modding-guide

Structure of a Mod

Overall Folder Structure

Core contents of a mod:

• assets.xml: game object definitions, pure retexture mods may not need it
• texts_language.xml: localization
• graphics: models, textures, icons etc.
• modinfo.json: optional, but highly recommended information about dependencies and versions

Most parts have a fixed name and location in order to work. The following example shows the expected folders and files for a skin mod.

- [Skin] Residence Skins/
  - data/
    - config/
      - export/
        - main/
          - asset/
            - assets.xml     # game object definitions
      - gui/
        - texts_english.xml  # Localization
        # ... other languages
    - jakob/                 # this is your graphics folder
                             # Vanilla uses 'graphics' and 
                             # some mods simply use 'modgraphics'
  - banner.jpg               # or banner.png, picture for mod managers
  - modinfo.json             # meta information for mod managers
  - README.md                # description (not only) for mod managers

Mod Name

Mod names should follow the following scheme: [category] mod-name.

You can additionally add the author name in brackets to help managing bigger collections: [category] mod-name (author).

There’s no hard rule how to name categories, people have different opinions and the preferred names have slightly changed over time.

Category	When to use
Addon	Bigger collection of a mixture of the below.
Building	New buildings, production chains, etc.
Gameplay	Game balancing or new game mechanics.
Misc	Everything else.
Module	Docklands, museum etc. modules.
Ornamental	Ornament collecions.
Shared	Shared textures, products, production chains.
Skin	Paintbrush skins, Shift+V variants. Everything without it’s own construction menu entry.
UI	Construction menu, icon changes.

If you have a category mix just choose one that fits to the prominent part of your mod.

assets.xml

This file contains the definition, configuration of the mod.

Most of the following guide pages will explain how to write it and best practices, so I’ll skip it here.

modinfo.json

This file allows you to provide some meta information to your mod like verion, dependencies to other mods or DLCs.

Best you check out the modinfo.json documentation directly if you need to understand more.

Graphics Folder Structure

There are many ways to structure your graphics folder. I recommend to put as much as possible under your personal folder to avoid clashes with other mods.

⚠ Note: Make sure your files are uniquely named. A file in the same folder with the same name in another mod will clash.

Here is one example how I do it:

- [Skin] Residence Skins (Jakob)/
  # ...
  - data/jakob/             # mod content under author name
    - artisan-skins/        # feature to group your stuff
      - maps/               # textures in DDS format
        - residence_tier3_1b_diff_0.dds
        # ...
      - skin1/              # icon, model description, ...
        - icon_artisan_blue.png
        - residence_tier03_estate01.cfg
        - residence_tier03_estate01.fc
        - residence_tier03_estate01.ifo
      - rdm/                # model files in custom RDM format
        - tier03_01_lod0.rdm
        # ...
      - assets.include.xml  # contains definitions of 'artisan-skins'
  # ...