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Your first model swap: a soul container

Replace the soul container with your own 3D model. The easiest model swap: one bone, one material, no animation setup.

Intermediate

Swap the soul container for your own 3D model. It is the easiest model swap: one bone, one material, and nothing to animate.

What you need

Source 2 Viewer

CSDK 12

Blender

any recent versionYour own 3D model

Color texture as PNG

normal map optional

Source 2 Viewer exports the original soul container. ModelDoc and the Material Editor in CSDK 12 build your new model. Blender needs no add-on, because this guide exports FBX.

Install Source 2 Viewer and CSDK 12 with Set up your creator tools. If Blender imports are new to you, read Import a Deadlock model into Blender.

Use your own design. Models ported from other games, films, or anime carry copyright risk.

Why start with a prop

  • The soul container has one bone and one material. There is no skeleton work, no attachments, and no CS2 Workshop Tools step.
  • You learn ModelDoc and the Material Editor, which every hero swap uses.
  • It is the most popular model swap. In October 2026, more than half of the model swaps creators shared replaced the soul container.
Diagram of the five steps: export from Source 2 Viewer, fit in Blender, swap the mesh in ModelDoc, make the material, then pack and test in the hideout

Keep it fair

Same size, same shape, no glow

Model size and shape are part of the fair-play line. A smaller, thinner, or taller model changes how easy it is to spot, and that is an advantage. Keep your container close to the original size and shape, and do not make it glow. Read What's allowed and how to stay safe.

Watch the walkthrough

Pugzilla's video follows the same steps as this guide.

Pugzilla recorded it in August 2026, before the City Never Sleeps update. We have not tested these steps on the current update yet, so menus may look different.

Make the swap

Export the original

  1. Make an empty work folder, for example soulbox_work.
  2. Open Source 2 Viewer and open Deadlock/game/citadel/pak01_dir.vpk.
  3. Go to models/props/gameplay/soul_container/. This is the path from the video. If it moved, look through models/props/.
  4. Right-click the soul container's .vmdl_c and choose Decompile & export.
  5. Change Save as type to glTF. Save it into your work folder.

Fit your model in Blender

  1. Open Blender and delete the default scene objects.
  2. Choose File, then Import, then glTF 2.0. Tick Disable Bone Shape and import the soul container. You see the container and its one bone.
  3. Import your own model with File, then Import.
  4. Scale and move your model to match the container's size and position.
  5. Delete the original container mesh. Keep the armature.
  6. Click your mesh, then Shift-click the armature. Press Ctrl+P and choose With Automatic Weights.
  7. Test it. Select the armature, switch to Pose Mode, and move the bone. Your mesh should follow. Press Ctrl+Z to undo the move.
  8. Save the .blend file.

Name the material and export

  1. Select your mesh and open the Material tab.
  2. Check that every slot has a material assigned.
  3. Give each material a simple name: lowercase letters, no periods, no numbers, no .001 ending. This guide uses soulbox.
  4. Choose File, then Export, then FBX and save it as soulbox.fbx.

The material name links Blender to your material file later. FBX works for a prop with one bone. Hero swaps export DMX instead.

Set up the addon

  1. Open the CSDK 12 launcher and click Create New Addon. Name it soulbox, in lowercase with no spaces.
  2. Right-click the addon and choose Explore Content Folder.
  3. Inside it, rebuild the game path: models/props/gameplay/soul_container/. Make a materials folder inside that folder.
  4. In Source 2 Viewer, right-click the soul container's .vmdl_c again. Choose Decompile & export, keep the model type, and save into the soul_container folder you made in step 3.
  5. Check the folder. It now holds a .vmdl file and its .dmx mesh.
  6. Copy soulbox.fbx into the same folder.
Folder trees: the content folder holds the decompiled vmdl, the old dmx, soulbox.fbx and a materials folder; the game folder holds the compiled vmdl_c, vmat_c and vtex_c files you pack

Swap the mesh in ModelDoc

  1. In the launcher, select soulbox and click Launch Tools. The Asset Browser opens.
  2. Double-click the soul container model. ModelDoc opens.
  3. Click the star next to Add and choose Add Meshes. Pick soulbox.fbx.
  4. Under RenderMeshList, click the original .dmx mesh and copy its name.
  5. Delete the original mesh. Paste the name onto your new FBX mesh.
  6. Click Compile. Your model replaces the container in the preview.

Keep the original mesh name so the rest of the model still finds it.

Make the material

  1. In ModelDoc, choose Add, then Default Material Group. A slot appears with your Blender material name. If the slot has no name, your Blender name is wrong. Rename it, export the FBX again, and compile.
  2. In the Asset Browser, open the Material Editor. Click New, then save right away into materials/ as soulbox.vmat.
  3. Copy your PNG files into the same materials folder. Name them soulbox_color.png and soulbox_normal.png. These endings help the editor fill the right slots.
  4. Check that the shader is pbr.vfx. If it shows another shader, switch it to pbr.vfx.
  5. Tick Use NPR Lighting and Use Status Effects Proxy.
  6. Set Color to soulbox_color.png.
  7. Change Roughness to a color and pick pure white. White means no shine. The gray default looks like plastic.
  8. Save and close the Material Editor.
  9. In ModelDoc, click the browse button on the soulbox slot. The video calls it open local browser. Pick soulbox and click Compile.

Materials for custom models explains every setting.

Compile, pack, and test

  1. Close ModelDoc. In the Asset Browser, right-click the model and recompile it.
  2. In the launcher, right-click soulbox and choose Explore Game Folder.
  3. Open models/props/gameplay/soul_container/. You see the compiled .vmdl_c and a materials folder with .vmat_c and .vtex_c files.
  4. Copy the whole soulbox game folder somewhere else. In the copy, delete everything except models.
  5. Pack the copy into a VPK. Follow Pack your mod into a VPK.
  6. Load the mod and type map dl_hideout in the console. Test your mod in game shows how.
  7. Go to the practice range. Break boxes until a soul container appears.

Pack only compiled files. Leave out the .dmx, .fbx, .vmdl, .vmat, and PNG files.

Other props you can swap

Creators also swap hideout props, breakables, the Spirit Urn, and NPCs. The same steps work for any model that does not animate. Models with animations, like NPCs and heroes, need more work. For heroes, start with the hero model swap overview in Next steps.

The fair-play rule applies to every prop. Objectives like the Spirit Urn must stay as easy to see as the original, never easier or harder.

Common problems

Next steps

Hero model swap: overview
Advanced

Put your own character on a hero. The whole path, the tools, and the rules.

Credits

This guide is based on the work of these creators. Check out their original guides.

Edytuj na GitHubie

On this page

What you needWhy start with a propKeep it fairWatch the walkthroughMake the swapExport the originalFit your model in BlenderName the material and exportSet up the addonSwap the mesh in ModelDocMake the materialCompile, pack, and testOther props you can swapCommon problemsNext stepsCredits
Written by the Divine Skins community. Open source on GitHub.