LodeStone ModLoader (no ModBranch)

Description

Lodestone is a mod loader for GameMaker games, Stoneshard among them. 

You install it once per game, then add the mods you want. It changes no game files, and removing it puts the game back as it was.

Source code: https://github.com/Forevka/stoneshard-mod/tree/main

Windows, 64-bit only. You do not need to install . NET or anything else: Lodestone brings what it needs.

Installation instructions

1. Download Lodestone

Open the releases page and, under the newest release, download

Lodestone-<version>-win64.zip2. Find the game folder

This is the folder that holds the game's .exe (for Stoneshard, StoneShard.exe).

• []Steam: right-click the game in your library, then Manage → Browse local files.[/]

  []GOG Galaxy: click the settings icon next to Play, then Manage installation → Show folder.[/]

  []Anything else: wherever you installed or unpacked the game.[/]

Extract everything in the zip into the game folder. The easiest way is to open the zip, select everything inside it, and drag it into the game folder.

Afterwards the game folder should look like this:

StoneShard.exe

version.dll        <- from the zip

Lodestone\         <- from the zip

...the game's own files

version.dllmust sit right next to the game's .exe, not in a subfolder. Nearly every "it does nothing" report comes down to this.

If the game folder already has a version.dll

(usually another mod loader), copy it somewhere safe first: Lodestone's replaces it.4. Check that it works

Start the game as usual. Once it is running, press INSERT. The Lodestone window should appear over the game. Press INSERT again to hide it.

A Mods folder now sits next to the game's .exe Lodestone creates it on the first launch.

5. Add mods

Download a mod's zip from the same releases page, for example StoneshardCheats-<version>.zip

Use mods from the same release as your Lodestone.

Each mod zip holds a Mods folder.

Extract the zip into the game folder, just as you did with Lodestone, and let Windows merge the Mods folders.

Or drag the contents of the zip's Mods folder into the game's Mods folder.

Either way, you should end up with something like:

StoneshardCheats.dll

FastTravel.dll

StoneShard. Interop.dll    <- some mods bring this along; keep it

Reliquary.dll

Reliquary\                <- some mods bring their own pictures and sounds; keep the folderIf the game is running, a new mod loads within a moment, with no restart. Each mod gets its own tab in the Lodestone window (INSERT), where its settings live. Settings are saved in

Mods\<ModName>.json

Main features

CoreLoader works only with YYC builds, where the game's GML is compiled to native code in the exe. A VM build keeps its GML as bytecode in

data.win(a non-empty CODE chunk), so there is nothing for the loader to find. In a VM game the loader stands down: it says so in its log and the game runs as usual. Mods still load, but they cannot touch the game.

Requirements

any YYC game. Doesnt work with ModBranch version, use MSL (ModShardLauncher) for modbranch version of the game.