Tribes 2 Mod Development Handbook — build 25034

A teaching handbook for writing mods against vanilla Tribes 2, patched build 25034 (retail v1.05). It merges two bodies of knowledge: the surviving community modding tutorials (2002–2003 era) and this project's client analysis of the V12 Engine build 25034 and the shipped game data.

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What this covers, and what it does not

In scope	Out of scope
Vanilla Tribes 2, build 25034 (getT2VersionNumber() returns 25034)	Torque Game Engine / Torque 3D differences
The V12 ("Darkstar") engine as it actually shipped	Engine C++ modification (you cannot rebuild Tribes2.exe)
TorqueScript, datablocks, packages, the mod-path stack	Reimplementation projects
base/ and Classic/ game data as the reference material	The patches' auth protocol, crypto, and account systems
What the TribesNEXT and RC2a patches change on top — section 07, and an "Under the community patches" section on each affected page

Sections 01–06 describe vanilla. Nobody runs vanilla in 2026 — the WON servers died in 2008 — but it is the substrate the patches sit on, and the great majority of modding is identical on both. Where a patch changes something, the page says so at the end, and section 07 covers the patches in full.

Everything here is written against the engine as it exists on disk. Where a statement comes from reading the binary or the shipped scripts, it is marked. Where it is an inference, it says so.

Evidence markers

Every non-obvious claim carries one of these:

Marker	Meaning
[binary]	Confirmed by disassembly or string analysis of Tribes2.exe, or of a patch DLL
[dso-verified]	Confirmed empirically — parsed/executed against real .cs.dso files and checked against known .cs source
[script]	Confirmed by reading the shipped V12 .cs in base/scripts.vl2 — file and line cited
[patch-script]	Confirmed by reading a community patch's own shipped .cs
[support-script]	Confirmed by reading the community support pack's own shipped .cs
[mod-script]	Confirmed by reading a documented community mod's own shipped files
[bones]	From NecroBones' Tribes 2 Mapping Tutorial — community practice, attributed
[community]	From the 2002–2003 tutorial corpus, or a mod's own readme; widely relied on, not independently confirmed against code
[inferred]	Reasoned from the above; plausible but unverified

If you find a claim without a marker, treat it as ordinary prose, not a load-bearing fact.

Code blocks are tagged php, deliberately

TorqueScript has no highlighter of its own. Every TorqueScript block in this handbook is fenced as ```php because PHP's highlighter is the closest available fit:

	php	cs (C#)
$global	Highlighted as a variable — PHP's native sigil	Unrecognised
%local	Not recognised	Reads as the modulo operator
function, new, if, switch, return	Keywords	Keywords
// comments	Correct	Correct

Neither handles %local, but PHP gets $global right and loses nothing else, so it renders better on GitHub, MkDocs, and Docusaurus alike. Please do not "correct" these to cs.

Non-TorqueScript blocks use their real language — bash, bat, powershell, ini, mermaid — and untagged fences are plain output, file listings, or directory trees.

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Learning path

Read in order the first time. After that, use it as a reference.

