RuneSchema mod packages¶

Helpy's Mods workspace manages RuneSchema owners, not unrelated UE4SS mods or global Unreal plugins. All order/enable changes apply on restart. Existing mounted files are never replaced or removed by the ZIP importer.

Recommended ZIP layout¶

MyMod.zip
└── RuneSchema/
    └── mods/
        └── MyMod/
            ├── mod.json
            ├── equipment/       # applicable RuneSchema definitions
            ├── quests/
            ├── paks/            # cooked .pak/.utoc/.ucas companions together
            ├── logicmods/       # only if used
            ├── ue4ss/           # only if used; retain documented loader layout
            └── cache/           # verified Helpy cachepack, with source art

Do not invent loader directories: use RuneSchema's supported content directory names. paks and logicmods may contain packages one level below their root. Keep each cooked container's companion files together. Do not ship saves, settings, the loader DLL, other mod owners or runeschema.txt in a mod ZIP.

A single MyMod/mod.json wrapper or a flat package with mod.json at ZIP root is also accepted. Legacy archives with a full Steam installation prefix are accepted only when every payload file belongs to one unambiguous RuneSchema/mods/MyMod/ subtree. The prefix is discarded; no drive letter or installation path becomes part of the destination. Mixed-owner/core bundles are rejected, not guessed at.

Optional manifest for legacy packages; required for flat packages¶

{
  "format": 1,
  "id": "MyMod",
  "name": "My Mod",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": "Your name",
  "description": "A short description.",
  "banner": "art/banner.png",
  "history": [
    {"version": "1.0.0", "notes": "Initial release."}
  ]
}

id must match the destination folder exactly. Use letters, numbers, spaces, underscores or hyphens; start with a letter or number. Windows device names, trailing spaces/dots, path separators and control characters are not allowed. Metadata is author-supplied, not a signature or compatibility guarantee. Loaders shown by Helpy are inferred from actual installed folders.

Older informational mod.json files without a format field remain readable for installed-mod presentation. New packages should declare format: 1; the ZIP importer still requires its supported manifest format for flat archives.

Names and identity¶

Legacy ID.txt remains supported. A plain one-line ModID still works. Optional structured metadata can supply a friendly default without changing that ID:

ModID = MyMod
Name = MyMod
Nickname = My Friendly Mod
Version = 1.0.0
Build = local-20261020
Author = Your name
Website = https://example.com/my-mod
NexusModID = 123
NexusFileID =
Description = A short description
# Optional, existing mod-relative artwork:
# Banner = cache/banner.png

DisplayName is also accepted as an alias for Nickname. Keep the ModID stable: nicknames never rename folders, namespaces, native item IDs or PersistenceIDs. When supplied, mod.json metadata takes precedence over ID.txt presentation defaults. Helpy's personal nickname override takes precedence over both.

Place ID.txt at the module root, beside paks/, registry/ and cache/. Build, NexusModID, NexusFileID, Description and Banner are optional. Nexus Mod ID identifies the mod page; Nexus File ID identifies one uploaded file. Leave File ID blank (or Unknown/unset) for an unpublished rebuild; never reuse an older file ID as proof that a newer payload was uploaded. IDs must otherwise be positive decimal values. Build is inert author-supplied build text. Banner must be an existing relative PNG/JPEG/WebP, without links or ... None of these fields changes gameplay IDs, grants trust, downloads content, enables mods or starts automatic updates. Missing ID.txt is still supported.

For a portable cache, right-click the module in Helpy > Mods > Export source cache. Use .rsmk-cache under <module>/cache/ for typed item/journal/art references and their cached artwork. .rsmk-icons remains a legacy pixels-only format. An empty cache directory, cache/ID.txt, release notes or arbitrary thumbnail files are not a verified Helpy bundle. Never copy the entire AppData cache. Targeted exports require exact module ownership in shared namespaces, retain legitimate referenced native artwork without relabelling its owner, and exclude unrelated records and icons. Unproven records are excluded and coverage stays partial unless a current discovery/capture survey proves otherwise. Validate through the real importer against matching content hashes. Removing or changing a required module must skip its dependent artwork and references. Packaged cache/ files do not affect the source content fingerprint.

Right-click a mod placard to open its declared website or installed folder. An absent website stays unavailable; Helpy never guesses an author's URL.

Personal nicknames, favorites and tags are local user/profile data, not part of the mod package. They do not prevent the game's discard, consumption or durability behavior. Live Helpy deletion/scrapping and deleted-item Storage were retired; do not advertise removal locks as native inventory protection. See Favorite/Junk controls.

Artwork and caches¶

The optional banner field is a relative path to an image inside the same mod folder (for example art/banner.png). It decorates the mod placard even while disabled, without mounting the mod or certifying its cache. Keep the image below 20 MiB. Omit this field if the mod has no supplied art. The placard falls back to the source's existing banner or a neutral panel. Native colored power-level glyphs display its order number, not a gameplay power level. Disabled mods use a black glyph and do not consume an enabled load-order number.

Select the mod's actual mods/MyMod source in Cache & banner, choose source art, then export a verified cachepack into the mod's cache directory. Recommend 1280×720 artwork with no critical text at the edges; Helpy exports its inert thumbnail with the pack. Cache identity/hash validation still applies. Disabled or not-yet-registered mods cannot borrow another source's identity; configure their cache after enabling and restarting. Item banners do not mount game assets.

Ship actual verified bundles, not an empty cache directory. Captured bundles may have partial coverage and retain their original source fingerprints: replacing a PAK is not permission to relabel old records as freshly captured content.

Observed mod health¶

Helpy separates this session's attributed errors/warnings from lifetime counts. The core maintains local plaintext statistics in %LOCALAPPDATA%/RSDragonwilds/RuneSchema/core/health/mods-steam.json, mods-gamepass.json or mods-server.json. This contains short issue excerpts and can include local paths from logs. It is not uploaded. Rows disappear when their mod folder is removed; disabling a mod retains its history.

Only the current process's matching game log is counted. If it is unavailable, the monitor uses its own RuneSchema/UE4SS logs. Explicit owner labels take precedence over dependency paths. Missing optional conventional registry probes are tracked separately; rejected declarations and real asset errors remain visible. Green means no attributed issue was observed, not certified compatibility.

Import and safety¶

Imports start disabled. Review, enable, Apply for next launch, then restart. The importer stages outside mods, limits ZIP size/expansion/entry counts, rejects unsafe paths, links, duplicate case aliases, installer programs and ambiguous payloads, and publishes a complete new folder via same-volume rename. Importing does not execute archive code; enabling a script/native-code mod later is still a trust decision. Inspect its author and source first.

Existing mods are not overwritten, even when disabled: they may still be mounted in this process. An inspected replacement remains under RuneSchema/mod-imports for offline review. Close the game before manually replacing installed files. Automatic update/removal of existing installed folders is not implemented.

Load-order writes compare the disk snapshot and use RuneSchema's existing atomic writer. External changes require Refresh. Green means no attributed errors observed in the retained log tail, not proven healthy. Yellow means warnings or incomplete/unavailable logs; red means attributed errors. Hover for evidence. Generic console failures without a mod tag/owned path remain in Live Log.