Hello everyone!
Today, we'd like to showcase more of the modding features introduced to shapez 2 with the launch of 1.0. As we eluded to before, the game now fully supports mods through the Steam Workshop, but there's more to it! And to get the Workshop going, we're hosting a Modding Contest with an Nvidia RTX 5080 as its grand prize.
shapez 1 released as a browser game initially, so was originally never planned to support mods. However, after the release on Steam it still got a great amount of fantastic mods, adding a huge amount of replayability after launch.
Mods for shapez 1 were a little cumbersome to install, as it required navigating to an external website, downloading them and then manually putting them in the right folder. Not an issue for most, but less than ideal nonetheless. So for shapez 2, mods are considered a cornerstone of the game and we've put a lot of effort into making mods easier to make and seamless to install.
Mods for shapez 2 are managed right here through the Steam Workshop. Navigate there, use the filters to find mods you're interested in, go to the mod's page and hit 'Subscribe'. If a mod has other mods it needs in order to work, you'll get a pop up window that lists the required mods. You can check them out individually, or simply click 'Subscribe to all'. That's all you need to do to download mods to the right folder on your PC!
You can find all your mods in the Mods menu in-game. Do note that mods are installed when the game is launched, so if you've made changes to your mods or subscribed to new mods while the game is running, you'll need to restart shapez 2 to install and start using them. Mods you're subscribed to but need a restart before becoming active will be greyed out here.
Furthermore, the Mods menu will showcase the name and description of each mod, the icon, the dependencies, and whether or not it affects savegames or achievements. There are also buttons that will take you right to the mod's Workshop page in Steam or the mod's folder on your PC.
We don't want mods to simply disable achievements. For some mods, like mods that make the game significantly easier, it'd make sense to disable achievements. However, many mods only provide some utility of quality of life. Here, disabling achievements makes less sense, we think. So we're leaving it up to mod creators to decide whether or not their mod disables achievements!
You can see which mods disable achievements on the Mods menu. There's also an achievements filter in the Steam Workshop, to make browsing mods that keep achievements enabled a whole lot easier.
If you'd like to remove a mod, you can do so by unsubscribing in Steam Workshop. This will also require you to restart the game if it's running.
It is important to know that if you unsubscribe from a mod that 'affects savegames', you will no longer be able to load any savegames where that mod was used. You'll need to reinstall that mod in order to access that savegame again.
You can see which mods were used in a specific savegame under the little processor icon in the savegames menu.
On the other side of modding, the actual making of the mods, we've developed a separate open source API for modding, called shapez Shifter.
Simply put, shapez Shifter is a layer on top of the base game that allows modders' code written in C# to communicate with the game. By making this a separate layer, mods are less dependent on the code in shapez 2 itself, so will likely stay compatible whenever we update the game. It should also just make it easier to create mods for shapez 2!
For more info about what exactly this does, how to work with it and how to make mods for shapez 2 in general:
If you're interested in making mods for the game, be sure to read on; there's an RTX 5080 up for grabs!
There already are some mods on the workshop, but we'd like to kickstart this a bit!
The idea is simple: create a mod for shapez 2 within a set timeframe! It can be anything: brand new buildings, an overhaul of a system, or some quality of life features we never thought of. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's innovative, original, and implemented well.
Why participate? Well, there are some truly great prizes to snatch up:
First place: Nvidia RTX 5080
Second place: 32GB of DDR5 RAM
Third place: 2TB SSD
The exact models of each depend on local availability.
All prizes also include some shapez magnets that stick together, so you can play shapez IRL! If we get more than 10 entries, we'll also be giving away some shapez 2 merch for 4th and 5th places.
Due to shipping limitations, we can only ship physical prizes to Europe, the USA, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Japan. You can participate from other regions, but we'll only be able to award you a key for shapez 2 or the Support Edition Upgrade.
However, with such prizes on the line, we need to make sure everything goes fair. We have a set of rules in place, and you need to sign up in order to participate.
Participants need to be 18 years or older.
Only one entry per participant is allowed.
The submitted mod must be created by you.
Mods may not copy (shapez 2) mods.
Participants must respect all Intellectual Property (IP) rights.
The mod must be uploaded to the Steam Workshop and follow Steam rules for User-Uploaded Content.
The concept of your mod needs to be provided now, which after submitting can only be changed by approval from tobspr.
In order to participate, you need to sign up! We'll need an email address, the URL to your Steam Profile, and a general description on the mod you're planning to make for this contest.
Keep in mind that if you'd like to change the mod you're making for the contest after signing up, you'll need to contact us to change your registration.
Sign ups stay open for the rest of the month, until June 1 at 12am CEST, but you can get started immediately after signing up. We’ll send the mod submission form after the sign ups are closed. The deadline for your final mod submission is July 6th, 12am CEST.
We look forward to seeing all your creations, best of luck!