Where mod files go

Every file of a BLSE mod goes somewhere inside one folder: Bin/loader/blse/ in the game folder. This page shows where each kind of file belongs, how to recognise what you downloaded, and how modders should pack their mods so installing is easy.

The game folder is the folder with Vampire.exe in it, for example C:\Games\Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines. All paths on this page start there.

The whole picture#

Only mods/ comes with BLSE. The other folders appear when something needs them.

What did I download?#

A mod can contain several of these (a mod folder plus its .ini, for example). Its own page or readme says which.

Inside a mod folder#

A mod folder looks like a small copy of the game's own folders. Files in the game's folders (models, materials, sound, vdata, ...) replace or add game files. The blse folder inside holds what BLSE itself reads: changes to game files, new items, scripts, plugins. A mod uses only the parts it needs; most have just a few.

Why blse appears twice in a path like Bin/loader/blse/mods/sprint/blse/plugins: the first is BLSE's own folder, the second is the part of one mod that is not a game file. Everything else in a mod folder is read as a game file at the same path (the game has its own scripts folder, for example), so BLSE's parts sit in their own folder and never meet a game file.

What each part does, and the exact rules: Mod folders. A first mod, step by step: Start here.

Common mistakes#

A folder inside a folder. Unzipping often makes one folder too many. The folder in mods must directly contain mod.ini or folders such as models, vdata and blse:

The same goes for a download that starts with Bin: Bin must land next to Vampire.exe, not in a folder of its own.

Files loose in mods/. Every mod in mods is a folder: mods/my_sword.mdl does nothing.

Mod files copied into the game's own folders (Unofficial_Patch, Vampire). That is the old way of modding: it replaces the game's files and is hard to undo. With BLSE, mods go only into Bin/loader/blse/.

A script or plugin in the wrong place. BLSE runs a mod's .py files only from its folder's blse/scripts/, and loads its .dll files only from blse/plugins/. Directly in the mod folder they would be game files: the game has a scripts folder of its own (weapon and HUD scripts), so a .py there is never run. python/ in a mod folder is for the game's own modules, not for BLSE scripts.

Did it work?#

Start the game, open the console (~) and type blse. It shows BLSE's status, the mods' console commands and the mod folders in their order; a mod folder that is switched off is shown with the reason (a missing mod it needs, a BLSE that is too old). Bin/loader/blse/blse.log lists everything that was loaded: every script, plugin and mod folder, and any problem with them.

When two mod folders change the same thing, the one further down in config/loadorder.txt wins. Move a line to change the order, or put - in front of a name to switch that mod off. See Installing.

For modders: packing your mod#

Pack your mod so players extract it into the game folder and are done: put everything in a zip starting with Bin, in the folders it belongs in:

• Name every file and folder of yours after your mod (my_mod, my_mod.ini, item_w_my_mod_sword), so it never meets another mod's.
• Write in your mod's description: "Extract into the game folder (the folder with Vampire.exe)". Also name what it needs (BLSE's version, other mods), and put the same in mod.ini so BLSE can check it.
• If your mod adds items, warn players: a save that holds them cannot be loaded without the mod.
• A settings .ini in the zip replaces the player's own when they update your mod. To keep their settings, let your script write missing settings with their defaults instead (see Settings).