Mod Types

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A simple explanation of each can be found below for each type of modification. These are sorted as such on the workshop

Block Mods

Block mods are individual or groups of blocks that become buildable in the game. These blocks are usually purely aesthetic in nature (such as the Eikesters Decorations mod that adds pipes, bars, and other decorative items), functional modifications of vanilla blocks (such as the Armor Thrusters mod that adds thruster variants that build flush with the armor surrounding them), or functional revamps of vanilla items (such as the various extra-large thruster or super-heavy armor variant mods).

Usually these mods avoid stepping on any toes and introduce new blocks completely separate from the vanilla blocks, but this is not always true, and it is well supported to allow a mod to modify the vanilla blocks themselves. If a block mod is survival-ready, this means it has construction models of some sort and has a Component recipe to construct it.

Skybox Mods

Skybox mods modify the Skybox in the game to give a different aesthetic feel to the space the game takes place in. There are many different styles, including deep space (SimplyStars), planetary (Planetary Sunrise), or even low-earth orbit (Earthlike Planet Atmosphere). This is not to mention all the dozens of EVE Online nebula ports.

If you're looking for a visual change, these are the first mods to look at. Beware lighting changes, though; many skyboxes decrease the lighting significantly to give it a more realistic feel, and this necessitates the use of spotlights on ships, which can add up to a lot of lag very quickly.

Character Mods

Character mods give players control over the exact look of their Engineers by offering different space suit options. Once enabled on a server, the different options can be cycled and customized by players at a Medical Room. A good example is the Worn Series #1 that offers a small pack of high-detail suits. Such distinctions can be used by role-playing Factions to actually give visual differences to their internal rank, etc.

Animation Mods

Animation mods add more Gestures to the game, simple as that. The eponymous gesture mod is Vrakotxa's Gesture Pack, adding gestures such as hand signals, push-ups, taunts, claps, and much more.

Respawn Ship Mods

The default respawn ships serve their purpose, but some server owners want different options than the built-in ones. These mods will change or tweak the default ships allowed to be spawned into. For instance, a pure PvP server might want all spawn ships to be combat-ready fighters, decreasing the amount of time respawning players need to spend before fighting.

Production Mods

Production mods change the balance of material generation, refining, assembling, and construction recipes. These can include changes to refine speed/efficiency/power consumption, introducing stone-to-iron conversion, or introducing concrete materials (as just one of many ways to use the excess stone invariably produced by a long-term operation).

Script Mods

More advanced and less obvious than most other mods, script mods introduce functionality into the game that is not easily classified by a single block or group of blocks. For instance, these mods might offer capacity warnings on your containers, allow doors to automatically open, or even let you teleport!

Modpack Mods

Modpack Mods are obviously only distinct in that they collect groups of mods related by function (Conveyor Expansion) or occasionally only related by creator (Azimuth Industries Mega Mod Pack). These can be very in-depth, offering huge changes to many different areas of the game.

Other Mods

A catch-all group, mostly for mods improperly tagged in one of the other groups above. In particular, weapons mods seem to be placed in this group (which will no doubt be spun into its own category eventually).

Weapon Mods

Weapon mods are a relatively new sort of mod, as the functionality was only introduced in Update 01.055. These sorts of mods modify the appearance, damage, behavior, and other aspects of ship-based weapons. Ammo types and variants also fall under this type of mod. As of Update 01.057, sounds of weapons can now also be modified.