How to mod spore – Basics
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Back to Spore Modding Tutorial Index.
How to Mod Spore – Basics
The first step is to download the latest .Net Framework, even if you already have it please re-install it as you most likely have an old version. The next step is to download sporemaster v2. Place the contents anywhere on your computer, it does not matter, but it is advised that you don’t place it in your spore folder. (for a slightly larger tutorial visit our sporemaster page)
Once you have done that open up sporemaster and you should have a screen like this:
The next step is to enter te “spore packages” panel. You then need to click on new to import the spore packages you want.
We then have to “create” the mod. To do this go to the mod tab and click on “create”, name your mod, choose anyplace to place it (its a very good idea to put it in a subfolder within the sporemaster folder), then click save.
Now on to the actual modding! Click on the files tab and choose any file you want to mod.
To start modding that file click on the modify button. Once you do this a new file is created in a subfolder in sporemaster which contains all the files you edit. There is no need to save, you could make a edit and quit sporemaster straight away and there will be no loss of files and edits.
The black files in the left-hand column are the files which are in the orginal spore packages, the black files in the right column are files or folders you have modded. If it is white in the left column and black in the right that means it is a new file.
Once you have done all your modding it is time for you to test your mod and produce a .package file. To do this go to the mod tab and click “pack”
Now you have created your mod and are ready to Install your Spore mod.
Sporedum 
jason said
OK the spore master isn’t working. i am using vista. Ive followed the instructions until it says “To start modding that file click on the modify button. Once you do this a new file is created in a subfolder in sporemaster which contains all the files you edit. There is no need to save, you could make a edit and quit sporemaster straight away and there will be no loss of files and edits.” once i go into the edit screen it dose not load any files and when i click anything it becomes unresponsive
gest :p said
fuck vista, im sorry but it gives the most problems to spore and spore master. try instaling XP on another drive and launching it from there.
Jason said
I cant login in spore I need to
jason said
disregard that i just had to delete it and try again
Spark said
It doesn’t work for me either (same problem Jason has). I even tried what Jason did and it still doesn’t work. I am using Windows XP.
Ball Lightning said
So you got sporemaster working? Make sure you open the package Spore_game before earlier on.
Spark said
Never mind, I just figured it out.
mrmonster said
it doesnt show any files then it crashes! im so angry 😦
ballightning said
Try doing the steps again, making sure to do everything.
Jboz said
When I start the application, it tells me “SporeMaster has stopped working”. What do I do????
roemajee said
i had the same problem, same message “SporeMaster has stopped working”
[IMG]http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo124/roemajee/sporemaster20install.jpg[/IMG]
im on vista and using .net framework 3.5, should i install .net framework 3.5 sp1
roemajee said
oops, the image doesnt appear.
sorry for that
ballightning said
You need the newer version of the framework, so go and download that.
radu3000 said
The installer doesn’t open.
ballightning said
Make sure you have the latest .Net framwork.
Jboz said
I do…
Jboz said
It still doesn’t work…
Jboz said
Now it starts up- I didn’t have the latest apparently ;D Sorry!
Owen said
How do you Make your mod i mean by that how do you make the mod that goes in the game?
ballightning said
Go to the “Mod” tab and click pack, wherever you package is just copy it and from there use this tutorial:
Bla said
I guess all I have to is to insert the package file in the data folder when I’m finished or want to start testing.
I made a mod which make you able to have up to 12 planets in a solar system, and changed some all small things with solar systems. But after i put the file into the folder, the game is still as before. I tried visiting many new solar systems, and they all have 1-5 planets.
Is it the name that’s wrong? It’s a package file, but does the name still have to end on .package?
Or do I have to create a new folder inside the main folder with all the folders with the files? I thought it should be enough to edit them and then pack it.
ballightning said
Something i need to add in is that the file name must start with a letter before S, or be before Spore in the alphabet.
Bla said
That was a very big help! My mod works now! Thanks! 😀
Owen said
Oh ok,Thanks!
Owen said
And also when I go into the files its imty. what do I do?
Owen said
It says denied when i click pack.
