Translations:Modding:Modding Efficiently/4/en

• Use macros! Switching from/to creative/survival mode and /time set day bound to a keyboard shortcut is a must have. Hit CTRL+M to open the macro manager which will let you set those up!
• When you edit textures and shape files - these can be reloaded without restart using the commands .reload textures and .reload shapes. The latter may require you to place&remove a block so that the chunk gets redrawn
• Translation entries can be reloaded with .reload lang, the handbook can be reloaded with .reloadhandbook
• Set up a quickstart.bat script, that contains e.g. VintageStory.exe -oTestWorld -pcreativebuilding - this will insta-launch you into a super flat creative world named "TestWorld"
• Don't fully restart the game to test out changes! In 95% of cases its enough to just leave the game world and rejoin or use ingame reload commands. You can quickly reload a world using the shortcut CTRL+F1
• Leave your mod unpacked in the mods folder! No need to zip it up, it'll load up just fine unpacked :-)
• Use .tfedit to modify the lookings of your item/block inside the GUI, Hands or on the ground - with live preview.
• Use .bsedit to edit block selection and collisionboxes ingame - with live preview.
• Use the /expclang command to generate a neatly pre-formatted list of language entries destined for your en.json, it's placed in a file named collectiblelang.json in the same folder where VintageStory.exe is. It creates language entries for any block or item that currently has no translation. Can save you a ton of time by not needing to handwrite your en.json file.
• If you modify a json file and want to include only the changes in your mod, you can create a JSON patch. Usually you can even save the time writing it yourself by using the ModMaker 3000™, a command line tool that ships with the game, to build the patches for you