Modding Guidelines

With the introduction of official mod support in TerraTech, we’ve outlined the guidelines that we expect our modding community to adhere to. If you create a mod using the tools that we have provided you agree to follow these guidelines. They work alongside our End User License Agreement (EULA) and in the event that there is a conflict between the two, the EULA will always take precedence. Please note that we may change our guidelines (or our EULA) again in the future and any such change will take effect when it is published. If you have any questions about these guidelines or have suggestions on how we can improve them please get in touch via help@payloadstudios.com.

Ownership

Let’s start with who owns what when it comes to mods.

If you created a mod from scratch, that includes all the textures, models, visual effects, etc, we do not claim ownership of your work. If your mod contains or uses any work that has been created by a third party, including textures, models, visual effects, etc, then you must obtain their permission to use it before you publish your mod. If your mod uses any part of our game or any other work we created, then we own that part. We also own any modding tools we provide.

You are free to use assets provided by Payload Studios in your mods. This means textures, skins and block models but does not include code or our trade marks. The distribution of the game itself is forbidden. In order to use someone else’s mod you must first own a legitimate copy of TerraTech.

In the same way that we are happy for you to make mods using assets from TerraTech (provided that your mods comply with the rest of these guidelines and our EULA), we ask that we can do the same for your mod(s). In exchange for us letting you use our tools and produce mods for the game, you grant us a perpetual license to use, adapt, and share that work as part of TerraTech or associated merchandise, commercially or otherwise.

If you are using the official tools that we have provided to make your mod or if you distribute your mod on a public platform then you grant us permission to use, adapt, modify, copy, or adjust your mod in any way that we see fit as well as share them with the TerraTech community and allow others to do so. Our EULA contains additional terms relating to our use of community creations.

Other than those created by Payload Studios, we do not verify or endorse, and we are not responsible for, any mods.

Best Practice

In order to make sure your mod is the best it can possibly be, here are some steps we strongly recommend you follow when creating and publishing your mod:

Include as much detail as possible in the mod’s description. Having clear and concise instructions will make it easier for players to use your mod.
Try not to pack too much into a single mod. Having small, robust mods will make it easier for other players to share and play themselves.
Make sure you rigorously test your mods before you publish them to iron out any issues or bugs. Players are more likely to continue to use your mods if they are stable and user-friendly.
If you make any changes to your mod or update it after it has been published make sure you replace the earlier version rather than publish it as a new mod. This will avoid duplication and unnecessary confusion.
It is your responsibility to obtain permission from anyone else whose work you have used in your mods. Failure to do so may result in the mod being taken down.
Any mods using DLC content should be locked by the same DLC, for instance, if your mod included a texture that’s exclusive to a DLC pack it would do nothing if the player didn’t own the DLC when they load the mod.

Rules

If you create and publish a mod using our tools and assets you agree to the following rules:

Modding is currently limited to creating new block skins and new static blocks.
Mods cannot contain any illegal material or put us at risk of exposure to criminal liability.
If using a third party’s work in your mod you must credit them for their work in the mod’s description and obtain their permission first.
Mods must not contain any malicious software that could be harmful to anyone’s computer. This includes but is not limited to viruses, worms, harmful data.
Mods must not contain any material that is explicit, abusive, derogatory, defamatory, discriminatory, deceitful, prejudiced, indecent, or cause offence to any person. It is at the sole discretion of Payload Studios to determine what is considered offensive.
Mods cannot be seen to be acting as marketing or commercial material in nature.Please make it clear that you are the creator of any of your mods (rather than Payload Studios) and that your mod is unofficial and has not been verified or endorsed by Payload Studios.
Mods must not disclose sensitive personal information, including but not limited to usernames, passwords, names, addresses, medical history, payment details, such as credit/debit card information.
Any person who is seen to be advocating for the above in any way will also be in breach of these rules.

Failure to adhere to these guidelines means that your activities are not allowed under our EULA. This may also result in your mod being taken down and depending on the severity of the infraction could result in legal action against you.

We take an enormous amount of pride in how open and family-friendly the TerraTech community is. When participating in the community, whether that be posting on our forums, joining in on Discord, or uploading content to the Steam Workshop, you agree to conduct yourself in a way that is appropriate for this community. We ask that all our players stay vigilant and report any content they feel breaches these guidelines, or our EULA via Steam or directly to us via help@payloadstudios.com.

Good luck and have fun!

Subscribe to our mailing list