Upgrading from SML 3.7.0 to 3.8.x

Modded dedicated server support has been in the oven for …​ a long time. End users that wanted to mod dedicated servers have had to manually download SMM3 betas to do so.

With the official release of SMM v3.0.0, all end users can now easily manage mods on local and remote dedicated servers. Plus, changes in Satisfactory 1.0 are forcing all mods to be recompiled.

As such, the "norm" going forward is for all mods to be compatible with dedicated servers unless they have a really good reason not to be, in which case that reason should probably be explained on the mod page so people bug you about it less.

Don’t worry, changes to Alpakit described later on this page make this process as seamless as possible.

SML correctly handles Session Setting replication to multiplayer clients now. Thanks SirDigby and Mircea for implementing this.

It is now possible have SML installed on your client even when the server does not have SML installed. This means you can create client-side mods that work when connected to vanilla servers. An example of a mod that implements this functionality is Infinite Nudge.

Of course, a mod installed only on the client will be incapable of many things that normal dual-sided mods can accomplish due to game implementation details.

Note that the inverse (joining a server with SML from a vanilla client) is not yet possible.

SML now offers a registry to assist mods with using Unreal Gameplay Tags.

Gameplay Tags are a useful way to introduce some cross-mod compatibility without hard dependencies on other mods.

Read the Content Tag Registry page for more information.

As part of the changes to support the 1.0 release, content registration now happens on both sides locally, as opposed to the previous behavior where registration only happened on the server and the Available Schematics array was replicated to clients.

This also fixes a long-standing bug related to modded AWESOME shop schematics.

Although 99% of mods should still depend on SML for its feature set, Ficsit.app now supports uploading mods without an SML as a runtime dependency. If you think your mod is part of the 1%, read more on the Modding Without SML page.

TODO More info and examples are needed. https://github.com/orgs/satisfactorymodding/projects/15/views/1?pane=issue&itemId=80439224

Coffee Stain has shared the source code for many of the game’s material assets with us. This enables us to get better content previews in the editor. They are now distributed with the Starter Project instead of AngryBeaver’s recreations.

See this github issue for more info. This should not affect the vast majority of mods.

The Session Settings page explains how you can create your own Advanced Game Settings. However, their values are not currently saved with the save file. Session Settings still function correctly - their values are saved.

This is a bug with the base game. The only known workaround is to have at least 1 item in the Cost. Source.

The optimal way to add modded content to the game world (like ore nodes, deposits, etc.) is to use the Content Bundle system, but Unreal currently refuses to cook content bundles unless the world is also cooked. This is a known bug and will be fixed in a future SML release.

The next best way is to use sublevel spawning. Here is an example from Kyrium of how to do that: * https://github.com/Satisfactory-KMods/KBFL/blob/d21381de3621d25f063ecfbf24b5d35533da4357/Source/KBFL/Private/Subsystems/ResourceNodes/KBFLSubLevelSpawning.cpp#L41 * https://github.com/Satisfactory-KMods/KBFL/blob/d21381de3621d25f063ecfbf24b5d35533da4357/Source/KBFL/Private/Subsystems/KBFLResourceNodeSubsystem.cpp#L67

The following project dependencies have updated. Install the updated versions as you follow the Updating your Mod guide.

Ficsit.app now requires uploaded mods to specify a minimum game version with which the mod is compatible. The reasoning behind this is explained in this section.

Alpakit will warn you in the Alpakit Release window if your mod’s game version is older than the project’s game version. Clicking on this warning banner will automatically update the field for you.

SML checks this game version at runtime, requiring that the player’s game version is greater than or equal to the listed required version.

The 1.0 release has introduced new Windows build targets - FactoryGameSteam and FactoryGameEGS - to allow Coffee Stain to ship different versions of the game for Steam and Epic Games. This enables them to provide the Epic Games overlay connection on the Steam version, for example. There should be very few game code differences between these two targets.

Alpakit has been updated to support these new targets without you having to worry about it.

As part of the introduction of the new game targets, the Visual Studio project displays source files in a different structure. Instead of mod source code files being displayed in (Solution) > Mods > (ModReference) > Source they are now displayed in (Solution) > Games > FactoryGame > FactoryGame > Mods > (ModReference) > Source.

You do not need to take any action due to this move, simply be aware of the new display format.

Understanding the changes to Alpakit, and the new features added in this update, will help you work efficiently.

1.0 does not specify a CppStandard version in the .Target.cs file which changes the supported C‍+‍+ language features back to C‍+‍+ 17, causing some code that built properly in Update 8 to no longer build.

