Starting to create mods - DS/DST

[DrMelkpak]

Hi everybody!

My name is Kees Klop. I already have a few hours into the game and I love the art/animation style.

I see that the modding community for DST is pretty huge and I'm planning to start producing mods for the game.

I don't know where to begin when it comes to mods, I know very little about coding but art wise will be no problem for me.

Are there any tips/tricks or important things to know when starting to create mods? Hope the community can help  

(In the attachment I've some old designs for creatures which I'm planning to redo in the future )

[Lumina]

I suggest you to download some mods on the workshop, especially mods that are close to what you want to do, and look at their code. Also, you can find the code of the game in Steam\steamapps\common\Don't Starve Together\data\databundles in scripts.zip. I suggest you to unzip it somewhere, it's very useful to look at the base game code.

Take a program like sublime or notepad++ (i prefer notepad++). The function that allows you to search in all a repertory is very useful, see here :

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/73989-tutorial-basics-what-to-use-to-open-lua-files-and-why/#comment-865955

Because you can search for similar functions, or see how something is used or what is the right way to add something.

Some basic advices here and where to find crash logs :

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/73967-how-to-ask-help-for-modding-include-tutorials/

Logs are really useful when you have a crash. This way you can solve yourself the most common issues most of the time.

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/47353-guide-getting-started-with-modding-dst-and-some-general-tips-for-ds-as-well/

This topic could also provide some useful informations.

 

If you needs help, ask, but keep in mind that people could take time to answer or aren't always able to answer.your question.

Whatever you can do that help them to help you is welcome : clear title, information about your problem, attaching .zip of your mod, copy related code in your topic and the crash log if you have a crash.

 

Also, try googling your issue, sometimes you find useful informations this way. Keep in mind that DST isn't exactly the same than DS so some things work differently.

 

You'll probably need to use spriter. At first it's a lot to learn, and it's not always easy to find explanations about how it works. The following tool is useful to see existing anims :

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/files/file/583-ktools-cross-platform-modding-tools-for-dont-starve/

 

I suggest you to start with a very simple mod, so you can learn the basic.