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How to make a Mod

By ro

Step-by-step guide for creating your first mod for Windowkill [v3.2.1].

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ro
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Category: Workshop

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

24 Jul, 2024 @ 9:16pm

6 Jan @ 1:54pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Clarifications

Introduction

Getting Godot and source code

VERY IMPORTANT

Opening Windowkill in Godot

Creating your first Mod

Adding content to your Mod

Preparing Mod for Workshop

Uploading Mods to Workshop

Comments

Clarifications

In Windokill, there's 2 types of workshop mods:

Custom assets (e.g., skins, cursors, backgrounds, window themes).
Expansions on the game’s code. (e.g., custom bosses, gamemodes, characters)

This guide only aims to teach you how to create expansions on the game’s code.

Custom assets mods are much easier to create, here's the official Windowkill Custom Assets guide[torcado.com]

Introduction

This guide aims to teach you how to get your first mod running.
You will also find useful links and info to help you through your modding experience.

You will learn how to:

Find the game's source code, resources, and editor.
Open Windowkill inside Godot (engine)
Get your first mod running.
Upload mods to the workshop.

This guide is a summary of the official modding guide[torcado.com] provided by Torcado.

Getting Godot and source code

To start modding, you need to have a copy of Windowkill running within the Godot Engine editor.
To achieve that, follow these steps:

Download the "modding" beta branch of Windowkill.
This branch includes the files needed to create mods, and the Workshop Utility.
Once downloaded, open the game's local files.

Look for the "/source" folder.
Inside, you will find the following:
- Godot Engine
- Windowkill's source code.
Copy these folders somewhere else, and keep the originals as a backup.
Otherwise, you could lose all your files upon a game update.

VERY IMPORTANT

Windowkill uses a modified version of the Godot engine, so it is necessary that you use the modified engine provided by the game, and not any other version.

Opening Windowkill in Godot

If you are struggling to open Godot, ask for help in the Godot Modding Discord Server.[discord.gg]

Let's open Godot.
Open "/godot-bin" and then "godot.windows.editor.x86_64.exe".

This is the Godot engine. It should look somewhat like this (as of version 4.3)

(click to expand)

Learn more about the Godot Engine here.[docs.godotengine.org]
Let's import Windowkill.
Inside Godot, click on "Import" and open "/windowkill".
Then look for "project.godot" and open it.

You have opened Windowkill in Godot.
Lastly, create a folder inside "/windowkill".
Name it "/mods-unpacked"

Windowkill will load mods from this folder.

Creating your first Mod

Download this mod template[drive.google.com] and uncompress it inside "mods-unpacked".
Or follow these steps:

Create your mod's folder.
- Inside "/mods-unpacked", create a folder, and name it like this: Author-ModName
- Next, create the following files:
- Next, paste this inside "manifest.json", and customize it as needed.
  { "name": "ModName", "namespace": "Author", "version_number": "1.0.0", "description": "Example Mod", "website_url": "", "dependencies": [], "extra": { "godot": { "authors": ["Your name goes here"], "optional_dependencies": [], "compatible_game_version": ["3.2.1"], "compatible_mod_loader_version": ["6.2.0"], "incompatibilities": [], "load_before": [], "tags": [], "config_schema": {} } } }
  
  ModName and Author must match your mod's folder name exactly, case sensitive.
- Next, paste this inside "mod_main.gd".
  extends Node func _init() -> void: pass func _ready() -> void: pass
  
  Learn about these files here.[github.com]
  Learn about Godot mod structure here.[github.com]
After this, run Windowkill inside Godot.

(or press F5)

Windowkill should open, and you should see your mod inside the mods tab in-game.
If not, leave a comment, and I'll be happy to help you, or ask for help in the official Windowkill Discord Server.[discord.gg]
You might want to create an icon for your mod as well.

Windowkill will look for icon.png, icon.jpg or icon.jpeg.
The base icon resolution is 96x96 pixels, but you can use any square resolution.

Adding content to your Mod

Once you get your mod running, it is your job to add content to it.
This is usually done using the Godot Editor, GDScripts, script extensions, and programming overall.

Here are some links that can help you:

Windowkill Discord Server.[discord.gg]
Windowkill Modding guide[torcado.com]
Windowkill Custom Assets guide[torcado.com]
Windowkill assets document[www.figma.com]
Godot Modding Discord Server.[discord.gg]
Introduction to Godot[docs.godotengine.org]
Introduction to GDScript[docs.godotengine.org]
Script Extensions[github.com]
ModLoader API[github.com]
Creating settings for your Mod[github.com]
Mod Developer Tool[github.com]

My tips and suggestions:

As a modder, these are some tips I can share with you:

Read other mods' source code, they can be very insightful!
Participate in the modding community, we love to help!
Always ask for help when needed.
Do learn some programming. Without it, modding is near impossible.

How to locate installed workshop mods.[theglobalgaming.com]

Preparing Mod for Workshop

A conventional workshop mod looks like this:

Author-ModName.zip └───mods-unpacked ├───.godot └───imported └───...(.ctex files) └───Author-ModName ├───icon.png ├───mod_main.gd └───manifest.json

This mod tool[github.com] allows you to export your mods directly from Godot, ready to be uploaded to the workshop. I will not teach you how to use it as setting it up can be a bit complex. But you can try it yourself.

You can prepare your mod manually by following these steps:

Preparing your folder.

Create a new folder anywhere in your PC.
Inside it, create the folders "/.godot", and "/mods-unpacked".
Then, create the folder "/imported" inside "/.godot".
Finally, paste your mod's folder inside "/mods-unpacked"

Your new folder should look like this:
.CTEX files.

.CTEX files are automatically generated by Godot when you add a resource file (e.g, images, audio, textures).
You need to include your resource's .CTEX files with your mod.

Follow these steps to locate and copy your mod's .CTEX files
- Go back to your Windowkill source folder, and open the folder "/.godot/ imported".
  
  Sort by date, and identify your mod's .ctex files by name and date.
  
  If you have not added any resources except your icon, you will only need to copy "icon.png.ctex"
  
  Ignore .MD5 files.
- Go back to your prepared folder, and paste your .ctex files inside "/.godot/ imported".
Compress your mod.
Select both folders and compress them into a .zip file.
Name this zip file "Author-ModName.zip"

Your mod is ready to be uploaded!

Uploading Mods to Workshop

Open the Workshop Utility.
Open Windowkill and select the following option:

(if you can't see this option, make sure you installed the modding branch)

This is the workshop utiliy

(click to expand)
Open files.

Open your compressed mod and your mod's preview image.

You can use any image as the preview image. This is the image displayed in the workshop.
If you are updating an existing mod, add the Workshop ID as well.

How to locate a mod's ID.
Select your mod's tags.
Hit upload.