PAL & Explicit Assets

CrimeForge uses a Primary Asset Label, or PAL, to describe content that belongs to a mod’s cook/package workflow.

The standard PAL created for a mod is named:

PAL_<ModName>

Why the PAL matters

The PAL is part of the information CrimeForge uses to determine which assets need to be cooked and included when the mod is Forged.

It is also used by the validation tooling to catch incorrect packaging configuration before the cook starts.

Chunk ID

A mod PAL uses a Chunk ID that must not collide with chunks used by PAYDAY 3 or its DLC.

A value greater than 100 is recommended for community mods.

333 is not a required CrimeForge Chunk ID.

Choose an unused value that is outside the game’s and DLC’s chunk IDs. Values above 100 are recommended.

Explicit Assets

Use the PAL’s Explicit Assets list for assets that must be included explicitly in the mod’s package.

This is especially important for base-game replacement assets that use external /Game/…​ paths rather than the mod plugin’s own content root.

For example, the cooked-asset replacement workflow is:

  1. Locate the original cooked asset under /Game/…​.

  2. Inspect its available defaults and references.

  3. Right-click the cooked asset and choose Convert to Uncooked.

  4. Make the required changes to the uncooked replacement.

  5. Add the changed asset to the CrimeForge mod PAL’s Explicit Assets list.

  6. Forge the mod.

  7. Test the replacement in PAYDAY 3.

See Cooked Assets for more about converting mounted game assets.

Asset Manager registration

CrimeForge validates that the mod’s PAL is registered correctly with the project’s Asset Manager configuration.

If that registration is missing or incorrect, the validation pass can report the problem before Forge continues.

External /Game replacements

Assets under a mod plugin and replacement assets under /Game/…​ are handled differently by the Forge pipeline.

Plugin-only mods can use the normal plugin cook path.

When external /Game/…​ replacements are present, CrimeForge uses its additional replacement cook stage so both plugin content and the external replacement content can be included in the same forged mod.

See Forge for the two-stage workflow.