Hi everyone,
I’ve just started looking into modding, i’ve already seen how to modify data and image files, but what i’m wondering is: Instead of altering the current game files, how do you make it be a standalone mod, like if you just wanted to activate the “small trees mod” in game?
The idea being that it would be a lot easier to debug and to share.
Would appreciate any help you could give.
Thank you
Yeah I also want an AOE III music mod, there isn’t one there currently for DE
In mod manager select any mod you have installed and click Open Directory. You will find out how they do it. Basically a mod contains all the files to replace their default counterparts in the game folder.
You can create your mod under mods/local directory.
Thank you, that feedback was really helpful!
I do have a follow up question which may seem really obvious, but in any case…
Once i load my modded file onto the local folder (i have the correct structure), it is recognized by the game under “My Mods”, but i can’t seem to apply it.
I’ve tried to publish it, so that i’m able to subscribe to my own mod… but i can’t publish it… (both in “unlisted” and in “Public”)
It’s a data mod, in case that makes a difference.
So the question is: how do i enable it?
P.S. I wanted to post a print screen of the error, but i can’t seem to…
Do you see it appear in “Installed mods”? If so is the checkbox checked? And remember data mods need you to select the data in lobby settings to actually be effective.
What does the error say?
I can see my mods. I’ve tried to make a graphical mod and that one a can apply without issue.
The data mod on the other hand, it appears with the gear icon and it doesn’t have a box to check.
So i tried the approach of publishing it, which gives me the following error:
Sorry I obviously forgot that data mods don’t have checkboxes 
It’s normal, because they are only applied when you select them in lobby settings.
As for the publishing error, it happens a lot. Publishing through the website could be more reliable. You could ask @DodoNotDoDo whether any server side issue is going on.
And how exactly do you do that? 
I can see my mod as shown in the previous post, but can’t do anything with it…
It has only worked and i’ve changed the game file itself on the main folder…
For the publish error, I don’t see any record of the attempt in the logs so it’s likely an authentication issue as the error implies. Maybe try logging out of Xbox Live in game and then log back in to be sure you have a fresh token, then try the publish again.
To try via the web site, you would add the contents of your mod to a zip file and upload it via: Mods Create – Age of Empires
Alright, thank you for the help.
For the time being it isn’t critical, the mod isn’t in a “consumable state”, yet 
Have you tried clicking the “Data Mod” dropdown list? You have to do it every time in a lobby/standard game/campaign.
I also have similar question.
Basically if we have unit data or civilization attributes - techs, effects etc as a flat file like txt or xml (similar to AOE3), it is easy to merge our mod changes to the new updates easily by doing file merge.
Is there a possibility of doing like that rather than using AdvancedGenieEditor3 to edit dat file by copying from old mod. It is very difficult when multiple attributes of a unit gets changed by aoe2 team in an update (like in Return of Rome release) and we have to redo the unit changes manually again in our mod.
Feels like better not to do mod at all… if we see amount of time it takes to redo the mod and publish it.
You are better off asking Tapsa for Genie Editor features
You can find him on SLX Studio Discord.
Why u can open multiple windows and just copy paste the changes in Genuie editor …u jsut have to open both files (old and new) with the same editor … and make a new window out of it … dont start genuie…exe twice
i copy over all in 5 min of work and my mod has a lot of changes …
only thing i need to do manually are resources … but if u prepare a list with codes … its easy each time 
It is about any new changes or attributes in units, tech, effects changed by the aoe team in new dat file. I want to inherit the changes of aoe and then want to apply my changes over it. Basically it is not about simply overriding - copy/paste - if a particular unit has new ability or some armor changed and if I have touched that unit in my mod - if I copy/paste it will override the changes on the new dat file. As long as I only add new items it is fine but existing ones - merging the data of my dat and the new changes made by aoe team (if any) is timeconsuming.
Example: Hotkey modifier I changed for multiple units in my mod
In new dat file versiion it will be different. If I simply copy paste it will override everything. What if the new dat file had some bugs fixed on unit attributes or attack/armor etc added. It is time consuming when there are frequent updates or bug fixes are released.
Sometimes, my mod will crash because of simply copy/paste without known reason.
Has something changed since the last MTR DLC and subsequent update? I updated my mod dat file with the new one and it crashed the game when I loaded it as usual.
I have a related question: how do I update a mod that I have previously published? Do I just publish it again, or is there some other way to do it?
The mod is listed twice in my list of subscribed mods, but not at all under “My Mods” – so I don’t know if things are working as intended.
