P3rd ML Mod Manager

A (still early in development) mod manager for mhp3reload.

Installing Mods

Copy any number of mod folders into MODS and the mod manager should detect them.

The mod manager will allow you to enable and disable any number of code mods. And enable any number of file replacement mods. As of this version, disabling file replacement mods can only be handled by deleting all of the contents from ms0:/P3rdML/files/, the mod manager can do this, and reinstall any and all still enabled mods.

Mod Format

Mods are stored as folders, containing a mod.ini file, and any other relevant mod files.

If 'preview.png' exists within the mod's folder, it will be displayed in the mod list. This image must be 166x166 pixels in size.

The mod manager currently supports five types of mods.

• At least one example of each type of mod is included in the release.

Mod Naming Conventions

Although Mod Manager doesn't enforce any mod naming conventions, I heavily encourage following these suggestions.

• No uppercase in mod folder.
• No spaces nor any special characters. (Underscores are alright.)
• Use a descriptive and "original" name.

Code Mods

Code mods must specify a file to be installed as a mod.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="FILE"
Type="Code"

Code mods may also reference multiple files to be enabled as a single mod.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="FILE1;FILE2;FILE3"
Type="Code"

In order for mods with dependencies to be loaded in the right order, a priority system is in place. A number (between double quotes) from 0 to 5 may be used to affect loading order, priority 0 should be reserved for API/Core level mods only. If no priority is provided, 3 is the default value.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="FILE"
Type="Code"
Priority="3"

Specific File Replacement

File replacement mods must reference a series of at least one file, and the same number of target ids indicating the files to replace.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="NEWFILE"
Target="FILEID"
Type="File"

Another example, replacing multiple files.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="NEWFILE;NEWFILE2"
Target="FILEID;FILEID2"
Type="File"

Patch Mods

Patch mods are basically code mods that are loaded specifically after another file, (most likely) with the intention to patch said file. The last 8 bytes of a code mode FFFFFFFF00000000 should be skipped for patch modes.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="PATCHFILE"
Target="FILEID"
Type="Patch"

Mod packs

Mod packs are "empty" mods with multiple dependencies for the mods they should enable, mods in a mod pack may be enabled individually, but having a single toggle handle all of them should make distribution simpler.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD PACK NAME"
Type="Pack"
Depends="mod1;mod2;mod3

Equipment Replacement

Equipment replacement mods must reference a single file, and do not use a target id. When enabling the mod, the user will choose which equipment piece to replace.

• Models may be used by more than a single piece, in such cases, only the name of the first one in order of game id will be shown.

Equipment mods instead, must append the equipment type to the mod type.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="NEWFILE"
Type="EquipTYPE"

Possible equip types are:

Key	Equipment Type
GS	Great Sword
LS	Long Sword
SNS	Sword and Shield
DB	Dual Blades
LNC	Lance
GL	Gun Lance
HMR	Hammer
HH	Hunting Horn
LBG	Light Bowgun
HBG	Heavy Bowgun
BOW	Bow
SAXE	Switch Axe
HEAD	Head armor
ARMS	Arm armor
BODY	Body/Chest armor
WAIST	Waist armor
LEGS	Leg armor
CATHELM	Felyne Helmet
CATPLATE	Felyne Chestplate
CATWPN	Felyne Weapon

Armor Set Mods

Armor sets can be distributed as a single mod by setting it's type to EquipSET and Files to a set of 5 ; separated files indicating each piece in the following order: - Head - Arms - Body - Waist - Legs

In case an armor set doesn't include one or more of those pieces, a null must be in it's place.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="HEAD;null;BODY;WAIST;null"
Type="EquipSET"

Cat Armor Set Mods

Cat Armor sets can be distributed as a single mod by setting it's type to EquipCATSET and Files to a set of 2 ; separated files indicating each piece in the following order: - Helm - Plate

In case an cat armor set doesn't include one or more of those pieces, a null must be in it's place.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="HELM;null"
Type="EquipCATSET"

Weapon animations

Weapon mods can have an Animation key referencing a json file to use for custom animations. Special Weapon Animations must be active as well for animations to work.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="NEWFILE"
Type="EquipTYPE"
Animation="modname.json"

Weapon Sounds

Weapon mods can also include an Audio key referencing two files to use for sounds.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="NEWFILE"
Type="EquipTYPE"
Audio="header.bin;sounds.bin"

• In a few specific cases, replacing a weapons sound effects, will also replace another's. These cases seem to be few and far apart so it shouldn't pose any real issue.

Extra

Any mod may also contain keys to state other mods the mod depends on, as well as what version of the game is supported by the mod.

Versions

Adding the Version key allows the mod manager to correctly load only mods that can be used for the selected version.

Version=version

version must be either one of the following.

Value	Game Version
NOHD	Only supports PSP version.
HD	Only supports HD version.
BOTH	Supports both HD and PSP version.

• Equipment mods, be it sets, armor parts, or weapons, can be loaded regardless of version, and specifying one will have no effect.

• Mods using BOTH as their version may include FilesHD and TargetHD as keys specifying files relating to the hd version only.

• If the Version key is omitted the mod manager will asume it's NOHD

Description

The Description key can be used to add text descriptions for mods. \ is used to represent new lines.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="FILE"
Type="Code"
Description="Something about the mod.\Second  line."

Dependencies

By adding the Depends key, any mod may specify other mods they depend on, by listing their ids. As an example, a weapon mod that uses custom animations would depend on File Replacer and the Weapon Animation Expansion and it'd be set up as follows:

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="NEWFILE"
Type="EquipTYPE"
Animation="modname.json"
Depends="file_replacer;wpn_anim_expansion"

Enabling a mod will automatically enable it's dependencies if necessary. In the current version of the system, however, disabling dependencies will not disable the mods that need them.

Settings Scripts

Mods may contain "settings scripts" that can be run before the mod is enabled, such scripts could be used to change settings for mods, add any kind of user input, or just show a splash with info. Settings scripts can access the entirety of the language and any and all files in the memory stick. Users should be careful and only use scripts from trusted sources.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Files="PATCHFILE"
Target="FILEID"
Type="Patch"
Script="mod_folder/settings.lua"

Different Language Names

Your mod can also contain different names for different languages. To add a translated name create a field called Name_lan where lan is the desired language's id.

[MOD INFO]
Name="MOD NAME"
Name_sp="NOMBRE DEL MOD"