File formats
The engine ships its own formats. Source art is converted once at import time and never at runtime, which is most of why load times are short. There are two kinds of file here, on purpose.
Data is text. .vrxcfg and .vrxpart are meant to
be opened in a text editor and edited by hand. Copy one of the game's, change a number,
ship it.
Authored assets are sealed. .vrxblk, .vrxanm,
.vrxrig and .vrxscr are written by their tool and read by the
game, and nothing else. This is not secrecy, the game ships the key. It is a closed door:
a half-edited animation is a character with its arm on backwards rather than a mod, so an
edit that gets past the door fails the checksum and is refused.
| File | Holds | Editing | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|
.vrxcfg |
Content definitions and mod manifests: ships, craftables, drinks, keycards. | Text. Open it in any editor. | Any editor |
.vrxpart |
One particle effect: emitters, curves, and frame strips for animated images. | Text. Open it in any editor. | Particle Builder |
.vrxblk |
A build block: outline, integrity, mass, cost, and the sides it joins on. | Sealed. Written and read by its tool. | Block Builder |
.vrxanm |
A character animation clip, including emotes. | Sealed. Written and read by its tool. | Animation Creator |
.vrxrig |
A character rig: the joints an animation drives. | Sealed. Written and read by its tool. | Animation Creator |
.vrxscr |
A compiled VrxScript, which is what the game actually loads. | Sealed. Compiled from a .vrx source file. |
Vyrex Editor |
.vrxmdl |
A static mesh for the 3D engine, converted from OBJ or FBX. | Built from OBJ or FBX. | Asset Builder |
.vrxtex |
Art, in one of two payloads. Which one matters, see below. | Built from PNG. | Asset Builder |
.vrxsav |
A world save. | Written by the game. | The game |
Textures have two payloads
.vrxtex holds art in one of two ways, and which one you pick decides whether
it draws at all:
- 2D, lossless, for anything Galactic Prospectors draws. The Asset Builder does this by default.
- 3D, BC7 blocks with a full mip chain, for surfaces the 3D engine uploads. Tick Build for the 3D engine in the Asset Builder.
not a 2D texture and draws nothing. If a
sprite is invisible in Galactic Prospectors, that tick box is the first thing to check.
Loose .png works too. The games read it directly, so a mod can ship art
without going through the Asset Builder at all; packing it into .vrxtex is
what buys the mip chain and the smaller download.