Mod Downloader (with GUI) for Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas:

• Highly customizable
• Translatable
• Robust
• Optimized
• Up to date

This system allows your players to control which replacement mods (skins, vehicles, objects/weapons) they want to download and use.

The following features are available:

• Resource settings to control everything
• Minimalistic CEGUI panel
• Alternative DGS panel (optional)
• Permissions system (per mod and to use the GUI)
• Teleportation system with GUI (example/demo)

This resource is intended for servers that want to give players the choice of which server replacement mods they can use (e.g. Freeroam/RPG/Drift/Racing servers).

Everything can be customized to your liking. See the sections below for more information.

⭐ Star the repository if you like the project!

Support/Help

MTA forum topic: Link

If you need help with anything related to this project, please read the corresponding section on the MTA forum thread linked above.

Tutorial

Below is everything you need to know about how to install, use and customize the mod_downloader resource.

Installation is very simple:

• Download the mod_downloader folder from the latest release ZIP
• Extract the folder to your MTA server's resources folder

There are demo mod files located in mod_downloader/mods. You can start the resource and type /mods to open the GUI!

To customize the resource, you can edit the <settings> in meta.xml manually.

You can also use the default MTA:SA admin resource's management panel to edit the settings.

Mods are defined in meta.xml under <mods>.

The mod files need to exist in the server. This script is responsible for adding the <file src='...'> nodes to the meta.xml automatically, so you don't have to.

Mods are organized in categories (each has a unique name) that will be displayed in the GUI. If a category has group_mods="true" then the mods in that category will be activated/deactivated all together, and players won't be able to toggle them individually.

Each mod has the following attributes:

• name - The name of the mod (must be unique)
• replace - The ID that it will replace (e.g. 1 for skin 1), see model IDs
• (optional) dff - The DFF file path (e.g. mods/skin1.dff)
• (optional) txd - The TXD file path (e.g. mods/skin1.txd)
• (optional) col - The COL file path (e.g. mods/vendingmachine.col), this is for objects
• (optional) lod_distance - Custom model LOD distance (e.g. 300)
• (optional) activated_by_default - Whether the mod is activated by default (true/false)
• (optional) encrypted - Whether the mod is encrypted using NandoCrypt (true/false)
• (optional) permission_check - The name of the serverside permission check function (e.g. isPlayerAdmin(player))

NandoCrypt

You can use NandoCrypt (GitHub repository) to encrypt your mods, then add the encrypted attribute to the mod in meta.xml and set it to true. This system will automatically decrypt the mod files when loading them. Don't forget that the nando_decrypter client script must be running, and you need to define the correct decryption function name in the resource settings.

The default setup comes with a few encrypted mods and a ready to use nando_decrypter client script.

Important Notes

• After adding one or more mods to the <mods> list or changing any of the <settings>, you must restart the resource for the changes to take effect.
• The mod_downloader resource manages the storage resource's meta.xml file so you don't have to edit it manually, ever.
• The admin settings editor doesn't update the <settings> in meta.xml when you save the settings. It actually saves the settings in the server's settings registry. So don't worry if you don't see the changes in meta.xml after saving the settings in the admin panel, MTA is loading the settings from the registry.

GUI Customization

The GUI is fully customizable. You can change the colors, messages, etc. in the resource's <settings> in meta.xml.

Ontop of that, you can also use the dgs version of the GUI (gui_client_dgs.lua) which was created using DGS version 3.519 (a GUI library that uses dxDraw and is mostly compatible with the CEGUI functions). To do this, comment the gui_client.lua script node and uncomment the gui_client_dgs.lua one in meta.xml.

Usage

Players can access the GUI by typing the command defined (default /mods) and/or the key bind defined (default none).

Players will only be able to access the panel if they have permission. This is defined in permissions_server.lua (canPlayerOpenGUI(player)).

Additional permissions can be defined in permissions_server.lua (e.g. isPlayerAdmin(player)). These functions can be referenced in each mod defined in meta.xml, and the player will only receive the mod if they have permission.

Screenshots

Default GUI:

DGS GUI Version:

Demo TP System:

Demo & Examples

There is a teleportation system included in the resource which allows you to define locations that players can teleport to, and require certain mods to be loaded in order to teleport to them. See teleport_client.lua for more information.

There are also testing commands that can be used to test certain Mod Downloader features. See testing_server.lua for more information.

You can code your own implementations using the functions and custom events available both client and server side.

Credits

A version of the Mod Downloader GUI using dgs by thisdp (GitHub repository) is present in this resource.

Several mods are also included for testing purposes:

• Bank Robbers - SlingShot753's Workshop
• Desert Eagle .50 - SlingShot753's Workshop

Related Projects

• mta-auto-modloader: easy to use mod loader system which also supports NandoCrypt
• mta-add-models: a library for adding new models (vehicles, skins, etc) to your server which supports NandoCrypt

Final Note

Feel free to contribute to the project by improving the code & documentation via Pull Requests. Thank you!