You'll only need some basic computer knowledge since fortunately it's easy to replace Frank with other characters in this game because of how the game files are stored.
You can also get existing outfits in the game at the very start by using this method but that's less interesting so I won't cover it in as much detail.
You can change NPCs with other NPCs too using the same method.

This guide contains minor SPOILERS incase you want to discover characters yourself. I don't spoil the storyline just show some important characters in screenshots and you may want to avoid reading filenames in the game directory since they may also contain some spoilers. So don't say I didn't warn you that you might read something important in the filenames when moving files around.

It means swapping model/texture files around and renaming them so that they are loaded instead of the file you replaced. This can alter characters ingame to be other characters already existing in the game since they are stored in similar containers. In this game it also means you can kind of play as a female main character, the voice and pre-rendered cutscenes will still be Frank but everything else works as a female with some minor animation glitches.


Incase a dev reads this I want them to know I appreciate the moddability, it certainly improved my enjoyment of the game.

inb4 1 views and 0 favorites since I'm late to the party for a game with mediocre reviews.

Make backups of these files for easy fixing/reversing changes so you don't have to verify game cache integrity when things go wrong.

Copy BOTH the .tex and .mdl files for each.

These are the files you'll be replacing when changing clothes:
chest_frank_m0
feeto_frank_m0
feetu_frank_m0
legs_frank_m0
hat_frank_m0

These are the files you'll be replacing when changing characters:
chest_frank_m0
feeto_frank_m0
feetu_frank_m0
legs_frank_m0
hat_frank_m0
head_frank_m0
face_frank_m0

Frank_m0 is the default outfit, head, face for Frank that you start the game with.

Navigate to your install directory typically:
...Steam/steamapps/common/DeadRising4/data/models

in the npc folder you can find NPCs in the game, many with non obvious filenames which means the only way to find out who it might be is to try it.

1.. Copy and paste the two files for the NPC you want to somewhere outside the game folder. I suggest the desktop. Let's say you want the hotel survivor you would then copy and paste hotel_survivor.mdl and hotel_survivor.tex
2. Select both files that you pasted to desktop and rename them to chest_frank_m0
The file extensions should remain the same, one .tex and one .mdl.
3. Copy the two renamed files into ...Steam/steamapps/common/DeadRising4/data/models/clothing in order to replace Frank's default chest with the hotel survivor's chest. Windows will ask you if you want to replace the files in the folder that already have that name: choose Yes. It is best to copy rather than cut since you'll be doing this several more times with the NPC files you chose before you finish.
4. Now rename the two chest_frank_m0 that you presumably still have on your desktop to feeto_frank_m0 and copy+paste them into the clothing folder too.
5. Do the same process as in step 2+3 but with the following filenames instead
feetu_frank_m0
legs_frank_m0
face_frank_m0
hat_frank_m0
head_frank_m0

And then you have replaced all of Frank's body parts and clothes into the NPC that you originally copied. Now you can delete the two files you copied to your desktop. If you only do this processs with some body parts you'll get the NPC but with parts of Frank still there such as the NPC's clothes but with Frank's head etc. So I recommend replacing ALL of Frank with the two NPC files you chose for the cleanest possible replacing.
Here's the result of the example used above:











You can mix and match various clothes/npc outfits/bodyparts but I wouldn't recommend it since it might take a very long time to get something that looks ok.


To only change Frank's clothes you don't need to touch the NPC folder you can grab the clothes you want in the clothes folder, copy+paste them to desktop, rename them to the outfit you want to replace and then paste them back into the clothing folder and replace. For example copy all the files with the caveman filename and rename them to the outfit you want to replace such as frank's default outfit frank_m0. This would replace the starting outfit with the caveman outfit.



Here's the Frank starting outfit file names again for easy copy paste:
chest_frank_m0
feeto_frank_m0
feetu_frank_m0
legs_frank_m0
face_frank_m0
hat_frank_m0
head_frank_m0

The psychos I've tested do not work well as seen below. I guess they are rigged to a different skeleton which causes the warped bodies.
A letter after the "Cast #" such as A or B means it's the same character but with a different outfit. Example: Cast 02 and Cast 02c seen below

Now you know how it works and you can experiment freely.

Please don't ask me to take screenshots of every single NPC because that would take many hours and be extremely tedious so you'll have to settle for the examples provided and experiment on your own.

Have fun!