This guide will go through all the steps involved when making a mutation. From your first time opening any modeling software to publishing a finished item. If you have read this guide and have any questions or criticism feel free to leave them here or on discord @Spinoraptyrex#8899
It might all seems a bit daunting at first, but when you get down to it alot of it isn't too complicated.

Everything has rules, even mutations. I will be listing some general and class specific guidelines you should try to follow to make sure your mutation doesn't become ineligible for ingame use.

In order to make a mutation, there are two software applications you will need to install first: The Primal Carnage Extinction editor (SDK) and Blender.

The Primal Carnage Extinction editor (SDK) can already be found in your steam library if you own the base game. If you do not see it you may need to change your filters to include software. You will need it in order to make sure your creation works well if it were to be put in game.

Blender is a free modeling program that can be downloaded on their official page https://www.blender.org/. This is where you will be doing most of your work to make your mutation real. This guide was made using Blender 2.8+ in mind, different versions might change how things work (such as modeling options or just the general layout of the program). After installing, I highly suggest you take a look at this tutorial series by Blender Guru. The first 5 or so video's will teach you the basics of using Blender such as controls and switching between interaction modes. After you understand the basics we can get into the more PCE specific stuff.
Lastly, you will need to acquire Primal's model assets and textures. You can download them here.[primalcarnage.com] (about a 300mb download). Unpack the zip-file in a location you can easily navigate to, such as a folder on your desktop.

Assets for ceratosaurus aren't included in the previous link as it's a recent addition to the game. You can get those
here.[cdn.discordapp.com]

Now that you understand the basics of blender and have all the assets you need, it's time to get started for real. To begin, open blender and remove the basic cube. Next in the very top left you will need to click on 'file -> import -> fbx'. Navigate to the location you have the downloaded models stored at and open SK_Rex.


Next we will be doing two things: hiding the armature of the model and applying textures to it. I like to hide the armature since you don't need it for mutations (in fact, you're not allowed to alter them), and applying the textures will let you have a good idea of how your model edits affect them. Mutations that stretch out textures for example will become ineligible for acceptance.
The armature can be hidden by clicking on the eye symbol to the right of 'Root' in the armature tree. Textures can be applied by going to the material properties tab and clicking on the small circle to the right of 'Base color'. In the list that pops up, select 'image texture'. Just underneath it a new button called 'open' should show up, click on it and navigate to the same folder the model was in. Select T_Base_TRex_UV2_D and click on open image. A little above the setting you're now working with you should see 2 materials named PC_MasterDinoShader and Fbx Default Material 1. Click on the latter and repeat the process of applying a texture, the only difference being you now need to select T_Base_TRex_UV1_D instead. Finally we just need to change our viewport shader to 'material preview', this can be done in the top right.

With everything prepared and in place, we can get to the fun part of making your mutation: the modeling. First off, enable X-axis mirroring. This will make it so both sides of your mutation stay symmetrical so you don't end up with one half edited and one half not.

Now you can choose between two options to edit your model. You can either use sculpt mode or edit mode, and each one has it's perks. Sculpt mode is better for doing large body parts whereas edit mode is better suited for fine details such as claws and teeth.

For the sake of this tutorial I will start in sculpt mode and extend the brows and armor plating of the T-rex, but feel free to make whatever alterations you see fit. This model is just for learning purposes so it doesn't have to be perfect right away, just make it a noticable change for now.

When it comes to making alterations, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. The model you create still needs to work with game mechanics (meaning animations and hitboxes). Making your model too different from the base will cause problems. For example, dramatically extending the arm length on dinosaurs will cause them to glitch out during animations. More on that and how to check it out in the section 'Quality control' of this guide.

With a model good to go, you will now have to export it in blender. First you will need to select only the 4 items like I have selected in the example below. You can do so by holding shift and then dragging your mouse over these 4 items. Alternatively shift+clicking each one also works.


In the top left, click on 'file ->export ->FBX.'


A new window will now open with a whole bunch of settings. In these settings you will need to make sure 'selected objects' is on. In the Transform tab you will need to set it to 'X forward' and Z up'. In the Geometry tab, you need to change the smoothing to 'face'. In the Armature tab, you need to turn off 'add leaf bones'. (You maybe need to click on the tab itself if it's not showing any settings yet.)


Give your export a name and save it in a location you can navigate to easily.

A big factor to whether a mutation gets accepted or not is how well it works with animations, textures and certain cosmetics. This section will show you how to check for issues with any of these things.
To start, launch the Primal Carnage Extinction Editor (SDK) through steam. If it's the first time you run this program it may take a while before actually starting, but don't panic about it.