Dragon Master said
Hello all,
Okay, I installed and it works perfectly. But I am having a problem with the tut.
I unpacked the Spore_Game.package file found what I wanted:
tribegame
tribetuning.prop.xml
I began to mod this, but when it came time to package the file back up SpaoreMaster 2.0 gave me the
Spore_Game.package file at 190MB
The original file is only 18MB
Anyway, when I tried to begin the game Vista said:
Program shut down
Tried again and the same thing happened.
The only thing I want is a small mod (or the know how) to mod Tribal:
100 start food
4 Tribesman to start with
Faster baby time
Damage to huts higher
Can someone help me with this problem?
Thank you
Isaac said
How about for an iMac?!
ballightning said
You cannot mod for macs, you will need to run sporemaster in windows.
Spode said
When I create a name for the mod (Still in the Mod tab) and click the Files tab, it stops and gives me the error message:”SporeMaster has stopped working”
HELP!!!!
ballightning said
Have you made sure that you have “unpacked” the Spore_Package file in the first tab?
Spode said
YESS! I solved my own problem… I didn’t press unpack for the… mod. How stupid of me :D!
Spode said
Sorry about the own problem message- I hadn’t refreshed this page before Ballightning said that…
ballightning said
No problems at all 🙂
Wardino388 said
😡 when i unpacked the two first files, it didnt un-gray the file button, now i am 😦
ballightning said
Did you unpack the Spore packages in the first tab (Spore packages)?
Galox said
How easy is it to mod?Do you need scripting experience?Is it as simple as changing a certain number?E.g Number of planets per system:15 or something like that?I wan’t to know because I don’t want to download it and be dissapointed or anything.Thanks.
ballightning said
It is pretty easy to mod, it mainly involves finding things in XML code and then changing the numbers. I’d advise going to sporemods.org if you need any help.
BL
Galox said
Okay,thanks I will see if I can get it going 😉
John said
It won’t let me unpack the very first package, I pressed the big button and the computer just freezes part way through and says that there was an error and it cannot unpack it.
ballightning said
I’d advise going over to sporemods.org and getting help there.
WeepWeep said
I did it all I have v. 3.5 or what ever I click unpack on that first pact and i get this HUGE ammount of uncoppyable words but It looks like it said it couldn’t find part of the path
C:\Documents and Settings\my name\Desktop\Sporemaster 2.0 beta\(SPORE)\Data\Spore_Game.package Oh and there was a ‘at the very end. PLZ HELP ME!
Draco Soul said
I have just a small question. Sporemaster works perfect, but if you unpack Spore_Game.package and don’t create a new mod, will this cause your game to crash on startup if you pack it under ‘Spore_Game.package’?
ballightning said
It shouldn’t cause any problems, as long as you unpack Spore_Game in the first tab, not as a mod.
LiaoningIce said
I got to the point where I created a new mod and saved it as/in Documents/Sporemaster beta 2.o/new_mod.package but how do I start modding? The “files” tab is empty and then crashes. What did I do wrong?
Albinoman109 said
Same with me. What is wrong
Black rhino ranger said
Mine showed and error when I was packing. I couldn’t type it out
Alien said
When I try to unpack the Spore_Game.package file it doesn’t work… it just pops up an error message… plz help
ballightning said
Make sure you are unpacking it in the first tab in sporemaster, not in the ‘mod’ tab.
Albinoman109 said
Mine still comes up with an error message.
Nick said
i was confused since you never said to unpack it lol
marc said
does’nt work for me
HereIAm27 said
help I did a new spore package with the Spore_Game.package under the data and stuff but when i clicked unpack it said
System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path …(this was the file address) at System.IO._Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath) at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy) and stuff like that all the way till SporeMaster.MainWindow.C_DisplayClass6.b_3(PleaseWait progress)
HELP ME
paroxysm said
I had the same problem… someone please help us!
Magic Gonads said
Same with me too 😦
bren13240 said
I tried editing the Tribe game stuff, to start with more tribe members, and more food, but nothing’s working.. I have the file name start with an “A”, but it’s still not working. The mod’s just not taking effect..
any idea why?
