Set up a Mod in Sandbox2

Index

Overview

In this document you will learn how to correctly set up your mod so you can work with it independently from the core Crysis installation. In addition this document includes a description how to prepare your mod for distribution and get it working for the Crysis Mod Loader that is implemented into Crysis since patch 1.2.

Working with Mods

Getting stared

The first step in creating a new modification for Crysis is to open a file browser (Windows Explorer for example) and find where Crysis is installed. There you'll have to create a subfolder called "Mods", in which you need to create your mod folder.

For example, if your Mod is named “mymod”, create a new folder with that name. The path should look something like this:

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\mymod

Mod folder structure

Depending on what you want to change in your mod, you need to create appropriate subfolders within your mod folder. If a folder doesn’t exist, then the assets from your default game folder will be loaded.

The structure within the Mod Folder needs to be the same as in the root game folder. So, if you wanted to add new objects to your Mod, create a subfolder called “Game”, then another folder called “Objects” where you can place your custom objects into. The path should look like this:

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\mymod\Game\Objects\

Here is a full list of how the folder structure inside your mod should look like:

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Bin32

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Code (C++ source)

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Animations

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Entities

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Fonts

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Levels

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Levels\Multiplayer\

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Localized

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Libs

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Materials

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Music

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Objects

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Prefabs

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Scripts

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Shaders

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Sounds

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\MYMOD\Game\Textures

Loading a Mod in the Editor

To load your Mod in the Sandbox Editor, you need to run the Editor.exe with a command line parameter. Be sure you have the editor installed properly, and then follow the steps below:

Go to your Crysis root directory and enter either the “Bin32” or “Bin64” folder depending on your installation.
Right click on the Editor.exe and create a shortcut of it on the Desktop.
Go to your Desktop where the Editor shortcut should be located.
Right click on this short cut Properties enhance the target line with the command “-mod mymod” (without “”)

The target line should look like this:

The Editor will then load up with your mod files (such as new assets), or the default game files if no other files exist.

Loading a Mod in Crysis

The following you will find an alternative method of loading a mod in Crysis if you do not want to use the Mod Loader that is embedded ingame. To launch Crysis directly with having a mod loaded, you need to run the Crysis.exe with a command line parameter.

Go to your Desktop where a Crysis shortcut should be located.
Right click on this short cut > Properties > enhance the target line with the command “-mod mymod” (without “”)

The target line should look like this:

The game will then launch by having your mod loaded as well. You can deactivate it ingame via the Mod Loader if you wish so.

Preparing a Mod for distribution

Re-Packing your Mod

In order to optimize your modification for the distribution it is always good to pack the folders inside your mod in order to minimize the size and to keep everything easily structured for the community.

This is a list of which folders should be put into one new .pak file:

Animations.pak

Animations

GameData.pak

Entities

Fonts

Libs

Materials

Prefabs

Scripts

Music.pak

Music

Objects.pak

Objects

Shaders.pak

Shaders

Sounds.pak

Sounds

Textures.pak

Textures

Before you start creating such a .pak file be sure to have a ZIP or RAR program (such as WinZip, 7Zip or WinRar) installed. To create such a .pak file please follow these steps:

Go to your mod folder that is located inside root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\

Enter the “game” folder and select some folders you want to put into a .pak file.

Right click on one of the folders and select “add to archive...”.

Define the name of the file (e.g. GameData or Objects) and use the normal .zip compression. ( note: other compressions won’t work properly!)

Replace the .zip ending by .pak and create the archive.

List Mod in the ingame Mod Loader

To have your mod being listed ingame in the mod loading menu you need to prepare a specific .xml file that needs to be stored in the following directory:

root directory of your Crysis Game \Mods\mymod

The file is called “info.xml” and includes the following content.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Mod Name="<yourmod>" Version="<0.0>"  Screenshot="<jpg file>" Description="<description>" url="<URL>"/>

The following is a description of what kind of information can be put into this file:

Mod Name = "" //put in the name of your mod

Version = "<0.0>" //add the version number of your mod

Screenshot = "" //image for the mod loader menu

Description = "" //description of the mod

url = "" //URL of your mod/mod team

It is recommended to always implement a small banner of your mod that is getting displayed automatically when selecting your mod ingame via the Mod Loader. It helps the community to identify your mod easier and also looks nice and more professional.

To add an image place a screenshot with the maximum size of 512x384 in your mod folder and add the full name of it to the Screenshot description inside the “info.xml” file.

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