Index:
(this listcontinuallyupdated)The Launch Menu:
When you start TK17, if everything is working properly, you will see "TWRK17" in green (fig 1). If however the text is red (fig 2), that means an error was detected in your setup.
While most users will leave the "Renderer Type" on the default "DirectX" setting, if you are experiencing trouble using third-party graphic mods (the most popular is called "Hook"), or are running TK17 using an emulator on another OS (ie: Linux, Mac), switch to "OpenGL" mode to disable it without the need to uninstall it.
Color depth has little-to-no impact on speed, so feel free to use the highest mode available.
Only resolution options recognized by your OS will be listed here. From Windows, you should see every resolution your monitor supports, but if you are running TK17 from another OS (e.g.: Linux), TK17 may not be able to detect every resolution available to you (more on running TK17 from Linux below).
Use "Vertical Synchronization" if your frame rate is unusually slow. Some older video cards benefit from matching your software's frame rate to the frame rate of your monitor.
Use "Limit to 120Hz" if you have an extremely fast video card that is overheating because it is rendering frames too quickly (frame rate too high).
v7.5 users moving to VX/V11:
TXX addon mods are no longer placed in the "Archives\2.114.001\ folder, In VX/V11, you must place old txx files in the "Addons" folder. VX will automatically extract their contents into folders which are then automatically zipped.
Head & Body mods: Simply put head and body mods in the "Addons" folder. after which you may select them in the Customizer. The famed "EMFS Tool" is no longer needed to assign different body mods to different models. Once installed, Body mods will be added to a drop-down menu at the top of the "Body" tab. Head mods are found on the first Head tab ("FaceMaker"). Changes to heads and bodies are NOT applied immediately. You must exit to the Main Menu and return to see the changes.
The "Options Manager":
You can customize TK17 using a separate utility called the "Options Manager" (which is found in the TK17 installation folder).
Just some of the many things you can change using the OpMan:
Set the default language
Set shower heads to "always on" (does NOT affect ALL showers.)
Hide certain types of models or clothing
Increase font size of ToolTips.
Displaying both object names & numbers in Customizer menus.
Even enable/disable Addons.
You must close TK17 before attempting to modify it using the OpMan.
The "Mod" folder:
There are four (4) folders inside the "Mod" folder:
ActiveMod
FaceMate
PoseEdit
ToyEdit
As explained on the "Installing Mods" page, "ActiveMod" is where you place specially named textures (in folders) that replace the default textures of addon rooms/clothing/toys. Give old objects a new look by replacing its texture.
"FaceMate" is for importing textures for use with "FaceMate" (a stripped down version of the commercial "FaceGen" software designed just for TK17.
"PoseEdit" is for importing poses downloaded from other users. If you edit a pose, TK17 requires you to save that pose to your "Save" folder. TK17 can easily detect improperly-named poses placed in the "Community\PoseEdit\" folder that might not appear if placed directly in the "Save\" folder.
TK17 allows you to sort/manage poses using "Tags" which appear as folders in the SexBrowser. Assign tags to any pose to help you more easily locate it in the future.
If you right-click on any pose, you can assign a "tag" to it. Tags can be most any alphanumeric name, and you can assign multiple tags to any pose.
It is HIGHLY recommended you tag ALL poses and keep your "Community\PoseEdit\" folder empty whenever possible. Newly imported poses can be found easily in the "Untagged" & "Community" menu folders (see fig 2). It is because of this that you should either load then re-save your imported poses via the Pose Editor then go back and delete the imported version, or use Gerello's "TK_Utils" (recommended), a free utility that can automatically move and properly rename imported poses for you.
"ToyEdit" is for importing toys created using the built-in "Toy Editor", which can be switched on or off in Options Manager>Shop Packages>Other. You can create your own toys with textures using this editor although they are somewhat limited to either cylindrical or flat items. Textures for your created toys should be placed in the Mod\ToyEdit folder to access them in Toy Editor. Saved toys will end up in the Save folder. Experimentation is the key. Toys created in VX/V11 are not compatible with v7.5.
How to install a downloaded model:
The built in Import/Export system of TK17 might work well with Poses and Sequences, but has some flaws & incompatibilities when it comes to Models, particularly if you already have a model folder with the same number as the model you downloaded.
Here is an alternative way of installing models you may have downloaded from other users:
1) Start TK17 and go to the Model selection menu.
2) (Click the "Choose SexMate" button) Clone any model of the same gender (don't clone a Hentai model unless you downloaded a Hentai model.) DON'T click OK.
3) Just beneath the model name, you'll see "Clone No." followed by a 4 digit number.
4) Close TK17 and locate your Save\Models\" folder. Locate "Model####" (where #### is the clone number.)
5) Open your downloaded model folder.
6) Copy everything EXCEPT the "Base.id" file to the clone folder and Overwrite.
When you go back to TK17, your downloaded model will have replaced the clone. This annoying long process is necessary b/c the Model Export feature is buggy.
