Overview
How to Guide for complete beginners on modding skins in UMvC3. Backing up originals, folder locations, website recommendations, etc.
WIP – Guide Not Complete
This guide is a work in progress and will be updated over time.
Backing Up Original Files
Anytime you are altering game files, the first step is to create a backup that can be used if there are any issues down the road. You’d be surprised at how many skins seem to have issues from time to time and you will be happy you had a backup.
Folder path for your files:
characters: D:SteamLibrarysteamappscommonULTIMATE MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3nativePCx64chrarchive
actual game save: /c/program86/steam/userdata/xxxxxxxxxx/357190
I have a folder on my external hard drive labeled Backups. Within that folder is a UMVC3 folder that contains both the character backups and a folder for my actual game save.
Locating Skins Online
Gamebanana – One of the biggest locations of modded skins, there are large packs, individual skins, MCU version of characters, even the Herald alternates for each fighter.
Reddit – reddit r/MvC3/ – Majority of the mods posted here are OC or user made posted in google drive folders and other means. In general this is another solid place to find custom or modded skins.
Gamewatcher – Decent collection of skins, special effect recolors, music and other packs. Similar to the items in Gamebanana but I have seen a few unique ones here.
Decoding Hex keys
Each character is not labeled with their name but instead a Hex Code. When you are replacing the skin for a character, locate their corresponding Hex Code.
Character Arc IDs
Character .ARC files location: ULTIMATE MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3nativePCx64chrarchive
00XX_YY.arc => where XX is the character, YY is the costume slot
00XX_00 (default costume)
00XX_01 through 00XX_05 (the other color versions of the default costume)
00XX_06 (H&H Color)
00XX_07 (Alternate)
00XX_08 (gold H&H) – only Akuma, Doom, Wesker and Dorm have this
Example: 0032_05.arc is Taskmaster’s 6th costume slot, his black regular costume.
Capcom Characters
0000 – Cpu Dummy
0001 – Ryu
0002 – Chun-Li
0003 – Gouki (Akuma)
0004 – Chris
0005 – Wesker
0006 – Viewtiful Joe
0007 – Dante
0008 – Trish
0009 – Frank West
0010 – Spencer
0011 – Sir Arthur
0012 – Amaterasu
0013 – Zero
0014 – Tron Bonne
0015 – Morrigan
0016 – Lei-Lei (Hsien-Ko)
0017 – Felicia
0018 – Crimson Viper
0019 – Haggar
0020 – Jill
0021 – Strider Hiryu
0022 – Vergil
0023 – Naruhodo (Phoenix Wright)
0024 – Red Aremer (Firebrand)
0025 – Nemesis
Marvel Characters
0026 – Spider Man
0027 – Captain America
0028 – Wolverine
0029 – Magneto
0030 – Hulk
0031 – She Hulk
0032 – Taskmaster
0033 – Iron Man
0034 – Thor
0035 – Doctor Doom
0036 – Phoenix
0037 – Shuma Gorath
0038 – Modok
0039 – Dormammu
0040 – Deadpool
0041 – Storm
0042 – Super Skrull
0043 – Sentinel
0044 – X-23
0045 – Nova
0046 – Rocket Racoon
0047 – Ghost Rider
0048 – Iron Fist
0049 – Dr Strange
0050 – Hawkeye
0051 – Galactus
Stage Arc IDs
Stage .ARC folder location: ULTIMATE MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3nativePCx64stg
Inside are currently 19 folders, each with the .ARC file dedicated to stage
000 – Training Room
002 – Daily Bugle
003 – Metro City
004 – Demon Village
005 – Kattlelox Island
006 – Hand Hideout? 007 – S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
009 – Asgard
010 – Tricell Labs
011 – Fate of the World
100 – Danger Room
102 – City That Never Sleeps
103 – Days of Future Past
104 – Demon Village Redux
105 – Bonne Wonderland
106 – Shadowland
107 – Shield Air Show
109 – Asgard: Sea of Space
110 – Chaos at Tricell
Update Skin Folder
Once you have identified the corresponding Hex code, head to the skin folder and drag the new skin into it. Keep in mind that the skin has a specific slot to go into and will take its place. This will ask if you’d like to replace the current skin and you can press yes since you’ve already created a backup.
It always helps to double check you are dragging the correct new skin into your main skins folder.
TEST the Skin!
There are some skins that seem to work fine for other people but regardless of how many times I attempt to install, the game hard crashes if its picked for a fight. It’s an inconvenient crash when you are fighting with a friend and have to boot the game back up. You will know the first time you try to launch up a battle with a modded skin if it will work for you.
My suggestion is to try them all by yourself first and if it crashes, replace the specific skin you’ve just tested with either the original from your backup skin folder or an alternate modded skin. Whether its the training room or Arcade mode, testing is always recommended.
Profit
You’ve done it! The hard work is over and any new skins can be added that you find over time. There surprisingly are skins still being created and added all the time which is exciting.
If you play online with the same few friends and they want to see the same modded skins you have, feel free to create a zip folder of your skin path and share it via email. They will obviously want to back up their skins as well for future use but having the same modded skins installed means if someone selects Sentinel with the captain america skin, both parties will see that during the fight. Sharing is caring.
