Asset Definition Files

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Asset Management

Overview and Setup  •  Download an Asset Repository  •  Using Asset Importer  •  Using Asset Packager  •  Team Development

Reference

Anatomy of a Repository  •  Asset Definition Files  •  Asset List Files

Contents

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Overview

An asset definition file is an XML file with a .asset filename extension. It contains the definition of a single game/world asset. The Multiverse Tools use asset definition files to manage assets and dependencies among them.

All assets with asset definition files refer to other asset definitions. For example, a Mesh asset definition refers to a Material asset definition. This enables a material to be used with multiple meshes, and dynamically change the material used to paint a mesh. Likewise a material asset definition refers to a texture; so, textures may be referred to by multiple materials.

Assets that never refer to other assets, such as fonts, shaders, and scripts, do not have asset definiton files.

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Runtime restrictions

The Multiverse Client will read all assets from any of the directories shown in the table below, with the following restrictions:

  • Python scripts must be in /Scripts.
  • Shader programs must be in /GpuPrograms.
  • UI files and event handler scripts must be in /Interface/FrameXML.
  • Imagesets must be in /Interface/Imagesets.

Otherwise, asset files can go anywhere. However, the the Client will not load assets from:

  • Nonstandard asset repository sub-directories, in other words, sub-directories other than /Font, /GPuPrograms, /Icons, and so on.
  • New subdirectories of the asset repository sub-directories. For example, the Client won't read files from a /Meshes/MyMesh subdirectory.
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Asset types

Each asset that references other assets has an asset definition file. Every asset requires one or more types of files, and each type of file goes into a sub-directory of the asset repository, as described below:

Asset Type Directory in Asset Repository Description Asset Definition File
Fonts Fonts Font files (such as TrueType .TTF files) for displaying text. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
Shaders GpuPrograms Programs for vertex and pixel shaders on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) written in Cg. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
Icons Icons Image for an icon. Refers to an icon (.ico) file.
Images Imagefiles Binary targa (.tga) image files. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
User Interface (UI) Files Interface/FrameXML XML files defining the client UI and associated Python event handlers. See Overview of Developing Client UI for more information. Refers to a UI file, Imageset, and Image file.
Key Binding Files Interface/FrameXML Files to create key mappings (bindings), Bindings.xml and bindings.txt. Refers to key binding files.
Imagesets Interface/Imagesets XML files containing imagesets. See Imageset Files for more information. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
Material Scripts Materials Files with .material extension written in OGRE material script language. Specifies attributes of a model's appearance, such as lighting and texturing. See Creating Material Scripts for more information. Refers to a .material file, textures, and shaders.
Meshes Meshes Defines 3D models. Refers to other .mesh files, a .skeleton file, and a .material asset definition.
Miscellaneous Misc Files that don't fit anywhere else.
Videos Movies Video files such as .wmv files.
Particle Scripts Particles Particle script files. For more information, see the Particle Scripts. Refers to a .particle file, material asset definition
Physics / Collision Volumes Physics XML files that define collision volumes for models. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
Plant Type N/A Defines a plant type for World Editor. Refers to an imageset and a material asset definiton. This is an unusual asset definition.
Python Scripts Scripts Python scripts. Refers to a .py file
Skeletons Skeletons Binary files defining models' bones, the bone hierarchy, and animations expressed in terms of the bones. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
Sounds Sounds Audio files for music and sound effects. Refers to a binary .ogg or .wav file.
SpeedTree SpeedTree Tree model from SpeedTree. Refers to a binary SpeedTree (.tre) file, texture files.
Textures Textures Binary image files such as .dds and .png files. No asset definition file; only referenced by others.
Wind SpeedTree SpeedTree wind file Binary image files such as .dds and .png files.
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Example

The following is an example of an asset file for a mesh asset. Notice how it references a material asset, human_house_stilt_Material.asset. 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AssetDefinition>
  <Name>human_house_stilt_Mesh</Name>
  <Description>Human Stilt House</Description>
  <Type>Mesh</Type>
  <Category>Buildings</Category>
  <Files>
    <AssetFile>
      <TargetFile>Meshes\human_house_stilt.mesh</TargetFile>
      <FileType>Mesh</FileType>
    </AssetFile>
    <AssetFile>
      <TargetFile>AssetDefinitions\human_house_stilt_Material.asset</TargetFile>
      <FileType>AssetDefinition</FileType>
    </AssetFile>
  </Files>
</AssetDefinition>
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