Hey, guys let's get this out of the way first. I have zero modding experience, in fact, I'm so bad at even installing mods that the first time I ever tried to install a mod (Dawn of War:Soulstorm) I borked the game so bad I had to reformat my computer just to play it again, and when i tried to recently install a friends mod for divinity original sin (a mod that just added some hex code values to the color palette) it took me 6 hours to figure it out and get it working (spoiler alert, make sure your game is fully installed -before- trying to add files). Now that my massive level of incompetence is accurately represented. My mother loves Stardew Valley, like LOVES it, she has 200+ hours in the game at this point. She's been a big fan of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing for years, so it's only natural that she took to Stardew Valley like a fish to water. Or a conspiracy theorist to the message boards after seeing that weird creature come out from under the dock while fishing in the ocean at night, (seriously what the hell is that thing?). So for Christmas, I decided (since it broke 24/7) to try and cobble together a mod pack for her to help breathe a little new life to a game she loves so much. Well, I asked her if there were any changes she would like to make to the game (after explaining what mods were (but not mentioning it as a Christmas gift)) and one of the things she mentioned was more random NPC dialogue. Just so that if she talked to someone on a given day they might say something other than the one response infinitely. She mentioned a few other things but I've been able to find mods for everything else. So the help I need is two fold I read the basic walkthrough for making a mod with SMAPI but didn't see anything in it, or the advanced guides about making a dialogue mod. Is there a guide (that i just haven't found) for adding dialogue? If not, how hard is it?/where do I start? I'd really like to do this one personally (if its possible) and Secondly Are there any guides for making mod packs? I'd like to bundle everything together for one quick easy install. It would obviously only be for personal use and not reuploaded.
Alpha_Omegasis has a modding guide with a chapter dedicated to NPC dialogue, which you can find here. There's also a guide to making custom events by Siv, who's best known for making a Marriage Mod involving the non-datable NPCs, and randomAnon123's made a Jas event mod (which was made to expand on Jas's dialogue) and has great advice on where to get started with custom events and NPCs as well, so be sure to check his work out. Unless you're intending to do some super ambitious and advanced stuff with SMAPI, you'll likely just be referring to working with .xnb and .yaml files for simple dialogue expansions. This is good though, because it means simply replacing the files (while also backing the originals up) would be enough to install everything. Mod packs are also pretty easy to assemble; you just gotta organize your modded content the same way it would look in the Content folder and zip it up, so you don't really need to worry too much about that -- the gift is what's important, not necessarily the packaging. Hope this helps! Good luck with your Christmas gift! ^_^
Sounds like a cool plan for a holiday gift for parents. Wish my parents would play something more than brainless Facebook games.. Anyway, the comment above is a great start but keeping mods up to date can also be a hassle which may become a regular thing. For every mod I add to the Stardew folder I also throw into a .zip of the same file structure (actually an self-extracting .exe, but that's a bit to explain). Use WinRar is all I wanted to mention. And if using SMAPI mods, be sure to heed to warnings (stuff mentioning possible future breakings and such). Also keep informed of official postings by ConcernedApe by checking his Twitter to make sure an update doesn't come out this holiday overwritting your hard work!