Theo said
Evrey time i unpack a file it crashes!
Also the modify icon is greyed out always!
Please help!
madanchi said
yeh mine doesnt show any files at all, ive done what every one has said but still nothing. Vista issues maybe?
JoniTapani said
I can`t run the sporemaster.exe!
hak said
the reason that you see no files when you unpack the usual file is because most of those files were moved to the Spore_EP1_data.package file, hence why most of the previously installed mods need to be moved to the same folder that Spore_EP1_data.package file is under. You can edit previous mods, but editing the actual game package seems broken along with eding the spore_ep1_data.package. Until these problems are fixed and a new compatible version of sporemaster is put out modding will be almost at a standstill.
Dumbass said
I can’t unpack the Spore_game file every time I try I get an error saying Error unpacking packages then a whole bunch of text that I can’t understand, I’m using vista, what do I do
Matt said
That happens to me but I have Windows 7
zorakirby said
ANYONE WHO IS HAVING PROBLEMS UNPACKING, HERE IS THE ANSWER! the following is a quote directly from sporemods.org posted by lazor (an administrator). i take no credit for the quote (obviously). i just wanted to post it here, so people will see the solution easier.
“# Download and install the .NET framework if you don’t have the latest version
# Download SporeMaster and unzip it to a new directory. I don’t recommend installing over a previous version.
# Known bug: if you are running a non-English version of Windows that has a different number format, you will get errors packing mods. I am told that changing the language to English in the Control Panel will work around the problem.
# Double click SporeMaster.exe
# Go to the Spore Packages tab, click Spore_Game.package, click Change, find this package in your Spore\Data folder, click OK
# Click Text.package, find this package in your Spore\Data\Locale\en-us\ folder, click OK
# Click Unpack”
Guy said
Everything went fine for me, the unpacking, the modifying and i have created a package file that i can install!
BUT WHY?! why won’t any of the mods i make work?
please help ball lightning!
Guy said
nevermind about my last post, i made the mod and it works, but…
what i did was making my creature’s attacks really really strong (multiplied by 10), and it worked.
the thing is is that it also goes for all the other creatures on the island… how do i make it work for only me?
HELP
joshbegent said
dose this method work on windows 7?
Matt said
No Files show up in the Files tab…
T-ReX007 said
The Spore Master doesn’t work! You all are dumbshits!
fuckyouall said
Yeah fuck you too
JennaBee said
It works fine for me, i just need to know, which file do i modify ?
I’m trying to make it so that there aren’t as many species making it to space stage.
I follow the Rare Earth theory, and I think there are way too many intelligent species popping up, and it’s irritating.
Citron said
I agree where would you find something like that?
Coupon said
I have a patch, and I have spore galactic adventures. If I make a mod myself, will it work with the patch?
Andy said
I did all the steps, but when I go to the Files, I can’t see anything there. I mean, it’s empty.
Andy said
I solved the problem.
Mocha2007 said
It keeps freezing if I try to unpack anything above 1MB. ITS NOT MY COMPUTER TRUST ME. It freezes when I hit open like on image 3. I have the latest .net stuff got the latest version of your program what should I do?
TRSan said
I need help with opening a work in progress mod because whenever I try to open it it just goes into the folder without allowing me to open the files tab.
I can only think of doing the following two things:
1)just give it the file name and locate it manually
2)give it the full location of the file
And before anyone asks me if I’ll put the completed mod as a zip file on media fire or something like that, the answer is NO.
fuckyouall said
You all are Mother fuckers, you dont need fuckin mods, go suck a fuckin dick dumb shits, so haha if you cant login
radu3000 said
I wanted to install the latest .NET framework but the installer will never open! What do I do??
dgrawns said
Hello, I am currently running a build of Windows 8, currently I am getting a code issue when I click unpack button, I would appreciate it if you could help.
Danny said
Sporemaster is incredibly unstable.
Grew said
Malware Bytes says that Spore Master application is a trojan.
tcplay said
when i try to unpack something error unpacking packages pops up