After it's opened there are two ways to import your model. The first one is to import it as a new item, and the second way is to overwrite the existing base model. We'll start with the first method. Click on the Import button on the bottom of the content browser. A window will popup, navigate to the location you saved your exported model and import it. Another window will popup with some import settings. In the top section you have to put in a name for your package, make it something unique like 'MyPackage'. Click on ok, and also on ok on the next popup.


Your mutation will appear in it's own package and now we can assign textures to it. Double click the mutation inside your content browser. You can make the new window smaller or minimize it. Back in your content browser on the left (the package list), scroll all the way up. Go to PrimalCarnageGame -> Content -> Character -> Dinosaur -> Tyrant -> CH_Trex_MI. You should see the rex's default textures on the top, click on the one that says UV1 so it's highlighted. In the window you opened by double clicking your mutation you should see a grey box in the bottom left labeled 'Skeletal mesh' and under it 'Materials' with two lines. Click on the green arrow of the first line. Go to the content browser and now you select UV2. In the window, click the green arrow of the second line. You should see the textures now applied on your mutation.

Near the top left of the window are 3 tabs labeled 'Mesh' 'Anim' and 'Morph', click on 'Anim'. Under AnimSet, click and select AS_Trex from the dropdown list. This is every animation for the rex used ingame. You can see your model went from a T-pose to an idle pose. On the bottom you can find a play button to play the current selected animation. Try out a few of these animations for yourself and check if anyting looks out of the ordinary.


To test cosmetics, go back to the 'Mesh' tab. Click under Extra Mesh 1 and from the dropdown list you can select any cosmetic in the game. SM_CCC_Rex and SM_Trackingdevice_Rex are the two main ones to test. It should be noted that compatibility with cosmetics is not a requirement, but rather a courtesy from the creator to the people who buy said mutation.


The second method of importing a model is a bit simpler. Go to the package called CH_Trex_Mesh and find SK_Rex inside it. Right click on it and select 'Reimport skeletal mesh'. Your mutation now replaced the default rex model. (IMPORTANT: do not save any package that already existed if you did a reimport like this, as it would delete the base rex from your browser and you would need to reinstall to get it back) Checking animations and cosmetics can be done in the same way.

This second method also allows you to playtest as your mutation within the SDK. To do so, open an existing map by clicking on 'file -> open' in the top left of the program. A window will open and should already be in the location where maps are saved so you can just pick on to your liking (tdm or freeroam maps are better for trying out a mutation). Should you not already be in this location, you can find it in your installed files: Steam -> steamapps -> common -> Primal Carnage Extinction Level Editor -> PrimalCarnageGame -> Content -> Maps. If you get any error messages, click on 'Mark as dirty' if the option is there for that. Click on the blue play button at the top of your editor and it will start a game. Select your dino and that's it. Keep playtime around one minute at a time inside the editor though, the program is not very stable and may crash if played any longer. To leave, press F7 and type 'exit' in the command box.

If your model is finished and is all working fine, it's time to upload it to the workshop. You will need to have the fbx file of your model ready, a seperate UPK file containing a skin if you decided to make one to go along with your mutation and some screenshots. In this guide by Bordo Rujlu you can read how to create skins and take screenshots. They did a good job explaining so I will not repeat it here. https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=645449098

Open the workshop tool, which can be found on your computer at: Steam -> steamapps -> common -> Primal Carnage Extinction Level Editor -> Binaries -> Workshop.

• Item type: Click the box and select 'Dinosaur model'.
  
• Item name: Put in the name of your mutation.
  
• Item description: Describe what your mutation is, if it's based on anything etc...
  
• Preview image: Upload a preview image by clicking on 'browse...'. This image must be 555x312 in resolution and be a png format. anything else will not allow you to upload.
  
• Dinosaur class: Tick the box for your class of dinosaur
  
• Files: Click on 'Browse...' and select your fbx file and your UPK file (only if you made a skin as well).
  
• Free drop: Whether or not you want this item to be marked as a free drop.

If all these sections are filled in, press 'Publish'.

Give it a little bit of time to process and then go to your workshop via your profile. There should now be a page for your mutation. If you go to it's page you will be able to add any screenshots you have there. Lastly but most importantly you will have to add payment info to your account in order to fully publish your items. You will likely see a message about this on the top of the page. Read and fill it all in carefully and truthfully as it is a legal contract. When that is done, go back to your item's page and near the bottom you should be able to accept the payment split. When that is done your item is public and can be accepted into the game should the developers choose to.

If you still want to know more about mutations or are looking to do some more complex modifications, you can ask question in the appropriate channels of the official PCE discord and also in the SDK discord where alot of other creators give advice and feedback to eachother. https://discord.gg/u5asUYG