Made to make the creation of new furniture, clothes, wallpapers and tiles easier, as long as no complex/new behaviors are required. For a complete example, take a look at: https://github.com/Sir-Fenrir/tiny-life-simple-custom-objects
When creating new objects to load using this mod, there are a few steps that are required:
- Create a new directory for your mod.
- In your mod directory, create a file ending in '.simple.json', for example: 'mymod.simple.json'.
- In your mod directory, create a directory called 'Localization'.
- In the Localization directory, create at least one file, with the name corresponding to a shorthand for a language. For example 'en.json' for English.
That's the basic setup, easy, right? Well, it gets a bit more difficult from here, after all, we do need some information to load your custom objects.
To create mods for the Simple Object Loader, you'll need to use JSON, a standard for storing data. I'm not going to fully explain JSON in this README, but here is a start at W3Schools.
If you still have questions, there are many resources available online, just a Google-search away.
(JSON5 and JSONC are also supported)
The file you made contains the configuration for your objects. Let's look at a (partial) example:
{
"modId": "SimpleExample",
"furniture": [
],
"clothes": [
]
}
First off, your mod needs a unique identifier. This is not shown ingame, but it's necessary to make sure that if you add an item with the same name as someone else's item, they can both exist in de game.
Then you can zero or more furniture items, and zero or more clothes.
Per type of item you can add, there are properties you can supply, some are optional, some aren't.
Here is an example for a piece of furniture:
{
"categories": ["Chair"],
"name": "ExpensiveChair",
"tab": "LivingRoom",
"price": 500,
"atlas": "ExpensiveChair",
"size": [ 1, 1 ],
"colorSchemes": [ "SimpleWood", "Modern" ],
"actionSpots": [
{
"vectorX": 0,
"vectorY": 0,
"yOffset": -0.2,
"direction": "Adjacent",
"drawLayer": 1
}
],
"defaultRotation": "Down",
"colorMap": [1, 0, 1]
}
And here is a description for all possible properties for furniture:
type
This is for specific types of furniture, the possible types are listed under the Derived section on .
name
The name of the item when registering it. NOTE: This is not the name used in the game, for that we need the localization files. This name is used to find the relevant entries in the localization files and the atlas file.
price
The price of the object, if relevant.
categories
The categories this object belongs to, if applicable. The possible categories are listed on https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Objects.ObjectCategory.html under the header Fields.
tab
For when you want to specify which tab the object appears in in the build menu. Possible tabs are under the tag Fields on https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Tools.FurnitureTool.Tab.html.
atlas
When adding furniture, we need an atlas file describing the orientation of the texture file of the same name.
size
If you're creating furniture, we need the size. It expects an array of two values, the first being the x, the second being the y, for example: [1, 1]
colorSchemes
The ColorSchemes you want to use for the furniture, in an array. For options, take a look under the header Fields on https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Utilities.ColorScheme.html.
defaultRotation
In case you want to set a default rotation for the object, for options see MLEM.Misc.Direction2.
tableSpots
If you're creating a table, you need some spots to sit. Generally this can be the same as Size.
actionSpots
All the places a Tiny can interact with/from with the furniture. I'll be honest, not 100% sure on how this works. Best understood by seeing this example mod: https://github.com/Sir-Fenrir/tiny-life-simple-expensive-chair
colorMap
Set the colors for the different layers, if applicable. It is an array, with as many elements as there are layers in your textures. The numbers in it correspond to the given ColorSchemes. If you have three layers and two ColorSchemes, this could be [1, 0, 1], with the 0 referencing the first ColorScheme, the 1 the second.
needModifier
When this value is set, it modifies the need restoration rate of the need for this type of furniture. It should be a decimal value using points, not comma's (i.e., 1.25).
In the previous list we saw the property 'actionSpots', which in itself needs some properties (remember the JSON tutorials? You can nest things!).
These properties are as follows, but I have to admit, I'm not much of a texture-guy, so I'm not too sure myself on how these work exactly.
vectorX
vectorY
yOffset
direction
For options for this, look under the Fields section on MLEM.Misc.Direction2Helper.
drawLayer
Basically, they influence the position the Tiny can interact with the object and it's position relative to the object when using it.
Clothes obviously don't have the same properties as furniture, so for them we have to use a different set! Here is an example:
{
"name": "PastelPants",
"layer": "Pants",
"file": "CustomBottomsShoes",
"price": 100,
"nrOfColumns": 8,
"nrOfRows": 6,
"firstRow": 0,
"firstColumn": 4,
"stylePreference": "Feminine",
"clothesIntention": ["Party", "Workout"],
"colorSchemes": ["Pastel"]
}
Here are the descriptions:
name
The name, not a surprise!
layer
Which part of the body the clothes are for. You can see the possible values under the header Fields here: https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Objects.ClothesLayer.html
file
The file, without the extension, that contains the textures for this item. This file can contain multiple items.
price
Price? Price.
nrOfColumns
This says how many columns of textures there are in the given file.
nrOfRows
And this one how many rows of textures there are!
firstColumn
This one is necessary if there are multiple sets of textures in the given file (i.e., if the file is shared between multiple pieces of clothes), it tells the game which column is the starting point for the textures. The numbering starts at 0, so if there are 4 columns, the first one is 0, the second 1, the third 2 en the fourth 3.
firstRow
The same as firstColumn, but then for the rows!
stylePreference
The possible values can be seen under the header Fields at https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Objects.StylePreference.html
clothesIntention
The scenarios the clothes are intended for. This requires an array of values. Possible values can be seen under the header Fields at https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Objects.ClothesIntention.html
colorSchemes
The ColorSchemes you want to use for the clothes, in an array. For options, take a look under the header Fields on https://docs.tinylifegame.com/api/TinyLife.Utilities.ColorScheme.html.
