A transactional mod manager for RPG Maker MV and MZ games.
RPGModder is a standalone tool designed to solve conflicting files and corrupted game folders. It validates mod paths, preserves a vanilla snapshot, records deployments, and automatically rolls back a failed or interrupted deployment.
RPGModder currently uses transactional deployment rather than runtime filesystem virtualization. Mods are resolved and deployed into the game content directory under rollback protection.
RPGModder keeps a clean vanilla snapshot and a transaction journal for every deployment.
- Validated manifests: Mod IDs and file paths cannot escape their declared roots.
- Automatic rollback: Failed or interrupted deployments restore the previous live game state.
- Deployment history: Successful deployments and rollbacks are visible in the Activity workspace.
The Conflicts workspace distinguishes ordinary file overwrites, structured JSON merges, and semantic JSON patches. Load order determines overwrite winners.
Direct integration with the Nexus Mods ecosystem.
- One-Click Install: Supports
nxm://protocol. Click "Download with Manager" on Nexus, and RPGModder handles the rest. - In-App Browsing: View Latest, Trending, and Updated mods directly within the tool.
The heart of RPGModder is the mod.json file. This small manifest file is what allows the "Safe-State" engine to work magic.
Installing an RPG Maker mod means dragging files and overwriting your game data. This is destructive and almost permanent. If two mods wanted to change the screen resolution in System.json, the second one would overwrite the first, breaking features.
mod.json solves this by telling the manager what to change, rather than doing it blindly. instead of overwriting files, it provides:
- Smart Patches: Instead of replacing
System.jsonentirely, it says "Changescreen_widthto 1280". This allows multiple mods to edit game settings simultaneously without conflict. - Clean Installs: It tracks exactly which files belong to which mod, so they can be removed instantly without leaving "trash" behind in your game folder.
To support non-destructive modding, existing mods simply need to include this one file (mod.json) in their ZIP archive.
- No Code Changes: You do not need to rewrite your plugins or change your assets.
- Distribution: You just add
mod.jsonto your folder, zip it up, and upload it. - Compatibility: This ensures your mod plays nicely with others and doesn't break the user's game.
I know writing JSON manually is tedious. That is why the Auto-Packer exists.
You do not need to learn the mod.json syntax. RPGModder includes a powerful "Diff Tool" that writes the file for you.
- Select Work Folder: Choose the folder where you are making your mod (or your modified project).
- Select Vanilla Folder: Choose a clean, unmodified copy of the game.
- Analyze: The Auto-Packer scans both folders and finds every difference.
- It detects new images/audio and marks them for copy.
- It detects changes to
System.jsonand automatically calculates the specific patch values. - It finds new plugins you added.
- Generate: Click one button, and it spits out a ready-to-use
mod.json.
Ideally, creating a compatible mod takes less than 30 seconds.
Download the appropriate self-contained package from the Releases Page.
- Extract
RPGModder-<version>-win-x64.zipanywhere. - Run
RPGModder.exe. - Optionally register
nxm://from Settings for Nexus one-click downloads.
- Install the desktop integration dependencies for your distribution:
- Arch/CachyOS:
sudo pacman -S libsecret xdg-utils - Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install libsecret-tools xdg-utils - Fedora:
sudo dnf install libsecret xdg-utils
- Arch/CachyOS:
- Extract
RPGModder-<version>-linux-x64.tar.gz. - Run
packaging/linux/install.shfor a per-user installation, or launch./RPGModderdirectly for portable use. - Register
nxm://from Settings if the installer did not register it automatically.
Linux API keys are stored through the desktop Secret Service using secret-tool; RPGModder refuses to persist them as plaintext when secure storage is unavailable. Steam and Flatpak Steam libraries are detected, and Windows RPG Maker releases are launched through Steam/Proton when an AppID is available.
Cross-publish locally before deploying to the configured Ally test machine:
dotnet publish RPGModder.UI/RPGModder.UI.csproj `
--configuration Release `
--runtime linux-x64 `
--self-contained true `
--output artifacts/linux-x64/RPGModder-2.0.0-linux-x64The repository .allyrc then syncs that artifact and launches it through ally-tooling. The published executable also supports --platform-diagnostics and the isolated Linux integration check --platform-self-test.
On a Linux packaging machine without the .NET SDK, create the release archive from the synced cross-published directory:
PREBUILT_DIR=artifacts/linux-x64/RPGModder-2.0.0-linux-x64 \
./packaging/linux/package.sh 2.0.0- RPGModder automatically scans your Steam library and common folders for RPG Maker games.
- Select a game from the dropdown or click Browse to find a Windows/Proton or native Linux game executable manually.
- The tool performs a one-time safe-state initialization and imports legacy RPGModder data into the per-game
.rpgmodderworkspace without deleting the legacy files.
- From Nexus: Click "Mod Manager Download" on the website.
- From File: Drag and drop a
.zipfile or a mod folder directly onto the application window. - Activation: Check the box next to a mod to enable it, then click "Apply Changes" to rebuild the game.
- This began as a simple project to make a mod manager for Look Outside (my favorite RPG Maker game!) and it turned out to be much bigger as I kept going. I hope people give it a chance, it would make me very happy if modders use it.
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
