About.xml

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Revision as of 10:22, 20 August 2021 by Bitbyte (talk | contribs) (New way to display data)
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This article is supposed to explain what tags are available in the About.xml file & what the tags do & how you should use them. The exact format of the article is still under development, please help.

(Yes, I'm aware that I'm not writing this as objectively as an article should be (sorry), but I feel I need to explain what this article should aim towards, please DON'T just delete it! )

Tags

These are the tags I have found in various mods I have downloaded, but I don't understand all of them, i'm not sure if all of them even CAN be combined with each other & therefore I need help from more experienced developers.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ModMetaData>
    <name>Example Mod</name>
    <author>Mod Author, Contributing Author, Other Folks, etc.</author>
    <url>www.anything.com</url>
    <packageId>AuthorName.ModSeries.ModName</packageId>
    <supportedVersions>
        <li>1.1</li>
        <li>1.2</li>
    </supportedVersions>

    <description>Sample description.
        
Which spans multiple lines. Is also includes whitespace, so unless you want ugly indentation on the workshop, you need to have it un-beautified like this.
    </description>

    <modDependencies>
    <!-- Using hugslib as an example here. -->
        <li>
            <packageId>UnlimitedHugs.HugsLib</packageId>
            <displayName>HugsLib</displayName>
            <downloadUrl>https://github.com/UnlimitedHugs/RimworldHugsLib/releases/latest</downloadUrl>
            <steamWorkshopUrl>steam://url/CommunityFilePage/818773962</steamWorkshopUrl>
        </li>
    </modDependencies>
    <modDependenciesByVersion>
        <v1.1>
            <li>
                <packageId>UnlimitedHugs.HugsLib</packageId>
                <displayName>HugsLib</displayName>
                <steamWorkshopUrl>https://github.com/UnlimitedHugs/RimworldHugsLib/releases/latest</steamWorkshopUrl>
                <downloadUrl>steam://url/CommunityFilePage/818773962</downloadUrl>
            </li>
        </v1.1>
    </modDependenciesByVersion>

    <loadAfter>
        <li>UnlimitedHugs.HugsLib</li>
    </loadAfter>

    <incompatibleWith>
        <li>erdelf.HumanoidAlienRaces</li>
    </incompatibleWith>
</ModMetaData>
Tag Explaination
Name The name of the mod.
Author The mod author names, usually set to your Steam/Forum name.
URL A URL to be displayed on your mod info page(if available). Can be set to link to anything. Most link it to their Github/Workshop page/forum post.
Package ID Added in 1.0. Please make it human readable. Avoid acronyms where possible. Normally qualifiers seperated by periods.
supportedVersion Supported version lists which versions of Rimworld your mod is compatible with. If your mod doesn't break across versions, lists them all here.
Description Describes your mod, can be multiple lines long. Whitespace sensative.
modDependencies List of other mods which your mod requires to function.
modDependenciesByVersion Same as modDependencies, except it specifies which mod version it needs.
loadAfter Lists the mods which should be loaded before your mod. Helps ensure your dependencies are loaded in first.
incompatibleWith List of packageIds of any mods which are incompatible with your mod.

Questions

  • <ModMetaData>/<packageId> How is this determined?
  • Are <ModMetaData>/ <modDependencies> & <modDependenciesByVersion> mutually exclusive? or can both be present in the same file?
  • I think there exist some kind of: <ModMetaData>/ <incompatibleWith> / <li> /<packageId> tag, but I haven't seen it in any of my downloaded mods, please add it if you know more about it.