Making a mod package

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Revision as of 00:03, 8 April 2013 by Iritscen (talk | contribs) (slight rewrite)
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The Anniversary Edition comes with a set of mods in the "package" format. This new framework also allows modders to make third-party mods that will install easily into the Edition. You can start your package by copying an existing AE package and modifying it to save time.

Package format 2.0

The AEI 2 prefers the new 2.0 package format, but will also read 1.1 packages.

To create a new mod package from scratch, use Vago's package wizard or follow these seven easy steps:

1. Create a new folder with a name corresponding to your mod.

2. Pick a number for your mod. The five digit number corresponds to where in the load order your mod will be, but it also indicates the type of mod. Please, leave some numeric space between your mod and other AE mods. See the numbering section below to know how to number your mod.

3. Create a plain-text file named "Mod_Info.cfg" inside your new folder (see section "Mod_Info.cfg" for what to put in it).

4. As you can see below in the "Folder structure" settings, if you have .oni files in your mod, you make a folder named "oni" inside your package folder. If you have .bsl files, make a folder named "bsl"; if you have XML patches (.oni-patch files), make a folder named "patches". If you have other kinds of files, place them in a folder called "plain" (this is done for tool packages, not mods).

5. Make a folder called "common" inside the oni/, bsl/, patches/ or plain/ folder for files will work on both Windows and Mac OS X. Make a folder called "win_only" or "mac_only" if you have files intended for only one platform or if certain files need to be in one format for Windows and one for OS X (such as sounds).

6. If your mod modifies the AE's globalized data in level0_Final, make a "level0_Final" folder inside oni/, patches/, or plain/. For every level that your mod uses, make a "levelX_Final" (e.g. "level1_Final") folder inside oni/, patches/, or plain/. However, a BSL mod uses the names of the IGMD subfolders the script(s) will go into, e.g. a script that is meant for Chapter 1 goes in "bsl/EnvWarehouse/".

7. Put the appropriate types of files inside their respective levelX_Final/ directories. Check the section "Folder structure" again to make sure you did it right! Zip up the package. Make sure you use a zip program that respects the executable bit when packaging a tool. The name of the zip file does not matter to the AEI, as it will give it its own name based on the name you provide to the Oni Mod Depot when uploading.

Special note: Be very careful when replacing (not adding) M3GM, TRAC and OBAN. With TRAC, you must include all of the children of the TRAC you are adding. With M3GM, you must also include the file that references the M3GM. With OBANs, you need to include the AKEV that links to them.

Mods

Mod_Info.cfg

AEInstallVersion -> 2.0
NameOfMod -> Improved Weapons
Creator -> Geyser, Loser, Iritscen, Gumby
ModVersion -> 1.1
IncompatibleWith -> 11100,23050
DependsOn -> 45000
UnlockLevel -> 25
Readme -> Improves the appearance and mechanics of existing Oni weapons. \n \n Currently contains...
Explanation of fields

Entries marked with an asterisk (*) are only used if the mod is not yet listed on the Mod Depot. Otherwise, the AEI will display the versions of those fields that are found on the Depot's node for that mod.

AEInstallVersion
What version of the Installer is needed to read this package.
NameOfMod
The "public" name of the mod. It can be anything you like, but should be written in an easily understandable manner *.
ModVersion
The version of the mod *.
Creator
The name(s) that you want to get credit for the mod *.
Readme
The read-me text. You can make linebreaks by using " \n " *.
IncompatibleWith
Package numbers of mods this mod will not work with at the same time. Multiple entries separated by ",".
DependsOn
Package numbers of mods this mod depends on to function. Multiple entries separated by ",".
HasBSL
If set to "Yes", the Installer considers your mod a scenario and takes steps to exclude other BSL scenario mods from being installed for the same level. If set to "Addon", the Installer allows your mod to be installed to any level without restriction. Of course not all third-party BSL add-ons are guaranteed to be compatible with each other, but this is an inherent risk in third-party modding. Mods with conflicting BSL files for a level should be listed in the IncompatibleWith field. If this tag is left out, "Yes" is assumed by default if the mod contains a "bsl/" folder.
UnlockLevel
If this mod adds a new level this flag allows to unlock that level in persist.dat. Multiple level numbers can be given separated by ",".

Folder structure

Compared to the folder structure of AEI 1.1 packages, AEI 2.0 packages have one additional level of folders within the oni/ and bsl/ folders to allow one mod package to support both platforms. So if a mod contains sounds for Windows and Mac OS X, you put the OS-specific files within the appropriate folder, win_only/ or mac_only/. 

