[Tool] ITB Mod Loader

Discuss and distribute tools and methods for modding.
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kartoFlane
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[Tool] ITB Mod Loader

Postby kartoFlane » Tue May 15, 2018 7:14 pm

Seeing as I have taken over the development of the mod loader some time ago, I figured a new topic would be useful to allow me to update it when I release a new version.

About

The mod loader is a collection of lua scripts and DLL libraries, providing a framework that loads mods and empowers them with additional features.

This is a continuation of Cyberboy2000's mod loader, which was originally posted here. Seeing as he's been unreachable for quite a while, I decided to take over the deveopment to fix bugs and implement new features.


Download

GitHub repository can be found here.
Note: as of 2022.07.16, GitHub projects associated with the mod loader have been moved to ItB Community. Old links should still work, and redirect to the new home

Downloads [ List of most recent versions here ]
Click on the most recent version, scroll down to Assets, and click on ITB-ModLoader-#.#.#.zip to download the release.

Installation

Extract the zip file into the game's base directory (eg. for Steam, this is typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Into the Breach), next to the game's executable, overwriting files as necessary. The zip includes original copies of the overwritten files so you can easily revert, if need be.
After doing so, start the game. When you get to the main menu, there should be an additional button in the main menu reading "Mod Content", as well as mod loader version string in the bottom-right corner.

If you're upgrading from a previous version of the mod loader and encounter issues, the nuclear option of doing a clean reinstall of the game will solve all of them.


Uninstallation

To uninstall the mod loader, run uninstall.bat. This script will restore your Into the Breach installation to unmodded state. Profiles, savegames, and mods present in mods direcory will be left untouched.

Keep in mind that savegames that used mods will be broken to a varying degree depending on which mods were enabled. Profiles used to play mods will most likely work for new games, but entering the statistics screen in main menu might cause the game to crash.

After that, the game should be back to unmodded state. If you get any errors despite following these steps, try validating integrity of game cache (if on Steam), or reinstalling the game.


Usage

To install mods, simply unpack them into the mods folder in the game's base directory.
To access some functionalities of the mod loader, like configuration, etc, click the Mod Content button in main menu after starting the game.


Creating Mods

If you're interested in creating mods, be sure to join the Into the Breach Discord server, and hang out in the #modding-creation and #modding-discussion channels. They are a very useful place when it comes to getting help on how to do things, and accessing the general body of knowledge compiled by the community so far.

If you're looking for a place to start, this Google doc includes a few tutorials.
If you're an advanced modder, documentation of all additional features provided by the mod loader and the mod API can be found here.


Frequently Asked Questions

  1. I've downloaded the mod loader and some mods, and installed them - the mod loader shows up in-game, but I can't see any mods!
    Most likely you've put the mod files in the wrong folder (resources/mods). The mod loader package includes an empty folder called mods, and it seems it gets ignored by some unpacking tools. If there's no mods folder in the game's root directory, simply create it yourself and put the mods there. This picture should illustrate it.
    .
  2. Does the mod loader work on systems other than Windows? (once ITB is released on other platforms)
    The lua part of the mod loader does, but the additional features in the form of DLLs most likely won't. Unfortunately, I do not have enough C++ expertise to do anything about this.
    However, people have been reporting good results using emulation software like Wine.
    .
  3. Some parts of the modded UI are obviously misplaced or incorrectly sized, why is that?
    You're likely playing with Stretch Scaling enabled. The mod loader's GUI code does not account for it, and there are currently no plans to support it. To fix this issue, you have to disable this option.
Last edited by kartoFlane on Fri Apr 07, 2023 5:39 pm, edited 30 times in total.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.2.3

Postby kartoFlane » Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:12 pm

Updated to version 2.2.3. For changelog and download go back to the first post, or click here.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.2.3

Postby kartoFlane » Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:24 pm

Original 2.2.3 release had a bug that caused a crash when selecting islands. If you've downloaded the 2.2.3 release before now, then just download it again to get the fixed version.
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raguay
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.2.4

Postby raguay » Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:12 am

Is a macOS version coming out?
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.2.4

Postby kartoFlane » Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:39 pm

If it doesn't work on Mac as-is then, as stated in the FAQ section at the bottom of the first post, no. Not from me, at least, unless someone recompiles the DLLs to work on other platforms, or the game's developer includes the required functionalities in the base game (which would be very nice, seeing as some features I'd need are already available).
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.2.5

Postby kartoFlane » Wed Aug 22, 2018 11:22 pm

Updated to version 2.2.5 with a few minor fixes and features: support for mod descriptions, and minimum mod loader version, among other things. See full release page for details.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.3.0

Postby kartoFlane » Sat Sep 22, 2018 12:01 pm

Updated to version 2.3.0. This release contains a bunch of fixes and some new features, like profile-specific configuration. See the release page for details.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.3.1

Postby kartoFlane » Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:11 pm

Updated to version 2.3.1. No exciting stuff here, this is pretty much just a maintenance release. See the release page for details.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL
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kartoFlane
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.3.2

Postby kartoFlane » Sat Dec 29, 2018 1:18 pm

Added a new release that fixes an issue with previous version that prevented the game from starting.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL
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Re: [Tool] ITB Mod Loader - v2.3.3

Postby kartoFlane » Fri May 10, 2019 5:25 pm

After a lengthy hiatus, I've uploaded a new release with a bunch of changes that I had festering in my local repository. This includes a fix for the crash for pre-1.1.22 versions of the game, as well as some situationally useful api additions.
Superluminal2 - a ship editor for FTL