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A forum user, @Murdabenne requested that I share how to do an adoption of a mod. So, last week I showed an adoption while on Twitch Stream, and have finished writing up the steps here. The video is available at the end of the OP. These instructions and the files are available on Github: https://github.com/linuxgurugamer/KSP-Build-Scripts/ They are all licensed using the GPLv3 This process has evolved over time; the first mods I adopted didn't use these, and each one was a customized setup. As time went on I developed this process, with the following goals in mind: Consistency Repeatability Ease of setup Easy to follow While not perfect, they do the job for me. Occasionally I run into a mod which has an odd layout or setup, which can usually be dealt with by rearranging folders, or some other minor changes. This discussion will not be going into any issues about coding or bug fixing,etc. These scripts are based on the following directory layout: modmaindir |-> GameData |-> ModDir |-> Plugins |-> Sourcedir The GameData should contain all files needed for a release Abbreviations used VS - Visual Studio IDE - Integrated Development Environment Overview and Dependencies These scripts are based on the following directory layout: modmaindir |-> GameData |-> ModDir |-> Plugins |-> Sourcedir The GameData should contain all files needed for a release Overview and Dependencies Dependencies These instructions are based on using Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 Community version, available here: https://www.visualstudio.com/free-developer-offers/ The 7Zip packaging program is required for the final packaging, available here: http://www.7-zip.org/ The JQ program is required to parse the JSON version file, available here: https://stedolan.github.io/jq/download/ Overview Part of the process involves adding a file, AssemblyVersion.tt, to the codebase. This file is called a "Text Template", and is used to create the AssemblyVersion value which is then stored in the final DLL There are two batch files, deploy.bat and buildRelease.bat. The "deploy.bat" used to copy the DLL to the GameData directory, and then to copy the complete release to a test install. The "buildRelease.bat" is used to create the final zip file for release While the packaging program can be changed to an alternative (with appropriate changes to the "buildRelease.bat" file, the JQ program is required and not replacable. The assumption is also made that the mod is downloaded and ready to be worked on. Instructions 1. Create the GameData folder if it doesn't exist If it doesn't exist, then copy the latest release of the mod into the GameData folder 2. Find the .version file (if it exists) and copy it to the top level directory. If it doesn't have a .version file, create one in the top level directory 3. You can either copy the AssemblyVersion.tt to the main mod folder, or create a new TextTemplate in the project (using MS Studio) and do a copy/paste operation. If you copy it over, you will need to add the file to the project in the IDE 4. Edit the AssemblyVersion.tt file, update the following line: string versionfile = @"CompletePathTo.version"; Replace the "CompletePathTo.version" with the path to the .version file. 5. Remove or comment out the following line from the file AssemblyInfo.cs (usually located in the "Properties" folder inside your C# project): [assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.0")] 6. If there are any Pre-build steps in VS, copy them to a save place and delete them. 7. If there are an Post-build steps in VS, copy them as well 8. Add the following to the Pre-build event command line. This line is based on using Visual Studio 2017, installed on the X drive: set textTemplatingPath="%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE\texttransform.exe" %textTemplatingPath% "$(ProjectDir)AssemblyVersion.tt" 0. Copy the two files, deploy.bat and buildRelease.bat to the main mod folder 10. You need to update the deploy.bat and the buildRelease.bat with the following values: H to point to your test KSP install: set H=R:\KSP_1.3.1_dev GAMEDIR to the name of the mod folder: set GAMEDIR=xxxxx GAMEDATA to point to the GameData folder: GAMEDATA="GameData" VERSIONFILE to the name of the .version file: VERSIONFILE=%GAMEDIR%.version In most cases, the VERSIONFILE is built from the GAMEDIR, but some mods use a different name 11. For the buildRelease.bat, you have to update the following as well: If existing, LICENSE to the license file: set LICENSE=License.txt If existing, README to the Readme file: README=ReadMe.md Set RELEASEDIR to where you want the zip file: RELEASEDIR=d:\Users\jbb\release 12. If you want to use a different program than 7z, change it in the next line. If you do, you will have to change the options to the zip program at the end of the file: set ZIP="c:\Program Files\7-zip\7z.exe" 13. In the IDE, right-click on the Solution in the Solution Explorer, and select "Add -> New Solution Folder", give the folder a name SolutionItems 14. Right-click on the SolutionItems folder, and select Add -> Existing item..., add the two files just copied and the .version file 15. Add the following to the Post-build event command line, replace the "xxxxx" with the complete path to the top level directory of the mod: start /D xxxxx /WAIT deploy.bat $(TargetDir) $(TargetFileName) if $(ConfigurationName) == Release ( start /D xxxxx /WAIT buildRelease.bat $(TargetDir) $(TargetFileName) ) 16. Make sure the .version file has the correct values. 17. Now, set the Visual Studio configuration to Debug, and do a test compile. 18. If all is correct, it will compile the code, copy the DLL to the destination folder, and then copy the complete release to your test KSP installation 19. Finally, change the VS config to "Release" and rebuild the mod. This time it will add the step to pack up the entire release and leave it in the RELEASEDIR I did an online stream when I used most of this to adopt a small mod, you can watch it here: