Hello Epic Games, I’m working on submission for a project and we’re having to manage a content issue for a patch.
To give some context into our systems, we’re using libvpx to decode media content to play videos on runtime for our game and we pull it from the raw media content. We were requested to move a bunch of raw movie content from our package into a DLC package. Is there a way to do that on Unreal 4.27+ and access the files from the DLC package?
Heya bumping this, we could use an answer soon if possible
Hi [mention removed],
Just letting you know I’m working on the case. Just to know, do you intend this to be on 4.27 or are you ok with an UE5 solution?
Best,
Joan
Hey Joan,
If possible, yes I would intend this to be on 4.27+, doing an engine upgrade is very difficult at the current stage the game is at unfortunately. If it has to come to it, I can explore integrating a UE5 changelist to allow for this.
Thanks,
Chris
Hello [Content removed]
Depending on your needs, you may package your media files in a plugin-based DLC or a chunk-based DLC using ChunkDownloader. Either way, there should be no problems accessing files from the DLC package.
Plugin-based DLC will allow you to package your media content as a modular plugin that can be distributed separately from the base game.
With this approach, you’ll have put your raw media inside the project’s Plugins/<DLCName>/Content/ directory, then build a base release and package the plugin using UAT with -basedonreleaseversion and -DLCName.
After packaging, your DLC should be copied and distributed inside the game’s Plugins folder. The engine will pick up the plugin manifest and load the media directly from the DLC’s .pak files at startup.
Here’s an official step-by-step implementation guide:
Alternatively, using the ChunkDownloader plugin, you can deliver chunk-based .pak DLC that can be downloaded by players at runtime. With this approach, first, you should assign your raw media folders a Primary Asset Label with a unique non-zero Chunk ID and set their Cook Rule to Always Cook. (Mark them as Runtime Labels to include them in the runtime asset registry.)
In Project Settings -> Packaging, we need to enable Use Pak File and Generate Chunks + enable the ChunkDownloader plugin (https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en\-us/unreal\-engine/setting\-up\-the\-chunkdownloader\-plugin\-in\-unreal\-engine) to handle downloading and mounting of those DLC chunks. At runtime, the ChunkDownloader will allow you to load and play media files directly from the mounted .pak files.
Please follow the official implementation guide:
As you can see, these approaches will package and access your media from .pak files instead of loose raw media files.
Please let me know if this is going to be helpful in your case and don’t hesitate to ask if you need any further assistance.
Best,
Joan
Hello,
Thank you. Thought this was a general UE issue but it seems this worked for packaging for Windows. The information was helpful
Unfortunately the issue I’m having seems to be nintendo specific. it is not packaging the raw media content in the dlc pack. Should I reopen this ticket in the proper forum for the specific platform?
Thanks,
Chris
Hi [mention removed],
If the issue is Nintendo-specific, it should be handled in a separate ticket. Depending on the details you need to provide, applying the Confidential tag to that ticket may also be necessary.
So yes, please open a new case explaining the Nintendo specific information you have. For anything related to consoles, please also refer to:
[Content removed]
Best,
Joan
Hi [mention removed],
Will close the case for now, feel free to open it again if you need extra information regarding the first topic.
Best,
Joan