How mods work

< Go back to the starting page

How to use them

You can get mods from the Steam workshop. Simply browse through the list of mods and when you find one you like, click the "subscribe" button.

This will automatically download and enable the mod for you when you open the game.


Alternatively, you can use mods without the Steam workshop. If you managed to get a mod through a different way than the Steam Workshop, all you have to do is go to where the game is installed and place it in the "Mods" folder.

Steam > SteamApps > common > Move or Die > Mods > [Mod folder goes here]

There is also a "Mod Manager" in the main menu of the game from which you can enable and disable mods easily. You get a full list of the mods you are subscribed to, including a thumbnail, description and author.

Folder structure

The contents of the mod should be contained into a folder named acordingly. Make sure the name is customized so it doesn't overwrite other mods with the same name.

There are 4 important elements in the mod folder


  • In-Game thumbnail

A 180x80 .png image named "thumbnail.png" that will appear in-game in the mod manager, summing up the contents of the mod, looking like this:

  • Steam Workshop thumbnail

A 512x512 .png image named "steamthumbnail.png" that will appear in the steam workshop. Just like the in-game thumbnail above, it should accurately describe the mod's contents and it should look like this:

  • The info file

There is a file named "modinfo.txt" containing all the necessary info for the game to pick up and properly display the mod.

These are its contents:

{

"name":"Pancake Farts",

"author":"Nick",

"description":"You will fart pancakes all day erryday.",

"category":"Misc"

}


(Careful with the syntax, if you mistakenly delete a comma or a quote, the whole thing will stop working)

There are 8 possible categories that help players browse the mods easily (these are only to keep the mods nicely sorted in the mod manager, if the game can't identify any of these in the "modinfo.txt", it will assign the mod to the "Misc" category):

  • Character
  • UI
  • Environment
  • Item
  • Level
  • GameMode
  • Audio
  • Misc

Note: The description shouldn't be longer than 200 characters

If this file is missing, the game won't be able to recognize the mod and therefore it won't show up at all in the mod manager screen


  • The modified files

Finally, the files that actually modify the game's content...

Anything inside the mod's folder will overwrite the contents in the game's root, so for example:

Move or Die \ Mods \ PancakeFarts \ Lib \ Sound \ Effects \ Pancakes.ogg

- Will overwrite -

Move or Die \ Lib \ Sound \ Effects \ Pancakes.ogg

Same goes for creating new folders and files. Anything new in the mod folder that doesn't exist in the original game files, will be considered an addition to them.

When you launch the game, it virtually copies all the files from all the mod folders into it's own game folder, technically that's how the game sees it.

That way, we make sure that all the folders are organized nicely and mods won't be erased after each game update.


This is how the contents of a mod folder changing the game's library look like.

How to make a mod

The first thing you have to do in order to make your own mod is to create a folder in the "Mods" directory. Make sure you name it something suitable to describe the contents of your mod and also make sure it's not a generic name that would interfere with other folders.

Example:

Move or Die \ Mods \ MostAwesomeFreakingModOutThere

You can browse through the game's files and copy the files you want to change in your mod's folder (making sure the path is the exact same), or you could follow one of the following templates:

Make sure that you only have the changed files in your mod folder, otherwise you increase the risk of causing a conflict between your mod and others. This means that when two or more mods alter the same file, there is a conflict between them and only one of them can be activated at a time.



Assuming you already have a mod ready, it's time to learn how to publish it.

How to Publish a mod

< Go back to the starting page