Steamodded - A Balatro ModLoader

Introduction

Steamodded is a mod loader and injector for the game Balatro. It is developed using Lua for the injected code and Python for additional tools. Currently, Steamodded focuses on basic mod loading and injection functionalities and does not include a modding API.

Features

• Mod Loader: Loads mods into the game.

It will load every mods located at the path C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Balatro (or %appdata%\Balatro\Mods) into the game. If it's for now very simple, it will seach for an header at the top of the file that looks like this:

--- STEAMODDED HEADER
--- MOD_NAME: Your Mod Name
--- MOD_ID: YourModID
--- MOD_AUTHOR: [You, AnotherDev, AnotherOtherDev]
--- MOD_DESCRIPTION: The Description of your Mod

This header is mandatory and the mod loader will not load the mod without it.

The MOD_ID must be unique and without spaces. The MOD_AUTHOR must be an array. Every part of the Header must be present.

Additionally, the following segments may be present below your header in any order:

--- PRIORITY: -1000
--- DISPLAY_NAME: ShortName
--- BADGE_COLOUR: 123456

The priority value must be an integer and defaults to 0 if absent. A lower value will cause your mod to be loaded earlier.

If a display name is present, it will replace your mod name on badges that identify your mod on custom game objects. Make sure to keep it short and recognizable.

If no badge colour is specified, a default colour of #666666 will be used for these badges. The colour must be a valid hex code.

After the Header validation, the lua code of your mod will be loaded.

• Core Management: Handles the overall management of mods.

This is the hearth of the project, every parts depend on it.

For now it's not doing much outside of displaying basic informations and offering a basic GUI for Steamodded. In the future it will be the most important part of the project.

• Debug Socket: Provides a way to output debug data.

The debug Socket is used to send debug informtions from the Game and the Mods outside of the Game. Since we can't launch Balatro linked with a console interface, it's the most efficient way to provide debug data.

• Injector: Injects Steamodded into Balatro.

The injector is coded in Python. It's used to inject every other parts of Steamodded into the base game.

It use 2 external tools: 7zip for is extreme capability in term of SFX ZIP, permiting Steamodded to modify the executable without breaking it, and luajit-decompiler-v2 that is used for decompiling the code before reinjection. Big thanks to them, they made this project way easier to do.

The code is NOT recompiled after injection. It might change in the future but it will stay like that for now.

Another Injector is provided using Powershell. It can be used compiled or not compiled. This one also rely on 7zip but will let you handle in someway the installation.

Installation

How to Install Steamodded

Windows

Classic Injector

• CLOSE THE GAME !
• Go to the release page and download the latest release (Your aiming for the "steamodded_injector.exe" download)
• Drag and Drop your "Balatro.exe" to the executable
• Wait for it to finish
• And that's it! Balatro is now ready to be Modded.

You can also use it uncompiled if you know what you are doing ! (This is the Python Version)

PowerShell Injector

• CLOSE THE GAME !
• Go to the release page and download the latest release (Your aiming for the "steamodded_PS_injector.exe" download)
• Launch the injector
• Install 7zip when asked if necessary
• Provide game path if necessary (should be auto detected)
• And that's it! Balatro is now ready to be Modded.

You can also use it uncompiled if you know what you are doing ! (This is the PowerShell Version)

(External Tool) Lovely Injector

Lovely is an other project created to inject code into LOVE 2D Games. This is a very good way to install the Modloader without dealing with a "Classic" injector.

You can check it out on this link, you wont regret it: https://github.com/ethangreen-dev/lovely-injector

It's a little bit more complicated to use than the 2 previous options, but it can spare you from a lot of troubles. Every informations on how to use Steamodded with it can be found directly on the project link.

For this one, go to the release page and download the latest release (Your aiming for the "Source Code (zip)" download and the "lovely.toml" file). Then, follow the instructions provided by the Lovely Github.

Linux

• CLOSE THE GAME !
• Make sure you have python3, pip3, MPocate/PLocate, 7zip-full, and the python requests library.
• run git clone https://github.com/Steamopollys/Steamodded.git && cd Steamodded && python3 steamodded_injector.py $($HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Balatro/Balatro.exe | head -n 1) $HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Balatro/Balatro.exe
• Wait for it to finish
• And that's it! Balatro is now ready to be Modded.

Mac

THIS IS LEGACY MAC SUPPORT, FORMAL ONE WILL COME LATER

• CLOSE THE GAME !
• Make sure you have python3, pip3, MPocate/PLocate, 7zip-full, and the python requests library.
• run git clone https://github.com/Steamopollys/Steamodded.git && cd Steamodded && python3 steamodded_injector.py and drag in Balatro.love from within the Package Contents of the Balatro app before hitting enter! (Should look something like git clone https://github.com/Steamopollys/Steamodded.git && cd Steamodded && python3 steamodded_injector.py ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Balatro/Balatro.app/Contents/Resources/Balatro.love)
• Wait for it to finish
• And that's it! Balatro is now ready to be Modded.

How to Install a Mod

• Go to C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Balatro\Mods (or %appdata%\Balatro\Mods) (Create the "Mods" directory if necessary)
• On Linux it is typically /home/$USER/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/2379780/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/Balatro/Mods
• Put the mod into the directory (only the Mod File if there is only one file provided or all the files in a subdirectory)
• Launch the Game and enjoy!

Dependencies

• 7zip - Used by the Injector (A gpg pubkey signed repack is used as a better alternative has not been found yet. You can get the pubkey with gpg --keyserver hkp://keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 77317C3B9C73D835B9312414D5C9523EBB5CC15B)

All the previous depencies are automaticaly downloaded during the injection.

• Nuitka - Used to compile the injector

Contributing

This project is open for contribution. Please, feel free to open a merge request to do so.

Instruction to compile the injector are provided into is dedicated directory.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License. This ensures that the software is free to use, modify, and distribute. For more details, see the LICENSE file in the repository.