Atlas files are too complicated to fully explain here, but Ellpeck has it documented here: https://mlem.ellpeck.de/api/MLEM.Data.DataTextureAtlas.html Simply put, it describes which parts of the texture file with the same name should be used for which piece of furniture and in which orientation.
Let's use an example:
File: ExpensiveChair.atlas
SimpleObjectLoader.ExpensiveChair.ExpensiveChairLeft
loc 0 0 32 32
piv 16 25
SimpleObjectLoader.ExpensiveChair.ExpensiveChairUp
loc 0 32 32 32
piv 16 57
SimpleObjectLoader.ExpensiveChair.ExpensiveChairRight
loc 0 64 32 32
piv 16 89
SimpleObjectLoader.ExpensiveChair.ExpensiveChairDown
loc 0 96 32 32
piv 16 121
(Made by McChicky from the Ellpeck Games Discord, modified by me)
This file (which can be seen in https://github.com/Sir-Fenrir/tiny-life-simple-expensive-chair) tells the game which parts of the texture file of the same name (ExpensiveChair.png) should be used for the furniture, depending on the camera orientation.
It's very important to point out that the names you see all start with SimpleObjectLoader. The second part, ExpensiveChair is the ModId. The last part before Left, Up, Right and Down is the name of the object. The SimpleObjectLoader part is very important, because this chair is loaded using the Simple Object Loader mod, which means that in the eyes of the game, my mod is the one responsible for your new furniture, instead of you. That also means it will use the id of my mod to load things like textures and localization files. So if you omit the 'SimpleObjectLoader' part, your mod will fail to load.
Localization files are required for supplying names for your new objects. You can create a file per language you want to support. For example:
File: Localization/en.json
{
"BuildMode": {
"SimpleObjectLoader.ExpensiveChair.ExpensiveChair": "An Expensive Chair"
}
}
Here you can see the file en.json in the directory Localization. This gives the English names for your objects. As we are adding objects for in BuildMode, we need to put the key-value pair in that part. Again, you see 'SimpleObjectLoader' as part of the name. It's important you don't forget that, otherwise your names won't load. It also has the ModId and the Name, same as in the Atlas file.
You can put multiple objects in one mod, just put more items in your .simple.json or create more .simple.json files.
You only need to put your mod directory in the mod directory of Tiny Life. On Windows, the default location is C:\Users\\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Tiny Life\Mods. So you'd have something like
C:\Users\\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Tiny Life\Mods\MyCustomFurniture, containing your .simple.json, your Atlas file, your texture, and your Localization directory with the langauges you want to support.
If you're not sure about the location of the Mods directory, you can also open it from the ingame options menu, on the 'Custom Content' tab.
Simply put the contents of your mod directory in a .zip file.
This takes a few steps:
- Start the game
- Copy your .zip file to the Tiny Life mods directory (
C:\Users\\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Tiny Life\Mods) - Go to the Custom Content tab in the game options.
- Press 'Share Mod on Steam Workshop'
- Select your .zip file and follow the steps ingame.
Congratulations! You have created some new type of furniture without having to write code!
A useful feature on the Steam Workshop is the ability to add mods your mod depends on. On the Steam Workshop page for your mod, you can click on 'Add/Remove Required Items' on the right hand side after scrolling down a tiny bit. There you can look for 'Simple Object Loader' and add it! This way, people can subscribe directly to your mod without subscribing to mine directly.
Yes, that is correct. Basically, the game spots my mod, but not your mod, because your mod doesn't have any code associated with it. My mod aims to load your mod anyway, but it can't make the game aware that there are more mods. This means that, from the perspective of the game, all furniture loaded in this manner belong to Simple Object Loader, meaning, I'm stealing all your credit! Ha!
...I don't want to steal your credit. I'm happy enough with this mod. In the future I will add an user interface element displaying all the mods that have been loaded, but right now I'm focussing on the basic functionalities.
Frankly, not sure. I have tested chairs and tables, but I haven't tested more types of items, like fridges or beds. I will work on this, but it's a hobby project and I am probably straining my RSI arms too much already :') If you have tested a different kind of item and it didn't work, please open an issue here on GitHub!
There is one example mod which adds multiple items:
https://github.com/Sir-Fenrir/tiny-life-simple-custom-objects
I have some plans for upcoming features:
- Icon support to show which mod an item is from.
- User interface element showing all the loaded mods.