12345ExampleMod(.zip)
    Mod_Info.cfg
    oni/
        common/
            level#_Final/
                *.oni
        win_only/
            level#_Final/
                *.oni
        mac_only/
            level#_Final/
                *.oni
    patches/
        common/
            level#_Final/
                *.oni-patch
        win_only/
            level#_Final/
                *.oni-patch
        mac_only/
            level#_Final/
                *.oni-patch
    bsl/
        common/
            tctf_ii/
                *.bsl
        win_only/
            tctf_ii/
                *.bsl
        mac_only/
            tctf_ii/
                *.bsl

Folders without content can be left out, so a basic mod with only level 0 .oni files for Mac OS X only will look like this: 

12345ExampleMod
    Mod_Info.cfg
    oni/
        mac_only/
            level0_Final/
                myFile.oni

Tools

Mod_Info.cfg

AEInstallVersion -> 2.0
NameOfMod -> OniSplit
Creator -> Neo
ModVersion -> 0.9.82.0
Readme -> Management of Oni's .dat files
ExeName -> Tools/OniSplit.exe
ExeType -> DotNet
WorkingDir -> Base
IconName -> Tools/MyIcon.png
Explanation of fields

Entries marked with an asterisk (*) are only used if the mod is not yet listed on the Oni Mod Depot, otherwise the AEI will display the version of those fields that is found on the mod's Depot node.

AEInstallVersion
What version of the Installer is needed to read this package.
NameOfMod
The "public" name of the mod. It can be anything you like, but should be written in an easily understandable manner *.
ModVersion
The version of the mod *.
Creator
The name(s) that you want to get credit for the mod *.
Readme
The read-me text. You can make linebreaks by using " \n " *.
ExeName
Path to the executable file if it should be added to the Tools menu of the AEI. Probably mostly useful for GUI-based tools. Do not forget to add the path to the file in relation to the AE/ folder. (Optional tag)
ExeType
Type of the executable. Important if the executable has to be run by a specific interpreter like .Net. Can be either one of:
OSBinary - Normal binary which can be executed by itself (assumed by default)
WinExe - Normal Windows executable (.exe) - only supported for Windows only packages (assumed if ExeName ends in ".exe" and ExeType is not given as DotNet)
DotNet - .Net binary, executed by MS.NET on Windows, Mono on Mac OS X and Linux
Jar - Java .jar archive (assumed if ExeName ends in ".jar")
WorkingDir
Specify the working directory for the executable specified by ExeName. Can be either one of:
Base - Working directory is the AE/ folder (assumed by default)
Exe - Working directory is the folder where the executable is located
GDF - Working directory is GameDataFolder/
IconName
Path to an icon for the AEI Tools menu. Must be in PNG format and between 16x16 and 32x32 in size. If not specified, no icon will be used.

Folder structure

00000OniSplit(.zip)
    Mod_Info.cfg
    plain/
        common/
            Tools/
                OniSplit.exe
        win_only/
        mac_only/

The folder plain/ is for non-mod files, whether executables, text files, etc. Files/folders within "plain/[platform]/" are relative to the base folder of the AE, so this example would put the file in "AE/Tools/OniSplit.exe" on both platforms.

Package numbering

So, how do you pick a number for your mod? Here's how you pick the first of the five digits (numbers with less than/more than five are reserved for the AE):

10000s - Weapons

20000s - Characters

30000s - Particles

40000s - Animations (non-combat)

50000s - Animations (combat)

60000s - Sounds

70000s - UI (new menu screens, HUD, etc.)

80000s - New levels (and new textures for existing levels)

90000s - Scenarios (BSL mods for other people's levels)

Once you know which digit to start with, you should use the remaining digits to number your mod in a way that fits in with the other mod packages. For example, here's some hypothetical package numbers and what they tell you about the package:

41000 - a mod that tweaks animations

41100 - this mod might be related to mod 41000, or else you are just looking for another free number and 42-4900 are taken

41010 - probably someone's addition or improvement to mod 41000

41001 - must be an addition or improvement for mod 41000, or why else would they be numbered so closely?

Okay, so now you get the idea, but how do you know which numbers are free? Click here to see all used numbers on the Depot. You can also check the number by entering it into Vago's package creation wizard and clicking the Check button, and it will automatically check it for you.

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