This can be fixed by replacing unsupported features with supported ones or by adding CppStandard = CppStandardVersion.Cpp20; to your mods' .Build.cs file.

This change was made because some UE modules do not build under Cpp20, making it unsafe to compile the whole game under that version.

If you’re updating a pre-existing starter project, you’ll likely have files from the CSSUHTPlugin lingering in your folders. This is no longer included in 1.0 and can be safely deleted.

If you’re unable to craft or give yourself your modded item, a bug due to changes in the game’s code may have caused it to have an invalid State or stack size. To fix this, reopen the item blueprint in the editor, change the stack size to anything else, then change it back and re-save.

1.0’s overhauled HUB interface has a bug related to milestone icons. If your milestone is missing an icon, the game will not show its details or cost correctly in the preview when the player selects it in the HUB. All milestones should have HUB icons to avoid this problem. If you need an icon to use, SML’s assets folder has a generic icon in the style of the default mod icon you can use. Find it at /SML/Interface/UI/Assets/Textures/robb/StockSchematicIcon_512.

The base game now adjusts HUB milestone icons to ensure they are always monochrome. This may require you to create new icons for your mod’s HUB milestones for them to still be visually distinct. It is probably possible to work around this, but no one has tried and reported back yet.

FGClearance has been removed and replaced with a Clearance Data property. The new approach allows creating complex hulls for clearance checks via defining multiple boxes and and specifying the type of each clearance box individually.

This change affects most modded equipment, especially those that need to store custom data.

Items now store an instance of FFGDynamicStruct as a state instead.

Equipment attachments have been replaced with systems built into the equipment actor.

Equipment items that are not either directly equipped on the player or are in their currently selected hand slot no longer have actor representations in the world. They get spawned when equipped and despawned when unequipped, saving data in a struct instead. This may require significant changes to mods that introduced new equipment items.

Many static buildings like walls and foundations now use the Lightweight Buildable System instead of the abstract instance system for further optimization. These buildings do not actually exist as buildings unless the player is using the build gun near them. This may interfere with traces collision checks that expected them to be abstract instances in the past. The system is not currently very modder friendly and you will likely have to wait for future game updates to improve it.

Here is some more information about the various types of performance-optimized buildables over the game’s updates:

Spawning lightweight buildables from script requires a bit of extra work.

The Replication Detail Actor system has been removed and replaced with the Conditional Property Replication system.

See that page for some info from Arch on the usage of the new system.

UFGLocalPlayer::GetPlayerId has been removed but is still accidentally present in the headers. This header mismatch will be fixed in a future update.

Use ULocalUserInfo instead. See Online Integration overall for more info.

If your mod adds any item descriptors that serves a special non-crafting purpose, like the Any Undefined, Wildcard, Overflow, and None sorting rule in the base game, use the Content Tag Registry to add the SML.Registry.Item.SpecialItemDescriptor tag to it. See that page for more information.

You may also wish to tag your mod’s content with the generic tags that SML implements.

We have switched to our own custom build of Funchook to (hopefully) avoid the rare inconsistent hooking crash issue. If your mod makes use of hooking (and especially unhooking), watch for any bugs that may arise related to this and let us know on the discord if you encounter any issues.

The new Starter Project Structure documentation page explains important Starter Project folders and the Placeholder System in more detail.

SML’s system for specifying multiplayer mod sidedness has been adjusted in preparation for future one-sided mod support. The AcceptsAnyRemoteVersion field has been removed and the RequiredOnRemote field has been introduced with a default value of true.

When a client connects, the host checks its own mod list against what the client is connecting with. If the host’s mod has RequiredOnRemote set to true, RemoteVersionRange is used to check the client’s reported version to ensure it’s compatible. The reverse (client checking host) is not currently implemented but may be in the future.

Previous versions of the game had issues with mesh proxies past the first instance not rendering correctly. Ben says 1.0 has a fix for this issue, but no modders have tested it yet. This section will be updated when we have confirmation.

The 'stability' (alpha, beta, release) field on ficsit.app is being removed. If you want to release unstable builds, use the prerelease semver syntax (for example 1.0.0-pre1) which will not be downloaded by SMM unless the user specifically selects the version.

See the Vanilla Dedicated Server API page for more information.

Beginning with the 1.0 release, Coffee Stain now distributes their Unreal Cheat Board with the game. It can be accessed by enabling cheats then running the Cheats console command.

Mods can extend the Cheat Board via the approach described here.

The system through which ADA messages are played has been totally reworked for 1.0. Find info on the new structure on the ADA Messages page.