flowchart TD
    A["01 · Getting Started<br/>install anatomy, tools, first mod"] --> B["02 · Engine Model<br/>mod paths, boot order, TorqueScript,<br/>SimObjects, datablocks, packages"]
    B --> C["03 · Content Recipes<br/>weapons, armors, vehicles,<br/>packs, turrets, effects"]
    B --> D["04 · Interface<br/>GUI, HUD, messaging"]
    B --> E["05 · Gameplay Systems<br/>gametypes, missions, AI"]
    C --> F["06 · Shipping<br/>packaging, hosting, debugging"]
    D --> F
    E --> F
    E --> MAP["10–16 · Mapping<br/>the in-game editor, terrain,<br/>lighting, shipping a map"]
    MAP --> BONES["17–20 · Bones' Tutorial<br/>community mapping practice"]
    BONES --> F
    F --> P["07 · Community Patches<br/>what TribesNEXT and RC2a<br/>change on top of all the above"]
    P --> LX["21 · Linux<br/>the Loki Software port,<br/>and what's platform-aware in the shared code"]
    LX --> GT["22–30 · Gametypes<br/>base and Classic, side by side,<br/>ending with Team Rabbit 2"]
    GT --> BR["31 · The Base Ruleset<br/>gravity, armours, gametypes<br/>and prefs as 25034 shipped them"]
    BR --> S["09 · The Support Pack<br/>the community script library<br/>and module system"]
    S --> BD["32–36 · Base derivatives<br/>combat mods forked directly<br/>from vanilla base"]
    BD --> CL["37–40 · Classic<br/>the ruleset that became the game,<br/>and its optional-rule system"]
    CL --> CD["41–44 · Classic derivatives<br/>combat mods forked<br/>from Classic"]
    CD --> EV["45–47 · Evolution Admin Mod<br/>generated packages, leased admin,<br/>and a ten-year-old bug"]
    EV --> TS["48–50 · TacoServer<br/>the modern codebase:<br/>lineage, features, running it"]
    TS --> OC["51–57 · Other combat<br/>server-side mods<br/>least to most deviated"]
    OC --> M["58 · The Construction Mod<br/>a total conversion, studied:<br/>what it did and why"]
    M --> FK["59–68 · Construction forks<br/>ten derivatives of 0.69a,<br/>compared against the base"]
    FK --> CC["69–71 · Combat Construction Mods<br/>forks that put PvP<br/>back into building"]
    CC --> CM["72–77 · Client Mods<br/>cosmetic, HUD, and utility<br/>mods with no server ruleset"]
    CM --> G["Reference<br/>console functions, class tree,<br/>file formats, tutorial index"]

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Sections 07–09, 21–71 and 72–77 are context rather than instruction — what your users are running, what libraries exist, and how the mods that shaped the live game were built. Reference carries no number at all — see below.

The three things that trip up every new Tribes 2 modder

Read these before anything else — they explain most "why doesn't my change take effect?" questions.

1. Stale .dso files shadow your edits. The engine compiles foo.cs to foo.cs.dso and prefers the compiled form on later runs [binary] (Compiling %s... / Loading compiled script %s.). Sierra's own Classic_LAN.bat deletes every .dso under base/scripts/ and Classic/scripts/ before launching [script]. Do the same. See Debugging.
2. You override by packaging, not by editing. Copying base/scripts/ into your mod and hacking it works but makes your mod unmergeable with every other mod. The engine has a first-class override mechanism — package + Parent:: — and it is the correct tool. See Packages.
3. Server and client are separate script worlds even in single player. Putting a datablock in a client-only file, or calling a server function from a client script, fails silently or throws a console error. See Client/server split.

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Table of contents

01 · Getting Started

Page	What it answers
Install anatomy	What every file and folder in GameData/ is for
What you need	Tools: archive tools, editors, how to unpack .vl2
Your first mod	A working mod in ten minutes, start to finish
Launch options	Every command-line switch the engine parses

02 · Engine Model

Page	What it answers
Mod paths and overrides	How the engine finds a file, and how you shadow one
Boot sequence	What executes when, from console_start.cs to the main menu
TorqueScript	The language: syntax, types, variables, operators, gotchas
TorqueScript — V12 Compiler	The .cs.dso binary format, all 84 opcodes, and the compiler's codegen shapes
TorqueScript — V12 Decompiler	Reading .cs.dso back to .cs, including a client-side decompiler tool
SimObjects and namespaces	Object model, method dispatch, SimGroup/SimSet
Datablocks	What a datablock is, how it ghosts, how inheritance works
Packages	The override mechanism — the single most important modding tool
Client/server split	Which code runs where, and how the two sides talk
Scheduling and events	schedule, callbacks, MissionCleanup, object lifetime

