NPC Helper 2/Docs

For Players

Install NPC mods, translations and outfits

Add NPC mods, translations, outfit packs and portrait packs made for NPC Helper 2, update them, and remove them.

An NPC mod made for NPC Helper 2 is a content pack: a folder with a manifest.json file and an NPCs folder. It does not include NPC Helper 2, so install NPC Helper 2 first.

Install an NPC mod#

With a mod manager: install the downloaded file through the manager. Files that managers add on their own (for example Vortex's backup files, or meta.ini and Thumbs.db) are ignored by NPC Helper 2 and do not cause warnings.

By hand:

  1. Extract the downloaded archive.
  2. Copy the mod's folder into the game's Mods folder, next to NpcHelper.
  3. Check that manifest.json sits directly inside the mod's folder:
text
Mods/
├── NpcHelper/
└── MyNpcMod/
    ├── manifest.json
    └── NPCs/
        └── Rei/
            ├── Rei.toml
            ├── sprites/
            └── portraits/
  1. Start the game through SMAPI and read the NPC Helper 2 summary in the console. Your NPC should be listed under its mod.

Find the NPC in the game#

  • Open the Social tab of the game menu. By default a new NPC is shown there from the start, unless the mod's author hides characters until you meet them.
  • The NPC appears at their home location and then follows their daily schedule. A birthday, shops, and festivals work the same as for the game's own villagers.

Install a translation#

A translation changes the NPC's displayed name, dialogue, and other text for one game language. It does not add a new NPC, so the NPC mod it translates must be installed too.

  1. Install the translation the way the translation's page describes. Most translations are a content pack for NPC Helper 2 and install exactly like an NPC mod above.
  2. Set the game to the translated language (Options, Language).
  3. Start the game through SMAPI. The NPC Helper 2 summary lists the language in use, and warns if a translation exists for an NPC that is not installed.

English uses the NPC mod's original text.

An NPC mod can also ship some languages itself. If you install a separate translation for one of those languages, the separate translation replaces the NPC mod's own version of that language; they are not mixed. Lines the separate translation does not cover show in English. The log says when this happens, for example The embedded 'th' translation of NPC 'Rei' is replaced by mod 'Rei-Thai-Translation'. Other languages keep the NPC mod's own translation.

At startup NPC Helper 2 also lists the languages each NPC has and warns when a translation is incomplete or out of date. See Fix problems as a player.

A translation that is not a content pack for NPC Helper 2 cannot be found by it. If a translation page offers two downloads, use the one for mod managers (a content pack that keeps manifest.json and NPCs together) when you can. The other kind extracts files into the NPC mod's own folder and is only accepted for one older translation pack, so do not expect it from new translations.

Install an outfit or portrait pack#

An outfit pack gives an NPC other clothes, and a portrait pack gives her other faces in dialogue. They do not add an NPC, so the NPC's own mod must be installed too, and you need NPC Helper 2.4.3 or later. See Kinds of packs for how they differ from NPC mods and translations.

  1. Install the pack like any other content pack: through your mod manager, or by copying its folder into Mods as described above. Its folder holds manifest.json and an NPCs folder.

  2. Start the game through SMAPI and read the NPC Helper 2 summary. The pack is listed with what it changes:

    text
    Outfit pack for Rei: sprites Beach_Summer; portraits Beach_Summer. Default replaces the NPC's own image, any other name is an outfit.

  3. Look for the outfit where the pack's page says it is worn. An outfit is worn in a place, in a season, in both, or at a festival, so you may have to go there. Outside those places the NPC keeps her usual look.

Things to know:

  • A pack can replace her main look. A pack with a Default.png replaces the NPC's own sprite or main portrait everywhere. The log says so: sprites/Default.png comes from mod 'Dr. Rei - Beach Outfit', replacing the NPC's own pack.
  • Two mods can change the same image. Only one is shown for each image. NPC Helper 2 chooses the one whose folder comes last in plain character order (digits, then capital letters, then lowercase letters), and the log says which. To use the other, remove the mod you do not want. See Replacing images from other mods.
  • Outfits and portraits are chosen separately. You can use one mod's outfits and another mod's portraits for the same NPC.
  • Images are not translated. The outfit is the same in every game language.
  • The pack follows the NPC mod. If you remove the NPC's mod, SMAPI tells you the pack's dependency is missing. NPC Helper 2 also warns that the pack changes an NPC that is not loaded.

An outfit pack is updated and removed like an NPC mod, below.

Update an NPC mod#

  1. Close the game.
  2. Replace the mod's folder with the new version, or update it through your mod manager. When replacing by hand, delete the old folder first so files removed in the new version do not stay behind.
  3. Start the game through SMAPI.

Remove an NPC mod#

Close the game and delete the mod's folder from Mods. Remove its translations, outfit packs and portrait packs as well if you installed any.

Does a mod need a newer NPC Helper 2?#

Authors can set a minimum version. If your version is too old, SMAPI says so in the console and skips the mod. Update NPC Helper 2 and try again.

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