Sky hologram advertisements

Replace supported sky-advertising textures with a custom resource pack. The following sections describe the asset layout, build process and deployment requirements.

This is a pre-boot asset pipeline. Lua declares the resulting package, but it cannot swap these textures while the game is running: the particle material resolves its XBM through REDengine's resource depot when the game boots.

Build the Open77 example#

Requirements:

• Cyberpunk 2077 2.31 available at the game directory;
• PowerShell 7;
• WolvenKit CLI 8.19 or a compatible release.

From the repository root:

pwsh scripts/new-open77-sky-ad-texture.ps1

pwsh scripts/build-sky-advertising.ps1 `
  -InputPath assets/sky-ads/open77-towers-of-light.png `
  -ArchiveName Open77SkyAds `
  -OutputDirectory resources/open77_sky_ads/dist `
  -WolvenKitCli E:/Apps/WolvenKit.Console/WolvenKit.CLI.exe

The first command deterministically composites the tracked assets/open77.png logo into a 128×2048 strip. The second command:

1. extracts the four matching vanilla XBM headers from the local game installation;
2. imports the PNG into each header while preserving the measured texture contract;
3. validates dimensions, compression, group, gamma, streaming, downgrade and 12 mips;
4. packs Open77SkyAds.archive;
5. wraps it as Open77SkyAds.zip under archive/pc/mod/;
6. writes a manifest with hashes and sizes.

The archive index timestamp and its CRC64 are normalized, so rebuilding unchanged input produces the same archive and package hash instead of forcing every player to download identical art again.

The scripts never install the archive and never start or stop the game. Extracted CDPR resources stay under ignored build/ paths and are not committed.

Put it in a resource#

Use this layout:

resources/open77_sky_ads/
  open77.lua
  server/main.lua
  source/custom-strip.png
  dist/Open77SkyAds.zip

open77.lua:

resource "open77_sky_ads"
version "1.0.0"
auto_start true

server_script "server/main.lua"
preload_mod "dist/Open77SkyAds.zip"

server/main.lua can be minimal; the declaration does the boot work:

AddEventHandler("onResourceStart", function(name)
    if name == GetCurrentResourceName() then
        print("Open77 sky-ad theme declared for the next launcher boot")
    end
end)

Select open77_sky_ads in resources.load and leave requiredMods.enabled set to true. Restart the dedicated server. Its effective required-mod digest now includes the resource package; players receive it through the normal launcher Connect flow before Cyberpunk starts.

Do not also add the ZIP to files. Open77 excludes it if a broad glob happens to match, but the source PNG does not need client delivery either. It is build input, not a WebUI texture.

Custom PNG or DDS#

The input must be exactly 128×2048. PNG is the simplest authoring format. DDS is accepted for artists who already control its export, but the rebuilt XBM is still validated against the vanilla contract.

All four bands are replaced by default:

pwsh scripts/build-sky-advertising.ps1 `
  -InputPath resources/open77_sky_ads/source/custom-strip.dds `
  -OutputDirectory resources/open77_sky_ads/dist `
  -ArchiveName MyWorldSkyAds

For a diagnostic partial replacer, pass -Targets a,b (valid values are a, b, b_censored, and c). A public world should normally replace all four so quest/censorship variants do not fall back to unrelated vanilla art.

What is replaced#

The archive overrides four vanilla depot paths below:

base/environment/decoration/advertising/holograms/giant_commercial_stripe/

They are giant_commercial_stripe_a.xbm, _b.xbm, _b_censored.xbm, and _c.xbm. Ten cityscape/quest particle resources consume these textures. The particles keep their own vertical scroll, glow, alpha mask and fade, so source art remains static.

Ordinary billboards are a different Ink/TweakDB worldAdvertisementNode system. Tools such as World Advert Configurator apply to those panels, not to the four sky stripes.

Update and removal#

After changing the source image:

1. rebuild the ZIP into the resource;
2. restart the dedicated server so it computes and publishes the new hash;
3. leave the current game session;
4. reconnect through the launcher so the new world profile is projected before boot.

A resource restart is insufficient. Removing the resource from resources.load, restarting the server and launching that world again removes its package from the profile and restores vanilla, unless another installed replacer targets the same paths.