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.
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.
Other popular frameworks
While you want to use Content Patcher in most cases, other frameworks can be useful if you need features that isn't supported by the game engine itself. These framework mods usually either extend Content Patcher by adding new assets to the game for content packs to edit (in which case they don't have their own content pack formats, but instead rely on Content Patcher's own), or define their own separate formats.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of framework mods used most often to create content packs. (The parenthesis next to each name is the conventional acronym used in the folder name for mods that do not use Content Patcher.).
Core (1000+ content packs)
| mod | is CP extension | functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Json Assets (JA) | no | 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. Note: 1.6 adds the ability to add new items natively. JA still provides several additional features not found in the base game. |
| Alternative Textures (AT) | no | Enables texture variation for placeable objects, buildings and entities. This includes trees, animals, pets, farm buildings, plants, and more. |
Popular (400+)
| mod | is CP extension | functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Producer Framework Mod (PFM) | no | 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.
Note: 1.6 adds the ability to add new machine rules natively. PFM still provides several additional features not found in the base game. |
| Fashion Sense (FS) | no | Allows for bigger accessories, hairstyles, hats, shirts, sleeves and pants, as well as animation support and more. |
| SpaceCore | yes | A framework providing many features to content pack authors. Features include:
|
Common (100+)
| mod | is CP extension | functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Better Artisan Good Icons (BAGI) | no | Add custom icons to artisanal items like honey or wine based on the item or flower used to make them.
Note: The original Nexus version is not updated for 1.6. Use EBAGI if you want to make 1.6 content packs. |
| Custom Furniture (CF) | no | Add new furniture items. |
| Farm Type Manager (FTM) | no | Add farm-like spawning logic to any map. That includes spawning stumps, debris, forage, meteors, monsters, ores, etc. |
| Mail Framework Mod (MFM) | no | Add new mail with functionality like custom backgrounds, repeating mail, a wider variety of mail attachments, and support for multiple attachments.
Note: 1.6 adds the ability to add new mail natively. MFM still provides several additional features not found in the base game (such as attaching items with higher quality to mail). |
Specialized frameworks
These have fewer than 100 content packs, but provide useful functionality for specific cases.
| mod | is CP extension | functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Better Crafting (BC) | yes | 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) | yes | Animate any texture loaded through Content Patcher, including for textures that can't normally be animated (e.g., item sprites). |
| Custom Companions (CC) | no | 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) | no | 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) | no | Add custom critters to the world, like butterflies and bees. |
| Custom Farm Loader (CFL) | no | 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.
Note: 1.6 adds the ability to add new farm types natively. CFL still provides several additional features not found in the base game. |
| Expanded Storage (XS) | yes | Adds custom storages (chests, cabinets, etc.) that support capacity at vanilla levels and beyond. |
| Furniture Framework (FF) | no | 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) | yes | 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) | no | Make new locations accessible through the railroad train station, so you don't need to patch paths/warps into existing maps. |
| Unlockable Bundles (UB) | yes | Enables custom bundle creation. |
| Item Extensions (IE) | yes | Gives modders the ability to create custom resources, custom mixed seeds, and interactions between objects in-menu. (1.6) |
| Personal Indoor Farm (PIF) | yes | Adds new personal FarmHouse rooms. Modders can add room designs |
| Cloudy Skies | yes | A framework for adding custom weather types to the game, with distinct visual and auditory styles. Includes a variety of trigger actions to simulate weather effects, both beneficial and harmful. |
| Extra Machine Configs | yes | Adds extra functionalities to machine input/output rules, such as additional fuels/byproducts for specific recipes or copying color and flavor of input to the output. |
| Machine Terrain Framework | yes | Adds the ability to define big craftables that can be placed on trees and water, as well as aquatic crops. |
| Extra Animal Configs | yes | Extends farm animal data with additional features, such as multiple harvest types, food other than hay, and multiple choices for hatching/births. |
| Mapping Extensions and Extra Properties (MEEP) | yes | Allow map authors to spice up their maps with the new custom tile properties and extra features. Features including spawning fake NPCs, closeup interactions, opening a letter and more. |
| Calcifer | yes | A core mod providing various useful features. Current feature include custom offset for items displayed on furniture, Custom actions when interacting with furniture, custom item category names, and NPC swimming as part of their schedules. |
| Bush Bloom Mod (BBM) | yes/no | Allows creating custom bush blooming schedules to support whatever seasons, days, locations, and items you may want. |
| Custom Bush | yes | Allows custom bushes to be added to the game which work like the tea sapling. |
| Esca's Modding Plugins (EMP) | yes | Adds miscellaneous new features for other mods to use. Current features include bed placement and kitchens/minifridges outside of a farmhouse, more Content Patcher Tokens, custom Special Order boards, destroyable bushes, multiple fishing zones, change water color. |
| Special Power Utilities | yes | A categorized special items & powers tab. For mod authors working with powers and books, this mod provides the ability to add/specify tabs for their custom powers, change the "book read" message for custom books, add books that grant recipes, and extra Game State Queries, trigger actions and CP tokens. |
| Solid Foundations (SF) | yes/no | A framework for adding custom buildings to the game.
Note: 1.6 adds the ability to add new buildings natively. SF still supports several features not present in the base game, including custom light sources on building exteriors or archways that can be walked underneath. |
| Secret Note Framework | yes | A framework mod for adding custom Secret Notes to the game. Includes the ability to specify complex eligibility conditions or specific locations, use a different item for the note object, specify custom content and formatting (including images and text, or both), and set any trigger actions to be run when a note is first read. |
| Craft Anything Framework (CAF) | yes | Extend crafting recipes to allow crafting furniture, weapons, tools, and anything else. |
| Advanced Melee Framework (AMF) | no | A framework for creating custom special attacks and enchantments for individual weapons and weapon types. |
See also
- Modding:Index for different ways to create mods, and more detailed documentation.