[tutorial] Uploading Mods to Steam

[Fiestainabox]

Hey guys,

 

You can upload mods to the new steam workshop by following the guide Aspyr wrote here.

 

Mirror in case their site goes down or dies:

 

### DOWNLOAD STEAMCMD.EXE ###

 

Mods can be uploaded to the Steam Workshop using the steamcmd.exe command line tool.

 

Information on the tool and a link to download it can be found here:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD

 

### PREPARE FOR UPLOAD ###

 

To prepare a mod for upload, put the mod files in a folder that mirrors the folder structure of KOTOR2. For example, if your mod has a file file1.utc in \override, and a file file2.mod in \modules, move those files into a folder structure that looks like the following:

c:\UploadFolder\override\file1.utc

c:\UploadFolder\modules\file2.mod

 

### CREATE VDF FILE ###

 

Create a vdf file that contains the information about your mod. This file will be used by steamcmd.exe to upload your mod. In the example below, we have a vdf file called testworkshopitem.vdf, which uploads our c:\UploadFolder directory:

 

"workshopitem"

{

"appid" "208580"

"contentfolder" "c:\\UploadFolder"

"previewfile" "testimage.png"

"visibility" "0"

"title" "Test Mod"

"description" "A Mod to test Steam Workshop"

"changenote" "Version 1.0.0"

}

 

Notes:

appid: should be 208580.

contentfolder: The path to the folder containing your mod. Can be either absolute, or relative to steamcmd.exe.

previewfile: It must be under 1MB in size. Suggested formats include JPG, PNG or GIF.

visibility: Set to 1 to make it visible to the public. This can also be changed on the Steamworks page after it has been uploaded.

 

### UPLOAD MOD ###

 

Once the VDF has been created, steamcmd.exe can be run with the “workshop_build_item <build config filename.vdf>†file parameter. For example:

 

steamcmd.exe +login mySteamLoginName mySteamPassword +workshop_build_item testworkshopitem.vdf +quit

 

If the command is successful, a publishedfileid entry will be added to the VDF, and will contain the ID of the workshop item. Subsequent calls with steamcmd.exe for the same VDF will result in an update rather than creation of a new item as long as that publishedfileid entry exists.

[T7nowhere]

Thanks for posting, I'll have to try it out.

[DarthParametric]

Just keep in mind that uploading mods to the Workshop is really only useful for simple Override mods. Anything that requires TSLPatcher isn't going to be suitable for the Workshop, because it has no capability to combine shared assets.

[redrob41]

So, for a lot of my character based mods, I'd have to rearrange them so that they only include the models and textures, but remove anything that requires a change to heads, portraits or appearance.2da?

[DarthParametric]

Yeah there's no patching ability, only overwriting, so anything wanting to modify 2DAs, etc. is going to be a no go if you want to maintain compatibility. I suspect the Steam forums will very soon explode into tears over crashes and glitches, once people start uploading mods that just overwrite everything.

[redrob41]

I don't have many TSL mods, but I was thinking of making them available on the Workshop (which I've never used). An obvious one is my [TSL] Head Model Fixes since it just has .mdl & .mdx files to overwrite. The question is, do I split it into six separate mods (one for each head model) so that it doesn't clash with anyone else's modified model?

 

Another mod I'd like to put up is [TSL] Player & Party Underwear, but I'd have to remove BaoDur, Handmaiden & Mira since they need the patcher to change some of the appearance.2da entries. I'm just not sure if I should split this one up too, so that players can choose which of the four Female undies to use, which of the four Male undies to use, and which of the six undies (3LS & 3DS) to use for Visas.

 

Or are small time mods like these just no worth it for Steam Workshop, and players should just download the existing mods, TSLPatcher and all? I guess I just figured that I'd try and help out all the Mac people that can't run the patcher.

[DarthParametric]

I'd break things up as much as possible I guess, provide links to the full TSLPatcher version on DS, Nexus, or wherever it is hosted.

 

Concerning TSLPatcher for Mac/Linux, possibly if Stoffe provided the source code someone could port it, not sure. I think it was coded in Delphi? That sort of thing is outside my wheelhouse, but it seems like there might be some avenues for porting there, albeit requiring jumping through a few hoops.

[redrob41]

I'd break things up as much as possible I guess, provide links to the full TSLPatcher version on DS, Nexus, or wherever it is hosted.

 

Concerning TSLPatcher for Mac/Linux, possibly if Stoffe provided the source code someone could port it, not sure. I think it was coded in Delphi? That sort of thing is outside my wheelhouse, but it seems like there might be some avenues for porting there, albeit requiring jumping through a few hoops.

