Factorio Modding Series: 01 - Basic Mod Structure

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my first official episode in the Factorio Modding Series! In this episode, I talk about Factorio's Modding API mod structure. Understanding this is essential to creating mods with relative ease, and without too many headaches.

In this episode we will accomplish:
- A better understanding of Factorio's Mod Structure
- A basic understanding of Factorio's Data-Lifecycle (how it loads mods)
- Create a very basic mod
- How to add our new mod to our game
- Where to find your mod in-game
- Common errors and where to find them

If you enjoy this series, make sure to get updates through twitter and subscribing.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! This is a judge-free zone, great for new-comers to the community.

I hope you enjoy, see you next time!

[murilomonteiro]

The worms in my brain have gotten happier with this spectacular video, looking forward for the next one

[nikotinsaure]

You can also have hidden, optional dependencies by appending "(?) " to the mod name in your info.json.

This way the game makes sure your mod loads after the dependency, but doesn't show it to the player. This is because players tend to interpret an optional dependency as a recommendation to install them together, while your reason to to this is often just to prevent the other mod from breaking yours.

[NegatorUK]

Awesome, looking forward to the next...

[nazirasaleh-lo]

i love this kind of tuto so much, even tho its 4 years ago this save me a ton of time learning coding and all that stuff, thank you so much walley :)..your video is what i really need right now....i do mean it, i really need this kind of video for my first

[midnight]

When i heard the intro, expected you to say "This is your daily dose of internet". Thanks for mod help!

[bensenter]

Thanks again Walleymods. I've always had trouble with Factorio. This was very helpful.

[asdff]

The position of the mods directory can be different, when your not using the steam/installed version of factorio. The default position is the directory, where all the factorio files are located (where you unzipped the game).

[zlatdesign]

Thank you very much for this monumental work for community

[Snakez_Gamez]

More please i need it to learn. just the 1-3 min in have helped

[ProliferationDev]

For anyone wondering, this video is a bit out of date. Most of the needed changes are in the Github but there's no longer a in the latest versions. Only on_built_entity.entity. So the correct line is "local entity=event.entity"

[asdff]

The version in the info.json has to be the same, as the version you use for naming the directory. When they are different, factorio will not start and shows an error, that the version is inconsistent.

[hayzersolar]

playing space exploration and HATE that they change the recipes on basic stuff like green circuits. i'm hoping that watching you i can go in and change a few recipes.

[renkeludwig]

What program are you using to code? Is it notepadd++ (then what theme is this?)
great series by the way!

[marn]

How did you manage to get colored text in a txt file in sublime?

[benjamininkorea]

Can mod a game, but can't install kmspico.

:D

jk great tutorial, I'm looking forward to the rest!

[xempire]

Hi love the vid. I am trying to make a fairly ambitions mod pack and I have to change out the Science packs/there requirements and crafting recipes to make them compatible. I was poking around and it seems quite simple I just have to copy the files and make the proper changes. What I'm confused about is how do I tell the game I want these changes/recipes to be the new/final ones.

[ThylineTheGay]

can you use any code in factorio or do you have to use "factorio" code AKA could i implement an AI or wouldn't that work?

[odysandy]

my brain just isnt working with codeing i wanted to do a mod where you can change the bonuses aka end-game mining research bonuses things and other stuff

[stykytte]

I want to make a hole in the ground with an eyeball in it that tracks the player as you walk around it. I'll report back if I manage it.