Modding Guide

Code Tycoon loads mods from a local folder and from subscribed Steam Workshop items at startup. A mod can change or add game content (programming languages, contract templates, frameworks), override translations, and replace entire UI panels — all data-driven through JSON files, no code required.

Quick start

1. Open the mods folder (created automatically on first launch): ~/.code-tycoon/mods/ (Windows: C:\Users\<name>\.code-tycoon\mods\) — in general, the mods/ folder next to the game's saves/ directory
2. Create a subfolder, e.g. mods/my-first-mod/
3. Add the manifest mod.json (see below)
4. Put content next to it and start the game — the boot screen shows LOAD MODS ... 1

my-first-mod/
mod.json          required: manifest
data/             optional: balancing content (merged key-wise)
  languages.json
  project_templates.json
  frameworks.json
locales/          optional: translations (merged key-wise)
  en.json
  de.json
ui/               optional: panel layouts (replace the original wholesale)
  desktop.ui.json

mod.json

{
  "id": "my-first-mod",
  "name": "My First Mod",
  "version": "1.0",
  "loadOrder": 0
}

Rules: load order, conflicts, errors

• Order: local mods load first (sorted by loadOrder, then folder name), Workshop mods after them. Later overrides earlier.
• Duplicate ids: the first loaded mod wins — local mods beat same-id Workshop mods.
• Broken mods never kill the game start. Invalid files are skipped, logged (game.log in the game directory) and reported in-game as a warning.
• Savegames record the active mod list. Loading a save without those mods shows a warning.
• Steam: while mods are active, Steam achievements and leaderboard uploads are disabled. In-game achievements keep working.

Modding content: data/

The three files in data/ are merged key-wise over the base data (the originals live in resources/data/ inside the game installation — use them as a reference for all default values):

• Patch a known id: specify only the fields you change; the rest stays.
• Add a new id: the entry must be complete (all fields).
• Deleting is not possible — entries can only be rebalanced (e.g. an absurd unlockCost).

languages.json — programming languages

{
  "assembler": { "unlockCost": 250 },

  "zig": {
      "name": "Zig", "symbol": "Zg", "level": 0, "xp": 0,
      "unlocked": false, "unlockCost": 9000,
      "releaseYear": 2016, "devSpeed": 1.0, "bugProb": 0.1,
      "learnDifficulty": 7, "maxComplexity": 90, "priceMult": 1.9
  }
}

New languages appear in the Languages panel automatically. For contracts to use them, at least one template must list them in compatibleLanguages.

project_templates.json — contract templates

A JSON list, matched by id. Field names must match exactly — a row with an unknown field name or missing required fields is skipped and reported in-game as a warning.

[
  { "id": "tpl_website", "basePayment": 2000 },

  { "id": "tpl_gamedev_studio",
    "name": "tpl.gamedev_studio.name", "description": "tpl.gamedev_studio.desc",
    "projectType": "game",
    "minFeatures": 4, "maxFeatures": 8,
    "baseDeadlineDays": 40, "deadlinePerFeature": 4,
    "basePayment": 8000, "paymentPerFeature": 900,
    "earlyCompletionBonus": 500, "lateCompletionPenalty": 400,
    "minComplexity": 5, "maxComplexity": 9,
    "possibleFeatures": [],
    "compatibleLanguages": ["cpp", "csharp", "rust"],
    "availableFromYear": 2000,
    "minOfficeRank": 2, "maxOfficeRank": 4 }
]

frameworks.json — frameworks

[
  { "id": "react", "speedBonus": 0.2 },

  { "id": "phpolygon", "languageId": "php", "name": "PHPolygon",
    "year": 2025, "speedBonus": 0.2, "unlockCost": 5000,
    "popularityPeak": 2030, "popularityDecline": 10 }
]

Modding translations: locales/

locales/<language>.json merges key-wise over the game's translation — same structure as resources/locales/*.json in the game. Use it to add texts for your own content (a new template needs its tpl.* keys) or to override any existing game text.

{
  "tpl": {
      "gamedev_studio": {
          "name": "Game Studio Contract",
          "desc": "A AAA studio needs reinforcements."
      }
  }
}

• Placeholders in the :name / :count format must be preserved.
• Untranslated keys fall back to English — for a small mod a single en.json is enough.
• Supported are the 31 game locales (en, de, fr, …, zh-CN, zh-TW).
• ASCII-friendly symbols only in UI texts — the engine does not render symbol glyphs (★ ✓ ⚠ become empty boxes).

Modding UI: ui/

ui/<panel>.ui.json replaces the same-named layout from the game's resources/ui/ wholesale (no merge; with several mods, the last one wins). Best practice: copy the original file and modify it. Layouts are declarative widget trees with {"$bind": "..."} data bindings and {"$on": {...}} events — bindings and event names must be preserved; layout, sizes, colors and static texts are yours to change. The design space is 1280×720. Good for rearranging/reskinning existing panels; new panels with new logic are not possible.

Steam Workshop

• Subscribing (players): subscribe to an item in the Workshop → Steam downloads it to steamapps/workshop/content/4347780/<publishedfileid>/ → on the next game start it loads like a local mod. Unsubscribing removes it again.
• Publishing (modders): a Workshop item is exactly the mod folder (with mod.json at the top level), uploaded via steamcmd using a VDF build config:

// workshop_item.vdf
"workshopitem"
{
  "appid"           "4347780"
  "publishedfileid" "0"              // 0 = new item, otherwise the assigned id to update
  "contentfolder"   "C:\\path\\to\\my-first-mod"
  "previewfile"     "C:\\path\\to\\preview.png"   // JPG/PNG/GIF, max 1 MB
  "visibility"      "0"              // 0 public, 1 friends only, 2 private, 3 unlisted
  "title"           "My First Mod"
  "description"     "Adds Zig."
  "changenote"      "Initial version"
}

steamcmd +login <account> <password> +workshop_build_item C:\path\to\workshop_item.vdf +quit

Field names and order follow Steam's build config; the VDF path in the call must be absolute. On the first upload Steam prints a publishedfileid — put it into the VDF to update the same item later (rather than re-uploading a new one).

What can't be modded (yet)

Troubleshooting

Note: list fields (e.g. compatibleLanguages) are replaced wholesale when patching — include the existing values.