03 · Content Recipes

Page	What it answers
Weapons	Full weapon anatomy and the image state machine
Projectiles	Every projectile class and its fields
Ammo and inventory	Ammo datablocks, inventory limits, station sets
Packs	Backpack items, mount/unmount, activation
Grenades and hand inventory	Thrown items, mines, beacons
Armors	PlayerData, movement tuning, animation binding
Vehicles	Flying, wheeled, and hover vehicles; mount nodes
Turrets and deployables	Turret barrels, deployed objects, placement rules
Particles, explosions, and effects	The effect datablock chain
Damage and type masks	Damage types, radius damage, collision masks
Audio	AudioProfile, AudioDescription, 3D sound

04 · Interface

Page	What it answers
GUI system	.gui files, control profiles, Canvas, dialogs
HUD	In-game HUD controls, reticles, weapon HUD data
Text and messaging	Chat, bottomPrint, tagged strings, colour codes

05 · Gameplay Systems

Page	What it answers
Gametypes	How a gametype is structured and how to add one
Missions	.mis files, mission objects, the in-game editor
AI and bots	The AI task system, nav graphs, bot behaviour

06 · Shipping

Page	What it answers
Packaging	Mod folder layout, .vl2 building, .dso distribution
Hosting and testing	LAN, dedicated, PURE servers, testing loops
Debugging	Console, trace, dump, telnet debugger, common errors

10–16 · Mapping

Making maps, from Sierra's own mission-editor manual shipped inside scripts.vl2.

Page	What it answers
10 · Mapping	The file set, the toolchain, the end-to-end workflow
11 · The Mission Editor	F11, the eight tools, File/Edit/Camera menus
12 · World Editor	Placing objects; Tree, Inspector, Creator, drop rules
13 · Terrain	Brush editing, the 14-operation Terraform stack, mission area
14 · Terrain texturing	Placement by rule, manual painting, the four-texture rule
15 · Lighting, nav & spawn data	Relighting, .ml, .nav, .spn
16 · Shipping a map	Gametype wiring, headers, what clients need

17–20 · Bones' Mapping Tutorial

NecroBones' community tutorial — the workflow, crashes and design judgement the manual omits.

Page	What it answers
17 · Getting started	Server-side maps, setup, the interior-placement crash
18 · The editor windows	Tree, Inspector, Creator, the gizmo
19 · Building a base	Power systems, objectives, vehicle pads, spawns
20 · Environment & finishing	Sky, fog layers, load screens, the final pass

07 · Community Patches

Page	What it answers
TribesNEXT QoL patch	The current patch: what it replaces, overrides, and adds
RC2a	The 2009 Ruby-based predecessor, and its autoexec collision
Modding against a patched install	Collisions, the auth phase, testing, distribution

21 · Linux, and the Loki Software port

Page	What it answers
21 · Linux	The Loki dedicated server, $platform-aware code shared with Windows, and Sam Lantinga's fingerprints in console_start.cs

22–30 · Gametypes

Base and Classic, gametype by gametype — what Classic shadowed, what it left alone, and what it patched around without shadowing. Ends with Team Rabbit 2, a total-conversion sport mod shipped in its own archives.

Page	What it answers
22 · Capture the Flag	Base vs Classic's own CTFGame.cs, and Spawn CTF's no-economy loadout
23 · Defend and Destroy	The 39-constant scoring table, and the suicide-penalty line that became a Classic-wide rule
24 · Siege	The two-round time trial, and Classic's defensive-scoring additions
25 · Bounty	Per-player target/pursuer/bystander state, and the no-static-defence ban list
26 · Capture and Hold	Twelve-second capture windows, and turrets that convert rather than just fall
27 · Deathmatch	The minimal gametype, and TacoServer's own 970-line descendant
28 · Hunters & Team Hunters	GREED/HOARD as vote-toggled rules, and the game outing hoarders automatically
29 · Rabbit	Solo flag-carrier keep-away, and the pseudo-team trick that makes it work
30 · Team Rabbit 2	A total-conversion sport mod — its own archives, a ten-dimensional bonus matrix, and Classic's six-file integration

31 · The Base Ruleset

What build 25034 actually ships as its rules — the baseline every mod from section 32 onward is a delta against.

