Building mods

The mod cooker (Build mod in the header, or Ctrl+3) turns your edits into a .tempest package the launcher installs. A mod is the list of game files it changes, plus any extra files such as Lua scripts or DLLs.

The page has three parts, top to bottom: What goes in, Details and Build. Refresh looks for new changes and files.

What goes in

Game files you changed

Each changed game file is one line: its name, where the changes come from, and the number of objects or rows it changes. Click the number to see them (for example 3 changed: skinicon_kasumi.…). Files whose edits were undone, so they no longer differ from the original, are left out.

The … menu on each line:

Action	What it does
Show the changes	Lists the objects or rows the mod changes, adds or removes.
Leave it out of the mod / Put it back in the mod	Keeps the file out of the mod without losing your edits.
Ship the whole file / Ship only my changes	Switches between a whole-file copy and a delta (below).
Discard my edits to this file…	Throws the edits away and reloads the game's file, after asking.
Remove from the project	Projects only: the file is no longer part of the mod. Nothing is deleted.
Forget the copy …	Removes an exported copy from the list. The file stays where it is.

Where the changes come from

A game file can have changes from several places:

• Unsaved edits in the Studio (in a project, all your edits are these).
• Saved in place: the game folder's file, saved by the Studio since it recorded the original.
• An exported copy: a file written with Export a copy…, or a modified .upk or .dat you added with Add files…. Added files are matched to the game file of the same name.

When there are several, Take the changes from picks one. The default is the unsaved edits, then the newest copy, then the in-place save.

Deltas or whole files

By default every game file ships as a delta: only the objects or rows you changed. Deltas combine with other mods that edit the same file, so keep them unless you have a reason not to. Ship the whole file replaces the game's file entirely; it conflicts with any other mod that changes that file.

A delta is made by comparing your version with the original. The cooker takes the original from, in order: the record the Studio made before the file was first saved in place, the launcher's backup of the file (made when a mod first touched it), or the game folder's own file. That last one is the normal case: the game folder is assumed to hold the original files. If you edited the game folder by other means, restore it (Verify the instance in the launcher) before building.

Extra files

• Add files… adds Lua scripts (placed under scripts/), DLLs (under dlls/64/) or any other file. Each line shows where the file goes inside the mod, and you can change it.
• A whole folder adds a folder.
• In a project, everything in mod-files/ ships as laid out. Open folder opens it. Put scripts/main.lua there for a Lua mod, dlls/64/ and dlls/32/ for native code, files/ChaosGame/… for any game file to ship whole.

Details

Field	Notes
Name	What players see.
Version	Semantic versioning: 1.0.0, 1.2.0-beta.1. Every upload needs a higher version than the last.
Author	Your name.
Icon	A PNG shown in the launcher and on the website.
Description	What the mod does and how to use it.

More options:

• Mod id: the permanent, lowercase id of the mod (letters, digits, dots, dashes, underscores). It is made from the name unless you type one. Never change it after publishing.
• Authors and links: other contributors.
• Needs other mods: dependencies, one per line, for example some-mod>=1.0.0. When the mod has Lua scripts, tempest-scripting>=1.0.0 (the Lua runtime) is added for you.

The details are kept in the project (or per game folder without a project).

Build

The Build card lists what is still missing in plain words (a name, a valid version, at least one file), then the Build button.

Signing: mods with Lua scripts or DLLs must be signed, and the launcher refuses unsigned ones. The first time, enter your name or email and click Create key. The key is stored with the launcher's data and used for every mod you build; the same key signs mods built in the launcher's own cooker. Keep it private. See Trust and moderation for how signers are trusted.

Build writes the folder, packs it and signs it. In a project the result goes to builds/<id>-<version>.tempest, and the cooker asks before replacing a version you already built. Without a project it asks where to save it. The build log under the button shows every step.

Install and test

• Install to try it installs the built mod into the game folder you are editing, with the launcher's installer, replacing an older version of it. If the game folder holds in-place edits of files the mod changes, the cooker warns you first: the mod would be applied on top of them.
• Install elsewhere… installs into another game folder.

Start the game from the launcher to test. The launcher shows the mod in the instance's mod list, where you can disable or remove it.

Publish

Publish to mods.lowrezstudio.com (under the Build card) uploads the built package. Fill in:

• the patch it works from (for example 8.1) and, optionally, the last patch it works on;
• a one-line summary (needed for a new mod), tags and a changelog;
• your API key (tm_live_…), once per machine. Create it on the website under Settings → API keys.

Your signing key must be registered and verified on the website first. See Publishing mods.