[ Outdated ] Mods Installation and Distribution - Beta Offended Koala

As of the new update, mod installation is much simpler. I'll do my best to explain things and how they work, no promises though!

Starbound Folder
You'll find Starbound's folder and everything you'll need to find in these tutorial within this folder.
It'll be located at: (C:/Program Files(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Starbound)
Or if you're on a 32-bit system: (C:/Program Files/Steam/steamapps/common/Starbound)
Your Starbound folder should look something like this...

I have two folders that you people probably won't: Backup and Mod Backup
While these folders aren't too important to keep around anymore, it's still a good idea to keep a backup of your assets folder, and I personally keep a backup of my Win32 folder as well.

Notices
You do not need to modify the bootstrap.config in any way, shape, or form to get mods installed. You can if you want, but there isn't any actual need to do so and you can save yourself some time and (possibly) frustration.

Table of Contents
Installation - Implemented
Mod Creation - Planned
Addendum - In Progress
A Thanks - Implemented

Installation:
Let's start with the most widely used process. Installation.

Step 1: First, navigate to your Starbound folder (Given, right? Maybe not.)

Step 2: You'll see a folder called 'mods'. You're going to head in here for any and all mod installations. It'll come with the file Mods_Go_Here already in it. Like so.

I already have 3 mods installed.

Step 3: Your downloaded mod may or may not be formatted properly, so you'll need to take a look at that. When you download it, take a look at the structure. Generally, it'll look something like this...

I have the items and recipes folders there as backup. A mod with no extraneous files or folders will just have a single folder and the .modinfo file. I'll explain this in the next step. If the files weren't in the format, move on to step 4a. Otherwise, move to step 4b.

Step 4a: If the files you got weren't in this format, put all the folders and files (such as player.config) into a single folder and name it something simple. For example, if my Custom folder only had the items and recipes folders, I'd make a new folder and put them in there. In my case the folder is named assets\. Keep this name in mind, you'll need it later. (Move onto step 4b)

Step 4b: If your files were already formatted, the next thing you'll look at is the .modinfo (or create one if it's not there). The name of the file will be the same as the folder it's in (i.e. the .modinfo for Custom would be named Custom.modinfo). You'll want to open it up in a text editor. Don't use Notepad since the format gets screwed up. I suggest Notepad++.
Once you've opened the file it'll either be blank or look something like this...

This format is essentially what you're going to use. The name is self explanatory and is the same name as the folder and .modinfo file. I don't know if cases matter, but it's best to be safe. Version means which version of Starbound it's used for and should match the version of Starbound which your mod is intended for
The most important line here is the one with 'path'. Inside the quotes, it already assumes the mods are within the mods folder because of the bootstrap.config (I'll talk more about that later), so you can assume the path already has C:/Program Files(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Starbound/mods. The path you put here is the sub-path that all the mod files have gone into since the game now checks the .modinfo file for assets. This is why you need that folder's name. You'll put it in this line (i.e. I put assets since I put the all the files into a folder named assets).

Step 5: After that, you should be fine to start up Starbound and play with the mod installed!

Addendum
Bootstrap.config - Chances are, if you've messed with modding before this update, you'll know about the bootstrap.config. You would have to add lines so the game would recognize that mods are present and which ones to load. Not anymore! Starbound automatically checks for subfolders within the mods folder. It checks those folders for a .modinfo file that tells the game where to load the assets from.
Mod Formatting - How you format your mod files is essential to the mod making process. You MUST have your mod's directories match that of the assets folder, otherwise it won't load those files properly, and your mod won't have much, if any, effect on the game.
.modinfo File and Formatting - This is what I had to do to get my mods to work. Most people are able to leave the path at "." and leave the files in the mod folder. You can probably use whichever, but again, this is the way I made mine work.

A Thanks
Thank you for checking out these tutorials. I'm hoping to add more and to make them even better! I hope it helped!

 

So now do you just put all your mod info into your created folders? Do we still have to edit the player.config?

 

From what it looks like, you need to copy the player.config file from the regular asset folder into your mod folder, then make changes to the copy.

 

To the asset subfolder in your mod folder or in your mods main directory? Like My Mod>Assets or MyMod

 

It depends on what you set your path to, but assuming you followed the advice in this tutorial, you'll have an assets folder that you've put all the stuff in. In that case, copy the player.config file from Starbound/assets/player.config and copy it to Starbound/mods/YourModName/assets/player.config. Then edit the copied version like you did before the patch.

 

okay. thanks, do I still have to add the recipe to the player.config?

 

Whatever you did to the player.config file before the patch, do it again to the version that you copied over. So if you have new recipes that you want the player to be able to use, add those items to the player.config just like before.

 

Keep getting error:
"JsonParsingException: Error parsing json: bad array, should be ',' or ']' at 4:47
0097E882 (C:/starbound/source/core/StarVariant.hpp:15)
007C7E39 (C:/starbound/source/core/StarVariant.cpp:155)
004DFD22 (C:/starbound/source/game/StarRoot.cpp:58)
...(2)
004DB911 (c:\SDL-1.2.15/./main/win32/SDL_win32_main.c18)

 

I have

 

Can you post a picture of what it looks like inside your assets folder?

 

GOD DAMMIT. I didnt add a comma after "name" : "mymod"
So thank you magician xy, for putting up with my shannanigans

 

Hey, no problem. You figured it out yourself, I only pushed in the right direction. Good luck with your mod!

 

Heh, good to know there's people willing to help others in this community. I'll try to get the mod creation tutorial up in a day or two.
EDIT: Also, any suggestions on what to change here? I don't do tutorials really so it could be better ^.^;

 

EDIT: I got launched! But a Error.

 

What error did you get?

 

Oh, Fixed it. But now i get a new Problem..

i added to player.config and i still can't see the recipe ._.

 

I had that issue too when adding stuff to my custom mod. I suggest getting Tabularosa and making it a mod dependency.

 

If you want I can check that out for you.
Just make sure you checked with a new character.

 

i checked with new character.. i upload the files for u Thanks
Cleanstone.rar

 

Wait.. it's a stonefurnace, what do you mean you can't see? Or do you mean the recipe doesn't work?