Mod_Info Specs

This page is for mod authors. mod_info.js contains metadata for a mod, typically cosmetic information, but also Modnix features like managed config and load order.

It may also be named the same as its archive or folder. See Mod Specs for details.

Dlls may embed this info file with the "Embedded Resource" build action. Embedding mod info in a dll can keep file count low and easy to manage, and prevents most users from modifying (and breaking) it. When embedded, the file may be placed at any path, e.g. at the project's root or in the Properties folder.

Table of Contents Container Example Fields Actions Author Avoids ConfigType Contact Copyright DefaultConfig Description Disables Dlls Duration Flags Id Lang LoadIndex Mods Name Preloads Requires Url Version Dictionary Type

Container

mod_info is one big object, js style, optionally wrapped by a pair of brackets. JavaScript comments allowed. Field names may be unquoted and are case-insensitive. Field order does not matter. Unknown fields are ignored. Incompatible values and syntax errors will abort the whole file.

The content should be encoded in UTF-8. Since Modnix 2.0, other Unicode with Byte Order Mark are also allowed.

Example

    ({
       Id : "mod.id.case.insensitive",
       Version: "1.2",
       Name : "Name of Mod",
       Description : "Description of Mod",
       Author: "Somebody",
       Contact: "#mods on PP discord",
       Copyright: "Public Domain",
       LoadIndex: 50,
       Url: {
         "GitHub" : "https://github.com/Sheep-y/Modnix",
         "NexusMods" : "https://www.nexusmods.com/phoenixpoint/mods/43",
         "Changelog" : "https://github.com/Sheep-y/Modnix/blob/master/Manager/Resources/Changelog.md",
       },
    })

Fields

All fields are optional, but Id is strongly advised. It gives your mod a stable identity, easily referred to by Modnix and other mods.

Actions

Type: Dictionary< string, object >[]
Default: null
Example: [{ "Eval": 'GetDef( "NJ_Gauss_PDW_WeaponDef" ).SetDamage( 25 )' }]

Actions is a free-form plain-text modding system added in Modnix 3. See [Action] for details.

Setting this field will trigger a error in Modnix 2, because it is not supported. If the mod has DLL parts, they would still be loaded, and the error will be a warning instead.

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 3

Author

Type: Dictionary (Multilingual)
Default: "Company" if dll, or same as Id

Fill this field to display mod author(s) to mod user.

Avoids

Type: AppVer[]
Default: null
Example: "bright.new.mod"
Example: { Id: "Modnix", Min: "2", Max: "2" } // Modnix 2 used PPML 0.3
Example: [ "PPML", "Non-Modnix" ]
Example: [ "mod.first", { Id: "PPML", Min: "0.3", Max: "0.3" } ]

A list of mods that this mod would avoid. If any mod is found, this mod will be disabled and not loaded.

The id may be a mod id (case-insensitive), or one of these special ids:

Modnix

Checked against Modnix version.

NonModnix
Non-Modnix

Any requirement of these Id will fails with Modnix, regardless of version.

This allows a mod to "exclude" itself form Modnix.

PhoenixPoint
Phoenix Point

Checked against game version.

PPML
PPML+
PhoenixPointModLoader
Phoenix Point Mod Loader

Checked against bundled PPML (Ijwu) version.

Min and Max are optional. If provided, each must be a valid Version, and are inclusive.

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 2.4.

ConfigType

Type: string
Default: null
Example: "Sheepy.HelloWorldMod.ModConfig"

This is the Type that Modnix uses to create, reset, and load your mod's configuration. It must be the fullname (with namespace), and it will round trip to and from json.

When a config read is requested, the mod's dll will be scanned for the type. The first match will be used for the whole mod.

If config file does not exist, a new instance of this type will be used as the default value. This also happens when the default value is explicitly requested, such as when a user resets config to default.

If config file does exist, it will be read as text. If requested through api, the text will be deserialised into a new instance of this Type by default.

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 2.

Contact

Type: Dictionary (Freestyle)
Default: null
Example: "[email protected]"
Example: { Email: "[email protected]", Nexus: "https://..." }

Fill this field to display contact information to mod user.

Contact are currently displayed as text, but may be linkified in future release.

Copyright

Type: Dictionary (Multilingual)
Default: "Copyright" if dll, or null

Fill this field to display copyright to mod user.

