Editing World of Tanks (section)

=== Creating and Managing Game Modifications ===

Original article from [http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/26018-managing-game-modifications/page__p__360681#entry360681 Creating & Managing WoT mods]. I copied & modified the article text to have my own copy.

nondestructive way to create and manage modifications v.2.0
Here is a non-destructive and patch-friendly way of editing anything(theoretically) in the game! Giving you complete control over enabling and disabling mods like in many other games, not requiring any downloads or third party programs. Note that this "mod" was created for the English version and for geared towards tank skins, other languages and other mods should work but its not guaranteed.

Warning: Wargaming.net nor I are responsible for any damage that this modification may do to your computer/game/client, use at your own risk.
Please read the guide thoroughly before attempting to use it, if you have any questions ask them before trying it. If you find any problems, have suggestions, or find conflicts please post them here I will try my best to improve this guide/mod.

I originally created this before the US tanks patch but the patch introduced localizations that kind of made it a bit more cumbersome and took some time for me to improve it. Even though it may not be perfect it works with all mods I have tried so far and especially useful for skins; you can have multiple skin sets and switch between them without having to replace the default ones. And when the game is patched non of the modified files will be overridden. It may look complicated but its pretty simple and when setup its much easier to use than having to constantly override and backup files.

'''Step 1''' Folders
# Go to your game folder World_of_Tanks (for the purpose of this guide).
# Create a folder "mods"
# Create a folder "language" and a folder "text" inside "language"
# so now your game directory should have the folders "language", "mods", "res", "res_bw" and may have "Updates"

'''Step 2''' Languages
Go to your World_of_Tanks/res/text directory and copy the folder "LC_MESSAGES"
Paste "LC_MESSAGES" into your "World_of_Tanks/language/text" folder so it will be World_of_Tanks/language/text/LC_MESSAGES with all the contents of "LC_MESSAGES"
Spoiler


Any time you use another language patch or change your language you will need to repeat step 2.
Alternatively you can create a .bat to do it automatically.
Example .bat file (language.bat) (use at own risk and edit accordingly to your own game directories)
Spoiler


'''Step 3:''' mods
Create a folder in the "World_of_Tanks/mods" directory and name it whatever you want your mod to be called, for example "skins"
Place your mod files in the newly created folder (skins) following the res folder structure, for example World_of_Tanks/mods/skins/vehicles/german/G37_Ferdinand/
Spoiler


'''Step 4:''' Paths.xml
In your main directory (World_of_Tanks) open the file Paths.xml in any editor (notepad will do)
it should read
<pre>
<root>
   <Paths>
      <Path> ./res </Path>
      <Path> ./res_bw </Path>
   </Paths>
</root></pre>

Add the lines

<pre>
<Path> ./language </Path>
<Path> ./mods/skins </Path>
before "<Path> ./res </Path>"
</pre>
So it should now read:
<pre>
<root>
   <Paths>
      <Path> ./language </Path>
      <Path> ./mods/skins </Path>
      <Path> ./res </Path>
      <Path> ./res_bw </Path>
   </Paths>
</root>
</pre>
Save the file.

'''Step 5:''' Profit
You can now add more folders into the "mods" folder and add your mods there, make sure to add a new line after the "./language" line, before the "./res" in Paths.xml with your mod folder name. You can also have mods on top of mods the first one to be loaded is the first folder in Paths.xml.
To turn on and off a mod you simply have to add/remove its line in Paths.xml, deleting the folder inside "mods" is not necessary.

*I will be adding step-by-step tutorials with screens for a couple popular mods as soon as I have abit more free time.