ITR'S COBALT CORE SHIP LOADER

This shiploader allows you to use and create ships without any coding expertise. These mods, dubbed in the text below as "ShipMods", differs from regular Cobalt Core mods by only needing an easily editable text file to function.

NB: This is the guide for the new modloader, if you're still using EWanderer's modloader, click here

Table of Contents

1. How to install
2. How to use
3. Creating a ShipMod
   1. Tutorial
      1. Simplest ship mod
      2. Custom Sprites
   2. Exporting
4. Other Info
   1. Fields
      1. Meta
      2. Ship
      3. Artifacts
      4. Cards
   2. Random sprite stuff
   3. Ships that came with the game
      • Artemis
      • Ares
      • Jupiter
      • Gemini
      • Boat / Tiderunner

How to install

If you want a better guide that has images, click here

1. Go to Nickel's Releases and expand "Assets" on the latest release.
2. Download "Nickel-[version].zip" and extract the Nickel folder somewhere, I usually prefer having it in the game's folder.
3. Run NickelLauncher.exe once to make sure it's set up correctly (for info on how to transfer your saves, check the better guide)
4. Download ITRsShiploader.zip into your ModLibrary folder (inside the Nickel folder from earlier)
5. Download any shipmods you want and put them in the same folder. If you need a shipmod to test with, download SampleShips.zip
6. Now just run the game through the modloader and it should be working!

How to use

If you run the game with shipmods installed, they'll be added to the ship list on the new loop screen:

Creating a ShipMod

Tutorial

Simplest ship mod

• Create a folder named "Test" in your ModLibrary folder
• Create a file named "test.startership" in it
  • NB: make sure it has the "startership" filetype, not .txt
• Open it in a text editor and paste the following:

{
  "__meta": {
    "Name": "TestShip",
    "Author": "",
    "Description": "This is a test ship!",
    "RequiredMods": [],
    "ExtraLocalization": {}
  },
  "ship": {
    "baseEnergy": 3,
    "baseDraw": 5,
    "evadeMax": null,
    "hpGainFromEliteKills": 0,
    "hpGainFromBossKills": 2,
    "chassisOver": null,
    "hull": 11,
    "hullMax": 11,
    "shieldMaxBase": 4,
    "heatMin": 0,
    "heatTrigger": 3,
    "overheatDamage": 1,
    "chassisUnder": "chassis_boxy",
    "parts": [{
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_player",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_artemis",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "cannon",
        "skin": "cannon_artemis",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "cockpit",
        "skin": "cockpit_artemis",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_player",
        "flip": true,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }
    ],
  },
  "artifacts": [{
      "$type": "ShieldPrep, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CargoHold, CobaltCore"
    }
  ],
  "cards": [{
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "DodgeColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "BasicShieldColorless, CobaltCore"
    }
  ]
}

• Make another file named "nickel.json" and paste the following in:

{
    "UniqueName": "YourNameHere.Test",
    "Version": "1.0.0",
    "RequiredApiVersion": "0.1.0",
    "ModType": "ShipMod",
    "Dependencies": [
        {
            "UniqueName": "ITR.ShipLoader",
            "Version": "1.0.0"
        }
    ]
}

• Restart the game and you should see the following ship:
  

Custom Sprites

• Go out of the ModLibrary folder, and find the "Data" folder in the game's root directory
• Enter Data/sprites/parts and find a cool looking part
• Copy the part into your "ModLibrary/Test" folder, and edit the image a little. Rename the file to "custom.png"
• Inside parts, change one of the "skin" fields to "@@Test/custom"
  • NB: "Test" should correspond to your foldername, if you rename the test folder, rename it here too
• Start the game, and you should now see your sprite in game

Exporting

To export your mod, simply zip the folder you made and send it to your friend! Your friend can put the entire zip file into their ModLibrary folder and it will still work!

Other Info

Fields

Meta

The meta object has the following fields:

• Name: The name of the ship
• Author: The creator of the ship, put your name here!
• Description: The english description of the ship
• Required Mods: Put info about required mods here? Currently unused
• ExtraLocalization: Name and description in other languages, check one of the sample ships to see how it's used

Ship

The ship object has the following fields:

• baseEnergy: How much energy the ship has
• baseDraw: How much you draw per turn
• evadeMax: The maximum amount of evade the ship can have
• hpGainFromEliteKills: How much hp you gain from killing an Elite
• hpGainFromBossKills: How much hp you gain from killing a Boss
• chassisUnder: Sprite to draw under the ship
• chassisOver: Sprite to draw on top of the ship
• hull: Starting health
• hullMax: Starting Maximum Health
• shieldMaxBase: Starting Maximum Shield
• parts: A list of parts with the following parameters
  • type: The type of part, can be "cockpit", "cannon", "missiles", "wing", "empty", "comms", or "special"
  • skin: Sprite to draw
  • flip: Mirrors the sprite if true
  • invincible: If the part can take damage
  • damageModifier: can be "none", "weak", "armor", "brittle"

Artifacts

The artifact object is a list of objects with a "$type" field, corresponding to their internal class name + ", CobaltCore". You can either look at your profile to find these, or decompile CobaltCore.exe. These are given to the ship when you start a run.

Cards

The card object is a list of objects with a "$type" field, corresponding to their internal class name + ", CobaltCore". You can either look at your profile to find these, or decompile CobaltCore.exe. These are added to your deck when you start a run.
Keep in mind that the colorless "default cards" you start with are defined here.