DefaultConfig

Type: object
Default: null
Example: { Config_Version : 2, Setting_A : "A", Setting_B : "B" }

This is a legacy field for Modnix 1. Modnix 2 will ignore it when ConfigType is set, and Modnix 3 does not recognise it at all.

Filling this field have a noticeable impact on mod_info parse time, especially for big or multi-level configs. Avoid this field except for Modnix 1 compatibility.

In Modnix 2, when this field is used without ConfigType, and a config type is provided through api, the mod loader will compare the field's value with a new instance of the type. If mismatch, a warning will be logged. This is to make sure the field will not be out of sync with the code, a bug that is bound to happen when the same code happens at two places.

Compatibility:

Removed from Modnix 3. It will not cause error, but will not be loaded either.
Deprecated in Modnix 2 and will trigger a warning.

Description

Type: Dictionary (Multilingual)
Default: "Description" if dll, or same as Id

Fill this field to display mod description to mod user.

Disables

Type: AppVer[]
Default: null
Example: "evil.mod"
Example: { Id: "legacy.mod", Min: "0.75", Max: "0.99" }
Example: [ "Big", "Bad", "Outdated" ]
Example: [ "mod.buggy", { Id: "old.mod", Max: "2.99" } ]

A list of mod to be disabled by this mod. All matched mods will be disabled, and your mod will be noted as the cause.

The id may be a mod id (case-insensitive), or one of the special ids. See Avoids for list of special ids.

Min and Max are optional. If provided, each must be a valid Version, and are inclusive.

This can be used to disable old mods that have a different default id, for example, or outdated mods from another author that your mod replaces.

Dlls

Type: DllMeta[]
Default: null
Example: "ExampleMod.dll"
Example: [ "ModA.dll", "ModB.dll" ]
Example: [ { Path: ... }, { Path: ... } ]
Example: { Path: "mod.dll", "MainMod": [ "namespace.SomeClass", "namespace.AnotherClass" ] }

Specify the dlls and their entry points in form of MethodName : [ FullClassName1, FullClassName1 ].

If entry points are not specified, the dll will be scanned for initialisers.

Method names much match a mod loading phase, case-sensitive. See Mod Specs for a list of phases.

Duration

Type: string
Values: "temp", "newgame", "dlc", "perm"
Default: null

Fill this field to declare how the mod affect campaign and save games.

In order of least to most impact:

temp

This mean the mod only have temporary effects, and is not expected to impact save games.

New and existing campaigns may be saved with this mod on, and the save can be loaded when this mod is absent without any side effects.

Example: No ambush, Weapon damage tuning, Full mutation

newgame

This mean the mod only applies on game start, like a new game option.

After a campaign is started with this mod on, its save can be loaded when this mod is absent without any side effects.

Example: Random site location / equipment

dlc

This mean the mod only applies to new campaign, like a dlc.

If a campaign is started with this mod on, its saves may fail to load when this mod is absent, or loaded with serious side effects.

A mod should not claims to be dlc-like if it applies itself to existing campaigns.

perm

This mean the mod will taint existing campaign and save games made with it.

If any campaigns is saved with this mod on, the save may fails to load when this mod is absent, or loaded with serious side effects.

Example: New equipments, Weapon clip adjustment, Aeroplane capacity expansion.

If the mod's effect varies by config, use the default. If the mod has multiple effects, use the one with most impact.

Flags

Type: string[]
Default: null
Example: "Library"

Flags allow a mod to opt-in to special rules.

Library : If the mod is not Required by any other mods, it will be disabled.

Flags are case insensitive. More flags may be added in the future.

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 3.

Id

Type: string
Default: File name without extension, or name of containing folder if file is mod_info
Example: "sheepy.modnix_ppml02_compat"

Id is used to identify your mod.

Other mods can query you or refer to you using this id. If there are multiple mods with same Id, all will be disabled except the latest one.

Id is case-insensitive, and must not be a reserved id:

Modnix
NonModnix
Non-Modnix
PhoenixPoint
Phoenix Point
PPML
PPML+
PhoenixPointModLoader
Phoenix Point Mod Loader

Mods that use any of these Ids will be ignored.

Lang

Type: string[]
Values: "en", "de", "es", "fr", "it", "pl", "ru", "zh", "*", "-",
Default: null
Example: "*"
Example: [ "en", "de" ]

Fill this field to display supported game language(s) to mod user.

