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gregCore Wiki

Player Installation

Step-by-step installation of gregCore for MelonLoader and BepInEx, on Windows and Linux.

Easiest path: subscribe to the GregCore Collection on Steam — framework plus curated mods in one click. The manual steps below remain the fallback (and the only path for non-Workshop setups).

1. Install a loader

Section titled “1. Install a loader”

Install exactly one loader into your Data Center game folder:

  • MelonLoader 0.7.2+ — follow the official MelonLoader setup, then run the game once so Mods/ and MelonLoader/ exist.
  • BepInEx 6+ — follow the official BepInEx setup, then run the game once so BepInEx/plugins/ exists.

gregCore targets .NET 6 (net6.0, Unity 6000.5 IL2CPP). The loader provides the Il2CppAssemblies and net6 interop surface gregCore builds against.

2. Download the right gregCore ZIP

Section titled “2. Download the right gregCore ZIP”

From the GitHub Releases page, pick the artifact matching your loader and OS:

  • gregCore-v1.2.3-melonloader-windows.zip / -linux.zip
  • gregCore-v1.2.3-bepinex-windows.zip / -linux.zip

NuGet dependencies (Jint 4.8.0, LiteDB 5.0.21, Mono.Cecil 0.11.6, MoonSharp 2.0.0, Newtonsoft.Json 13.0.3, pythonnet 3.0.5) are bundled in the release — you do not install them separately.

3. Extract into the game root

Section titled “3. Extract into the game root”
  • MelonLoader: extract the ZIP into the game’s root folder. Mods/ will then contain gregCore.dll, with game_hooks.json and greg_hooks.json alongside it (same directory as the DLL).
  • BepInEx: extract the ZIP into the game’s root folder. BepInEx/plugins/gregCore/gregCore.dll is placed automatically.

The two JSON files are required: without game_hooks.json next to the DLL you get “No hooks found” and no events fire (see FAQ Troubleshooting).

4. First launch + verification

Section titled “4. First launch + verification”
  1. Launch the game normally (through Steam or your usual launcher).
  2. gregCore creates UserData/gregCore/Mods/Lua/, UserData/gregCore/Mods/Scripts/, and the backup root automatically.
  3. Check the MelonLoader/BepInEx log for:
    • HWID SYSTEM ACTIVE — the hardware-ID system booted.
    • [DynamicPatcher] lines — dynamic hooks installed from game_hooks.json.
    • [gregCore][HwId] lines — ID assignment/healing (normal on first load of an existing save).
  4. In game, press F1 — the Mod Hub (GregModHub) opens with a dimmed background and a GregFramework — Mods (F1) card. That confirms UI + menu registry + input routing all work.

5. Installing Lua mods (the common case)

Section titled “5. Installing Lua mods (the common case)”
  1. Each mod is one folder: UserData/gregCore/Mods/Lua/<modId>/ containing main.lua (entry point) and optionally mod.json (manifest with id, name, version, entry, min_framework_version).
  2. Restart the game or hot-reload (the mod’s on_reload() runs after a successful reload).
  3. Verify with the backquote console: ` → mods lists the registry (GregModRegistry.All()), version prints the framework version.

6. Uninstalling

Section titled “6. Uninstalling”
  • Remove gregCore.dll (and the two JSON files) to uninstall the framework. Vanilla saves are untouched: mod data lives in sidecars (<saveDir>/greg_<modId>.<save>.tsv), which the game ignores because it only lists *.save.
  • Save backups from before gregCore ever touched a save are kept permanently under pre-greg/ inside Documents/DatacenterBackups (see Player Mod Users Guide).

Next

Section titled “Next”