 

Rece over on DS said

Well, I've been playing Kotor 2 for a while on my Mac now. To run the TSLPatcher, all we need is an app called Wine or Crossover, those two run .exe files. So we can install mods properly through that. I have a video on my YouTube channel about it.

so I don't think that I'll worry too much about it.

 

As for breaking up my mods, I think that I'll try uploading head & model fixes to Steam WS, and then provide links for my other mods that need the patcher, like you say. Thanks DP.

[logan23]

Is there a size limit for uploading mods?

Not sure if RoR can be on the steam workshop?

[DarthParametric]

I don't think there is any inherent limit on Steam's part. It does seem the game publisher can limit it, but I can't see any mention of it for TSL. M4-78 is 600MB so it has to be at least that big. You could try asking zbyl2 and/or Hassat Hunter I guess, as they had some contact with Aspyr about putting TSLCRM and M4-78 up on release day so they might know more.

[Hassat Hunter]

No limit AFAIK.

[redrob41]

when running the command line

steamcmd.exe +login mySteamLoginName mySteamPassword +workshop_build_item testworkshopitem.vdf +quit

what directory should the .vdf and previewfile image be in? This is the contents of my .vdf

"workshopitem"
{
"appid" "208580"
"contentfolder" "C:\Users\Robin\Desktop\Upload to Steam"
"previewfile" "PMHH01 Fixed head 512x512.jpg"
"visibility" "0"
"title" "Fix Head Model Clipping"
"description" "A Mod for KotOR II that fixes some head models that clip or stretch. Includes pfhc01, pfhc03, pmhc04, pmhh01, n_brnmodulh, n_daraalah"
"changenote" "Version 1.0.0"
}

 

Right now, I've got those files in the "C:\Users\Robin\Desktop\Upload to Steam" folder, alongside an Override folder that contains the modded files.

 

I'd really like to get this uploaded, because someone else already put it on the workshop without my permission (and I've requested that it be taken down). It took me awhile to get SteamCMD.exe to authenticate my computer, but that seems to be working now.

[DarthParametric]

Should all be in that base folder, as far as I can tell.

[Hassat Hunter]

Yup, same folder as the SteamCMD command prompt.

[Kexikus]

Apparently I can't get the Steam uploader to work.

 

I downloaded steamcmd.exe and extracted it. I also made a folder called Steam Upload that includes an override folder with my texture and a .jpg file for the mod image. Then I created the .vdf file, set the file path to my Steam Upload folder and included all necessary descriptions as well as the name of my image.

 

My question is: Where do I place this file?

At first I thought it has to be in the Steam Upload folder as well but if I do that, how does steamcmd.exe know where to look for it? So I placed it into the same folder as steamcmd.exe, ran the .exe file and logged into my Steam account. But when I try to upload my mod, I always get this error: "ERROR! Failed to update workshop item <File not found>."

 

And I don't really understand the tutorial in the first post here, so any help would be appreciated

[Hassat Hunter]

Are you sure to provide the full name (with .vdf included) since inside the same folder as SteamCMD is the proper location.

[Kexikus]

I did. The workshop file is even created and I can access it from my Steam account but it remains completely empty, no name, no image, no description, no file.

 

What I have is a file called HQRavager.vdf in the same directory as steamcmd.exe with the following content:

"workshopitem"
{
"appid"		"208580"
"contentfolder"		"H:\Starwars\Kotor\TSLMods\HQ Ravager Backdrop\SteamUpload"
"previewfile"		"Ravager_ScreenV2.jpg"
"visibility"		"0"
"title"		"High Quality Ravager Backdrop"
"description"		"HQ Ravager"
"changenote"		"Version 1.0.0"
}

 

I also have the folder specified above and in that folder is a file called Ravager_ScreenV2.jpg as well as an override folder containing TEL_Rav.tga and nothing else.

 

What I'm doing is running steamcmd.exe and logging in. Then I type workshop_build_item HQRavager.vdf resulting in the error "ERROR! Failed to update workshop item <File not found>."

But as I said, the actual workshop item is created and the "publishedfileid" is also added to the .vdf file.

 

I don't see anything wrong with that approach but maybe I'm blind

 

Edit: I tried placing the Uploadfolder into the steamcmd folder and it worked for some reason. I don't know why but I guess my problem is solved^^

 

Edit 2: That was not what solved my problem. Instead I had to place the preview image directly into the steamcmd folder, just like the .vdf file and it worked.

[redrob41]

Edit 2: That was not what solved my problem. Instead I had to place the preview image directly into the steamcmd folder, just like the .vdf file and it worked.

 

Thanks a lot

I was able to upload my Head Fix Mod now