FiveM modding tools compared: OpenIV, CodeWalker, Sollumz and 5MC Forge

The short version: there is no single FiveM tool that does everything. OpenIV opens the game files, CodeWalker shows and edits the world, Blender with Sollumz models, and 5MC Forge turns the most common jobs (MLO, livery, clothing, weapon skin) straight into a finished resource. Which combination you need depends on what you build. The table gives the overview, each tool is covered below.

The tools at a glance

OpenIV: the file browser for GTA V

GTA V packs almost everything into RPF archives. OpenIV opens them like folders: you see models (ydr, yft), textures (ytd) and meta files and can copy them out. For FiveM it is mainly the way to get at original files, such as a vehicle model whose livery you want to change. It does little real editing; it is the entry point, not the tool for the result.

CodeWalker: the world as a map

CodeWalker loads the whole game world and shows it in 3D. You use it to find coordinates, see which objects stand where and edit ymaps: move, delete or place props. For map edits and removing objects it is the standard tool. CodeWalker also converts game files to XML and back, which many other workflows rely on. An MLO does not build itself there though: you need to understand rooms, portals and collision and maintain them by hand.

Blender with Sollumz: custom models

Sollumz is a free Blender add-on that imports and exports GTA formats. If you want to model your own architecture, vehicles or clothing, you can hardly avoid it. Its strength is total freedom, the price is the learning curve: modelling, UVs, skeleton weights, materials and collision are each a topic of their own. For genuinely new shapes Blender stays the right route.

3ds Max: the old pro route

Many older tutorials and MLOs were made in 3ds Max with the GIMS plugin. It works, but it is expensive and rarely the best choice for beginners today, because Sollumz in Blender does the same job for free. How to build an MLO without 3ds Max at all is in the article Create a FiveM MLO without 3ds Max.

5MC Forge: from editor to finished resource

The 5MC Forge creator tool is our own app, born because we kept running through the same chain of tools for our own servers. Forge reads the game files straight from your GTA V installation and has five editors, each ending in a finished resource: fxmanifest.lua, stream folder and a version for FiveM Enhanced.

• Interiors: paint a floor plan, Forge generates shell, rooms, portals and collision; you furnish with around 32,000 props from the game. See Create an MLO without 3ds Max.
• Vehicle liveries: template from the model, painting on the 3D car, export with carvariations. See GTA 5 livery template.
• Clothing: paint GTA clothing, check it on a moving ped, generate inventory images. See Build a clothing pack.
• Weapon skins: liveries per weapon and attachment that coexist with other packs. See Weapon skins with Forge.

What Forge is not: a modelling program. Genuinely new shapes are still built in Blender; Forge can take such models in as OBJ and works with Blender for unwrapping livery UVs. And for deleting objects in the open world, CodeWalker remains the right tool.

Which tool for which job?

Legacy and Enhanced

Since FiveM also runs on GTA V Enhanced, resources need an additional converted version. Cfx provides Alchemist for that. The classic way is converting every resource yourself; Forge creates the stream_enhanced folder next to stream on export. More in the article FiveM Enhanced for creators.

Justin Beil

Founder of 5MCustoms

Justin has been building FiveM servers, vehicles and interiors for years. 5MC Forge is the tool that grew out of it. What you read here comes from practice, not from a product sheet.

Discord