They say I'm not much of a chef, but guys...
I've been cooking.
Basic mod support is here
High Seas, High Profits! is the textbook example of a game that would work great with mods. The reality is, you guys are asking for soooo many features that fit your play style (but sometimes they don't fit the original game) that mods are realistically the only way we'll be able to get things working.
Some members of the community have already been doing mods. It's been pretty hard on them since there isn't much in the game to help them achieve a cohesive look, or even harder: add their own models to the game.
That stops today.
Windows, texts, buttons and other UI elements
I've just implemented a set of utility methods in the base game that are only there to be used by modders. They let you easily create normal windows, confirmation windows, texts, titles, buttons and scrollable lists, among other things.
In fact, I also just released an example mod that uses all of that:
The screenshot above features a window for a Captain Academy that doesn't exist in the base game. It's fully implemented in a mod!
New models
Do you want to create new buildings? New ships? New trees for some odd reason? I got you. The game now features an object loader, so you can straight up load .obj files along with their textures:
Moreover, I will soon release my buildings.blend file, containing ALL the in-game buildings, as well as the captain academy building, with an atlas material, so that you can create your very own buildings in the same style as the ones already available in the game!
First mods
A few members of the community have already built some mods, I'll feature a couple of my favorite ones below. I've also created a couple of demo mods that I've also open sourced so new modders can take a look and quickly get up to speed.
Lexy's cheatbox
Do you recall using cheats in GTA? I used to love that. I already had a developer console in High Seas, but it was clunky and only really meant for me to quickly test stuff. With this mod, I want to give you the ability to straight up cheat, if you're into that.
Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/lexy-dot-zip/hshp-lexys-cheatbox
You activate it by pressing the (`) key (the one below Escape).
There are only a few cheats for now: givemoneyplease, quickride, workhorse, bigboy, thekraken. Test them out and let me know what new cheats you'd like to see! I promise I'll add more.
Captain Academy
This mod is something that was requested in the Steam discussions not long ago. I plan to do a complete rework of captains, but in the meantime, if you want to remove their bad traits, for a cost - you can!
The mod adds a new building to new games, in a random city: the Captain Academy! In the captain academy, you can train your captains out of their bad traits. There's a cost to it, and your ship will have to stay in port for a couple of weeks, but at the end, your captain's going to be awesome!
Gitlab: https://gitlab.com/lexy-dot-zip/hshp-captain-academy
Bonus only Businesses by JuanBerta
This is a really cool one, especially made for Patrician 3 nostalgics: you can only build businesses in cities where they have a bonus. It can be pretty brutal, but it gives the game an entirely new flavor: cities are even more important now, and building in the right place becomes critical.
Github: https://github.com/JuanBerta/Bonus-Only-Businesses-Mod-HighSeasHighProfits
Mod (validated & built by me): [HSHP!] Bonus only Businesses by JuanBerta by lexydotzip
SmartTrade Draft by JuanBerta
Another fun little mod. Ever wanted to tell your ships to just trade some goods, between some cities and make a lot of money? This mod has your back. Decide on the cities and goods and just let the convoy do the actions itself. It's quite profitable and takes a lot of the pressure away from deciding what to sell and where to get it from, if you don't like doing that yourself.
Github: https://github.com/JuanBerta/SmartTrade-Draft-HighSeasHighProfits
Mod (validated & built by me): [HSHP!] SmartTrade Draft by JuanBerta by lexydotzip
How do I get them?
These mods use MelonLoader to actually get loaded in the game. For now, I've audited the code of every open sourced mod myself and built the binaries, just to make sure everything's all right. For now, only download mods that come from my itch account: High Seas, High Profits! Mods - Collection by lexydotzip - itch.io
Moving forward, I'll also look into what extra steps I can take to add Steam Workshop support so maybe we can have an extra layer of security. DON'T install mods from other sources for now - MelonLoader is very powerful, and it's the reason modders can change so many things in-game, but they could also be used for malicious code. ONLY run mods you trust.
Discord
There is now a dedicated Discord room for mods. Anyone who wants to post their mod can do it there, and I'll gladly audit the code and build the binary myself, for the extra security. Do note this requires your mod to be open sourced. For now, I'm not allowing mods with closed sources on the Discord.
If you're a modder, do drop by the Discord! Let me know what kind of extra tools you'd need for your mods, and I'll happily implement them!
If you're not a modder, drop by the Discord anyway! Give me your mod requests because I want to build more mod examples for modders!
I hope you have an awesome time with these new toys!
Happy trading,
Lexy.