How do I make my own NPC portraits to work?

[moonalt]

Hi! Beginner here.
I'm planning to edit my wizard portraits with my own drawings but I am not sure if it will work if I just put the png files in the respective character folder.
Do I have to do any extensive coding for it to just work?

I have plans to make at least 19 expressions of the character but might start with 7 first just to get to know things first.
I would love any help or any steps on this.

 

[Lenora Rose]

Hi! Beginner here.
I'm planning to edit my wizard portraits with my own drawings but I am not sure if it will work if I just put the png files in the respective character folder.
Do I have to do any extensive coding for it to just work?

I have plans to make at least 19 expressions of the character but might start with 7 first just to get to know things first.
I would love any help or any steps on this.

Get SMAPI and Content Patcher. Changing the items in the character folders requires converting in and out of .xnb, and changes the game code, which is risky. With content patcher you can just tell the patcher to swap in your one set of portraits. it sounds harder but it really isn't.

This will require some struggling with the wiki modding info, but just know that content packs mean you don't need to write code so much as fill in forms, and stick to the info about content packs and ignore the bits about mods.

You will need a program that you can write the .json files in (notepad++ will do, Visual Studio requires a bit more setup but would let you transition from copying a pack to actual coding) then you need to write a manifest.json (a short simple file that describes what the mod does) and a content.json (which tells Content Patcher what to do). You will also need an assets folder to store your portraits.