Dark Souls 1 and Remastered Modding with DSMapStudio

Dark Souls 1 is the only supported game where the first question isn't the patch — it's which version you own. Two PC releases exist: Prepare to Die Edition (PTDE, 2012) and Dark Souls: Remastered (DSR, 2018). DSMapStudio supports both, but they unpack with different tools and load as different Game Types, and mixing that up is the fastest route to an empty Param Editor or a bogus "Unknown DCX format" on Dark Souls 1.

PTDE vs Remastered — get this right first

This distinction has no equivalent on the other games:

• PTDE (2012) — the original. Predates UXM; unpack with UDSFM (UnpackDarkSoulsForModding). Files live under a DATA folder; Game Type is the PTDE option.
• Remastered (2018) — the modern re-release. Unpacks with UXM Selective Unpack like the newer games; Game Type is Remastered.

Run UXM on PTDE (or UDSFM on Remastered) and DSMapStudio gets files it can't read — the usual cause of an empty project or "Unknown DCX format" specifically on Dark Souls 1. They're separate Steam entries, so confirm your edition in your library before unpacking.

Setup — branches at the unpack step

1. Install DSMapStudio — release build, VC++ x64 + .NET 7, outside Program Files (installation guide).
2. Unpack with the right tool: UDSFM for PTDE, UXM for Remastered. Required.
3. New Project → Game Type: your exact edition (Prepare to Die Edition or Remastered), Game Directory on the unpacked files (first project setup).
4. Verify — EquipParamWeapon shows named rows.

Dark Souls 1 at a glance

What you can edit

Dark Souls 1 runs on an older engine, so its param set is smaller and simpler than Elden Ring's and some tables are named or laid out differently. Drops use a single ItemLotParam (no map/enemy split); weapons are EquipParamWeapon as everywhere; enemy stats sit in NpcParam. DS1 also exposes DrawParam lighting tables (a layer the newer games handle differently) that DSMapStudio can edit. Param navigation, the Modified filter, and bulk work are the same as every game — Param Editor hub and CSV export/import.

The Map Editor opens DS1's famously interconnected world for enemy and object placement. That interconnection is the catch worth slowing down for: shortcuts, elevators, and ladders that loop areas back together are largely event-scripted around entity IDs, so when you edit placements in linked zones, keep a careful eye on which area an object actually belongs to. The 3D viewport needs a Vulkan 1.3 GPU. (DSMapStudio can regenerate MCG/MCP navmesh for DS1, added in v1.10, so enemies still path after a layout change.)

Merging and troubleshooting

Two DS1 mods that both edit params merge via the row-level CSV method in the merge regulation.bin guide — keep both on the same edition's base. The DS1-specific failure to recognize: an empty project or "Unknown DCX format" almost always means the wrong unpack tool for your edition — re-unpack with the correct one. A black viewport is the Intel GPU limit; won't open at all is a runtime/download issue.

Confirm your edition, unpack with the matching tool, then install and create your project. From there the Param Editor hub and Map Editor guide cover the rest.