"-" means mod is language-independent (no text). "*" means all official languages are translated.

LoadIndex

Type: signed int32
Default: 0
Example: 50

The load order of this mod.

Mods with a lower index are processed and loaded first in a phase, and vice versa.

Suggestion:

300 - Very Low Priority
200 - Low Priority
100 - Below Average
0 - Normal
-100 - Above Average
-200 - High Priority
-300 - Very High Priority

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 2.

Mods

Type: String[]
Default: null
Example: [ "zy/LegendPrologue.dll", "zy/LaserOnFire.js", "mad/AssortedAdjustments.dll" ]

A list of path of mods and/or mod packs. The paths must be relative, and must not go up the file hierarchy. The listed mods will be parsed and loaded independently, unaffected by the other fields of this mod.

This allow the creation of pre-configured, self-containing Mod Packs.

When this field is set, Dlls and Actions must be empty. This means Mod Pack are not real mods.

Thus, Mod Packs cannot be disabled / avoided by other mods, and these fields are ignored: Avoids / Config / DefaultConfig / Disables / Duration / Flags / Lang / LoadIndex / Requires. The limitations are designed so that multiple mod packs can co-exists in a sensible way.

Note that the user can still manually disable the mod packs, preventing its mods from being parsed.

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 3

Name

Type: Dictionary (Multilingual)
Default: "Title" if dll, or same as Id

Fill this field to set the mod name displayed to end user.

Preloads

Type: string[]
Default: null
Example: [ "res/System.Buffers.dll", "res/System.Memory.dll" ]

Preloads is a list of dlls that are copied by Modnix Manager to Modnix's preloads folder. These dlls will be loaded as soon as Modnix kicks in, before Unity is loaded, and of course before the game too.

Because the mods have not yet been scanned, the preloads are managed by Modnix Manager, and not by the Mod Loader. Manually installed mods must manually copy these dll(s) to the preloads folder.

It is strongly advised to not use this feature if you can load the dlls you need in the SplashMod phase. The only dlls that must be loaded earlier are those that would override the game's framework dlls. Needless to say, this is High Risk.

The only reason I am implementing this function is that these dll can at least be managed, rather than the alternative which is every mod copy their dlls to the game and leave them there for good. (Yes. Exactly what my C# Scripting Mod did, before this field is implemented.)

Compatibility:

Added in Modnix 3

Requires

Type: AppVer[]
Default: null
Example: "Sheepy.DebugConsole"
Example: { Id: "Modnix", Min: "0.75", Max: "0.99" }
Example: [ "PPML", "Non-Modnix" ]
Example: [ "mod.first", { Id: "mod.second", Max: "2.99" } ]

A list of requirements of this mod. If any requirement is not met, this mod will be disabled and not loaded.

The id may be a mod id (case-insensitive), or one of the special ids. See Avoids for list of special ids.

Min and Max are optional. If provided, each must be a valid Version, and are inclusive.

If there are multiple dependencies on the same mod, for example with different version ranges, any match are considered to match the mod. (An "or" condition).

Url

Type: Dictionary (Freestyle)
Default: null
Example: "https://sheepy.example.com/phoenixpt/hello_world_mod"
Example: { GitHub: "https://github.com/...", Nexus: "https://nexusmods.com/..." }

Fill this field to display links to mod user. Keys will not be translated.

Version

Type: Version
Default: "File Version" if dll, otherwise 0.0
Example: "1.2.3.4"
Example: 12
Example: 12.4
Example: "1.0.55723"

Version is displayed to users, and may be queried and depended on by other mods.

Version must be one to four positive integers joined by dots. See System.Version for what the number means and how versions are compared.

Dictionary Type

Dictionary fields maps string keys to string values.

A multilingual dictionary will map language code to content, such as { en: "English", fr: "Français" }. English is the preferred fallback, if exists, otherwise the first value is the fallback.

At of writing the mod manager is not multilingual, and there is no time table to make use of multiple languages in mod info.

A freestyle dictionary maps any key to any value, and both will be displayed to the user.

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Mod_Info Specs

Table of Contents

Container

Example

Fields

Actions

Author

Avoids

ConfigType

Contact

Copyright

DefaultConfig

Description

Disables

Dlls

Duration

Flags

Id

Lang

LoadIndex

Mods

Name

Preloads

Requires

Url

Version

Dictionary Type

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