Running VX/V11 from Linux:
V11 should run unmodified from Linux using the popular PC software translator "Wine". The popular graphics mod called "Hook" is 32bit and therefore incompatible with V11.
It is possible to run VX with "Hook 5" from Linux using "Wine" once you have installed a graphics driver that includes "Vulkan" (the OS-independent successor to "OpenGL") and "DxVk"... "DirectX to Vulkan"... the Direct-X translation layer.
Pose Editor tips:
Try not to place keyframes between two other keyframes during editing in the Pose Editor. This can create unexpected movement between those keyframes that can be difficult (or impossible) to remove. Instead, use the "Copy/Paste" method to copy the starting position and paste it to the end after you re-position your actor.
TK17 does not come with any stock "Foursome" poses, so there is no "Foursome" folder by default. It will appear as soon as you create/import a Foursome pose.
Want to see what a pose looks like in different rooms, but don't want to waste all day jumping in & out of FreeMode or the Pose Editor just to change rooms each time? Use the Sequencer Room instead. Drop your pose on the timeline, then by placing a different room on the timeline, you can change rooms without exiting back to the Main Menu each time. A real time-saver. But remember, if you don't save your changes before leaving the Sequencer, THEY ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY SAVED on exit the way the Customizer room does.
Sequencer tips:
Tilting Camera
You can also use a 3rd or 4th actor as a camera making for much easier camera (Point Of View) control and even side-tilt, which is impossible otherwise. Create a 3/4 actor pose and import your source pose into it, then strategically place your spare actor just out of frame so they are looking at the other actors. Then in first-person POV, tilt/turn the actor's head. In the Sequence, place "Basic Camera" where required, then right-click and select "Look through #2/3/4 eyes".
The Dreaded Interactive Pose Delay
Often, when you start an "Interactive" pose in FreeMode or the Sequencer, there will be a long delay before the pose starts moving. Sadly, there is no "fix". TK17 has a built-in timer that starts the moment "FreeMode" begins (or when you click Play in the Sequencer). If a pose loads when the timer is not in sync, TK17 must race through the entire animation (internally) until it loops back to the beginning, at which point the pose starts moving. The longer the animation, the longer the delay. There is no fix in FreeMode because each pose is loaded manually, throwing off the timing. But in the Sequencer, you can usually fix this by placing a static one-frame animation immediately before the problem pose. This quickly resets the timer before your pose begins (Note, this doesn't always work if the problem pose is badly constructed.)
Cloning Toys:
You can "clone" a toy so it may be used by more than one actor at the same time. To do so, create a text file in your Config directory called "TK17_mytools.txt"*.
Open it with Notepad or any other (non-formatting) text editor and enter:
Example 1:
tool_changes = [[
file="R9ToyXXX", multiply=4, name = "name of your toy"
]]
Replace the "XXX" with the ID of the toy you wish to clone.
This example clones your toy the maximum of four times so each model in a foursome can use it. Optionally use name="name of your toy" to set the name of the toy as it appears in the game.
Add similar lines for each additional toy you wish to clone. Save the file and start up your game to check if your cloned toy is available.
Example 2 (replaces the "file=" line):
addon="VX.DragonsVeil.BowToy" multiply=2 name="Bow"
Here the DragonsVeil Bow addon is cloned twice (multiply=2) and the name is shortened to "Bow". Shown here is how you can also identify the tool using the keyword "addon".
Example 3:
toolid="Wavy Vibrator" multiply=3 name="Good Vibes"
The standard Wavy Vibrator is cloned three times (multiply=3) and the name is changed to "Good Vibes".
Example 4:
toolid="0004", multiply=4
The standard Butt Plug (toolID 0004) is cloned four times (multiply=4) and the name is left unchanged.
Note that you can also identify toolID by Name or Number.
Please Note: every clone uses a bit of memory so use this feature wisely. You can (temporarily) remove the cloned toys by renaming the file or moving it to another folder.
(*) = Any filename will do as long as it starts with "TK17_" and ends in ".txt"
Using Import/Export:
Please note that when using the built-in Import/Export system, it does NOT automatically insert the required ".tgc" extension for you when you are prompted for a filename. Be sure to include it when naming your Exported file.
Online Guides:
There are a number of online Guides with photos to explain how to perform certain tasks in more detail:
How to properly install "Hook 5" on a computer with "Windows 10" (see Comments for additional info for "Hook 5 PAID" users.)
How to install "Customizable Skins" in the PAID version of "Hook 5".
Toy creation guide (references to "CollaTKane" are out-of-date but the modeling info is still good.)
Room creation guide (references to "CollaTKane" are out-of-date but the modeling info is still good.)
Other:
It is recommended that you back up your "Config", "Mod", and "Save" folders to an external drive regularly to ensure you can always retrieve your hard work if your drive fails or something goes terribly wrong.