ReTex — Live Retexture (Eden Editor)

A lightweight Arma 3 Eden editor tool for retexturing on the fly. Select objects in Eden, open Tools → Live Retexture (or press Ctrl+Shift+R), and apply a .paa to one of an object's hidden selections — the change previews live in the viewport. Bake it into the object's init to keep it, or copy a ready-made config snippet.

Built for iterating on retextures (uniforms, vehicles, helmets, crates, props) without packing a PBO or restarting the game.

Requires CBA_A3.

Features

• Apply (preview) - live setObjectTexture on every selected object.
• Reset - revert the preview to the originals.
• Bake to init - write setObjectTextureGlobal into the object init so it persists with the scenario and for JIP. Warns on absolute/loose disk paths that won't exist for other players in multiplayer.
• Copy config - clipboard a setObjectTextureGlobal line and a hiddenSelectionsTextures[] snippet for pasting into a mission or addon.
• List selections - dump a model's hidden selections as index → name so you know which index and pbo drives which piece.
• Live Link (Photoshop/GIMP) - save in your image editor and the object retextures in Eden automatically, no retyping or repacking. A companion extension (retexlink_x64.dll) watches your export file and rotates it to a unique name each save to defeat the engine's texture cache. JPG/PNG load directly (no PAA step while iterating).

Current limitations

• Can only have a single unit/object in eden currently.

Install / Usage

• Install the workshop mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3755594142
• Copy retexlink_x64.dll into the folder containing arma3_x64.exe
• Launch Arma 3 with the -filePatching command line!

Using Live Link

Save in Photoshop/GIMP and watch the object update in Eden — no retyping paths or repacking. One-time setup, then a zero-click iteration loop.

One-time setup

1. Make sure retexlink_x64.dll is next to arma3_x64.exe (see Install above).
2. Point your editor at a single export file it overwrites on every save:
   • Photoshop: *File → Save
   • GIMP: *File → Save

Each session

1. Select the object in Eden and open ReTex (Ctrl+Shift+R).
2. Pick the Target part and Selection index as usual.
3. Paste the full path of your editor's export file into the Live Link — editor export file field (e.g. D:\art\skin.jpg).
4. Click Live Link: OFF → it flips to ON and starts watching.
5. Tab to your editor, paint, and save — the object retextures within a fraction of a second. Repeat as much as you like.
6. Click Live Link: ON again to stop. Reset still restores the originals, and the link keeps running even if you close the dialog so you can keep iterating.

JPG/PNG load directly, so there's no PAA step while iterating — only convert to .paa for the final shipped asset. Behind the scenes each save is copied to a unique retex_live\tex_<N>.<ext> name to beat the engine's path-keyed texture cache.