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Steam Workshop Beta

September 26, 2014 | Dukus | 29 Comments

Steam Workshop
Steam Workshop support is now ready for beta testing!

There's a new Banished Kit required for using the features of Steam workshop. Version 1.0.4 Build 140925 Beta. If you're not using steam, you can still update to the latest patch and download the new mod kit. You can get it all here.

If you already own Banished, then you can view the workshop here: http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse?appid=242920. You need to be logged into steam to be able to see and use the workshop website. Until beta testing is complete, the workshop is private to Banished owners.

To use the workshop beta you'll have to opt into the Steam beta, by right clicking on the game in your Steam library, selecting properties, picking the BETAs tab, and picking the 1.0.4 Beta.

I've tried to make Steam Workshop integration pretty easy to use. In the Mods menu in game, there is now a browser where you can see the latest and popular mods, as well as search for specific mods.

Mod Browser

From the browser you can subscribe to mods and they'll download pretty much immediately. If you use the workshop website to subscribe to mods, the mods will download immediately as well. After they download, the game will notify you that you need to reload the current assets for the mod to show up in the installed mods list.

Mod Ready

For mod authors, getting mods on steam workshop or updating them in the future should be fairly painless. By viewing mod details in game, you can upload a new mod to workshop, or updating an existing one.

The main change authors need to deal with is adding a large icon for display in the steam workshop. A new field has been added to PackageFile resources to specify a jpg or png preview image that is larger than the 48x48 icon that the in UI uses.

Check the mod documentation for more details.

modcreate

If you curious as to what's changed in this version, the details are below.

  • - Updated to latest FBX sdk. This required moving x32 and x64 builds into their own folder since the dll name is the same for both 32 and 64 bit versions.
  • - Added support for a cmd.txt file that contains command line parameters. cmd.txt must be in the same folder as the executable.
  • - Added command line parameter /bin that tells the game where the main /bin folder is located relative to the executable. This allows a single bin/WinData folder to be used along side the x32 and x64 versions of the game.
  • - Added a new variable to PackageFile resources, 'String _preview = "pngOrJpgPath";' This is a square preview image that is used when uploading mods to steam workshop. If not set, no preview image will be uploaded to steam.
  • - Added Steam Workshop support. Mods can be created, updated, downloaded, and browsed in game. Any updates to subscribed mods will download automatically. A reload is required once downloads are complete.
  • - Fixed tooltip text going outside the background boundaries.
  • - Fixed combo boxes not displaying correcly after being enabled, disabled, then re-enabled.

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29 comments on “Steam Workshop Beta”

  1. I had almost forgotten that I have this game in my library. Maybe it's a good time to get back into it again.

  2. This is really cool. I am still so impressed with this game Luke, and with the fact that created this by yourself. Love this!

  3. That's what I've been waiting for! Endless options to expand the gameplay with, with the hassle-free ease of the Steam Workshop. Just as I had hoped. Awesome!

  4. While this will benefit those of us who bought the steam version, I would like to see the ability to have a similar function with the non-steam versions!

  5. Some info-
    @Jon / Steam Workshop is indeed a Steam only thing.
    @ Rustin H @Steve / Mods have been available for a while now and for example, banishedinfo.com has both mods and information on how to make them work.

  6. @Luke:

    This is great that Banished now have is own Steam workshop !

    However, there is something that I don't understand Luke:

    Is there a way to prevent someone to upload (to the workshop) a mod that has been created by someone else ?

  7. worrying to see if i need to modify all my mods made so far in order to be able to recompile them 😛

    thanks you Luke !

    anything on all the .fbx and .png of the game being release ?

  8. Mixed feelings about steam workshop. On the one hand, it makes it easier for both mod makers and people who want to use mods. On the other, Valve have the system closed off to anyone who doesn't own the game on steam, which sucks mightily.

    Mod makers who will use steam workshop, please don't forget those of us who don't use steam!

  9. Oh BTW Luke ! Did you fixed the problem with general goods merchant ? with all our awesome new resources, we exceed a 64 resources allowed to GGM causing a crash.

    did you fixed it in latest build ?

  10. Wow, great job, Luke! I'm glad that there is now a steam workshop, plus, the ingame worshop browser is a great addition!

    Well done!

    P.S The crash bug is still in the game. It's not a big deal, but it can get a little annoying at times.

  11. Thanks! Really appreciate the hard work you put into this 🙂

    I hope we will get more modders with some great ideas like RedKetchup and ShockPuppet now 😀

  12. This is awesome to hear, but I am more concerned with some of the bugs/missing features in the mod kit that are causing headaches for modders:

    - Trader buffer overflow bug (seems to be due to array bounds)

    - Inability to create new resource flags. Water mod had to outright deprecate coal because it needed its own resource flag.

    - Rigid "duality" of some flags (warm, warmest; fast, faster; etc.). This makes it difficult (if not impossible) to do certain things, like adding a 3rd roadtype

    - Organization quirks. Things like road speed being defined in the citizen.rsc, and not in their respective template rsc file. Clothing durability existing in citizen.rsc and not in the resource file for the clothing item itself.

    I suppose most of those are wishlist type items to give modding greater flexibility. The trader bug is a massive issue though! Right now people need to install a mod that disables the general goods merchant to get around it, but even then it only prolongs the inevitable.

  13. Also, mod updates should not happen automatically. Sometimes update to mods will break existing saves that use the mod; it needs to be a user prompt, or else there can be corruption.

    It is just unavoidable sometimes. Maybe a new version of a mod needs to alter a stock game feature; and now all of a sudden it has a conflict with another mod and the save game is is pretty much dead.

  14. Thanks so much for your hard work and for remaining committed to releasing this. The mod integration is fantastic, and I wish every game that allowed modding utilized a system like this. Of course, I'm speaking as a player and not a modder, so I can't attest to that side of it, but I really appreciate it regardless.

  15. I wonder if there's any chance that cities can be connected together where we'd be trading resources with each other.

  16. I picked up the toolkit, intending to make a mod, but I have to admit I don't know what I'm doing really. Maybe I could figure it out, but if there's someone on here who could make a mod to change cemeteries, I think there's a good challenge. Wouldn't it be cool to see a record of who is buried in the cemeteries and how they died? The game tracks and reports this anyway, but the cemetery would be a great place to have access to that info on your people.

  17. I' a steam user and I love this game but I'm having a problem with the mods it says that they are downloading but I dunno if they are, any solutions?

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