An (un)official Mod structure

Discussion in 'Starbound Modding' started by RockyTV, Dec 6, 2013.

  1. RockyTV

    RockyTV Big Damn Hero

    I'm creating this discussion topic to let other people know, suggest, well, whatever.

    A few minutes ago I was thinking "what if there was a default structure for a mod? What if the modders make it too hard to be uninstalled, why can't someone do a default mod structure?"

    And then, the idea was in my head. I thought of an "official" mod structure for now, until someone releases something bigger.

    The Mod Structure I'm thinking of is a based off Oblivion mods. I remember installing them, the mods textures/models/sounds came inside the folter /Data/ and then we just dragged it to the installation directory.

    So, as it follows, the Mod Structure would be:

    RECIPES: ZIPFILE/assets/recipes
    ITEMS: ZIP FILE/assets/items


    And it follows that template. So it would be easy for anyone to install a Starbound mod using that structure above. My recently released mod uses that structure, so you just need to extract the file to your Starbound folder.

    Tell me your thoughts and suggestions.
     
  2. jordo

    jordo Aquatic Astronaut

    There's actually some rudimentary support for adding and managing mods that add or change assets.

    In the same directory as each platform executable, there is a bootstrap.config file that lists asset packages. By default it only lists one (the main game's assets), but you can add more.

    Assuming "starbound/" is your root starbound directory (i.e. the directory containing the assets directory, starbound.log, etc):

    1. Create a starbound/mods/somemod/interface/windowconfig/ directory.
    2. Copy the file starbound/assets/interface/windowconfig/title.config to the directory you created.
    3. Edit starbound/mods/somemod/interface/windowconfig/title.config (e.g. change the values in mainMenuButtonsOffsets to move the buttons on the main menu around).
    4. Edit your bootstrap.config file for your platform (e.g. on OS X: starbound/Starbound.app/Contents/MacOS/bootstrap.config, adding your mod - it should look like this:

    Code:
    {
      "assetSources" : [
        "../../../assets",
        "../../../mods/somemod"
      ],
      "storageDirectory" : "../../../"
    }
    
    Now when you run the game, the file from your mod will be used instead of the file from the assets directory.
     
    meggawatts likes this.
  3. Ghoul159

    Ghoul159 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    hmm in my tutorials i show you how you can make your mod with only editing the player.config the other files are in a seperate mod folder...
    did you mean this?
     
  4. RockyTV

    RockyTV Big Damn Hero

    Basically yes, but thanks to jordo, Starbound ModLoader is the best way to keep original files intact.

    It uses the 'same' structure as I said above.
     

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