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Important Notice

Since the game developers have removed ModLoader from the Steam Workshop, the loader has been migrated to GitHub. Please visit the link to download the latest version and deploy it.

They Are Billions Mod Sample Project

This project provides a sample Mod for They Are Billions, designed to help players quickly create and load their own Mods, as well as demonstrate some of the game’s features.

中文版README请点击这里

Quick Guide to Creating and Loading a Mod

Steps

  1. Create a .NET Framework DLL project and reference TABModLoader.dll.

    • This DLL file will automatically extract to the /Mods folder in the game's root directory once you subscribe to the TAB Mod Loader and launch the game.

  2. Define a class that inherits from the abstract class TABModLoader.ModBase and implement the OnLoad method.

    • This method takes a TABModLoader.ModInfos parameter that contains Steam Workshop information such as title, description, author, path, etc.

  3. Compile and generate the Mod DLL file, then use the Windows right-click menu to select "Send to -> Compressed (zipped) folder." Change the .zip extension to .jpg, and rename the file to TAB.ModContent.jpg.

    • Place the generated TAB.ModContent.jpg file in your They Are Billions map project folder and upload it to the Steam Workshop.

Once complete, other players need only subscribe to the Mod, and it will automatically load upon game start.

Special Notes

  • The ModInfos path provided is for Steam Workshop, not the DLL load path. To access the DLL load path, it is located at GameRoot/Mods/ModInfos.SteamID/.

  • The ModLoader comes with libraries such as Harmony and Newtonsoft.Json. Please avoid packaging these libraries with the Mod DLL in the ZIP file, as they will automatically extract and load. Including them could cause duplicate loading issues.

  • The game code is obfuscated and difficult to read. However, i provide a de-obfuscated game executable (TheyAreBillions-modifiedVisibility.exe) in the References folder, which can be explored using tools like DNSpy.

    • Please note, direct reference or access to this de-obfuscated code is limited, as most of the content in the original program is marked as internal, with only a few public classes available.
    • Due to the game’s protection mechanism, you cannot replace the original program with this de-obfuscated one, but you can access data through reflection. When using Harmony for patches, you can use the MethodWithDecrypt and PropertyWithDecrypt extensions in Traverse for better readability. To do so, import the TABModLoader.Utils namespace.
    • For custom dictionary handling of obfuscated and de-obfuscated names, refer to the mapping file (TheyAreBillions-decrypted.exe.srcmap) in the References folder.

  • DXVision.dll is an important DLL in the game, containing several parent classes for key classes. This file is also available in the References folder and is not obfuscated, so you can directly reference and access it. If you encounter inaccessible subclasses, consider converting them to the parent classes in DXVision.dll or examine them using tools like DNSpy.

For specific usage details, please refer to the code in the TAB Helper Mod.

Acknowledgements

This is my current progress, and I hope my experience will help other developers enhance and optimize They Are Billions' content, providing players with a richer gaming experience.