Purpose: I am trying to make a little helper guide for other noobs like me to get them a leg up and get them going faster than I did. Less pissing around and making trial and error mistakes like I did. I hope it isn't too awful and confusing, I've never made a guide before. I just do stuff and mess up a lot and then find something that works for me or follow other people's guides, but there weren't any yet and I was asked so here goes... 

*This guide is dependant on you having the following Freeware programs: 7zip, Notepadd++ (add all available plugins when intsalling, if you start modding or use .xml based mods you will want Compare and Merge plugins at least). I supposed there are other programs but I only use Freeware and Shareware so I will only mention those programs.

Browse included file structure along with this to see an example of the steps in this guide and to see how to build the Create with Me example mod "My Fist Mod".

Step One:

Maybe it seems like overkill but if you're new you might not have any idea where to start. Perhaps other people have better systems but I have only made a few little mods for myself in various games so this is my way.

Create a file folder structure for your mod work area. I did this by adding a subfolder for Kingdom Come mods to my main folder called Modding (if you don't have a Modding folder create one where ever you'd like to). 
So now you have file structure like this Modding/KCD Mods
Within KCD Mods I have created various subfolders called Completed Mods, Documents, Images, Masterfiles and Workspace. 

Completed Mods - Subfolders would be created for each mod in a finished state and ready for upload or simply storage.

Documents - for text files relating to mods or modding (like this one).

Images - for images related to your mods.

Masterfiles - this folder is wear I keep my working copies of the game files. I have a folder inside for Gamedata and Tables right now as well as the zips. You could have anything from the game's main or data in a folder named after it depending on what you are working on, like Localization or Scripts. Whatever you want to work on you will copy the .Pak from your data folder here, rename the file type to .zip and extract to it's own folder. Keep the zip in case you mess up your unzipped master file folder, then you can just delete and extract again.

Workspace - for active mods you are working on. Inside my workspace I will create a folder for each mod I am working on with each having subfolders for Masterfiles, Paks and Working On. Let's say you call your first mod folder MyFirstMod.

Step Two:

Find out what you want to do and what files your need. I can't help you with that part, it's up to you to create something that you want or have an idea. 

Once you know what files you need grab a COPY of each one from your Masterfiles and paste them inside Modding/KCD mods/Workspace/MyFirstMod/Masterfiles in a folder structure that matches the source but only take the files you will actually use - now you have them conveniently located. Inside the main folder you will also create any .tbl files to match your .xml files. Also a copy in here of Items.xml is nice for searching/referencing item ID's.  

Now copy the .xml files you've chosen out of Masterfiles and into Working On folder. This is where you will edit them. I know it seems like a lot of folders but it is actually super convenient for moving stuff and keeping it organized so you know what you are doing and so if you mess something up you can quickly fix it.

To find an Item ID look in tables/libs/tables/item/ item.xml, descriptions can be a bit of guesswork as names aren't the same as in game. To search for Bianka ring is spelled Blanka for example or Yew bow is called bow_expensive2 but can be identified by referencing the stats under missile_weapon.xml and seeing that it is the only bow that does 77 damage. Copy the item id to notepad for easy searching and easily locate the itme to change stats.

Edit your files as necessary. I don't know everything about this.  Add or remove or change buffs or bonuses or penalties or requirements as you desire. Save your changes.

Now that you are finished altering your files you will go back to the masterfiles folder and copy the blank .tbl files over to Working On.

Step Three:

Packaging it up. Mod folder structure much match the structure of the source. So if you are working on an item in Tables, for example, you will now create this structure - Working On/Libs/Tables/item. You will now copy your edited files and their fake .tbl's into the subfolder "item".

Now in the main Working On folder you will right click and go to new and create a "winRAR Zip archive" and name it something like zzz_myfirstmod.zip and after it is created you will right click your Libs folder and choose to "add to archive", browse for the folder you are in and choose your newly created archive (you can also just right click and create a new archive like that but then you have to change values inside 7zip to make it the way you want and I don't want to do a 7zip tutorial). Now check that your files are inside. Everything looks good so now you will change the file type of your archive from .zip to .pak, say yes to prompt don't worry about the warning it will be usable. Copy your new mod to Paksfolder (this is so you can have multiple working copies like a half dozen versions of the same mod). 

Step Four:

A: Test the mod. Copy your new mod zzz_myfirstmod.pak to the date folder of the game, run the game and test your item. If you did everything correctly you will see that reflected in game and now you can safely delete the Libs folders from you Working On directory. Proceed to Step Five (Optional) and/or Step Six (Optional). IF NOT AND SOMETHING IS WRONG - PROCEED TO STEP FOUR B. DO NOT DELETE YOUR LIBS FOLDER.
 
B: troubleshoot and fix your error. Repeat step Four A.

Step Five (Optional): 

Leave mod in your data folder and enjoy!

StepSix (Optional):

Prepare for upload to Nexus Mods.
Navigate to Completed Mods in Modding/KCD Mods/ and right click and go to new and create new winRAR Zip archive, name it something to do with your file not just a bunch of gibberish as it is very annoying to people downloading an archive to try to figure out what some random crap is later. They shouldn't have to dig through your files for 10 minutes to figure it out. For the purpose of this guide it is called "MyFirstMod.zip".

Navigate to your .pak file inside Modding/KCD Mods/Workspace/MyFirstMod/Paks/ and select your .pak file, right click it and choose "add to archive" and browse for your new ZIP file inside Completed Mods and add it.  Complete.

At this time you may wish to create and add an image for your mod to use on Nexus Mods. I store those in that Images folder I mentioned earlier.

You may also wish to create a .txt readme file using Notepad that explains your mod or has a changelog or whatever you like, this can be added to the archive in the same fashion or Nexus will allow you to add it seperately when you go through their process. I store those in the documents folder.

Your mod is now packaged for the Nexus, navigate to the website and follow the instructions they provide.


Conclusion:
Thank you for reading this guide and its companion file Create with Me and for browsing the associated directories to see the examples. I hope it was helpful. If not sorry I suck at guides. :/

Created by usernameunavailable404
Permissions: If this is useful to you it's yours to use or edit at will. Credit for the base file would be appreciated but is not required as anyone could have written the same exact thing.

