Migrating from Java

Some mods have a jar with one job: it copies a shader pack into Zomboid/viewpoint-shaderpacks. These mods load their Java through ZombieBuddy. Viewpoint shows them as Unmanaged. A Shaderpack does the same job with no Java. The player can then switch it off, see its label, and update it with the mod.

What changes

	Installer jar	Shaderpack
Where the pack is	Copied into the player’s folder	In the mod, in media/viewpoint/shaderpacks/<id>/
Java	A jar that ZombieBuddy loads	None
Player control	None	Activate from the list, no restart
Label	Unmanaged	Shaderpack: GLSL only. It contains no Java.
Updates	The mod copies the files again	The player sees a dot and the Changelog tab

The procedure

1. Make the folder media/viewpoint/shaderpacks/<id>/ in your mod. Put it in common/, or in the version folder.
2. Move your pack.properties and your shaders/ folder into it. Add textures/ if the pack has images.
3. Add the package keys to pack.properties: format, id, version and game.min. Add icon, license and changelog if you can. See Format.
4. Make the folder name the same as the id.
5. Remove the installer jar. Remove javaJarFile from mod.info. Keep require=Viewpoint.
6. Remove the code that copied files. Nothing copies the pack now.
7. Switch the mod on. Open Graphics, Shaderpacks. Find the card of your pack.
8. Put the pointer on the card and click the green tick, or double-click the card. Accept the dialog. Look at the picture.

The id

A package id uses lower-case letters, digits, . and -. The name of an old folder pack can use capital letters and _. If your old name is not a correct id, choose a new id.

The options of the pack are saved as pack.<encoded id>.<option>. If the encoded id of the new package is the same as the old name of the folder pack, the saved options of the player stay. If it is not the same, the player sets the options again. See Package kinds.

If the player still has the old copy

An old copy in Zomboid/viewpoint-shaderpacks/ stays in the player’s folder. When its name and author are the same as those of your package, the card of the old copy says “a packaged version is installed”. Tell the player in your changelog to delete the old folder.

If the pack builds on another pack

Put base= in pack.properties. If the base is a Shaderpack of another mod, add it to requires. See Format.

If your jar also changed library GLSL

Some jars also patched Shaders.read to change library GLSL as the game starts. A Shaderpack does this with files in shaders/. A small change that must apply under any pack is a shader snippet. See Migrating from ZombieBuddy.

Note

The player sees the shader line on the card: “Has shader code: Viewpoint checks its size and form. Faulty shader code can stall or crash the graphics driver.” Viewpoint cannot check what GLSL computes. Test your pack on more than one graphics card if you can.