Advanced Topics: Packaging & Asset Filtering

When you generate the final .pak for your mod, Unreal Engine also creates a file named Manifest_UFSFiles_Win64.txt under:

Plugins\MD_Mod_Test\Saved\StagedBuilds\Windows\Manifest_UFSFiles_Win64.txt

This manifest lists every asset included in the packaged .pak. You should verify that no assets come from outside the MD_Mod/Plugins/[YourModName]/Content folder.

Including any base game files or other external assets in your .pak is unnecessary and can potentially cause issues.

Excluding Unwanted Assets

To prevent extraneous files from being packaged, add them to Directories to Never Cook in:

Project Settings > Packaging > Advanced > Directories to Never Cook

Make sure to use the same path conventions shown in the Manifest_UFSFiles_Win64.txt. You can also refer to your cooking logs (e.g., LogCook: Display: Cooking /GAS_Utility/Gameplay/Abilities/) to see which paths the engine is using.

Path Conversion Examples

Below are examples of how paths appear in Manifest_UFSFiles_Win64.txt and how you should specify them in Directories to Never Cook:

Engine/Content/BasicShapes/BasicShapeMaterial.uasset

becomes

/Engine/BasicShapes/BasicShapeMaterial

---

MD_Mod/Plugins/GAS_Utility/Content/Gameplay/

becomes

/GAS_Utility/Gameplay/

Adding Custom Proxy Assets

If you add new assets to the Content folder (for example, creating custom proxy assets), you may encounter data validation errors related to the asset referencing policy. To fix these, add the asset path in:

Project Settings > Game > Asset Referencing Policy > Additional Domains > Proxy > Specific Assets

Use the same format as in the following example:

/Game/GameLogics/Player/BP_PlayerCharacter

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