing LOD/SLOD before rebuilding
- Reflection → generates additional reflection meshes for your vegetation
- Sanitizer → fixes common problems in .ymap.xml (flags, rotations, archetype names…)
- Statistics → prints useful statistics about your maps in the console

• Advanced options
- Reducer resolution & “adapt scaling” toggle
- Fixed number of clusters
- Clustering prefix and excluded maps
- Polygon region as JSON (for restricting processing to an area)

• LOD Atlas Helper & Preview
- Helper tool to build LOD atlas JSON for custom vegetation
- Load your atlas texture (PNG/DDS) and YTYP/props XML
- Map prop names to atlas tiles via a grid
- 3D preview window to visualize a LOD mesh with your atlas applied

• Built-in help
- “View Readme” window with a quick-start guide
- Extra “Commands” tab explaining what every checkbox/flag actually does

--------------------------------------------------
REQUIREMENTS
--------------------------------------------------
This GUI does NOT replace the original setup. You still need:

• Python 3.11 (or Miniconda/Anaconda with a matching environment)
• The gta5-modding-utils environment set up as described by Larcius
- Use the provided environment.yml and install the required packages
- Make sure your Python/conda environment can run main.py without errors

The GUI includes a local copy of `gta5-modding-utils-main`, but you can also point it to your own checkout if you prefer.

--------------------------------------------------
INSTALLATION & USAGE
--------------------------------------------------
1. Follow the original gta5-modding-utils setup
- Install Python 3.11
- Create/activate the environment from environment.yml
- Install the packages listed in Larcius’ README (numpy, scikit-learn, shapely, etc.)
- Also install python -m pip install glob2

2. Extract the “Modding-Utils-GUI”/“GTA5ModdingUtilsGUI” folder anywhere you like.

3. Start the GUI
- Double-click `GTA5ModdingUtilsGUI.exe`.
- Read the Intro page once (it explains the workflow).

4. Point the GUI to your gta5-modding-utils
- This is the gta5-modding-utils script folder which you download from Larcius github
- Replace his LodMapCreator.py with the edited version (allows to convert mesh to obj for quick UV edit in application.

5. Pick your files and options
- Input folder: your .ymap.xml files and related data
- Output folder: where generated files will be written
(leave empty to use `generated`)
- Project prefix: same prefix used by the original scripts
- Enable the workers you want (Vegetation / Entropy / Reducer / Clustering / LOD map / etc.)
- Adjust advanced options if needed.

6. Click **Run**
- Watch the console output in the log window.
- When finished, check your output folder for the generated YMAP/YTYP/LOD/atlas assets.

Always back up your maps before running any tools on them.

--------------------------------------------------
CREDITS
--------------------------------------------------
• Original Python toolkit & core logic: **Larcius**
Repository: https://github.com/Larcius/gta5-modding-utils

• Windows GUI front-end: **TheBabyGoat**
This application is just a front-end; all core algorithms and workers are by Larcius.

--------------------------------------------------
CHANGELOG
--------------------------------------------------
v1.2
- Full public release of the GTA5 Modding Utils GUI
- Full front-end for main.py with checkboxes for all major workers
- Advanced options for reducer, clustering and polygon regions
- LOD Atlas Helper for building atlas JSON from your custom textures and YTYP/props XML
- LOD Atlas 3D live UV editor
- Built-in intro screen and “Readme / Commands” help viewer
- Basic theming (dark/light) and persistent settings (tool path, theme, etc.)

v1.3
-Updated LodMapCreator.py which was causing errors when running the script in the UI with custom assets

v.14
-Added ability to set LOD distance based on a percentage for each vegetation type
-Added a toggle to keep map names the same overwriting the need for a prefix name
-Updated Larcius default python scripts to reflect these changes
-Included a DLC map setup (Change the ChangeMe name to your preferred naming)