Page	What it answers
31 · The base ruleset	Gravity, skiing/friction/momentum, the nine armour datablocks, the eleven gametypes, the 36 $Host:: defaults, tournament mode

09 · The Support Pack

Page	What it answers
Section overview	What support.vl2 is, why it exists, whether you need it
The autoload system	// #directive headers, autoload.ini, dependency and version resolution
Callbacks and events	callback.cs and events.cs — multi-listener events
Library reference	All 36 modules

32–36 · Base derivatives

Combat mods fingerprinted directly to vanilla base — no Classic lineage — ordered from lightest touch to heaviest.

Page	What it answers
32 · BONES	NecroBones' own balance mod — a disclosed referee back door, two original vehicle gametypes
33 · AirKill	A disc air-kill training mod, and a rewritten Mobile Base Teleporter
34 · Triumph	A ~30-weapon overhaul on Bounty, maintained 2003–2009
35 · NinjaMod	"Ninja-X" — stealth/gadget beacons, one of the oldest T2 mods on record
36 · tac2	"Team Aerial Combat 2" — five vehicle-only aerial gametypes, its own Linux builds

37–40 · Classic

The ruleset that became the game — shipped in your install, and still the base every live server runs.

Page	What it answers
37 · Classic	What Classic is, why it exists, and the twenty-year lineage map
38 · Classic 1.1	The version in your 25034 install — gravity, launchers, the client pack
39 · Classic 1.5.2	The 2004-onward baseline: four releases, and what a modern server inherits
40 · The ruleset toggles	$Host::ClassicLoad* — optional rules as a mechanism, and how to steal it

41–44 · Classic derivatives

Combat mods fingerprinted to Classic, ordered from lightest touch to heaviest.

Page	What it answers
41 · Overdrive	One energy-costed ability bolted onto stock Classic 1.5.2
42 · T2 Instagib	An extreme weapon/armour strip-down — documented from its own readme, source not preserved here
43 · Revmod2	Classic's MPB/Tesla scoring, plus eight ground-up custom classes
44 · Meltdown 2	A mech-combat total conversion built directly on Classic 1.1's defaultGame.cs

45–47 · Evolution Admin Mod

An admin layer that generates its own TorqueScript package at runtime — and what that costs.

Page	What it answers
45 · Architecture	The .ovl split, the generated package, and its cache trap
46 · In operation	89 prefs, the chat console, HTTP-loaded time-leased SuperAdmin
47 · teratos' evoClassic	One line, ten years later — and the gotcha behind it

48–50 · TacoServer

The modern codebase most public servers run today.

Page	What it answers
48 · Lineage & architecture	Overlay on 1.5.2, the NoEvo severance, one package per feature
49 · In operation	Population-scaled rules, ~180 prefs, installing and running it
50 · Running Classic today	Which codebase to use in 2026, and what the lineage teaches

51–57 · Other combat server-side mods

Mods that don't cleanly derive from base or Classic, or that deviate from both too heavily to call a fork — ordered from least to most transformed.

Page	What it answers
51 · Small utilities	Randomizer! and the "Lagg's Default" per-map bot AI packs
52 · botpilot & Werewolf	Piloting AI, and a heavier community fork of it
53 · Pirates of the Caribbean	A small, self-contained aerial-combat custom gametype
54 · Masters mod	Custom classes and a Team Rabbit 2-derived bonus system, mostly compiled .dso
55 · GibMatch	A standalone -mod gibmatch with its own gametype family
56 · Powers Mod	An affinity-class RPG layer on stock CTF/Bounty/DnD/Hunters
57 · IronSphere RPG	"DarkRealmsRPG" — a 1240-file total-conversion RPG

58 · The Construction Mod

Page	What it answers
Section overview	What Construction is, the motivation behind it, its lineage and versions
What it changed	Architecture — file shadowing at full scale, and the vanilla conventions it kept
Building systems	Deployable pieces, the Construction Tool, building persistence, server modes
Playing Construction	How it works at the controls, across all forks
Reusable mechanisms	Twelve techniques to lift into your own mod, plus the anti-patterns

59–68 · The Construction forks

Each derives from Construction 0.69a. The percentage is how much of that base survives byte-identical.

