annomod.md

Build and Deploy Mods

Requirement: you need to configure your modsFolder as described in Setup.

Automatically convert and copy mod files using a json description.

Features:

• automatically convert files like .png or .gltf to their Anno formats
• copy only wanted files into a separate mod folder (keeps mod output clean)
• create skins of .cfg files without duplicating them

Examples: Sources on GitHub, Compiled Mods

How to call

From Visual Studio Code

Press F1 or right-click on modinfo.json files to build and deploy your mod.

From Terminal or GitHub actions

You can use the build command also in command line.

Have a look at Jakob's Collection's GitHub publish pipeline to get some hints how to do it.

Conversions

The following are the default conversion if you use a normal modinfo.json file:

Type	Pattern	Action
Texture	_diff.png, _metal.png, _norm.png, _height.png, _rga.png	Create DDS textures with 3 LODs.
Icon	icon*.png	Copy PNG and create DDS textures LODs as needed.
Feedback	.cf7	Convert to .fc.
Models	.gltf	Extract and convert models with the name _lod0 etc. to individual .rdm files.
Skin	.cfg.yaml	Generate .cfg, .ifo, .fc.
Other	.cfg, .ifo, .prp, .fc, .rdm, .dds, .rdp	Copy.
Config	data/config/*	Copy.
Readme	README.md	Insert text into Description.English in the modinfo.json.
Banner	banner.png, banner.jpg	Copy.

Download Sub-Mods

You can automatically bundle sub-mods and shared files using the bundle configuration. E.g.:

"bundle": {
  "jakob_shared_base": "https://github.com/anno-mods/shared-resources/releases/download/v2/Shared-Pools-and-Definitions-1.1.zip",
  "jakob_ground_industry": "https://github.com/anno-mods/shared-resources/releases/download/v2/Shared-Ground-Textures-Industry-1.0.zip"
}

This will download the file and extract it's content into your mod.

Custom conversions

modinfo.json Format

{
  "src": ".",
  "out": "${annoMods}/${modName}",
  "converter": [
    {
      "action": "static",
      "pattern": "**/*.{cfg,ifo,prp,fc,rdm,dds}"
    },
    {
      "action": "cf7",
      "pattern": "**/*.cf7"
    },
    {
      "action": "texture",
      "pattern": "**/*_{diff,norm,height,metal}.png",
      "lods": 1
    },
    {
      "action": "gltf",
      "pattern": "**/*.gltf"
    },
    {
      "action": "modinfo",
      "content_en": true
    }
  ],
  /* ... and the usual modinfo content */
}

• src

  One or multiple folders to read the input data from. Use an array in case of multiple folders.

• out

  Folder to write the output mod to.

  Use ${modName} to get [Category] Name created from modinfo.Category.English and modinfo.ModName.English. Works only with out.

  Use ${annoMods} to get your local Anno mods/ directory set in the Extension configuration. Works only with out.

• converter

  Custom converter actions. See below.

• The remainder

  Basically modinfo.json content as you know it.

Converter Actions

• static: copies files according to glob pattern.
• texture: converts .pngs into .dds.
  • lods: number of LOD levels to generate, saved as _0.dds and so on. Set to 0 to disable LODs. Default is 3.
  • changePath: move texture to another folder, e.g. maps. Default is no change.
• cf7: converts .cf7 into .fc (using AnnoFCConverter)
• gltf: converts .gltf to .rdm. (using rdm4)
  • lods: number of LOD levels to pull out of .gltf files. Meshes must end with _lod0 and so on to be considered. Set to 0 to disable LODs. Default is 4.
  • changePath: move model to another folder, e.g. rdm. Default is no change.
  • animPath: move anim to another folder, e.g. anim. Default is no change.
• modinfo: generate modinfo.json.
  • content_en: generate content_en.txt file with same content as modinfo.Description.English.
• rdpxml: convert .rdp.xml into .rdp. More on a separate page
• cfgyaml: generate CFG, IFO and FC files. More in a separate page.