Modding:Content pack frameworks
Content pack frameworks are SMAPI mods designed to simplify the process of creating content packs for Stardew Valley. While they aim to minimize the need for programming experience, some familiarity with coding concepts can be helpful. Creating mods directly in C# for SMAPI may offer insight into the way the game works. Content packs are one of the two main ways to mod Stardew Valley, alongside creating C# mods for SMAPI directly.
Each framework mod defines their own content pack format; see their mod pages for usage.
Here's a list of software for pixel art and JSON text editors we recommend. With software like VS Code and Sublime, you can set up the schema so it checks the formatting of your JSON file as you write your mod. In that way, it's like a built in json validator site. More details on setting up the schema here.
Content Patcher
Stardew Valley loads its contents, assets, sprites, maps, and even much of its logic from its Content folder folder, which Content Patcher allows you to change.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of new things you can add to the game using Content Patcher:
- Items (including cooking, crops, trees, clothing, furniture, and new artisan machines that can process inputs)
- Buildings, maps, and locations
- Farm animals and pets
- NPCs, including dialogue, sprites, schedule and events
- Mail, shops, quests, and special orders
With Content Patcher you can also patch existing assets, which includes:
- Retexturing sprites, including (but not limited to) item sprites, NPC portraits and map appearance
- Changing NPC behavior, dialogue or even their name
- Modify maps to add new locations or warps
See Modding:Content Patcher for a getting started guide.
Popular frameworks
Here are the framework mods used most often to create content packs. (The parenthesis next to each name is the conventional acronym used in the folder name.)
Core (1000+ content packs)
| mod | functionality |
|---|---|
| Content Patcher (CP) | Add/edit/replace any content asset in the game (i.e., assets normally read from your game's Content folder). It supports data/image/map files, has functionality like partial patches and prepend/append, and supports many different conditions and tokens (e.g., to make textures seasonal, data that changes by time of day, etc). A wide variety of mods can be created using Content Patcher, from simple portrait replacements to creating entire NPCs.
See Modding:Content Patcher for a getting started guide. |
| Json Assets (JA) | Create specific item types, with support for functionality specific to each item type (e.g., specifying crafting/cooking/recipes or gift tastes for new items). It currently supports creating objects, big craftables, crops, fruit trees, hats, weapons, shirts, pants, and boots. Content and images added by Json Assets can also be edited through Content Patcher.
See its GitHub readme for documentation. |
| Alternative Textures (AT) | Enables texture variation for placeable objects, buildings and entities. This includes trees, animals, pets, farm buildings, plants, and more. |
Popular (400+)
| mod | functionality |
|---|---|
| Producer Framework Mod (PFM) | Add/change the inputs/outputs/behaviour of any machine in the game. That includes vanilla machines (e.g., keg), machines added by other mods, and adding machine logic to any big craftable. |
| Fashion Sense (FS) | Allows for bigger accessories, hairstyles, hats, shirts, sleeves and pants, as well as animation support and more. |
Common (100+)
| mod | functionality |
|---|---|
| Better Artisan Good Icons (BAGI) | Add custom icons to artisanal items like honey or wine based on the item or flower used to make them. |
| Custom Furniture (CF) | Add new furniture items. |
| Dynamic Game Assets (DGA) | Create specific item types, with support for functionality specific to each item type (e.g., specifying crafting/cooking/recipes or gift tastes for new items). It currently supports creating big craftables, boots, crafting recipes, crops, fences, forge recipes, fruit trees, furniture, hats, machine recipes, melee weapons, objects, gift tastes, pants, shirts, shop entries, tailoring recipes, and texture overrides. |
| Farm Type Manager (FTM) | Add farm-like spawning logic to any map. That includes spawning stumps, debris, forage, meteors, monsters, ores, etc. |
| Mail Framework Mod (MFM) | Add new mail with functionality like custom backgrounds, repeating mail, a wider variety of mail attachments, and support for multiple attachments. (Simple mail without the custom functionality can also be added via Content Patcher.) |
| Shop Tile Framework (STF) | Add new shops or edit existing shop inventories with a wide variety of conditions. |
| TMXL Map Toolkit (TMXL) | Add/edit in-game locations and maps. It includes a wide variety of specialized map functionality like crop layers, water color, tile actions, and Lua scripting. |
Specialized frameworks
These have fewer than 100 content packs, but provide useful functionality for specific cases.
| mod | functionality |
|---|---|
| Better Crafting (BC) | Create custom recipes more advanced than those supported by the base game including support for controlling availability and ingredients via game state queries, running trigger actions when a player crafts the recipe, and multiple possible ingredients or outputs using item queries and spawn fields.
Create custom crafting stations with a limited selection of recipes, which can optionally be excluded from other crafting menus. These crafting stations can be opened via map tile actions or trigger actions. Allows assigning map tile actions to big craftables, which allows using them with the custom crafting stations feature. 1.6 Only. |
| Content Patcher Animations (CP-A) | Animate any texture loaded through Content Patcher, including for textures that can't normally be animated (e.g., item sprites). |
| Custom Companions (CC) | Allows creating custom entities that can be spawned on maps or follow the player around. This includes animals in the world or wandering NPCs. |
| Custom Crafting Stations (CCS) | Add customized crafting stations which opens menus with a limited selection of recipes, without those recipes cluttering up the vanilla crafting menus. The stations can be big craftables that are vanilla or added using Json Assets (JA). The stations can also be added via tiledata added to the map. |
| Custom Critters (CC) | Add custom critters to the world, like butterflies and bees. |
| Custom Farm Loader (CFL) | A simplified way of adding custom farms. Supports among other things spawning items/wild crops/resource clumps/beach drops and setting fishing rules within your farms context. |
| Expanded Storage (XS) | Adds custom storages (chests, cabinets, etc.) that support capacity at vanilla levels and beyond. |
| Furniture Framework (FF) | A Framework to make "Furniture Packs" with much more freedom that what a simple Content Pack allows: with it you can define seats, table slots, layers, shops, and much more. |
| More Nightly Events (MNE) | Adds custom night-time events, using either configurable pre-made events, or by making your own with event scripting. 1.6 Only. |
| Train Station (TS) | Make new locations accessible through the railroad train station, so you don't need to patch paths/warps into existing maps. |
| Unlockable Bundles (UB) | Enables custom bundle creation. |
| Item Extensions (IE) | Gives modders the ability to create custom resources, custom mixed seeds, and interactions between objects in-menu. (1.6) |
| Personal Indoor Farm (PIF) | Adds new personal FarmHouse rooms. Modders can add room designs |
See also
- Modding:Index for different ways to create mods, and more detailed documentation.