How to create/make a library mod

As the title suggest this article will be a little guide/information I find that can be useful for others or information I want to be able to quickly find. I do suggest if you want to start modding/making a library mod that you join the Frosty ToolSuite Discord. Lots of good information and help there.

First of all, to get you started I suggest you read this Guide by Rain which is about how to make swap mods compatible with each other. It goes deeper into depth than what I can do here. Other good guides are: How to Swap Mesh Guide, DAV Tutorial - NPC Swaps, Mesh Swap Tutorial With Sample.

Other good ressources are Textures Matrix Modder Resource & DAV IDs which are being updated with information as time goes on.


How to make stranded hair compatible with non stranded hair - specific for library mods.

You will need the strand bind asset bundle such as:

characters/actors/morrigan/hair/models/f_har_morrigan_01_strandbindasset_bundlegenbp_autobundlegen

You will also need a NPC convo bundle from the same NPC you are replacing the hair with. So if you want Morrigan hair for Rook, you will need to find the bundle for Morrigan eg the strand hair & the npc convo like:

livecine/npc_light/templates/namedcharacters(gp)/npclight_morrigan__convo_bundlegenbp_autobundlegen


Load order in the description (both 'bundle' and 'superbundle') file:

(I havent tested this any other way, but load order do affect the bundles so to be sure set it up like this in both "Bundles" and "Superbundles")

The NPC/convo bundle first:

livecine/npc_light/templates/namedcharacters(gp)/npclight_morrigan__convo_bundlegenbp_autobundlegen

Then the strandbindasset bundle:

characters/actors/morrigan/hair/models/f_har_morrigan_01_strandbindasset_bundlegenbp_autobundlegen


In some cases (Like Solas), you may need one more bundle such as:

livecine/npc/templates/generalpurpose/npc_gp_young_solas_bundlegenbp_autobundlegen

This bundle goes above the others

If you are creating a hair swap and not a library, I will refer to How to Swap NPC Hair
I am unsure if the same principle can be applied or there is extra steps invovled.

If you wish to see an example look under my misc files on this mod - my library mod is uploaded as a fbproject so you can easily see how I have set it up for compatiblity with non hair strand versions of other mods.