Skin mods: What's allowed and what's not?

[Goregonzola]

Hey there!

I have some ideas about adding custom looks to certain entities of the game, but I'm a bit confused about the legal and non-legal approaches of creating item/mob/character reskin mods. I'm really excited about this stuff, but I want to make sure that I play this thing extra safe.

In the past few years many items and characters got alternative looks that can be purchased from the game's shop. As far as I know, everything that has an official, purchaseable skin is considered a non-reskin-able entity. Is there any other aspect that makes an in-game creature/item non-reskin-able?

Another case I'm unsure about: Let's say I have a reskin mod about an entity, that considered reskin-able the time the mode is made. If that entity gets official skins in a later update (let's say Worm Holes), my mod is automatically considered unallowed, and must be taken down by the creator?

Last aspect: Is it ever okay to add a new prefab with a new look - while it has the very same functions and codings as an in-game prefab?

I've examined this guide, but it has been untouched for two years now, and many contents have been added to the game ever since: Modding Guidelines – Klei Entertainment

This is all theoretical.

Thanks in advance!

Have a great day!

 

[ADM]

I think I've been told by someone from Klei some time ago that we simply aren’t allowed to implement skins to official content of the game (so however they have or don’t have skins yet). Only your own content would be authorised to get custom made skins.

Still, don’t take my words for the rules I might have misunderstood some matters of it and even myself I still have concerns on stuff I'm doing if they are legal toward the mod guildline.

My latest example is the newest skin for chester, how about mods that have  custom chester morph ? Depends of the mod method, they might be made from the same chester entity than the original, being already affected by skin changes, or a new chester so it would not be compatible with owned skins by default. I did one months ago before the chester skin which is affected by skin changes so because of that the newest skin override it's mod build and so is identical to a normal chester (with the skin), so cause of that we've decided to make this skin compatible with our morph... well it’s a specific case but I cannot really tell if THIS is legal since all that is handled by a separated eyebone and not Chester itself. It’s still not live on the workshop and I do be concerned about this question, glad I've found this topic if I can get some clarification myself !  (Good luck on your mod creations too)

[TemporarySolutn]

you can basically do whatever you want unless you are making a mod of an existing skin/dlc character which would circumvent buying it, that and nsfw **** which you need to have your mod privated/unlisted for.

[Fuffles]

As far as I am aware if you essentially were to reskin [prefab] without making it its own prefab ie. the prefab "wormhole" but it looks like your [insert skin idea here] then its not allowed. if the object were to be its own prefab, say "wormhole_alien" then its your own prefab, the fact that you used the same bank for it is not gonna count it as a skin even if it technically does the same thing. Skins simply imply you have an unmodded prefab that looks unlike itself/its skin