Very short guide to making a mod/addon

[Dram]

Hey guys, just wrote a very brief guide to adding new content to the game. This will help you get the gist of where things are and how to modify them. Please feel free to ask any questions! I will be very happy to answer them, as most of these systems I wrote myself.

Here is the basic, 9 step process:

1) Extract game data (isn't used by the game, just so you can see where what files are)
2) Go into the main menu, click addons, and click new. Select mod
3) Once the mod has been made, click show folder, this will open it in windows
4) The folder corresponds to the game structure, so you can put files in there in exactly the same path as the game files, and they will be used. Eg: a model in obj/structures/mars_base/platform.xob, you want to change it, so create that path in the mod folder. For example if the base mod path is addonpacks/mycroftmod/ then create a folder in it called obj, in that a folder called structures, etc to create a path obj/structures/mars_base/, then in that paste your own version of platform.xob and viola!
5) Make sure you enable the mod in the addons menu ingame or in the loader
6) Try it out in game!
7) Once tried and you are ready to release, open the addons menu, select the mod/addon, and press Pack
8) Once packed and restarted, again open the addons menu, select the addon/mod, and press Upload to Steam
9) Done!


The above process applies to -any- file in the game. The game will preferentially use the mod. This also means you can make a total conversion by replacing the 2 main script files - scripts/ccgame.c and scripts/script.c, making an RTS, RPG, FPS, or anything really, the engine is not limited to rovers :)

If you want to make additional content, then create an addon instead (in step 2 above, select addon instead). Then the path is a little different and you cannot overwrite existing files.


Most of the game systems have been written in such a way as to allow dynamically adding new cotnent, this applies to, but is not limited to:

* Tech Tree (you can add whole trees, individual technologies, etc, and these can be linked to new instruments/skeletons, requiring this new tech to be researched to be available)
* Vehicles (new skeletons, instruments, functionality)
* Characters (as with vehicles)
* Marsopedia (you can add new entries, whole chapters, etc)
* Locations (you can add new planets, moons, and then individual locations on those bodies)
* Campaign missions (for the above, you can add your own missions, link them to the global objectives, and increase the length of the campaign)
* Scenarios (simple really, but you can also add scenarios on mods and addons)
* Global Objectives (you can add new global objectives for missions to use, extending the length of the campaign)
* Static objects (you can add new objects for use in the editor)
* Dynamic objects (you can add new physics objects for use in the editor)


Importantly, the following rules apply to enabling mods/addons/total conversion:

* Only one total conversion may be active
* If a total conversion is active, only mods/addons for that total conversion may be active, not for the base game
* Addons can extend mods and other addons
* Mods can modify the base game or a total conversion

[MycroftCanadaNS]

Okay this is much easier, My old brain is stuck in the old ways of doing things.

Thanks Dram. :)

[Dram]

You are very welcome Mycroft :)

[4815162342]

this is the easiest thing ever, very n00b friendly, I was able to do some stuff.

[TECH52]

i am going to try it out as i could not make sence of the video with xob files going here there and very were lol

[DaddyCool1964]

ok, i have made a simple Mod, and it works fine. But how can i change the red Mod Picture, so i can see my own in the Addon section InGame and in the Steam Workshop ???

[🆂🅰🆈]

In folder were your mod has a JPG file with the same name.
Replace it with any image 512x512px ;)

[DaddyCool1964]

Originally posted by Say:

In folder were your mod has a JPG file with the same name.
Replace it with any image 512x512px ;)

Thx for that importen info.

[Mainframe]

Is it possible to edit XOB files. Let's say extract an XOB file, then edit the file in an editor.
What kind of software do you need to make/edit XOB's? Keep running into easybuilder when i search for the extension.

[Dram]

Hi, no it is not possible to edit .xob files, those are binarized. The .txo files are the same model but before binarization. Once TKOM is released as 1.0, we'll be releasing a large models pack containing almost all models in .fbx format (can be opened in anything) for use in TKOM mods only of course.

[ReIterated]

Originally posted by Dram:

Hi, no it is not possible to edit .xob files, those are binarized. The .txo files are the same model but before binarization. Once TKOM is released as 1.0, we'll be releasing a large models pack containing almost all models in .fbx format (can be opened in anything) for use in TKOM mods only of course.

It's probably a crime to reverse engineer the fbx - txo/xob converter as well, since the file format is proprietary. I'm not up to the task since i don't feel like going through thousands of lines of assembly :D

[Olrik]

Please Dram how to use Workbench for configure a custom model ?
and how to work fbx converter ?

[parkour2005]

Help me! I can not understand that not so I do? I can not keep the material on the object. Sorry for my English.1) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQvVCAjCAW-KrDN0. 2) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQw7wChX8prG9pBh. 3) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQ3LnOz5eEV1zSgY.

[Mr. Monochrome [Hood Certified]]

Originally posted by Grandis:

Help me! I can not understand that not so I do? I can not keep the material on the object. Sorry for my English.1) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQvVCAjCAW-KrDN0. 2) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQw7wChX8prG9pBh. 3) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQ3LnOz5eEV1zSgY.

Try this it's a step by step guide on how the Signs mod got reskinned. It's explains how to skin objects and how it was done for the Signs mod. If you follow it and apply the steps to whatever it is you're trying to reskin it should help you figure it out.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=442218605

[parkour2005]

Originally posted by Mr. Monochrome Hood Certified:

Originally posted by Grandis:

Help me! I can not understand that not so I do? I can not keep the material on the object. Sorry for my English.1) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQvVCAjCAW-KrDN0. 2) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQw7wChX8prG9pBh. 3) https://1drv.ms/i/s!AmM2cgS5fi3IgQ3LnOz5eEV1zSgY.

Try this it's a step by step guide on how the Signs mod got reskinned. It's explains how to skin objects and how it was done for the Signs mod. If you follow it and apply the steps to whatever it is you're trying to reskin it should help you figure it out.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=442218605

Thank you! Everything works.

[McGalcri[ESP]]

hello there!!. Well, im trying just increase the size of my resource barrels (just for learning hehe), but when I place the new edited file (resourcebarrel.cfg) in the correct path in my unpacked mod, its like the whole atmosphere of mars changed, even in the main menu I see mars really weird, not that redish with black space in background, just brilliant with full blue sky.
A part of this... i cannot use my mod without packing it first. (Sorry for my english hehe)