!skins

Pronounced "skins factored", written as "!skins" in all lowercase

This is a Factorio library mod that makes it easy for other mods to add custom characters (skins), with a character picker.
As of 1.3.0, this mod can also collect skins that do not use this API, but haven't overridden the default engineer character.

This library was written to be compatible with almost all mods that edit the default character prototype. It is explicitly compatible with Jetpack, Space Exploration, RPG System, and CharacterModHelper.
(Note that with the release of Factorio 2.0, mod updates may cause compatibility issues, make a discussion post if you encounter any!)

By itself, this mod does nothing! This mod will attempt to "magically" work with other mods, but it cannot prevent startup errors, and balance issues may occur. If you want a skin mod to use this library, contact the creator of the skin mod (or, if the mod is abandoned, contact me & I might be able to update the mod if the license permits it).

Explanation

This mod takes a different approach than other skin-changer mods: instead of trying to extract the skins from multiple installed skin mods, it acts as a library for mods to include, meaning a player can install just one skin mod, or any number of them, and they'll all work as expected (if they use this library).
This method has many benefits over what mods currently do, which is to replace the base game's character and then have skin selector mods try to prevent this and copy the prototype instead. This usually still leads to confusing incompatibilities with other mods that try to edit the character prototype.

Usage

If you would like to use this library in your own character skin mod, see the project's readme.md on GitHub.
If you're a player looking for new character skins, I created a list: factorio-skin-mods.md
Or here's a list of some skin mods I've found that use this library:
- https://mods.factorio.com/mod/gear-girl