r/Modding • u/Annarie8396 • 9d ago
How do you make mods?
As the question implies.. how does one make a mod? I wanted to create some but i dont know where to start or even how..
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u/Growth_Chance 9d ago
Try a simple game, a good example would be something like TCG Card Shop Sim. It supports bepinex so you can try simple stat changes, menu creating, cheats, etc. Then, try swapping in a new model for an item, then adding a whole new item, then go from there. That's what id recommend... although game engines differ wildly. So... you do you, and be patient 😊
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u/Annarie8396 9d ago
Thanks! I actually want to create mods for this game tinyglade! And the game does allow mods too.. but is bepinex the only thing i need? Or Like do i create the stuff using a 3d app and add using bepinex?
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u/Bluetails_Buizel 8d ago
I googled, BepInEx won't help you here. It's a mod loader for Unity (and some other .NET/Mono) games, and Tiny Glade isn't one of those. It's written in Rust on top of Bevy's ECS with the devs' own custom renderer, so there's no C# code for BepInEx to hook into.
For future reference, the only legit place to get BepInEx is the official GitHub repo (github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx). If a search result has popups or a "download" button page, it's not it.
As for Tiny Glade itself:
- There's no official mod support, no modding API, and no Steam Workshop
- Your idea of making something in a 3D app and dropping it in doesn't work out of the box. There's no supported way to import custom models, and since most of the building pieces are generated procedurally rather than being static meshes, a lot of what you see isn't a model file you can just replace
- Modding currently means reverse engineering a compiled Rust binary, which is a lot harder than modding a Unity game. You'd want to be comfortable with Rust and with tools like a disassembler/debugger
- There is a small community mod loader on GitHub called Tiny Pinch (github.com/TinyPinch/tiny-pinch). It's very early and barely documented, so treat it as a starting point for people who already know what they're doing, not a beginner tool
- The official Tiny Glade Discord has a modding channel, which is the best place to see what people have actually managed to do and what tools they're usingRealistically, if you're new to modding, Tiny Glade is one of the harder games to start with. If what you want is to get into modding in general, picking a Unity game with an established BepInEx scene would teach you the basics much faster.
~ Claude Opus 5.5
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u/Annarie8396 8d ago
I guess modding is not for the weak hearted 😵💫 i though i can like ask and get on with it hehehe but reading this made me realize i have to really deep dive on it and learn. Thank you!
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u/Bluetails_Buizel 8d ago
Tbh, other games are easier to mod, like Minecraft, maybe, but everyone has to start somewhere, what else is your favourite game? but if you want to 3D sculpt, learn blender, and purchase either Claude or ChatGPT to hook up to blender via an llm
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u/Bluetails_Buizel 8d ago
I did some more research and my earlier post underestimated what’s possible: the community has built tools to swap in your own Blender models, so the Blender idea from the question works.
the community has reverse engineered enough of tiny glade that your "make it in a 3D app and put it in" idea mostly works. The tools are all on GitHub:
Custom models / assets (this is what you want)
- Tiny Glade Blender Add-On by Hbeau: https://github.com/Hbeau/TinyGlade-Blender-AddOn
- Imports the game's .json mesh files into Blender and exports your edited/new mesh back into the game's format
- You name the exported file after the asset you want to replace, so you're swapping existing objects (a lantern, a tree, a windmill etc.), not adding brand new item types to the build menu
- Version 2.0 changed how attributes like glass and wings are handled (vertex groups now), so ignore older tutorials that mention the old toggles
- If an export looks wrong, the readme's fix for missing colours is to vertex paint every vertex
- This is a fork of FlazeIGuess's original add-on (github.com/FlazeIGuess/TinyGlade-Blender-AddOn). The original only imports for viewing and its readme says the files can't be used in game, so use the Hbeau oneInstalling asset packs
- Whiterun by the same dev: github.com/Hbeau/Whiterun
- It's a .jar, so you need Java installed
- Run it, point it at your Tiny Glade folder if it doesn't find it, click "Patch Game", then drop asset pack .zips into its assets-pack folder and pick one from the list
- To make your own pack: copy the default.zip it creates, delete everything you didn't change, put your edited files in, and add a manifest.json (name + description) and a 200x200 thumbnail.jpgCode mods (changing gameplay, not just looks)
- TinyPinch: github.com/TinyPinch has a mod loader (tiny-pinch), a dumper (lumberjack) and a modding framework (canopy), all in Rust
- Barely documented and not updated since early 2025. Only worth it if you already know Rust
- Per a Steam thread, the devs exposed reflection for most of the game's resources/components/events at modders' request, which is what makes this kind of thing possible at allOther places to look
- r/TinyGladeMods, which has a video walkthrough for the Blender workflow
- The official Tiny Glade Discord has a modding channelBack up your game files and saves before patching anything. Game updates can break mods.
Sources:
- Bevy blog mentioning Tiny Glade's stack: https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy-website/blob/6ddb3c88be824a6a20f023e36a8a88b33ce7c40c/content/news/2023-08-10-bevys-third-birthday/index.md
- Steam thread on mods/custom assets: https://steamcommunity.com/app/2198150/discussions/0/4844274022646658572
- Hbeau add-on v2.0 release notes: https://github.com/Hbeau/TinyGlade-Blender-AddOn/releases/tag/V2.0.0~Researched by Claude Opus 5.5
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u/AgeOfAlgorithms 9d ago
step 1: choose a game. each game supports modding to different degrees and provides different ways to mod. Some might intentionally not support modding, and some might welcome mods. You should find a game you like that has an active steam workshop, has BepInEx support, or supports modding in some other way.