Targetware: Mod Creation

Tutorial: Setting up a Mod

The first step in creating any new mod, whether standalone or hybrid, is to make a ".mod" format file. This is nothing more than a simple text file that can be created with any text editor. The .mod file tells the Targetware Engine several pieces of critical information:

• The name of your mod. Ex: "Target Berlin"
• Where the text description of your mod file is located. This is a brief description of the mod that shows up when a player browses through mods offline.
• Where the Engine should look for scenario files for this mod.
• A version number for your mod. This could be a date, or a serial number, anything. This helps keep data synced up between servers and players.
• Optionally, a download URL so that players who do not have the mod installed can download it via the "Download Mod" function. All Targetware mods are distributed in ".zip" format. You only need to prepare one version of your mod datapack, it will be compatible with both Macintosh and Windows versions of the Targetware Engine.

Have you picked out a name for your mod? For this tutorial, we'll be using the name "Target Kiska", for a mod that concentrates on the air battles in the Aleutions in WWII. Once you have picked out a name for your mod, you should pick out a shorter code name for it, in lowercase. This short name will be used for the folder containing the data for the mod. Normally, we might have chosen "tk", but since Target Korea uses that abbreviation, we'll choose "tkiska." The shorter it is, the more time you'll save typing later on, as you assemble your data files. Ideally, it should also help anyone identify, at a glance, which full mod name it corresponds to. Now it's time to create our .mod file.

Format of .mod File

You can see other examples of .mod files by looking in your targetware/data/ directory. Any mod that you have installed will have a .mod file associated with it. Feel free to open them up in a text editor and look them over. When you are ready, create a new file with your favorite text editor, fill in data following the pattern above, then pick a file name for it and save it. Make sure it ends in ".mod", or the Targetware engine will not be able to recognize it. You must save your .mod file in the targetware/data/ directory for it to be found.

Mod Data Folder

Now that we have created our .mod file, the next step is to create the subfolder that will contain all our mod data. Create a new folder inside targetware/data/, and name it with the short name of your mod. In our example, it's "tkiska".

Mod Description File

You will also want to create a short text description for your mod. This file will be displayed when a player clicks on the name of your mod when selecting a mod for offline practice. You can put whatever you like here, but it should be fairly brief. No text formatting is allowed, other than returns and spaces. Here is a brief description for our Target Kiska mod, as an example:

This file is named "mod_info.txt", and is saved within the targetware/data/tkiska/ directory. Theoretically, you could save your mod description file almost anywhere, but it will save you headaches later on if you save it within the folder you created for your mod.

Congratulations, you've taken the first step in setting up your new mod. If you fire up the Targetware application, you should see your mod in the Practice Offline mod selection screen. Selecting it should make your description text display. The next step is to create some actual content for the mod, including one or more scenarios...