How to Upload a Space Engineers Mod to Steam

Modding is the process of injecting user-created content into Space Engineers. Currently what is available to be modded is limited, only already clever users take managed to create a broad diverseness of new content beyond the default vanilla game. With the introduction of the Modding API, a groundwork has been laid to even more customization of the Engineer experience.

There is currently no one-stop store for all the information on modding. Information can be found here on the official wiki and the official modding section of the forums.

Contents

• 1 Tools
• ii Overview
  • 2.i Mods tin can alter the game in a variety of means.
  • ii.ii Mods can be classified by complication:
• iii Save Files / Globe Files
• 4 Modern Files Location
• 5 Shaders
• vi Textures
  • half-dozen.1 With Space Engineers moving from DX9 to DX11 PBR textures, the Method for creating textures has changed.
• seven 3D Models
• 8 API
  • 8.i Plug-in DLL mods
• 9 Tutorials/Guides
• x See likewise

Tools

There are many different workflows used by various modders. There is also non a universal workflow that works for everyone. Nevertheless, the following tools are recommend by virtually modders and make information technology much easier to create mods:

• Notepad++ (For XML, SBC, and general text editing)
• Visual Studio (For scripting)
• Blender (For creating 3d models)
• Harag's plugin for hands configuring blender and exporting 3d models into VRage format.
• Paint.NET (Photoshop also works if yous accept this plugin for exporting in the dds format)

Overview

Mods can alter the game in a diversity of ways.

• Decorative Blocks change the wait and experience mods change things like the Skybox, or add decorative blocks like hallways, exposed pipes, showers, beds, etc.
• Functional Blocks can be a combination of new looks and add existing or new functionality such as using a toilet model as a seat or making a cutting tool out of a Thruster.
  • Functional blocks tin be extended further or used create entirely new types of blocks by calculation scripting to a mod that controls how the block is used.
• Non Cake mods tin change things other than Blocks or Skyboxes. These could exist things like Character Animations, Space Suit variants, Inventory Sorting, or Combat AI for ships.

The ease of modern creation is highly dependent on what skills or ability to learn a modder brings with them.

Mods tin can be classified by complexity:

• Texture Mods involve editing or creating new game textures using programs similar GIMP, Photoshop, Pigment.net. Modifying existing textures, shaders, and stats of existing blocks is the simplest fashion to create a mod. Such mods can be created past simply copy/pasting the *.sbc info from an existing vanilla block, tweaking the values, and dropping the custom textures/shaders and *.sbc file into its ain binder.
• Models likewise involve texturing, but allow you to add 3D rendered models to the game. Creating new blocks with their ain look requires the utilise of 3D modelling and texturing, for which skills are exterior of the telescopic of this guide. Using a 3D suite such as Blender, 3DS Max, or Maya, a modeller can create new objects for use within Space Engineers, which tin can and then exist converted for use by the game using the MwmBuilder utility.
• Scripts have 2 main types ModAPI and In-game. They are both written in the C# Programming Language. The first is in-effect on the entire game world and can interact with virtually any game chemical element. In-game scripts, however, are loaded into a special block chosen a Programming Block. These scripts can only access the send grid or station filigree they are attached to. They tin read data from one block on your ship, for example, and trigger a Rotor to turn a certain amount in a specified management. Actually changing the way things behave within the game is more complicated and requires the use of coding with C# to create scripts that modify the behavior of custom blocks.
• Plug-ins are a C# program(projection) that is compiled every bit a DLL and is run by the game's .exe file straight. Plug-ins can alter near anything in the game(equally opposed to a game earth or ship grid) , far beyond what an In-game or Modernistic API script can do.

Official guides take been written up on the Space Engineers website and the Steam Guides folio. These volition give new modders a feel for how to set upward one's environment and what is required to get a modern going, but a lot of footwork is still needed by prospective modders to find how all the parts work together. Modders can obtain assist or information from the Keen Software House forums, Groovy'due south partnered Discord channel as well as player run groups on other sites.

Salvage Files / World Files

Every world you generate is saved in its ain binder that can be found in C:\Users\{WINDOWS USERNAME}\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Saves\{STEAM ID}\

File types:

• Sandbox.sbc – basic description of a globe. For more than details, see: save file sbc

• SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs – item definition of a world, positions and states of objects For more details see: salve file sbs

• *.vocalism – binary voxel information for an asteroid (outdated, electric current game converts these to vx2 format on initial load)
• *.vx2 - proprietary octree voxel storage format

• [OBSOLETE] *.xmlcache – don't modify these files, they are enshroud files regenerated on each salve

Mod Files Location

Each mod has its own folder located in %AppData%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\{Modernistic Proper noun}

The mod folder has to contain a sub-folder called Data with definition files of added or updated mods. Almost everything can be replaced/updated past the modder (sound, video, textures, models, gui, etc). Mods are restricted to a unmarried world and cannot change anything that exists outside the scope of that world. For example, while y'all can supplant things similar GUI Icons for cake mods, you can't replace the graphics for the entire UI because it exists outside of a world that would load the mod.

Shaders

Files with *.fx and *.fxh extension are vertex/pixel shaders for various rendering operations and can be establish in steamapps\mutual\SpaceEngineers\Content\Effects2\.

