Mod

What a mod can change

• 3D models (glTF .glb): towers at every level and fusion, insects and flyers, buildings, the factory room, ground markers, rubble and the arena itself. See Modding Torreta and tower models.
• Balance and rules: patches over the game's numbers in balance.json and map_data.json (prices, damage, waves, cards, starting money and lives).
• Scenery and board: arena stages by difficulty and wave, which cells insects walk and towers stand on, and even a fixed route, in scenarios.json. See scenarios.
• Weather, wildlife, sounds and cursor: rain and sandstorms, birds, snakes and microfauna, the game's sounds and music, and the mouse cursor.
• Another tower defense: hand-written waves, enemies that burst into others, upgrade paths, soldiers, a hero and powers, a route that grows, energy cores, towers that fire only on factory ammunition.

A mod is data and art: it cannot run scripts. Everything a mod can do lists every possibility with its file, guide and example.

Installing a mod

1. In the game, open Options → Mods → Open Mods Folder.
2. Put each mod in a folder of its own there, with its mod.json at the top of the folder.
3. Back in Options → Mods, tick it (A on a controller, or a click on its row) and press Restart now, which closes the game and opens it again with the mod.

The Mods folder is %APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\Torreta\mods on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/Godot/app_userdata/Torreta/mods on macOS and ~/.local/share/godot/app_userdata/Torreta/mods on Linux and Steam Deck. The Steam Workshop button on the same screen opens the Workshop; subscribed mods join the same list. Ticked mods are numbered, and when two change the same thing, the higher number wins.

Gameplay and cosmetic mods

A mod that changes the rules, the scenery, or a model the game measures against (towers, insects, the arena) is a gameplay mod. It plays on a profile of its own: its progress, Continue and seeds never touch your normal game, and achievements, experience, tutorials, crystals and leaderboard scores are switched off while it is on. Skill points still count, on its profile. Cosmetic mods (cursor, sounds, birds, snakes, buildings, the factory room, markers) play exactly like the normal game. A gameplay mod that makes Torreta another game is a total conversion: only one plays at a time, so ticking one switches the other off, and cosmetic and gameplay mods still combine with it. The Mods screen filters all three kinds.

Multiplayer

Only gameplay mods have to match. With cosmetic mods alone you play with anyone, with or without mods, and each player sees their own art. Every player needs the same gameplay mods, with the same files, in the same order: matchmaking only pairs identical lists, and a lobby with other gameplay mods is refused, even when you join through an invite. PvP bots fill empty seats under a gameplay mod only when it ships a bots.json.

Making your own

1. Start from one of the examples below. Those marked In Options → Mods are already in your Mods folder, switched off. Those marked Steam Workshop install when you subscribe to them. The others ship in the game's mods_example folder beside the executable, and are copied into your Mods folder with a leading underscore, which keeps them off.
2. Copy the folder, drop any leading underscore, and give it a new id and name in mod.json.
3. Edit it, restart, and look for [ModLoader] lines in the game's log if something is ignored.
4. To share it, press Publish on its row in Options → Mods, with Steam running: it goes up to the Steam Workshop, and later publishes update the same item.

The guides below hold the full contract of each kind of file. The vanilla_reference folder documents every model key and the game's own values: it is documentation, never a mod to tick.