I just downloaded TS and I'm also pretty new to Steam as well, sorry for all the newb questions! If I want to play for example, Arkham Horror on TS how do I do that? I looked on the FAQ and the wiki but I'm not understanding? I do own the physical copy of the game as well if that helps. I saw a mod of Arkham Horror and hit the subscribe button but nothing happened?

I found this mod and I was wondering how to install it without using steam workshop.

This is the mod: steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2715131537

Do people generally keep mods on github (or similar) so others can contribute?

Can I change tweak an existing mod if I don't quite like how it works? I see a scripting button.

In general how customizable are mods I've subscribed to on the Steam Workshop?

Hello, me and my friend want to play tabletop simulator with mods, we alr tried playing vanilla multiplayer, and it works (with online fix obvs), but we want to add mods, i tried steamworkshop downloader, but it gives me this file (WorkshopUploader) i tried to converting it to json, and it works but it tells me to import the assets and other errors, i tried TTS mods tool for backup, and it doesnt work...
I really need help.. thank you for anyone that helps me!

Pretty self explanatory, I downloaded the game, tried the workshop downloader website, I tried steamcmd, nothing seems to be working. If anyone has had luck getting workshop mods on a pirated copy of tabletop sim specifically, please let me know. Thanks.

But, The official documentation is a bit confusing. I figured out how to make buttons onscreen and how to make them roll the dice on screen.

I can't figure out how to get a button to change a PDF's page.

Does anyone have any good youtubers or websites for this?

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopsimulator/comments/loho4n/possible_to_view_two_pdf_pages_side_by_side_with/

this had the answer to my question. But, I'm still looking for good resources.

Hello people,

40k player here, a friend and i are interested in this game but we would like to try before buying into it. Are there any mods for tabletop simulator? I looked on youtube for a tutorial but couldn't find any.

Thx

Hi everyone,

I am new to using mods, or at least wanting to start using mods. Where do I go to download mods and how do I know which mods are worth having?

Thank you in advance 🤗

I recently published a script-heavy mod on Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2071758840

This was my first shot at modding for TTS and got me to go in depth of the mechanics of scripting for Tabletop Simulator. Here are all the peculiar things I wish I knew before this little coding adventure.

​

Kindomino (Scripted) mod on Tabletop Simulator

local variables

Use local on your variables everywhere you can. That will avoid a lot of confusion and out of scope variables.

GUIDs in decks

When you create a deck in TTS, like all objects, a GUID is assigned to it.

But what you'll discover is that all objects in your deck won't.

Yep, unless you take them all out of the deck, they won't exist, and therefore won't have a GUID of their own.

Fortunately, if you want GUIDs, you can do this:

local deck_guid = ""
local deck_size = 48
function onLoad()
  local deck = getObjectFromGUID(deck_guid)
  for i = deck_size, 1, -1 do
    deck.takeObject({
      position = {
        deck.getPosition().x,
        deck.getPosition().y + i + 0.1 * (i - 1),
        deck.getPosition().z },
      smooth = false
    })
  end
end

Put that in a dummy game, apply to a deck and save it. Lower game gravity if you're facing issues.

Please note that the deck GUID will be changed. If you don't want that, set the size to be the deck size minus 2 and manually remove and add back the last two cards of the deck using the search menu.

Change deck image

When you change one deck's front or back image, all the contained objects cease to exist and lose their GUID!

If you don't want that, you should change the image link using a massive search and replace on the save file's JSON "ImageURL".

object.clone() GUID

When you call .clone() on an object, that returns the newly created clone object. But beware, it won't have a separate GUID yet! Yep, the game waits approximately 2 frames to change its GUID, so you'll need to use Wait.frames or Wait.condition to get it.

"interactible" property

There is a list of toggles when you right click an object on TTS (lock, snap, etc.). But one hidden property is missing from this list: interactible. This awesome property will make the object totally uninteractible to everybody if set to false!

It is only accessible from script using: object.interactible = false.

Custom 3D model for table

You cannot upload your own table in TTS, you can only set a surface texture on an existing table. But there is a way to use your own 3D model as a table.

First, you need to disable the table completely using the "Table" menu.

Then upload your own object you want to use as a table.

Set its interactible property to false on its onLoad method.

Save and Load

In order for a scripted game to save and load properly, you need to implement the onSave() and onLoad(save_state) methods of the scripts that will have a different state from the initial state upon load.

You can save and load without that, but all the scripts state will go back to initial state and onLoad() method will be played again.