§	Fork	Base intact	Character
59	Power Edition	82 %	Purely additive weapons pack; the disciplined one
60	c2kconstruction	67 %	Largest package; Tricon 2 admin suite; ships mostly .dso
61	MooCon 1.7.0 / 1.9.0 / Final	62→19 %	Dev team, add-on system, cash economy, full tree reorganisation
62	Spirit Construction	41 %	Novelty toys — grappling hook, black hole gun — no scoring touched
63	Metallic Construction 1.4 Beta	38 %	Warp gates, transpads, turret variety, RPG beginnings
64	CCM	34 %	Combat/construction hybrid — gametypes, ranks, own maps
65	TCCM	32 %	CCM sibling; the only fork with its own install name
66	Ultimate Build 2.0	27 %	serverScripts/ subtree, RP money, bundles Tricon 2
67	Atomic Construction	25 %	JackTL's branch — own version line, "v50a" lineage
68	QuantiumX	8 %	Near-total rewrite; chat-command interface

69–71 · Combat Construction Mods

Construction-family forks that put PvP back into a genre built to switch it off — ordered from least to most transformed.

Page	What it answers
69 · Dark Ages RPG Con Mod	A CCM-lineage monster-pack shooter with an RPG world map
70 · ACCM	"Advanced Combat Construction Mod" — self-described, zombie PvE and PvP
71 · Total Warefare Mod	Boss fights, horde spawning, an EXP system — built on 0.69a and CCM

72–77 · Client Mods

Cosmetic, HUD, and utility content with no server-side ruleset of its own.

Page	What it answers
72 · droc mod	Pure cosmetic — vehicle skins, jet/flare effects
73 · mousemod	Mouse-config client, bundling a Tricon2 admin console
74 · T2Bol client content	A skins/textures/music asset pack
75 · renclient4	A Renegades-server HUD/audio autoexec, by Classic's own z0dd
76 · Team Gauntlet client	The client-side half of a gametype whose server code isn't in this workspace
77 · EzRotation & EzVoteOptions	Two small autoexec utilities

Reference

Page	What it answers
Console functions	The engine-registered function surface
Datablock classes	Every datablock type you can declare
Class hierarchy	The engine object tree
File formats	.vl2, .dts, .dsq, .dif, .ter, .dso, and the rest
Global variables	$pref::, $Host::, and other well-known globals
Source tutorial index	Map of the original community tutorial corpus

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Where the material comes from

Source	Location	Nature
Shipped V12 scripts	base/scripts.vl2 (334 files)	Primary — the engine's own code
Shipped V12 GUI	base/scripts.vl2 gui/ (136 files)	Primary
Classic mod scripts	GameData/Classic/scripts/	Primary — a real, complete mod to read
Tribes2.exe	GameData/Tribes2.exe	Primary — string and disassembly evidence
Community tutorials	T2ModTutorialDatabase/ †	Secondary — see tutorial index
Project RE notes	docs/ †	Secondary — deeper binary analysis
Community mods	mod-doc-ref/ †	Secondary — dozens of combat, Construction, and client mods, credited and fingerprinted on their own pages

† Not included in this repository. These sit alongside it in the authoring workspace; the paths are recorded so claims can be traced back to their source, not so they can be clicked.

The community tutorial corpus is the origin of a great deal of practical Tribes 2 modding knowledge, and this handbook preserves its recipes. It also contains guesses and errors that circulated for twenty years; where the shipped scripts contradict a tutorial, this handbook follows the scripts and says so.