The Launcher Kit (LK) includes three apps for installing, managing, and loading mods for Spore. It supports both .package and .sporemod formats, and performs injection of Spore ModAPI .dll files delivered through the .sporemod format.
The Easy Installer reads the .sporemod format and allows the user to configure mods during installation. It uses XML Mod Identity to determine which files need to be installed, and where they need to go. It also supports traditional .package files, which are simply placed into the correct folder to minimize chance of user error.
The Easy Uninstaller shows a list of all installed mods, and allows users to reconfigure or uninstall mods. It also shows the current installed version of the Launcher Kit and ModAPI Core DLLs.
The Launcher launches Spore, and performs injection of ModAPI .dll files while Spore is starting up. This is needed for these mods to work.
Not associated with or endorsed by Electronic Arts or Maxis. The Launcher Kit, ModAPI, and all mods are unofficial and not supported by EA or Maxis.
Please see the Launcher Kit website at https://launcherkit.sporecommunity.com/ for installation instructions, support, and information for making mods. You do not need to download anything from GitHub to use the Launcher Kit.
The Launcher Kit is now open source, so that the entire modding community can examine and contribute to the code. Do note that the codebase is relatively old, disorganized, and poorly documented. Contributions may be accepted but need to be reviewed and tested to ensure they do not have unexpected effects.
You can open the solution in Visual Studio 2022. Make sure you have the .NET desktop development workload installed. The Launcher Kit uses .NET Framework 4.8.
The main Spore ModAPI Launcher solution includes the three apps and their dependencies, and is where the bulk of the code is. There are separate solutions for the Setup app and Updater app, which are used to initially install and update the Launcher Kit, respectively.
The main solution can be built using Build Solution in Visual Studio, or by using msbuild in the repo's folder. The Launcher Kit will be installed to an Output folder in the repo's folder. To use the Launcher, you will additionally need to download the ModAPI Legacy Core DLLs and place them inside the Output folder, and download and place the ModAPI Core DLLs in a coreLibs folder in the Output folder. The structure should look as follows:
- Spore ModAPI Launcher.sln and other files and folders
- Output folder
- coreLibs folder
- SporeModAPI.disk.dll (downloaded from ModAPI releases)
- SporeModAPI.lib (downloaded from ModAPI releases)
- SporeModAPI.march2017.dll (downloaded from ModAPI releases)
- SporeModAPI-disk.dll (downloaded from ModAPI releases)
- SporeModAPI-steam_patched.dll (downloaded from ModAPI releases)
- Spore ModAPI Easy Installer.exe
- Spore ModAPI Easy Uninstaller.exe
- Spore ModAPI Launcher.exe
- other files and folders
- coreLibs folder
If you already have the Launcher Kit installed elsewhere, it will still work independently. Note that the .package files from mods are globally installed as they exist in the game's own folders, but .dll files are specific to each install of the Launcher Kit, and won't be injected when using the "wrong" instance. Therefore, while you can have multiple instances of the Launcher Kit (i.e. a release version and a development version), it is recommended to uninstall most or all mods in the version you are not currently using, to ensure mods that use both .package files and .dll files together are not broken.