Implementing serialization is very simple, the onSave method will almost always look like this:

function onSave()
  return JSON.encode({
    my_prop_1 = my_prop_1,
    my_prop_2 = my_prop_2
  })
end

And you then load the properties using:

local my_prop_1 = "default_1"
local my_prop_2 = "default_2"

function onLoad(save_state)
  if save_state ~= "" then
    my_prop_1 = JSON.decode(save_state).my_prop_1
    my_prop_2 = JSON.decode(save_state).my_prop_2
  end

  initialize()
end

Serialize TTS objects

Be aware that you can't serialize TTS objects (Card, Deck, Tile, Player, etc.) or any object that has one of those objects as a field.

If you want to save them, just extract their GUID in the onSave method and call them again with getObjectFromGUID in the onLoad method.

Object States

States in TTS are badly handled, I don't recommend using them for the following reasons:

- Images in other states will take time to load every time you switch state leaving a disgusting white square in its place. (Workaround though: have a hidden object with the same texture somewhere in the game)

- Scripts don't save properly on states that are not currently active.

- If you call getObjectFromGUID on a object that is not in the expected state, it will return nil

For these reasons, I recommend using separate object that you hide in the table with negative Y values or with setInvisibleTo().

"log", don't "print"

If you need to debug, which you absolutely will, you will want to get object states at different points in the code. The first programmer reflex is to use "print". Don't. Use "log" instead:

- print will write unwanted stuff in the game room chat if you forget one, log writes in a separate console.

- log will "pretty print" tables, TTS objects, etc.

Don't use Lua's # operator

If you want to get the size of a table, you might want to use the # operator. I don't recommend that at all since it can return unexpected results: https://stackoverflow.com/a/2705804.

It is actually stable if you are 100% sure you table is integer indexed without holes though so it's fine when calling TTS methods (getObjects, getButtons, etc.)

Otherwise, I recommend coding your own method to count your elements.

Dummy script holders

If you're planning on writing a complex scripted mod, you should separate code in different files. One file should not go above 300 lines. (the most complex I have is 488 lines and I hate it).

Instead you want to separate roles and design your code properly to have a file that respects the single responsibility principle.

Sometimes this "class" won't have a concrete object to attach in your game. In my case a "Castle Manager" is only an abstract entity.

My solution for this: create dummy objects to attach code to it. Then hide them with negative Y values or setInvisibleTo.

Code from different scripts can call each other with the method getObjectFromGUID(guid).call("my_fun", parameters). Don't abuse it though, but if you designed your classes properly, you shouldn't need to use it that much.

Development Environment

I recommend using an IDE for development. Atom is great and there is a useful TTS plugin on it.

Configuring this plugin, you can then reference external files using #include:

#include my_awesome_ttslua_file

Set the base path in the plugin's settings beforehand and you should be able to link TTS scripts with local lua files.

Then you should use as little TTS scripts as possible and only add some when absolutely necessary (need for a separate onLoad method for instance). Otherwise you should split your Lua project into lua files and reference them with the require() statement.

If you multiply the amount of TTS scripts, you will be forced to call distinct scripts with the getObjectFromGUID("").call("my_function", parameters) and with time, the parameters names are painful to keep track of. This is because TTS keeps a tight confinement between scripts from different objects. The two only ways to communicate between such scripts is by using obj.setVar() or obj.call(), but those methods are hard to maintain.

Animation lags

If you are launching a lot of animations at the same time, Tabletop might struggle to execute everything. Delay your animations' start by 1 to 10 frames to help it cope with all the work.

BONUS: reset save state

When you implement onSave(), every time you save your work, you call the onSave code on all your scripts. That will write stuff in your JSON save file and that will be published if you upload your save to the workshop.

But sometimes you want to be able to have a fresh save with nothing to load.

To do that, save your work and then simply replace all "LuaScriptState" = "{ ... anything ... }" with "LuaScriptState" = "" in the save file's JSON

You can avoid that also by disabling the script auto-play and saving without launching the scripts. That won't erase previously saved data though!

BONUS 2: DMCA Takedowns

There are reports of DMCA takedowns from some companies on TTS mods: https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopsimulator/comments/ge60lk/repos_productions_removes_7_wonder_games_from/

Before investing too much in your mod, make sure it won't be taken down first by checking if previous mod of the given game existed at some point.

Thanks for reading!

Most of those recommendations are applied in my mod, please check it out. (the require and include advice is not applied though as I learned about those too late and they would require a full code refactor to be applied properly).

I hope that in addition to be a shameless promotion of my mod those tips will help you coding your awesome mod!