Declarative Mod Frameworks

Framework mods that load other non-code mods.

Dependencies

The majority of the required dependencies are declared in the .csproj. Perform a restore operation to fetch them.

These additional dependencies are required:

• The Nickel Modloader
  • If your Cobalt Core or Nickel installation path are not in one of the auto-detected directories, create a Path.props.user with contents like:

    <Project>
    	<PropertyGroup>
    		<ModLoaderPath>/path/to/Nickel</ModLoaderPath>
    		<GameExePath>/path/to/CobaltCore/</GameExePath>
    		<ModDeployModsPath>/path/to/ModLibrary</ModDeployModsPath>
    	</PropertyGroup>
    </Project>

SpriteReplacer

Loads mods of type "SpriteReplacement". Your nickel.json should look similar to this:

{
	"UniqueName": "YourName.SampleSpriteReplacement",
	"Version": "1.0.0",
	"RequiredApiVersion": "0.1.0",
	"DisplayName": "Sample Sprite Replacement",
	"Author": "YourName",
	"ModType": "SpriteReplacement",
	"Dependencies": [{
		"UniqueName": "Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer",
		"Version": "1.0.0"
	}]
}

Replacement sprites are loaded from the mods sprites directory. Create a folder for each mod (use CobaltCore for vanilla) whose sprites you wish to replace; then place a file at the appropriate path within that folder.
The file path must match the sprite's declared name; where :: indicates a new directory and unsafe characters are replaced with _.

For example, a replacement for the sprite map_shop from CobaltCore should be placed at sprites/CobaltCore/map_shop.png.
A replacement for the sprite assets/Cards/Default.png from Shockah.Dracula should be placed at sprites/Shockah.Dracula/assets/Cards/Default.png.

Sprite Logging

If a replacement doesn't seem to work, or you need help figuring out the path for a given sprite, add the following to your nickel.json, just before the final } (make sure to add a , on the previous line):

	"LogSprites": true

This will cause SpriteReplacer to log any replacement sprite lookups into the Nickel log, at DEBUG level. You will find messages like this:

[xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx][Debug][Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer] Looking for a replacement with ('Shockah.Dracula', 'assets/Ship/Chassis').
[xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx][Debug][Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer] No replacements for target mod.
[xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx][Debug][Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer] Looking for a replacement with ('CobaltCore', 'map_shop').
[xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx][Debug][Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer] Loading sprites\CobaltCore\map_shop.png from mod Fayti1703.SampleReplace.
[xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx][Debug][Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer] Looking for a replacement with ('CobaltCore', 'map_question').
[xxxx-xx-xx xx:xx:xx][Debug][Fayti1703.SpriteReplacer] No replacements with given path.

Note that the "local name" (the second value in parentheses) is always in path-name form -- so if you wished to replace ('Shockah.Dracula', 'assets/Ship/Chassis'), you would simply place a file at sprites/Shockah.Dracula/assets/Ship/Chassis.png.

After you are done, please make sure to remove the "LogSprites": true line from your mod's nickel.json. Warnings are printed in the Nickel log to remind you.