DataModder is a tool to create a modded Mabinogi data folder, based on mod scripts written in Lua. It allows the user to create and update data mods without having to extract and modify the files themselves. It was designed for XML file modding in particular, allowing the modification of attributes of specific XML elements.
DataModder looks for mods in its mod folder (DataModder/mods/). Each mod needs its own folder and a main.lua, which serves as the entry point. In each of those scripts any number of modifications can be specified, which are then executed by the program.
For all modifications it automatically uses the latest version of the file from the pack files, which it tries to find automatically. If there's a package folder in the same folder as the DataModder.exe is, it uses that one. Otherwise it searches for the folder of the installed Mabinogi client.
The most special feature of DataModder is the ability to modify XML files mostly without having to manually write and update XML code. You can modify and remove attributes, remove elements, or add completely new ones.
The selection of elements for whatever purpose utilizes XPath, a standardized query language for selecting nodes in XML documents. For more information check Wikipedia.
The following example modifies the attribute "Text_Name0" on a collection of items that match the path to "Just some book".
loadxmlfile('db/itemdb.xml')
setattributes('//Mabi_Item[@ID=1000]', 'Text_Name0', 'Just some book')The same code can be used to add attributes if they don't exist yet, and if
the value is nil the attribute is removed.
The following example removes all Mabi_Item elements in the itemdb.xml
that match the given path.
loadxmlfile('db/itemdb.xml')
removeelements('//Mabi_Item[@ID=221066]')To add a new element you simply specifiy the XML code and where it should
be added. In the example below it's added at the end of the Items node,
which is the parent of all Mabi_Item elements in the itemdb.xml.
loadxmlfile('db/itemdb.xml')
addelement('/Items', '<Mabi_Item ID="424242" Name="test" />')Is XML modification not viable, or the file in question not an XML file, you can replace files either with other files inside the pack files or new ones inside the mod folder.
The first parameter is the path the file will be copied to in the data folder, the second is the path it's copied from. DataModder first checks the mod's folder, and if the file doesn't exist there, it tries to find it in the pack folder.
-- Replace a file with a new file in the mod's folder
replacefile('db/cutscene/cutscene_waterfall.xml', 'my_improved_waterfall.xml')
-- Replace an image with a different one from the packs
replacefile('gfx/image/npc/npcportrait_manus_us.dds', 'gfx/image/npc/npcportrait_manus.dds')To organize mods a little you can use include and/or require, which can
be used to include scripts from the same mod folder.
-- main.lua
include('item_mods.lua')
include('url_mods.lua')
include('ebil_hack_mods.lua')For more examples, check the examples folder (DataModder/examples/).