Banished: How to Enable Mods for New Games and Existing Saves

Choose the mod source for the game edition

The developer links Steam Workshop for the Steam edition and other download locations for players using a different edition. Workshop access requires the Steam version; buying a non-Steam copy does not by itself make Workshop subscription available. [1]

This guide uses the developer’s Windows PC modding reference, headed Toolkit 1.0.7 Build 170910. The reference page does not supply a publication date, so the review date does not imply these are newly introduced features. [1]

Make the mod appear in the Mod menu

For the Steam installation path shown in the developer’s Workshop instructions, the mod belongs in Banished’s WinData directory. This is the documented default location; an installation placed elsewhere needs its corresponding game directory. [1]

Start the game after the mod is present and use the Mod menu. The developer locates the detail button immediately below the enable control. [1]

Steps

1. Use the mod’s enable control in the Mod menu; the nearby ellipsis opens its details. [1]

Select the new game’s mod set in the main menu

For a new town, configure the wanted mods from the main menu before starting. That main-menu selection supplies the mod set for the newly created game. It is distinct from the saved list embedded in an existing town. [1]

Steps

1. Set the wanted active mods in the main menu, then start the new game. [1]

Use the existing town’s saved mod context

Loading a town restores the mod selection recorded in that save. A different main-menu selection does not replace this recorded list when the save reloads. [1]

The developer permits enabling mods during play to add buildings to an existing map, while warning that changes to original resources can produce unexpected behavior. [1]

Steps

1. For an existing town, load it and enable the desired addition from the running game’s mod controls. [1]

Keep placed buildings and changed mod versions in mind

Keep the building mod enabled once its buildings are placed: the developer explicitly identifies disabling it as a crash cause. [1]

A replaced mod version also triggers a save-loading warning. Treat that warning as a compatibility signal for the particular town, rather than assuming every newer package is interchangeable with the version used when it was saved. [1]