5 lessons learnt publishing on ModHub

It has been 30 months since Farming Simulator 22 released and nearly that long since I published my first mod. In this period I have learnt about game development, interacting with people online, and how to tie my shoe laces.

Here are 5 thoughts I have on publishing mods.

1. Be forgiving

To yourself and other players.

When your mod is released on ModHub and you get feedback through social media, discord, or YouTube reviews, it is likely to contain some negativity. Do not let the negativity overshadow the positive reviews. The loudest voices are usually the least important ones.

You created your mod with a vision, an idea, a purpose, but there will always be people that see your mod and have other expectations. This is okay.

Learn to filter feedback and you will enjoy modding.

2. ModHub reviews are your friend

Farming Simulator would not be the success it is without the wide availablity of mods. Us, the modders, are important to the success of the game, why would Giants stop us from publishing mods?

Everyone gets reviews. I get it, you worked hard and you think you covered all bases. I only ask you to read the ModHub guidelines and to understand their process.

You want your mod published, they want your mod published, do the work.

3. Modders are in this together

We all have our own approach to modding and we all create different things. What we have is common is our love for this game.

Once you get to know other modders, you will find out each one is willing to help another. What helps to achieve results is to ask specific questions, the quality of your question determines the quality of the answer.

Discord is a great place to find others, please do not start your new friendship with a question about modding.

4. It is not about the outcome

Ratings have no meaning, the monetization will not make you rich. You are doing this because you like the process, you like to grab something and modify it to your liking, you like to create equipment from scratch and will not rest until it works in-game.

Sharing is caring. If you expect other modders or players to like and use your creations, show gratitude towards other mods.

5. It takes time

Learning, modding, publishing, it all takes longer than you had hoped. You are lucky if you have experience in 3D design or programming, but it will still take time.

And it should.

During the making of your mod, you will review your idea and tweak along the way, new approaches will add time to the total time it took to create your mod.

You cannot open a 3D modelling program and tell it to create a complete tractor for you. Yet.

However, I did ask ChatGPT how to register a custom crop a while ago:

-- Define the custom crop class
MyCustomCrop = {}
MyCustomCrop_mt = Class(MyCustomCrop)

function MyCustomCrop:new(mission, fillType, capacity)
    local instance = {}
    setmetatable(instance, MyCustomCrop_mt)

    instance.mission = mission
    instance.fillType = fillType
    instance.capacity = capacity

    return instance
end

function MyCustomCrop:loadFromXML(xmlFile, key)
    self.fillType = getXMLInt(xmlFile, key .. "#fillType")
    self.capacity = getXMLFloat(xmlFile, key .. "#capacity")

    return true
end

function MyCustomCrop:saveToXMLFile(xmlFile, key, usedModNames)
    setXMLInt(xmlFile, key .. "#fillType", self.fillType)
    setXMLFloat(xmlFile, key .. "#capacity", self.capacity)
end

-- Register the custom crop class with the game
addModEventListener(MyCustomCrop)

-- Implement other required functions and events as needed

I will give you a hint: the code will work, but it has no effect in-game.

Learning new skills will open up opportunities. Do not be afraid.

Final thoughts

I will try to deep dive into single things in the future, maybe even try to write coherent paragraphs. For now, I am accepting this balony as a start of a new journey.