Every shader file gets recompiled on game launch. If you modify one, restart the game. If the game crashes on launch, it's probably due to a compilation fault acquired by your changes.

Textures

Some textures are in the DirectX *.dds format (DXT5 compression). Yous will demand an editing program that can dispense them. If y'all employ Adobe Photoshop, we recommend installing this plugin and using these settings for exporting:

Settings for exporting textures

Textures can be plant in: steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers\Content\Textures\. At that place are multiple categories of texture files: GUI, particles, lights, models, voxels, etc. Model textures with "_ns" in their proper name comprise the "normal map" in the RGB channels and the "specular map" in the Alpha channel. Model textures with "_de" in their name contain the "diffuse map" in the RGB channels and "emissive map" in the Blastoff channel.

The textures which can utilize the above method are limited primarily to GUI Graphics such as Block or menu icons.

With Infinite Engineers moving from DX9 to DX11 PBR textures, the Method for creating textures has changed.

The easiest method is to create PNG or TIFF files for each texture and utilise the Texture Packing Tool to compile them into a .dds texture. DX11 textures use a different compression type (BC3 to BC7), therefore the plugins for DX9 will not work to open or salvage textures in this format. The DX11 textures are:

• "_cm" - Color(albedo) and Metalness map (alpha).
• "_ng" - Normal map and Gloss map (blastoff).
• "_add" - Add texture - AO (Red channel), G (emissive) and B channels are not specified nonetheless and Custom Color mask (alpha channel).
• "_alphamask" - blastoff map.

More information can exist found here. While this link is for Space Engineer'southward sister title, Medieval Engineers, the games share a common lawmaking base and the modding process is nearly the same for both games.

3D Models

MwmBuilder is the utility built past the devs for converting fbx files to mwm models.

Note: You may demand administrator rights to copy or create files in Plan Files binder; you can copy MwmBuilder and dlls into a unlike folder.

MwmBuilder Location: {Steam installations directory}\SteamApps\common\SpaceEngineers\Tools\MwmBuilder.exe

Models are stored in: steamapps\mutual\SpaceEngineersModSDK\OriginalContent\Models\

Models accept been moved to the SpaceEngineers ModSDK. For information on obtaining the SDK on Steam check here

Uncomplicated USAGE:

1. ) Re-create FBX models to the aforementioned directory every bit MwmBuilder.exe
2. ) Create an XML file with the same name every bit the model. Giraffe.fbx volition have Giraffe.xml.
3. ) Run MwmBuilder.exe
4. ) You'll notice .mwm files in the same folder

For avant-garde usage see hither: Avant-garde 3D MODELS GUIDE

Moddable collision models: Adding new model with collision geometry.

API

Creating a working script is a difficult procedure for a single individual to practise, and to facilitate easy creation of scripts an API is required to guide a prospective modder in the right direction. Initially the community did this themselves with the Mod:SEModAPI, only in Update 01.048 Not bad released an official API besides. SEModAPI is no longer in development and should no longer be used. This guide and others similar it on the official wiki will only discuss how to utilise the official API.

At that place are three planned "levels" of script modding for the official API:

• Plug-ins(DLLs) - will be the most powerful (and most difficult to create). This involves creating a fix of custom methods, objects, and interfaces in Visual Studio and compiling the projection into a .DLL file.
• ModAPI script mods - will let access to objects at the world level as opposed to a single send grid with in-game scripts. This level of script tin, for example, add together an result to all blocks of a sure type on all ships regardless of possessor. One such early script mod was used to create a teleporter.
• In-game scripts - will provide the quickest course of modification for unproblematic or depression-scope scripts. These are loaded via the Programmable Block's Menu. They can be written directly into the the text console of the block or downloaded from a subscribed script in the workshop by clicking on a button in the aforementioned panel.

The electric current implementation of the API includes all three methods. Since these mods can be subscribed to and downloaded within Steam's infrastructure, certain limitations are in place to make sure that malicious mods cannot practice irreversible damage (such every bit deleting files on the difficult drive, etc). Equally such, not every in-game or out-of-game role can be used. See the Scripting Whitelist page for more than information.

Plug-in DLL mods

These can bypass all protections in place in the game for preventing malicious code. That is what makes them so powerful as they tin can use functions ordinarily restricted. They can do things like changing the GUI menus to add custom screens or add custom functions to blocks which are unremarkably hard coded in the game. They are not available as workshop mods and are manually downloaded and loaded in the game with a specially created shortcut to SpaceEngineers.exe. It is advisable to only use plugins from a trusted programmer, or one that has the plugin source publicly viewable. Some plugins besides have their own mods that demand to be subscribed and added to a earth through the Steam Workshop in addition to manually installing the plugin. Considering of the potential for plugins to cause damage to not only the game saves, but to an individual PC, they are non officially supported by KSH.

Tutorials/Guides

• How to Modern Blocks
• How to Mod the Skybox
• How to Mod Characters
• How to Mod Graphic symbol Animations
• How to Mod Ore
• How to Mod Production
• How to Modernistic Script
• How to Mod Respawn Ships
• How to Modernistic NPC Cargo Ships
• How to Modern Exploration
• How to Mod Scenarios

Run into too

• SE Workbench - an contained scripting IDE

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Source: https://spaceengineerswiki.com/Modding_Guide

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