Modding Guide

Current state of modding
Modding support at the moment is limited to changing game configuration files and adding sprites (PNG files) that are mainly used in the UI. This allows a lot of control over the game but does not allow adding 3D elements. You can still add new buildings, creatures and other elements by using the existing ones for visual purposes.

This guide contains the basics of how modding works. The mod files also contain a lot of info in the form of comments, and we will also update this guide and add more information to it.

Creating translation mods
We created some tools and a simplified Translation Mod Guide for creating translation mods.

How modding works
Most of how Dream Engines plays is controlled by external data files that define its content, balancing, and behavior of various systems. To create a mod, you need to create config “modification files”. These files do not need to include all of the content in the original configuration, only the definitions that you wish to change, add or remove.

Read more about the Configuration File Structure

For your convenience, we added a copy of the original configuration files that you can use as reference. These can be found inside the Modding folder. Note: These files are there for reference, changing or deleting them will have no effect on the game. You can copy and change these files, or just use them to figure out what you want to change.

Mod creation checklist
This is a general checklist for creating mods. There’s also a simpler, more specific one for Creating Translation Mods.


 * 1) Start by creating a new folder for your mod. Open the game installation folder, within it there is a Modding folder, and within it a folder called Mods. That is where your local mods go. Create a new folder for your mod.
 * 2) Create your configuration modification files as explained in the Configuration File Structure page, and copy those files into your mod folder. You can use the original configuration files as reference, find them in your game installation folder under Modding/Reference Files.
 * 3) Create a 128x128 PNG file that will be used as an icon for your mod, name it “preview.png” and copy it into the root of your mod folder (don’t put it in the Sprites folder).
 * 4) Launch the game, click the Mods button, then click “Edit” on your own mod. Fill in all the details (separate tags with comma), and click Save.
 * 5) If you are logged in through Steam and wish to upload your mod to the Steam Workshop, set the Visibility drop down, then click the Upload button.

Debugging and log files
Log files can be found in the following folder: "%userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Suncrash\Dream Engines"

The log files are called Player.log and Player-prev.log. If you encounter any issues, check the log files for any errors or warnings.

Guides
These pages explain how to mod the different aspects of the game. This is a work in progress and some of these are missing or unfinished.


 * Modding - Items
 * Modding - Production Recipes
 * Modding - Buildings
 * Modding - Construction Blueprints
 * Modding - Abilities
 * Modding - Research

Finding out more
If you have any questions or need help, you can ask the dev team and community members in the Steam Workshop discussion forum or join the game's Discord server.