(Mod Help) Dashboard Ash Tray for Satsuma - No Modding Experience...

eBuilder101 · Dec 13, 2020

It is clear that there is a gaping hole in dash of the Satsuma, where the irl Datsun 100a's ash tray would be. I've decided to mod in an ash tray that can be attached as a part (part magnet?) to the dashboard and has a functioning lid. Only problem: I have no (MSC) mod experience (I have modded some BeamNG.drive in the past, but that isn't that helpful). After looking through forums, wikis etc. for a few hours, it has become clear to me that there isn't much support for first-time modders, or at least not for what I'm trying to do. I also tried decompiling some existing mods to see how they work, but that wasn't all that helpful either.

What I'm asking: I'd really appreciate someone with modding experience outlining the individual steps I'd need to take to make this a fully functional mod (asset bundles etc.). I am in no way asking others to make it for me, but I would be incredibly thankful to have someone show me through the steps/requirements for this particular mod idea.

Thank you for your time.

DonnerPlays · Dec 13, 2020

First some helpful tools:
ModApi by tommojphillips: https://github.com/tommojphillips/ModAPI
This will help you with attaching parts to something (like the dashboard)

ScrewablePartAPI (made by me): https://github.com/MarvinBeym/ScrewablePartAPI
This will help you with adding screws to your mod (I don't think you will need that)

(Replace ***** with nexus...mods)
Developer Toolset (v2): https://www.*********.com/mysummercar/mods/345
This allows you to find objects in the game.
There is a search where you can enter stuff and it will give you alot of information. For you that might be searching for "dashboard (Clone)" or just "dashboard"

I hope you know C# as you will need that for making mods (Unity Engine).
I don't want to write everything down so I will just give you some tips and directions:
(If you need further help you can write me a private message or answer me here...)

Now for the actual mod:

You will first need to make a model with something like blender.
If you need any models from the game like the dashboard to make sure your own model actually fits it you can use "Unity Assets Bundle Extractor"
It's a tool where you select all the sharedassets file of the game and you can then extract parts like the dashboard from them as an .obj file
It's sometimes a bit hard to find on the web. If you need it i can send it to you through a private message.

Next you should start with a very basic mod to test it actually loads:
There is a guide on the wiki of the modloader:
https://github.com/piotrulos/MSCModLoader/wiki

If you have it setup in Visual Studio you should start with something simple like

C#:

public override void Update()
{
    ModConsole.Print("HelloWorld");
}

Now the assets bundle.
Here is the wiki of the mod loader itself:

Home

ModLoader for My Summer Car. Contribute to piotrulos/MSCModLoader development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

There is a link called "How to create and use Asset Bundles"
This will guide you through making a unity assets bundle
"Unity 5.0.0f4 (32-bit)" is imporant!!

There is also another wiki from the mod loader explaining some of the functions/api calls available:

Welcome

my-summer-car.ml

(It's not very detailed and some things are not explained or good explained)

Hope i could give you some starting points / a direction to take.

DonnerPlays · Dec 13, 2020

Forgot something.

About how you could do the logic for the opening closing.

Unity has something called Raycast. You can use that to check if the mouse pointer is aiming at an object.
You could then detect when the user clicks with the mouse and change the rotation of the lid.

You will also have to make your model have two independent models one would be the housing the other would be the lid.

This way you can then rotate the lid without rotating the whole model.

The lid also hase to have to origin at the position where you want the rotation to happen. Something like at the hinges.

eBuilder101 · Dec 13, 2020

DonnerPlays said:
First some helpful tools:
ModApi by tommojphillips: https://github.com/tommojphillips/ModAPI
This will help you with attaching parts to something (like the dashboard)

ScrewablePartAPI (made by me): https://github.com/MarvinBeym/ScrewablePartAPI
This will help you with adding screws to your mod (I don't think you will need that)

(Replace ***** with nexus...mods)
Developer Toolset (v2): https://www.*********.com/mysummercar/mods/345
This allows you to find objects in the game.
There is a search where you can enter stuff and it will give you alot of information. For you that might be searching for "dashboard (Clone)" or just "dashboard"

I hope you know C# as you will need that for making mods (Unity Engine).
I don't want to write everything down so I will just give you some tips and directions:
(If you need further help you can write me a private message or answer me here...)

Now for the actual mod:

You will first need to make a model with something like blender.
If you need any models from the game like the dashboard to make sure your own model actually fits it you can use "Unity Assets Bundle Extractor"
It's a tool where you select all the sharedassets file of the game and you can then extract parts like the dashboard from them as an .obj file
It's sometimes a bit hard to find on the web. If you need it i can send it to you through a private message.

Next you should start with a very basic mod to test it actually loads:
There is a guide on the wiki of the modloader:
https://github.com/piotrulos/MSCModLoader/wiki

Install Visual Studio for MSCLoader

Install template for Visual Studio

How to use project template

All included item templates

Debugging your mods in Visual Studio

Enable DevMode to help with debugging

If you have it setup in Visual Studio you should start with something simple like

C#:

public override void Update() { ModConsole.Print("HelloWorld"); }

Now the assets bundle.
Here is the wiki of the mod loader itself:

Home

ModLoader for My Summer Car. Contribute to piotrulos/MSCModLoader development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

There is a link called "How to create and use Asset Bundles"
This will guide you through making a unity assets bundle
"Unity 5.0.0f4 (32-bit)" is imporant!!

There is also another wiki from the mod loader explaining some of the functions/api calls available:

Welcome

my-summer-car.ml

(It's not very detailed and some things are not explained or good explained)

Hope i could give you some starting points / a direction to take.

Thanks! This should get me started pretty nicely. As for C#, I know a little bit here and there from limited experiences, but I'm sure it won't hurt to watch a few tutorials as well. If I have any questions down the line, I'll be sure to ask. Cheers!