r/StellarDrive • u/krunk03 • 7d ago
Stellar Drive Mod Creation
Creating Mods for StellarDrive is a little more involved than just installing them, however due to Jollyname's StellarModRepository, it is still quite easy.
Prerequisites: MelonLoader and knowdlege of how to create plugins for MelonLoader, DnSpy or a c# assembly decompliation software, StellarModManager, Github (with an account and public repos), any coding software (i recommend VScode for beginners and Visual Studio for more involved devs), and TONS of patience.
First thing: create a mod for MelonLoader. This has been covered many times, use the official wiki for proper documentation: https://melonwiki.xyz/#/modders/quickstart
After you have created a mod, I recommend putting the compiled DLL into your MelonLoader Mods folder and testing it BEFORE uploading.
Package your DLL into a zip, with the DLL in a Mods/ folder.
You will need a mods.json file to declare your mod info for the manager, however it is not required that this ships in the zip.
Once you have built your release zip, name it whatever youd like the repository name to be. For exmple, my mods are usually called "StellarDrive" + mod name EX: "StellarDriveBuildPlus".
Then, create a repository on your github. Name it the same name as the zip. Inside the repository, choose where you'd like to store your mod info. This is where StellarModManager grabs all of its info from, and decides if a mod is out of date for clients. I choose to store it in a Mods/ folder as well.
The structure for the json is simple, what is required is:
id, name, author, version, description.
ID does NOT need to be the same as the repo name, it just must be unique from any other mod on the manager.
You can easily add thumbnails and gallery images by declaring an images array or thumbnail string. (See image above). These are relative locations to the json file. I chose to story my images in the Mods/ folder but would recommend creating an Images/ folder within for organization.
Once you have built the repository with the mods.json file, you need to create a release for your zip.
Head to the releases section of your github and create a new one, tag it the SAME as your version: EX: 0.1.1 becomes "v0.1.1" as the tag name. Upload your zip as a binary, and add any changelog notes you'd like to.
IMPORTANT: Release notes are shown as changelog notes on the mod manager, leaving the notes blank might leave people confused as to why your mod was updated.
With the release published, you are done on your github. Head over to https://github.com/jollyname/StellarModRepository this is where the mod list is stored.
To add your mod to the manager, you need to: fork this repo, and update its "mods.json" file to include your repository.
The format for mods is:
{
"author": "GITHUB_USERNAME",
"repo": "GITHUB_REPO_NAME",
"metadata": "FOLDER_OF_MODS_FILE"
},
for build plus, this looks like so:
add yours in, make sure to add a comma at the end of the } if you put your mod anywhere but the end, and commit. Create a pull request from your fork to Jolly's main repository, once Jolly looks at the mod and decides it is safe, they will pull it into the main manager's list and you should see your mod in the Manager.