Sprite stuff

If you make subfolders, these will be part of the sprite name. For example, "ShipMods/Test/Yay/Test2/cat.png" will have the name "@@Test/Yay/Test2/cat".
Folders that share folders don't need to put in the parts that match, for example "Test/Yay/Test3/cat.startership" can use "@@Test2/cat" instead of the full path. You can use the sprites from other shipmods if you know their paths.
You can use sprites from regular mods if you know what they register them as, and append it with "@mod_part:" or "@mod_extra_part:"

Ships that came with the game

If you scroll down you get a list of the starting ships. To see how your current ship+artifact+deck looks, you can check out your save file, it's almost the same format. Alternatively you can use my Profile Editor to export a .diffship file that can be renamed to .startership if you remove the cards from your character decks.
Btw, files with modded ships also work! Just make sure to add the mods as dependencies in nickel.json

Artemis

{
  "__meta": {
    "Name": "Artemis",
    "Author": "Cobalt Core",
  },
  "ship": {
    "hull": 12,
    "hullMax": 12,
    "shieldMaxBase": 4,
    "chassisUnder": "chassis_boxy",
    "parts": [{
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_player",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_artemis",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "cannon",
        "skin": "cannon_artemis",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "cockpit",
        "skin": "cockpit_artemis",
        "flip": false,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }, {
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_player",
        "flip": true,
        "damageModifier": "none",
        "invincible": false
      }
    ],
  },
  "artifacts": [{
      "$type": "ShieldPrep, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CargoHold, CobaltCore"
    }
  ],
  "cards": [{
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "DodgeColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "BasicShieldColorless, CobaltCore"
    }
  ]
}

Ares

{
  "__meta": {
    "Name": "Ares",
    "Author": "Cobalt Core",
  },
  "ship": {
    "hull": 9,
    "hullMax": 9,
    "shieldMaxBase": 5,
    "chassisUnder": "chassis_lawless",
    "parts": [{
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_player",
        "active": false,
        "damageModifier": "armor",
        "damageModifierOverrideWhileActive": "none"
      }, {
        "type": "cockpit",
        "skin": "cockpit_lawless"
      }, {
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_lawless"
      }, {
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_ares",
        "active": true,
        "damageModifier": "armor",
        "damageModifierOverrideWhileActive": "none"
      }
    ],
  },
  "artifacts": [{
      "$type": "ShieldPrep, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "AresCannon, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "ControlRods, CobaltCore"
    }
  ],
  "cards": [{
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "DodgeColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "BasicShieldColorless, CobaltCore"
    }
  ]
}

Jupiter

{
  "__meta": {
    "Name": "Jupiter",
    "Author": "Cobalt Core",
  },
  "ship": {
    "hull": 10,
    "hullMax": 10,
    "shieldMaxBase": 3,
    "chassisUnder": "chassis_jupiter",
    "parts": [{
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_jupiter_c"
      }, {
        "type": "empty",
        "skin": "scaffolding_jupiter"
      }, {
        "type": "comms",
        "skin": "wing_jupiter_b",
        "damageModifier": "weak"
      }, {
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_jupiter",
        "damageModifier": "weak"
      }, {
        "type": "cockpit",
        "skin": "cockpit_jupiter"
      }, {
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_jupiter_d",
        "flip": true
      }
    ],
  },
  "artifacts": [{
      "$type": "ShieldPrep, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "JupiterDroneHub, CobaltCore"
    }
  ],
  "cards": [{
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "DodgeColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "BasicShieldColorless, CobaltCore"
    }
  ]
}

Gemini

{
  "__meta": {
    "Name": "Gemini",
    "Author": "Cobalt Core",
  },
  "ship": {
    "baseEnergy": 3,
    "hull": 11,
    "hullMax": 11,
    "shieldMaxBase": 4,
    "chassisUnder": "chassis_gemini",
    "parts": [{
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_gemini",
        "active": true
      }, {
        "type": "cannon",
        "skin": "cannon_gemini",
        "active": true
      }, {
        "type": "cocpit",
        "skin": "cockpit_gemini",
      }, {
        "type": "cannon",
        "skin": "cannon_geminiB",
        "active": false,
        "flip": true
      }, {
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_geminiB",
        "active": false,
        "flip": true
      }
    ],
  },
  "artifacts": [{
      "$type": "ShieldPrep, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "GeminiCore, CobaltCore"
    }
  ],
  "cards": [{
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "DodgeColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "BasicShieldColorless, CobaltCore"
    }
  ]
}

Boat / Tiderunner

{
  "__meta": {
    "Name": "Tiderunner",
    "Author": "Cobalt Core",
  },
  "ship": {
    "baseEnergy": 3,
    "hull": 7,
    "hullMax": 7,
    "shieldMaxBase": 3,
    "chassisUnder": "chassis_tiderunner",
    "parts": [{
        "type": "cockpit",
        "skin": "cockpit_tiderunner"
      }, {
        "type": "missiles",
        "skin": "missiles_boat",
        "active": true
      }, {
        "type": "empty",
        "skin": "scaffolding_boat"
      }, {
        "type": "empty",
        "skin": "scaffolding_boat"
      }, {
        "type": "cannon",
        "skin": "cannon_boat",
        "active": true
      }, {
        "type": "wing",
        "skin": "wing_tiderunner",
        "flip": true
      }
    ],
  },
  "artifacts": [{
      "$type": "ShieldPrep, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "TideRunner, CobaltCore"
    }
  ],
  "cards": [{
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "CannonColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "DodgeColorless, CobaltCore"
    }, {
      "$type": "BasicShieldColorless, CobaltCore"
    }
  ]
}